Star Trek: The Art of the Film

by Mark Cotta Vaz, J.J. Abrams (Foreword)

Director J.J. Abrams’ new vision of the greatest space adventure of all time, Star Trek features a young, new crew venturing boldly where no man has gone before, as it tells the story of how the brash Starfleet cadet James T. Kirk first meets a Vulcan named Spock, and earns the Captain’s chair of the Starship Enterprise. The film quickly became a critical and commercial smash hit worldwide, as audiences — confirmed Trekkers and newcomers alike — thrilled to a state-of-the-art action epic which both respected the legacy of Gene Roddenberry’s archetypal modern myth and forged ahead into an exciting future of its own.

Star Trek: The Art of the Film is a lavishly illustrated celebration of that new vision, tracing the evolution of the movie’s look through a stunning array of previously unseen pre-production paintings, concept sketches, costume and set designs, unit photography and final frames.

Written by New York Times-bestselling author Mark Cotta Vaz in close co-operation with the film’s production team, and including a Foreword by J.J. Abrams, this is the essential companion to the film.

Genres: Star Trek, Art, Nonfiction, Film, Media Tie In

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Mark Cotta Vaz is the author of over twenty-one books, including four New York Times bestsellers. His recent works include Mythic Vision: The Making of Eragon, The Spirit: The Movie Visual Companion, and the biography Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong, which was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.

Reviews

[Ann]

Awesome Christmas gift from my friend. Thanks X :D
I can't believe I didn't know this book existed. I love the film and looks like I'm going to love the book, too :D

[Joel Griswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth a quick perusal, but overall a disappointment compared to many other "art of the film" books out there. The book shows concept art and designs for all the major elements in Abram's film: spaceships, costumes, aliens, etc. As a mere picture book, it's a pleasant enough product, with high-quality artwork and large color spreads, but the content itself is somewhat lacking. The text really doesn't go into large detail into the extended thought process behind the evolution of the designs, usually only giving a short quote or two to explain a whole design concept. Although the tidbits shared are interesting, it still feels like it's barely scraping the surface and not really showing the whole design journey that it took to ultimately pick the final image. The artwork itself is also often limited to finished and polished pieces, which removes the behind-the-scenes feel of actually seeing large amounts of rejected artwork to see the actual design process on page. Still though, for fans of film production design, or Star Trek buffs, this is worth a read through.

[Timothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

As interesting as it was, I didn't think it really met my expectations, nor the hype placed on this book. For the most part, the book gives a very brief overview of the general aspects in the behind the scenes making of this movie.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dated in its now 8 year old dialogue, but there are still a few interesting visuals inside.

[Marileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but I still wanted to see more sketches

[Paul Hartzog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would've loved more spaceship and interiors design art, but who wouldn't !

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures available at parkablogs.com)

It's weird this book came out months after the movie. The wait is over and I'm glad to say that this book is great.

There's plenty of cool concept art in this 160-page hardcover art book published by Titan Books. There are technical sketches and paintings for spaceships, the set, character, costumes, gadgetry, weapons and creatures. Included also are discarded ideas and concepts.

The amount of detail in the art is astonishing and texture is everywhere, 3D renderings, paintings, film stills. The bridge looks like casinos straight out of Las Vegas, with all the lights, panels, buttons and seats. The wickedly awesome looking mining vessel Narada is shown in different views and comes with close ups which will make you marvel at the engineering.

Those who love spaceships will not only find them, but also space stations and their interiors. They are all meticulously designed showing all the seams, cutting, and texture. The designs for the spaceships look really sleek.

For the non-human looking characters, there are lots of photos on the sculptures. For the creatures, there are sketches and 3D models.

This book is highly recommended to fans of sci-fi, not just Star Trek fans.

[Art of the Film · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek: The Art of the Film takes the reader inside the 2009 reboot of "Star Trek". One of the things that the film succeeded in doing was making the familiar seem new again. For example, the USS Enterprise kept its signature shape and other defining characteristics, but it received a number of redesigns (particularly the interior) that made it more more detailed when compared to the Enterprise in the older films. Another example is the costumes such as the Starfleet uniforms - which are clearly inspired by older Trek films/television, but again getting a slightly more modern look.



The book has a lot of images that you've likely never seen before: early conceptual artwork; photos of the alien prosthetics; and even rejected poster designs. It's a wonderful book that looks at all the design aspects - the ships, the costumes, the sets, the creatures; the environments - and shows how they come together to form a cohesive visual style that feels unique to the movie but also quite realistic enough to make the universe and its characters believable.

[Phair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I witnessed Trek from the very first episode aired (even before that I was riveted by Spock just from seeing his picture in the NBC new season promo booklet that came out the summer before the TV premier) so I was a little leery of a remake that might mess with what had become part of my life. The film, however, blew me away and revived my enthusiasm for all things Trek and especially the bold new directions the Trek story could now take.

This art book on the making of the film was, naturally, a must have and I was not disappointed. I particularly like the parts about the costume and prop designs. Anything about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the making of a movie is fascinating to me: how a concept grows and changes until it becomes what you see on the screen; what gets left on the cutting room floor and why; all the might have beens and how they did its. This was a glossy treasure trove of concept art and photographs that lived up to the rich Trek heritage as well as opening doors to an even richer future for the franchise.

My only complaint? I could have wanted more, more, more.....

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and am surprised to see some of the criticism leveled against it. This book is solely focused on the art of Star Trek and is not a behind the scenes or making of book (if you want that, check out the Blu-Ray of Star Trek which has a lot of great information in it). There is some nice information in the book about why things were designed the way they were and even some art from deleted scenes which is fascinating and that cannot be seen anywhere else. What struck me the most is just how beautiful nearly every page is. There is a lot of really amazing art crammed into each page. There is also an excellent balance of character/costume art, ships, aliens, environments, and set design. Overall, this book is not only cheaper than a lot of the other art books out there, but also really delivers a lot of beautiful work. I recommend this book highly to fans of Star Trek.

[Mireille Duval · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit there were a bit too much spaceships and aliens for me (I... don't know what I was expecting) but it was nonetheless a cool look at the behind-the-scenes of the movie. I loved the concept art for the advertising, I could have watched pages and pages of them! Mostly it all made me want to watch the movie again a lot.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really nice book full of colour photos about all the props and costumes used in this wonderful film. Very detailed images, lots of background info is there too if you are more interested in the technical and developmental aspects of the film.

A must-have for any trekkie or fan of this film.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part coffee table book and part behind-the-scenes glimpse at the creation of the film. http://blogcritics.org/books/article/...

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 3 out of 5]

This worship of Leonard Nimoy by the Star trek religionists is unhealthy. But this was a fine movie and this book is well produced.