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There are no unexpected “art of” adventures in The Art of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesnevertheless, this art book offers a satisfying insight into the design of the incredibly fun and lavish film.
Not only does writer Eleni Roussos give us fascinating insight into the film’s design, but she also draws our attention to background details from the legendary role-playing game the film is based on that viewers likely missed when watching. their first viewing.
These are the anecdotes that were the highlights of this 198-page volume.
Long-time Dungeons & Dragons players have no doubt understood that the subject of the portrait featured in the Vault infiltration scenes was that of Volothamo “volo” Geddarm, the “ultimate source of information” of all things. in the realms of gaming, but I’m definitely not, and I loved learning how much the filmmakers referenced the game in great detail.
Whether it’s murals, weapons, costumes, or mugs of mead, almost all of the props and paintings are derived from role-playing and its variety of iterations. The filmmakers worked closely with Dungeons & Dragons experts to get every detail just right and it shows.
What I caught was the much-loved homage to the 1980s Dungeons & Dragons animated TV series and Roussos takes the time to point out the translation of the main characters from the Saturday morning cartoon, Hank, Eric, Diana , Presto, Sheila and Bobby from the animation cell. live the action. Luckily, Bobby’s pet unicorn, Uni, doesn’t make an appearance.
Do you know the difference between a wizard and a wizard?
I did not do it. And that’s one of the clear benefits of this book, an introduction to Dungeons & Dragons lore for the uninitiated. While a wizard is more academic, learning to do magic through intense study, magic is in a wizard’s blood whether he likes it or not. Bards, Barbarians, Druids, Paladins, each characteristic of each character tells us how those characters and characteristics work both in the movie and in a game.
In many ways, The Art of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a sort of Dungeons & Dragons guide for dummies.
The presentation is divided into four basic sections covering all the key elements of the film and beyond: Characters, Beasts/Creatures, Realms, and Production.
We get helpful insights from directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, producer Jeremy Latcham and executive producer Denis L. Stewart, department heads, especially production designer Ray Chan, and key cast members Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Hugh Grant and more and we feel like this movie was not just a job, but a passion project.
Roussos also points to the filmmakers’ efforts to use hands-on effects where, well, hands-on throughout, building as many creatures and sets for the actors to play with. The feline Tabaxi, Dragonborn, and bird-like Aarakocra, all humanoid, were fully functional physical creations brought in by the late Stan Winston’s major Legacy Effects studios, with each character requiring multiple performers and operators to bring to life and remaining close to the concepts original arts.
One tidbit that particularly resonated was the design of the corpses in the cemetery scene. It was one of the highlights of the film. Not only did all of the decaying remains have performers under the latex foam, but they were deliberately designed with a classic 80s film feel of films like Accommodation (1985) or George Romero Undead series. Familiar territory indeed.
A disappointing aspect of this work, however, is that the overall package looks too much like a polished promotional tool. What’s missing is a true ‘bottom up’ process, tracing the early stages of development of a particular setting. That’s what I enjoy most about magic material, seeing a variety of ideas evolve from start to final form. For the most part, what we get here is fully rendered art that’s close to the final product with a few variations created via infographics thrown in for good measure.
Not enough credit is given to the actual artists either. Sure, department heads deserve their fair share, but they have great creative teams that help bring their vision to life. It would also have been wiser to credit the artists responsible for each creation alongside or alongside their work rather than lumping all the artists together in a special acknowledgment at the end of the book.
What we get with this release is a clean and simple collection of largely computer-generated art and fun behind-the-scenes info. If that’s your thing, you’ll enjoy it just as much as I do. However, if you’re looking for the exhaustive collection of pre-production art that goes into developing a fantasy film, then The Art of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is not for you.
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