BOOK REVIEW #28: LIGHTS, CAMERA, MAGIC! THE MAKING OF FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD

Likely targeted at younger audiences, Lights, Camera, Magic! The Making of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald covers the graphic design, production and costume design and interviews with the talented cast and crew in general.

Written by Ian Nathan who also wrote the first Fantastic Beast and no stranger to the world of cinema kept things short and sweet with the book divided into seven chapters with a foreword by star Eddie Redmayne.

With the movie being set in both 1920s London and Paris, two of the books’ longest chapters are devoted to how the production team recreate the locations in Leavesden studio and also veteran production designer Stuart Craig talking about recreating Hogwarts and Newt’s basement cellar. And inbetween we have the stars themselves liked Redmayne, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, director David Yates and costume designer Collen Atwood sharing their thoughts.

One of the astounding aspects of the Harry Potter series is the intricate details that goes into building the physical sets, props and imaginative beasts. With most of the original crew returning for the Fantastic Beast movies, the level of authenticity is once again achieved via physical and digital effects. A Cellar Full of Beasts is a good example how the team assembled the movie’s other fantastic “stars”.

While Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald might be more of a miss than a hit, there’s still enough behind-the-scenes magic to keep Potterheads happy till the next instalment which is due in 2020. This book while indeed brief is a great companion for those who love the movie otherwise you can wait for a more detailed making of book when the Fantastic Beasts series come to an end.

Book Rating:

Review by Linus Tee

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