By various (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-178116-885-1
Regular readers will know that I’ve never been the biggest fan of zombie fiction but occasionally something comes along that compels me to re-evaluate my position. Such was Max Brooks’ 2009 companion to his excellent novel World War Z released as The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks – a truly mind-boggling piece of graphic indulgence.
Now in the interests of completeness – and because those fine people at Titan Books sent me a review copy – I’m putting you wise to the official film-book which accompanies the blockbuster movie adaptation that resulted from the aforementioned paeans to the unliving and unloved…
This should be interesting for all of us as I haven’t seen the movie yet…
Max Brooks is a successful actor and screenwriter (most notably as part of the team scripting Saturday Night Live, and animation aficionados might recognize his name from the voice credits of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Batman Beyond and Justice League. You’ve probably laughed at a lot of his dad’s movies such as High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein and the first version of the Producers.
Brooks the Younger’s wry, satirical re-imagining of those hoary shambling horror icons has captivated readers since the book’s release in 2003 and the long-awaited, much-delayed cinema release has been eagerly anticipated…
The basic premise of this specific Rise of the Living Dead posits that a virus is responsible for the fall of civilisation. The infection can be found in every corner of the Earth, and it sure looks like Apocalypse Now…
This epic – 160 pages and 272 x 214mm – paperback volume reprints the shooting script (complete and correct at time of going to press) liberally illustrated and intercut with photographic stills, production art, storyboard sequences, computer modelling pieces and concept illustrations by Seth Engström, Kim Frederickson, Robbie Consing and others, peppered with quotes from cast, production crew, scripters and director Marc Forster.
The global setting and the journey of nominal protagonist Gerry Lane is visually divided into a ‘Prologue’ and key locations from the picture as the hero experiences and explores the Z-zone of ‘Philadelphia’ – paying particular attention to the fact that our own war zone of Glasgow substituted for the “City of Brotherly Love” – plus critical clashes in an ‘EZ Save’ supermarket and the ‘Newark Projects’, all ably augmented by Consign’s designs and storyboards.
Other key scenes encompass a ragtag naval ‘Flotilla’ that might be humanity’s last refuge, glimpses of lost ‘Korea’, the battle for ‘Jerusalem’ and the last retreat to ‘Wales’ before a final illuminative section hands over commentary to Special Effects wizards Andrew R. Jones, Alex Reynolds, Simon Crane, Simon Atherton and Scott Farrar who reveal the secrets of making ‘Zombies’ real, building the ‘Tools’ to kill them again and the magic of ‘Shooting Greenscreen’…
For the technically minded there’s also a full list of Acknowledgements to round off your brush with death…
Always the most engaging publishing add-ons to motion picture releases, such “Art of…” compendia are as much a part of the fun these days as popcorn and gum under your seats. This book is both intriguing and pretty: enticing and genuinely informative enough to keep any fan happy. It might even convince me to watch the film….
World War Z ™ and © 2013 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.