A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Front cover art: Production painting of K-2SO by Doug Chiang. © 2016 Abrams Books and Lucasfilm Ltd/ (LFL) On December 16, 2016, New York-based Abrams Books published The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a 256-page hardcover book of concept art created during the making of director Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first of Lucasfilm's standalone "Anthology" films  set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Written by Josh Kushins ( The Art of John Carter: A Visual Journey ), the book features concept paintings, set designs, sketches of new spaceships, weapons, and other props, as well as art depicting Rogue One' s cast of Rebels and Imperials. This book is a visual chronicle of the Lucasfilm art department’s creation of new worlds, unforgettable characters, and newly imagined droids, vehicles, and weapons for the first movie in the Star Wars Story series— Rogue One: A Star Wars Story . In the same format and style as Abrams’...

Cover Art: "Rey and the Island" concept painting by James Clyne. © 2017 Abrams Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On December 15, 2017, Abrams Books, an imprint of New York publisher Henry N. Abrams, released Phil Szostak's The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Published on Opening Day of director Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, this was Szostak's third volume in a series of illustrated books that focus on the concept art created by Lucasfilm's Art Department during the making of the post-George Lucas Sequel Trilogy and the standalone Star Wars Anthology movies. An image archivist who has worked for The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm in the past, Szostak was embedded with Lucasfilm's Art Department almost as soon as George Lucas retired from making blockbuster films and sold his famous production company and all of its assets to Disney in 2012. As a result, he has been in a good position to cover the illustrators, set designers, pre-vis artis...

© 2015 Henry N. Abrams Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On December 18, 2015, Henry N. Abrams (aka Abrams) Books published image archivist Phil Szostak's The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh book in The Art of Star Wars series of books devoted to the concept art used by Lucasfilm Ltd. to create the Star Wars live-action movies. Following the traditions established by Carol Titleman in her 1979 book The Art of Star Wars, Szostak curates an impressive array of pre-visualization paintings, costume and set designs, concepts for Resistance and First Order starships and secret weapons such as Starkiller Base, and sketches and photos for such now-iconic props as Kylo Ren's "crossguard lightsaber" and Rey's handy fighting stave. Released on the same day of Star Wars: The Force Awakens' theatrical release, The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens features artwork contributed by renowned production designer Rick Baker (who wrote the book's forewor...

© 2018 Abrams and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On May 25, 2018, New York City-based publisher Abrams Books released Phil Szostak's The Art of Solo: A Star Wars, the latest entry in the long-running  The Art of Star Wars series that began with Carol Titleman's classic 1979 work, The Art of Star Wars.  Featuring production paintings, costume designs, sketches and concept paintings for props, spaceships, and the many characters that were imagined for the 10th live-action Star Wars movie, The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story is a treasure trove of graphic artwork created by some of Lucasfilm's most talented artists. Concept art for the Vandor train heist by artist Thom Tenery. © 2018 Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Published on the same day that Solo: A Star Wars Story premiered, Szostak's fourth The Art of... book is divided thusly: Foreword by Neil Lamont Foreword by James Clyne Introduction by Phil Szostak Who's Who Harry and the Boy Han Solo Qi'ra ...

(C) 1979 Ballantine Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  In   November of 1979, Ballantine Books (then the sole licensed publisher of Star Wars novels and most of the literary tie-ins) published two versions of Carol Titleman’s The Art of Star Wars . One was a limited-edition hardcover, which I have never seen, the other was one of those "trade paperback" editions (coffee table size but in softcover). What made The Art of Star Wars a must-get for me in those days was that it contained the entire fourth revised draft of the screenplay for A New Hope (it was the first time I had seen the Episode IV subtitle, even though I bought this after seeing The Empire Strikes Back ). The screenplay included scenes that were later edited out of the final film (mainly scenes on Tatooine focusing a bit on Luke's life there and introducing Biggs Darklighter early in the film’s first act. Another deleted scene – which was restored for the Special Edition 20 years later – intro...