A Selection of Imagery from The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy

by Jody Duncan, Janine Pourroy

Abridged from the New York Times Bestseller The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy

Genres: Nonfiction, Batman, Film, Art, Comics, Media Tie In, Pop Culture

31 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice coffee table book about one of the epic series of superhero movies - the Christophe Nolan series featuring Christian Bale as the Batman. The book covers all aspects of how the movie was made, the decors, the preparation of the actors, etc. Personally, I was disappointed with the 3rd one (especially with the horrendous performance (or was it Nolan's fault) of Marion Cotillard) but Batman Begins is an excellent reboot of the Batman story and The Dark Knight perhaps the most morose, chilling superhero film ever with Heath Ledger's epic swan song appearance as the Joker.
For those who loved the series, this is a great companion.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy is not only my favorite comic book trilogy of all time, it's easily my favorite movie trilogy of all time. When I heard that a book was being released that chronicled the making of all 3 films, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on it.

The book is separated into several sections detailing the stunts, the marketing, visual effects, casting, writing and overall shooting of the films. Hand in hand with the write-ups are beautiful photos showcasing behind the scenes action as well as choice stills from the movies themselves.

The author, Jody Duncan Jesser, really did her research in interviewing a lot of the cast and crew in coming up with more than a few interesting and funny stories. One in particular involving Tom Hardy training and bulking up in an attempt to outshine Christian Bale had me laughing out loud. I'll keep from spoiling it but moments like that are reason enough to pick this up.

If you're a fan of the films, I can't recommend this enough. There's so much information contained within here that I wasn't aware of! Granted, there aren't any groundbreaking stories or mind-blowing revelations but the little things like Ledger's routine of getting into character or the creative process regarding set design as well as the viral marketing techniques really satisfied the Batman geek within me.

A worthy companion piece for completists or anyone who appreciated the work put in by Nolan and friends to create easily the best feature film adaptation of The Dark Knight yet.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Enjoyed seeing how one of my favorite movie trilogies was made.

[Ryan Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A coffee table book worthy of the trilogy it documents. Stellar product.

[Benjamin Ferrante · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an "art of" book. If you buy this thinking that based on the title you would be upset to see hardly any art at all. There is a lot more to read here than the Batman begins book. This does a lot of the same things that book did. Which is to say this book uses production stills or just movie screen captures as companions to the text. To be fair to this book I didn't really read all the content as I was getting frustrated by the lack of depth. This seems to me to be more like a behind the scenes feature on a DVD put to text. Better than the Batman Begins book but still not what I was looking for.

[Devin Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great coffee table book for browsing the artwork and pictures during production of Nolan’s Batman trilogy. At the same time it’s a super interesting read from actors, director, and the production team for any fan of the films. I personally love the Nolan Batman trilogy and the book proved a wonderful companion and a veritable well of interesting facts and anecdotes.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who don't know, I undertook a 2020 Movie Challenge I called "20for20 in 2020", in which I sought out to watch The Dark Knight (2008) 20 times over the course of 2020. I picked this book up recently to learn more about the film, and my only regret is that I waited so long to do it.

Link to my Letterboxd Journal Entries after each viewing

If you're a fan of the films, I can't recommend this enough. There's so much information contained within here that I wasn't aware of! Granted, there aren't any groundbreaking stories or mind-blowing revelationsm but the little things like Ledger's routine of getting into character or the creative process regarding set design as well as the viral marketing techniques really satisfied the Batman geek within me.

A worthy companion piece for completists or anyone who appreciated the work put in by Nolan and friends to create easily the best feature film adaptation of The Dark Knight yet.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors weave a competent narrative that describes the major elements of how the films were made ranging from screenplay to marketing and covering casting, special effects, music, photography, and more. The scale and visual punch of Christopher Nolan's Batman vision begs for this kind of coffee-table-book treatment.

I might have preferred a wider format bound to allow the pages to lay flat. Instead, the authors opted for an oversize book approach. To be fair, at 300 pages I doubt this volume would have laid flat in any format, and the large size does facilitate gorgeous 2-pages spreads. The book is printed on high-quality stock and the photos look amazing, though the book is heavy to hold. The writing will mostly hold your interest, and to the extent you read you'll learn all sorts of interesting facts about "how they did it."

Favorite pictures:
p.81. The Batcave from The Dark Knight Rises
p.168. Heath Ledger and Maggie Gyllenhaal (as the Joker and Rachel Dawes) in front of a green-screen during the shooting of the fundraiser holdup in The Dark Knight.
p.176. Mid-action photo of the flipping of the tractor-trailer rig on Chicago's LaSalle street during filming of The Dark Knight.
p.203. Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas (husband-wife producer team behind the movies) enjoying a quiet conversational moment backstage
p.210. Anne Hathaway (Catwoman) on the Bat-Pod between shots on the set of The Dark Knight Rises
p.257. Composer Hans Zimmer's Los Angeles studio
p272-273. CGI shot of the monorail from Batman Begins

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed

This is a textbook about the making of the Dark Knight trilogy with "some" art and sketches included in it. Not what i was marketed to. Misleading title makes you get your hopes high for a lot of early production concept arts, wardrobe and costumes details, etc. Instead everything is told in quotes and long verses. Didn't enjoy it.

[Jon Barnhill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but brief overview of making of the films. Complaints are that it refuses to acknowledge spoilers in Rises and also no behind the scenes drama. Reads like it was written by WB publicity department which it probably was.

[Boots LookingLand · Rating 5 out of 5]

from the opening words penned by michael caine, to the beautiful photos and presentation, to the final notes, this book is a joy and a must-have for fans of Nolan's trilogy. wish it had been twice (three times!) as long, but i'm slowly learning to live with the finiteness of all things.

[Jayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love Nolan's Batman trilogy, and I'm so sad it's over. This book was perfect with helping me cope, haha.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of the creative process of Chris Nolan. Loved the trilogy and this book.

[Eduardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

“But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal…then you become something else entirely.”
—

I checked this out before the UK vacation, but had to return it because I didn’t have the time to read it. I got it again shortly after returning.

This one is actually less of an art book, and more of a ‘This is how this was made’. Which is fine! As there is quite a lot of art in here. But art books tend to have more concept art and less text than a book like this, which is explaining how the movies got made. Most of the images in this book are behind-the-scenes things, such as sets, storyboards, models, and costumes.

Also, interestingly, while the book happily spoils the endings of “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, it does not do so with “The Dark Knight Rises”, making me suspect that it was released shortly after that movie (the Afterward mentions the final film’s release date in past tense). The book insists that Miranda Tate in the final film is an original character and not an adapted one, for starters. And like the “Force Awakens” art book, it doesn’t seem to think anyone can argue that the three films are anything less than fantastic.

I mean, *I* like “The Dark Knight Rises”, but it’s a lot more contentious in the fandom, to put it mildly.

But hey, that’s marketing.

[I really cannot help but wonder how different things would have turned out had Heath Ledger survived for that third movie.]

At one point, they talk about the viral marketing and how we all remembered it/knew about it? I didn’t know about half of this stuff? What the heck?

There’s a tribute to Heath Ledger in there by Nolan, too. It was originally published after Ledger’s death, and it’s reprinted here.

I think if you like these movies you should pick this book up; I also think you should pick it up if you’re interested in comic book movies, or filmmaking in general. Not only is it a behind-the-scenes look at memorable films, it’s…well, okay, look, the style of crafting superhero stories for the screen is very different. I’m not the first to point out the huge contrast between this, and the early films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which were released around the same time.

Interesting stuff.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often tell my students in particular that I think I might like watching the special features for movies more than I actually like watching movies - so this book was certainly right up my alley. Still, these sorts of large-format coffee table books are rarely the kind of things that actually get read; they seem to be designed more for browsing the pictures, at best, and are maybe more likely to just sit on a shelf as a testament to one’s general interests. That second part was certainly true for me for the ~8 years that I owned the book before finally deciding to pick it up and read it. Very quickly it was apparent that this particular chronicle of the whole Dark Knight trilogy was unusual amongst its peers in the behind-the-scenes book genre, in part for its comprehensive attention to the narrative of the trilogy’s genesis, but also for the full range of participation from the people involved in the making of the film. It seems to me that most of these kinds of books feature some voices from the cast and crew, but almost never all the voices that one wants, or in as much detail as might be appropriate. Here, though, the story is told by everyone, and features all of the main cast and crew one might desire to hear from, and with a seemingly significant commitment to archiving and celebrating all the work that went into making these films. By even halfway through the book I actually found myself a lot less interested in the concept art and production photos (though these were fantastic), and was drawn in solely by the level of detail in the narrative of how these films were planned, shot, and released. This level of detail might not be so engaging for everyone, but for someone like me this was a stellar volume that I absolutely loved delving into.

[Kimball · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my most favorite movie trilogies along with one of my favorite movies (The Dark Knight Rises). This was terrific to read and enjoy. I started this book while I was flying to Iceland and got to see some of the filming locations there from Batman Begins.

I love all the details. This book is essentially the special features disc that you don't get with the DVDs. I love Christopher Nolan's "let's do it for real!" philosophy. You can really tell he stands out from other directors because of that desire.

The organization was a little off for my liking. I would have liked more chronological order of events-which they did for a few chapters but then they'd talk about other subjects, like special effects, props, etc even though they had mentioned some of that in the chronological section. So some just got repetitive.

The music section got shafted and was way short, but I guess how much can you talk about it without hearing what they're saying.

I love that these films spanned around 8 years in the making. You can see the change over time especially in how people responded to them. Allowed for a natural growth.

[Tolendi Kaken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Я бы не назвал книгу какой-то уникальной работой, по сути это расшифровка бекстейджа с бонус-дисков к видеорелизу фильма + иллюстрации порой низкого качества, что вызывает смущение, когда листаешь такое солидное издание с дорогой бумагой.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great behind the scenes photos and a few wonderful set anecdotes, but it is all couched by some run of the mill and repetitive text/captions.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really impressed by how much went into this trilogy and the minimal use of green screen technology.

[Ritojeet Basu · Rating 3 out of 5]

No one makes 'em like Nolan

[Rhys Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A forensic autopsy of the trilogy's construction. Almost as good as the films themselves.

[Jesús Sánchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly outstanding if you want to know everything regarding the masterful trilogy (plus special entries written by Michael Caine and Christopher Nolan himself). 10/10

[JW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book--combined with each film's special features on home video--will teach you everything you need to know about Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.

[Saima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally watched the Dark Knight trilogy and this book is an excellent companion to the movies.

[Art of the Film · Rating 5 out of 5]

For photos/video of this book, please visit my blog: http://www.movieartbook.com/2015/04/r...

As a big fan of what Mr. Nolan has done with the Batman character in his "Dark Knight Trilogy", this book is 300+ pages of pure joy! Every aspect of the filmmaking process is detailed in the book, accompanied by hundreds of photos (many of which I have never seen published before).

Here are the Chapters contained in the book:

1. Screenplay - how the concept of the films was born with Nolan & David Goyer, writing the scripts, and taking inspiration from the comics when crafting the story.

2. Production Design - building the sets, scouting & dressing locations, designing Batman's vehicles. Includes some concept art.

3. Cast - casting the characters, insight into the actors' process. One of the best aspects of the films is that Nolan assembles a very strong cast, even in smaller supporting roles. Obviously, much of the focus is placed on selecting Christian Bale to play Bruce Wayne.

4. Costumes & Makeup - discussion about the costumes of the film, including plenty of costume sketches. Includes detail about the evolution of Batman's suit, the Joker's makeup, Bane's mask, etc.

5. The Shoot: Batman Begins - a chronicle of the 129-day shoot, Nolan's directing style, filming on location, shooting the Tumbler chase, etc

6. The Shoot: The Dark Knight - filming in Chicago, IMAX cameras, the hospital explosion, etc.

7. The Shoot: The Dark Knight Rises - filming in Pittsburgh and India, shooting the opening plane sequence practically, destroying a football stadium, etc.

8. Special Effects & Stunts - insight into the stunt work with effects coordinator Chris Corbould. This covers most of the big fight sequences and stunts in the three films and how they were achieved.

9. Editing, Music, and Sound - Lee Smith on editing the films, and specifically how be cut effectively between parallel story lines and action. Scoring the film, including quotes from composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. Designing the film's sounds and mixing them effectively with the music (they discuss the clarity issue of Bane's voice).

10. Visual Effects - It seems like these films used every method of visual effects available, from models and miniatures to computer-generated effects. Specific topics include creating digital bats and the monorail crash in Batman Begins, the ferry boat sequence from The Dark Knight, and the stadium explosions in The Dark Knight Rises.

11. Marketing - A discussion about the promotion of the films. This includes traditional methods like posters (with over a dozen poster images in the book) to the unique "viral marketing" that emphasized social media to get the audience to participate in the marketing. Other topics include screening the IMAX prologues and San Diego Comic-Con.

The book also includes a foreword by Christopher Nolan and an introduction by Michael Caine. Also, printed at the end of the book is a tribute that Nolan wrote about Heath Ledger, titled "Charisma as Natural as Gravity" (originally published in Newsweek in 2008).

This is the best book about the Batman films I have ever seen, and it is one of the best "making of" movie books in general. The detail in both the text and the photographs is very impressive, and I am so excited to be able to have this wonderful book in my collection.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures on my blog)

This is the making-of rather than an art-and-making-of book. So you're not going to see a lot of art. The only other artbook for the Dark Knight trilogy was The Art of Batman Begins and that wasn't very good in terms of art and content.

Having said all that, this is a great movie companion book.

It covers in detail all the three films and the complete production process. You get to read about the screenplay, production design, casting, use of visual and special effects, music and marketing. The book is packed with nice photos of the set, actors, props and vehicles, and some art illustrations.

There are chapters for the shooting of each film which I thought was short considering the length of the movies. Still, it provides great insight into how the movie was shot, and the little clues were put into each film to tie them together. You get a sense of Christopher Nolan's film making philosophy, and understand how the film was directed. He has done an incredible job portraying on big screen one of the most recognisable comic characters.

There are lots of interesting information throughout the book. Like how Anne Hathaway dressed up as Harley Quinn during a casting meeting because she misread the script, or why Nolan even considered using actual bats but ultimately turned to animated ones.

Of all the books relating to the Dark Knight trilogy, this is probably the best.

Highly recommended for fans of the movies. It's a terrific deal for a 304-page hardcover.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an interesting read. If you are a fan of little tidbits of information about anything, especially of Batman or Christopher Nolan, you will get into this book. This book is an overview of how the Dark Knight series was created, and at times it goes into details on how the movies were created, more importantly, why they were created, and what the thought process of not only the director but the actors themselves were.

You get plenty of pics, many of which are off camera pics and a lot of behind the scenes pictures as well. It was fascinating to see how Harvey Dent was half normal and half burnt and scarred. The book went into some details about how Heath Ledger approached the Joker, but this was the part of the book that was a bit of a disappointment to me. I honestly got more details online than I got in this book about the Joker.

The Author focused a lot on the 3rd film, "The Dark Knight Rises". And really does not explain why the 3rd film overshadows the first two.

One of the neat aspects of this book is how it is organized. The author takes you from locations, to what actors were chosen and why to wardrobe and makeup, etc. etc. The Categorization in this book made it easy to read and easy to follow along in the progression of Christopher Nolan's thinking.

Is this book worth the read? I believe it is. I would recommend it. It is a good insider's look into the world Christopher Nolan created.

[RumBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Bale was, and probably always will be, my favorite Batman, and Christopher Nolan's trilogy was just a masterwork. This book explored all three movies in enjoyable depth. Character, setting, special effects, stunts, it was all talked about.

I loved hearing from the actors (and Michael Caine's introduction was wonderful), it really showed how much making these movies meant to them, and how thrilled they were. You got to read about how each of them viewed their characters, and the comic book mythology surrounding them.

Learning about the technical side of making these films was fascinating as well. One thing that really stuck out for me was what the cast and crew had to do for the Christian Bale, Liam Neeson fight on the glacier. How quickly that could have turned to disaster! So much goes into making films like these, and learning the little details was enjoyable.

The photography, and movie process drawings were interesting as well. Seeing visuals of what the book discusses, and various types of onset photos was fun.

A wonderful book for a true Batman fan, or one that just loved these films.

[Annikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting to someone who loved the trilogy and enjoys reading about behind the scenes stuff. Especially the production design, cast and costumes&make-up sections were fascinating. The only problem that I had with it was that the book must have been written while the Dark Knight Rises was still in cinemas so they didn't go that much into detail as with the two previous films, perhaps because they don't want to spoil people. There was plenty of text about the Joker that I liked, but not nearly enough of Catwoman or Miranda Tate. There was also so much praise in the quotes that I got the impression that Christopher Nolan must be some kind of a god. Ok.

[A.D. Croucher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is full of great insights into the mind of one of the greatest storytellers in movies, Christopher Nolan. It's a deep dive into the three movies, from breaking the story for each one in Nolan's converted garage-office, following each movie all the way through writing the scripts, and into production. The astonishing level of detail makes this a nerdy/geeky goldmine. Luckily, that's exactly my cup of tea. :)