Video Production Books

In his book "$30 Film School," Michael W. Dean covers all aspects of the filmmaking process in a manner that is accessible to those with all levels of filmmaking experience. From the foundations of storytelling, to finding sufficient funds (a constant theme throughout the book), to the production and distribution of your work, this book contains a wealth of practical information, examples, and advice. While some of the specific computer software and hardware recommendations may have a short shelf-life due to the rapid pace of technological change, the other aspects of filmmaking covered in the book should age much more gracefully.

I've owned both editions of $30 Film School and also have a copy of the author's documentary, DIY or DIE. It's all good stuff. This ain't Hollywood filmmaking we're talking about here . . . the idea behind this book is to take whatever you got ($300 MiniDV Cam from Wal-Mart? Great, that will work) and make a good film. So if you're just getting started and are ready to make your NO BUDGET film then this book is a great place to start.

$30 Film School is not just a great one-time read but it is also a serious reference manual about filmmaking, answering all the questions you never knew you had. Michael W. Dean is very direct, honest and deliberate in how he takes us through the Do It Yourself process of humble filmmaking. He proves himself to be the voice of the independent spirit. This book starts from the very basics. Many books about filmmaking are written for film school grads or people looking to score a big studio deal. But what about us little people who have not the big bucks or the knowledge to make our own visions a reality? Well, $30 Film School is the manual that can empower the most ignorant and well meaning first timers...it sure empowered me and it inspired me to focus my creativity on some serious film projects.

You want to get dirty and actually start making your vision on screen? Then this is the only book you'll need.

In writing this book Michael Dean has done an admirable thing: he has created a frank, down-to-earth, and entertaining guide to personal and low-budget moviemaking. $30 Film School is less successful as an actual education on movies than as a testimony to the power of a single artist to influence and innovate. There are all sorts of chapters and sections with good advice on how to avoid legal troubles, use types of equipment and software, organizing a cast and crew, and generally assuming a leadership role in a film project-I got a strong sense that the goal of this book was to show the ambitious how to practically achieve their dreams in the movie business. If you are looking for artistic approaches to photography, music, editing, and acting I would redirect your $30 to a books like Louis Giannetti's "Understanding Movies" or Richard Barsam's stuff about film analysis. This is if you're tired of studying and want to start making your movie right away, da**it. Sounds good to me.

buy this book, learn how and then GO FORTH and IRRITATE!

rdc

The book arrived quickly, in great condition, was a great read and at a good price. Would definitely buy from them again.

This book is considered a "must" for all editors. Murch is pretty famous for his work and style so, in my opinion, I agree it's worth the read (and worth having). My book arrived on time and in the condition promised!

Satisfied customer overall!

are walter murch books overrated? at least there's no trace of michael ondaajte (spelling?) here.

This book has a wealth of information for the inexperienced and beginner, film editer, or anyone who is looking for a good book on the subject. I have found it to be very helpful, as I am still learning how to do professional editing!

This is NOT a "how to" book for what some students may be looking for, but it is however, the best book I've read on the "ART" of editing. Insightful and well written, it helped me to really understand when to make a cut that works and when to avoid those that don't work. I would recommend it to all my friends who are editors.

I would have to agree with the review done by the reader from Maitland, FL United States. My main intention to get this book is to learn more on the "Technical Information" such as in-depth explanation on Progressive Scan, Vertical/Horizontal Resolution, PAL vs. NTSC, etc. Unfortunately, it lacks such useful details.

Instead of discussing & explaining more on the DVD technology, features & benefits, a huge DVD movie lists are reviewed instead. Furthermore, the comprehensive review of the 9-Disc Alien Quadrilogy is included which it's way too long & unnecessary.

The only interesting areas are in Part 1 (Understanding DVD), Part 2 (Building a Home Theater) & Part 5 (The Future of DVD). The section on Aspect Ratio, Widescreen vs Full Frame, various sound formats, etc which are informative for newbies. Also, the part that explains the latest technology, such as DVD recorders and the new SACD and DVD-Audio high-resolution music formats is very revealing.

In conclusion, this book is concise & suitable for all DVD newbies (no, it's not boring at all!) but for the rest of us, our thirst for additional technical aspects isn't satisfied. Well, it's certainly worth adding this book into your current DVD book collection (just like your DVD movies) or simply to show off that you own the latest DVD book available in the market!

If you are going to buy this book looking technical infomation concerning DVDs, forget it. This book is more like a review of movies DVDs, talking about released DVDs and the upcoming Aliens DVD set. In fact,less than ten pages are devoted to discussing technical aspects of DVDs. All things considered, this a waste of money, time and effort on a book dealing with the trivial aspect of DVDs. You are much better off reading FAQ DVD on the Internet.

With even person that asks me to help them buy a Home Theater I give them this book. It is a great book to give anyone if they are still trying to understand all the ins and outs of Home Theater, especially DVD talk, and the up coming HD-DVD talk. Granted you must realize that this book due to the subject matter of electronics will be "old" the day it is printed, it doe sa wonderful job of attempting to be as future proff as possible. Great book for starters, but if you wan to go deeper then just for to an online forum or find another resource.

I got this book in my stocking and it's really fun read! I learned alot about DVD, and got some good ideas about titles to buy that I wouldn't have thought of. It reads easily, and is easy to understand for beginners, and I think has lots of good information for people who already know a bunch too. I have reccommended it to all my friends - give it a try! A+++

What if someone took all the essential
information that every person should know about
DVD and Home Theater and put it into book form?
Well, this is exactly what Bill Hunt and Todd Doogan
have accomplished with their newly authored book,
The Digital Bits: Insider's Guide To DVD.

This is the very first publication of its kind to
explore the DVD format from history to future. You'll
not only learn how DVD discs are manufactured and
compressed, but learn about about the authoring process
in creating some of the great menu designs we have
come to appreciate over the years.

One of the greatest benefits of this book for
DVD "newbies" is the fact that it clearly explains
aspect ratios. Through the use of many comparison
film stills, a reader can not only see how a
1.85:1 ratio compares to 2.35:1, but how Full Frame
greatly compromises the widescreen scale. If there
is one thing I hope this book accomplishes is to
educate people as to why widescreen is so important
in preserving the filmmaker's intended vision.

For anyone just getting into Home Theater, this
book provides valuable information on how best to
begin building a theater based on a particular budget.
The authors are very careful in making certain that
readers wisely spend their budget, finding the right
compromise between features and price. Those of you
on a limited budget can actually do better than buying
a "home theater in a box," and you'll find some

invaluable advice on how you can better spend your money.

While the book does spend a good deal of its first 84
pages on material already familiar to most of you, Bill
and Todd have included eye-opening material that will
keep readers glued to their seats.

This book contains comprehensive reviews of the
Top 100 DVDs of all time. I particularly
find these reviews to be valuable as there are so
many great films crossing all genres that I have
yet to become aware of. The book examines the
very BEST of both Film and TV on DVD, with reviews
that contain background history on its subject
matter as well as giving us detailed information
on its transfer and included supplements.

As many of you are aware, Fox Home Video is
about to release The Alien Quadrilogy to
DVD. The Digital Bits had the opportunity
to go behind-the-scenes in the production of
this amazing 9-disc DVD that contains never-before-
seen versions of these films as well as all-new

supplemental materials.

At just over 400 pages, The Digital Bits:
Insider's Guide To DVD is a very easy read.
You can pretty much flip through the pages and
find something that will catch your eye. Newbies
to the DVD/Home Theater experience will spend
more time scouring through the first 84 pages of
the book. These pages provide a thorough look
at everything anyone needs to know about DVD and
building a Home Theater. Established enthusiasts
will fully enjoy the in-depth look at the creation
of this year's anticipated release of Twentieth
Century Fox's nine-disc Alien Quadrilogy.

The fact that this book contains comprehensive
reviews of the Top 100 DVDs of all time
is reason enough to keep a copy next to your
favorite sitting chair. It certainly takes the
guesswork out of "What are we watching tonight?!"

This book is great. That's all there is to it really. Anyone who is interested in cinematography and making films should own it.

It is soooo nice to have a book like this. I refer to it all the time. It covers just about everything I ever wanted to know about placing and moving and framing, or to sum it up, USING a camera to visually achieve the most emotional draw from an audience. While it doesn't have technical aspects like using a light meter, it is very technical, however it doesn't just give you a list of rules to follow that you can later learn to break. It teaches why those rules work, and how to break them. But it doesn't stop there. It explains why you can break the rules and how to apply this creativity to your film.

It is full of examples that you can watch for yourself. It is pretty much a book that no one considering cinematography as a career should be without!

This is no doubt a very BASIC book on Cinematography from 1965 (but still applicable today)- yet if you are unfamiliar with the basic Five C's of shooting, then it is a good tool for learning these rules. I recommend it for film students new to camera work. But if you have been working with shooting for awhile, it may be a little too basic.

The Five C's of Cinematography is basically a rule book on the form of motion picture making as it relates to camera angles, movements and editing. This book is the "bible" or rule book of the techniques of film making, such as painting has composition rules itself. A true artist not only knows the rules, but understands the rules of why it is used. The Five C's does all that, it shows and explains the what therefores and hows. It even shows the wrongs in a clear fashion, which is amazing since this is a book of still images about a medium of moving images.

The best artists knew the rules of their art, and either followed them or break them to get the effect they wanted. If one does not know the rules, one can not realize the effect they are creating by breaking the rules. That is why most modern artists of today seem muddled and unfocused and Picasso still evokes and moves one. Picasso knew the rules. This book will help one know the rules of film.

The images and wording may be dated, even quaint, but once one looks past such superficial cosmetics, the information is a gold mine of a very large vein in information

Hey!
On the front cover of this book there's an "American Cinematographer" quote saying: "The 5 C's of Cinematography is one of the three most important books on cinematic technique ever published." So, what about the others two? I suspect one of them is John Altons' "Painting with Light". What about the third?
I find these classic books on filmmaking realy great, that's why the answer to that quote interests me. Thanks!

The Lord of the Rings;
The fellowship of the Ring

By, J.R.R Tolkien

"It's a strange business walking out your front door; you step out onto the path, and if you don't keep your feet on the road there's no knowing where you'll be swept offto." To Frodo Baggins of the Shire, these words had relatively no significance, but when he found himself in a crucial position in the salvation of Middle Earth; he came to comprehend the meaning of this proverb more thoroughly. In J.R.R Tolkien's epic novel The Fellowship of the Ring, readers are propelled into the breathtaking fantasy world of Middle Earth and introduced to young Frodo Baggins of The Shire. Throughout this spellbinding epic, readers accompany Frodo on his rugged road of hardships and dilemmas leading up to the destruction of the ring of power and the liberation of Middle Earth.
Frodo Baggins was just a typical Hobbit who coexisted peacefully and quietly in his secluded environment in the Shire. He was a normal citizen who was very naive with regard to the many happenings of Middle Earth. However, Frodo's serene life was short-lived, for he soon discovered that the all mighty ring of power was in his household. This book is about how Frodo most leave behind his beloved home and set out to destroy the ring of power once and for all. Along his quest, he faces many arduous circumstances and he sometimes longs for his familiar home. Often, IR.R Tolkien makes the readers really ponder whether Frodo has enough willpower to continue his quest and if he will ever truly overcome affliction. The author does an outstanding job creating this believable yet surreal world and making you really get interested in the characters and events. In my opinion, he is one of the most innovative authors of all time.
Perhaps even more alluring than the predominant storyline are the strong underling themes and messages that permeate the book. Even though this book is a fantasy, it has some extremely important messages that are universally significant. For instance, one of the most dominant themes of this book (and the whole trilogy) is the concept of small people being strong enough to overcome great adversity. At some instances, you can really see that Frodo is a brave person and that he has enough determination to overcome the malice and hatred of the enemy. Another central theme is the notion that fate intervenes with an individual's life. For instance, when the ring of power fell into the hands of Frodo, was it really misfortune or was he meant to be the destroyer of the ring and savior of Middle Earth? I found myself pondering such questions over and over again in my mind and definitely think that this added great intrigue to an already outstanding book.
All in all, you can see that I enjoyed exploring Middle Earth and experiencing the many thrilling events described in this amazing piece of literature. I think that this is an essential read for anybody who is interested in fantasy stories and I strongly recommend it to everyone who has the stamina to persevere through some of the more complicated and confusing parts. This is my favorite book that I have read thus far and I believe that J.R.R Tolkien is one of the most creative and gifted authors of American literature.

I found that the Art of the Fellowship of the Ring was extremely interesting. The sketches and composites were all very detailed and unique. Many of the drawings included, of course, never made it to the film, so it is brilliant to see some of the artists' original conceptions of Professor Tolkien's work.

As a fan of both architectural and fashion design I found the sections on 'Locations' and 'Costumes' particularly fascinating. For instance, I never realized that the basic outline for the Elven clothing was taken from the shape of leaves, nor the intricacy of the detail put into places as seemingly simple as Bag End.

Many of the sketches contained in this volume are of things that never made it to the film, not even to the extended version. In summary, The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring is an exhilerating insight to the LotR for both those interested in art...and I am sure for those who simply revere it, as well. ^^

If this book was a DVD, it would be brimming over with extras. As an artist and a LOTR groupie(yeah I was one of those middle earth crazed fans) the book is very complete and satisfactory. The paintings, drawings, sketches and maquettes are really fun because they along with the writings chronicle the development process. Rather than skimming the surface of the movie art for profit it cuts the art department in two and looks at its insides. It doesn't have every detail(sans storyboards) but it is most definitely a quality tome and worth the price for any fan or for those interested in art.

I got the The Art of The Lord of the Rings, because I loved the look of the Movie and wanted to see how the designers created the costumes and set. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about it.

This book is an excellent coffee-table sized hardcover edition containing hundreds of paintings, digital mat scales, pencil renditions, computer-generated and conceptual images that served as concept art.

The book includes works by Alan Lee and John Howe, noted Tolkien artists who assisted Peter Jackson in creating the wonder and awe that comes across in the massive cinematic scale that we see in the movie trilogy from New Line Cinema.

Compiled by Gary Russell, it also includes explanations and descriptions by special effects supervisor Richard Taylor, and designers Grant Major, Ngila Dickson and Paul Lasaine among others.

The sketches include everything from sets such as Isengard, the Shire, the mines of Moria and the Dwarven dwellings of Khazad-Dûm, and the Elven land of Lothlórien to sketches and layouts of costumes for hobbits, Rangers, warriors, orcs, Elves, and Dwarves. Also included are armor drawings and conceptual art for everything from heroes to evil creatures, as well as the vast array of swords and weapons incorporated in the films.

You can see it through the pages, these guys sincerely cared about getting this series right, and staying true to the spirit of Tolkien's beloved trilogy for the millions of fans who expect it.

Make sure you want this book, though - it's $35 and definitely does ruin some areas of the film. (Not only spoilers, but descriptions of composite shots, as in "with added background" and "without added background" comparisons)

For a big fan of Lord of the Rings, I rate this 9 out of 10 stars, quality-wise.

An inside look at a major player during the 70's, 80's, and 90's. You have to admire Robert Evans' chutzpah, and I think it was his egomania that got him back up each time he was down for the count. It's a delicious and dishy look at hollywood during a very exciting era. I can't say that the book will stay with you long after you've read it, but while you are reading it you won't be able to put it down.

I met Bob Evans a couple of years ago at Book Soup on Sunset Blvd., for no less a 'literary' L.A. event than a 'book' signing for the release of 'Kid' on cd. I stayed after, to speak with the legendary producer and get my 1st ed. copy of 'Kid' signed. When the last guest had left, only myself, Evans and Army Archerd (with a Michael Clarke-Duncan size bodyguard) remained. I told Mr.Evans that I have great admiration of for his work and that meeting him was a dream come true for me. Evans' story as meteoric rise to head of production at Paramount and white-hot, sub-orbital fall due to substance abuse is an amazing tale of genius and hubris. Evans was personally involved in producing some the classics from a cinematic-artistic Golden Age: The Godfather, Chinatown, Harold & Maude, to name a few.

This is a splendid chronicle of a remarkable career, though I can't help but wonder if Evans wouldn't have been happier if he had just learned to love himself for who he is.

I've read just about every autobiography I've come across, but I'd have to say Robert Evans has taken a more honest and critical look at his life than anyone I've ever read.
I can't imagine anyone wouldn't find this book absorbing and interesting

This book celebrates "ME-ness" better than almost anything I've read in the last five years, except maybe for "Feel This Book."

Evans actually writes fairly well, although a few habits of repetition seem pointless or a distraction. This helps the reader get through what appears to be a narcissistic and self-absorbed exercise in "look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair."

Well, there is a difference between narcissism and self-absorption. After finishing this book, I realized that while Evans is in love with himself, he also is fairly realistic and self-appraising without being totally boring. Sort of like listening to someone at a 12-step meeting. The reader gets drawn into the lessons available from such constant and unblinking preoccupation with Evans' own attributes and foibles...

Anyway, great literature it ain't, but if you'd like to read long lists of names of famous people and hear how rough it is to make millions of bucks and get the most beautiful women in the world to sleep with you, it's a great choice!

The Rankin/Bass animagic Holiday specials are as much a part of my childhood memories as putting up the tree, hanging the stockings and painting the eggs.

It is nice to see Rick Goldschmidt drag them from the foggy haze of my nostalgia and bring them back into the light. I never new that there was so much information on Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass. "The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass" has it all, from the most obscure cel animated cartoon to the classic animagic of Rudolph and Santa.

Everything you could want is here: Behind the scenes photographs, a complete list of Rankin/Bass works, well-written articles and a jumble of Rankin/Bass memorabilia. This book is even more relevant, now that the Rankin/Bass filmography is being released on DVD. It will make you chomp at the bit for each new release.

If Peter Cottontail, The Snow Miser and Heat Miser, Frosty the Snowman and Happy the Christmas Baby ("those ears!") ring any bells for you, then you will enjoy "The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass."

I think the other reviewers here have just about covered it BUT I wanted to add that this is the way a book should be done on a classic HOLIDAY TV SPECIAL. It is loaded with information and gives background on everything from the voice actors to the Stop-motion animation. In Rick's other book he covered the entire body of RANKIN/BASS work, which was quite an undertaking, considering there were many reference books out there with incorrect info. In this book, he covered the process. The two book collection cover the history of RANKIN/BASS PRODUCTIONS very nicely! A Perfect Holiday gift set!

The 2nd printing is WONDERFUL! So glad to see this book come back! Make your HOLIDAYS HOLLY & Of Course JOLLY! This book is it!

This book is my favorite book I have ordered from AMAZON.COM! The color pages have tons of pictures and they are the most vibrant I have seen! There is tons of incredible material in here! RANKIN/BASS Rules! Josh

If you LOVE Rankin/Bass, holiday specials, or childhood memories, then this is a MUST have book! Mr. Goldschmidt's love for the R/B TV specials & movies, shines through on EVERY page! VERY informative & detailed!I was lucky enough to get a hardcover version, but thank goodness they've released a 2nd printing for the people who missed out on his book the 1st time! Purchase this book, you WON'T be sorry!I can't wait for his upcoming; Making of R/B classic- Rudolph the red nosed reindeer! I'm sure it's gonna rock! Let's hope he follows it up w/another of my ALL-TIME favorite R/B productions; Mad Monster Party! Have some HOLLY JOLLY holidays! ;-)

Absolutely Love Love Love this book! The pictures are fabulous and the costumes gorgeous! The designer did a terrific job! I recommend this book to anyone who loves design. I would've loved to have seen more but alas I'll just have to check out the website Star Wars Fit for a Queen, its combines both.

Great photos. NOT recommended for people looking for Episodes IV, V, VI costumes. A lot of this book is dedicated to Padme Amidala and her handmaidens' wardrobe, but they had the most costume changes throughout the first 3 movies. The costumes are beautiful and detailed. I love this book.

Say what you want about the Star Wars prequels, but one thing I think even the staunchest critics of those films must agree on is this: they had fantastic costume designs. This fact is brilliantly attested to in Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars. Within the pages of this hardbound volume you will find vibrant preliminary sketches as well as radiantly photographed examples of the costumes used throughout the prequels (that's right - this book only contains the costumes form Episodes I, II, and III; the title is a little bit misleading. The revolutionary costumes from the original trilogy are only mentioned in passing a couple of times). For anyone who has an appreciation of the art of costuming, for someone who's a big Star Wars fan, or for someone who, like me, is always looking for a good visual reference for art, this is a tremendous buy - a bargain at any price. Enjoy!

This book is a fabulous collection of photographs and information on the Star Wars costumes. The photographs show each costume in great detail and discuss the making of each costume from the sketch stage all the way through completion. I would definitely recommend this book! You do not have to be a Star Wars fanatic to appreciate this book.

Each picture in this book is beautiful. Every costume from Star Wars is in here including how to make each costume. Its amazing how beautiful most of the costumes really are especially Padme, Padme's Handmaidens, the Queens of Alderaan and Naboo and the Jedi. Buy this book and it'll make you want to go out and make each costume yourself.

After you finish this book, you will wish you had read it a couple years earlier so you could have had a chance to meet this great American. I have known for a long time that Sheldon was a great author but had no idea that he had lived the ultimate American Dream before he started writing so late in life. The book inspired me to read his fiction and he is now one of my favorite authors. In his fiction, you will see many of the characters from his life. This is a great rags to riches story!

Sidney Sheldon invites his readers to understand the plays in Hollywood, Broadway, stage, film, television, and even publishing. He aspired to be a writer from the most humblest beginnings in Chicago. His parents' marriage was not always a happy one. Sidney would marry Jorja, an actress. They have a daughter, Mary. They lost another daughter from spina bifida at birth. They adopted a girl only to have her taken away 6 months later by the birth mother. Sidney had financial problems along the way. He conquered the film industry and won an Oscar but he was not getting the work that he longed for. He turned to television after he also did stage and film. He helped write the Patty Duke Show and I Dream of Jeannie. Neither shows were without it's problematic stars. Patty Duke was being a virtual prisoner by the Rosses, her managers. Larry Hagman wanted to be bigger than Barbara Eden but that came later in his show, Dallas. Sidney Sheldon learned a lot in HOllywood about breaking in the business. It takes more than the drive to be a good writer, it takes a lot of luck.

The style of this autobiography is uniquely Sheldon and completely engrossing. As he explained in a 1982 interview : "I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down, I try to construct them so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she has to read just one more chapter. It's the technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy hanging on the edge of the cliff at the end of the chapter."

The book starts with his impoverished childhood during the Great Depression and surprisingly ends before his meteoric rise as a successful novelist.

Born Sidney Schechtel in Chicago in 1917 to German & Russian parents, Sheldon's life had more ups and downs than a month of roller coaster rides. A long time sufferer from manic depression or bipolar disorder as it is now called, he often turned away at critical moments from paths that were just opening up to him.

Success took time coming his way and even when it did, it didn't stay long. (Not until his writing career took off, then there was no looking back) In his words - "Success is an elevator that moves up and down". His ups included having three musical hits playing simultaneously on Broadway, the Oscar and the Screen Writers Guild award for Best Musical for "Annie Get your Gun" The downs included long periods of unemployment and blacklisting by the studios.

There are so many anecdotes about so many famous people that are a pleasure to read. Groucho Marx was an extremely close friend and also Godfather of Sheldon's daughter Mary. Having seen the Hollywood industry as a writer, producer and director his insights are precise and delightful.

My only disappointment was is that I wish he had written a part two before his death on January 30th, this year. He does throw a few morsels about his writing life experiences, but they just aren't enough for his adoring fans.

This book is about Sidney Sheldon's life and is very good but is not a page turner like all of his other books of fictional mysteries.

If you're a fan of Sidney Sheldon's, you'll appreciate this book. In addition to being a prolific writer, you'll find a multi-talented writer of many popular scripts. The books includes photos of Sheldon with many of the Hollywood stars he's worked with. A fantastic journey of his life, including his greatest challenge of dealing with bi-polar.

Probably the best one in the Star Wars Art series, it shows a great amount of the concept art of what became the look of an entirely "new" Star Wars galaxy.

Forget the technological look of the original trilogy. The lavish look of the planets shown in the new movies started at this point. It was a more spectacular age for the galaxy and the paintings show it.

While it is certainly not McQuarrie, Chiang and the other artists do justice to his legacy.

Only the art of the original Star Wars can be compared to the scope and breadth of the art displayed in this book. After all, the other four episodes built upon what was already created for the Phantom Menace and a New Hope.

A must have for any Star Wars and fantasy art enthusiast.

Forward by Doug Chiang. This volume (48 pages) contains an excerpt from the book written by Jonathan Bresman. It also contains concept sketches, storyboards and full color illustrations by various artists, among them Doug Chiang, depicting scenes and characters from the movie Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

From the preface: " This book offers a behind-the-scenes look at the lengths the art department went in its construction of George Lukas' universe. The evolutionary stages for each major character, vehicle, and planet are displayed so that the reader can get a sense of how the film was painstakingly sculpted, and finally, how a new style of filmmaking was founded."

This excerpt focuses on how sketches combine and evolve in the development of ideas into the final concepts for characters and other elements in the film.

Staple bound. A Del Ray Book; Ballantine Publishing Group.

I loved the art Ralph McQuarrie did for the first three Star Wars movies, and in the Art of Episode I, Doug Chiang takes the torch and does an awesome job. His grand scale works are so appealing and detailed, I loved it.

The character concept work in intriguing, there is a lot of evolutionary type paintings which I like a lot. The Sith work is fascinating.

The one draw back to the book was the lack of explaination each work had. I would have liked more insight as to what the artist was thinking, what Lucas liked and what he disliked. That wasn't in this version as much as I would have liked. But overall, one to own.

Sellers are using this page to sell a book that is actually titled: THE ART OF STAR WARS EPISODE I: an excerpt of the book written by Jonathan Bresman. The ISBN matches this work, which is only 44 pages in length and was given away with the purchase of a VHS version of the Phantom Menace. The way Amazon lists this book can be misleading because they refer to it as the paperback edition in the review which claims it is a massive volume with over 600 illustrations. They are actually referring to another edition of the book... the TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION. This error has caused me a lot of fuss with two of the used book traders here at Amazon. Know that you are not buying the 200+ page oversize work with this webpage.

I would never have thought that I would stoop so low in nerd-dom and buy a book like this, but there is more to being a nerd than simply obsessing over your favorite fantasies.

I love Star Wars, hate the Phantom Menace. And yet way back when the VHS release was going on, I too crowded into a Media Play at 12 in the morning with my buddy and his wife to get my advanced Widescreen Collector's copy. DVD has since come and taken away any significance to that item, but what did come along with it was a little booklet featuring excerpts from "The Art of Star Wars; Episode I." For a long time this little booklet and I rarely parted, and I thought I was so priviledged to have this particular booklet and that it would one day be a rarity.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered THIS book, the actual Art of Star Wars. Not only does it have everything in my booklet, but it presents conceptual art from all corners of the movie. There's so much to look at, and so much that is fascinating to look at, you can't help spend hours just looking.

The book is hard-bound, with pages made from such high-quality paper, it will make you turn them with tweezers, they feel so expensive. The art is presented in chronological order with the film, so that reading it cover-to-cover is almost like watching the film. For most of the artwork, a little background information is provided in the corner next to a numerical key denoting which works belong to which artists.

As for the quality of reproduction; I am rarely satisfied when something I've drawn is scanned onto a color-copier, which often is the best option for reproducing them. I still lose something in the translation from pad to paper, a little bit of hue here, some shading here, depth of line there. However, in this book there is nothing lost. (Nothing is lost, or the originals must be stunning to look at!) The artwork shows you just why the movie relies so much on visuals (and not on strength of character or plot). Artists Doug Chiang, Ian McCaig, and Terry Whitlatch to name a few, are so skilled at vividness, their works immediately juice your imagination into action. Looking at concepts for space-ships, you can almost hear them fly.

The emphasis is on Doug Chiang and Ian McCaig, one a brilliant architectural and mechanical artist, the other a genius at characters and costumes. Whitlatch seems to handle most of the aliens, while gorgeous matte-paintings by Doug Chiang depict, in color, some of the more finalised concepts.

If you are a fan of Star Wars, this book is a must for any in-depth knowledge of how things developed behing the scenes. For film scholars, I would also recommend this book, for the glimpse it provides into the realm of pre-production, especially for you film scholars who have never set foot onto a film studio, or a design office.

For fellow artists, I can only say that these works inspire to improve my technique and work even harder at my art. It's always the test of an artist when he runs into someone who is superior; does the work make you want to quit art, or make you want to improve? This stuff will make you choose the latter.