|
Don
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,643
|
[8/12] The Dark Knight Footage Screened! (Semi-Spoilers)*
*Most of the things in this article talks about new scenes from "The Dark Knight" that was screened at a convention. Its nothing major, most of the things you know, Joker, Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent, Bruce, Batman, And Gordon are all seen in the footage. As well as the visual confirmation of one event in the film. If you dont want to read about parts of the Movie, Read No further.
Oh, And Unfortunately that footage isnt available online (As of Yet?)
From IGN:
Quote:
The Dark Knight Footage Screened!
IGN catches scenes from the upcoming sequel... here's what we saw!
by Eric Moro & Richard George
For those who've been following IGN Comics' coverage of Wizard World Chicago 2007, here's a special movie-related treat: The cast and crew of The Dark Knight — the follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins — made a special convention appearance to take questions from the fans and screen a special "sizzle reel" cut exclusively for the event. In attendance were the film's director Christopher Nolan, writers David Goyer and Jonathan Nolan, and cast Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Gary Oldman (Lt. James Gordon) and Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face).
While coverage of the Q&A can be found on this page tomorrow, we thought we'd give you a quick peek at the footage that was shown. Of the sizzle reel, Nolan noted that the production is exactly 50 percent done with filming, so he patched together what shots he had to show the audience.
Much to the joy of those in attendance, the reel showed off a number of shots of Heath Ledger as The Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime was seen in a prison cell, dramatically speaking at the camera as if scheming some sort of diabolical plot. There were also several shots of Batman and The Joker fighting in what appeared to be an interrogation room — in fact, the Dark Knight can be scene using "bad cop" interrogation techniques, throwing The Joker across a table. There is a scene of The Joker dancing with Rachel Dawes (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal), reminiscent of the way Jack Nicholson's Joker danced with Vicki Vale (played by Kim Basinger) in 1989's Batman. Finally, there are a number of shots showing a war-torn Gotham City — a machine gun-toting Joker firing toward the camera.
While Eckhart has already gone on the record with word that Harvey Dent would be making the change into the dreaded Two-Face in this film, the footage served to confirm this. A shot of Dent from behind has someone coming up to the District Attorney saying, "I thought you were dead?" Dent's reply: "Half." Massive scarring can then be glimpse on the left side of his face. A dramatic shot of a quarter spinning on a table also served to "wow" the audience. In his non-scarred form, there is a shot of Dent first meeting Bruce Wayne. "Rachel's told me a lot about you," Dent says. To which Wayne replies, "I hope not."
Not to be outdone, there were several shots of Wayne and Batman. A number of quick bursts showed Wayne testing out new gear and working on equipment. A full shot of Batman running in his new suit was shown, as was a snippet of the Tumbler in action (no noticeable changes to the supped up Batmobile were evident) and Batman riding the Batpod — a high-tech motorcycle that is said to launch out of the Tumbler.
Last but not least, there was a shot of Lt. Gordon where he appeared to be gearing up some off-camera force (Batman? other police officers?) for war. After the footage was shown, Oldman noted that he had the honor of shooting a number of scenes with the Joker and that Ledger's performance was going to "knock your socks off."
|
Theres More From this event as there was a Q&A Session with the cast and crew of the film.
Quote:
Prior to the footage, the panelists hosted a brief Q&A session. Though half the time was taken up with fan boys gushing over Christopher Nolan, Bale and Oldman, some interesting information was released.
The best exchanges were regarding Ledger's portrayal of The Joker. Simply put, not much is known about this version of the character. Can we expect something like Mark Hammill (the voice of Joker in the animated Batman series) or Jack Nicholson (who played The Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman flick)? It turns out the answer is neither. When asked for their approach in developing the character, writer Goyer and both Christopher and Jonathan Nolan answered the best they could. Jonathan replied that the hardest part wasn't getting under The Joker's skin, but rather getting rid of him after they had finished writing the script. "It will take months and months of therapy to get The Joker out of my head," joked the scripter.
Elaborating on the process, Christopher noted that it really wasn't a matter of just looking at The Joker by himself. The director said that Goyer's hook with the Joker card in the first movie really helped them thread the character into this world. He specified that creating this character was about looking at the villain through the prism that Batman Begins shaped. Once they had established this universe in the first film, it was just a matter of determining how characters exist within those parameters. Goyer later added that given those "rules" a take like Nicholson's just doesn't work. Christopher also added that the journey of crafting this film was a long one, with a first treatment being finished prior to his work on The Prestige.
But describing the process of molding the legendary villain wasn't enough. Fans wanted a comparison. Though Nicholson's portrayal had been crossed off the list, another fan asked about Hammill, citing the famed actor's voice work as being the perfect version of Batman's archenemy. Christopher reiterated the fact that they were only 50 percent done with shooting, but that what Ledger has done is "brilliant" and "indescribable." He stressed that he wasn't trying to be evasive, but that fans would just have to see the actor on screen to understand. "He's taking it and running with it," said the director. Oldman followed on that statement by adding that as Gordon he's had scenes with The Joker and that, "[Ledger] will knock everyone out of the ballpark."
One element of the Dark Knight that wasn't touched on in Batman Begins was Bruce Wayne's skills as a detective and criminologist. A fan inquired as to whether those elements would be played up in the sequel. Christopher replied that this would be the case. He mentioned that Begins was so focused on the origin that there was "only a small movement in that direction."
With Katie Holmes being replaced by Gyllenhaal, one attendee asked why the writers bothered to include her. Would she just play the same love interest role as before? Christopher Nolan replied that they wouldn't have bothered to put her in the film unless she was going to play an important part, but didn't elaborate more than that.
Early on in the discussion, the question was raised as to preparing for these roles as opposed to ones not bound with 60 plus years of history. "It always helps to have great material. If the material is well-written, then it's my map of the world… All of the roles you take have their own hurdles and there's no one particular approach… We're blessed with having a great cast, crew, characters and script," said Oldman. Eckhart, following Oldman, said he couldn't add to what had just been said. Bale focused on his role as Batman, saying that prior to this role he had only seen the Adam West shows. He said that they were great but they were just spoofs of the source material. He mentioned that he really hadn't been a huge fan of Batman and that the character hadn't really created any interest in his mind -- until he read Frank Miller's approach with the "Batman: Year One" story arc. He remembered wondering why no one had made that into a film; he wanted to see that on a screen somewhere and that it fit easily. Speaking of returning to the role, Bale compared it to riding a bike, saying at first he wondered how he would remember but then realized that it was easy to resume being the character.
One of the first questions asked was a spotlight on Bale and Christopher Nolan. The attendee wanted to know what was the best part of their working relationship now that they had done several films together. Nolan jokingly "directed" Bale to respond first. Bale simply stated that the more they worked together, the more communication and trust improved. The actor stated that he doesn't have that initial nervous doubt when he starts a movie with Nolan, which allows them both to "stride purposefully towards our goal." Nolan added that Bale's skills as an actor and willingness to do stunts makes his own job much, much easier. The director added that when you finds someone "as extraordinarily talented as Christian, you try to repeat that experience."
|
Last edited by CRSone; 08-13-2007 at 07:44 PM..
|
08-12-2007, 08:47 PM
Linear Mode
