gslife's review against another edition
5.0
The Art of Up is the best film art book I’ve ever read. Too often, these books show a finished work without showing a process. I understand the reason for this, but I’m interested in the process. I want to see the rejected ideas and rough sketches that become the story. Pixar’s team puts all that out in the open with this book.
Not only are there early sketches and process of characters like Carl, Ellie, and Russell, but there are beautiful pastel color roughs that were clearly highly influential on the finished product. Pete Docter (the director of Up) and others at Pixar also talk candidly about production complications when it came time to turn the drawings into 3D models. For example, in a typical 3D set, you can cheat a little and have a bookshelf be a flat texture instead of individualized books; not so in Up. The house flies and crashes in the air, so the books have to fall off shelves — so they have to be actual book models. The pictures on the wall have to actually have an image behind them because they swing, but more than that they have to have a DIFFERENT texture — the faded look of wallpaper that’s lived forty years behind a picture frame.
Beyond these fascinating details and the beautiful art, the care and the ethos of Pixar shines through. Take these two quotes from Pete Docter: “For me, it was a lot easier to draw someone than talk with them.”; “But if we have friends, a family, that’s what life is all about. A sense of appreciation.”
Other quotes I liked:
- “Fantasy, if it’s really convincing, can’t become dated for the simple reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time.” - Walt Disney
- Sadly, though, our dreams have a way of eluding our grasp, as adulthood, marriage, work, and the other realities of life intervene.
Not only are there early sketches and process of characters like Carl, Ellie, and Russell, but there are beautiful pastel color roughs that were clearly highly influential on the finished product. Pete Docter (the director of Up) and others at Pixar also talk candidly about production complications when it came time to turn the drawings into 3D models. For example, in a typical 3D set, you can cheat a little and have a bookshelf be a flat texture instead of individualized books; not so in Up. The house flies and crashes in the air, so the books have to fall off shelves — so they have to be actual book models. The pictures on the wall have to actually have an image behind them because they swing, but more than that they have to have a DIFFERENT texture — the faded look of wallpaper that’s lived forty years behind a picture frame.
Beyond these fascinating details and the beautiful art, the care and the ethos of Pixar shines through. Take these two quotes from Pete Docter: “For me, it was a lot easier to draw someone than talk with them.”; “But if we have friends, a family, that’s what life is all about. A sense of appreciation.”
Other quotes I liked:
- “Fantasy, if it’s really convincing, can’t become dated for the simple reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time.” - Walt Disney
- Sadly, though, our dreams have a way of eluding our grasp, as adulthood, marriage, work, and the other realities of life intervene.
persypie's review against another edition
4.0
This film is one of my absolute favorites and this book was no let down either. Not only was it coupled with the amazing art in all its stages that created the animated picture, it also had such detailed stories and commentary that gave life to the behind the scenes process.
A few gems:
Ellie’s adventure book was created in real life by one of the artist’s daughters (also named Elie!) and they just rendered it for the film with minor alterations. They kept original art work and even her handwriting to really give it a childlike feel!
A team of artists went to the real life Angel Falls that inspired much of the films setting to collect samples and take photos of the real life topography for use in the studio! They also studied flightless birds extensively when creating a Kevin and even had two ostriches live on studio grounds for a short time while they were trying to capture their mannerisms.
Overall just such a cool read and well worth the time. Brb going to watch the movie now.
A few gems:
Ellie’s adventure book was created in real life by one of the artist’s daughters (also named Elie!) and they just rendered it for the film with minor alterations. They kept original art work and even her handwriting to really give it a childlike feel!
A team of artists went to the real life Angel Falls that inspired much of the films setting to collect samples and take photos of the real life topography for use in the studio! They also studied flightless birds extensively when creating a Kevin and even had two ostriches live on studio grounds for a short time while they were trying to capture their mannerisms.
Overall just such a cool read and well worth the time. Brb going to watch the movie now.
galy's review against another edition
4.0
Un libro maravilloso con bocetos, historias, origen e ideas de la creación de la película Up.
Estoy enamorada de esta colección de libros porque adoro el arte y aquí nos enseñan varias fases de las ideas originales y cómo evolucionan hasta llegar a formar la película que conocemos.
Estoy enamorada de esta colección de libros porque adoro el arte y aquí nos enseñan varias fases de las ideas originales y cómo evolucionan hasta llegar a formar la película que conocemos.
elevetha's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
Less beautiful art pieces to look at than I'd like, and most of what was there was digital*, but all the text was interesting to read.
I loved the bit about Elie Docter; that was really neat and a cool bit of trivia.
*Which is fine, a lot of the Tangled art was digital, except that the Tangled art was bloody gorgeous. This particular brand of digital art was ever so slightly lacking.
Less beautiful art pieces to look at than I'd like, and most of what was there was digital*, but all the text was interesting to read.
I loved the bit about Elie Docter; that was really neat and a cool bit of trivia.
*Which is fine, a lot of the Tangled art was digital, except that the Tangled art was bloody gorgeous. This particular brand of digital art was ever so slightly lacking.
ilsoestrator's review
5.0
I love these "art of" books so much, theyre my pride and they have a special place on my bookshelf. Its so inspirational to look at the art and read how the movie came to be, would definitely recommend buying this if you're a fan of the movie or animation in general <3
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