Ken Adam Designs the Movies: James Bond and Beyond (Hardcover)

by Ken Adam (Author), Christopher Frayling (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Showcasing the work of Ken Adam, the man who created some of the most iconic and memorable sets in the history of the movies.

Ken Adam is the most distinguished living production designer in the world. His work spans seven decades and more than seventy-five movies, from his revolutionary designs for the first seven James Bond movies to work on Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon and Alan Bennett's The Madness of King George, for both of which he won an Oscar.

Born in Germany, Adam trained in London as an architect, and his first Art Director credit was on Around the World in Eighty Days in 1956. He has subsequently worked in Hollywood, Italy, and Germany as well as Britain.

Ken Adam's extensive personal archive of concept sketches, drawings, set stills, and photographs from every stage of his career forms the basis of this book. Using case studies from the 1950s to the present day, it shows the whole cycle of his production designs, from initial concept to what appears on the screen itself. The result encapsulates the evolving role of the Art Director and Production Designer from the golden age of the big studios to the digital fantasies of the early twenty-first century.

The commentary is by Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art, London, Chairman of the Arts Council, England, Chairman of the UK's Design Council, and a Trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum. 250 illustrations, 180 in color.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (November 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500514143
• ISBN-13: 978-0500514146
• Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 9.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #74,537 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ken Adam Designed More Than Just The Movies, February 13, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

Ken Adam was originally trained as an architect in London, but that didn't stop him from shifting course and beginning to create sets for the burgeoning movie scene in England. His credited work as an Art Director was on /Around the World in Eighty Days/, and he's worked on films as varied as /Chitty Chitty Bang Bang/, /The Last Emperor/, and the first seven //Bond// movies. He won Oscars for Stanley Kubrick's /Barry Lyndon/ and Nicholas Hayner's /The Madness of King George/.

Included in the book are many unpublished works, concept and production sketches, technical layouts, and set stills. Often, the entire cycle is presented, from the first concept put to paper to the finished sets. Many of these production pieces are from Adam's personal collection, and haven't been seen before. The two page sketch of the Big Board from Kubrick's /Dr. Strangelove/ is one of those rare pieces that not only survived time, but also the secretive Kubrick, who often purged much of the production work so it couldn't be copied.

Sir Frayling provides some very good commentary on Adam's work and how it fits into the evolution of the Art Director to Production Designer as movies developed and changed over the last 50 years. The production value of the book is extremely high, and the content dazzling.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE if you love movies and art, November 2, 2008

By	Bob Eggleton "zillabob" (Providence, RI United States) - See all my reviews

This is an amazing volume of Ken Adam's sketches,paintings, and drawings done all for various motion pictures-both made and unmade over his career. Included are some previously unseen concept sketches for all seven of his James Bond outings and some really rarely seen sketches for the first pass at the first STAR TREK movie in 1977. He's got a free-flowing, angular style of working and the energy is all there and you see how this is translated into the film. Especially rare to see are his sketches for DR STRANGELOVE(A gatefold of "The Big Board!") and BARRY LYNDON, both Kubrick films, because Kubrick was notorious for often burning every prop,blueprint and such, or hiding them well, so no one could use them to copy from them. Lots of other good stuff too, like his early work on CURSE OF THE DEMON(1957).

A good book that's not only informative but its a slice of cinema history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing sketches, light on analysis., October 7, 2008

By	Mr. Eddie (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

There's a lot to recommend in this book -- including Mr. Adam's work on such projects as the first (unmade) Star Trek film. His ability as a sketch artist is stunning, and lends real insight into his design principles. But this once again is a book kind of in the usual "behind the scenes" vein and not particularly illuminating as far as analysis and the artists's inspiration. Maybe Mr. Adam is a secretive guy and lets his art speak for itself.