Watchmen: The Art of the Film (Hardcover)

~ Peter Aperlo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I'm overwhelmed by the commitment, the passion, the palpable desire to do this right." - Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, on visiting the set of the movie.

Praise for Watchmen:-
"Watchmen is peerless" -- Rolling Stone
"The greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced" -- Lost co-creator Damon Lindelhof
"A masterwork representing the apex of artistry" -- Entertainment Weekly

Product Description

Discover how director Zack Snyder (300) and his crew faithfully recreated the intricately detailed world and characters of the legendary graphic novel in the eagerly awaited film.

From the New York City of an alternate 1985 to the surface of Mars, the film adaptation of Watchmen is a triumph of design, filled with unique characters and layer upon layer of arresting detail.

Featuring scores of production designs, set photos, costume sketches, storyboards and other pieces of conceptual art, Watchmen: The Art of the Film is a lavish celebration of a comic book made real.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848560680
• ISBN-13: 978-1848560680
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #279,965 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with art and lots of great set photos, February 11, 2009

By	Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Length:: 0:37 Mins

Peter Aperlo, the author, has included a lot more visual content other than art illustrations in the book, all packing in to make it a rather thick book at 256 pages. It's well constructed and bind. Pages are thick low gloss with good colour reproduction.

There are five chapters in the book, namely Concept Art, Sets, Props, Owlship, Costumes and Posters. All pretty self explanatory.

First off, the art. These come in the form of character designs, storyboards (cute but not detailed) and beat board illustrations. There isn't as much art as I expected, the art in this book is seriously overwhelmed by photographs. Well, Dave Gibbons has already done most of the concept art in the comic.

The photos are shots of sets, locations, props, miniatures, film stills etc. To list a few, there are detailed close up of newspapers, New York wall graffiti, Blake's costume wardrobe and other miscellaneous items and backgrounds that appear in the movie. There are several unused concepts shown also.

I really enjoyed looking at all the gadgets, prop and location shots. They really give depth to movie adaption of the comic. I bet they will have even more meaning after I watch the movie.

There's not a lot of text other than the chapter introductions and short captions. It doesn't really need that much text anyway.

This book is highly recommended for Watchmen fans, comic and movie. It's well worth the money. I like it very much.

There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Book for Watchmen Fans of the Book and Film, February 20, 2009

By	T. Lim "Geistschreiber" (Silent Hill, Maine) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In warehouses across the nation, there are mountains and mountains of Watchmen related books that exist only to spite Alan Moore. Nevertheless, the Watchmen fan on a budget will be faced with the dilemma of picking and choosing the right merchandise to complete his bookshelf or shrine to one of nerddom's greatest literary (and maybe-cinematic) achievements.

I would not recommend buying Watching the Watchmen: The Definitive Companion to the Ultimate Graphic Novel unless you're a collect-them-all type of guy who absolutely must have access to the original sketches and thumbnails done by Dave Gibbons. Spoiler: they're virtually 100% identical to the finished product, so you're basically buying a collection of black-and-white Watchmen pages sans text.

I will strongly recommend "Watchmen: The Art of the Film". Unlike a lot of visual concept books that spend a lot of time talking about the artistic process, this book goes straight to the heart and doesn't waste a lot of pages on exposition. Rather, it's crammed with visual goodies and full-spread pages, letting the art and design speak for itself. There are whole sections devoted to the fake newspaper clippings scattered throughout the film as either props or parts of montages: the level of detail that goes into an item seen on screen for seconds is amazing. Besides the conceptual art, there are even some photos that may be seen in Watchmen: Portraits. So for those of you thinking that you're not going to see any closeups of Nite Owl's costume or Silk Spectre's nightie, fear not: there's plenty to be seen here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watchmen - Treasure Chest of Art and Photos, February 28, 2009

By	S. Smith "Crazy about Olivia Munn" (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

One of several books out about the soon to be released movie Watchmen. It is spectacular, full of incredible photos and behind the scenes info. I am a fan from the original publication of the comic and never thought a film would see the light of day. One of the greatest comic series of all time, this book does it justice. Once the film has come and gone, you will spend hours with this, a treasure chest of photos and art. The detail is tremendous, and you will not be disappointed. 250 packed pages.