Customer Reviews

Surf's Up: The Art and Making of a True Story

5 star:		(12)
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3 star:		(1)
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I have quite a few "Art Of" books in my library. Some vaguely touch on the creative process that go into character development and the overall look of the film, then there are those, like this title, that go into great detail. This book is great at not only showing the technical aspect of making a CG animated film, but balances that with a wealth of conceptual artwork and character design. Combine that with a fun read and you have what a book dealing with creating an animated film should be.

This book is simply amazing. One of the best art books released in years. Great character design, visuals, and even lots of fun extras including a making of dvd, postcards, poster, stickers, and mini books. This is truly an inspiration. I work as an animator and took it to work to show fellow artists, and they ALL bought it on the spot. This will be in my art book archive for years to come.

Length:: 0:57 Mins

This book followed scrapbook styles of Monster House and Open Season, with little booklets and postcards placed within pages of the book. A plastic cover that housed the hard covered book, which comes with no dusk jacket.

Glorious illustrations, character designs, story boards and set renders filled the pages. Story boards were beautifully painted. There were lots of character designs on the penguins. The book was literally packed with action because of the layout design of the pages. High energy brush strokes were used a lot.

The write ups were short and interesting to read.

Any fan of 3D animation should get this book.

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

First, let me state that this book is HEAVY. Don't expect this to be a typical flimsy Art-of book. You really get your money's worth when you buy this beautiful, beautiful book. Not only is the cover vivid in both color and character, but it comes protected in a plastic slip-case which just blends seamlessly with the cover. Fantastic!

The insides are chock full of gorgeous concept artwork and 3D models of all sorts, varying from the characters themselves to the locations. Each is disected and you're shown so many different ideas and alternate looks. It's really impressive to see how it all comes together, and how you can find similarities even in beginning artwork.

What I loved about this book is that it went through each character and added even more depth to each one, not only in their looks, but their backstories, their ambitions, how they ended up where they're at. The book doesn't just show you pencil sketches, it still keeps the character in mind and tells you about them and why they're doing what they're doing. That's especially refreshing to see.

If you're a fan of this movie, ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of this movie, this is a no-brainer. Buy it. It's worth every penny. You get a wealth of information and artwork, you get 2 posters, a DVD, postcards, mini-books inside, stickers...this is an amazing work of art unto itself.

i would say, above and beyond, this has to be one of the most stylistic and visually thought-out artbooks i have ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on. To this day, i have not found one for any other movie that was in so many ways rewarding. From conceptual drawings to added removable material, paintings and sketches, this book leaves you without much more to want. I am a huge fan of the movie, and appreciated all the detail work that went into every facet of the film, and most of these are laid out in the book!- more than just character designs, pages on the surfboard designs, logos, "old" photos of surfers and younger geek, all topped off with a beautiful hardbound cover (with plastic, image-overlaying slipcover to protect the book) for a very reasonable price.
if you are obsessed with the movie, there is no choice- get it.

originally i really didn't have any intentions of seeing "surf's up" in theaters, i was just going to wait it out and rent it. then i stumbled upon the making of art book and changed my mind. what i really love about the book is the playful attitude it takes to the whole "art of/ making of" genre. it goes beyond showing you concept sketches and the likes and shows how they constructed scenes, gives extra little insights on character's personalities, and through in some behind the scenes jokes that didn't make it into the movie. all in all just a really enjoyable read.

Sony once again comes out with a great art book. They but a lot more effort into the look and content of their art books than Disney or Dreamworks.

Well designed, and chock full of great images, this is another "art of" book that really delivers. You get a good look at every stage of production, with a wealth of scene and character design approaches. A wonderful book on many levels. Definitely a great buy.

This is a spectacular book and one that other authors and publishers of 'art of' books ought to take a close look at. The artwork included is in a variety of formats from basic sketches to full digital renderings and includes a number or extras such as a DVD and poster that really make this book something extra special. All of the characters and even backgrounds are well featured. The book itself even comes in a plastic slipcase that compliments the design asthetic of the interior pages. Just like the film, one can tell that a lot of effort and love for the story and characters went into the creation of the book.

Following on from the previous Open Season art of, Surfs Up is another great look at the development years. The environment drawings and paintings are wonderful to look at and the characters a fun to look at. Again the book delivers some extra inserts throughout the book like stickers and such...but i feel this didnt have as much put into it as Open Season. Still it is a great book to have on the shelf for inspiration.