Kees Moerbeek

I enjoy pop-up books, and admire the art and craft that goes into designing and producing them. This book focuses on seven major films of the venerable Alfred Hitchcock: Saboteur, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, and Frenzy.

Each film is presented in a large- format, two page spread, in which prominent elements of the movie pop out at the reader as the page is opened. For example, Saboteur features a closeup of the head of the Statue of Liberty, one protruding arm bearing her torch. Surrounding text summarizes the plot of the movie. The presentation of Vertigo is exceptional, as a dizzying staircase pops out at the reader and an accompanying spiral adds to the effect. As one opens the page to The Birds, a flock of crows emerges to whip past the reader, and Frenzy is presented via an animated 3-D strangulation. Similarly dramatic visuals accompany the other three movies presented.

As all film buffs know, Hitchcock made a cameo appearance in each of his films, and viewers enjoy the challenge of spotting him on camera. In this book, a small fold-out pop-up reveals the director’s cameo in each of the seven films.

This is a lavish, beautifully constructed book that will appeal to fans of Alfred Hitchcock as well as to readers who appreciate the skill and talent that goes into constructing books of the pop-up variety.… (mais)

review of
Alfred Hitchcock The Master of Suspense - A Pop-up Book
- tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - September 26, 2011

This is 'just' a pop-up bk so my reviewing it as something that I've read puts the wrong emphasis. It's the "paper engineering by Kees Moerbeek" that's really worth reviewing here & it's that that I'm giving 4 stars. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I like Hitchcock's movies too. The bk features images & plot synopses for 7 films: Saboteur, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, & Frenzy. A plus is that each film spread has a fold-out pop-up showing where Hitchcock's cameo appearance was.

As a collector of pop-up bks I have a great appreciation for the cleverness of both the design craft & the production. Not only does the designer have to aim for the most striking image, they have to calculate wch parts shd pop-up & how. Then the printers have to make it possible. Just assembling these things is a testimony to manufacturing cleverness & ability. In this case, it was manufactured in China so there's the possible downside of exploited cheap labor..

Moerbeek doesn't disappoint - not only are there great image accentuations: the torch of the Statue of Liberty protruding above the bk, a fantastic staircase pop-up for Vertigo, an explosive montage for Psycho, money spilling out for Marnie, an animated strangulation for Frenzy; there's also an abundance of other touchs: mylar used to show reflections of otherwise hidden imagery & some wonderful use of transparencies.

Obviously, such bks are very expensive to publish so I have no complaints that the bk doesn't go even further than Moerbeek's great design. HOWEVER, if it were to be even more lavish, having snippets from Bernard Herrmann soundtracks wd make these even more perfect.… (mais)