Jody RevensonRezensionen

Pretty much any book about Harry Potter is an automatic five stars from me and this is no exception. This book was so informative and interesting I was so sad to get to its end! I wanted more! If you're interested in HP at all I would recommend this book. It's so fasinating with all the tidbits it has. Very obviously a 5 out of 5 stars from me. Will read again.

When I saw this book I figured that it was going to be a pretty light read; the cover has more structure than the page count and it’s that size of smaller illustrated book that is generally aimed towards a younger audience. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised at how full of information and imagery it was! Author Jody Revenson takes us through a comprehensive tour of the second Fantastic Beasts film, covering the range of characters and creatures, while painting a vivid picture of the carefully designed scenery. Her language throughout is light enough in tone that it would be accessible for pretty young readers, but doesn’t skew so young that adults can’t also enjoy delving back into the details of the film. Each section is unavoidably short so that she could cover the pretty expansive narrative of the film, but each page and section is carefully curated to include film stills, production artwork, her narrative, and pop-out quotes. Added to that myriad are touches of pop-out and overlaid pieces, which creates a richness and whimsy to the scrapbook-like design layout. Of course, I would have liked more content and more analysis, since we’re reading the book from an adult perspective, but I still thought this was a rather complete book overall.

Another day, another Harry Potter film book… Will they ever stop mass publishing Harry Potter supplementary books, which even though I am annoyed about it will continue to read? Probably not haha, since they keep making money. In this book (volume 3 in a set of 12) author Jody Revenson explores the design behind the film versions of the horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows - arguably some of the most important props in the story. The book is designed like a scrapbook, including a lovely assortment of film stills, illustrations, and prop close-ups alongside the text, and unlike some of the more sloppily designed volumes they did a decent job of combining the text and imagery artfully so as not to interrupt the flow of reading the book. This is obviously a lighter version than some of the full “art of” volumes, so there were fewer examples of the lush range of design work that went into creating the many magical items, but there were just enough that I didn’t feel like we were getting short changed too much. Altogether a rather pleasing addition to the exploration of the films of the Wizarding World.

For all that this book is seriously lacking in the usual high-quality production of the other books published about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, its contents give readers a great view behind the scenes of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Designed as if we’re reading a newspaper, the book is split up into various small articles which cover the story outlines, character development, cinematography, props, and of course magical beasts accompanied by newsprint style black and white images from the film. While some readers will obviously want more information and be frustrated by the brevity of each topic, the material is well written by Harry Potter pro Jody Revenson and artfully combines elements of interviews, research, and commentary to read like an engaging trade magazine (ie how newspapers were in the past). I’m, of course, the person who always wants more, but this was a fun and easy read to get me back into the intriguing story of Newt Scamander and co!

Jody Revenson has published a multitude of books on the Harry Potter film series, but even though this one is meant to act as a compilation of many of them its result is less than I expected. The strength of the other books is that they focus on a single subject and take ample time to explore various ideas, themes, and topics, but with Volume One of the “movie magic” set the author and designers attempt to cover all of the various aspects of the film in brief. If readers haven’t had a chance to discover the other books yet I’m sure that they would find this book highly intriguing (which it is to a certain extent), but having read the other books myself I found that I was searching for additional material that just wasn’t there.

While this book didn’t quite live up to the exceptional standards set by Revenson’s previous volume (The Creature Vault), the film nerd in me was absolutely delighted in the level of detail preserved in this book. I never studied the technical aspects of film-making in school (the history and stories always took focus, since I wasn’t actually getting a degree in film studies), but finding out how the set designers for the Harry Potter films created the myriad of magical items for the films is fascinating. Working alongside J.K. Rowling and directors, reading the source material, and taking inspiration from historical objects resulted in a highly realistic set for the films - something that they must have realized was absolutely necessary considering that HP fans are part of the most neurotic fandom ever and were sure to either delight in or disparage the films. This kind of comprehensive book seems to be rarely produced, but I’m definitely glad that they did, since fans of the films and books are ever looking for more material about the HP universe to devour!

I swear, the more of these books that Jody Revenson publishes the more happy I am. Call it an obsession, but it doesn’t surprise me that the marketing department for the Harry Potter franchise took one look at the amount of money that our generation is willing to shell out (literally, so much) and decided to make a complete set of books which analyze the creation of the films. I mean, they’ve done it in some form or other for plenty of other film and tv series, but I think that the choice to separate the publications into subjects is a lot more palatable than having a giant catch-all book. Not only can readers choose which topics they’re interested in (ALL OF THEM, duh), but with the added space that each book provides they are able to delve so much further into the design, artwork, and practical aspects of translating the books into films.

This specific volume discusses the characters in depth, and thus far is second only (in my opinion) to the volume on the creatures. Instead of trying to rehash the actual characters and motivations of the cast, the author focuses on the visual design (ie costuming) of the characters which brings to light some interesting, and seriously underrated, aspects of the films. Choosing colour palettes for each character (or group of characters), the casting choices, and wand design (which is really an aspect of character rather than simply props) were all expected themes, but I was astonished to find that even “minor” characters who appear infrequently in the films were given equal credence to the major players. Especially interesting were the revelations of how much some of the actors influenced their character designs - Emma Watson and Evanna Lynch being well known examples of such, but I had no idea that George Harris turning up for rehearsals in traditional African garb completely changed the costume designers’ ideas of how Kingsley Shacklebolt would be portrayed!

What a fantastic book! It's like a visual companion to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which explores the myriad of creatures that populate the Harry Potter universe, It uses the same oversized format that was utilized so successfully in the set of dragon/fairy/wizard books from the late 90s to present a stunning range of concept artwork, movie stills, and sketches that really bring the creatures to light. The text is sparse, but well placed visually and written well so it doesn't distract from the illustrations - which made reading this book quite easy. Opening it to any page was a truely immersive experience, and I challenge any fan of the Harry Potter series or fan of fantasy artowkr to not be immediately drawn in.

Excellent insight into the game of Quidditch and how it was filmed for the movies.

This book provides some insight on the making of the film versions of Harry Potter by sharing tidbits here and there about Hogwarts and its grounds. Specifically, it talks about filming locations, changes from movie to movie, and physical and digital special effects used. For a series centering around magic, the how behind these effects was particularly interesting.

However, this book is illustrated in what, for lack of a better term, can only be described as a cutesy style. It really felt like stills from the movies should have been used instead. These were only sparingly included and often made little sense. For instance, a headshot of Percy Weasley was not necessary, but the Black Lake, to which a two-page spread is dedicated, is shown only in these cartoonish illustrations and not via movie images.

The behind-the-scenes information explained in this book seems a bit happenstance almost; the organization of the book is slim and it seems random what is included. However, the items included were compelling and the book reads quickly.½

This book contained beautiful (and horrifying!) concept art of the creatures (and beings) found in the Harry Potter universe. It was interesting getting to read about the methods that the creators used to bring about the iconic living things we saw in the movies.

This book contained beautiful (and horrifying!) concept art of the creatures (and beings) found in the Harry Potter universe. It was interesting getting to read about the methods that the creators used to bring about the iconic living things we saw in the movies.

Lovely photos of the real world locations borrowed for the film and also some dynamic set design materials.½

A great book for any Harry potter fan learning more about the props was awesome, and you get to see some that didn't make it into the films! I loved this book. 5 out of 5 stars.

Wow- a must have for all Harry Potter fans. This book gives a background for all locations in Harry Potter movies: movie tricks, locations, efforts behind the scenes... including breathtaking pictures from the set. Although mostly filmed in the studio, real locations were also used. One thing I understand: England and Scotland are breathtakingly beautiful countries.

Some interesting tidbits covering both the stars and the supporting characters.

¿POR QUÉ NO ME HABÍA ENTERADO QUE ESTE LIBRO EXISTÍA?

Me entere apenas esta mañana que una amiga me lo ha prestado y es GENIAL.

¿Harry Potter un cuento para niños?...







...No lo creo.

Y miren nada mas que hermoso es todo. Necesito esta belleza en mi biblioteca. Ahora.

Pretty much any book about Harry Potter is an automatic five stars from me and this is no exception. This book was so informative and interesting I was so sad to get to its end! I wanted more! If you're interested in HP at all I would recommend this book. It's so fasinating with all the tidbits it has. Very obviously a 5 out of 5 stars from me. Will read again.

Beautiful photos and artwork and great illustrations. Very informative to any fans of the Harry Potter movies. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the series or behind the scenes information about how the movies were made. I loved this book. 5 out of 5 stars.

Pretty much any book about Harry Potter is an automatic five stars from me and this is no exception. This book was so informative and interesting I was so sad to get to its end! I wanted more! If you're interested in HP at all I would recommend this book. It's so fasinating with all the tidbits it has. Very obviously a 5 out of 5 stars from me. Will read again.

Pretty interesting with some cool pics. This is, of course, an examination of the creatures from the movies and how they were created, altered, etc., for the movies. There are sketches and behind-the-scenes pics, and there's a "quick facts" for each of the creatures, reminding the reader of how the creature was described in the books, where it appeared in the books, and perhaps some interesting factoid about the production of the creature for the movie. I found I was able to skim much of the writing and still enjoy this.