Flash Frames: A New Pop Culture - Softcover

Dolphin, Laurie; Shapiro, Stuart S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0823018377 ISBN 13: 9780823018376

Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications Inc.,U.S., 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:

Flash Frames: A New Pop Culture 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.

One legacy of the dot.com boom/bust was the proliferation of Flash animations. Projects that once required conventional tools and 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 and feature films (think Richard Linklater’s Waking Life).

Flash Frames is 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." 79-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 the Untitled_07 video for Aerial’s "Inertia", to the colouring 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/comicbook-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

Synopsis:

Flash animation is the heartbeat of a new generation of pop culture enthusiasts. Whether creating their own independent animated clips or working with some of the biggest names in the music world -such as Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Tod Rundgren, Dr Dre and Phish - these Flash artists maximize this software's high resolution, intense saturation of colour and quick speed to create some of the hottest content on the Web. This volume celebrates the work of 40 innovative media artists currently using Flash. It showcases the work of everyone from veteran celebrity animators like Russ Heath to such cutting-edge heroes as Joe Cartoon. There are four gatefold illustrations.

About this edition

• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications Inc.,U.S.
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0823018377
• ISBN 13: 9780823018376
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128