Dinosaurs, Dragons, & Drama
The Odyssey of a Trickfilmmaker – Vol. 2
An Illustrated Memoir by Jim Danforth
Volume Two recounts the middle years of Jim Danforth's film career, including his philosophy of visual effects and of trade unionism, and also discusses effects techniques from the days before computers generated images.
Volume 2 includes:
Jim's stop-motion animation assignments on
feature films such as:
The Legend of King Kong
Hiero's Journey, Conan, Flesh Gordon,
Ray Harryhausen's Clash of the Titans,
Caveman, and more.
Jim recounts his time as head of the visual effects department at Cascade Pictures of California—one of the largest west-coast producers of TV commercials.
Aspiring filmmakers will enjoy Jim's in-depth account of his work as the writer, co-designer, director, and co-producer of the adventure film Timegate— and why that film crashed and burned.
The book also contains Danforth’s recollections
of interesting people he encountered during
his professional journey.
The CD-ROM book includes ‘clickable’ sidebars and footnotes filled with additional facts, plus thoughts about various eclectic topics that interest Jim.
Auxiliary sections describe various pre-digital film effects techniques and now-obsolete processes.
Jim Danforth set the bar so high with Vol. 1 of his memoir that I wondered if Vol. 2 could possibly come close. This new volume picks up after When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth and I am delighted to say he has exceeded my wildest hopes
Like the earlier edition, this is a spectacular treasure trove of photos documenting his many challenges as a Trick-Film-Maker (and I love the fact that this is on CD so I can zoom in on text and photos to study them), while the text details the many challenges he had to overcome to deliver "the jobs."
Of special interest to budding Directors or Producers are Jim's incomparable insights into the many non-technical issues that crop up while making a movie. As a Producer, you'd better believe I felt a kinship with him because I have faced many similar issues dealing with Hollyweird Unions, bosses and demanding clients. I wish I'd had the chance to read this book before I produced my first film! Frankly, anyone thinking of making a movie should put this on their must-read list and it should be required reading at every film school.
Many thanks to Jim Danforth for his honesty and willingness to share his philosophy as well as his technical expertise. I'm putting my order in now for Vol. 3!
— Mark Wolf, WolfMedia Productions
790 pages of main text, plus the Foreword, sidebars,
and supplemental material.
Over 700 photos, drawings, and paintings
in the main text; plus more in the sidebars.
Distributed exclusively by Archive Editions
on a CD-ROM in a DVD-type "snap" case.
$30.00
plus shipping
Available from:
