Sunday, August 2, 2015

Batman v Superman's Nod to Cover Art of The Dark Knight Returns


There's a scene in the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice where Batman and Superman duel high above the ground. Batman is clinging to the side of a building while Superman is flying straight at him, eyes blazing with a blast of heat vision. Batman swings and with the use of his Bat harpoon gun, avoids getting fried.

The scene is quick but it's in the trailer and for the fans of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novels, it should be familiar because if you freeze the frame wherein Batman hangs by one hand while holding the harpoon gun in the other, the still actually reflects the pose of Batman on the cover of the graphic novel on which the movie is based on.

The images speak for themselves. There are of course, slight differences, but the layout and the all the other visual elements, down to the similarity of the cabling and the lightning on the cover, undeniably point to that particular scene as a nod to the cover artists' (penciler-inker Frank Miller and colorist Lynn Varley) work.


Thursday, April 16, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Desert Planet Looks Like Mars

A scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens with a desert backdrop that looks like the flank of Mt. Sharp on Mars.

Science-fiction movies are getting closer to reality. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, panoramic scenes on a desert planet similar to Tatooine seems to have been designed taking into account photos taken by NASA's rovers on the surface of Mars, specifically images of Mt. Sharp in Gale Crater where the Mars Science Lab, Curiosity has been doing science work, allowing people on Earth to see what it's like on another planet. You can compare the scene from the movie above where there's a fallen Star Destoryer, to the actual photo of Mt. Sharp on Mars below and you will see similar visual elements. The sunset photo at the bottom was taken by the rover Spirit on another part of Mars. See how the hue of the atmosphere is similar to what's depicted in the scene.

The flank of Mt. Sharp as photographed by the rover Curiosity on Mars (color-corrected for Earthling eyes).

The artists behind the planet backdrop of Tatooine did, and are, doing a good job in depicting what could possibly be the actual look of Tatooine from the surface, taking cues from the environs of Mars. With the help of actual photos from the surface of the red planet, Tatooine becomes more real and plausible. So, what the filmmakers need to do now is find photos of planets to match the environments of the planets Dagobah, Hoth, and Endor.

An actual sunset on Mars as taken by the rover, Spirit. See how the blue hues match what's in the Star Wars scene?