Customer Reviews

The Spider-Man Chronicles: The Art and Making of Spider-Man 3

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most behind the scenes or 'Art of' titles amount to coffee table books with lost of gorgeous production art but little written content. This one is a notable exception. Written by Grant Curtis, director Sam Raimi's former assistant-turned Spider-man producing partner, the book contains great first hand looks at different stages of the Spider-Man 3 production, from early story meetings at Laura Ziskin's house to the casting of Thomas Hayden Church as the Sandman, to the late decision to jettison the villainous Vulture in favor of Venom. It's great to hear the process behind crafting such a massive project from someone who was in the room for all the meetings, who was helping to call the shots. The final section of the book is especially interesting, as it's Curtis' on-set diary- chronicling the day-to-day shooting process of one of the most expensive movies ever made.

PS: The pictures are pretty cool too.

The summer Hollywood blockbuster season is nigh upon us, and it's going to be quite a ride. Itchy fans will get a new fix of many of their favorites including Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates III, Shrek III, Harry and the Hogwarts gang, and the mighty Spidey threequel. Things officially kick off with the May 4 release of director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, with everyone's favorite web slinger this time taking on a trio of baddies--Sandman, the New Goblin, and Venom--while still grappling with his own inner turmoil. Curtis, the film's producer, takes fans on a blow-by-blow tour of Raimi's creation, highlighting the crafting of the original story, casting, costume design, and, of course, the stunning visual effects. A healthy portion of the text is dedicated to Curtis's production diary covering the daily shooting activities inside studio sets and on location in LA, New York City (again including NYPL's Fifth Avenue gem), and Brooklyn, giving lay readers an appreciation of just how monstrous and minutely detailed a production of this scale truly is. Pictures sell a book like this, and Chronicle's quality shines. Illustrations and photos are plentiful and range from thumbnails to two-page spreads (more finished costume pix over concept art would be nice, but that's nitpicking). With the series first two films scoring big time, Spider-Man 3 should be a slam dunk (online ticket sales reportedly are triple that of Spider-Man 2), so this book will have great browse appeal for fans, and film students will lap up Curtis's production notes. Recommended.--Mike Rogers, Library Journal/LJXpress

The Spider-Man Chronicles is a fabulous book for those curious about the process of filmmaking. The book was written by Grant Curtis, a producer on the film Spider-Man 3. The book includes his daily entries to a production journal that he kept during the making of the film. Every topic is discussed in detail, from location scouting to visual effects, and from casting to costume design. The book includes a brief foreword from fellow producers Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin.

The only caution is that people expecting lots of drawings or concept art might be disappointed. There are plenty of images in the book, but most of them are production photos. The Spider-Man Chronicles has less artwork than other movie art books, but in exchange you get a daily journal entry that gives a first-hand account of what it would be like to work on a massive film like Spider-Man 3.

OK, my verdict first. I have all three "the making of" spider-man movies books. The best one is still the first by Mark Cotta Vaz. This third one by Grant Curtis is good in some parts but really tiresome to read when you are actually looking for the fun part of moviemaking artbook. We follow the making of Spidey 3 through many journals and entries. Some of the entries are things that I really don't care about. But the conceptual designs, sketches, stills, and digital renderings are great. This book could've been shorter so it wouldn't have the stellar price tag it bears. Sure, making a movie of this scope is a huge amount of work, but to drag the readers along with the same kind of tedious readings is just not fun at all. Also, I miss the script, which is also absent in art of Spidey 2 book.

This book was on my Amazon.com shopping list. So it was a pleasant surprise when it got delivered to the art department yesterday. Saved me $60. Yesh!

The focus of this book was more on the production point of view, especially from that of a producer. Grant Curtis, the producer, wrote this book. He's only 27 years old when was producer of Spider-Man 1. Very impressive debut!

The book detailed the journey through the production of Spider-Man 3. Included were photos, artworks and even a detailed 110-day shooting journal from the producer. Every producer or film maker should have this book on their shelf. In fact, Grant Curtis had meticulously documented his whole experience from the start at scripting writing to the very end where the final film shot was taken. It was very comprehensive.

I wished there had been more concept art since the movie was from a comic book.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

My introduction into the world of Spider-Man came via a highly unlikely event (which I will not repeat here), so I have been eagerly delving into books that describe the history and the processes (of both the comic artistry and film making) that surround Peter Parker and his alter ego since the summer of 2001. I can easily tell you that this is the best book by FAR.

Although I am not usually a fan of nonfiction, I found "Chronicles" hard to put down. Grant describes everything a Spider-Man fan would want to know in regards to the third movie and probably a lot that they might have missed. I actually had to ban myself from reading this book for 24 hours so that I could avoid "Spidey Burnout"! The best part of the book was Grant's production diary...I got so deep into his descriptions that I found it difficult to stop reading so that I could go to work!

I've knocked off a quarter of a star because the pictures weren't _quite_ as good as the books by Mark Vaz, but the writing and material MORE than make up for it.


RATING: 4.75 stars...em...pumpkin bombs. ;)

Whenever there are big budget blockbuster films coming out you can bet that there will be an avalanche of media tie-in material from toys and clothing to calendars and books...A film like Spider-Man 3 is going to generate even more than the usual mass merchandising items because of its broad appeal to children and adults. One of the very best tie-in items I've seen for Spider-Man 3 is The Spider-Man Chronicles: The Art and Making of Spider-Man 3 from Chronicle Books.

This book is no mere fluff piece filled with lots of photos and vapid text...this is a handsomely illustrated, 234 page, coffee table-sized book that truly takes the reader behind the scenes of the smash film and lets you see into the inner workings of every aspect of the movie.

As soon as Spider-Man 2 wrapped, Sam Raimi and brother Ivan Raimi, sat down to begin working on a treatment for the third film. Initially, the villains were to be The Sandman and The Vulture. You'll get to see very rare production storyboards of The Vulture escaping prison with the aid of The Sandman. So how did Venom and up replacing the Vulture? Well, you'll have to get the book to read how and why the change came about. Trust me, it's fascinating reading and we would have had a much different film had Raimi kept the Vulture in the story.

When it came to casting, Raimi was insistent that every actor, no matter how big or accomplished they were, had to read for their role. One interesting note is that had the Vulture remained in the film, the actor tapped to play him would have been Sir Ben Kingsley! The book goes on to relate how Thomas Hayden Church and Topher Grace won their roles as The Sandman and Venom respectively.

Special effects junkies will be in heaven with this book. There is a wealth of information about everything from the design of the costumes to the effects of the Sandman's powers. You'll see talented artists create the molds, models, and drawings for all of the characters. The Venom sculptures are just unbelievably realistic! Another great insider treat is an interview with Neil Spisak and Michael Riva, the Production Designers for Spider-Man 3. They talk about the making of the movie and films in general beginning with the earliest conceptual art, to set design, to the special effects. This 25 page interview is almost like being on the set yourself.

Grant Curtis is the author of the book and Grant had the opportunity to be on the set while the film was in production. Curtis kept a daily of the 120 day production. The remainder of the book features Curtis' log from the entire 120 days! Short of being a member of the film crew, this is about as close to being on-set as any of us will ever get. This is a firsthand look at filmmaking, which should be invaluable not only to Spider-Man fans, but also to aspiring filmmakers.

The book is lavishly illustrated over 350 full color photos, and dozens of production drawings and storyboards. It's a highly collectible book that comes in a gorgeous hardcover, heavy stock format with dustjacket. Well worth the $50 price tag!

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

This book is absolutely amazing, maybe better than the movie itself. Full of photos and exceptional paintings it could be a perfect way to know how the movie was planned, drawn and realized. I was looking for something that could satisfy my needing of knwoledge about the third chapter of the Spidey-franchise and this book is the answer!

bought this for myself and my best friend's birthday gift. Its great for those that like conceptual design, production design and the filmmaking process. The author included his diary for each day of filmmaking so you get a very personalized narrative of the process. Great book; very glad I bought it.

Awesome book. Grant Curtis did an amazing job with this.
Thumbs up!!
Way up!!