Comments on: New Watchmen Pics!

By: rido

rido — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:23:55 +0000

Just found this!

MOVIE SET STILLS VS. COMIC BOOK VERSIONS
http://www.maximonline.com/Entertainment/Treasureisland/slideshow/10131/585.aspx?src=tstwms:Mtd

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:13:05 +0000

Of course it wasn’t, but it stopped me from even enjoying it ‘for what it was’.
I distrust that style of lighting because I only see it in big budget films by inexperienced work-for-hire directors.

By: Grant

Grant — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:01:56 +0000

Fair enough. But I think the lighting in those movies wasn’t the element that made them suck (at least in my opinion).

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 02:41:06 +0000

It really just comes down to personal taste, but there is a trend of lighting films in a certain, like in V, that really puts me off a film.
It’s not so stylized that it’s a definite effect that I can appreciate, like say Three Kings, where they washed out all the colours (though most probably done in post), yet it still distances me from the film.

By: Grant

Grant — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 02:35:02 +0000

“300 And Dawn Of The Dead were both style over substance, and both over lit, and both by Snyder.”

I’d agree they were style over substance (well 300 was I never saw Dawn). But I thought the lighting looked fine in 300. Ditto V for Vendetta (which I didn’t like either).

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:24:59 +0000

I wouldn’t go by that still, was probably just from a camera/costume test.
May still go that way, but that still was taken before production actually began, so a lot could have changed.

By: The Goddamn Skateman

The Goddamn Skateman — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:21:51 +0000

If the movie looks anything like the still of Rorschach from the 300 trailer (wouldn’t doubt it, same guy doing both and all), the film will ultimately have a greenish tint to match the look of the comic. So the stills aren’t completely representative of the look of the film.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:14:33 +0000

I think this film may be like Daredevil – although the filmmaker has an obvious and true love of the source material, they just don’t have the talent to do it justice.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:13:47 +0000

Snyder didnâ€™t direct V.

No he didn’t, but it was another film with over lit set shots.
The Moore connection put it in mind, and I remember ,making similar comments at the time.
300 And Dawn Of The Dead were both style over substance, and both over lit, and both by Snyder.

By: Doug Atkinson

Doug Atkinson — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:02:24 +0000

This is nitpicky of me (annotator’s syndrome, I guess) but I can’t help but notice that the “Who Watches the Watchmen” graffito in the final shot is complete, while it never appears in complete form in the comic itself. (If I let that sort of thing bother me, though, well, that way madness lies. I wonder if the moon will be full for an entire month in the movie? And will it have nuclear bases on it?)

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:53:54 +0000

Snyder didn’t direct V.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:08:44 +0000

Well it looks like set shots of V For Vendetta and that was over lit, as is everything else Snyder has directed…

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:09:50 +0000

You can’t really judge lighting based on set stills. Unless they tried to match the lighting they are using in the movie.

Also the film will probably go through a color correction process (like most movies).

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:28:27 +0000

tâ€™ll probably look differnet when itâ€™s lit and filmed.

They already look over lit as it is.

By: Paperghost

Paperghost — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:04:30 +0000

I can’t wait for the bit where Rorschach starts flying and shooting laser beams out of his eyes.

/ runs away giggling

By: The Goddamn Skateman

The Goddamn Skateman — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:04:05 +0000

Rorschach’s in the last picture in front of the Nixon poster. You can kind of make out his white cloth mask.

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:33:21 +0000

“those sets are a little too dressed. Itâ€™s gonna wind up looking like the Dick Tracy movie.”

It’ll probably look differnet when it’s lit and filmed.

By: Ryan H

Ryan H — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:49:18 +0000

I think an over the top set dressing might actually work really well. A setting that is more real than real could provide the contrast and juxtaposition that the characters need. With Watchmen, the characters are very much archetypes. The main thing that binds them together is the fact that the story is really about exploring those archetypes. So, what kind of setting do you use to put Dr. Manhattan next to The Comedian next to Nite-Owl and not have at least one of them feel out of place? It almost has to be a constructed world.

By: spacejack

spacejack — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:59:04 +0000

those sets are a little too dressed. It’s gonna wind up looking like the Dick Tracy movie.

By: Rohan Williams

Rohan Williams — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:11:10 +0000

I’ve got no idea how this will turn out, but I would like to say something in defence of ’300′. I thought Synder absolutely nailed the substance of the work, which, I think, was about the power of myths and storytellers. From that perspective, the film’s stylistic flourishes were actually quite appropriate, as were the fairly two-dimensional- or, better yet, black and white- characters. To me, that’s what Synder was going for, and it worked.