MAN OF STEEL Visual Effects Supervisor On Reinventing Superman For Today's Audience

MAN OF STEEL Visual Effects Supervisor On Reinventing Superman For Today's Audience

In the following 2-minute snippet from a video interview with Man Of Steel visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, he discusses the importance of "tapping into universal sensibilities when bringing Superman to a new generation of viewers.”..

News
By MarkCassidy - Dec 06, 2012 04:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman

There's not a whole lot here really, but it is interesting to hear what the man in charge of visualizing the characters from Zack Snyder's upcoming reboot has to say about bringing something new to the table for a modern audience. He says we can expect to be taken into "new" but "comfortable" territory, and this take on Superman will be "different but in a very familiar way"..



In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is a young twenty-something journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond his imagination. Transported years ago to Earth from Krypton, a highly advanced, distant planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question 'Why am I here?' Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner), Clark discovers having extraordinary abilities means making difficult decisions. When the world is in dire need of stability, an even greater threat emerges. Clark must become a Man of Steel, to protect the people he loves and shine as the world’s beacon of hope – Superman.


Man Of Steel will be with us June 14th, 2013.







SUPERMAN predicted to open with $156 - 175 million during its domestic opening weekend.
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SUPERMAN predicted to open with $156 - 175 million during its domestic opening weekend.
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1 2
Angelus
Angelus - 12/6/2012, 4:56 AM
Easily and without a shred of doubt my most anticipated comicbookmovie next year! Cannot wait!!
6of13
6of13 - 12/6/2012, 4:59 AM
8 more days.

So stoked and even more so with WETA working on the VFX
DudeGuy
DudeGuy - 12/6/2012, 5:00 AM
I really can't wait anymore!
GUNSMITH
GUNSMITH - 12/6/2012, 5:03 AM
IT LOOKS GOOD, ZACK IS KNOWN FOR PLAYING IT CLOSE TO SOURCE MATERIAL, WITH LIBERTIES BUT THE GUY LIKE TO DO NODS TO THE SOURCE
drellik
drellik - 12/6/2012, 5:05 AM
Awesome. Finally the articles are rolling in on Man of Steel. The hype has begun. And so far, I get more excited with each little shred of news we hear about the movie.

BRING IT ON!
monstalova
monstalova - 12/6/2012, 5:10 AM
Most anticipated movie since June 2006 for me...
Hopefully this will be the one we are waiting for!
mumbz
mumbz - 12/6/2012, 5:11 AM
8 more days!!!

I'm more excited about this than christmas!
gambgel
gambgel - 12/6/2012, 5:30 AM
Its funny how most studios and production crews always say the same:

something new, but familiar.

Movies speak for theirself.
toco89
toco89 - 12/6/2012, 5:49 AM
@blackster

Ikr.
datNAMEtho
datNAMEtho - 12/6/2012, 6:33 AM
Zack Snyder + Christ Nolan + WETA + amazing cast + as much in-camera as possible + very long post-production + it's Superman = INCREDIBLY EXCITING AND SO EFFING AMAZING/WONDERFUL/PERFECT/SUBLIME/SUPERB!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait.
rbfn04
rbfn04 - 12/6/2012, 7:48 AM
Hope you are right, sir. Haven't seen much of it yet, tho.

@Dev7 yeah, that thought crossed my mind.
SimyJo
SimyJo - 12/6/2012, 7:48 AM
[ "He says we can expect to be taken into "new" but "comfortable" territory, and this take on Superman will be "different but in a very familiar way" ].

Oh phuck! - Its slow-mo isn't it! - please God don't let it be Snyner-Slow-Mo™.
Boogie138
Boogie138 - 12/6/2012, 7:55 AM
@Dev7: the same way cast and crew members talked about directors like nolan in 08 or whedon this year...

get real dude
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 8:36 AM
I like the 'Americana' small town (Kansas) feel of the kid playing with a cape [from the trailer]:
some_text

I hope they keep Superman grounded in what really counts:
1
^^^ From: "What's so funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way?" [Action Comics #775]
rbfn04
rbfn04 - 12/6/2012, 9:20 AM
@Preston EXACTLY! Hit the nail on the head, my man

@Superguy why are you so mad? That I didn't by into this movie hook line and sinker without having something that made me believe it will be a great SUPERMAN movie? Or is it the fact that I disagree with you?
datNAMEtho
datNAMEtho - 12/6/2012, 10:12 AM
@ManOfSuperguy: Of course! How could such awesomeness slip my mind!

I'm pretty sure we'll get to hear the new main Superman score with the second trailer!!!
CrimsonReign
CrimsonReign - 12/6/2012, 10:19 AM
No underwear on the outside=great!! Cannot wait!!
KalEl84
KalEl84 - 12/6/2012, 10:23 AM
I've been looking forward to this film ever since it was announced. That hype blew up considerably for me once I saw the Comic Con trailer. With all due respect to the Christopher Reeve films, this FINALLY looks like the Superman film that we've all been waiting to see. Henry Cavill looks like Jim Lees Superman come to life.
thosemortalmen
thosemortalmen - 12/6/2012, 10:37 AM
@manofsuperguy: you nailed the point there friend.

Yes rfbn04 as you can see, even the preNew52 that you worshipped so much do emote emotions, self doubt, sadness and all (all star superman, whatever happenend to thr man of tomorrow, supes vs the elite, coie, etc). Also, if you adhered to the bryne era supes that you love so much (basing from your avatar), that era is always presenting Clark who is "the real person with human traits" than the alien side. So make up your mind, what so you want from Supes?
thosemortalmen
thosemortalmen - 12/6/2012, 10:43 AM
@dev7: geez people, why someone wanted a movie to failed or flop miserably, even before they watch one? And why the hell WETA teams wanted their hard working to be failed also? You can said you're a Supes hater so i don't have to take your opinion that serious you know.
rbfn04
rbfn04 - 12/6/2012, 10:57 AM
@ManOfSuperguy Dude, why so much hate? You are whyning cause I don't agree with you? BTW, how many times have I said I haven't a problem with no trunks. (saying underwear is kinda disrespectful to a character you say you love so much, dude).

@superguy and motalmen When have I said superman shouldn't have emotions? But, from what I take from what we saw so far (and nothing pointed in a diferent direction so far) they are taking the broody, loner route. And from some of the stuff i saw, it seems they are going with the "Clark is a mask, he's really Kal-El"

and, mortalmen don't think Superguy is right saying I made up my mind. All my opinions is from what I got from what I saw. Said a million times I hope I'm wrong and this is a great Superman movie (not a great CBm with a Superman like character). I'll gladly correct myself and say I was wrong if that is so.
localman
localman - 12/6/2012, 11:19 AM
All of the previous Superman movies were horrible -- Christopher Reeve was great, the special effects were good for the time, and the first film was fairly good through the helicopter scene; But after that, the writing was horrible, the villains were stupid, the action was lame, the plots made no sense and were just plain stupid. In those days, Hollywood thought a comic book movie had to be "comic," and the plot didn't matter.

I have high hopes that Snyder will finally bring a decent Superman movie to the screen. While I would love for it to be great, even a decent film will be better than any of the others. The guy knows how to be faithful to the source and how to make a good-looking movie. He also knows how to do good action. The real question is whether the plot makes sense and if he can avoid the stupid tendency in all of the other Superman films to have a "deus ex machina" resolution.
SuperOne1
SuperOne1 - 12/6/2012, 11:21 AM
I've said this before this will be the best CBM to date !
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 11:33 AM

I'm not sure Goyer does any homework; in fact, he tried turning Superman into an anti-American?



American no more
^^^ He tried making Superman Anti-American. If he doesn't like the fact that Superman is American, he should be writing Captain Planet:

some_text

...not Superman:

Superman

Superman

And, I think rbfno4 just doesn't want to see an emo-Superman lost in "Why am I here? Why do I have to be different?" for two hours. Last time somebody tried that, we got this:


Oh yeah, and they also tried to do away with his American citizenship in this movie too, trying to make him more universally appealing. Perry White says, "truth, justice, all that stuff."

So, yeah, NO to an emo and universally acceptable planetary Superman.

Superman is a beacon of American ideology.


superpower76
superpower76 - 12/6/2012, 11:55 AM
I don't know Preston. Superman stands for what he always has, it is America that no longer has the same values. Superman is the beacon of an ideology based on GOOD for all people not American ideology.

Sorry not trying to get political. Supes has been my favorite hero for about thirty years so bring on the awesomeness!!!
rbfn04
rbfn04 - 12/6/2012, 12:01 PM
superpower76 it's not America, dude, it's people. People don't believe in good for the sake of being good anymore. Whenever they see it they dismiss it as corny, cheesy or whatever
superpower76
superpower76 - 12/6/2012, 12:08 PM
Perhaps. If that is the case then still, America is a culmination of its people.
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 12:16 PM
@superpower76

I disagree.

I think that he is the embodiment of the American Dream. The Dream that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This is what Superman fights for.

Joe Kelly hits it on the nail when he makes a statement that dark, emotional, and edgy superheroes don't have to be the norm. Superman is a role model, the best in people:

supeselite

Read:
"What's so funny about Truth, Justice and theAmerican Way?" [Action Comics #775]
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 12:30 PM
@ManOfSuperguy

Being introspective and being EMO are very different things.

Introspective:
some_text

Emo:
some_text

So, Introspective Superman:
1


Emo Superman:
2

The difference is how they tackle the question. If he sits around in a shipping yard or hiking throughout American trying to find his way, and is all depressed and stuff through most of it, than 'NO' just NO. EMO isn't going to fly.
superpower76
superpower76 - 12/6/2012, 12:30 PM
Preston,

Those words are antiquated and are completely contradictory to the values that are put forth today.

We learn from our leaders and from the biggest fish down to the lowest we have become a country of me me me.

Superman is the embodiment of the opposite ideology. Superman would give his life to help others with no thought of his own welfare.

Yeah it helps to be invulnerable but whatever.
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 12:37 PM
@ManOfSuperguy

The context doesn't matter.

There are two types of people in the world:
a). Those that stand and fight for what they believe to be right.
b). Those that turn tail and run.

Captain America has been faced with similar dilemmas in the past, and he fights the problem, he doesn't turn his back on his country.

Plus, it flies in the face of over 75 years of writers and Superman mythos. So, it doesn't prove anything. Goyer is still a hack. The idiot wanted to do something that DC had been playing around for years in order to make an American brand more global. It was still stupid.
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 12:48 PM
@superpower76

Superman is a role model of traditional American values.

Role Models don't change because the people change. They serve as a an example for people to return to, adapt, or evolve into.

For example, religion doesn't change with it's people, it changes people.

Superman is kind of like that. He serves that type of role.
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 12:52 PM
@ManOfSuperguy

Superman: Earth One isn't cannon. But, you know what is canon, Superman holding an American flag.

I have a feeling you are a comic noob.
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 12/6/2012, 1:13 PM
"You're not just anyone."
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 12/6/2012, 1:16 PM
Forget it ManOfSuperguy, Preston is an action junkie and doesn't like any taste of drama in a superhero film.
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 1:27 PM
@MOS

Goyer's story wasn't canon.

^^^ You are officially a noob.

So...what are you making noise about?

Let me think, because it was canon for about 6 issues.

Read:Action Comics #775

It's basically an issue written by Joe Kelly as a statement against making Superman dark, emotional, and edgy.
superpower76
superpower76 - 12/6/2012, 1:32 PM
@ Preston,

I see your point and when I saw SR I can't tell you how disappointed I was when PW said the "all that stuff" line.

But the truth that I have found is that America and its traditional values are gone and the new values are in many ways the opposite from where we started.

Because of this and because of what Supes represents I do feel today that a figure like superman can't be bound by the constraints of what normal people, like Americans, see as right and wrong. His moral compass must be flawless and uncompromised.

I do agree abandonment never solves anything and he could have stuck around to keep shinning his light of hope but then as a citizen he would be condoning America as it is today and frankly he would not. Our view of the world and life are too skewed right now.

Paranoia and self fulfillment are fueling the America of today.
Preston
Preston - 12/6/2012, 1:34 PM
@Nomis

Captain America

He never renounced his American citizenship. He fought the problem in his own way, he doesn't turn his back on his country.




It's not the first time he doesn't see eye to eye with the government (see: Civil War); however, he never abandons his country.


gov·ern·ment /ˈgəvər(n)mənt/ Noun: The governing body of a nation, state, or community.

coun·try /ˈkəntrē/ Noun: The people of a nation.

Are we clear? He may disagree with his government, but he never abandons his people.

Lesson over.
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