The Making of FINAL FANTASY: The Spirits Within

Well, I worked on this film as a storyboard artist for a long time, so I was sure I would like the book and wasn't disappointed. Despite my built-in prejudices I found the book to be very high quality in every regard, from it's construction and printing to it's massive content, going from conception (& conceptual art) to the finished product that played on movie screens all over America. The book still hasn't arrived at my local retailers and was sold out at a kiosk after Siggraph 2001 but I pored over it's details in a display copy. Now I can't wait for my copy from Amazon.Com to arrive!

This book shows you the process from beginning to end, but unfortunately left out much of the middle. There are many rudimentary b&w sketches, then the next thing you knew, the characters are fully rendered, colored and lighted. Plenty about the concept and storyboarding and script (the entire script!) and which screw fits where and what material Aki's shoulder pads are made of, but heck, I don't care about that! I went to see this movie for the astounding CGI, and I bet everyone left the theater thinking, "How did they do that?" THAT'S what I want to see - the phenomenal artistry of this movie. This book gives you none of that. It's like, here's the concept, and look here - Bam! We have the final product. Wowee, isn't it so amazing how this little line sketch here has turned into this grand scene in the movie? Amazing, aren't we?

Hello?!What happened in between?

There are a few peeks here and there of how the artists drew and evolved the art, but the pictures were small and not...Read more

Let's be honest here, Whether or not you liked this movie, you have to acknowledge the unbelievable amount of talent and artistry that went into making it. It took 4 years to make this movie, and it definately didn't do as well at the box office as it should have. Granted the plot wasn't the best in the world, but this book is NOT about the plot. Its about what really made this movie impressive, the breathtaking CG. If you're a fan of art, then you will love this book. The bottom line is, this is the highest quality Computer Generated graphics ever created, Its a whole new genre for film-making. Buy this Book!!!