Watchmen Storyboards.

[Noir]

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/first-look-zack-snyders-watchmen-storyboards.php

So far he’s let us into his mind, onto the back lot, and now he’s giving us a look at his storyboards. Zack Snyder has a few pics of his Watchmen concept art up on his website. Not enough to satiate, but just enough to get a geek like me excited. Judging from the sketches, he’s not the next Dave Gibbons – unless Dave Gibbons happened to do these in his sleep – but they do look pulled straight from the book.
And yes, I imagine I will continue to get more and more excited about the film adaptation of the only illustrated novel on the Times 100 Best Novels list. You should too. Continue to check back with FSR for more Watchmen news as it pops up.
Hail Nixon!
Take a look at the two storyboards below:

Watchmen hits theaters March 6, 2009.

 

[sad lieutenant]

Is the second drawing from the second page an overhead shot of Rorschach jumping out of the window? (Note the descending ladder to the right, and arrow indicating downward motion)

If so, cool. It will be really interesting to see how Snyder fills in the gaps of the iconic frames of Watchmen (i.e. -- the first-person perspective of the cop about the get all immolated).

 

[ChillcutZ]

that is frickin sweet looking to say the least...one of the few movies of the last lil while ive followed as closely as i can (with the thankful lack of info going along with this film).

Is the second drawing from the second
page an overhead shot of Rorschach jumping out of the window? (Note the descending ladder to the right, and arrow indicating downward motion)

but ya, the way you pointed that out thats exactly what it looks like for me as well, should be great throughout the entire film to see how they transition the shots (ie. Chapter IV and Doc Manhattan and the timeshifts)

 

[sad lieutenant]

that is frickin sweet looking to say the least...one of the few movies of the last lil while ive followed as closely as i can (with the thankful lack of info going along with this film).



but ya, the way you pointed that out thats exactly what it looks like for me as well, should be great throughout the entire film to see how they transition the shots (ie. Chapter IV and Doc Manhattan and the timeshifts)

Indeed!

And yet, after those pube-raising stills from the set (not production stills, in the strictest sense, mind you), there's something a little under-climactic about the storyboard reveal.

I suppose we have to reconcile ourselves to the stark reality that we are over a year from this biotch hitting cinemas. Rational Me insists that this is great, because Snyder and Co will have a year to work on post-production and marketing*; Irrational Me wants everything now. How about a compromise: a true production still on March 9, 2008 -- and a teaser (I don't give a fawk if it's an audio-only spot of Rorschach reading Barbara Kingsolver) to premier with The Dark Knight (another WB comic adaptation worth all the hype).

* I'm sorry, but as compromise-allergic as Watchmen devotees tend to be, this thing will have to be marketed right. Despite the inherent richness of the source material, one cannot simply put up a smiley face, plaster cinemas with "Watchmen, Fawkers!" -- and expect anyone to show up. In order to draw an audience, Snyder and WB will have to go all 300 on this sh1t. And then some. Given the inherently expansive nature of the Watchmen universe (as opposed to the one-note aesthetic and, well, Spartan, appeal of 300), I anticipate that the marketing endeavor will be almost as creative as the film's adaptation itself. Viral antics, naturally, are inevitable (A modest proposal: something between the bafflingly out-of-left-field Cloverfield campaign and the more scavenger-hunt-driven TDK antics, please!) -- I eagerly anticipate the "Under the Hood" a la PBS bit as much has anything (well, not anything).

 

[david icke]

I don't know, those little pencil drawings got me a helluva excited. The aerosol scene looks like it's going to be even more brutal than the comics version going by that last panel where the guy gets it in the face. That's the way it would have to be for the escape to look convincing on film, totally brutal, anyone who ever messed about with aerosol cans and a lighter when they were a kid knows you'd pretty much have to do a cop(with a gun) in the face with one if you wanted any chance of getting past 'im .

 

[Killing Joke926]

Say, is Rorschach using a lighter, a lit cigarette, or a match for the flame thrower?

 

[Noir]

A Match.

 

[Compi716]

Cool stuff, although not really anything new. Though it does excite me to see my favorite scene storyboarded.

 

[Banana-Hotdog]

There's really nothing to those. Just scribbles of something we've already seen in the novel...yet....I'm oddly excited by the whole thing....

It's the sort of thing that only we fanboys can understand. The smallest of evidence that our comic books are coming to life brings us joy.

 

[CaptainGenerica]

Is the second drawing from the second page an overhead shot of Rorschach jumping out of the window? (Note the descending ladder to the right, and arrow indicating downward motion)

If so, cool. It will be really interesting to see how Snyder fills in the gaps of the iconic frames of Watchmen (i.e. -- the first-person perspective of the cop about the get all immolated).

I think it's a shot from the interior of Moloch's house. The ladder-looking thing seems to be the banister of a landing or a staircase. Rorschach has jumped through the window (see the previous frame), and the camera is looking out the window as he descends from view. Note the guy standing next to the window.

Then again, that doesn't quite sound right either. It's a pretty ambiguous drawing. It might be a shot from outside... but either way I'm sure it's not an overhead shot.

 

[WalterKovacs]

LOL, quite the artist, isnt he? They make me feel better about my storyboards, and their use of stick figures. Its nice to see that the rectangular frames have made the transition from vertical to horizontal, if you know what i mean.

 

[Solidus]

Even though its just some quick story boards, still gets me excited.

One of my favorite parts of the graphic novel.

Though I guess one of my favorite parts is Walter in prison. I'm all ready imagining it

 

[Katsuro]

I think it's a shot from the interior of Moloch's house. The ladder-looking thing seems to be the banister of a landing or a staircase. Rorschach has jumped through the window (see the previous frame), and the camera is looking out the window as he descends from view. Note the guy standing next to the window.

Then again, that doesn't quite sound right either. It's a pretty ambiguous drawing. It might be a shot from outside... but either way I'm sure it's not an overhead shot.

Looks to me like it's outside. He jumps out the window, the camera cuts to behind Rorschach, and he falls on the street outside. Note the guy walking past, on the street.

 

[CaptainGenerica]

Note the guy walking past, on the street.

I interpreted that as one of the cops standing inside the house looking out the window after Rorschach jumped.

That rectangle framing Rorschach just looks like a window to me. I suppose it could be an alleyway though.

Anyway, it's nothing to obsess over; we all know how that scene happens.