Pop Mythology Pop Mythology: Movie, Book, Comic reviews & commentary
I love zombies. I should perhaps start off with this assertion in the hope that it may explain how much I enjoyed World War Z, the film, and how much I enjoyed World War Z: The Art of the Film, the companion book to the movie. I am also a filmmaker myself and I salivate at the thought of being able to get a peek behind the scenes of a big Hollywood production and this book is most definitely that. It contains the entire screenplay which comprises almost all of the text in the book, but for me it is the visuals that make this volume such a fascinating perusal. From annotated concept art to visual effect mock ups, it is a pictorial feast that can only add to the excitement that was the film itself.
I had been following the misadventures of the production which ranged from rumors that the director was no longer speaking to the star/producer, to the fact that they were going to reshoot the ending. That considered, I went into the film with low expectations and was genuinely enthralled by what I saw up on the screen. This only added to my curiosity as to what went on during the production and although this book does not allude to or in any way reference the troubles on set, it does however give a nice slice of all the hard work that went into making this film. From the adaptation of the screenplay all the way through the detailed story boards, you can see the painstaking labor and care that went into every aspect and stage of production.
I enjoyed the quotes peppered throughout the book from cast and crew members. In particular, I found myself reflecting on this statement from Marc Forster, the director of the film: “World War Z is a large scale war film” [emphasis mine]. This is hardly an earth-shattering revelation but it encapsulates what World War Z has brought to my beloved zombie genre, which is scale. And this book really does give you a delectable taste, so to speak, of that scale.
About the Reviewer
Edward Burgos is a filmmaker and founder of Enanoski Productions. You can check out some of his work at www.enanoski.com
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