Flash Frames: A New Pop Culture - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0823018377 ISBN 13: 9780823018376

Publisher: Watson-Guptill Pubns, 2002

Synopsis

Flash Frames: A New Pop Culture celebrates the work of more than forty of the most innovotive media artists currently using the software program Flash - from veteran celebrity animators such as Russ Heath to cutting-edge cult heroes such as Joe Cartoon.

About this title

Review

One legacy of the dot-com boom/bust was the proliferation of Flash animations. Projects that once required conventional tools and had a substantial learning curve are now within the reach of Web developers, old-school cartoonists, and just about anyone with a creative spark. These days, mainstream media copy the Flash look, from TV commercials to print ads to feature films (think Richard Linklater's Waking Life).

Flash Frames is an image-packed tribute to some of the pioneers of this emerging art form, with the focus on animations that are self-contained artistic expressions (music videos, cartoons) as opposed to Flash interfaces or games. It's more of an exhibit than a how-to. There is, however, some practical advice for would-be Flashers. Veteran rocker and techno-innovator Todd Rundgren warns against an overuse of bitmap-heavy images, which might require the audio to be compressed to the point of sacrificing sound quality. Hillman Curtis advises Flashers not to fight the limitations of the medium. "As Hemingway once said, 'Write the story, take out all of the good lines, and see if it still works.'"

In his introduction, Spider-Man creator Stan Lee gives all innovative Flashers an encouraging pat on the back. As he sees it, "Flash has been a boon to the animation community." Seventy-nine years old and still actively creating, Lee is one of the many artists whose inventive work is on display here. The diverse styles range from the stunning psychedelia of Untitled_07's video for Aerial's "Inertia" to the coloring book look of Steve Marcus's "Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop." Other music videos include Alexander Galle's evocatively layered piece for The Cure's "Out of this World" and Pixelwurld's retro-styled animation for "Never the Same" by Supreme Beings of Leisure.

The book also highlights lots of cartoon/comic book-style animations, like Scream Therapy's "Zip Code," where the viewer gets to pick which dastardly trick a dog will use to sneak up on (and chomp) the mail carrier, all done with the look and cleverness of vintage Warner Brothers. Flash Frames will both amuse and inspire any reader. --Angelynn Grant

About the Author

Laurie Dolphin is an award-winning author and designer. Her recent books include Evidence: The Art of Candy Jernigan, which received a certificate of excellence in the 2000 Print Regional Design Annual. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles. Stuart S. Shapiro is president of Digital Download and a creative pioneer in cutting-edge entertainment. His production credits include the USA Network award-winning series Night Flight and the live webcast of Woodstock '99. He is currently producing a series of music and comedy specials. He lives in Los Angeles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Pubns
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0823018377
• ISBN 13: 9780823018376
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128
• Editor: Dolphin Laurie, Shapiro Stuart