Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon by Daniel Falconer

Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon Reviews

• 
  Gregory

  A fascinating look at the creation and evolution of Smaug for Peter Jackson's movies. There are some incredibly talented and creative people behind the scenes that made this amazing fantasy creature come alive. You really get some insights on how it all came together. And it doesn't spoil it but instead makes you even more impressed at how it eventually turned out.
• 
  Samantha Issa

  I wanted this book for two years. I didn't want to get it at first because I thought the whole dragon theme and some of the scary illustrations (haha) were dreadful, but the foreword by Benedict Cumberbatch was tempting (I found out that we were both born on the Chinese Year of the Dragon 😆). I finally decided to get it last week because I was reading The Hobbit and wondered about how the moviemakers expanded on the compelling character of Smaug even if he just appeared in a short portion of the text. I was not disappointed.
  
  I was awed because the work of the Weta artists and technicians is in itself a wonder, and I loved seeing the different disciplines used to create Smaug. I was inspired by their hard work! It helped me realize how, while Smaug as a character moving about in the movie is something straightforward, it took a lot of ideation, research, execution, and technical work to create him so he can leave an indelible mark in our memories as a formidable, scary but complex and compelling character.
  
  The book contains mini interviews or info bites from the different people involved in making Smaug, and it was very informative and endlessly interesting. They talked about the logic of different choices they made and other tangential, creative paths they tried. There was some gorgeous art there 😭I liked how they conceptualized Smaug; finding a balance between the unique and accessible.
  
  Besides art and the technical workings (explained well to common folk like me), they also included a part from Cumberbatch about how he used his voice and how his experience was like in motion capture (surprisingly one of his best!) There was something about his microphones too that I shared to my dad because we're experimenting with mikes for broadcasting this pandemic.
  
  Also, as a writer, I loved their explanation of Smaug's character and motivations (I think this was mostly Cumberbatch's contribution) because it obviously resonated with my discipline, and the way the other teams worked together to show that in ways like his movement; appearance; lighting; sound effects; anatomy; interaction with surroundings; etc. was a success based on how I remember Smaug from watching the films.
  
  A couple nitpicks are just some typos I found (pardonable since it's an art book) and that it only covered the events of the second movie (maybe because it was published before the third film came out).
  
  Nevertheless, this was a memorable book. I'm glad I finally bought it.
  
• 
  Kate

  A look into the collected process of bringing this grand firebreather together for the big screen. So much detail and collaboration is mentioned in this art book. The concept art of John Howe's really shows how Smaug started with various, different forms. One even looks a little equine, mixed with monitor lizard in one drawing. Examples being that the dragon started out with the classic four legs, and a more ferret form body. It later progressed through muscular adaptations to a more sinuous wyvern (a 2-legged, winged drake). John Howe's concept art really show where the dragon changed over time to make him still very anatomical to be believable. Andrew Baker, Jamie Beswarick, and several others went through an extensive process to bring out a convincing and performance-driven character. Even Mr. Cumberbatch, who provided the voice and motion capture, talked about his history and personal take on Smaug. I can't wait to see how this colossal dragon performs in the next movie now with so many other elements going on around him.
• 
  DJL

  If you ever wanted to know the story behind the creation of Peter Jackson's vision of Smaug, this is the title to read. There are plenty of pages of concept art and entries from the artist team on how they "built" one of the most well-known if not THE PINNACLE of western dragons.
  
  Highly recommended for fantasy fans.
  
  Also, Benedict Cumberbatch wrote a very nice introduction. :)
• 
  Anya

  Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon by Daniel Falconer is something a little different for this blog, but obviously still a great fit because dragons! Unleashing the Dragon details the creation process for making Smaug in The Hobbit trilogy and also gives a lot of insights into how Peter Jackson came up with the epic battle between Smaug and the dwarves. Every single page has gorgeously printed images that range from initial sketches to scenes from the movie. Something that I thought was especially fun to see were all of the early ideas for Smaug, which range from Komodo dragon to extremely serpentine. If I wasn’t already in grad school, I think I would be tempted to go into this sort of design work after learning all about the process!
  Note: I received Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
  
  
  
  
  Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon by Daniel Falconer (The Hobbit Chronicles #3.5)
  Published by HarperCollins on April 3rd, 2014
  Genres: Non-fiction
  Length: 104 pages
  How I got my copy: Publisher
  
  Come face to face with Smaug the Magnificent, the most realistic, breathtaking and destructive dragon ever to appear on screen, in this gallery of exclusive images that tell the story of how he was created.
  
  Smaug is possibly the most memorable character in JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit: a huge, malevolent, fire-breathing, talking dragon! But while he makes quite an impact in the book, in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation he is definitely the most spectacular creature ever to appear on screen.
  
  So how did the filmmakers manage to take the dragon that has lived in millions of readers’ imaginations and turn him into a totally unique and unforgettable living, breathing character?
  
  The answer can be found in Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon. Packed with stunning, exclusive new images, it reveals how he grew out of thousands of detailed and fantastical concept designs into the beast that is unleashed in awesome digital glory.
  
  Strengths:
  The first thing you’ll notice about Unleashing the Dragon is that it is sooooo pretty! There are illustrations from several different artists along with models and full movie scenes to give you a visual for everything mentioned in the text.
  The text for Unleashing the Dragon is interesting since there isn’t as much of the typical non-fiction feel and instead all of the text is from the various designers and people involved with the creation of Smaug. Instead of just a few quotes here and there, you get all the information straight from the source, including Benedict Cumberbatch!
  Unleashing the Dragon takes you through the entire process of creating Smaug, starting from the very first exploratory sketches, all the way through making the gold for his horde, and his final dramatic scene outside of the mountain.
  It turns out that most of the action scenes with Smaug weren’t written or planned out ahead of time and instead decided upon through experimentation as Smaug was being created. This means that Unleashing the Dragon gives some really fun insights into Peter Jackson’s creative process for The Hobbit trilogy, which was a fun bonus.
  I feel like I learned so much about special effects and graphic design for movies! In addition to the passages from designers, there are a couple of info boxes that tell you about what each of the different departments actually focus on. Unleashing the Dragon gives you a lot of insider information about what people in the industry actually call all the various jobs and tools that they use, so you can sound cool at your next cocktail party ;-).
  
  Weaknesses:
  A couple of the designers that wrote passages for Unleashing the Dragon got a bit over-jargony in their explanations. I could figure out mostly what they were trying to say, but here and there were words that I had no context for and context wasn’t provided in the info boxes.
  A lot of the scenes that Smaug is in are dark between the inside of the mountain and it being night outside for most scenes. This means that some of the images from the film (or even some sketches) got too dark to be able to easily make out on paper.
  If you haven’t seen the move The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, you might not get references to various scenes since they are definitely talked about in a way that assumes you’re familiar with the movie.
  
  Summary:
  Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon is a fun companion book for the movie trilogy and a great choice for any dragon lover! It is full of beautiful images, so would make a great geeky coffee table book, but it is also quite interesting to simply read straight through. If you’ve ever been curious about how the special effects for movies are created nowadays, you should definitely pick up Unleashing the Dragon.
• 
  Dark Matter

  Nalini Haynes reviewed this book; for more reviews by Nalini, see
  Nalini Haynes on Dark Matter Zine.
  
  Sexy, sexy hardcover book with gold embossed title and border, filled with richly coloured, detailed images from the drawing board to the CGI dragon. Complete with foreward by Smaug himself, Benedict Cumberbatch. Need I say more?
  
  Apparently.
  
  Ooookay.
  
  The cover is richly colored with gold-embossed trim and titles. Smaug in flight features on the end papers. Smaug in various poses and stages of development – from drawings to CGI model to finished product – features throughout the book.
  
  All the featured images are fabulous, including some fold-out pages giving extra-wide landscape-y up-close-and-personal pics of the devilish dragon himself.
  
  Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon is broken into chapters from the foreword to cover all stages of development by Weta Workshop.
  
  My only criticism is the book is too small. At 104 pages, I want MOAR. I mean: SMAUG. MOAR SMAUG.
  
  All the fans say “HELL YEAH!”
  
  The book is smaller than letter-size paper; I want MOAR. Ideally I would have gone for coffee-table proportions of other, related books like the Art of the Adventures of Tintin, Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan or even Trolls by Brian and Wendy Froud.
  
  The writing is small white-on-dark-background, a combination that can be good for some and difficult for others. I’d find it easier to read (even with my desktop magnifier) if the writing was bigger with thicker lettering. I know, I’m ‘special’ but more people are reporting difficulty with smaller print. Sometimes it’s not that they can’t read it, it’s that it’s too tiring for recreational reading at the end of the day or on the train or whatever.
  
  But still – PICTURES OF SMAUG. Look at the pretty pictures.
  
  Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon will appeal to fans of pop culture, especially fans of Tolkien and people interested in CGI development. I’m not a huge fan of PJ’s fan-flick of his own work but SMAUG. The pics are gorgeous. I’m sure they’ll inspire a range of fan art. I’m bordering on breaking out the paints myself because SMAUG. Sweet Kiss
  
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Lisa

  Another great book by Weta on the design efforts gone into The Hobbit films. I liked getting to see the development that went into the creation of Smaug. I do, however, still find it hard to grasp the idea of using fire and heat to fight Smaug – a dragon whose own body is like a furnace and a creature that Tolkien tells us could destroy Rings of Power with their fire.
  
  (I mean, did no one in New Zealand watch Game of Thrones and quote "fire cannot kill a dragon" at them ffs.)
  
  Petty Rant #1 over, now to Petty Rant #2.
  
  The insides of this book are well presented, as are the rest of the books in Weta's design Chronicles. However, I felt the cover and physical structure of the book left a lot to be desired in comparison not only the rest of the Chronicles but also in relation to other tie-in books produced for Desolation of Smaug. The binding on my edition doesn't seem too great (loose threads etc.) and I'm kicking myself for buying a full-priced copy rather than shopping around online for the best price.
  
  In short: contents are pretty damned good, but I thought the book's external presentation was pretty poor.
• 
  Maja Kron

  It was very interesting to see how much work they put into creating Smaug and all those details that are so easily missed while watching the movie. The book told you everything you need to know about Smaug and more. The pictures were fantastic and images of when the dragon was just several different sketches were included, which was a lot of fun to see. I really, really enjoyed this book and the only thing was that sometimes it felt like there was a lot of repeating going on, but otherwise it was a great book which I think all Hobbit fans will enjoy!
• 
  Jen

  Dragons and Tolkien, what more does one need :). This is a great behind the scenes exploration of how one character came to exist in the second Hobbit movie. What astounds me is how much thought and work went through so many departments and people to bring Smaug forth for the cinema. Everything from concept art to modeling to animation to voice and more. I will admit some of it went over my head, but it was all really interesting. A great read if you are interested in behind the scenes, in special effects, or are just a Tolkien and Middle Earth fans, this is a neat book to have.
• 
  Austin J Martin

  I loved reading this book about the art and design of Smaug! The best part was reading that Benedict Cumberbatch, unbeknownst to me, was also the Necromancer in the first two Hobbit movies! I was shocked at that because I thought he only played Smaug. This was a great read and it was very insightful as to how the team decided to create Smaug and hearing how Cumberbatch portrayed him. I can't wait for the third movie to come out!
• 
  Amanda

  This was really interesting to me, so now I can't wait to see the production video blogs on The Desolation of Smaug DVD (haven't got it yet). So much hard work went into crafting that crazy dragon ! "Liquid Gold Diggers LOVE Liquid Gold !"
• 
  Jade (notanotherbibliophile)

  I loved this book. The different concept arts are beautiful and it was nice to see Peter Jackson's, WETA Workshops and the artists vision of Smaug from the first initial idea to the final film version.
• 
  Violetta

  Hugely informative and highly interesting
• 
  Tawni

  Beautiful and detailed. It is amazing the work and collaboration that went into creating Smaug.
• 
  Kayleigh

  Amazing, so many art works of Smaug.
  It is a very beautiful book to have. :3
• 
  Michael Froio

  It's very interesting to see how the idea of the dragon started and the steps along the way that turned smaug into beast he truly is!
• 
  Abigail

  brilliant informative book...only bad point is that I wish it could be in bigger format such as the Weta chronicles books to appreciate the artwork and brilliance of Smaug
• 
  Cynthia

  This was a great book detailing all the hard work the CG, director, writers, and Cumberbatch did to create such a magnificent and deadly creature as Smaug.
• 
  Kim

  It was quite an interesting insight into how such a complex was created, from start to finish. Tons of photos and comments, along with descriptions of every department.
• 
  Sondren

  Very detailed and descriptive. Perferct for any Hobbit fan.
• 
  Juan Pulido

  Being a dragon and Tolkien's literary work lover this book was a must have, I finally got my hands on it and boy how I loved every single aspect taken into consideration when bringing to life one of the most important dragons in all fantasy!