AV News 182 - November 2010
The Evolution of the Magic Lantern - review by Ron Davies FRPS
Anyone who has experience of the AV world will agree that Colin Balls is one of
the greatest producers of AV sequences. Therefore it will come as no surprise
that his book, 'The Evolution of the Magic Lantern', has been produced with the
same care, attention to detail, style and comprehensive coverage as any of his
many award-winning sequences.
The book really is an historical document, which illustrates the development
of projectors from the 19th Century Magic Lantern to the present day digital
equipment. Not only that, it deals with all aspects of the development of AV as
seen through the eyes of someone who has had a fundamental influence on the
methods of production of our sequences. His invention of the analogue Royale
projector enabled all those who previously needed something akin to a removal
van to transport their two projectors, control systems, amplifiers, speakers, etc,
plus an hour or two to set up, the beauty of carrying their equipment in two
manageable cases, line up and be ready to start in less time than it had taken to
unload the 'removal van'. It thus became possible to 'arrive late and start early!'
You may think that an 'historical' document such as this would be as dry as
dust but, on the contrary, this is a lavishly produced book packed full of beautiful
images with just the right amount of eminently readable text. I would defy anyone
who picks it up not to want to read it from cover to cover.
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