When I enjoy movies, I am usually interested in picking up books that are connected to the making of the movie in some way. I have a growing collection of those types of books now. I loved Stardust when I saw it earlier this year and I didn't hesitate to pick up a book connected to the movie when I found it. I just finished reading Stardust: The Visual Companion by Stephen Jones, my newest addition to that collection.

Stardust: The Visual Companion is an oversize paperback book roughly the same size as many magazines. I discovered online that there is also a hardback version of the book available. Several of the books I have about movies are this same size. The book shared some information about Neil Gaiman’s original book and then went into detail about how the movie version was made. There wasn’t an actual plot summary included, but different bits of the plot were shared, including the ending, throughout the book so there would be spoilers for people who haven’t read Gaiman’s book or seen the movie yet. The information was divided into eleven chapters which were in five sections. Three of the sections were called Acts and were focused on different aspects of making the movie. The other two sections were a prologue and an epilogue. The shooting script for the movie was also included.

The book started off with a two-page introduction dated December 16, 2006 written by Neil Gaiman. He briefly mentioned a few things about writing the original book and some things connected to the making of the movie. He also mentioned that he was pleased that Stephen Jones was writing this book. Gaiman talked about how he had turned down other directors and producers wanting to turn Stardust into a movie before approving of Matthew Vaughn. Gaiman also said how he gave some input on hiring Jane Goldman to work on the script with Vaughn.

The prologue shared information about how Gaiman first got the idea for Stardust and how Charles Vess joined the project to do the illustrations for the story. Stardust was originally published in a four issue run by DC Comics in 1997. The covers for those four issues were shown. Other editions of Stardust have been released, combining the four issues into one book. Biographical information about Gaiman and Vess as well as some original sketches for characters were also included. I really enjoyed learning some about how the book was written, including how Gaiman first got the idea.

The second chapter shared the process for turning Stardust into a movie. Gaiman and Vaughn both shared a lot of thoughts about the movie. Gaiman did talk about how his book would need changes to work as a movie and he didn’t want to be the one to make them because he was happy with the book. Jane Goldman talked about her writing in general and about working on the script for this movie in general. Other people involved with the making of the movie discussed their parts. There were more early concept sketches of locations and one of an outfit for one character. The next chapter talked about some of the locations and decisions that were made about the look of different characters. Those things were really interesting to me. The casting for the characters of Tristan and Victoria was brought up and Charlie Cox and Sienna Miller shared some thoughts about working on the movie.

Characters and locations from Stormhold, the magical world setting for some of the story, were discussed in the fourth chapter. It was talked about how Peter O’Toole was cast as the old King. The book pointed out some things that were done with the costumes of the seven princes that I hadn’t noticed for the most part when I watched the movie. There were designs for locations and costumes shared that I thought were very interesting. Many of those early ideas did make it into the movie. The next chapter shared a lot of information about the three witch sisters, including the makeup that was used for the actresses to achieve the looks of the characters. I really enjoyed learning how the looks for the witches were created.

Yvaine, the character the story basically revolved around, was introduced in the sixth chapter. Gaiman, Goldman, and a producer talked about the process of casting the character and how Claire Danes was chosen for the part. Some general background information about her was included. Danes did share her thoughts about working on the movie. Chapter seven shared information related to one of the more important sequences in the story. Chapter eight focused on Captain Shakespeare and his flying pirate ship. I love the part of the movie that took place on the ship, so I really enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was very interesting to learn how the flying ship was designed. The next two chapters talked about how locations and things for events late in the movie were created, including details for creating the home of the three witches.

The epilogue talked about the special effects work that was done after shooting had ended. It was mentioned how Vaughn made very careful decisions about what to create with CGI and what to create in another method. It was also mentioned how there would be surprises in the movie for people who had read the book. After the end of the epilogue, there was a map of where certain characters traveled with a different colored line used to represent the journeys of those characters. The shooting script for the movie followed the map. When I read through that I really only noticed a few minor things here and there that had been changed for the movie.

The information that was shared in Stardust: The Visual Companion was introduced in an order that followed the progress of the movie. I think that method of organization worked very well for the book. The first things shared were about the original book and then about the process of getting ready to make the movie. I really liked that the information about the book was also included. As the book progressed, the locations and characters were introduced a few at a time instead of all at once. That allowed enough time to focus in on the different important characters and locations. I found all of the information shared to be very interesting and I really enjoyed learning specifics on how the movie was made.

Thoughts that Neil Gaiman had about different aspects of the making of the movie were shared throughout the book in addition to the introduction he wrote. I really liked that so many things that Gaiman said were included in the book. Once the book first mentioned some of the other people involved with the making of the movie, like Jane Goldman or the costume designer, then their thoughts were mixed in throughout the rest of the book as well. After some of the cast members were introduced, then some of their thoughts about their character and working on the movie were also included. I believe those things were pulled from interviews. I think that more of what Charlie Cox had to say was included than from some of the other cast members. Unfortunately, not all of the cast was involved in that way. It would have been nice to have something from Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro as well.

Stardust: The Visual Companion was loaded with wonderful photographs. Some of them looked like stills from the actual movie. Others had been taken on the set and showed the cameras and different equipment as well as the actors. There were also some photographs that had been taken during breaks in the shooting, showing crew members discussing something related to the shooting. The photographs were included in spots where they complimented the text. I loved seeing all the photographs and thought they added a lot to the book. It was really interesting to see pictures for a few sequences that were ultimately left out of the movie or changed a bit. The book also included many early sketches for costumes or locations. There were very intricate drawings for certain things, like the pirate ship. Many things ended up looking a lot like the early concept art. Some of the illustrations that Charles Vess did for the book were also included here and there. I really liked seeing those since I haven’t read the book.

Stardust: The Visual Companion is a wonderful companion to the movie. Fans of the movie will probably enjoy the book.

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Recommended: Yes