The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

December 18, 2015 will be a day long remembered by countless "Star Wars" fans as the date that Christmas came early; for on that day, the Saga they loved began a new era with the official North American premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the first film to be produced under the stewardship of the Walt Disney Studios. For this "Star Wars" fan, that merry day began with an early morning screening of Episode VII, followed by the eagerly awaited afternoon mail arrival of the "Star Wars Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" by John Williams, and the product of this review, "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens" by Phil Szostak. It was truly a happy "Star Wars" holiday for me! "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is the latest in what has become a treasured tradition of wonderful books showcasing the imaginative behind the scenes work involved in the creation of the cinematic "Star Wars" Saga. Like its predecessors, this volume provides the reader a rich and lavish collection of pre-production artwork that reveals the evolution of another epic tale of the beloved "galaxy far, far away." The book is structured as a chronology of the creative movie making process from the early days of the film's genesis to post production. As is the norm with this series of books, while "The Force Awakens" film is a live-action adventure with stunning visuals that are part of the magic of any "Star Wars" movie, this tome is very much an 'art of' book, concentrating on images in color and black and white imagined by the talented artists gathered to bring the Saga to life. Thus there are very few photographic shots taken from the final film included in this volume. Despite that, readers will discover amazingly detailed works of art within this book. From the wrecked remains of a crashed Star Destroyer on the dessert planet Jakku by Doug Chiang, the striking visage of an "old priest" by Martin Rezard, the eerie images of the "ghost" of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader by Iain McCaig, to the rusting 'carcass' of a fallen Imperial AT-AT Walker, the makeshift home of the movie's young heroine, Rey, by Martin Wallin, the quality of the art is stunning. There are also artistic images of a more impressionistic style that evoke a sense of atmosphere and awe: Han Solo and Chewbacca standing in silhouette in a "Falcon Corridor" by Matt Allsopp, "Snow Fight" by Erik Tiemans and Iain McCaig, in which the forces of good and evil clash with light sabers on a wintry night, and the many richly rendered set pieces, in which "Rally Site Troop's View" by Kevin Jenkins is just one excellent example. Comments from members of the creative staff are featured as well, giving added insight to the challenges and joys of interpreting this cherished film legend. As a whole, these collected sketches, drawings and paintings display ideas envisioned, accepted, rejected and perhaps most tantalizingly, maybe one day seen again in the ongoing "Star Wars" Saga. Since the days of the very first "Star Wars" film, George Lucas, the creator of this classic story telling achievement, has shown respect and appreciation for the many concept artists and other gifted craftspeople who helped bring his cinematic mythology to life. Over the years, Mr. Lucas has allowed many creations never designed to be seen by the general public the opportunity to be revealed and recognized as true works of art. That gesture is continued with the publication of this beautiful book. "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens" comes with this reviewer's highest recommendation. May the Force Awaken within you, and be with you, always!

Wow. This artbook is better than I expected, but it's also a bit different than the ones for Episodes I, II and III. The content is interestingly arranged in chronologically in order of the film production, so you can follow along as the art and concepts are developed from January 2013 to January 2015. You'll be able to see the early concepts for Rey and Finn who in the beginning are drawn like they are for some teen movie, and then much later on when it makes more sense to cover up Rey in survival gear-like clothing. So there's no specific section on character designs, environments or vehicles. Everything is just mixed together as and when they were being developed. It's an interesting approach that I'm not sure if it's good or bad. The artworks are fantastic. Most of them are of scene paintings and environments. And these would be the highlight of the book. They are very detailed and beautiful. I think they capture the mood of the film well and the worlds created look really believable and beautiful. One good thing is the artworks feel like they are from Star Wars and not some first-person-shooter sci-fi video game. There's also insightful commentary from the art department. I'm surprised there aren't more character and creature designs though. For example, you won't get to see the different variations of suits for Poe, Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren or other characters for that matter. Most characters and aliens when they do appear are in the scene paintings. Maybe more will be included in the making-of book. If you want to learn more about the characters, then get Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary. Or for vehicles, get Star Wars: The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections. This artbook together with the two other books will make for a complete visual collection. And because the book's arranged in chronological order by film production and not the storyline, it can be difficult to locate the information that you want. For example, Rey's art is scattered throughout. Overall, it's not a big deal, at least to me. As a 256-page hardcover artbook, it's really worth the money. Highly recommended for the fans. (See more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

“The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is a fantastic journey through the galaxy far, far away, along with its characters, creatures, vehicles, weapons, and planets. There are quite a few books about Star Wars: The Force Awakens being released - and this is the best of them if you are interested in the artistic side of Star Wars (or movies in general). I won’t spoil anything specific - I’ll just say that you’ll probably want to save this book until after you’ve seen the film, because the book includes designs (both conceptual and finished) for certain characters and locations that are better kept a mystery until you’ve experienced the movie. If you enjoyed the film, you will be pleased to know that this book offers the reader insight into the detailed art direction and production design that went into creating “The Force Awakens”. Star Wars has always used the image to convey thematic ideas; and the level of imagination and creativity that goes into them is arguably greater than any other film franchise. Among the imagery in the book are early and unused concept sketches, storyboards, paintings, and even blueprints. The images are printed in high resolution so you can inspect every detail. Although this is primarily a book of art, the author has done a nice job writing text that compliments the imagery and enhances the experience of the book. Included are quotes from key creatives that worked on the project. On the whole, the book has a nice layout; while most books group the artwork by character or the film chronology, this book does things a bit differently. The art is instead published essentially in the order it was created, beginning with the earliest concept ideas in late 2012 and ending with some post-production design changes in January 2015. So as the reader flips through the book they can see the evolution of the film's designs take place. This has instantly become one of my favorite movie art books. If you liked the movie and want to know more about the designs from concept to completion, you will enjoy the book. This would make a great gift for the Star Wars fan.

Impressive!! I adore it.

An excellent collection of terrific concept design artwork, this book is a bit different from the previous six books in the series in that its dimensions are different — shorter and square instead of taller and rectangular, possibly allowing horizontal artwork to be larger even if it doesn't quite fit in with the others. There seems to be fewer examples of pen/ink sketches, with a focus more on paintings — I didn't count them, this is just my overall impression. And even though these aren't detractions, that's about as negative as I can be about this book. I really recommend it for fans of the film series as well as anyone studying to be a concept artist. From the beginning, Lucasfilm has always attracted and worked with the best concept designers, and this book shows the tradition continues. Doug Chiang, who worked extensively on the last three, oversaw and helped shape the visuals for the latest film and I'm happy to see he's maintaining the rich, consistent vision. What has always separated the look of Star Wars from many other space adventure/fantasy/sci-fi films is a simplicity and elegance of design that plays well on the screen. Comparing it to the over-designed and overloaded visuals of those other films, which look great in stills but get lost in a barrage of visual overload when the camera begins moving, is one of the best lessons an aspiring film/set/concept designer can have. The character of Kylo Ren, for example, wears a simple outfit not unlike previous Sith characters onscreen. Compare these to the ridiculously over-designed General Zod in the last Superman film and you'll see the point — simple design is stronger because it 'reads' faster on the screen than overly-detailed design, and as a result it is much more memorable (which brings a greater chance of becoming iconic). Lucasfilm remains top of the game. The artwork shows the evolution of concepts along with rejected ideas concepts (which could someday see the light of day in an animated series, as has been done in the past). One thing present in the book, but not in the film, is the classic stormtrooper. Somehow these appear more threatening and sinister than the gentler, somehow more earth-like, design they settled on for Ep VII, and I wish they had been kept for the film. The new stormtroopers also seem short and fat, compared to the old ones, which possibly plays into their less threatening appearance. That's the only design choice that seemed strange to me, the rest is all very strong. Out of the overwhelming choice of Star Wars books available, I'd put this high on the list. I would not recommend it to someone hoping for photos/stills from the film. I'll probably be buying the next book in about 15 months.

This book of the Force Awakens art should be in anyone's library, if they are a true StarWars fan. Each page conveys some the unique photographs or artist renderings of this episode in great detail. Most of the photographs or artworks are related to this episode, but probably were in the movie. This covers the details and approach to depicting the scenes and does offer some insight to the collection of artists who painted these images. In most cases, some of the artists revealed in this book were given " artistic-license " to show their streams of imaginations and designs. This contains diagrams, creature designs/developments and various timelines toward meeting production standards before its major release.

I am giving this book a 4.5/5 for one reason only: there is almost nothing related to the key players' character design i.e. Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren. Rey is the only character who gets some attention in this book, there is a few sketches here and there but not a clear development process on how they got the the final design. Same happens with Kylo Ren, the artists explore a lot of ideas but all of a sudden we see his mask at an almost approved stage and that's it. Now what I was really interested in, was learning about his lightsaber. When I saw the first close-up images I had this theory that Kylo Ren somehow got Vader's lightsaber and modified it. Take a close look at both them and you'll know what I mean. The only thing related to Ren's lightsaber is an early design that has nothing to do with what we see on-screen... too sad. Now, Finn and Poe... we only get to see an image for each of them, Again, too sad. Well, now let's get to the cool stuff! The artwork is amazing!!! All those paintings are just fantastic, no wonder why these guys are industry pros. What I love about all these Art Books is that we get to learn a bit about their process; the inspiration (Ralph McQuarrie), the research, the anecdotes, all that artistic collaboration. There is a few paintings that just like the final shot, to me that's magic. I wish all of those environments, aliens, droids, made it into the movie but it never happens, there is a lot of cool ideas that could evolve into something else and be a part of Episode VIII or the animated series. The book itself is well organized, the same way the movie was, from pre-production to post. The truth is I wanted to see more about post, like the matte paintings or full-res images from Maz Kanata and Snoke. Unfortunately, 2% of the book is dedicated to post while 75% is dedicated to pre-production and the remaining 23% to production. I knew this book was going to be different, starting from the square-format (the same as Marvel cinematic Art Books). Don't get me wrong, this book is really great, a must-have for any Star Wars fan. Veterans like Ian McCaig, Erik Tiemmens, Doug Chiang and my favourite Ryan Church are back! They come from the prequel-era, they know what Star Wars is, but there is also new talent like Darren Gilford (TRON Legacy, Oblivion) who add some fresh ideas to the far far away galaxy. If you are a Star Wars fan, a movie-art-book fan or just a concept-art fan, then you should definitely get this book... seriously!

This book is a must have for any Star Wars fan. Included in this book are tons of concept art pieces from the entire production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Everything is in chronological order of when the artwork was created. It starts out at the very beginning when the movie was announced and JJ Abrams came on board. The characters had different names, the artwork was very general in nature, Ice planet here, swamp planet here, generic alien there, etc. As the book progresses, there are interludes that have a little write up about where they are at in the production process. I particularly enjoyed how as the book progressed, you can see the art is moving away from being concept art and more towards the final form that was in the movie. Characters names change, background generic aliens get their own names and history, droids get final markings, etc. As far as the book itself, the pages are nice and thick, printed on a glossy paper. The book size is not overwhelming to hold and look at. The print quality is superb, everything is printed in the highest definition possible. This book is a must have for Star Wars fans and cinephiles alike. It would look good on just about any coffee table, and is certain to be an enjoyable experience for all.

Excelent livre pour suivre le processus créatif qui a permis au film le plus attendu de la décennie d'exister. Comme pour chacun des films précédents, les differents designs et dessins conceptuels réveillent l'imaginaire. Si il n'y a qu'un seul produit à acheter sur "The Force Awakens", s'est bien celui là. En esperant qu'un jour soit enfin publié le livre "making-of" de J.W. Rinzler.

These are becoming my xmas ritual now, see the film and then buy the "Art of" book. Well put together, with lovely photos and pre-production art, these books are a must for any Star Wars collector. Size is classed as "coffee Table" book -eg: designed for casual browsing. My only complaint is the poor packaging for these books used by Amazon, which ends up with minor denting to the edges.. a book of this quality should not be wrapped in a card "wrap around" packaging. Back on topic- price point is great, and i am sure these will become collectible in years to come (as with most SW mech). I have loved reading and viewing the creative process that goes into making these films, so a highly recommended purchase for any SW fan.

"The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens" è un libro che offre una splendida panoramica degli aspetti creativi e visivi che hanno dato vita al settimo episodio della saga di Star Wars. Il libro presenta una vasta selezione di concept art, storyboard, disegni e fotografie che mostrano il processo creativo che ha portato alla realizzazione del film. Il libro è organizzato in modo molto chiaro e dettagliato, seguendo le principali fasi della produzione del film, dalla pre-produzione alla post-produzione. Gli artisti coinvolti nella realizzazione del film hanno fornito commenti illuminanti e interessanti sulle loro creazioni, offrendo al lettore una visione approfondita del processo creativo che ha portato alla realizzazione di un film tanto atteso. La qualità delle immagini è straordinaria, con molte pagine a doppia apertura che mostrano concept art e disegni dettagliati in modo impressionante. Il libro è anche corredato di testo che spiega le scelte creative fatte dagli artisti, fornendo una maggiore comprensione della visione che ha guidato la realizzazione del film. In generale, "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens" è un libro eccezionale per tutti gli appassionati di Star Wars e del cinema in generale. Offre una panoramica affascinante del processo creativo che ha portato alla realizzazione di uno dei film più attesi degli ultimi anni. Consiglio vivamente questo libro a tutti coloro che sono interessati alla produzione cinematografica e alla creatività visiva.

Esse livro é mais voltado para adultos. Não tem tantos desenhos dos personagens principais, mas sim visões artísticas primárias dos planetas, criaturas, naves etc. É uma visão artística, bem diferente do registro fotográfico de livros como os Visual Dictionarys. Ele não foca nos desenhos e visuais finais que foram para a tela. O livro foca nos primeiros desenhos, rascunhos e pinturas que iriam formar o visual do filme. São visões criativas muito interessantes e uma visão técnica de como se visualiza um universo a partir do zero. Recomendo.

Este libro es maravilloso. Está lleno de bocetos, storyboards, pinturas y blueprints (iniciales, descartados y aprovados). La maquetación es diferente de la mayoría de libros de este tipo --que normalmente muestran el contenido por importancia de personajes, localizaciones, vehículos, etc. o siguiendo la cronología del filme. The Art of the Force Awakens muestra el arte en el orden en que fue creada, comenzando con los primeros concepts de finales de 2012 para acabar con los últimos cambios en diseño llevados a cabo durante la postproducción en Enero de 2015. Así que, a medida que avanzas en el libro, puedes ver la evolución de sus diseños. Y los textos acompañan esta experiencia, ya que incluyen comentarios de los artistas involucrados en el proceso. Tanto si te gusta indagar en la labor de los diseñadores en el cine como si eres fan de Star Wars, este libro es una preciosidad.