A month before the release of Zack Snyder’s film adaptation of Alan Moore’s famed Watchmen, Titan Books released three Watchmen movie companions, providing a deeper look into the the filming of the unfilmable comic. All three offer a different perspective on the Watchmen universe. Pads & Panels has the breakdown, including Dave Gibbons’ Watching the Watchmen.
Title: Watchmen: The Art of the Film
Author: Peter Aperlo
Whether fans of Watchmen felt the film successfully condensed Alan Moore’s weighty text or not, it is hard to give Zack Snyder anything but an A for effort, especially when it comes to Watchmen’s visual translation.
Peter Aperlo’s Art of the Film book is a coffee table gem for Watchmen collectors, completists and general fanatics. The book is beautifully bound, with glossy color pages that offer an up-close look at the layers upon layers of visual artifacts from the film, proving Snyder is as much a stickler for detail as Moore, albeit in his own medium.
The book is divided into six major sections – concept art, sets, props, Owlship, costumes and posters – providing images of physical things used in the film, original renderings created in the planning stages of the film and reference from Absolute Watchmen. Aperlo’s short narrative is weaved throughout, giving context to the images. One point is constantly driven home throughout the book, and that is that the Watchmen book itself was the one and only reference for this film, and the goal was always preserving the integrity of the text and visuals, while making necessary changes to translate them to a different medium. The content supports this idea and offers incredible insight into the film, especially for those with an interest in filmmaking.
The text could be more in-depth, but the images in Watchmen: The Art of the Film are a goldmine for fans.
–Bill Jones
Title: Watchmen: The Film Companion
Author: Peter Aperlo
Fans of the graphic novel and its motion picture adaptation, Watchmen, will find a wonderfully crafted complementary book in Watchmen: The Film Companion.
There are some incredibly insightful anecdotes and behind-the-scenes information revealed to interested fans who just cannot get enough of the world Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and now Zack Snyder have created. Little details – such as how the “creepy house,” the one Rorschach goes to and kills the murdering child molester, was constructed based off an actual building eerily matching the one in the graphic novel – are excellent morsels that are shared with the reader.
Fantastic character bios of the main figures as well as second- and third-tier characters are detailed with accompanying photographs. Production stories on locations and filming techniques explain many of Snyder’s choices. And post production work on Rorschach’s mask and Dr. Manhattan’s visual representation are well laid out, answering many questions of “how they did it.” There’s a wealth of knowledge and information here that shows the level of dedication and commitment all parties involved had with this film. The only glaring omission is how the costumes, armor and character designs were created. The pre-production section leaves a lot to be desired.
This film companion is a wise investment for anyone who just hasn’t had enough of the film or the graphic novel. Each page is extremely well designed with set photos, promotional shots and screen captures that look great on the thick pages. This is definitely a coffee table book that should be displayed proudly.
–John Gustafson
Title: Watchmen: Portraits
Photography by: Clay Enos
Portrait collections are difficult to judge as they feature amazing still shots exemplifying the hard work crews put into the character designs, costumes and makeup, but are typically taken removed from the film with the subject looking at the camera, straddling the line between promotional stills and worthwhile character studies.
In the case of this Watchmen collection, all the actors stay in character with additional images of props and costumes, as well as full-figure shots. Each shot is highly detailed, capturing every wrinkle, follicle, pore and, most importantly, the eyes. It is a credit to the subjects that this book feels like another natural extension of the Watchmen movie instead of a cash-in.
Every subject retains its respective story, and the book gives a closer look at extras and minor characters associated with the film. While fans of the graphic novel and film will find the book to be well laid out and a beautiful collection, it is a steep investment at $50. Those interested in pursuing a career in film, television or theater will get the most out of Portraits.
–John Gustafson
Title: Watching the Watchmen
Authors: Dave Gibbons, Chip Kidd, Mike Essl
While the current crop of Watchmen film books each offer a unique perspective, the best of the Titan tie-in books is still the publisher’s first, Watching the Watchmen. Original Watchmen artist Dave Gibbon’s offers chapter-by-chapter thumbnails he used to plan the series, plus letters exchanged with Alan Moore, and sketches, concept art and notes galore.
Alongside the treasure-trove of illustrations, Gibbons provides a narrative, detailing the entire process of creating Watchmen, from the original brainstorming sessions to the controversial collectables and reprints, as well as an early film pitch that was to see Arnold Schwarzenegger assume the role of Dr. Manhattan. Gibbons gets into great detail about the color palette, and offers unparalleled insight into the talent and planning, as well as the random occurrences and/or fate that played a part in bringing about arguably the most respected comic in the history of the medium. From specific notes on coloring, to printing, to trivia bits such as the three major blunders Gibbons said he corrected when updating the series for the Absolute edition, Watching the Watchmen remains the number one book to own for die-hard Watchmen fans looking for more.
–Bill Jones
For more info, www.titanbooks.com
