In 2009, it was announce that DC Comics and Warner Brothers were going ahead with plans to make a Green Lantern movie. As a DC Comics fan for the past 20 years, I was happy to say the least. When director Martin Campbell was announced to helm the film, I was even more estactic, only to be pleased further by the casting of Ryan Reynolds as the title character of Hal Jordan. However, last summer, Entertainment Weekly released the first picture of Ryan Reynolds in the Green Lantern costume he would be sporting in the film. Fans and myself were a bit displeased to say the least. Concerns arose and doubts emerged if this film would be true to the character and the mythology of the comics that we all know and love.
Over the last couple of months, we have been given three trailers, a 4 minute comic con video, and multiple television spots that have put all of our doubts at ease and assured us that the Green Lantern we will be seeing in two weeks WILL be the character from the comics and will remain true to them. For those of you still with any layer of doubt or if you're dying of curiousity, "Constructing Green Lantern: From Page to Screen" is a must buy for you.
Often times, with books like these, I don't bother buying them. The last production book that I bought was "The Dark Knight: Featuring Production Art and Full Shooting Script". While it was very well written, it did not tell me many things that I didn't already know about the film. It didn't go too much into the entire process of constructing the new bat suit, or how they did the special effects for Two-Face, or how they constructed the story from the source material of the comics. It was a fun read, but it wasn't what I wanted it to be.
From the moment you open "Constructing Green Lantern", you are awe struck by the visuals. Now, this could be because I haven't seen the film yet and am psyched to see the images and information about the film that hasn't been released yet. But for me, while the trailers and tv spots are unbelievably awesome, this book from the first page, set aside all of my fears and doubts and really helped me to understand the process that went into the production.
The book is divided into three parts: Pre-production and design of the entire movie, the Green Lantern Corps iteself with its members, rings, and costumes, and Part III explores the featured villains of Hector Hammond, Amanda Waller, and Parallax. By dividing the book into these 3 different sections, it gives you a complete ascending experience into the production of the film.
One of the best parts of the book is the introduction by DC Comics writer and DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns. He's very sincere and informative about the development and production of the movie, but more importantly, he expresses just how happy and thrilled he is about the movie. Reading this, knowing that Geoff Johns himself is happy and excited for this movie was a real comfort for me and made me excited for the rest of the book.
As I said, Part I of the book explores the pre-production and development of the film. The book goes into great detail about selecting where they wanted to shoot and why the settled on New Orleans. It explores how they found their Ferris Air Field, Hal's apartment, and their shooting stages. You learn of all the obstacles and problems that they ran into, but how they ultimately overcame all of them to bring us the Emerald Crusader to screen. For instance, Lakefront Airport was chosen to stand in as Ferris Air for the film. However, before shooting commenced, filmmakers were informed that the airport would be undergoing massive reconstruction and most of the front and sides of the main airport would not be able to be used. Through perseverance, the construction was sped up and the project was completed in time for shooting so that the front of the main airport could be used for scenes, such as the scene in the trailer where there is a coctaile party and suddenly a huge helicopter crashes downn.
In Part I, we are also given an inside look to Martin Campbell's brain and thought process. We learn how he supported the art department and designers to just go nuts in creating the awesome spectacles that were needed for the film. You are given genuine looks at storyboards, costume concept drawings, and prop designs. This book gives you an insiders look to how each and every aspect of the film was planned and evaluated in great detail before the film was even put into the production phase. Some great storyboard sequences that you get to see in Part I are Martin Jordan's crash scene and young Hal running down the runway to the firey crash and Abin Sur's attack by Parallax. It is beautifully detailed and really makes you feel like you are a part of the production crew by seeing these things that were so sealed and secretive only months ago.
Part II deals strictly with the Green Lantern Corps. This is the part of the book that I found the most interesting because it really showcases how much creativity, planning, and execution was needed to make the world of Green Lantern really come to life. The first thing we see are the concept art and drawings for the planet Oa. It is truly amazing how much detail went into these drawings and just how much the final product looks like these concept pictures. With full explanations of how they decided on the look and feel of Oa and the structures on the planet, you get a great understanding of why it looks the way it does and how it helps to translate the overall story. With quotes from Grant Major and Ngila Dickson and Donald DeLine (production designers and Producer of GL), you are taken down memory lane with them for each decision they made, why they made them, how the rooted through the good ideas and the bad ideas, and how things changed and evolved throughout the production.
Perhaps my favorite part of this section is meeting the other Corps members. As I said earlier, I have been a fan of DC Comics for nearly 20 years, and for me, Green Lantern is just as much about seeing Hal Jordan and Sinestro as it is about seeing all the other members of the Green Lantern Corps. In this section, you see the concept drawings and finished computure graphics for the other members of the Corps, such as Kilowog, Salak, Boodika, Galius, Bzzd, Green Man, and countless others. It will be truly awesome for those of you who know the Corps through and through when you see all your favorite Corps members on screen and comic book-accurate. It will really put your fears at ease when you see how great and real all of the Corps looks. It is very clear how important it was to everyone on the crew to achieve this level of realism to make the fantasy believable.
Another aspect of this section that is great is how the look of the suit, power battery, and ring changed and evolved. So many people questioned why Martin Campbell and everyone decided to go with CGI motion capture suits instead of real clothing. The answer awaits you in this book, as they explain how they translated the comic book mythology and wanted to make the film as comic book accurate as possible. I know, also, that a lot of people are wondering how they decided on the look of the power ring and the power battery. That also is explained and you are shown several other versions of the ring and power battery. In the end, Campbell is quoted to explain that "we wanted the rings to look like they were forged of Oan minerals. We wanted that alien look but wanted it to also be identifiable."
Part III explores the villains that will be appearing in the film. Namely Hector Hammond and Parallax, but there's also a couple of pages about Dr. Amanda Waller. In this section, you are given a full backstory on the film's version of Parallax, which is exactly like in the comics. You are given the evolving concepts and designs of Parallax and how they brought the Fear Entity to life. You also see how the Guardians of the Universe imprison him within their Central Power Battery. As if that weren't enough, you are given a great behind the scenes look at the evolution of Hector Hammond: From concept drawings, to 3D Models, to making the prosthetics, and finally, to applying the prosthetics to Peter Skarsgaard and turning him into the infamous villain.
I would say that if you are a real fan of Green Lantern and you love what you've seen of the movie and want to know ALL there is to know about it, then this is definately a book you should buy. It's loaded with cast and crew quotes, innumerable pictures of concept pictures, early development photos, props, costumes, and every bit of work that went in to making this blockbuster film. You can find it at most any bookstore, but the easiest way is to buy it off Amazon.com. It's a very low price, considering all the information and detail about the movie that you're getting. It's a gorgeous book that ANY comic book fan or film buff would love to add to their collection. I highly recommend it to any all fans of Green Lantern and the movie.