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The Hobbit Chronicles #6
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Chronicles VI: The Art of War
Presented by Academy Award-winning director Sir Peter Jackson, the ultimate insider’s look at the conflicts and battles waged in The Hobbit movie trilogy: how they were devised, composed, designed, staged and more.
Smaug’s fiery attack on Lake-town, the White Council’s raid of Dol Guldur, the ferocious Battle of the Five Armies itself—all of the conflicts waged in The Hobbit motion picture trilogy are examined in exquisite detail from the first skirmish to the ultimate conflagration in the trilogy’s dramatic conclusion.
The Hobbit: The Art of War brings together all of the special effects imagery in the Weta archives and unprecedented access to Sir Peter Jackson—the genius behind some of the world’s biggest motion-picture franchises, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit—who shares his expertise and encyclopedic knowledge with fans as never before.
The Hobbit: The Art of War takes fans inside this creative visionary’s mind and gives them an understanding of how he plotted each and every movement captured on film. Jackson offers in-depth discussions of the strategies of each army, the tactics they employed, and the significance of each collision between rival cultures. The cast members from the three films also share personal stories of how their characters’ tales are resolved.
Meet the armies of digitally generated creatures these heroes must overcome, delve into the world of Weta Digital and the Motion Capture Studio. Discover how the largely digital battles were achieved, from the design and creation of the battles’ creatures and the fight choreography, to the extended environments and visual effects necessary to make Tolkien’s world vividly real. The Hobbit: The Art of War is packed with lavish galleries showcasing the costumes, armor, weapons, and props integral to the battles, as well as the stories behind their creation.
With never-before-heard behind-the-scenes, on-the-set, and in-the-studio stories, and exclusive detailed content, The Hobbit: The Art of War is the ultimate Hobbit fan’s encyclopedia and a must have for all aficionados of the craft of filmmaking.
Smaug’s fiery attack on Lake-town, the White Council’s raid of Dol Guldur, the ferocious Battle of the Five Armies itself—all of the conflicts waged in The Hobbit motion picture trilogy are examined in exquisite detail from the first skirmish to the ultimate conflagration in the trilogy’s dramatic conclusion.
The Hobbit: The Art of War brings together all of the special effects imagery in the Weta archives and unprecedented access to Sir Peter Jackson—the genius behind some of the world’s biggest motion-picture franchises, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit—who shares his expertise and encyclopedic knowledge with fans as never before.
The Hobbit: The Art of War takes fans inside this creative visionary’s mind and gives them an understanding of how he plotted each and every movement captured on film. Jackson offers in-depth discussions of the strategies of each army, the tactics they employed, and the significance of each collision between rival cultures. The cast members from the three films also share personal stories of how their characters’ tales are resolved.
Meet the armies of digitally generated creatures these heroes must overcome, delve into the world of Weta Digital and the Motion Capture Studio. Discover how the largely digital battles were achieved, from the design and creation of the battles’ creatures and the fight choreography, to the extended environments and visual effects necessary to make Tolkien’s world vividly real. The Hobbit: The Art of War is packed with lavish galleries showcasing the costumes, armor, weapons, and props integral to the battles, as well as the stories behind their creation.
With never-before-heard behind-the-scenes, on-the-set, and in-the-studio stories, and exclusive detailed content, The Hobbit: The Art of War is the ultimate Hobbit fan’s encyclopedia and a must have for all aficionados of the craft of filmmaking.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 3, 2015
7 people are currently reading
269 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Falconer
19 books33 followersDaniel Falconer joined Weta Workshop in 1996, shortly before The Lord of the Rings. With a degree in graphic design, majoring in illustration, Daniel has an enthusiasm for world design and the development of imaginary cultures and creatures as a means to tell stories. He also has a deep knowledge of Tolkien's Middle-earth, thanks to an avid interest in the books and associated materials, which frequently proved useful on the project.
This led to Daniel also being involved in writing copy for Weta's licensed collectible products from The Lord of the Rings, a role that has continued alongside his design responsibilities in the years that have followed.
Taking a leading role in Weta's publishing endeavours, Daniel has written and collated a number of books including The World of Kong and The Crafting of Narnia, showcasing the illustrative work of the entire design department on King Kong and the two Chronicles of Narnia movies, and The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop. More recently has returned to Middle-earth to work on The Hobbit.
This led to Daniel also being involved in writing copy for Weta's licensed collectible products from The Lord of the Rings, a role that has continued alongside his design responsibilities in the years that have followed.
Taking a leading role in Weta's publishing endeavours, Daniel has written and collated a number of books including The World of Kong and The Crafting of Narnia, showcasing the illustrative work of the entire design department on King Kong and the two Chronicles of Narnia movies, and The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop. More recently has returned to Middle-earth to work on The Hobbit.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 26, 2016
Freaking hilarious, like this "trilogy".
December 26, 2023
I want to give every single person involved with these movies a big kiss
December 8, 2015
Truly awe-inspiring... the amount of work and design that went into making the Hobbit movies truly is boggling. A wonderful companion for any fan that is filled to the brim with information and jaw-dropping artwork. A must read for any fan of Tolkien and Peter Jackson.
August 7, 2016
Another awesome companion book to the film series. Just need to get two more and I have the full set.
January 13, 2019
If you like The Hobbit at all, it is tough not to enjoy these books put out by WETA. I have the first four and needed some ideas for Christmas this year so I thought, why not ask for one of the two books that I missed out on. I'm really glad I did as this has phenomenal concept art and great insight into the designs of characters. Art of War focuses more on how battle scenes were filmed which was a nice change of pace from the previous volumes. This book is well done with no real drawbacks that I could find, so your enjoyment of it really depends on how much you like The Hobbit and have an interest in how the movie was designed and made. If that sounds at all appealing to you, then pick up Art of War while it is still fairly available!
June 9, 2018
This book is terrific and interesting, is action-packed and is hard to put down.
June 23, 2017
This book concludes the series that started my obsession with art and design books. (I somehow missed acquiring book four so my personal collection is not quite complete but that will be rectified, hopefully, by my birthday.)
This particular book surpassed my memory of the beauty of the others. As much as I detest the detrimental changes that Mr. Jackson made to The Hobbit, it is impossible to deny the magnificent artistry of all of Weta Workshop. Daniel Falconer, as usual, does a fantastic job with all of the text.
I could not put this book down.
This particular book surpassed my memory of the beauty of the others. As much as I detest the detrimental changes that Mr. Jackson made to The Hobbit, it is impossible to deny the magnificent artistry of all of Weta Workshop. Daniel Falconer, as usual, does a fantastic job with all of the text.
I could not put this book down.
January 3, 2016
Even though I didn't agree with some of the story and directorial choices regarding The Hobbit movies, they were undeniably gorgeous movies. A lot of care and skill went into making them. This book unpacks just how much.
It is broken down into chapters that follow the plot of the movie, beginning with the destruction of Lake-town by Smaug, and moving on through the battle with the Necromancer at Dol Guldur, the fortification of Erabor and, of course, the Battle of Five Armies. Each double-page spread within the chapter focuses on one or two specific elements relating to that part of the story. For example, the chapter on Dol Guldur has sections that focus on the costumes of each of the characters involved in the sequence, the design of the elven rings of power, and the use of dummies within the movie. This provided a great structure to the book, giving it a focus and making it easy to follow.
Creators from across many departments share their stories in the text. This is generally kept to a couple of paragraphs, making it a good book to dip in and out of. One thing I loved about it was the sheer number of departments covered. Any given page may feature a costume jeweller, a digital effects supervisor, a stunt co-ordinator and an actor, or some other combination. Not only does this provide a variety of perspectives on the same scene, but it also highlights how closely the departments were working with each other.
The book makes plain the level of thought that went into every aspect of the movie, and touched on details I hadn't noticed when watching the film, but delighted the geek in me. For example, Gloin's full battle armour features the same helmet that his son Gimili would be shown wearing in The Lord of the Rings.
From a design perspective, the book itself isn't perfect. It had a few typos scattered through it, some of the stills from the movie are quite fuzzy, and some of the imagery is not presented in the best possible way; I found it hard to make out the Nazgul's dark outfits against the black background. It's also a giant coffee-table book, so it's not the easiest to handle, especially if you have bad wrists. However, these were small flaws in what is largely a gorgeous book.
If you are in any way a fan of the movies and you love to peek behind the scenes, this book is definitely worth getting.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.
It is broken down into chapters that follow the plot of the movie, beginning with the destruction of Lake-town by Smaug, and moving on through the battle with the Necromancer at Dol Guldur, the fortification of Erabor and, of course, the Battle of Five Armies. Each double-page spread within the chapter focuses on one or two specific elements relating to that part of the story. For example, the chapter on Dol Guldur has sections that focus on the costumes of each of the characters involved in the sequence, the design of the elven rings of power, and the use of dummies within the movie. This provided a great structure to the book, giving it a focus and making it easy to follow.
Creators from across many departments share their stories in the text. This is generally kept to a couple of paragraphs, making it a good book to dip in and out of. One thing I loved about it was the sheer number of departments covered. Any given page may feature a costume jeweller, a digital effects supervisor, a stunt co-ordinator and an actor, or some other combination. Not only does this provide a variety of perspectives on the same scene, but it also highlights how closely the departments were working with each other.
The book makes plain the level of thought that went into every aspect of the movie, and touched on details I hadn't noticed when watching the film, but delighted the geek in me. For example, Gloin's full battle armour features the same helmet that his son Gimili would be shown wearing in The Lord of the Rings.
From a design perspective, the book itself isn't perfect. It had a few typos scattered through it, some of the stills from the movie are quite fuzzy, and some of the imagery is not presented in the best possible way; I found it hard to make out the Nazgul's dark outfits against the black background. It's also a giant coffee-table book, so it's not the easiest to handle, especially if you have bad wrists. However, these were small flaws in what is largely a gorgeous book.
If you are in any way a fan of the movies and you love to peek behind the scenes, this book is definitely worth getting.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This review first appeared on Earl Grey Editing.
November 3, 2015
Weta is an amazing company that does most of the design work on the "Hobbit" films. They do everything from practical effects (prosthetics and miniatures) to digital effects (CGI simulations and character animation). It's important to note that the people that work on these films are not only master technicians, but they are very creative artists as well.
"The Art of War" is the final book in the Chronicles of the Hobbit trilogy. It contains art and designs from the final Hobbit film, "The Battle of the Five Armies". In particular, the focus is on the big battle that is the centerpiece of the movie - the characters and creatures involved; their weapons and armor; as well as discussions about fighting styles and battle formations.
But it's not all about the battle: also included are several pages on Smaug's attack on Lake Town; as well as Bilbo's return to the Shire. As has been the case with all of these books, "The Art of War" is sure to cover every key item within the film - the Arkenstone, the black arrow, the white gems of Lasgalin, etc. Plus there are close-up pictures of the costumes of every major character in the film; as well as details on the armor of each army (the dwarves, the elves, the orcs).
At the end of the book, there is a nice bonus: a fold-out battle map of the Siege of Erebor.
Overall, this Hobbit Chronicles series is one of the greatest collections of books on my shelf. I'm happy to have them, and for those who love Middle Earth they are a must-own. Congrats to author Daniel Falconer and Harper Design for publishing such a fantastic collection.
See more at my blog: MovieArtBook.com
July 25, 2017
It really is unbelievable the amount of work that went into these films, and their predecessors. Props that are glimpsed for a second (or less) have been laboured over with love, on the off-chance that they might feature more prominently, giving the director a lot of latitude in choices.
The strengths of these books are the (if this were a documentary) "talking heads" ... almost all of the text are lengthy discussions by the crew and cast about the reasoning behind the choices. It's scrupulously detailed.
The books only miss out on five-star status because, as engrossing as they are, they aren't as emotionally engaging as I'd expect a five-star book to me. But for me, 4-stars is quite high praise!
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. There are a lot of 4s and 3s in the world!)
The strengths of these books are the (if this were a documentary) "talking heads" ... almost all of the text are lengthy discussions by the crew and cast about the reasoning behind the choices. It's scrupulously detailed.
The books only miss out on five-star status because, as engrossing as they are, they aren't as emotionally engaging as I'd expect a five-star book to me. But for me, 4-stars is quite high praise!
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. There are a lot of 4s and 3s in the world!)
July 15, 2016
The sixth and final Hobbit: Chronicles book also happens to be the most dense. The Art of War, just as it sounds delves into all the battles and major fights that occur in the film and as you can tell from the title, "The Battle of Five Armies" contains quite a few of them. As in the other books in the series the detail included here is quite impressive. It covers things like how they made the weapons and armor, the sets, the characters, all the digital techniques used and much more. You also get tons of commentary from the actors and artists.
In the end, did The Hobbit films really need 6 books worth of behind the scenes and making of material? Probably not, but I'm glad it got them.
In the end, did The Hobbit films really need 6 books worth of behind the scenes and making of material? Probably not, but I'm glad it got them.
July 16, 2016
The book is a really detailed account of all the work done to bring the last movie to life. Concept art is a masterpiece itself and it's interesting to read how and why it all was done. But unfortunately it became to obvious that many decisions were made cos "it'll look great on the screen" intead of "let's keep it close to the book" and there seems to be some ill desire to have a lot of ugly things in Azog's army etc. It's a pity cos there were a lot of scenes in the book that would have looked great in the movies.
October 2, 2023
A really nice companion to the tumultuous series as a whole. The art, extensive creativity and passion for everyone involved, made this book enjoyable. I love all of the renderings, photos, blurbs from the actors, and costume finishes. :)
August 30, 2016
Interesting from a film making perspective.
November 27, 2015
Awesome art from last Hobbit installment.
January 6, 2017
Great book, gives good insight into the films
April 2, 2017
Чудесная энциклопедия. Я бы рекомендовал читать её сразу после просмотра фильма, но и без этого (моё прочтение растянулось на полгода) я получил море удовольствия. Каждый аспект производства фильма, каждая сцена описана с точки зрения множества людей, работавших над фильмом. И повсюду иллюстрации, кадры из фильма и фото со съёмок, из мастерских по изготовлению реквизита. Поклонникам творчества Питера Джексона рекомендую.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews