In support of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation a new feature length fan film Superman: Requiem has had its world premier on November 7 at the Odeon in London. today it was released to the public online.
if you wish to watch the film, head over to the movies official site:
http://www.themanofsteelisback.com/
while the movie may not be the best fan film out there, I really commend the director Gene Fallaize for putting in a lot of effort to make this
Supermag.org sat down with Gene for an interview:
Supermag.org (S.org) : 1 - To begin, Can you introduce yourself to our visitors ?
Gene Fallaize (GF) : My name is Gene Fallaize, I’m Writer and Director of Superman: Requiem, though have made my name in the industry primarily as a film producer after working in that role for several years on bigger budget feature films.
S.org : 2 - How you describe "Superman : Requiem" ?
GF : "Superman : Requiem" is an independent fan film that follows on from the events of the ‘Donner-verse’ of Superman movies, and is designed to show that low budget fan films can still achieve high values, by incorporating a professional cast and crew, of which ours is composed entirely of full-time film industry professionals.
S.org : 3 - Why did you choose Martin Richardson as Superman ? He's not particularly "Clark Kent style", "Superman-esque" ?
GF : Many people thought that Christopher Reeve didn’t have the right look for the role when he was first cast, but then he went on to become what most people consider to be the physical embodiment of the Superman character, and our approach to casting was much the same as Donner’s – first and foremost find an actor than can pull off the role, and then worry about looks.
Martin is more than capable of adopting the characters – in this case three very distinct ones; Clark Kent, Superman, and the almost powerless and emotionally raw Kal-El. On top of that, Martin has the right physical attributes in terms of height, hair, eyes, etc. He doesn’t have the extreme muscular look that the comics focus on, but neither did Christopher Reeve at first, and after all Superman gets his energy from the sun, not from hitting the gym!
S.org : 4 - How long is the movie ?
GF : The total run time is approximately 1hr 20mins.
S.org : 5 - Have you make some additionals changes in the script during the shooting session ?
GF : The script itself wasn’t changed during shooting, but the actors were of course allowed to ‘live’ the scene as the characters, which naturally means that the dialogue may not perfectly match the script, but that’s just movie making.
S.org : 6 - Did you want to be respectful about the work of Donner and Singer or do you want to show your own vision of the Superman mythos ?
GF : As a semi-sequel to Richard Donner’s Superman films, it is very much in respect of what we all consider to be one of the finest motion pictures of all time, so it is very much in respect of those films, however we did want to create a follow-on story that loosely connects it to it’s predecessors whilst remaining a chapter in itself in the Superman mythos.
S.org : 7 - "Requiem" is a powerful and full of meaning word, why did you choose this title ?
GF : The word Requiem means a mass for the dead, and it’s particularly meaningful because in our story the world has come to rely on Superman, and after reports of his death the world enters a period of mass mourning, and it would probably the biggest ever seen.
In addition, it’s a requiem for Superman’s powers after they have been lost. As with all mourning, it’s about taking the time to come to terms with the loss and dealing with it, then finding a way to move on.
S.org : 8 - To finish, What was your greatest "Superman" moment in your life ?
GF : Having just finished a feature-length Superman film with a cast and crew of 240 people from 11 countries across 6 continents working together to create my vision... I don’t think I’ll ever top this!