Jody Revenson

When I saw this book I figured that it was going to be a pretty light read; the cover has more structure than the page count and it’s that size of smaller illustrated book that is generally aimed towards a younger audience. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised at how full of information and imagery it was! Author Jody Revenson takes us through a comprehensive tour of the second Fantastic Beasts film, covering the range of characters and creatures, while painting a vivid picture of the carefully designed scenery. Her language throughout is light enough in tone that it would be accessible for pretty young readers, but doesn’t skew so young that adults can’t also enjoy delving back into the details of the film. Each section is unavoidably short so that she could cover the pretty expansive narrative of the film, but each page and section is carefully curated to include film stills, production artwork, her narrative, and pop-out quotes. Added to that myriad are touches of pop-out and overlaid pieces, which creates a richness and whimsy to the scrapbook-like design layout. Of course, I would have liked more content and more analysis, since we’re reading the book from an adult perspective, but I still thought this was a rather complete book overall.… (meer)

Another day, another Harry Potter film book… Will they ever stop mass publishing Harry Potter supplementary books, which even though I am annoyed about it will continue to read? Probably not haha, since they keep making money. In this book (volume 3 in a set of 12) author Jody Revenson explores the design behind the film versions of the horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows - arguably some of the most important props in the story. The book is designed like a scrapbook, including a lovely assortment of film stills, illustrations, and prop close-ups alongside the text, and unlike some of the more sloppily designed volumes they did a decent job of combining the text and imagery artfully so as not to interrupt the flow of reading the book. This is obviously a lighter version than some of the full “art of” volumes, so there were fewer examples of the lush range of design work that went into creating the many magical items, but there were just enough that I didn’t feel like we were getting short changed too much. Altogether a rather pleasing addition to the exploration of the films of the Wizarding World.… (meer)

For all that this book is seriously lacking in the usual high-quality production of the other books published about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, its contents give readers a great view behind the scenes of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Designed as if we’re reading a newspaper, the book is split up into various small articles which cover the story outlines, character development, cinematography, props, and of course magical beasts accompanied by newsprint style black and white images from the film. While some readers will obviously want more information and be frustrated by the brevity of each topic, the material is well written by Harry Potter pro Jody Revenson and artfully combines elements of interviews, research, and commentary to read like an engaging trade magazine (ie how newspapers were in the past). I’m, of course, the person who always wants more, but this was a fun and easy read to get me back into the intriguing story of Newt Scamander and co!… (meer)