Man Of Steel Soars @ Comic Con - Part 3

Speaking about flying shots, I hope that Snyder & co could be creative in their imagination. Earlier this year I saw a BBC nature program, "Earth Flight" that took my breath away. If you have chance, try to watch it in HD. There are a couple of youtube videos floating around:

Fish Eagle Hunting Flamingos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BqV2Adr3hI&feature=relmfu

Cranes Over Venice Italy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73iVwTy2OSw

These film-makers managed to capture as near as possible the viewpoint of birds in their realm of sky with some extraordinary camera shots. I secretly hope that MOS could incorporate similar ideas.

 

Wow, that's really breathtaking. Such majesty.

And yes, that would be a new way of doing it. Really up-close and personal so to speak. Imagine seeing that in IMAX. Vastness all around with Supes in the middle panorating around him.

 

The Crane one is amazing.

 

Yea it is amazing....if only they applied the same principles for MOS. Truly breathtaking

 

I've always wished someone would come up with a new flying apparatus for movies that doesn't require green screens or digital backgrounds. Like, we know they have no problem attaching people to wires and hanging them out of helicopters for movies. They do that kinda thing all the time. It doesn't seem too much of a stretch to say, instead of just a person, attach to a helicopter an apparatus that allows for a person (and supports them horizontally like their indoor flying rigs do) AND a camera for close-ups. So you can get real-life footage of them flying above a cities and oceans and stuff, kinda like the footage posted above.

And if you still don't want to hang your actor out of a helicopter for insurance, just position the camera to be behind your stuntman's head, or digitally impose the actor's face onto them. I just want to see flying footage that feels completely real like that gorgeous footage you posted. It seems like it should be possible at this point.

 

I would imagine that the cost of operating a helicopter would be kind of expensive not to mention very dangerous. I remember Vic Morrow getting killed on the set by a helicopter crash. To tell you the truth with today's special effects and the advent of CGI, most people wouldn't know if a stunt was real unless someone told them.

 

That would be awesome.

 

How real it looks simply depends on the skill of the effects department these days. Totally not worth the risk. Michael Bay had people jump out of buildings for Transformers 3 and I wouldnt say it looked anymore real than other movies. I've seen commercials with flying scenes better. String an actor to a helicopter and you depend on the pilot being flawless that day. If he isn't, well that's an actor you will never get back.

 

That's the same risk they already run when they hang people on cables out of helicopter. There's always a risk with stunts. That's why they are stunts. What I'm talking about isn't much different than what they already do with planes, helicopters, and stunt people on cables. I'm just saying, add a camera and something the stunt-person can support themselves with onto that cable (maybe a "horizonal harness" or something). If James Cameron can invent "face cameras" for point-blank footage of his actors' entire facial performance as they perform various actions, then someone could invent a "cable camera" for those people who are already dangling out of helicopters/planes. Yes, you need a great pilot (though I'm not suggesting they'd go weaving in and out of buildings or something. I'm just talking about shots of a birds-eye view from afar). But they actually have great pilots specifically for these kinds of things.

I agree about Bay wasting the base-jumpers in TF3, but, ya know, that's Bay. What I'm talking about is being able to film steady, crystal clear shots just like some of those in the video posted above...but with a person instead of birds. That would be breathtaking, imo.

 

I would love to see something like that. Special effects are great, but nothing is as good as doing it for real. i.e. no CGI or greenscreen.

Some of the best shots in Superman: The Movie were when Christopher Reeve was hanging off of a crane with just a couple of cables keeping him in place.

For instance;

[YT]3wd1-10B8R8[/YT]
Well, that's what I thinks anyway!

YMMV

 

Agreed, I'm sure the visual effects for flight in this film will be great, but if there's a shot of Cavill actually in the set flying, it'll look so tangible and real.
Also I hope there's a similar build up to seeing the suit/Superman for the first time like in that clip from S:TM. That one gives me goosebumps every time.

 

One thing im not worried about when it comes to Snyder, is special effects. Visually it will always be awesome, and with the Nolans attached to the concept and the writing....it's the best of both worlds in my opinion.

 

i agree with you to a point. STM was great for what it was, but, like the feel of the movie itself, the effects are heavily outdated today. looking back at it all, the flight effects are nothing compared to what they can do with cgi/effects today. as long as they can make it seemless, i'm all for cgi, because you just can't convey superman's true powers without it. sure, some scenes could use wires, like gentle floating/hovering and slow takeoffs, but the real POWER can only be shown through special effects.

 

went to the dollar theater to see Amazing Spider-man (i didnt like it but my room mate wanted to see it and I needed to get out of the house) They played the MOS trailer in front and the crowd went crazy during the shot of Superman flying

 

I agree. In terms of fx/photographic quality (matching the actor to a background, etc.), modern green screen is pretty damn good. And nowadays, the expectation for “flying effects” is all about the fluidity, dynamism and acrobatics. That means complex harness/rigs and/or cgi. Just dangling the actor from wires (even if its from a helicopter for “realism”) is taking the technology backward.

 

Speaking of flying FX I just watched Chronicle for the first time (loved it) and the flying FX in that were superb. From what I've seen of the flying FX on the trailer looks to be upto standard with Chronicle (and probably will look better).

Also whilst I'm on about Chronicle anyone else notice the thing that gave them their powers had a very Crystalised look kind of like the ship that Baby Kal-El was sent to Earth in.

 

I read in Empire magazine recently that one of the scenes the Chronicle makers knew they had to get right was the flight scene. It had to look right, but it also had to convey the characters delight with being able to fly for the first time. The fact that they achieved it makes the flying all the better, as we all sit there wishing we were in their shoes All the more impressive because it had a tiny budget compared to MoS, so MoS should have exponentially better flying FX right? t:

I wonder if MoS will go the route of showing numerous scenes with young Clark finding out about his powers, and how fleshed out the scenes will be. Like Chronicle, will he have a 'holy **** I'm flying' scene?

 

Iron Man really did the "Wow I can fly!" scenes well. Hopefully Snyder takes a little time to show how great it is to fly. I'd love to see flying done with his artistic eye. From the Comic-Con preview that we have all seen, so far, so good.

 

Except IM needed a suit and Clark doesnt. That should really make for some interesting first flight scenes, especially with Clark being a kid at the time. He'll likely be freaked at first, and then become all giddy. I still hope MOS shows something like the african savannah flight from Birthright showing him in the zone.

 

Yeah, me too. The flight scenes are one of the things I'm most excited to see.

 

We will have Superman flying scenes and Zod will have flying scenes too. (I hope.)

 

Yeah, of course, but I'm talking about how it's done. Flight you can feel emotionally and physically, because of the execution - the FX and the approach. And the cast's performances.

 

If you look closely at the comic con trailer you can see superman flying down towards zod and zod flying up towards superman.That will be epic , a flying fight scene between superman and zod with today fx in what look to be metropolis.