Book Review: The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049

When I first saw the book, I was taken aback by how large it is. It's huge! It measures 14.5-inches wide by 11.5-inches. When you open it up, you can really get immersed in the huge images. The size definitely makes an impact and it's used to great effect here.

This is more of a making-of book than an artbook. There aren't a lot of concept art. The book is filled with film stills and behind the scenes photos. Even though I was expecting an artbook, I still enjoyed this book thoroughly.

All the film stills featured in this book are carefully picked to highlight the amazing composition and framing of the shots shown in the film. I would consider the film stills included to be artworks themselves. Regardless of whether they are photos, CGI renders, or film stills, all the pictures in this book looks great. As mentioned earlier, the large sizes at which some of the images are printed really brings you into the scene. It's really quite an experience going through the book and looking at the beautiful images.

The text talks about the sets, the characters and how some shots are staged. There are also a few photos showing the crew working on miniatures of those high-rise buildings.

This is a book worth revisiting often to admire the composition, staging and lighting. It is that good.

NECA Blade Runner 2049 Visual Art Book is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP

Designs by Syd Mead

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