With PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END sailing successfully into theaters and breaking box office records around the globe, FilmEdge and Caribbean Trading Company now review two newly published books which take fans on a creative journey from the first artistic concepts ever put on paper, through the final shooting day of production ending the film trilogy

This journey-in-review begins with the opulent publication of THE ART OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, a large-format book handsomely bound and embossed with leather texture effects which simulate an antique book centuries old.  Just feeling the weight and heft of this volume in your hands immediately discards notions that this is another mere movie tie-in book, like so many thinly produced paperback film promotion titles which come and go as quickly as the films they promote.  THE ART OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN is truly a collectible book in both design and content, and earns a worth place in the library of all PIRATES  and cinema fans.

The book collects over 160 pages of concept and character art, plus storyboards of action sequences from all three films, presented in order of their release.  Sketch artists plot out story points and set pieces in detailed storyboards, proceeding through swordfights and ship battles shot-by shot.

THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL cannon fight	Maelstrom storyboards AT WORLD'S END

The 14 x 12" large-format illustrations show off the colorful concept paintings by a host of talented artists who teamed up to create the beautiful and dangerous world of PIRATES over three films and years of development.  For example, the concept art of Singapore below encompasses the entire visual style of the early sequence in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END, from set design and visual effects to cinematography and set lighting which might not have taken place in production until months or a year later.

With so many swashbuckling characters populating these three epic PIRATES films, character and costume design serve a huge role in translating script to screen while differentiating who is who at a moment's glance.  But character concepts don't stop there, as artists are tasked with finding the perfect design which transforms Johnny Depp into Jack Sparrow, or helps rocker Keith Richards strike the right chord as Captain Teague.

THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL cannon fight	Maelstrom storyboards AT WORLD'S END

Clearly, there are hundreds of fine art illustrations remaining beyond this preview, many of which are printed across two pages and some across four-panel folded inserts which literally expand the scope of this collection beyond the scope of its handsomely bound covers.   Just a short list of the skilled artists contributing massive amounts of material to this volume include PIRATES production designer Rick Heinrichs, character concept designers 'Crash' McCreery and Aaron McBride, scene artists James Carson and Nathan Schroeder, storyboard illustrators Darek Gogol and James Ward Byrkit.

The book's introduction by PIRATES trilogy director Gore Verbinski sums up the intent and the spirit of this lavishly illustrated volume:

Working with writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and a team of talented and sleep-deprived artists and conceptual engineers, we set out at the confluence of two seemingly opposing yet undeniable facts: the blank page and the release date . . . As you peruse these images, I hope they take you back to those long nights before a frame of film was exposed, when the pages were blank and the empty canvas impatiently waited.

I heartily recommend THE ART OF THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN to all fans of Jack, Will, Elizabeth and Davy Jones, plus any others who delight in witnessing the process of cinematic creation.  Once you have this book in your hands, clear the decks and your calendar for several hours as you feast your eyes on this 162-page gallery of movie history-in-the-making, and enjoy reliving countless moments of adventure and excitement first imagined in pen and brush years before.  Even this summer's journey which takes audiences into mysterious waters found AT WORLD'S END began as an uncharted course first sketched and painted by these artists.

Our PIRATES publishing venture continues with Caribbean Traders' review of BRING ME THAT HORIZON: THE MAKING OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN by Michael Singer which continues here, mates. . .

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