{"id":97981,"date":"2018-01-03T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T13:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=97981"},"modified":"2018-01-04T10:37:09","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T16:37:09","slug":"best-art-film-books-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/best-art-film-books-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Roundup: The Best Art of Film Books Published in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that we’ve all made it through 2017, let’s take a look back at the best, most inspirational film art books of the year.<\/h2>\n

For the past few years, companion film art and making-of books have\u00a0risen in popularity. They\u2019re the perfect tie-in merchandise that reels in a variety of consumers: the collector, the super fan, the filmmaker, and the artist.<\/p>\n

Art books rose to prominence with the surge of comic book movies.\u00a0Because many comic characters have dozens of costumes and aliases, there\u2019s a lot of design to draw from \u2014 and with that, a lot of design work to fill a book. However, over the last decade, we\u2019ve also seen art books accompany films outside of the animated and superhero genres, such as Dunkirk<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 and Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

With that said, let\u2019s have a look at some of the best books of 2017.<\/p>\n

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The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi<\/em>\u00a0(Abrams) \u2014\u00a0$40<\/a><\/h3>\n

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Since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens<\/em><\/a> back in 2015, each Star Wars film has\u00a0inspired an art book published by Abrams Books (No tie to TFA director J.J. Abrams). Unsurprisingly, these books are the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of art books. Rich with pre-production notes and concept art, production highlights, and\u00a0composite renders from post-production, the book is full\u00a0of information for all kinds of filmmakers. From cinematographers to costume designers, filmmakers everywhere can draw inspiration from these books.<\/p>\n

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Unlike many other books in this list, the books from the Art of Star Wars series are text-heavy. Author\u00a0<\/span>Phil Szostak<\/a>\u00a0digs incredibly deep into the process of making a Star Wars film, and you’ll often find\u00a0written contributions from the filmmakers themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Each chapter explores the stunning visual world created by the artists at Lucasfilm, and most importantly, there’s even a page dedicated to the creation of Porgs.<\/p>\n

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Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film<\/span><\/em>\u00a0(Titan) \u2014\u00a0$39.95<\/a><\/h3>\n

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Typically, art books from comic book films feature little to no informational text on the making of the film itself. However, Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film<\/em>\u00a0breaks away from that norm and offers full, written\u00a0breakdowns about\u00a0crafting the world of the movie.<\/p>\n

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The book, unlike others on the list, often uses photography stills rather than concept art to\u00a0showcase a specific design or production breakdown. While more concept art would be great, the production stills are a welcome change.\u00a0This title also offers 3D renders of sets to show you the full scale of some of the sets the filmmakers used.<\/p>\n

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The Making of Dunkirk<\/em>\u00a0(Titan Books) \u2014\u00a0$46.65<\/a><\/h3>\n

The Making of Dunkirk<\/em> is very much a filmmaker’s book. It documents the full making of the historical epic \u2014 the title isn’t even The Art of Dunkirk<\/em>, it’s The Making of Dunkirk<\/em>, and it often reads like a biography\u00a0rather than\u00a0a volume of concept art.<\/p>\n

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The book delves deep into the production of the film, covering issues such as procuring ships and planes from that era and production difficulties \u2014 like rigging an ARRI to the wing of a Spitfire.<\/p>\n

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A surprising rarity\u00a0among art books, The Making of Dunkirk<\/em> also explores the film’s post-production. (Sound design and\u00a0scoring\u00a0are at the forefront of that chapter.) This volume is a real complement to the film, and if we never receive a “making-of” documentary, this is the next best thing.<\/p>\n

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The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049<\/em>\u00a0(Titan) \u2014 $39.95<\/a><\/h3>\n

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One of the first things you’ll notice about The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049<\/em> is its size. It’s 2cm taller and 6cm wider, which allows you to appreciate the finer details\u00a0of this dystopian world.<\/p>\n

Blade Runner 2049<\/em><\/a> was arguably one of the most stylistic feature films\u00a0of 2017. (Considering the film is a sequel to one of the most stylistic and influential sci-fi films of all time, it was always going to be spectacular.) The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049<\/em> offers an informative look at the making-of the sequel, from the design of the technology to intricate designs such as the neon adverts.<\/p>\n

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Filmmaking aside, the book also\u00a0gives readers more about the environment and lore of the world of Blade Runner 2049<\/em>, since the mythos of Blade Runner 2049<\/em>, for the most part, is only available in the two films, unlike Star Wars and Marvel titles. In The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049<\/em>, we explore characters and locations\u00a0and additional information not present in the film.<\/p>\n

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Like The Making of Dunkirk<\/em>, this book also\u00a0dives into the production aspect of the film. It offers insight into the construction of the sets, location lighting, and the production challenges of\u00a0making this film.<\/p>\n

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The Art of Guardians of The Galaxy Volume 2<\/em> and\u00a0The Art of Thor: Ragnorak<\/em>\u00a0(Marvel Worldwide) \u2014\u00a0$50.00<\/a><\/h3>\n

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The Marvel art books typically don\u2019t offer as much production insight\u00a0as the other books on our list. You can browse through 5-10 pages and read\u00a0fewer than a dozen paragraphs of text. The books are very concept art-heavy, but as Thor: Ragnorak<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<\/em>GoTG V2<\/em><\/a> are visual spectacles, you’ll find a\u00a0heap of inspirational art with outstanding character and production design on every page.<\/p>\n

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For aspiring set designers, VFX artists, costume designers, prop makers, and other filmmakers, these books are a treasure trove of information. As I mentioned in the introduction, films adapted from comic books often have an\u00a0abundance of material to work with, and as a result, you’ll find\u00a0many, many<\/em> character designs throughout. It’s often daunting to see how many choices the filmmakers began with, and how\u00a0a given character would\u00a0have ended up completely different if the director went with design three over design five.<\/p>\n

It’s important to note that Marvel art books are often printed in limited runs, and once they sell out, that\u2019s it. Some of them can become as expensive as the older comics they are based on.<\/p>\n

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Looking for more filmmaking inspiration? Check out these articles.<\/p>\n