The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles: Art & Design

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles: Art & Design explores and celebrates the creative vision of the second film in Academy Award–winning filmmaker Peter Jackson's trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.

This lavish volume follows Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin's Company of Dwarves eastward, through hitherto unseen regions of Middle-earth, on their quest to reclaim the lost realm of Erebor from the Dragon Smaug. Exploring the design and development of the environments, cultures, creatures, and artifacts encountered by the characters, it is filled with more than one thousand stunning images of conceptual art, supplementary photographs, and detailed commentary provided by the film's cast and crew.

As a bonus feature, unique to this book, there is a special fold-out replica of the portrait of the Master of Lake-town, played by Stephen Fry, exactly as it appears in the film.

Compiled by Weta Workshop senior concept designer Daniel Falconer, this is the third book in The Hobbit: Chronicles series, and it has been created in full collaboration with key members of the production's creative team to ensure the most comprehensive and authentic film companion possible.

Weta Workshop is a multi-award winning conceptual design and physical manufacturing facility based out of Wellington, New Zealand, servicing the world's entertainment and wider creative industries. Weta Workshop is also a multi-disciplinary facility, with crew members expert in a diverse range of disciplines all housed under the one roof. These services include conceptual design and the manufacturing of weapons, armor and chainmail, specialist props, custom vehicles, specialty costumes, miniatures and models, special makeup and prosthetics, and public art installations or displays. The team at Weta enjoys engaging in projects holistically, from preliminary technical analysis and conceptual design through to manufacture across all departments and the final delivery of product and crew to set, anywhere in the world. Drawing on more than twenty years of filmmaking experience, five-time Oscar-winning design and special effects supervisor Richard Taylor is intimately involved in all projects from concept through to delivery. Best known for the company's design and effects work on award-winning film projects, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, Avatar, District 9, and The Adventures of Tintin, Weta Workshop is not limited to film and television, offering services to creative industries worldwide