It is the world’s premier image-editing software. Adobe’s Photoshop is used by everyone from Hollywood visual effects artists to moms who want to remove red-eye from their family vacation photos. The latest version, Adobe Photoshop CS6, releases on May 7, 2012.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 offers many improvements and new features. Photoshop CS6 will retail for $699, but current users can upgrade for $199. An enhanced version of Photoshop CS6 (Photoshop CS6 Extended) will sell for $999, although for existing users to upgrade, it’s only $399.

The latest version of Photoshop has been vastly improved and both artists and photographers will be impressed with the upgraded CS6. And to add to the wow factor, CS6 will also have a noticeable performance boost due to the faster processing power of the new Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine.

Eleven Great Adobe Photoshop CS6 Improvements
Not only are there lots of new features in CS6, but existing features have also been improved. Grab your favorite photo and let’s take Photoshop CS6 for a spin!

1. “Vector-y!”
If you’ve used Adobe Illustrator, you know how you can add a stroke or gradient to vector shapes. Photoshop CS6 now lets you do the same thing (and as with Illustrator, you don’t have to add layer styles in order to do it). Working with complex shapes just got a whole lot easier.

2. Moving Pictures
New tools for video editing, including controls for adjusting color and exposure levels and working with layers. And when a piece of video has been edited to your satisfaction, Photoshop CS6 provides a range of options for exporting that clip.

3. Layer Slayer
Anyone who’s spent any time editing images in Photoshop understands how quickly an image can require multiple layers, and how difficult it can be keeping track of all of them. Photoshop CS6 addresses this problem with a new Layer Search feature. Now you can search through stacks of layers and locate just what you’re looking for. Filtering can be performed according to Kind, Name, Effect, Mode, Attribute and Color.

4. Straighten Up!
One of the niftiest aspects of Photoshop CS6 is the new Straighten tool. Here’s how it works: You draw a line anywhere on the image you’re working with and Straighten will shift the canvas accordingly so that your new line becomes completely horizontal. (This tool was implemented so you can create perspectives based on reoriented images.)

5. Special Effects
Photoshop already contains plenty of effects to give your images extra zing, but now there are even more effects to choose from. New effects include a very cool Field Blur, Iris Blur, Bokeh Effects, Tilt T-Shift and Image Deblurring.

6. Background Check
Here’s a real time-saver. With Photoshop CS6’s new background-saving feature, you can save an image at the same time you’re editing one. No more waiting for the program to compile and archive one project before you get busy on another.

7. Get Your Share
With Photoshop CS6’s Preset Sharing, you can export your presets, brushes and patterns between computers. Even more impressive, the Preset Sharing lets you share these items between different versions of Photoshop.

8. Holy Crop!
Cropping is an essential part of image editing. New and better cropping options offer better image manipulation, as well as various grid views (which will help you get a better look at the cropping you’re performing).

9. New Look
With each new version of Photoshop, Adobe always receives a fair amount of input from graphic designers. In response to recent suggestions, Photoshop CS6 features a redesigned User Interface.

10. Are You (Content) Aware?
Photoshop’s Content-Aware tool has long been a mainstay of the program. For Photoshop CS6, the Content-Aware tool has been augmented with new capabilities, such as Content-Aware Move and Content-Aware Patch. The patch allows you to select the image area which Content Aware will utilize in order to create your patch.

11. No More “Oops!” Moments
Ever spent a good chunk of time editing an image, only to lose all that productivity because you forgot to save your work, or your system crashed? With Photoshop CS6, you’ll be able to customize the auto-save feature (Auto Recovery) according to your preferences and work style.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 offers a convenient new Tilt T-Shift filter, which works in conjunction with the program’s new blur effects.

Photoshop CS6 vs. CS5: What’s New 
Still not convinced this is the greatest version of Photoshop ever? A free download of beta version of Adobe Photoshop CS6 is currently available for both the Mac OS X and Windows platforms. And if you’re still looking for a feature that wasn’t listed above, don’t worry. We’ve also included a comprehensive list of features and the main differences between CS5 below:

• A much-requested darker and modern user interface, with 4 different shades of presets
• Redesigned icons, buttons, dialogs – plus rich cursors
• New Content-Aware Move, Extend, and Patch tools
• DSLR video editing in both Standard and Extended versions
• Skin-Aware Masking with Face Detection, which includes auto-generation of skin-tone masks
• One tool now does the work of 14: completely overhauled 3D (available in Photoshop CS6 Extended)
• New, realistic brushes, including Erodible Tips and Airbrush Tips, ability to increase the brush size to 5,000 pixels
• Brand new Camera Raw 7 technology
• White Balance and Noise Reduction as a selective brush
• Text/Character Type Styles and Paragraph Styles
• Adaptive Wide-Angle Lens Correction (to fix distortion and straighten lines)
• PixelBender now built in (for oil painting filter)
• Enhanced and more flexible Brush Pose, Brush Projection and Color Dynamics
• Rewritten vector engine, real vector strokes with dashed and dotted lines
• Mercury Graphics Engine gives 10-100X faster Liquify, Transform, Warp & more
• Big gains in performance throughout, due to much greater usage of the GPU
• Blur Gallery for creating shallow depth of field, tilt-shift blur and graduated blur
• Much smarter “Auto” for better starting points and one-click corrections
• Lighting Effects are vastly improved, with better controls and 3D
• Completely reengineered Crop Tool works much better
• Background Save, including tunable Auto-Save and Crash Recovery
• Integrated Layer Search/Filtering – by name, effect, style, mode, or attribute
• Easy migration tool imports/exports custom presets and settings
• New “Bicubic Automatic” default for Image Size automatically does the right thing
• Path snapping & anti-aliasing improvements – critical for exacting work
• Easy insert of “dummy text” (Lorem Ipsum, etc.) from the Type Menu
• The return of Contact Sheet II and PDF Presentations in Photoshop
• A completely redesigned and enhanced Print dialog

Making adjustments to color and other image variables is more simple and straightforward in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

Mastering Photoshop
Adobe continues to revolutionize the way photographers and designers manipulate images. The program has become increasingly intuitive, but that doesn’t make mastering it any easier – especially if you spend hundreds of dollars for the software. In short, you want to get the most out of it.

The best and least painful way to learn how to use Photoshop is to take a course that provides hands-on instruction. In fact, there is a great technology summer camp called Digital Media Academy that can help you advance your Photoshop skills and make you a master in no time. Get the picture?

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Apple’s iPhone 5 is next up on the tech giants slate of planned product releases. Rumors about the smartphone have been swirling around the internet since before Apple played bait and switch with the iPhone 4S. But when is the iPhone 5 coming out, and what features will it have?

The iPhone 5 is rumored to have a metal case, and also – a larger screen.

When Will The iPhone 5 Go On Sale?
The earliest cited estimates for announcement/release of the iPhone 5 involve the late spring/early summer time frame. During that window, Apple will participate in the Worldwide Developers Conference, which is held in June. Some experts are betting that the release will take advantage of that event’s press exposure, with production getting in gear during that same time.

If Apple doesn’t make an iPhone 5 announcement in June, the next likely time frame would be October 2012. Most Apple analysts point to the fact that the last version of the iPhone (the iPhone 4S) was released this past fall, and Apple almost always spreads product releases by yearly intervals.

iPhone 5 Features
So now that we have an idea on when the phone will be available our next question is of course, what will it do? The iPhone 5 is supposedly part Apple’s all new product line for 2012, with Apple rumored to be overhauling it’s entire product base. This leaves some exciting possibilities for the iPhone 5, like:

Larger Screen: Apple has taken shots from consumers and the industry alike for not having a larger display. Some experts believe Apple will ramp up the current iPhone display size from 3.5 inches to 4 inches, while others are expecting a whopping big display on the iPhone 5…one that could approach 4.7 inches. Odds: Highly Likely

NFC: The iPhone rumors include the device may include NFC (near-field communication). Like Google Wallet, NFC allows for devices to be used as a credit card (otherwise known as “wave and pay” chips). Rumors are Apple has rejected NFC because there is no standard for it. But recently Forbes reported an Apple employee let it leak that the iPhone 5 would have NFC and use iTunes for billing. That makes more sense, since NFC is the future and Apple’s never been known to care much about the current standards, just look to iTunes for proof of that. Odds: 60% Likely

More Power: Other expected enhancements include a more powerful processor, possibly even using the A5X dual-core processor chip that powers the new iPad. Odds: 85% Likely

Better Camera: Apple has slowly added better cameras to their devices but they lag behind the industry as a whole. With the new push for retina display and better photography, odds are high that Apple will make sure a better camera is in the iPhone 5. Odds: Very Likely

Metal Case: According to sources at Apple’s Chinese iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, the new iPhone 5 could be made of lightweight metal, possibly aluminum, there have also been rumors of Liquidmetal, a futuristic substance that’s as easy to mold, lightweight like plastic, but as strong as aluminum. Odds: Highly Likely

Not the iPhone 5 – but this could be the iPhone 8…

Apple Innovation = Revolution
Apple like many young tech professionals are driven by technology and taking the lead in creating the future. Learning app development for the iPhone can help you be part of the revolution. And speaking of revolution, make no mistake, when the iPhone 5 does release it will be revolutionary.

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“Star Wars Day” is May 4th. In honor of that occasion and Father’s Day (which is also right around the corner), we’ve found a piece a piece of pop culture that “Star Wars” fans are gonna love…and if you’re looking for the perfect gift for dad, look no further.

Darth Vader takes little Luke Skywalker shopping. Ah, the joys of parenting. A panel from “Darth Vader and Son.”

Ever wonder what Darth Vader would have been like if he raised Luke Skywalker as a child? Thanks to cartoonist Jeffrey Brown, we’re about to find out. In Brown’s new book, “Darth Vader and Son” (from Chronicle Books) which releases on May 4th, the artist explores the legendary relationship in a fresh and funny new way.

“Luke…I am Your Father!”
Officially licensed by LucasArts, the book imagines what might have happened if Darth Vader—despite his ominous role as the Dark Lord of the Sith—had actually been present and actively involved in raising his son, Luke Skywalker.

The concept started out when Brown was approached by Google to create a Father’s Day-themed Google Doodle. While the idea was ultimately abandoned, Brown liked the concept so much that he asked Google if he could pursue it on his own. Google agreed and Brown took the concept to Chronicle Books, which helped broker a deal with Lucasfilm and George Lucas, the rights holder.

Brown’s whimsical illustrations show warmhearted father/son activities such as Trick or Treating.

For Brown, it was a dream project. “‘Star Wars’ was the first film I saw in the theater,” he said an interview, “And half my toys growing up were ‘Star Wars’ toys.” He also got complete creative control over the project from Lucasfilm – something that Lucas is not known for. Aside from suggesting a few minor corrections here and there, Brown said he received no interference whatsoever.

Another bonus for Brown was being able to reflect the very real relationship he has with his young son, who was four during the creation of the book. “I think part of what was so fun about this idea is like, as a parent, there’s things you just kind of have to put up with,” he explains.

“They can be really frustrating. So the idea of this dark master, lord of the Sith, having all that power, and in the end, here’s this 4-year-old who can be, ‘No Dad. I don’t want to do it.’ And he’s powerless against it. He’s gotta maintain that presence of power in the universe, but when it’s his own son, he has to rein it in a little bit. That tension is what was fun to play with.”

If the book is successful, Brown hopes to do a follow-up featuring Princess Leia. (That seems very likely since pre-orders for “Darth Vader and Son” have far exceeded the publishers expectations.) “Darth Vader and Son” can be pre-ordered through Amazon and Chronicle Books – just in time for Father’s Day (June 17th).

Even the Empire supports “Take Your Kid to Work Day.”

Creating Character
“Star Wars” has provided a treasure trove of entertainment for generations of moviegoers. Not only did the franchise create characters that have stood the test of time, but George Lucas created an entire universe with special effects that sparked the imaginations of writers, directors and others for years to come.

Creating comic book characters or learning the art of Hollywood visual effects can get you into the film or publishing industry. And before you know it, you could be the creating the next “Star Wars”-inspired blockbuster or fan comic that becomes a bestseller…like “Darth Vader and Son.”

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Google recently announced Google Drive, a cloud service that competes with Amazon, Dropbox and SkyDrive. Google Drive, like those other services, offer users an easy way to store digital content.

All types of files–music, documents and more–can be saved on Google Drive. 

What is a cloud? A cloud service is a remote storage location that lets you place digital content and retrieve it from anywhere using a computer and an Internet connection. As cloud services become more popular, it’s definitely a space that Google wants to be in. But Google is facing questions from users about Google Drive and content ownership. Put simply, the question on many users’ minds is, “Does Google own my stuff if I upload it to Google Drive?”

The Fine Print
Google’s Terms of Use (TOU), which were last modified on March 1^st, specifically the section entitled “Your Content in Our Services,” read as follows:

When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes that we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.

According to Google’s TOU, they can basically do whatever they want with your content: keep it (“store”), copy it (“reproduce”), change it (“modify”) or give it away (“distribute”). Google has stated they are using user content to improve their services and offer an even more personalized experience. The TOU also point out that the terms of Google’s ownership are long-term:

The rights that you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing that you have added to Google Maps).

So if you decide to no longer use Google Drive, Google will still retain rights to use your content. In other words, to paraphrase the famous Las Vegas marketing line, what gets stored with Google Drive stays with Google.

Privacy Policies & Property Rights 
Google’s Privacy Policy deals more with user privacy than stored digital content. However, under “Modifying and Terminating Our Services,” Google states, “We believe that you own your data, and preserving your access to such data is important.” This is confusing to say the least. Google’s Terms of Use also state that “You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.”   So Google, which is it?

Don’t get us wrong: we love and use Google’s search and Chrome is our default browser. But for a cloud service, we’ll stick to Dropbox for now. How do you store your content?

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“The Raven,” stars John Cusack as one of America’s greatest literary figures. The thriller, set in 19^th century Baltimore, involves a string of brutal and horrifying murders, crimes that seem inspired by the shocking stories of a local writer—Edgar Allan Poe.

In “The Raven,” John Cusack plays Poe in a tale of murders most monstrous.

This isn’t the first time Poe has appeared in a motion picture. In fact, the famous writer/poet/critic is featured in Francis Ford Coppola’s experimental horror film, “Twixt.” In that story, the main character (played by Val Kilmer) has an eerie dream in which he visits with a very-much-alive Poe…despite his death in 1849.

Haunted from Birth
So who was this strange little man with the haunted eyes and drooping moustache? In many regards he was America’s first professional writer; before Edgar Allen Poe, the thought of a writer actually making enough money to support himself was laughable. Poe was one of the first writers to make his living completely from his pen.

But it wasn’t an easy life. An orphan at age 2, Poe was dead by 40 (and under mysterious circumstances: found delirious on the streets of Baltimore, incoherent as if drunk and wearing clothes that he did not own). To this day, there is no final verdict on what killed him.

One of the few photographs of the real Edgar Allan Poe, taken about a year before his mysterious death.

During his short life, Edgar Allan Poe experienced much tragedy. He grew up in a foster family where he received harsh discipline. As a young man, he dropped out of the University of Virginia, in part due to mounting gambling debts. Later he was court-martialed out of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for neglecting his duties.

Years later, after he was steadily making a name for himself as a writer, he published the classic horror poem, “The Raven,” but although the poem made Poe world-famous, there was no such thing as copyright law at the time and Poe only earned $7 for his masterpiece. Shortly thereafter, his young wife died—emotionally scarring the brilliant writer. Within seven years, Poe himself was dead.

In Francis Ford Coppola’s “Twixt,” Val Kilmer consults with Poe (played by Ben Chaplin).

Tortured Soul…But Productive Life
And yet, in spite of a brutally hard life, Poe achieved some amazing things:

• He’s considered the father of American horror, as writers like Stephen King have often acknowledged. Many of his scariest works have been adapted for film over the years.
• Poe is one of the first American writers credited with popularizing the short story as a literary format.
• The father of the modern detective story, Poe’s famous “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” was the very first ever in which a detective solves a mystery by piecing together clues and using deductive reasoning. (Modern TV shows like “CSI” owe Poe an enormous debt of inspiration.)
• Poe helped establish the genre of science fiction.
• A great poet, Poe published classic verse like “The Bells” and “A Dream within a Dream.”
• Poe was also a hugely influential literary critic, who commented on the work of other writers and poets.

Finally, Poe was a larger-than-life character whose own personal misfortunes seemed to mirror the awful and mysterious aspects of his writing. There are only a few photographs of Poe and he’s never smiling in any of them. Furthermore, there are few if any “happy endings” within his stories and poems. Poe seemed to be as haunted as his imagination, and the public image of a troubled, unhappy artist has stuck with him for well more than a century.

Poe in Pop Culture
Edgar Allan Poe cast a very long shadow and he’s rarely been out of public circulation. This “master of the macabre” keeps turning up in the strangest places:

1. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” The Beatles…Poe is one of the many celebrities and public figures featured on this 1967 landmark album’s equally famous cover. The collage mixes the images of more than 70 figures, with Poe anchoring the back row (between pioneering psychiatrist Carl Jung and Fred Astaire, Hollywood’s greatest dancer).

Even The Beatles saluted Poe; he appears in the middle of the back row of celebrities on “Sgt. Pepper.”

2. “Play Misty for Me”…In the first film Clint Eastwood directed (1971), Clint plays a DJ who has a brief fling with a fan, not realizing that she’s a complete maniac. But he finally gets the point…or nearly does. Played by Jessica Walter (now the mother on TV’s “Modern Family”), the unhinged fan quotes from Poe’s tragic love poem “Annabel Lee,” and it’s never gotten a spookier reading.

3. The Baltimore Ravens…The pro football team (which captured the 2000 Super Bowl championship) needed a new name when the Cleveland Browns franchise was bought and moved to Baltimore. A fan contest was conducted to select the new name. Although other titles were considered (e.g., “The Baltimore Marauders,” “The Baltimore Americans”), the team was eventually named in honor of Edgar Allan Poe and his most famous poem because Poe had lived and eventually died in the northeastern city. Now the team’s three raven mascots share his name; one’s called “Edgar,” another is “Allan” and a third is called “Poe.”

When a new NFL franchise came to Baltimore, a fan contest chose “Ravens” in honor of Poe’s famous poem.

Putting Poe to Work
Edgar Allen Poe would have loved the medium of digital filmmaking—now it’s possible to bring a writer’s vision to life and take audiences even deeper into their world. All it takes is an active imagination and some Hollywood visual effects to help create nightmares that leave a lasting impression on people. Poe would be proud.

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“The Avengers” has wowed audiences and broken box offices records.

“The Avengers” assemble at Comic-Con in San Diego. From left: Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo.

And in the not-too-distant future, “The Avengers” will be joined by even more movies from the Marvel Universe. (How about an”Incredible Hulk” franchise helmed by Mark Ruffalo?) But for now, all eyes are turned toward “The Avengers,” which is expected to be the blockbuster of Summer 2012.

Assembling a Cast of Heroes
“The Avengers” trailer features Robert Downey Jr. (as Iron Man/Tony Stark), Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk/Dr. Bruce Banner), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye/Clint Barton), Stellan Skarsgard (Dr. Erik Selvig), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury).

The story, written by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon tells how the Avengers came together to fight Loki and an alien army he brings to Earth to destroy mankind. Whedon wrote the screenplay and directs the film.

On the set of  “The Avengers,” director Josh Whedon looks on while the actors relax between takes. 

The film, which was first announced in 2005 has taken a long road to completion. Originally delayed by the release of “Iron Man” in 2008, “The Avengers” was pushed back to July 2011. Then actress Scarlett Johansson signed on and the film was delayed again to accommodate her schedule.

Fine-tuning the script (which director Whedon rewrote after joining the project in 2010) additionally delayed production. And finally, there was the much-publicized substitution of Mark Ruffalo to portray the Incredible Hulk – after actor Edward Norton left the cast. (Longtime Hulk fans may be pleased to learn that the Hulk’s voice will come from none other than Lou Ferrigno, who played the not-so-jolly green giant on TV back in the 1970s.)

So much for the art of digital filmmaking, still both the studio, cast and director understand the urgency to get it right, because multiple sequels are riding the film’s success, like…

Thor 2
In November 2013, moviegoers can look forward to the arrival of “Thor 2,” which will again star Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-swinging Norse god from Asgard. His last screen outing, 2011’s “Thor,” earned nearly a half-billion dollars ($449 million internationally). Suffice it to say, Marvel already has high hopes for the follow-up film.

Immediately on the heels of “The Avengers,” release, Hemsworth will start shooting “Thor 2.” 

Filming on “Thor 2″ is set to begin late this summer in London and while several big-name directors have been attached to the project, it appears Alan Taylor (“Game of Thrones”) will get the assignment. The screenplay is being written by Robert Rodat (“Saving Private Ryan”). Along with Hemsworth, Natalie Portman is scheduled to return for the sequel, along with Tom Hiddleston, who will again portray Thor’s evil brother, Loki.

Captain America 2
Last summer’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” also scored big at the box office, raking in more than $368 million worldwide. The film was a solid hit with critics, too. Critic Roger Ebert wrote, “I admired the way that director Joe Johnston propelled the narrative. I got a sense of a broad story, rather than the impression of a series of sensational set pieces. If Marvel is wise, it will take this and ‘Iron Man’ as its templates.”

The good Captain will return to movie screens in April 2014.

Marvel has been listening. The publisher/studio (now owned by The Walt Disney Company) has been planning a Captain America sequel since before the first film was released, they’ve even camped out a release date: April 4, 2014.

Captain America 2 is rumored to take place mainly in the present day, with the Cap’n adjusting to his new surroundings, although the screenwriters have said they’re experimenting with flashbacks to the World War II period.

Get Your Hero On!
Whether it comes to saving the universe or dominating movie screens, superheroes rule. And today’s superhero movies finally deliver the explosive, larger-than-life hollywood visual effects that comic books can only depict through illustrations. Creating comic book characters isn’t the easy and bringing them to life on screen is even more difficult. We’ll be headed to a theater to see if earth’s mightiest heroes “The Avengers,” really do save the day.

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Alfred Hitchcock, cinema’s all-time master director of suspense, is set to return to the big screen in 2013. “Hitch,” as he was called, influenced both the horror genre and forever left his stamp on the craft of filmmaking. We take a sneak peek at the new biography and the film’s star.

A larger than life presence: the great director Alfred Hitchcock works his magic.

Bringing Hitchcock Back
In the new film “Hitchcock,” Anthony Hopkins (best known as Hannibal Lector and more recently as Thor’s father Odin), will star as Alfred Hitchcock with Helen Mirren portraying Hitchcock’s beloved wife Alma. The Fox Searchlight production will be directed by Sacha Gervasi and co-produced by Ivan Reitman, of “Ghostbusters” fame.

“Hitchcock” will concentrate on the lifelong love story between the famous director and his wife. The backdrop for the story: the 1960 production of Hitchcock’s brilliant terror masterpiece, “Psycho,” a film many critics still consider the greatest horror film ever made.

Shooting on “Hitchcock” began last week in Los Angeles, with the cast being rounded out by Scarlett Johansson (as actress Janet Leigh, who portrayed the ill-fated Marion Crane in “Psycho”), Jessica Biel (as actress Vera Miles, who also starred in the original film) and actor James D’Arcy (who will play Anthony Perkins, an actor who gained tremendous notoriety based on his performance as “Psycho”’s deranged Norman Bates).

Hitchcock on the set of “Psycho,” setting up the shower scene…

…And Sir Anthony Hopkins, in full makeup, displaying the famous director’s profile in the new film “Hitchcock.” 

Hitchcock’s challenges to get “Psycho” made are legendary in Hollywood circles: The master director eventually was forced to fund the entire $800,000 budget himself and save money by utilizing the shooting crew from his celebrated TV program. Once released, however, the film (which the studio didn’t want to make) caused an international sensation and earned its director and producer both financial success and and a reputation as filmdom’s Master of Suspense.

Based on Stephen Rebello’s outstanding book, “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho,” (which detailed Hitchcock’s struggles to get the project produced, despite a complete lack of interest in making the film by Universal Studios) “Hitchcock” could be an Oscar contender.

Ever the prankster, Hitchcock released this publicity shot of him sitting in the set chair of “Psycho”‘s very dead Mrs. Bates.

Meet the Masters in Film School 
Serious about becoming a filmmaker? Then learn how to make a movie this summer at film camp. Learn about the techniques that masters like Hitchcock used to make movies. If you’re an aspiring filmmaker, there’s no better time to learn the craft than now. Tools like Final Cut Pro X and After Effects make it easier than ever before to bring your cinematic vision to life. Who knows? You might have what it takes to be the next Alfred Hitchcock.

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It seems like only yesterday that the music world first turned on to three dudes from New York City. But ever since they exploded onto the scene, the Beastie Boys have defied all expectations.

Elder statesmen of Hip Hop: the men called Beastie.  From left: Mike D (Michael Diamond), King Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) and MCA (Adam Yauch). 

Has it been 25 years already? Originally considered a novelty act, the Beastie Boys have endured and grown musically. Now the men known as MCA (aka Adam Yauch), Mike D (Michael Diamond) and King Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) are respected elder statesmen of the Hip Hop movement. Recently inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the Boys have accumulated total sales exceeding 20 million albums and have carved out a lasting musical legacy.

At the beginning, they were just three white guys trying to make rap music – and have fun. The band originally had two other members and the Beastie Boys played primarily Punk Rock, or some variation of it. But they were in New York right at the time when Rap started taking off and they eventually channeled their inner MCs.

In celebration of their recent Hall of Fame triumph, we thought we’d sift through a quarter-century of Beastie madness and salute a handful of their top tracks:

Track: “Cooky Puss”
Album: Some Old Bulls*&% (1983)
Why You Should Listen: In the beginning, there was the turntable. And it was funny. At least it was how the Beasties used it in their ’83 breakthrough single, “Cooky Puss,” a series of prank phone calls overlaid on a Hip Hop beat and mixed with plenty of turntable scratching.

It’s difficult to decide which is more amusing—the goofy sounds of a Steve Martin comedy album being slowed down and stretched on the turntable or the comical rudeness the Beasties display when phoning a local Carvel Ice Cream shop. At first, the Carvel worker mistakenly assumes that the caller wants to order a Cooky Puss ice cream cake. Instead, the Beasties act as if the cake were a real person. “Yo, I said I’m calling you, babeee!” Mike D tells the unlucky worker. “Yo man, Cooky Puss there? I want to speak to Cooky Puss!” (The Carvel worker then hangs up, prompting a hilariously unprintable response from Mike D.)

The early Beastie Boys yukking it up, not long after emerging from the New York club scene with “Cooky Puss.”

Now collected on 1994’s Some Old Bulls*&%, “Cooky Puss” first appeared on an EP with three other songs. As fate would have it, a British Airways TV commercial used a piece of one of the other numbers (“Beastie Revolution”). In what may have been the first lawsuit based on illegal sampling of music, the Beasties successfully sued the airline for $40,000. That sum provided the seed money for the Beastie Boys to rent an apartment in New York’s Chinatown district, where they dug in and worked on mastering the rhythms of Rap and the nuances of Hip Hop. Meanwhile, the group released a series of 12-inch singles which stoked their following within the New York club scene. The Beastie Boys were on their way. And within just a couple of years, they would be world famous.

The inspiration for the Beasties’ first success: Carvel’s “Cooky Puss” ice cream cake.

Track: “Fight for Your Right” (To Party!!!)
Album: Licensed to Ill (1986)
Why You Should Listen: The cover illustration shows the back half of a sleek Beastie Boys jet; the back-cover illustration shows the front half—with the plane crashed right into the side of a mountain. Such humor pervades Licensed to Ill, the first Beastie Boys album and the very first Rap album to shoot to the Number One slot on the Billboard charts (where it remained for five weeks). Furthermore, the album got positive acclaim, even from publications like Rolling Stone, which titled its review, “Three Idiots Create a Masterpiece.”

What made Licensed worthy of becoming the best selling Rap album of the 1980s? For starters, it was brilliantly assembled by Rick Rubin, who is now acknowledged as one of the music industry’s greatest producers. It was also successful in part because people didn’t quite know what to make of it. (Was it a serious Rap album? Was it a novelty comedy record? And why was there Heavy Metal guitar and drums on some numbers?) Furthermore, there was a racial aspect that surrounded the Beastie’s success. At the time, there really were no commercially successful white rappers, although Licensed would inspire legions of white kids to pick up a mic and get their MC on. (One of them was a 14-year-old from Detroit named Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem.)

When Licensed to Ill exploded with sales of 5 million albums, the Beastie Boys became a headlining act.

Aside from great production and an intriguing mix that seems to change its sound with each track, Licensed had attitude—massive, unyielding tons of attitude. And nowhere was that ‘tude louder and prouder than in the classic rock ‘n’ roll anthem, “Fight for Your Right.” Promoted through a hilarious MTV video, “Fight for Your Right” is about a teenager’s defiance of social restrictions and parental authority.

Upon its release the song was already being compared to great previous statements of teenage angst such as Kiss’s “Rock and Roll All Night,” Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” Before Licensed, the Beasties had already toured with big acts like Madonna, Run DMC and LL Cool J. After Licensed sold 5 million copies, the Beasties returned to the road as headliners.

In the scandalous tour that followed, there were lawsuits and arrests. At one unhinged 1987 performance in Liverpool, England (the Beatles’ home town), the crowd went completely nuts and a riot ensued…only 10 minutes into the show. The Beastie Boys were now officially a phenomenon.

Track: “B-Boy Bouillabaisse”
Album: Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Why You Should Listen: The term sophomore slump is used in the music business to illustrate what happens to many recording artists who are lucky enough to strike gold with their first album. What do they then do for a follow-up? Few understood this dilemma better than the Beastie Boys. Sure, the group had made a big splash with Licensed to Ill, but was there anything else they could do? The answer would come with 1989’s Paul’s Boutique, one of the strongest and strangest albums that any branch of popular music has ever produced.

Tired of their label (DefJam) and unsure of their next move, the Beasties relocated to Los Angeles in 1988 and hooked up with the Dust Brothers production team. Together they spent 16 months crafting Paul’s Boutique. Now considered one of the touchstones of Rap (as well as a production masterpiece in the same league as The Beach Boy’s Pet Sounds and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), Paul’s Boutique was initially considered a failure, largely because it only rose to Number 14 on the Billboard album charts.

The album contained a couple of moderately successful singles (“Hey Ladies” and “Shake Your Rump”), but nothing like its predecessor. And few listeners knew what to make of it, considering that its densely layered sound was like nothing else that existed anywhere in commercial music. And it was a song cycle that contained few (if any) breaks between the tracks, which made it even more difficult to follow along and know which song you were listening to at any point.

One of the most iconic images in Rap music: the cover shot of 1989′s masterpiece, Paul’s Boutique. As you can see, it was a real clothing store in Brooklyn. (The album even contained a brief radio spot for the boutique.)

A wonderland of cultural references, Paul’s Boutique seemed to draw inspiration and samples from everywhere…Rap songs, Rock music, TV shows, movies, whatever…and contained samples from more than one hundred songs (most of which were cleared for use by their copyright holders, to the tune of approximately $250,000). And because it’s the odd Rap album indeed that includes a sample from Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” Paul’s Boutique remains a piece of music that requires numerous repeat listenings in order to untangle all the lyrics and pop references.

Its odd sonic touches remain endearing, such as the brief hillbilly hayride that opens Side 2 (“5-Piece Chicken Dinner”) and the starting seconds of “3-Minute Rule,” when we clearly hear the unmistakable back-and-forth clip-clop of a ping-pong match.

The album closes with “B-Boy Bouillabaise,” a conjoined 12-minute suite of 9 mini-songs which itself contains 24 individual samples. Among the album’s tracks, this may be the best overview of Paul’s Boutique. Like the album, it’s crammed with pop references and showcases the band’s intense creativity and artistic ambition. Before Paul’s Boutique, many considered the Beastie Boys a fluke. Afterward, most critics were in awe of a musical group that could capture a sound this wild and dense. The Beastie Boys were now artists…and Paul’s Boutique would eventually be understood as the group’s magnum opus.

Track: “So What’cha Want”
Album: Check Your Head (1992)
Why You Should Listen: It’s important to remember that the Beasties started out as a Punk/Thrash band before sliding into Rap and Hip Hop. After Paul’s Boutique stiffed, the group was looking for a new direction—so it went backwards. For their next album the band members returned to their roots and started playing their own instruments again…with Mike D pummeling the drums, MCA mastering the bass and Ad-Rock attacking the lead guitar (as he had done in an earlier band named “The Young and the Useless”). Is there a Grunge influence to Check Your Head? Quite possibly, given that this same period saw the meteoric rise of bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. And the playing has a rough edge that was common to Grunge.

By the time the Beasties recorded Check Your Head, the group was playing its own instruments, as it had when just starting out.

Of course, it’s still a Beastie Boys album and that means plenty of Rap along with lots of Rock. The album’s biggest and best single, “So What’cha Want,” seems more like a traditional bragging Rap, wherein the Rapper calls out the weakness of other MCs. Mighty MCA wastes no time putting all chumps in their place: “Well, I’m as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce/You’ve got the rhyme and reason but no cause/So if you’re hot to trot, you think you’re slicker than grease/I got news for you crews, you’ll be sucking like a leech.”

Track: “Sabotage”
Album: Ill Communication (1994)
Why You Should Listen: Check Your Head provided the rough blueprint for the Beasties’ next album. Like its predecessor, Ill Communication was part Rap and part Rock, along with a few novelty bits and a couple of instrumentals. And although Check Your Head had broken into the Top Ten, by the time Ill Communication dropped in 1994, the group had amassed a sizeable following—enough for the new album to enter the Billboard Hot 200 chart at Number One. And when ticket sales began for the following year’s tour, few were surprised to find that tickets sold out within only a few minutes.

The action-packed music video for “Sabotage” replicated the opening of a 1970s cop show.

While Ill Communication was well-executed with numerous memorable songs (e.g., “Sure Shot,” “Heart Attack Man”), the album’s stand-out track was a three-minute howl of rage called “Sabotage.” Built around a savage one-chord guitar riff invented in the 70s by Rock wild man Ted Nugent, “Sabotage” is Hard Rock with a Rap lyric. By this point, the Beastie Boys had become so free with their allusions that they weren’t afraid to mention a once-famous Jazz drummer who was known as much for his explosive temper as his skill (“But make no mistake and switch up my channel/I’m Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle”). Of course, few members of the Beasties’ audience would have had any idea who Buddy Rich was…but that’s part of the point with the Beastie Boys. They don’t pander to their audience and never really have.

The Beats Go On…
This past summer, the Beastie Boys returned with the long-anticipated Hot Sauce Committee Part Two album. Despite a cancer scare that had temporarily sidelined Adam Yauch, the group came back strong with another wily mix of sounds that leans more toward the group’s Hip Hop heritage (as did 1998’s Hello Nasty). And through tracks such as “Too Many Rappers (Not Enough MCs),” “Here’s a Little Something For Ya,” and “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win,” the group proved conclusively that despite more than 25 years as a performing and recording unit, the world hasn’t heard the last from the Beastie Boys. Not too bad a legacy for three punks from New York.

From bratty punks to respected studio masters, the Beastie Boys have defied time and expectations.

Making Beats Like the Beasties
The Beastie Boys have long been able to come up with fresh and complex beats, and use those rhythm tracks in interesting ways. Today music production is an elemental part of all forms of mass communication and is used in everything from TV commercials to the latest chart-topping album. If you’re still wanting to learn how to make your own beats and take you rightful place among the next generation of musicians and music producers, why not start now? Music production is a multi-million dollar industry, and music production summer camps like the one sponsored by The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus can get you on your way.

The Music Legends series pays tributes to influential artists, music personalities and styles of music. If you have an artist or type of music you’d like us to showcase, let us know via the comments.

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It was the place to be and he made it all happen. For 47 years, pop music’s television home was “American Bandstand” and the gentleman who hosted the long-running program was Dick Clark, who passed away yesterday at the age of 82.

Often called “America’s oldest teenager,” Clark was still in his twenties when he first took “American Bandstand” to a national audience.

Clark was many things besides the cheerful, unflappable host of “Bandstand.” A one-man media empire, Clark worked as if he were single-handedly trying to create enough programs to fill an entire network. He concepted and hosted game shows such as “The $10,000 Pyramid,” (which eventually morphed into “The $100,000 Pyramid”) and award shows like the “American Music Awards,” not to mention “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve,” which became an essential component of holiday festivities. He wasn’t into learning music production, but he dabbled in film production and appeared on camera in a couple of theatrical roles.

A one-man production dynamo, Clark also founded the American Music Awards, several of which were won by his friend, Michael Jackson. Clark had first introduced the nation to The Jackson Five on “Bandstand” in 1970.

But Clark will always be most closely associated with “Bandstand,” which at first was just another televised teenage dance party broadcast from a Philadelphia TV station. (At that time, most American cities large enough to have a television station had some type of similar program.) Clark’s triumph was to convince the ABC network to carry “Bandstand” as part of its national line-up. By 1957, the program was being run coast-to-coast and well on its way to becoming a national institution.

This was how “Bandstand” first looked. Constant dancing and interviews with the teen dancers. One popular feature: Rate-A-Record. (Sample interview response: “It had a good beat and it was easy to dance to. I give it an 85.”)

Stars on 45
Who appeared on “American Bandstand”? A better question is who didn’t. Pop icons such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beach Boys, Prince, Chuck Berry, The Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder, KISS and James Brown all made the scene.

And as pop music evolved through the years, “Bandstand” worked to keep up with all the changes. When Motown began to dominate pop charts in the 60s, acts like Marvin Gaye and The Supremes appeared on the show. As the 70s Disco craze grew, artists such as Donna Summer and K.C. & The Sunshine Band were showcased. When Punk gave way to New Wave, “Bandstand” remained hip enough to feature emerging bands like Blondie and DEVO.

During the 80s, “Bandstand” brought national exposure to the first generation of Rap artists (including Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys and LL Cool J.), as well as to classic Rock bands of the day (e.g., Talking Heads, R.E.M.). And while it’s true that the program tended to focus on pop music’s softer sounds, the show did plenty to introduce audiences to hard Rock. If not, why would rockers like Aerosmith, The Doors and Steely Dan have bothered to appear?

By the 80s, music had changed plenty. Here Clark interviews Run-D.M.C., one of the first Rap acts to make it big.

“American Bandstand” finally left the airwaves in 1989, but that didn’t stop Clark from staying busy. Neither did a traumatic 2004 stroke that partially impaired his ability to speak. Clark remained the host of his New Year’s Eve show, although he finally shared hosting responsibilities with “American Idol’s” Ryan Seacrest.

Dick Clark bravely continued to host “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” after a serious stroke partially slurred his speech.

Clark (who was born in Bronxville, New York) was thrice married and had three grown children—not to mention an extended family of millions of television viewers who both liked and respected him. At the end of each broadcast of “American Bandstand,” Dick Clark would stand at his podium, always smiling and impeccably dressed in suit and tie, while dancing teenagers continued to whirl around him. He’d invite us back next week, say “So long” and always give a casual salute.

Right back at ya, Mr. Clark… 

The Music Legends series pays tributes to influential artists (in this case, music personalities) and styles of music. If you have an artist or type of music you’d like us to showcase, let us know via the comments.

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When the late Tupac Shakur rose from the grave (and appeared onstage) last weekend at the Coachella Music Festival in California, his virtual self sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry. It was the first time a deceased pop star entertained a crowd on such a grand scale – but based on the reaction, it won’t be the last.

Rapper Snoop Dogg (L) and a “hologram” of the late rapper Tupac Shakur (R) perform at Coachella.

Bringing Tupac Back to Life
At his peak, Tupac Shakur was one of the best-selling artists in the world, having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. The rapper was cut down in his prime, dying from gunshot wounds on September 13, 1996. To bring the rapper back to life, music producer and Coachella performer Dr. Dre partnered with James Cameron’s Digital Domain, San Diego’s AV Concepts and U.K.-based Musion Systems to create a unique Tupac performance – just for Coachella.

Ed Ulbrich, chief creative officer at Digital Domain, said “This is just the beginning. Dre has a massive vision for this.” In fact, The Wall Street Journal reported that the “hologram Tupac” may be going on tour. Neither Dr. Dre or the companies he hired to help bring Tupac back to life are commenting about a tour or how they pulled off the performance.

Insiders have said the visual effect is the same as the effect that makes the ghost appear in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion and the Tower of Terror. Called “Pepper’s Ghost,” the image is basically projected onto a piece of glass, or in the case of Tupac, a mylar sheet 30-by-13 feet across. So in reality, it’s a 2D image and not a 3D hologram.

Disney Resorts’ Tower of Terror attraction uses the same effect as the Tupac “hologram.” (The Walt Disney Company)

The custom screen, designed by AV Concepts, was lowered onto the stage seconds before his performance. And because it’s clear, other performers (like Dre and Snoop Dog) were able to get up close and personal with the virtual performer.

How it worked: The illusion is almost identical to those seen in theme parks. (International Business Times)

But there’s more to Tupac’s Coachella performance than just digging up archival footage and projecting it on a mylar screen. Tupac’s two-song performance was a year in the making; the performer is actually a computer-generated image.

To create it, Digital Domain used motion capture and computers to create the likeness. “This is not (Tupac) performing at some point. This is a completely original, exclusive performance only for Coachella and that audience,” Ed Ulbrich, chief creative officer at Digital Domain told Bloomberg News.

Digital Domain copied his mannerisms, tone of voice and even his tattoos. Tupac’s performance marks a new era in entertainment. Think for a second about a show that re-imagines The Beatles, or Elvis, years after they actually toured…

Madonna virtually performs with The Gorillaz at the 2006 Grammys. 

Famous Virtual Performers
The holographic Tupac Shakur that performed at Coachella wasn’t the first holographic performer. In fact, holographic performers have been entertaining people since the 1860s. The Pepper’s Ghost effect was first used in an 1862 performance of Charles Dickens’ novella “The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain,” at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in London. Here are a few more recent ones:

Hatsune Miku:
A blue-haired Japanese pop star whose animated 3D manga likeness has been performing to packed arenas since 2010.

Hatsune Miku is an anime hologram that has been performing in Japan since 2010.

Madonna performing with The Gorillaz:
During their 2006 Grammy Awards performance Madonna and the Gorillaz performed as holograms.

Creating the Next Virtual Pop Star
Learning music and beats production can put you on a fast track to becoming a hit maker. But as Digital Domain has vividly demonstrated, the next music star may be a virtual one formed completely out of visual effects. Tupac’s Coachella performance, the buzz and reaction are sure to make other performers (or their estates) consider a virtual performances.

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