By Tanya Lapointe

Titan, out now

Some of the secrets of Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to the sci-if classic are revealed in this beautiful art book from Titan, though your greater concern might be where to store it.

This might be considered a First World Problem, but one of your considerations on whether or not to buy Tanya Lapointe’s quality ‘Making Of’ book (and you certainly should) is just where you’re going to store it. The thickness is not the issue (stop sniggering at the back) it’s the bookcase-worrying dimensions of the height and width, nearly A3 size. But practicalities aside, what this does mean is that we get large panoramic spreads, and what panoramas they are.

Following a foreword by Denis Villeneuve, the book is dedicated to chapters on pre-production, the landscape, links to the past, the streets of LA, K’s apartment, the Police Department, the Wallace Corporation, Replicants and key environments (the outskirts, desert and sea). What’s particularly impressive is the high quality resolution of the images, reproduced on good stock paper. Unfortunately, as with all art books that have black backgrounds, fingerprints do show up, so you’ll want to make sure your fingers are as grease-free as possible, or turn the pages from the edges. And whilst a number of the spreads are splashes of a single image, there’s also other pages where many photos have been used. This isn’t one of those books that’s using images sparingly to bulk itself – there’s a lot of content included.

Some of the things that I learnt: Agent K’s apartment block is called Moebius 21 after the French fantasy artist, Deckard’s blaster was recreated because the original is now owned by a private collector who bought it for $250k(!) and Stephen Vaughan was the set photographer on the original and came out of retirement specially for the sequel.

But probably the greatest feeling you take away from the book is just how much of the effects work was practical. In an industry where CGI is over-used, it’s refreshing to see that the models of the city (by Weta) were scale miniatures, as were backdrops to buildings and the sea wall. The Intruder Spinner that flies into the casino building was real there, on a rig, performing the effect practically. And throughout it all, DOP Roger Deakins is constantly praised for the way that he paints with light.

This is author Tanya Lapointe’s first book and she spent five months on the production following its shooting, getting quotes from key cast and crew. She covers the bases well, except for a spoilerific scene, which you can probably guess if you’ve seen the movie. Considering that the book wasn’t released until after the movie was in cinemas, it seems a coy thing to hold back, as it certainly warrants attention. Maybe the plan was initially to release the book earlier, and certainly it’s written without referencing certain plot-twists.

Verdict: Find out how a Soviet-designed abandoned power station was transformed into an orphanage, see Deckard with a beard, or just marvel at the photos. This is a quality summary of Blade Runner 2049’s visuals – it’s just a shame that a key scene isn’t covered.  9/10

Nick Joy