Publisher: Titan Books
Author: Ramin Zahed
Hardback: 156 pages
DreamWorks’ latest feature film is set to hit cinema screens on 27th March and in anticipation of the film’s release, The Art of HOME offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creation of their upcoming movie.
Based on the childrens book The True Meaning of Smekday by New York Times best-selling author Adam Rex, HOME follows a friendly alien and a teenage girl on a quest to save the world. When Earth is taken over by the Boov, an alien race in search of a new place to call home, all humans are promptly relocated. A resourceful girl named Tip (voiced by Rihanna) manages to avoid capture but finds herself accompanying a banished Boov named Oh, a loveable, friendly misfit.
The film brings a fun twist on the alien invasion story, whilst depicting some familiar and famous landmarks and cityscapes with a creative alien makeover. Some of the scenes include the iconic landmarks of Paris, China, Rome, and Australia. The book is packed with amazing concept art, character backgrounds, design inspirations, and interviews with key animation talent. The book is split into three main parts; “The Boov” introduces the alien race looking for a new planet to call home, “The Humans and their World” explores the humans and the Earth they are trying to save, and finally “The Gorg’ explores how designers conceptualised the main antagonist and the design of their spaceship. Each chapter explores a world we can’t wait to see on the big screen. The draft illustrations are delightful and inspiring, especially seeing how the rough sketches are transformed into the brightly shaped figures. There is no denying the talent and skill of the creative team. The character design team, headed by Takeo Noguchi, explain the inspiration for theiur work and reading the idea of wanting simple designs to inspire children to recreate their favourite characters simply adds to the charm and appeal of the book. For instance the characters were based on basic designs; Round for the Boov, square for the human world, and sharp triangles for the Gorg. Simple indeed.
The Art of Home celebrates the hard work, expertise, and imagination that have gone into the creation of HOME, with a foreword by Big Bang’s Jim Parsons, the enthusiasm of and imagination of HOME is infectious, detailing not only the visual appeal of the film but also the talent that voice the colourful figures.
My only concern is that some of the images are unaccompanied by any captions, so occasionally I was left wondering what it was I was looking at but overall it’s still rewarding artwork and equally captivating being just ahead of it’s big-screen debut.
[usr=4] The Art of Home is available to buy now from Titan Books.
