The Art of Sleepy Hollow
Tim Burton's hallmark as a filmmaker is his bizarre, inventive, and oddly beautiful visual style. It is fitting, then, that the companion book to his movieSleepy Hollowis a big and beautiful hardback, full of images that range from quietly eerie to eye-popping. The book contains Burton's sketches, paintings from production designer Rick Heinrichs and costume designer Colleen Atwood, and dozens of stills from the film itself. All of this is juxtaposed with Andrew Kevin Walker's screenplay of Washington Irving's story. The result is a unique opportunity to see how a film comes together. Bare words on a page result in Burton's quirky roughs, which are fleshed out into more detailed paintings by Burton and the production team. Finally it all comes together in photographs of the end product. In addition to an engrossing screenplay (Careful! It's far from a direct cribbing of the original story, so see the movie before reading too far if you don't want the plot spoiled), the reader gets to see the evolution of Ichabod's binocular glasses and creepy yet strangely charming autopsy instruments. The book as a whole illustrates one of the most interesting aspects of Burton's vision--frightening images are clearly meant to be seen as beautiful at the same time.The Art of Sleepy Hollowis entertaining on several levels: as a good story, as a step-by-step tour of the way a film's design comes together, and as a fascinating picture book for grownups.--Ali Davis