Customer Reviews

The Art of Sleepy Hollow

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay, a confession: I am a MAJOR Tim Burton fan. Everything the guy does is genius and this movie totally rocks. That's why I was so thrilled when I got this book. It's like being able to relive the film any time you want to. It's obvious that a lot of care went into creating this volume: there are a ton of great shots from the film of Ichabod Crane, Katrina (what a babe!) and the diabolical Headless Horseman. It's also kind of interesting to see the little changes that were made from the original script as they made the movie. Definitely worth checking out!

I can definiitely understand why some reviewers were disappointed with this book, because the title does seem to imply that the volume contains behind-the-scenes material. I myself was a bit disappointed with the book initially. HOWEVER, the book is very beautifully done, bringing together Walker's original screenplay with Burton's pre-production sketches as well as other production sketches. The book gives the reader a visual depiction of how the screenplay evolved into the film, which I found I quite enjoy.

If you are a fan of Tim Burton, yes, this book is a must-have. And if you approach it with the full knowledge that it is not your typical behind-the-scenes guide to the film, and instead an homage to the artistic endeavor that went into creating the film, I think you will enjoy this book.

Yes, it's not The Making Of... publication in the strict sense. Yes, the Paramount's movie site is awesome.

So what?

In the Web age when you can consume just anything electronically holding that book is such a joy! To leaf through these beautiful pages nicely bound in a hardcover instead of staring in a blinking computer screen!

The book represents the strongest points of Tim Burton's latest movie - the words and the design. He always excelled in these.

It's evident Mr.Burton gone a bit mainstream with all these foolish action sequences (see my review of the film). But you will not notice it in the book. That stupid galloping translates in just a few words!

Looking at the film frame by frame you have an impression that the book came alive! Not in a sense that Tim Burton recreated Washington Irving's classic precisely as it was written- he certainly did not - but the process of watching is very tactile, like turning the pages of the best picture book ever.

So it is just perfect that The Art Of Sleepy Hollow contains only the slight traces of Tim Burton's big production\common taste compromise and is just a story of Sleepy Hollow seen by the Burton's crew with a very beautiful pictures on a very good paper.

Do you really need all these behind-the-scenes technicalities, to know exactly where the rabbit was before it was pulled out of a hat?

Buy the book and enjoy the magic!

i am a big tim burton fan and i love this movie so much. however, the title of this book is misleading. i have book on the art of nightmare before x-mas, as well the art of mars attacks. both of these titles give you a glimse into what went on during the making of these films. the art of sleepy hollow, isn't like that at all. it is the printed screenplay, with stills and production sketches from the film. it's a nice picture book for a die hard fan, but its potential to be something better, makes it disappointing.

Absolutely beautiful hard cover book with luscious photographs and drawings from the Tim Burton film. Much nicer than most books about films. I don't miss the absence of fluffy interviews and behind the scenes rhetoric you can read in every publication out this month. This is a shrine to the beauty that is Tim Burton's vision and the artists who make it possible. If the visual aspect of film interests you you will love this book. I would like to have seen a longer introduction from Tim Burton but he leaves it short and sweet.

It just seems heartfelt like the people who put it together were also affected by it. I would recommend people get the 'good' one now; I 'm sure there will be lots of cheap making-of -books later with half the class.

Favorite special touch: The little Burton drawing of the horseman embossed on the front. Cute!

This book is trully a work of art in itself. Each page contains collections of film art beautifully put together in sketchbook like design that one can only admire and treasure. If you are a REAL Burton fan, this book is a must for your collection.!

I'm a huge fan of this film, as well as its stars and the great visionary director Tim Burton, so I was very excited about this book release. This book is marvelous, it overflows with beautiful concept art and stills from the film that accompany the brilliant script by Andrew Kevin Walker. Tim Burton does a wonderful introduction and his awesome sketches fill many of the pages (his drawing of Lisa Marie as Lady Crane is beautiful). The screenplay gives fans insight into the editing of the film, what made it into the final cut and what didn't, and the book includes cool little extras like views of Ichabod's diary and film stills you can't get anywhere else. Over all, a must for the Sleepy Hollow and Tim Burton fan.

OK, first of all I AM one of those really geeky Tim Burton fans who spend hundreds of dollars on online auctions buying posters, rare japanese Scissorhands dolls and stuff like that. Still, I was really disappointed with this book. To begin with, the title is misleading cause this ain't no "making of" book at all, it is merely an illustrated screenplay. And even though the layout of the pages with all the color pictures surrounding the text is really elegant and beautiful, the publishers took no time to add captions to the pictures, and the whole thing just becomes a mess: those unfamiliar with Tim Burton's art can't tell which are his drawings and which are drawings made by the production design team. Amazon says the book is filled with designs by Rich Heinrichs and Colleen Atwood: well, thanks to the absence of captions we just have to guess where they are. Customers beware: there's nothing else besides uncaptioned pictures and the screenplay: no behind-the-scenes photos, no interviews, nothing on how ILM and Kevin Yagher did the special effects. The funny thing is that Paramount did such a great job putting together the awesome official site and one of the most impressive online campaigns ever, it's hard to know why this book was so disappointing. I like to have this book as a collection of photos from the movie, but take my word for it, the official site is far more comprehensive.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED this movie! And I'm a big fan of Tim Burton and his visuals. But this book doesn't accentuate either of the above. The illustrations are not very exciting and the book lacks tons of actual still photos and behind the scenes shots. At least I got it for free. I was hoping for something similar to the Bram Stoker's Dracula book that came out shortly after that film. That book and script was exceptional and captured the full beauty of the movie. This one (though the script is included) does not do the same. A shame because I love this film.

This book is a companion volume to Burton's movie on LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW. He took a number of deviations from the original story but the biggest was a visual one: to replace gawky, almost-ugly Ichabod Crane with gorgeous Johnny Depp. You cannot picture Johnny Depp in the original Washington Irvin tale. You can picture Christina Ricci, the heroine, falling for Johnny Depp, as she does, but not the original Ichabod. However, Burton is a terrific artist and what art is in this book is smashing and Depp and Ricci are gorgeous people to put in an art book. I could frankly use a lot more art and a lot less screenplay (also in the book) since I'm not sure that I like all the liberties Burton took with the original tale in his screenplay. The film, however, looked gorgeous and Burton and his team picked up an Oscar for the visuals, as usual, two months ago.