Sylvain Despretz - Los ángeles Deluxe (EN)

About the book Los ángeles

The image of its city namesake, Los ángeles is a multifaceted book teaming with angels and gods. It is where Sylvain Despretz has lived for the past twenty years, behind the scenes and next to the mightiest of the mighty. A renowned artist who works in the shadows, he has helped pen the visions of Ridley Scott, David Fincher, Andrei Konchalovsky, Mike Newell, Tim Burton and Stanley Kubrick, to name a few. Storyboards, concept art, paintings and illustration – his palette of talents has been deployed to create emblematic works such as The Fifth Element, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Eyes Wide Shut...

This book is neither catalogue nor instruction manual – it is both, and yet so much more. Throughout its pages the author reveals his calling – that of an artist and craftsman putting his talent to work on the dream machine that is Hollywood. Peppered with anecdotes, observations and musings on the past two decades, this book is a unique must-have for all those who are interested in cinema, illustration and art in general.

About the Deluxe edition

This Deluxe Edition comes in a beautiful slipcase containing two books: Los ángeles and Midnight Show.

Midnight Show is an 80-page softcover book consisting of illustrations that, despite our best efforts, could not be included in the main book (unless we created a universal dictionary-sized version). Most of these illustrations are drawn from the film projects Sylvain has worked on, his personal artwork, and comic book pages.

About artist Sylvain Despretz

Sylvain Despretz is an independent writer-director who has worked extensively in the USA and in Europe in the fields of storyboarding and illustration. His mentor in the early part of his career was none other than the late Jean “Mœbius” Giraud, the world-renowned artist.

He took his first steps as an art director in New York at the advertising agency BBDO where, over a number of years, he worked on TV spots for clients like Pepsi, Gillette and General Electric. When he moved to Hollywood, he created storyboards for director David Fincher, and worked alongside pop star Michael Jackson on video concepts for his Dangerous album. Throughout the 1990s Sylvain also worked for director Ridley Scott and, over two decades, contributed to the development of numerous feature film projects and TV spots.

Technical details

• Text in English
• 420 pages
• 21.4 x 28 cm
• Hardcover

Practical information

• Shipped within 72 hours
• French version available right here
• Project launched on Kickstarter (English version) and KissKissBankBank (French version)
• More information on the publisher's website (first chapters freely available)