Flick the ant tries to help his colony rid themselves of the grasshoppers that force them to gather food each year.

“The definitive history of the studio” created by the larger-than-life team of Spielberg, Geffen, and Katzenberg (Los Angeles Times). For sixty years, since the birth of United Artists, the studio landscape was unchanged. Then came Hollywood’s Circus Maximus—created by director Steven Spielberg, billionaire David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who gave the world The Lion King—an entertainment empire called DreamWorks. Now Nicole LaPorte, who covered the company for Variety, goes behind the hype to reveal for the first time the delicious truth of what happened. Readers will feel they are part of the creative calamities of moviemaking as LaPorte’s fly-on-the-wall detail shows us Hollywood’s bizarre rules of business. We see the clashes between the often-otherworldly Spielberg’s troops and Katzenberg’s warriors, the debacles and disasters, but also the Oscar-winning triumphs, including Saving Private Ryan. We watch as the studio burns through billions of dollars, its rich owners get richer, and everybody else suffers. LaPorte displays Geffen, seducing investors like Microsoft’s Paul Allen, showing his steel against CAA’s Michael Ovitz, and staging fireworks during negotiations with Paramount and Disney. Here is a blockbuster behind-the-scenes Hollywood story—up close, glamorous, and gritty.

Disney Stories: Getting to Digital explores how Disney, the man and the company, used technological innovation to create characters and stories that engage audiences in many different media, in particular in Video Games and on the Internet. Drawing on Disney films from the twenties and thirties, as well as the writings of historians, screenwriters and producers, Disney Stories: Getting to Digital explains how new film and animation techniques, many developed by Disney, worked together to evolve character and content development and produce entertaining stories that riveted audiences. Through an insider’s perspective of Disney’s legendary creation process, the book closely examines how the Disney Company moved its stories into the digital world in the 1990s and the virtual, online communities of the 2000s. By embracing the digital era, Disney led storytelling and technological innovation by granting their audience the unique opportunity to take part in their creation process through their online games, including The Lion King Animated Story Book, Disney Blast and Toontown. Disney Stories: Getting to Digital is intended for Disney fans and current practitioners looking to study the creation process of one of the most famous animation studios in existence. Professors teaching courses in new media, animation and interactive storytelling will also find this book a valuable asset.

The ants find a giant cupcake and try to move it to their anthill.

Global Communication is the most definitive text on multi-national communication and media conglomerates, exploring how global media, particularly CNN, the BBC, Euronews, and Al Jazeera, influence audiences and policy makers alike. Includes four completely new chapters on Asian media, Euromedia, the Middle East, and public diplomacy from a post 9/11 perspective Updates the story of arab media with a section on "Arab Media and the Al Jazeera Effect" by Middle East-based expert Lawrence Pintak Covers the global war on terrorism and the substantial US investment in Iraqi media Provides updated accounts and overviews of the largest and most important media corporations from around the world, from MTV and CNN to Bollywood Incorporates discussions of Hulu, YouTube, Myspace, and the Twitter phenomenon as well as new stakeholders in global online media

Celebrated as Pixar's "Chief Creative Officer," John Lasseter is a revolutionary figure in animation history and one of today's most important filmmakers. Lasseter films from Luxo Jr. to Toy Story and Cars 2 highlighted his gift for creating emotionally engaging characters. At the same time, they helped launch computer animation as a viable commercial medium and serve as blueprints for the genre's still-expanding commercial and artistic development. Richard Neupert explores Lasseter's signature aesthetic and storytelling strategies and details how he became the architect of Pixar's studio style. Neupert contends that Lasseter's accomplishments emerged from a unique blend of technical skill and artistic vision, as well as a passion for working with collaborators. In addition, Neupert traces the director's career arc from the time Lasseter joined Pixar in 1984. As Neupert shows, Lasseter's ability to keep a foot in both animation and CGI allowed him to thrive in an unconventional corporate culture that valued creative interaction between colleagues. The ideas that emerged built an animation studio that updated and refined classical Hollywood storytelling practices--and changed commercial animation forever.

Master the art of computer animation and visual effects production with the latest edition of this cutting-edge guide This remarkable edition of The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects offers clear, step-by-step guidelines for the entire process of creating a fully rendered 3D computer animation. With up-to-date coverage of the latest computer animation styles and techniques, this versatile guide provides insightful information for creating animations and visual effects from creative development and preproduction to finished animation. Designed to work with any computer platform, this Fourth Edition cuts through technical jargon and presents numerous easy-to-understand instructive diagrams. Full-color examples are presented including VFX and animated feature movies, games, and TV commercials by such leading companies as Blue Sky, Blur, BUF, Disney, DreamWorks, Electronic Arts, Framestore, ILM, Imagi, Microsoft, Mac Guff, The Mill, Menfond, Pixar, Polygon, Rhythm & Hues, Sony Imageworks, Tippett, Ubisoft, and Weta, and many other studios and groundbreaking independent artists from around the world. This fully revised edition features new material on the latest visual effects techniques, a useful update of the traditional principles of animation, practical information on creative development, multiple production pipeline ideas for shorts and visual effects, plus updated information on current production trends and techniques in animation, rendering, modeling, rigging, and compositing. Whether you are a student, an independent artist or creator, or a production company team member, The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects, Fourth Edition gives you a broad palette of tips and techniques for bringing your visions to life through 3D computer animation. Unique focus on creative development and production issues Non-platform specific, with multiple examples illustrated in a practical, step-by-step approach The newest computer animation techniques, including facial animation, image-based and non-photorealistic rendering, model rigging, real-time models, and 2D/3D integration Over 700 full-color images Encyclopedic timeline and production pipelines