The Art and Making of ParaNorman Hardcover – July 25, 2012

I don't get a lot of paper books anymore - I have mostly gone digital for the environment's sake as well as my space-saving sake. But this is one you don't want to get in Kindle format. I got my copy for Christmas, so a big "thank you" to my gift-giver for that!The Art and Making of ParaNorman is a work of art itself, with each page having a beautiful artistic background which you will lose with current Kindle formatting, even with your pretty Fires.I've been a fan of stop-motion since Clash of the Titans, Rudolph, etc. It is such a fascinatingly intricate art, and I really admire all the work that goes into the creation of these films. I have been a big fan of Laika since Coraline. If you are into stop motion, or just ParaNorman, you will probably really enjoy this book. It really keeps up with the promise of being an "Art and Making of" book because there are tons of colorful photos of concept art, puppets, the movie, etc., but there are also lots of snippets of text which reveal the creation process behind ParaNorman, and Laika in general. Though they surely could have made a volume 25x the size of this one in order to encompass half of the creation process involved in this film, what you get is pretty meaty for an art book.I added a few pictures, not really to show detail, but to show a rough estimation of art to written content. You will get a lot of both in this great book! Also, you can note the nice formatting in the paper version vs. the Kindle, which at time of writing is the only view offered in the "Look Inside!" feature. Hope this helps! :D

This is the second "Art of..." book that I've read from LAIKA. (They're definitely one of my favorite studios all around, and I can't wait to get a copy of the "Art of Kubo.")The images and artwork are fantastic. If you have any interest in how stop-motion animation is made, this provides a great overview to the ridiculous amount of work that goes into these short films. The images do a great job at capturing ParaNorman's shift from rough sketches to final puppets. Even more, they're sure to give some great "behind the scenes" shots for you to see the scale and scope of what these folks are working on.The only reason I docked a star is for the writing itself. It's functional, for sure, and it gives solid explanations of the process of creating this film. However, it simply feels functional, going through the steps to explain each portion. It just didn't "click" on a higher level for me. It's not bad, by any means, but it felt a bit forced, as if it was trying to hard. Still, this could definitely just be me.In the end, it serves as a great intro to LAIKA and the process of stop-motion through this wonderful film. If anything, I'd definitely recommend starting here, then moving to Boxtrolls, then Kubo, as they do seem to build on the ground they cover in this process.

This book snuck up on me and instantly was a huge surprise. Hold on, no surprise. Ive heard some amazing reports from friends at Laika and have followed the company for a longtime, so it's no surprise that this is a fantastic-ly creative place. I guess the pleasant surprise is found with-in the book, which has this really nice, compelling "Craftsmanship" angle twisted into it- along with the typical character designs and background art you find in "Art of" books.There's something particularly special about a picture of someone building a set, animating a stop motion puppet, or fabricating props that isnt found in a picture of an animator animating on a computer, or an animation wheel, or a layout, color or concept artist drawing or painting, no matter how impressive the piece of art is. The cool thing about this art and making of book is how awesome the making aspect of it is; People building cars, climbing into sets, people sewing costumes, or making wigs! Sucha great documenting of many extremely specialized and rare jobs all coming together to make something.Super inspiring to see!Great job you guys!As with quite a few art books this one is on nice glossy paper which is terrible to try and reproduce, but you can find a handful of my favorite pictures, as well as reviews and pictures from similar books on my art blog; en-b.blogspot.comA really great book for someone who loves animation art and an even better one for someone who is fascinated with fine Craftsmanship.

I have several "The Art of..." books. Each shows the conceptual drawings and discusses the creative steps that led to the "Making of..." The Art and Making of ParaNorman is different. Of course the movie itself is different. Like its predecessor, CORALINE, this film is stop-motion, meaning "puppets" were used, with each frame photographed after facial changes were made, and the characters were moved a tiny bit. The production studio, LAIKA, is making a name for itself with fine craftsmanship and amazing stories.This book is different in its own right, as every detail of the making of the characters, and the film, is documented, and the construction of the characters on their armatures is shown in detail. In fact, at the end of the film, Norman is shown being modeled over his own armature in stop-motion. A good amount of time is spent discussing the thought process that led up to the choice of character designs, and both conceptual drawings and final designs are compared. One fault I have with "The Art of the Incredibles" is that very few actual scenes from the film are included, as if they were not considered Art, compared to the concept drawings.I loved PARANORMAN, and the book is a great addition to my collection.

From LAIKA, the studio behind one of my favourite films, Coraline, comes another stop-motion animation marvel, ParaNorman.This book features the detailed artwork that went into the film's creation, from character sketches and concept art to puppets, textiles, set dressing, and 3-D printed facial models.The Art and Making of ParaNorman feels like a studio tour as Jed Alger charts the progression of the film's production.We start with the introductions from LAIKA President & CEO (as well as being ParaNorman's producer and Lead Animator) Travis Knight and from the film's director's Chris Butler and Sam Fell. Then it's on with the tour, with a look at the different stages starting with 'Welcome To LAIKA' then onto the creation from original idea to physical puppet, building the puppets, the sets, the special effects and meeting the people behind the curtains.It's a really interesting look at the process of what goes into making a film, even more so with stop-animation, because of how much detail is put into the production. And another welcome addition to my library of movie art books.Definitely recommended.

The media could not be loaded.  Well, this is a beautiful book. Printed on thick glossy stock the artwork looks great.It's not a long read, as many of the pages are filled with pre-production art, as you'd expect.But it is a good read, with a strong sense of the order in which these films are made.There are only a few shots of people in front of computer monitors, which should please the old school amongst us!I would always prefer to see more photos of the sculpting stages in the puppet making process,but there are a few nice pics of Kent Melton's work.A few shots of armatures, but as the bulk of the puppets use replacement faces, don't expect to see a lot of Corpse Bride style mechanics.Lots and lots of character studies, from early pencil sketches, through digital renderings as well as early sculpts, though most of the photographs are of 2D artwork.The rapid prototyping process has really come on since Coraline, all those faces had to be hand painted, whereas, ParaNorman's have their artwork painted and baked right onto the translucent material. I'll be very interested to see how they look on screen.Again and again with this sort of book you are reminded how much craftsmanship, hard work and dedication goes into stop-motion filmmaking, especially on this scale, and it's especially gratifying to see how the old crafts and new technologies dovetail and bring something new to the stop-mo table.I still feel they don't put enough anorak detail in these books for my nerdy liking but at least the films are still being made, and still being written about.If you have an interest in stop-motion films and how they are made,I would recommend this,it's written in an accessible style and takes you through all the processes. Anyway, well done Jed Alger the author, and well done everyone at LAIKA!

Now 3D printers are involved in the process and replacement animation seems to be the next thing in Stop, then this is really the book for you for how a feature-film was made in this form of animation. As a third year animation student at Uni, this book is probably going to be a bible amongst others. 5 star, worth every penny!The book contents include:1.Welcome to LAIKA (Studio)2. Giving the Film Characters (Idea to puppet)3. Face Facts (Replacement animation has raised the bar)4.The Workshop of Little Wonders (Puppet Team)5.Building the World (Scene setting)6.Where the Story Comes to Life (Stage Floor)7.Bringing it All Home (Special Effects and Finishing Touches)

If you love stop motion animation then you must own this book. The book has beautiful illustrations of art work and behind the scenes photos. It's well written and informative without being to over technical for people that know very little about the process of stop frame animation. For those who have an understanding or have studied animation this is also a must have book, as it shows how technology and how the combining of techniques are giving stop frame a new lease of life.Overall a fantastic book that is full of inspiration and makes you realise that stop motion is an art form in its own right.

After watching the film and having a great interest in stop motion animation, I decided to get this book for a more detailed look at the making of the film. Overall it's very good and shows a lot of the behind the sceneswork involved in such a production. It only misses out on a 5 star rating as I'd like to have seen more on the physical build up of models that could be used as a reference and also more of the filming technicalities, but then maybe they don't want to give away all of their information.Overall a good purchase for anyone interested in stop motion work and especially for fans of the film.