The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles II - Creatures and Characters

As wonderful as Weta's first Hobbit Chronicles volume was, this second volume is as interesting and fun for completely different reasons.If you love practical make ups and all the incredibly hard work that goes into them, you will love Chronicles II. As helpful as volume 1 is to cosplayers, volume 2 takes that just a step further in showing all the details in dwarf, elf and hobbit prosthetics. While the concept designs for the dwarves in volume 1 was great, seeing the actual appliances and/or sculpts is even better. I love being able see to Thorin's pop Thrain in all of his Odinesque glory, and too, the mining dwarf who found the Arkenstone.Richard Armitage is terrific in the role of Thorin; Pouring the early sculpting concepts of a long bearded Thorin while reading Richard's comments about what a transformation that would have been, makes me ache just a little bit. A couple of those early concepts seen in the excellent Chronicles 1 were so spot on, imo, they would not detract from how attractive Thorin could be. It makes me wistful, but I am glad to see one of my favorite characters being portrayed so wonderfully in every other way. The nice thing is, we have a record of what might have been in two different forms now. So I appreciate seeing more of those excellent concepts in this book.The added bonus of reading the actors, the talented Make Up crew and Weta designers' comments about specific designs is terrific. You really do get a sense of how the actors prepared for their roles and what they brought to their characters. It's a treat a read comments other than what a grind wearing those appliances, hair, beards and fat suits were.In additional to practical make ups, many the digital characters are touched upon as well, including some of Radagast's feathered and furry friends (yay!) There's also a fun Middle Earth Size comparison chart in the very back.I am looking forward to Weta's Chronicles for the next two Hobbit films. These are the best making of books for fans into costumes, make up, props and all those wonderful tiny details that realy deserve a lot more exposure.Like it's predecesor, this is an absolutely gorgeous book. One I will definitely reread many, many times. If you enjoyed the Hobbit An Unexpected Journey, you'll enjoy this book.

I've got a love/hate relationship with knowing behind-the-scenes stuff, I'm drawn to it as I want to know more about any movie that fascinates me, at the same time I don't want the vision or fantasy of the film ruined for me (oh, those shots of actors running around green screens!) But since I love craftsmanship and am blown away by the details of the the Hobbit production, I picked this up. As a book as others have said, it's handsomely done, a worthy addition to a library, and definitely something you want as hardcopy. Best of all for me, while detailing the enormous, visionary work of creating the characters - e.g it is more targeting to the costume/makeup/character development as opposed to the also excellent Chronicles I - knowing these details through these books did not "ruin" the movie for me, it has made me appreciate the dedication and commitment of all involved. I care about these films and the characters in them, and it is obvious from this book that all the actors and crew care deeply as well, as the book has many interesting quotes from both actors, artists, and designers. I had no idea of the monumental amount of work, attention for the tiniest details, and thought that had gone into the production of the Hobbit (and the coming films). I really liked that the actors had also collaborated, helping the designers and costumers define their characters and look.The leatherwork, fabrics, the prosthetics, the design and redesign of the dwarves, the research and thought into the weapons. It's given me a new appreciation for the Hobbit and the coming films, and I salute all of Peter Jackson and co. for their dedication and the world they've created - truly extraordinary and this book was a fascinating, well-put-together, very readable window into a difficult, but magical creative process engineered by many, many expert craftspeople. Read an article that Richard Armitage's face/hair alone (Thorin) through this with the multiple expensive prosthetics cost 1.6 million dollars - if that's true, as far as I'm concerned was worth every penny, as was whatever else was spent.

The media could not be loaded. The first Chronicles book looks at the art and design. This second volume looks at how these characters are then created, through make-up or digitally.You get to see Bilbo, Gandalf, dwarves (again), Thorin, orcs, trolls, eagles, giants, goblins and their king, oversized rabbits, Radagast's hedgehog friend, Stone Giants and the Gollum. Oh, no dragon, not yet.The book's filled with highly detailed pictures, film stills and behind-the-scenes photographs. There are pictures of the cast working with silicone hand and leg prosthetics, make-up process, sculptures of dwarves, 3D models and more. The book's back has a scale size chart that's helpful at showing all the characters relative to each other.There are interviews with the actors and the many staff that worked on the set. The extensive writeup talks about the challenges of creating these characters and creatures, getting them to move, the accents and language, the digital effects and the 3D models. It's fun reading about the film production from the first person account.You get a good idea the amount of effort put in to create a film like this. Even for the 3D models created, they did not just model the muscles but also all the bones within even though they are not going to be seen on screen.It's a really informative book packed with content.Highly recommended to fans of the film.(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)