Monday, June 23, 2014

The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Review)


by: Linda Sunshine
Release Date: May 6th, 2014
Publisher: Newmarket Press
Genres: Art Fantasy

My Review: (4.5/5 stars*)

The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the perfect coffee table or fan piece. This book is composed of many high-res photos, illustrations, paintings, sketches, and storyboard drawings that are in beautiful full color. It shares a nice supply of visuals and quotes from the movie and gives you an inside look into the making of it with step-by-step character animation breakdowns, and notes from the filmmakers. Included in the opening pages is a foreword by actor, Gerard Butler—the voice of Stoick—who delivers an exciting introduction about his experience working on the first and second features.

This is a really great collectible for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes process and animation of the film. It shares the creative teams experiences and ideas that helped give form to the characters and scenes we all love. It takes you into the landscapes, and the Nordic cultures that influenced the setting of How to Train Your Dragon 2. It also combines fascinating accounts from the DreamWorks crew, analyzes different designs and explains how the creators tackled the challenge of aging each character up. My only disappointment with this product is that the text is tiny and often made somewhat difficult to read due to the contrasting background colors.

The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2 displays the stages each idea had to go through in order to become what viewers see onscreen. It takes a closer look at each of the Viking's designs, the cool dragons themselves, and other concept art. Throughout you'll find informative and entertaining notes from Hiccup and Toothless. It inspects all components of the animation, and opens up the world to readers to show objects, and the characters in much greater detail. Overall this book is a work of art on its own with stunning images, neat facts, and exclusive extras that all fans of the films will want check out! 


INFO/PURCHASE LINKS: GOODREADS | AMAZON | B&N


CHECK OUT SOME OF THE IMAGES/ARTWORK FEATURED INSIDE! 

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