Rotoscopers
  • News
  • Podcasts
    • Animation Addicts Podcast
    • Every Episode Ever
  • Reviews
    • Animated Movies
    • Art Books
    • Blu-ray/DVD
    • Live Action
  • Interviews
  • Opinions
  • Studios
    • Aardman
    • Blue Sky Studios
    • Disney
    • Don Bluth
    • DreamWorks
    • Fox Animation Studios
    • Illumination Entertainment
    • LAIKA
    • Lucasfilm Animation
    • Paramount Animation
    • Pixar
    • Sony Pictures Animation
    • Reel FX
    • Studio Ghibli
    • Warner Animation
  • Animation Calendar
No Result
View All Result
Rotoscopers
  • News
  • Podcasts
    • Animation Addicts Podcast
    • Every Episode Ever
  • Reviews
    • Animated Movies
    • Art Books
    • Blu-ray/DVD
    • Live Action
  • Interviews
  • Opinions
  • Studios
    • Aardman
    • Blue Sky Studios
    • Disney
    • Don Bluth
    • DreamWorks
    • Fox Animation Studios
    • Illumination Entertainment
    • LAIKA
    • Lucasfilm Animation
    • Paramount Animation
    • Pixar
    • Sony Pictures Animation
    • Reel FX
    • Studio Ghibli
    • Warner Animation
  • Animation Calendar
No Result
View All Result
Rotoscopers
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews Art Books

[ART BOOK REVIEW] Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy

Mason Smith by Mason Smith
May 12, 2014
in Art Books, Disney, Lucasfilm Animation, Reviews
3 min read
0
[ART BOOK REVIEW] Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy
1.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

It’s an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan, what with Disney having bought Lucasfilm and Episode VII underway, not to mention the imminent arrival of Star Wars: Rebels. Despite all the exciting new content, the hardcore fan of the Original Before-Jar-Jar-Han-Shot-First-What’s-A-Midichlorian Trilogy can still geek out about recent revisits to A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi. Today I want to talk about Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy. It’s the latest Star Wars archive compilation from J.W. Rinzler, author and editor for Lucas Licensing. I was very impressed by this previously-unreleased comprehensive collection of storyboards!

For the uninitiated, storyboards are a story development process where artists plan the composition and action of a shot by drawing it first. Think of a storyboard as a comic strip for cinematographers and VFX workers to read so they know what to put on camera. Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy starts with an introduction by Joe Johnston (director of The Pagemaster, Jumanji, and Captain America, the First Avenger), who started his film career working as a storyboard artist for Lucasfilm Ltd.

Throughout the book, you will find commentary by Johnston and the other storyboard artists included with the images. From there, we’re launched right into the exciting opening scene of A New Hope. All of the major sequences from Episodes IV – VI are covered. Be advised, however, that not every scene in the Original Trilogy is given coverage in this book. However, you can expect to see boards from the sequences that included visual effects. Clear communication between George Lucas and Industrial Light and Magic’s VFX arists seems to be the main purpose of these storyboards in the first place.

It’s worth mentioning that the format of this art book is more than satisfactory. The pages are well-designed for an art book; that is, nothing diminishes or distracts from the central focus of the publication. All of the storyboard images are displayed with excellent quality and clarity. You can even see where the artists switched between cool grey and warm grey markers in the same board! There are even a few full-color boards, as well as a handful of boards that span two pages. Star Wars fans will also be very interested in the generous amount of unreleased material found in the book. Be prepared for some fascinating never-before-seen boards showing deleted scenes, scrapped concepts, and prototype character / vehicle designs. It was also interesting to see the same scene or sequence visually interpreted in different ways by different artists.

A proto-Vader unleashes his devastating “shout” to get rid of pesky rebels. Fus Ro Dah, anyone?

The careful reader will also notice how the book shows Lucasfilm’s growth into a major Hollywood production company. Joe Johnston even comments in the introduction that, when he was first brought to Lucasfilm Ltd, he didn’t even know what a storyboard was! I enjoyed seeing how the early boards from A New Hope were very experimental, still fleshing out the designs of key characters and environments. By The Return of the Jedi, however, the boards get very precise in design, composition, and lighting compared to the final film version. The speeder bike sequence on Endor, for example, matches the final film version shot-for-shot!

Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy clocks in at 352 pages and is a very well-designed and generous publication from the Star Wars archives. If you’re a lover of the original Star Wars trilogy and are interested in visual production and film / VFX design, go grab this book. This is one I’ll be revisiting again and again!

Purchase

Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy: Amazon

YouTube Review

Tags: art bookstar warsstoryboards
Previous Post

[SPOILERS] Season 3 Finale Cliffhanger Brings Bold New Realm of Disney to ‘Once Upon a Time’

Next Post

[ART BOOK REVIEW] The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2

Mason Smith

Mason Smith

Mason is a rigger/animator at Triseum Games. He's also a grad student at Texas A&M working on his Master's thesis. He loves talking about animation, watching old Godzilla flicks, listening to 80s music, and drawing cartoons. Bottom text.

Related Posts

Animation Addicts Podcast #263: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Bronze Age
Animation Addicts Podcast

Animation Addicts Podcast #263: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Bronze Age

August 16, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #262: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- Silver Age
Animation Addicts Podcast

Animation Addicts Podcast #262: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- Silver Age

August 9, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #260: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Wartime Era
Animation Addicts Podcast

Animation Addicts Podcast #260: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Wartime Era

July 26, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #259: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Golden Age
Animation Addicts Podcast

Animation Addicts Podcast #259: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Golden Age

July 19, 2022
Load More
Next Post
[ART BOOK REVIEW] The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2

[ART BOOK REVIEW] The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2

Discussion about this post

Popular Posts

  • Animation Addicts Podcast #262: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- Silver Age 50 views
  • Animation Addicts Podcast #260: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Wartime Era 48 views
  • Animation Addicts Podcast #261: The Secret of Kells – Am I A Commoner? 41 views
  • Animation Addicts Podcast #263: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Bronze Age 39 views
  • 11k Fans
  • 12k Followers
  • 5.9k Followers
  • 5.3k Followers

Recently Added

Animation Addicts Podcast #263: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Bronze Age

Animation Addicts Podcast #263: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Bronze Age

August 16, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #262: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- Silver Age

Animation Addicts Podcast #262: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- Silver Age

August 9, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #261: The Secret of Kells – Am I A Commoner?

Animation Addicts Podcast #261: The Secret of Kells – Am I A Commoner?

August 2, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #260: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Wartime Era

Animation Addicts Podcast #260: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Wartime Era

July 26, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #259: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Golden Age

Animation Addicts Podcast #259: Disney Canon Tier Ranking- The Golden Age

July 19, 2022
Rotoscopers

© 2019 Rotoscopers

Important Links

  • About
  • Support
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Privacy Policy
  • User Posts

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Podcasts
    • Animation Addicts Podcast
    • Every Episode Ever
  • Reviews
    • Animated Movies
    • Art Books
    • Blu-ray/DVD
    • Live Action
  • Interviews
  • Opinions
  • Studios
    • Aardman
    • Blue Sky Studios
    • Disney
    • Don Bluth
    • DreamWorks
    • Fox Animation Studios
    • Illumination Entertainment
    • LAIKA
    • Lucasfilm Animation
    • Paramount Animation
    • Pixar
    • Sony Pictures Animation
    • Reel FX
    • Studio Ghibli
    • Warner Animation
  • Animation Calendar

© 2019 Rotoscopers

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Posting....