Anyway, lots of news in Dougs latest post:
http://themusicofthelordoftheringsfilms ... -2010.html
Couple of snippets:
What was discussed? Everything! Placement of images, the ratio of sketches to film stills, new photography of original LOTR props, never-before-seen work from John Howe and Alan Lee, fonts, caps, music examples (which we nicknamed 'the tadpoles'), relative visual weight of recto versus verso, icons, emblems, the significance of color in Tolkien's writing. John Howe gave us an FTP full of imagery. Alan Lee delivered hard drives packed with design work and finished pieces -- everything from large, frame-worthy illustrations to silly margin doodles (one John Howe doodle shows 'Sauron's Mace' ... a small can of anti-mugger mace spray bedecked with a commercialized Eye of Sauron logo). We were still discovering things up until last week. We had access to so much beautiful work, it was almost ridiculous.
As you're all well-aware, I can blab on about this project for hours. However, I feel my enthusiasm is justified. This is something so unique. The writing is by turns narrative, analytical and journalistic. The layout is both informative and flat-out beautiful. I always used a couple of key phrases when describing my initial concept for the book. I wanted a piece that existed somewhere between a coffee table book and a textbook. I wanted something that encompassed as many art forms as it could, from literature, to photography, to filmmaking, to storytelling, to illustrations, to music. If we were going to dance about architecture, we were going to do it well! And I think we have. This book is now everything I ever dreamed it would be. And in an atmosphere of cynicism, where there's supposedly nothing ever new under the sun, we've made something that you've never seen before.
