Customer Reviews

The Spirit: The Movie Visual Companion

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Length:: 0:24 Mins

This is a hardcover book with no dust jacket. It's thick and the paper stock is good.

Included are many stories on the production process, Will Eisner's comic panels, behind the scenes photography on set, film stills and movie storyboards. The pages are well laid out and literally soaked with high resolution photos.

Mark Cotta Vaz has provided an in-depth writeup into the production process. The book starts all with a little history of Will Eisner and The Spirit, and goes on to talk about the process of making the movie. There are many interesting things to read, like how the studios negotiated the contract with Will Eisner, the casting of characters, shooting in front of the green screen, shooting different parts of the movies, death and rebirth of The Spirit on the movie and more.

While I'm reading this now, the movie has yet to be released. But looking at the images from the book, I've no doubt it's going to be amazing. The Sin City shooting style influence is strong, the great compositions, strong silhouettes and a limited colour palette. Oh, and add a strong cast -- Samuel L Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlet Johansson etc -- too.

This book is more of a production diary or a making-of book, well written and researched by Mark Cotta Vaz. It's highly recommended for fans of The Spirit, movie or comic.

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

This is a very good production book. I enjoyed all the storyboards
and behind the scene stuff. And it was great seeing some of the
classic Will Eisner Spirit art pages as well.I mainly got this
as a reference book, since I am artist who likes the pulp era
and classic comic characters and strips. Yet, I recommend it
regardless, because of all the beautiful photography and artwork.

For those of you who wanted to know how it was done and why it was done, and see some pretty pictures in the meanwhile, this is probably the book for you.

It's a good accompaniment to the special features on the Special Edition DVD: "Green World" and "Miller on Miller." Basically it's a production diary detailing the thought processes, costuming and technology that went in to creating The Spirit.

After Sin City, Miller and Rodriguez again teamed up to produce The Spirit, based on a different comic series, obviously. But they used much the same process, technology and visual style. It's a very reductionist / minimalist visual style, and quite distinctive.

This book steps you through the what, why, how and who, perhaps a bit of the why, too.

Thus far, I've loved this book and will probably re-read it a few times. Might have to see if they have a similar visual companion to Sin City (the movie), though the extensive bonus features on the recut / extended Sin City release are quite good.

If you like the movie and want to know how they got from point A to point B, this seems like a pretty entertaining way to find out. If you just like film production trivia, you'll probably also like this book. Overall, I thought it was great!

Mark Cotta Vaz, and esteemed comic book artist/creator Frank Miller, have teamed and given Spirit fans a guided tour through the world of the Spirit. Reach for the stark black and white and red cover, gently open the book, and begin your adventure...

The Shadow of the Spirit takes readers into the genesis of Eisners' iconic character. From an experimental color section to well regarded piece of main stream comic literature, Denny Colt captured the imagination of readers. Whether it was the stark imagery, or the variety of creators on the strip apart from Eisner, the Spirit was instrumental in the development of Will Eisner as a creative force.

Mr Vaz examines the creation of the film from inception to the players who make the film what it is. Truly, the moniker `movie visual companion' is inaccurate. The subtitle should run something like this, The Spirit: Four Color to Film, A Genetical Journey. Yes, the book does chronicle the development of the film, but it also digs into the film from story board to screen. Ever see a green screen before? After this book, and a viewing of the film, you will see exactly how those urban cityscapes came direct out of a computer mainframe. Viewed piece by piece, the creation of a movie is seemingly simple, taken as a whole, the process is daunting.

That is one of the main messages of the book. The Spirit is a marvellous character. The process of scripting, filming, and CGI are integral to the finished product. How they fit together on the screen is the real test. One thing is beyond doubt. This book, like the film, has style. Visually, there is no shortage of imagery from the comic strip, the story board, or the film making process. Still not sure why Frank appears so often admiring pieces of equipment though Is this a book by Miller about the Spirit, or a Spirit book that features Frank Miller? Here's hoping the Spirit really captures the flavour and not just the texture.

Titan Books, along with Mark Cotta Vaz should be proud of this book. It is an amazing entry in the bibliography for the prolific writer!

[...]

Tim Lasiuta

A companion to the recently released Spirit Film, this guide takes readers on a guided tour of the development of the film and the history of Will Eisner's greatest creation. You'll start with a brisk into to the character and of Eisner himself, who is still vastly underrated as one of the most important creators in comic book history. You'll be treated to exclusive, behind-the-scenes photos, concept art, and storyboards as you see the film come together. You'll meet the diverse cast, which includes comments from the actors and take a look at how many of the stunts and special effects were put together. These types of guides are commonplace these days with any blockbuster film but Titan has done a spectacular job with the production of the book. The photography is dazzling and there's a wealth of information here for fans

the journal well-written by cotta vaz has the hype building up for FM's the spirit movie. however, i caught the movie before the book and nevertheless, being an admirer of FM, i just had to see the original art. but what started as a shallow desire became an awesome read which trails from Eisner's creation of the character down to the finishing touches FM puts. you can feel the roller coaster ride of the preproduction of the movie and FM's duly noted respect for the source material. little did-you-knows are wonderful to keep the pace up and wonderful high-res images and storyboards will leave you flipping the pages asking for more. HELL! it even made me want to catch the movie for a 2nd time.

The book was not wrapped or sealed in plastic so when I opened the box, the other items in the large box got in between the pages and folded the pages. Other than, I LOVE the book!

If Frank Miller wanted to film Sin City 2 he should have done it without besmirching one of comics' all-time greats. The styling is distinctive but it sure ain't Eisner.