The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugChronicles IV: Cloaks \u0026 Daggers by Daniel Falconer

The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugChronicles IV: Cloaks \u0026 Daggers Reviews

• 
  Alexis Drake

  Se letti uno dopo l'altro, ci si accorge che spesso ci sono ripetizioni in questi titoli. Più o meno le stesse interviste, gli stessi concetti vengono ripetuti, alcune volte approfonditi come in questo caso dove l'attenzione è puntata su armi e costumi. Ho adorato l'introduzione scritta da Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) perchè si vede che lei ci teneva davvero tanto al film, anche se poi il suo personaggio è stato parecchio criticato.
  Nonostante non sia uno dei miei personaggi preferiti, ammetto che Thranduil fa la sua bella figura.
• 
  Emma Rose

  How incredibly gorgeous this was! My favourite in the series, this volume focuses on props. The sheer amount of things - and everything made from scratch - is staggering and the close-up pictures are breathtaking. Wonderful stuff, I'll never watch the movies the same way again.
• 
  Samuel

  This is the fifth book I have read from Weta and I have enjoyed them all, though some more than others. Of the four "Chronicles" books I have read about their work on The Hobbit movies, I preferred volumes I & III as those books focused more on the early sketches and sculptures.
  
  This book, volume IV, focuses primarily on the costumes from the first two movies, with a little information here and there about the weaponry. The pictures in the volume are spectacular--maybe the best of the books so far--but I have to admit I am less interested in the prose of sewing and costuming than I was in the explorations of architecture and landscapes in my favored volumes.
  
  Maybe what I need is more options than just 5 stars, or the option to give this book 3 1/2 stars. Not because it is inferior, really (the writing is good, the interviewees incredibly knowledgeable), it's just not about my personal interests. One could argue I shouldn't fault the book for that, but hey! I shelled out the money for it and I wrote the review. :-)
  
  If you are looking at an overall chronicle of how a movie is made by people who love movies and are extremely dedicated to their various crafts, I highly recommend all four books in this series (and that you read them as a whole and not just as individual volumes). Taken together, I would give the entire series 4 or 4 1/2 stars!
• 
  Jeff Lanter

  This was probably my least favorite Hobbit book thus far, but overall, this is another strong entry in the behind the scenes series about The Hobbit movies. This book focuses on costumes and sets and how they are made. The sets are all interesting to look at and read about. I loved that part of this book. The costumes are generally pretty interesting too. The only slow parts are when they highlight a particular career or area of creation in the movies like pottery, sword making, etc. I like the idea behind these and giving props to the crew is understandable (even if it feels gratuitous like watching any awards show occasionally), but sometimes there is a little too much detail or the text in these parts is just a little boring/unengaging. Other than that, this book is top-notch and I look forward to reading the last two books int he series.
• 
  E.F.B.

  I adore this book!* It makes the crafter in me ever so happy to see all of the costuming, prop, and set design details!
  
  
  *Full disclosure: I'm still slowly but surely working my way through this book. If you're like me, it's not something you can just sit down and read like other books. You have to take time to drool over the pretty details. I wouldn't normally mark something as "read" when I haven't finished it, but I'm just taking my time with this one, so finishing it could take a while. Figured I'd just go ahead and rate it since I know I like it, finished or not.
• 
  Marine

  ~ 3.5 stars.
• 
  Jeni Enjaian

  Finally, I have the complete set. As much of an issue that I have with Peter Jackson's so-called artistic license with the story inside "The Hobbit," I forever will remain enamored with these books and the incredible art detailed inside. These books showcase the immense creative skill that went into creating these movies. The entire art fascinates me and makes me wonder what happens to all these unique and priceless pieces of art.
  I highly recommend this entire series to all those who love Tolkien as well as those who appreciate art in all its forms.
• 
  Tex-49

  Molto interessante: mostra come sono stati progettati e realizzati scenografie, costumi e armi da utilizzare nelle varie location in funzione delle diverse razze che popolano la Terra di mezzo e che compaiono nella trilogia dello Hobbit.
  Molti particolari a stento si notano nei film, a causa del veloce evolversi degli eventi.
  
• 
  Nathalie

  Beautiful, a must have for every Hobbit fan. The pictures are beautiful and all the detail that went into these movies is amazing :D
• 
  Michael Alexander

  This fourth book in the series focuses primarily on the props, costumes, and sets that were built for the Hobbit movies. Reading through this, its pretty mind blowing to see just how much detail and work goes into making a movie like this. Most people never think about the difference between elven and dwarvish eathing utensils for instance. The artists and designers of the movie certainly do however. A large amount of time goes into designing and building the props, some of which may only be on screen for seconds at most.
  Costumes is another area where there is just an insane amount of work and detail involved. Take footwear for instance. There are 13 dwarves in the films, each needing there own individual set of boots that had to be designed and then crafted from scratch. The way the movie is shot there are also large and small scale doubles for the actors, that is how they can make 6 foot tall actors appear as 4 foot tall dwarves. So there you have to add in extra pairs of boots for the scale doubles. They then also made lightweight versions that the actors could wear in scenes where they were fighting or running. On top of that you can add shoes for the stunt doubles and each of the 13 dwarves needed something like 7 - 8 pairs of hand crafted boots, and that's just the dwarves! It really makes you appreciate how much work is involved.
• 
  Lisa

  Yet another utterly fantastic book focusing on the work that went on for The Hobbit film trilogy. This volume focuses on costumes, props and weapons. I was a bit disappointed that (once again) there was no discussion about Tauriel's first costume, the rest of the book made up for it.
• 
  Lisa

  i can't believe the amount of work that went into such a beautiful movie. the detail and care is evident in everything about this movie. i love it.... what can i day more
• 
  Abigail

  A stunning, intricate look at the beautiful costumes and other props made for the hobbit.... a fitting tribute to the amazing hard work that goes into this saga of films :-)
• 
  Spoke

  I had no idea the amount of crafts work that went into these movies - fascinating to learn about all the things they did to make things feel real to the audience.
• 
  Reading For Sanity

  
  http://readingforsanity.blogspot.com/...