 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Entertainment Review |
| By: Linda Sunshine Publisher: Chronicle Books |
If worrying about minor details were an Olympic sport, Robert Zemeckis would be a gold medal winner. He prepares
and visualizes his film through all points of the film in ensure that his camerawork is smooth and sharp. Some people
get excitement out of extreme sports, but Zemeckis works out how to combine shots, close-ups and reaction shots in
a single take. The results can be amazingly breathtaking. However, up to this point his movies have been done on
celluloid and limit what can be done.
For the first time Zemeckis has gone completely digital and everything that seems to be wrong is able to be fixed.
Now the director is able to get everything perfect in his film. Every single performance in “The Polar Express” began
life as a data set, which means that acting is perfect. This of course means that “The Art of The Polar Express” is an
amazing art book to take a look at.
While watching the film in theatres, viewers are unable to freeze the screen and notice the visual details that are put
into the film. This of course means that “The Art of The Polar Express” offers its readers a chance to get a better
look at the landscapes presented in the film as they are lit by a full moon.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of Chris Van Allsburg’s book of the same title, “Polar Express” is the story of
a boy’s train ride to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. In the movie version of the film, viewers are thrown into a cozy
world that has been filled with dancing; rollercoaster rides through glaciers, dancing food servers and an elf rock
band. Authors Mark Cotta Vaz and Steve Starkey have filled 144 full color glossy pages with images from this new
and expanded adaptation. As in Van Allsburg’s original, the surreal paintings of a boy’s journey across moonlit,
snow covered plains and mountains are sure to trigger the reader’s memories of similar magic moments from late
night drives.
Art is the focus of this book, meaning there are a lot of digital paintings in two-page spreads with short explanations
that don’t give away too much. While the reader only gets two sentences from Starkey, who was Zemeckis’s
producing partner, on the design for the Elf Bathroom, it’s enough to frame the contents of the image, which
overflows with eye candy. There for the pleasure of the reader’s right hemisphere is what look like a Santaland
kitchenette with translucent green curtains, miles of chrome and tiny little shampoo bottles, all mounted onto a double
sink with a staircase leading to the lip.
The book includes material from all stages of production, including pen-and-ink drawings, digital paintings, photos of
the performance-capture stage where the actors worked, architectural drawings, even souvenir postcards. For
vintage toy fans there’s a great spread on the boy’s bedroom showing some astonishingly photorealistic Tinkertoys,
books and other set dressing. The text is brief at best, but of course there are tons of featurettes dissecting the film
from top to bottom. This a great addition to the any coffee table during Christmas, or any other time.
and visualizes his film through all points of the film in ensure that his camerawork is smooth and sharp. Some people
get excitement out of extreme sports, but Zemeckis works out how to combine shots, close-ups and reaction shots in
a single take. The results can be amazingly breathtaking. However, up to this point his movies have been done on
celluloid and limit what can be done.
For the first time Zemeckis has gone completely digital and everything that seems to be wrong is able to be fixed.
Now the director is able to get everything perfect in his film. Every single performance in “The Polar Express” began
life as a data set, which means that acting is perfect. This of course means that “The Art of The Polar Express” is an
amazing art book to take a look at.
While watching the film in theatres, viewers are unable to freeze the screen and notice the visual details that are put
into the film. This of course means that “The Art of The Polar Express” offers its readers a chance to get a better
look at the landscapes presented in the film as they are lit by a full moon.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of Chris Van Allsburg’s book of the same title, “Polar Express” is the story of
a boy’s train ride to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. In the movie version of the film, viewers are thrown into a cozy
world that has been filled with dancing; rollercoaster rides through glaciers, dancing food servers and an elf rock
band. Authors Mark Cotta Vaz and Steve Starkey have filled 144 full color glossy pages with images from this new
and expanded adaptation. As in Van Allsburg’s original, the surreal paintings of a boy’s journey across moonlit,
snow covered plains and mountains are sure to trigger the reader’s memories of similar magic moments from late
night drives.
Art is the focus of this book, meaning there are a lot of digital paintings in two-page spreads with short explanations
that don’t give away too much. While the reader only gets two sentences from Starkey, who was Zemeckis’s
producing partner, on the design for the Elf Bathroom, it’s enough to frame the contents of the image, which
overflows with eye candy. There for the pleasure of the reader’s right hemisphere is what look like a Santaland
kitchenette with translucent green curtains, miles of chrome and tiny little shampoo bottles, all mounted onto a double
sink with a staircase leading to the lip.
The book includes material from all stages of production, including pen-and-ink drawings, digital paintings, photos of
the performance-capture stage where the actors worked, architectural drawings, even souvenir postcards. For
vintage toy fans there’s a great spread on the boy’s bedroom showing some astonishingly photorealistic Tinkertoys,
books and other set dressing. The text is brief at best, but of course there are tons of featurettes dissecting the film
from top to bottom. This a great addition to the any coffee table during Christmas, or any other time.
