No respect, Mr. Ledger, but two reasons that Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT is such a runaway success — not to mention a cinematic masterpiece — are its unique look and smart script. No wonder these deserve a coffee-table book of their very own in Craig Byrne’s strangely titled THE DARK KNIGHT: FEATURING PRODUCTION ART AND FULL SHOOTING SCRIPT.
As is common of Universe Publishing’s titles, it’s a sleek hardback with high-quality production design and layout. The team behind the title is as invested in it as Nolan obviously was in his film, as evidenced by an early two-page spread that shows his garage office covered in preliminary sketches and location photos.
The first 65 pages tell the story of the inception and shooting, with particular focus on the design of the costumes, the gadgets and the vehicles, as well as the rooms, buildings and streets in and on which the movie was lensed. Byrne’s text is as brief as it needs to be to instruct and enlighten, yet rise above the level of studio-driven PR periphery.
In this section are full-color photos — and sometimes spreads — that bleed off the page. You’ll also find some storyboards, which aren’t half-assed sketches, but carefully thought-out and well-drawn — some of the finest I’ve ever seen. And not to sound like an 8-year-old boy, but that two-wheeled Bat-Pod is frickin’ cool.
The remainder of the book is devoted to Nolan’s Oscar-worthy script, written with brother Jonathan Nolan from a story co-conceived by David S. Goyer. Nearly each page of it is supplemented with thumbnails of stills or storyboards of the scene in question.
Whether read from cover to cover or just casually flipped through to stare in awe at the pictures, this is one book Batman fanatics with an appreciation for visuals can’t be without. —Rod Lott
Related posts:
- Beowulf: The Script Book
- Shooting Star / Spiderweb
- Batman: Gotham Knight
- Essential Moon Knight: Vol. 1
- Dark Delicacies
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Nolan and crew have done a magnificent job on “The Dark Knight”, the follow-up to the “Batman Begins” film.
If you want to see how they did it, you won’t see it in this book. A mere 57 pages devoted to film production and mostly stock photos at that.
If I could have seen this book before buying online I would have passed on it.
This is not a “spill the secrets of special effects” book, if that is what you were seeking. It’s really all about the visual conception. The progression of character sketches is interesting to see what might have been, and those initial photos of The Joker are horrifying (not in that he looks scary, but looks absolutely awful).
Check out my book review on this book before getting it.
There are some pictures and video of the book on my blog.
It’s not really worth the money if you’re getting it for the art. The script pages take up too many pages although the art is great.