Archive for the ‘Filming of famous comics’ Category

Filming Batman

Batman original filming location was in backlot in Burbank California but they changed it to Pinewood Studios in England because of the media interest in the film. It started in 1988 and used 18 sound stages. Other locations for the film included the Knebworth house, Hatfield house as Wayne Manor, Little Barford and Action Lane Power station. The Filming was secretive and some people even tried to pay off the unit publicist to provide pictures of the film, especially that of the Joker as played by Jack Nicholson. Later in the production, two reels of footage, of about 20 minutes were stolen and the police were called in. This was one of the main problems that hit the filming of Batman.

Interesting Facts

The 1998 Writer’s Guild of America strike did not allow Hamm to perform re-writes, forcing the whole script to be changed during filming. The script was re-written by Jonathan Gems, Warren Skaaren and Charles McKeown and got criticized by Hamm, who blamed the changes on Warner Bros. The climax was also changed: it was supposed to end with the Joker killing Vicki Vale to make batman angry instead, Jon Peters reworked it without informing Burton. He commissioned the production designer to come up with a model of the cathedral and even Burton had no idea of how the film would end.

The Filming was completed in January 1989 and was released in June the same year. During the opening weekend, Batman earned $43.6 million breaking the record held by Ghostbusters II. It was the first movie that earned $100 million within the first 10 days of its release. It was also the highest earning film as based on a DC comic book until Batman: The Dark Night in 2008. It received positive reviews, although the fans were not happy with the casting of Michael Keaton as Batman and won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction.

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Filming Superman

As one of the loved comics, superman comes with visual effects applied on a larger scale. Some of the effects were created before the era of digital technology. Some of the visual effects were created using a number of models such as the model of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Krypton Council Dome and the Hoover Dam. One feature- the Fortress of Solitude was created as a full scale set and designed with matte paintings. It was constructed at the Shepperton Studios at Pinewood’s 007 stage.

Background

The first film’s principal photography started in 1977 with the Krypton scenes and it was considered as the most expensive film at that time. The filming of Superman and Superman II was carried out simultaneously and they took about 19 months, although it was set to be finished within 9 months. The footage of Krypton made the Warner Bros to start distributing the film to North America as well as other foreign countries. The filming was marred with complications and problems, and Warner Bros acquired the television rights.

Locations

New York City was Metropolis while and the New York Daily News was the location of the Daily Planet Offices. The Filming of Superman in New York went on for five weeks during the New York City Blackout of 1977. The scenes set in Smallville, the production team went to Alberta Canada. The cemetery scene was at the Canyon of Beynon Alberta, the Kent farm construction was at Blackie Alberta and the high school football scene was at Barons, Alberta. Other scenes included Gallup, New Mexico, Grand Central terminal and Lake Mead.

The main problems of the filming of superman were the increasing production budget and the shooting Schedule. The solution offered was to stop filming superman II so as to focus finishing Superman. All in All, the film was released without a premier and became the sixth highest earning film at that time as well as the most successful for Warner Bros at that time.

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Filming of Spiderman

With the case of Spiderman, the filming was actually set to commence right inside New York on the Sony sound stages. It was set to be released one year after it was organized and planned for. However, the filming of Spiderman began officially in January of 2001 with the first location being at Culver City.

The 29th Sony stage was made use of to mark Peter's home in Forest Hills. On the other hand, Stage 27 came in handy as the sequence of wrestling where Peter took on the evil Bonesaw McGraw. This stage was also made use of for the sequence at Times Square which was somewhat complex. It is at this sequence that the Goblin and Spiderman engage start battling for the very first time. Here, a set of 3- stories was built with a balcony that breaks away. This same scene also required some shooting to be done in Downey, which is located in California.

Some Spiderman scenes and sequences were also filmed in Los Angeles. Locations in L. A. included the Museum of Natural History, which acted as the lab for the Columbia University at which Peter was bitten thereby receiving his super powers.

Similarly, the building that houses Pacific Electricity was used as the offices for the media house, Daily Bugle. The Greystone Mansion was also used as part of the interior for Norman Osborn's abode. The Daily Bugle was also filmed at Flatiron Building.

Finally, when a couple of the costumes used while filming Spiderman got stolen, Sony relocated the filming back to New York. Here locations including, Queensboro Bridge and the Low Library of the Columbia University and the exterior of New York's Public Library were used. The Rockefeller Center also hosted a scene when Spiderman was filmed on an amazing rooftop garden at the building.

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