Trailer, Tickets, Poster Released for ‘Force Awakens’
Just in case you missed it — there’s got to be at least one of you out there — the final trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released Oct. 19.
The new clip debuted during a broadcast of ESPN’s Monday Night Football and immediately was posted online, along with several stills of the movie and a new poster with credits.
Also, tickets are now on sale for the movie, which opens Dec. 18, and a movie marathon of all six Star Wars films capped with the debut of The Force Awakens was announced for Dec. 17.
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Another familiar title on our list this month is this fascinating, in-demand look at the history and development of Japanese animation. While anime’s distinctive aesthetic seems like a relatively recent wave in cartoons to Western audiences, its cultural phenom status in Japan took root in the 1970s. But as this bit of scholarship shows, the very modern medium actually draws on centuries-old artistic traditions.
A professor of comparative literature and art history at the University of Tokyo (and author of the equally well researched 1000 Years of Manga), Brigette Koyama-Richard traces the evolution of anime from painted scrolls and woodblock prints through to the early black-and-white days and up to the present. Legendary figures like Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki are highlighted, and the book features more than 500 images, many rarely seen outside Asia.
All animation must be built on similar solid artistic foundations, but each medium requires its own special skills as well. If you are interested in stopmotion filmmaking, look no further than this in-demand guide from the Bristol-based geniuses behind Wallace & Gromit. Producer, director and Aardman Animations co-founder Peter Lord and prolific entertainment writer Brian Sibley here provide a practical, fully illustrated, step-by-step look at creating strong characters, storyboards, sets — and eventually, an entire film.
This fourth edition incorporates a brand-new chapter offering a look at Aardman’s more-recent work. This includes exclusive interviews with the producer and director of the studio’s most-recent hit feature, Shaun the Sheep Movie; a dedicated section packed with behind-the-scenes insight on the making of The Pirates! Band of Misfits; and a revised chapter on CGI technology touching on the latest developments.