The Lord of the Rings: The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring, by Gary Russell, is a complete guide to the art direction of Peter Jackson’s 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, telling the process of all behind-the-scenes conceptualization up to the computer-effects stage. It was published in 2002 by Houghton Mifflin (U.S.), and contains hundreds of exclusive, preliminary sketches, paintings, and designs.
This book precedes The Art of The Two Towers and The Art of The Return of the King.
Contents[]
After an introduction featuring Richard Taylor, Peter Jackson, and others' account of the initial design efforts (1997 - 1998), the text of this guide is commentary by members of Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, and illustrators such as renowned artists Alan Lee and John Howe, who designed the majority of environments and buildings seen in the film. Commentary accompanies a sketch, matte painting sculpture, maquette, color study, digital art-piece, armor concept, or costume that someone was involved with. The book is organized into four sections: Locations, Costume, Armory, and Creatures.
A few illustrations and images of conceptual artwork appear also in Weapons and Warfare (a book written by the editor, Chris Smith). Other images are exclusive to this book.
Personnel featured[]
- Alan Lee
- John Howe
- Paul Lasaine
- Daniel Falconer
- Jeremy Bennett
- Gus Hunter
- Yanick Dusseault
- Roger Kupelian
- Max Dennison
- Wayne Haag
- Ngila Dickson
- Sylvana Sacco
- Ben Wootten
- Warren Mahy
- Jamie Beswarick
- Shaun Bolton
- Christian Rivers
- Mel James
- Sacha Lees
- "Alan Lee, the beloved illustrator of many of Houghton Mifflin’s Tolkien editions, and a talented team of other artists, including the renowned Tolkien illustrator John Howe, have spent more than three years creating the sets, props, creatures, and locations that truly bring Tolkien’s Middle-earth to life. Hobbiton, Rivendell, and Minas Tirith are no longer designations on the map. Literally hundreds of designers and craftspeople have been painstakingly adding authentic cultural details to each of more than 48,000 separate objects shown in The Fellowship of the Ring, from armor to props to architecture. All this and more is shown in Gary Russell’s lavishly illustrated book. Russell spent time on the set in New Zealand, conducting interviews with director Peter Jackson, special effects guru Richard Taylor, art directors Paul Lasainne, Dan Hennah, and Chris Hennah, costumer Ngila Dickson, and Alan Lee and John Howe. Featuring everything from pencil sketches to the finished objects, his book gives detailed descriptions of why and how this groundbreaking film looks as exciting as it does. The millions of fans dazzled by the results will find here everything they want to know about the genesis and evolution of the movie’s incredible look."
- —From the publisher
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Danish | Filmguide: Grafikken i "Eventyret om Ringen" |
See also[]
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Fellowship of the Ring Visual Companion (film guide)