Superman Returns The Production Design of SR!

[Mr. Socko]

Boy did I love it! This is definitely my favorite Metropolis, it had a great feel to it. It was a mix between 30s/40s as well as current time. The sets were amazing and I loved the emphasis of browns throughout the city. I'm still not a huge fan of the overall movie but Guy Dyas did an outstanding job.

What are your thoughts on the production design?

 

[X Knight]

visually....this movie was stunning!

my only complaint would be that perhaps the color/shade scheme was a bit too muted? but, that would also have worked better if Supes himself didn't have a muted color scheme.

That is, the Superman's surroundings could have had a more muted color scheme.....but Supes himself would have stood out with his brighter, more primary colors.......

 

[Super Kal]

wasn't a fan of it at all... Superman needed to stand out amongst the browns, grays, and beiges, and they just didn't do that

 

[mego joe]

visually....this movie was stunning!

my only complaint would be that perhaps the color/shade scheme was a bit too muted? but, that would also have worked better if Supes himself didn't have a muted color scheme.

That is, the Superman's surroundings could have had a more muted color scheme.....but Supes himself would have stood out with his brighter, more primary colors.......

This really was the movies strongest point, it was visually beautiful. Unfortunately, it was a perfect example of style over substance.

 

[matthooper]

Unfortunately, everything was ruined by the muted colors done in post production. I'm sure the production designers were not happy that their hard work was ruined by a computer filter that washed all the colors out. Just as Sony Imageworks was not happy with the CGI color ruination by Singer.

However, the production design in of of itself was nice. It gave Metropolis a unique look, retro, but not corny retro. Too bad it had to be seen in a crappy film.

 

[dark_b]

metropolis was great. but i dont agree with some color choices.

 

[batman44]

I too, thought the production design was excellent. My complaint comes from the costumes/wadrobe and muted color filters. I felt the old 30's/40's look of the main characters kinda clashed with the more modern look of just about everyone else. I'm off and on with emphasis of browns and navy blues as I see Metropolis as a bright and colorful place, but it wasn't bad in the film....just give the film brighter cinematography.

 

[Retroman]

Found two storyboard panels by an artist named Collin Grant who worked in the art department of SR.These appear to be of some sort of offshore oil rig rescue scene? Does anyone know if this was in the script and when it was supposed to have taken place in the movie?

Source Links:http://www.411creatives.com/talent/Resume_Samples/collin_grant.html
http://www.411creatives.com/talent/index.htm

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^Damn that looks awesome, was it even supposed to be in the movie or just something the artist drew?

Actually, come to think of it, that would probably have fit right in with the supposed 3rd act full of natural disasters.

 

[bunk]

The production design was pretty damn amazing. The attention to detail is crazy. And costly, unfortunately. Personally I would've preferred a more cutting edge city looking city. That of course wouldn't have worked with this movie though so it's ok.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

I loved it also, reminded me of Burton's 89 Gotham a little bit!

 

[SuperDaniel]

As somebody said, it was style over substance.

And the costume sucked.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^IT wasnt style over substance at all, you cant honestly tell me there was no emotion or feeling in the movie, did you feel nothing when Superman told Lois "You wrote that the world doesnt need a saviour....but everyday i hear people crying for one." Or when Superman left the plane and finally said 'Bye Lois' or when he went above the clouds for a re-charge? Movies that are style over substance (Van Helsing, X3, the FF movies) DONT have these sequences in them.

 

[Retroman]

Here's another storyboard by Philip Holliday from a rescue scene that was not filmed.

Source Link:http://www.drawingbook.com.au/gallery.php?type=storyboards&artist=philip_holliday

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

All the artwork you have found it great Retro, really wish we would have gotten it into the movie and 3rd act would have been completed how it was originally intended.

 

[X-Woman]

My favorite visual part of the movie was actually the opening credits. They were so cool, with the Superman theme music playing. It really packed a punch.

As for the production design, there was something I really liked a lot and something I didn't like at all.

I loved the Daily Planet building, both inside and out. It had great style. And the giant globe slowly turning, on top of the building, was a pretty impressive touch.

The part I didn't like happened during the scene where Superman and Lois go for their flight. They fly over Metropolis, and you can see the city lit up at night below them. But the colors are awful. The city looks like mud. A city lit up at night should be a beautiful and dramatic sight. But the city was brown and drab, and the lights were all monotone. It was downright ugly. I don't know how anyone could look at that and think it looked good. It was almost depressing.

 

[spidermilk]

Here's another storyboard by Philip Holliday from a rescue scene that was not filmed.

Source Link:http://www.drawingbook.com.au/gallery.php?type=storyboards&artist=philip_holliday

Great.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Just watched SR on Blu-ray on my new 42 inch TV and it was amazing, the movie is just gorgeous to look at.

Yes, some of the colours are too dark in some scene's, but overall the movie just has a beautiful visual style and is stunning to look at, especially in 1080p picture, SR has some of best cinematography you will see in a comic book movie at the very least.

 

[BH/HHH]

Thats the thing with it even though the story and characters aren't spot on the whole look and design of the movie is stunning.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^It is a stunning film to watch, especially on blu-ray, you could say its the type of movie blu-ray was made for, because visually the movie is stunning.

 

[Superman-el2.0]

How About This The Preliminary Design For The Superman Returns Suit



Or This Newspaper From "1997" "Luthor Gets Life" Which We Never Got To See

 

[Retroman]

Guy Dyas' first collaboration with Steven Spielberg (they're now working on Robopocalypse) came about because of his work on SR. He also shares his thoughts on the movie and the sequel that never was.

From CGSociety(24 August, 2011):

The duo worked together on two comic book movies which garnered polar opposite reactions from fans and the movie studios. "X-Men 2 [2003] was an opportunity for Bryan to expand on the characters that he had established in the first film," says Dyas as he explains his theory as to why there was a difference in opinion. "If you look at Superman Returns [2006], Bryan was doing exactly the same thing. He was laying down a foundation.

He was establishing characters, getting everyone to understand who the various people were, and I believe personally that if Bryan had gone on to direct and write Superman: Man of Steel [2013] he would have done exactly the same thing he did with X-Men 2."

"What Steven told me was that he keeps a little black book," says Guy Hendrix Dyas while explaining about how he first came to the attention of Steven Spielberg. "Every time he sees something in a film that he likes, he takes out that little black book and writes [some] names down. My name was lucky enough to be one of the ones he wrote down after seeing Superman Returns." Dyas was hired to be the production designer for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (2008).

Source:http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/constructive_concepts