 | |
| Categories | Cinema,Visual Effects,Science Fiction film |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Quarterly (1980–2016) Bimonthly (2016–2021) |
| Paid circulation | 32,000 (1999) |
| Founder | Don Shay |
| First issue | March 1980 (1980-03) |
| Final issue Number | 172 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Riverdale |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 0198-1056 |
Cinefex/ˈsɪnɪfɛks/ was a quarterly journal that debuted in 1980 and coveredvisual effects in cinema, with a particular focus onscience-fiction films. Each issue featured lengthy, detailed articles that described the creative and technical processes behind current films, the information drawn from interviews with the effects artists and technicians involved. Each issue also featured many behind-the-scenes photographs illustrating the progression of visual effects shots – from previsualization to final – as well as the execution ofminiatures,pyrotechnics, makeup and other related effects.
A defining characteristic ofCinefex is its unusual 8 in (20 cm) by 9 in (23 cm) configuration, a format Shay chose to enable him to reproduce film frames in a format similar to their original film aspect ratio.
The magazine was founded byDon Shay, who alone wrote and produced the first issue, released in March 1980, which covered the effects work in the filmsAlien andStar Trek: The Motion Picture. Earlier, Shay had written extensively on thestop-motion effects work in the original 1933 filmKing Kong, published in the British publicationFocus on Film, and had authored a definitive piece on the effects inClose Encounters of the Third Kind for the magazineCinefantastique. Shay had also published five issues of an earlier fantasy film magazine from 1962 to 1967, titledK'scope (forKaleidoscope, which appeared on the cover of the first issue), as well as collaborating with Ray Cabana on the one-shot magazineCandlelight Room in 1963.[citation needed]
In 2004, Don Shay received the Board of Directors Award from theVisual Effects Society for "illuminating the field of visual effects through his role as publisher ofCinefex." He was made a lifetime member of the VES in 2016.[1]
In 2014, Don Shay retired as publisher, handing the reins to his son Gregg Shay, who took over ownership in 2015.[2]
The magazine was entirely reader-supported for its first ten years. In 1990, advertising director Bill Lindsay launched an advertising program that enabled Shay to hire editor Jody Duncan, the publication's head writer for several years. In January 2001, associate editor Joe Fordham, who previously wrote for VFXPro, joined the staff. He had previously written a freelance article in Issue 77 (1999).[2]
In July 1999, Cinefex launched a website, with selected onlinefeaturettes meant to compliment the print publication.[3][4] In 2009, it began publishing a digital version of its print edition online, that was otherwise identical to the printed version.Beginning with Issue 127 (October 2011),Cinefex was made available digitally for theiPad, featuring enhanced features such as embedded video and before and after comparisons of visual effects shots. Gradually, back issues of the magazine were also converted into digital copies, available for purchase in the app.[5]
In October 2013, Graham Edwards joined as a writer for theCinefex blog,[6] later transiting to become an author for the main publication.[7] Edwards had previously written in 2011 a retrospective review of the first 40 issues ofCinefex that got the attention of publisher Don Shay.[8]
A 2014 event presented by theVisual Effects Society and held atUCLA celebrated "35 Years ofCinefex" and featured a panel discussion with Don Shay and Jody Duncan, moderated byMatte World Digital founder Craig Barron.[9][10][11][12] The event highlighted the magazine's definitive coverage of the most explosive and innovative era in visual effects history, a period that saw the early use ofmotion control technology inThe Empire Strikes Back, the development ofcomputer animation (showcased in the groundbreaking 1993 filmJurassic Park), the pinnacle ofperformance capture techniques, as executed in 2009'sAvatar, as well as advancements in hydraulics and robotics employed in practical, in-camera effects.
In late 2015, as the quarterly magazine transitioned into bimonthly publication,Cinefex blog editor Graham Edwards joined the team as a full-time writer.[13]
Cinefex expanded from quarterly to bimonthly publication beginning in 2016.
In its February 2021 issue, #172,Cinefex announced its final issue of the magazine after 40 years of publications. Gregg Shay, the magazine's publisher, cited the effects ofCOVID-19 pandemic as a reason for the magazine to officially end and discontinue its publication.[14][15]
In 2001, twenty years after the original publication ofCinefex, Ramin Zahed ofVariety praised the magazine, writing that it is "one of the top chroniclers of the advancements in the visual effects industry over the past 20 years" and "one of the few places where you can turn to when you're desperate for the right information about special effects credits."[4] InThe Empire of Effects, author Julie A. Turnock writes "Cinefex has played an important role to those hoping to join the effects industry as well as to scholars who are writing about it." while noting that, like otherindustry publications,Cinefex relied on access bystudios andproducers, and would thus "present the effects production in idealized form". Turnock describesCinefex as a "fan-directed effects and science fiction–oriented publication".[16] In a 1999 interview, Don Shay states "We took the position early on that it was more important to be accurate than to maintain the customary sense of journalistic detachment" regarding theCinefex policy to allow interview subjects to proofread and make corrections prior to the publication of an article.[3]
