Dredd: The Illustrated Movie Script and Visuals (2014)

Author: Alex Garland | Illustrator: Jock | Page Count: 240

“You were shit out of luck when you ran into the Ma-Ma clan.”

If there’d been a poll asking what people would like to see in a book titled 'Illustrated Movie Script and Visuals,' everything that’s already included would be on my list.  As someone who enjoys Dredd comics, screenplays and can happily waste an hour studying concept art, it seems almost tailor-made.

On the left hand pages is Garland’s script, laid out in the usual format.  It’s also where you’ll find trivia, concept art depicting various stages of evolution and full colour production stills, not all of which were used in the final version (unused hall of justice, judge badges, etc), with brief passages of text describing what each one is and how it fits into the overall structure.  It’s the ‘Visuals’ half of the book.

The right hand pages display the ‘Illustrated Movie Script’ half.  Jock’s sketches give life to the scene as written on the left.  The monochrome art is somewhere between traditional storyboards (minus the giant arrows) and a regular panelled comic.  It's filled in places with black and white screen tones (repeating dot patterns often seen in manga).  Dialogue is included.  It’s the best of both worlds.

Had it been created after the film I’d have said there’s a vibrancy and urgency to the lines that capture and communicate the gritty, uncompromising and violent aspect well.  But it was made first, so it’s fair to say that the film captured those aspects of Jock’s sketches.  Had a non-comic artist been responsible, someone without a history of Dredd, the film might not have felt so authentic.

I found it more enjoyable to read the comic part in one sitting, and go back afterwards to concentrate on the left hand pages.  Doing that spilt the book into two distinct halves but the alternative was disruptive to the flow of the story.

People who bought Dredd: The Screenplay (2012) as an ebook might be a little sore double-dipping but if any of the additional content mentioned above is to your liking, there’s likely enough to warrant a repurchase.

5 Munce Box Meals out of 5

La Jetée: Ciné-roman (2008)

Author: Chris Marker | Designer: Bruce Mau | Page Count: 258

"Moments to remember are just like other moments.

They are only made memorable by the scars they leave."

Chris Marker's La Jetée (1962) was a short experimental film that was composed almost entirely of still images, with a V/O narration telling the story from a very specific POV. The stills used in the film's composition are reproduced here, with the relevant text accompanying each image. The text is in both French and English, as the original short film was a French production.

If you're familiar with the film, it's an odd experience having the voice of the narrator replaced by your own inner-narrator. The inflections are different. The pacing is different. The edit is different. Nevertheless, if you can immerse yourself fully in the experience, then it's equally as profound and equally as unsettling.

If you haven't viewed the film, I can't imagine how you'll feel about the book or even if it would have the same kind of emotional impact. I recommend a viewing before a reading, simply because you'd be assimilating the works in the order which they were revealed, but there may well be advantages in reversing the process that I'm not aware of and am now incapable of experiencing.

One thing I'm sure of is that once viewed the images become inseparable from the words, regardless if they're spoken or written.

5 photos from the future out of 5

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of the Ang Lee Film (2000)

Author: Ang Lee & James Schamus | Page Count: 144

"The film is not crafted in the realistic style, as my earlier films have been, but the emotions it conveys are real."

Illustrated with more than 80 full colour photographs, this lavish companion book includes the entire screenplay of the film, alongside short essays and commentaries about the production from director Ang Lee and his screenwriter James Schamus.  There's also some words from cast and crew.  Scholars David Bordwell and Richard Corliss give an introduction and some brief history lessons throughout.  The text gives insights into what went on behind the scenes; it exposes the tragedies that dogged the production and the triumphs that elevated it but there isn't enough content to warrant the hefty price tag attached.  Half of the introduction is reprint from elsewhere.  The other half drifts off to become an appreciation of Hong Kong cinema as a whole, and while that was certainly fascinating it begs the question why it was included at all.  Smells like filler.

It's hard to score this one.  Let's say you liked the film and you find screenplays interesting.  Lets also imagine behind the scenes photos excite, you find small snippets of info from cast and crew insightful and you can afford to pay $32.95 for something that when distilled down to only text would fill about six A4 pages (that’s not counting the actual screenplay), then I guess you could give it a try.

The two most interesting things I learned was that Chow Yun-Fat wasn't Lee's first choice to play Li Mu Bai and only one of the cast spoke any mainland Mandarin that the director demanded.  I just saved you money.

1 pretty but hollow volume out of 5