Movie News
Zack Snyder Shows Us the ‘Watchmen’ Backlot
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 27, 2007
Zack Snyder’s Watchmen will turn out to be one of the most closely watched and scrutinized comic adaptations of all-time. For one, it is the adaptation of one of the single greatest graphic novels in history and two, it is based on a work by Alan Moore, who is like the impossible to please father of comics. Yet with pressure mounting, Snyder — the hotshot director who rocked the world of film with 300 earlier this year — has been taking all the right strides in the early goings; keeping fans and critics alike salivating for more.
This week’s feast comes by way of Snyder’s production blog on the Official Watchmen website. He gives us a taste of the NYC backlot where the film is being shot. Here are some thoughts from the director himself: Since the New York City that is rendered in the graphic novel is so particular, it was very important to me that our backlot speak the same language, the vernacular of WATCHMEN. In addition, the backlot needs to function as many different parts of the city, countless store fronts, street corners, alleys, etc. So, with that in mind, we set out to build own own custom backlot here in Vancouver, BC. In my opinion, the results speak for themselves.
Those results can be seen below in a series of 4 photographs taken from the backlot. The first of which shows a familiar masked hero as he takes an evening stroll. Take a look for yourself (and click to see the larger image).
It goes without saying that these set pieces are fantastic. They easily support the notion that Snyder is the perfect man to deliver such a tall order as a Watchmen flick. His attention to detail and respect for the source material are impressive. One particularly impressive aspect of the NY backlot (as pointed out by our friends over at FirstShowing.net) is that even the window panels of the Gunga Diner seem to be lifted right from the graphic novel. Impressive indeed.
So there you have it. As Snyder explains in his post, some 5,800 square feet of neon, 98,400 square feet of exterior scenery, 200,000 nails and 20,000 donuts later and we have some proof that Watchmen is going to be something special. For those who had their doubts, hopefully this helps. For the rest of us, March 6, 2009 can’t get here soon enough.
Read more articles by Neil Miller
3 Comments
November 27th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Is that green-screen beside the cafe?
November 27th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
It may be. We can only assume that much of the backdrops will be CGI, a la ‘Zodiac’.
March 25th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Apparently Zack Snyder decided to do away with Dr. Manhattan’s world advancements that bring the alternate reality of 1985 deathly close to the brink of a nuclear holocaust with Russia. Note in the fourth picture the “child” who is reading the Black Freighter is not sitting on the pavement leaning on a electrical charge station for cars. Instead the “kid” (who looks like he’s in his 20’s and not the 15 year old we see in the comic) is sitting on a stool in front of a fire hydrant and we can clearly see that there are everyday petroleum based cars, with normal everyday exhaust fumes, driving through the city. It also appears that the Gunga Diner is not located on a street corner…seems like there is absolutely nothing similar to the set design and that of what you see in the comics. Lastly…the guy they have playing Ozymandias looks like what Veidt would look like if he just got out of a WWII POW camp…and his fake “Batman Begins” abs are just terrible. Though I must applaud the casting of Laurie Juspeczyk. With hair dye she looks the part perfectly.