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Quote:

Zombies are the middle children of the otherworldly family. Vampires are the oldest brother who gets to have a room in the attic, all tripped out with a disco ball and shag carpet. Werewolves are the youngest, the babies, always getting pinched and told they're cute. With all that attention stolen away from the middle child zombie, no wonder she shuffles off grumbling, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha."

- Kevin James Breaux

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Book Review: WORLD WAR Z: THE ART OF THE FILM



I love art books!  In terms of the film related kind they are in two camps – a) production design and the art of the film elaborated upon for the production personnel and b) a film with lots of production stills and art photos but more importantly a showcase for the film’s screenplay.  The book World War Z: The Art of the Film is more in the latter category.  The book features the screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Drew Goddard & Damon Lindelof (Based on the Novel by Max Brooks). 

This style of art book is really for the person who likes to read screenplays (such as myself) and just happens to have the bonus of containing a plethora of production stills and art drawings and photos.  The only context you have for the photos and drawings is the screenplay itself so if you don’t read the screenplay (or haven’t seen the film) then most of the art in the book will be useless to you.

I enjoy these types of books as it allows me to see the film from another perspective (especially a film that I love and a book I’ve also read).  This book is also very good for people who don’t normally read screenplays.  This format of writing is very different from the novel or prose writing and the production stills and art go a long way in helping the novice visualize the story.  I also enjoy these types of books as they allow readers to get a glimpse at an unedited version of the story before changes are made.  In this version of the story there are several character motivation differences between Gerry and his wife Karen (played by Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos, respectfully) at the beginning depicting Karen as a much more confident character.  These are the things that make reading this book more enjoyable and add to experience of the film.

For production personnel very little will be provided from this book as there are no detailed explanations of the production design, art, or visual effects for the film.  This book is simply for entertainment value and sometimes that’s enough.

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