Cinefex is the definitive leader in visual effects journalism. Since 1980, it has been the bible for effects professionals and enthusiasts, covering the field like no other publication. Profusely illustrated in color, with as many as 150 pages per issue, Cinefex offers a captivating look at the technologies and techniques behind many of our most popular and enduring movies. Cinefex, the legendary VFX magazine, is shutting down. For many, Cinefex, with its striking covers and in-depth technical interviews, was a window into the magical world of Hollywood special effects. STOP-MOTION (17 issues) - By supporting us at this backer level, we will give you 17 issues of Cinefex magazine that cover stop-motion animation techniques. This collection includes issues on Ray Harryhausen, Ghostbusters, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, just to name a few. For more than 40 years, Cinefex magazine has provided readers with unique insight into the process of crafting visual effects for the film and TV industry, with the magazine sadly confirming that its most recent issue was its last. While the pivot to online platforms is the cause of a number of publications being scrapped.

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Cinefex

Frequency	Quarterly (1980–2016) Bimonthly (2016–2021)
Year founded	1980
Country	United States
Based in	Riverdale
Language	English
Website	www.cinefex.com
ISSN	0198-1056

Cinefex/ˈsɪnɪfɛks/ launched in 1980, was a bimonthly journal covering visual effects in 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 of miniatures, pyrotechnics, makeup and other related effects.

Cinefex was made available for the iPad,^[1] enabling users to purchase digital copies of back issues of the magazine.

Publication history[edit]

The magazine was founded by Don Shay, who alone wrote and produced the first issue, which covered the effects work in the films Alien and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Earlier, Shay had written extensively on the stop-motion effects work in the original 1933 film King Kong, published in the British publication Focus on Film, and had authored a definitive piece on the effects in Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the magazine Cinefantastique. Shay had also published five issues of an earlier fantasy film magazine from 1962-67, titled K'scope (for Kaleidoscope, which appeared on the cover of the first issue), as well as collaborating with Ray Cabana on the one-shot magazine Candlelight Room in 1963.

A defining characteristic of Cinefex is its unusual 8”x9” 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 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, and later, associate editor Joe Fordham. In late 2015, as the quarterly magazine transitioned into bimonthly publication, Cinefex blog editor Graham Edwards joined the team as a full-time writer.

In 2004, Don Shay received the Board of Directors Award from the Visual Effects Society for 'illuminating the field of visual effects through his role as publisher of Cinefex.'

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A 2014 event sponsored by the Visual Effects Society and held at UCLA celebrated '36 Years of Cinefex,' and featured a panel discussion with Don Shay and Jody Duncan, moderated by Matte World Digital founder Craig Barron.

That 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 of motion control technology in The Empire Strikes Back, the development of computer animation (showcased in the groundbreaking 1993 film Jurassic Park), the pinnacle of performance capture techniques, as executed in 2009's Avatar, as well as advancements in hydraulics and robotics employed in practical, in-camera effects.

In 2014 Shay retired as publisher, handing the reins to his son, Gregg – who took over ownership in 2016.

As larger, better-funded magazines fold, Cinefex – once described in Hollywood Reporter as ‘a niche survivor’ – expanded from quarterly to bimonthly publication beginning in 2016.

In its February 2021 issue, Cinefex announced its final issue of the magazine after 40 years of publications. Gregg Shay, the magazine's publisher, cited the effects of COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for the magazine ending its publication.^[2]

Reception[edit]

In 2001, twenty years after the original publication of Cinefex, Ramin Zahed of Variety praised the magazine, writing that it 'is one of the few places where you can turn to when you’re desperate for the right information about special effects credits.'^[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Cinefex iPad'. Cinefex. Retrieved June 11, 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
2. ^Hardawar, Devindra (February 24, 2021). 'Farewell Cinefex, you unlocked the magic of VFX for everyone'. Engadget. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
3. ^Zahed, Ramin (February 22, 2001). 'Cinefex'. Variety. Retrieved May 5, 2021.

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Cinefex on the App Store

Cinefex, the bi-monthly magazine dedicated to the the world of visual effects in film and TV, is no more. Citing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, publisher Gregg Shay announced yesterday that the magazine's recent 40th anniversary issue, featuring The Mandalorian, would be its last. 'The pandemic deprived us of subject matter, retail outlets, and, most critically, advertisers, many of whom, like us, struggled to remain afloat in a climate of intense turmoil and uncertainty,' Shay said. 'We did our best to weather the storm, but ultimately the storm prevailed.'

The news sent a shockwave through the film and visual effects world. 'For 40 years Cinefex served as an incredible inspiration and resource to so many in the industry,' ILM said on Twitter. We are heartbroken 💔.' Santa Monica Studio's Cory Barlog, best known for spearheading the God of War series, recounted how Cinefex brought the world of VFX to his Midwestern town.

This is sad. Growing up in the Midwest, Cinefex was my window into the unknown world of film/VFX. Ultimately I did not end up in the film industry but this magazine fueled my imagination and convinced me to keep going. That it was possible to create things I love for a living.❤️ https://t.co/7H6GPiCeRM

— Cory Barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) February 23, 2021

For many, Cinefex, with its gorgeous colors and in-depth technical interviews, was a window into the magical world of Hollywood special effects. And it wasn't some niche journal: You could easily find it nestled among Entertainment Weekly and other mainstream publications at book stores. One of my favorite past-times, pre-pandemic and having a toddler, was to settle into a book store coffee shop with a pile of film magazines. Typically, that'd include the latest Cinefex, Empire and horror love-fest Fangoria (if I was really lucky). I could rarely finish an entire Cinefex issue in one sitting, so I inevitably ended up buying it.

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Cinefex magazine pulled the curtain back on how movies were made and was significantly responsible for sparking my enthusiasm for filmmaking and nurturing it for decades. This is a huge loss, and I'm very grateful for all of the knowledge and joy it has brought to all of us.

— Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri) February 23, 2021

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'I remember Being 11 years old, browsing at an actual bookstore and being pulled in by the covers (always an almost textless bold image of an epic film),' John LePore, principal and chief creative at the VFX studio Perception, told Engadget. [Be sure to check out our feature on how Perception's UI design is being used by tech companies and film studios alike.] 'It was always whatever movie my young mind was fascinated with. And you’d open the cover, peek inside, and it was nothing like all the other published materials about a film. There was this whole world of engineering and creativity that you only saw glimpses of in BTS featurettes. Cinefex examined this space with curiosity and incredible detail.'

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© Cinefex Cinefex magazine

While Cinefex pivoted a bit into the digital world with an iPad edition, its bread and butter was its gorgeous print magazines. It's unclear if there's a future for the publication by going completely digital, but we've reached out to Shay for comment.

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'[Cinefex] was a huge inspiration to me, and I feel fortunate to not only have it as an aspirational target on my youth, but to have talked with one of their writers, Graham Edwards, on several occasions,' LePore added. 'His deep fascination in the space helped to drive the incredible detail and insight in their articles.'