How to make a perfect (comic)strip-movie (2)

4. GOOD CASTING
Moreover, the power of good casting is not to be underestimated. Jack Nicholson is perfectly casted as the Joker in Batman. From his previous roles, he has already proven that he can play manic and psychotic characters. These are the most important properties of the Joker.
Nicholson played the Joker with a lot of over acting and expressions, precisely as the character in the strip. At the same time, Nicholson knows how to portray the Joker into a real person. The fact that the conceited Jack should lost his beautiful face through an accident with the chemicals and wears a Joker-face afterwards makes it logical that he freaks out.
Two things are important when it comes to casting: an actor has to physically resembles the strip character - make-up and protheses do wonders - and the actor has to be able to portray a recognizable character. Gerard Depardieu as Obelix thus fulfill all requirements. Ron Perlman is the best candidate for Hellboy.

5. (COMIC)STRIP ELEMENTS ON THE WHITE SCREEN
We can find a good example for a strip-ish performance in the scene in Spider-Man where Norman Osborn (Dafoe) converses with his alter ego Green Goblin through a mirror. The scene is constructed so that the Goblin can only speak to Norman through the mirror. Here the mirror image is a metaphore for the shadowy-side of Norman's psyche - a shadowy-side that is released through the accident that gives him special powers. The performance of Dafoe is really convincing: he sets an amazing contrast between the scared and confused Norman versus the malicious Goblin. This scene, with the particular text of the Goblin and his face expressions, is really a reminder of many tirades that are possessed by supervillains in the strips, as they tell the readers what their plans are.

6. THE PERFECT MIX
The cinema public naturally consists of not only (comic)strip readers. The largest part of the public is also not taking the strip as seriously as the strip-fans. Therefore movie producers often do not take the strip readers too much into account. In the past, this has caused a crooked interpretation of the stripheroes; movies that belong to the 'ridiculous' genre were made (Did we mention Joel Schumacher?). Anyway, we can find elements of humor in the 'serious' movies. Spider-Man 2 has many slapstick moments and, especially, the cynical humor of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Hellboy considerably relate to this affair.
In short: in the making of (comic)strip movie, a good balance between realism and larger-than-life aesthetics should always be kept. On one hand the film makers should take the original material seriously and take care that the strip characters become flesh and blood; on the other hand there should be something to laugh about. These extremes are mixed perfectly in a successful stripfilming. It is exactly this exciting tension that makes the strips and the filming so enjoyable.


[You should see these movies!]

1. SPIDER-MAN 1 (2002) AND 2 (2004)
Why does a superhero movie have to be only about action? Spider-Man proves that drama and spectacle can go hand in hand. Both part one and two stay on the first place because they can not do without each other.

2. SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1978)
Superman is the powerpioneer, the example for all superhero movies of recent times. The film may be well outdated, but it still actually looks good. In 2006 a new Superman movie will be released.

3. HELLBOY (2004)
Director Del Toro knew to give Hellboy more depth in one movie than Mignola in the whole comic series. Absolutely not a standard superhero movie. And Ron Perlman IS entirely Hellboy.

4. ROAD TO PERDITION (2002)
Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) obtains the best acting job of Tom Hanks. This is a gangster movie with a big heart and a tragic end.

5. X-MEN 2 (2003)
X-Men 1 counts only on special effects while the story is still flat, X2 makes up for it.

6. AMERICAN SPLENDOR (2003)
A fascinating, weird and unique story about a nerd Harvey Pekar who wants to be a comic artist and then achieves it with the help from Robert Crumb. Special moments are when the actor left the scene and the real Harvey took over the role.

7. GHOST WORLD (2001)
Comfortable atmosphere, beautiful music and Steve Buscemi in one of his life-written role. Ghost World encourage many people who are in the special business of strip to look and read further.

8. BATMAN RETURNS (1992)
Michael Keaton is still the best Batman. This movie scores overall points by Michelle Pfeiffer's presence in her tight Catwoman-outfit.

9. BLADE (1998)
Bold vampires. It is smart that the makers of a middlish strip have made an upper-middlish movie. The third part releases in January.

10. THE ROCKETEER (1991)
A movie that many people forget that it is taken from a strip. It was also not a great success, commercially. Nevertheless we find that the director Joe Johnston have delivered a jewel. With a point of ten.


Derived from an article by Michael Minneboo, "Zo maak je de perfecte Stripverfilming", at MYX Stripmagazine Nr. 11 Tweede Jaargang/ December 2004 [www.myxmag.nl]

How to make a perfect (comic)strip-movie (1)

Garfield, Spiderman, Suske en Wiske, X-Men, the Hulk, Asterix and Obelix, Captain America, Spawn, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, the Crow, Blade, Judge Dredd, the Phantom, the Shadow, Superman, Batman, the Punisher, Popeye, Michael Valiant and Hellboy - just to mention a few. All are (comic)strip characters that jump from the pages into the white screen. But the transformation from comic heroes to movie heroes doesn't always run smooth. What makes a good (comic)strip movie?

There are different reason why strips are made into movies. The strips have avid fans and most characters are well known by a great number of audience. Therefore the amount of the movie audience is at least guaranteed, giving income to the film and relieving the studio bosses from the production expenses.
It is also fascinating to see the characters 'in person' after knowing them all these years only in drawings. Watching a living (comic)strip is a fantastic (movie) experience. That's the reason why comic readers always have to watch the movie. Most of all, the media (strip and movie) are related to each other. Comic artists make 'movies' on paper, as they said themselves. Their 'movie', with a bit of smaller budget, are read by (movie) directors as a storyboard. Just roll it, you would say. But the making of a (comic) strip into a movie is not entirely an easy job.

In order to make a successful (comic)strip-movie, these guidelines should be taken into account:

1. RESPECT FOR THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL
What makes the recent comicstrip movies so good is that the film maker has respect for the original material. Sam Raimi, who as a boy had a painted Spiderman hanging above his bed, is a good example. His love for the character appears on his movie; Raimi's interpretation of Spiderman stays close to the original creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Raimi is not afraid to make necessary adjustments to make the movie more updated for the present time. The most important difference is that Spidey was created from a genetically manipulated superspin instead of from the radioactive as in the comic. Spidey now shoots web out of his pulses and not out of webshooters that he invented. Another adjustment is the suit of Green Goblin in the first Spider-Man movie. Let's be honest: who would take Willem Dafoe seriously if he is dressed in the carnaval-suit of the Goblin in the strip? According to Raimi and co., it was better that Dafoe wears a hi-tech fighting suit. The mask that the Goblin wears is slightly taken from the many African masks that Dafoe collects and that have been displayed in his study room. In the movie, therefore, a convincing explanation of the suit is given. Also in X-Men, the colorful costumes in the comics are exchanged into the strapping X-uniforms.

Film-scenarists are challenged to pack the strip world - with all the characters and years of history - into a movie of two hours. Logically the (first) movie also handles the origin of the hero. Often the elements in the comic series are used and integrated. Batman's parents in the strip were not murdered by a young Joker, as in the movie. Scriptwriters have different rules from strip-writers. The rule of Hollywood is that a movie contains no loose element and that all should be intwined with each other. The story forms a whole roundup and goes according to a clear logic of cause and effect, while stories in the comics can be followed up in the next series. To make everything fits, it is sometimes necessary to adjust the strip material with a bit of 'poetic freedom'. Therefore in the movie Ghost World (from a comic by David Clowes with the same title), the character Seymour (Steve Buscemi) is introduced, while the character doesn't originally exist in the strip. The romance between Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) is also a Hollywood invention that doesn't exist in the strip. Adjustments are not bad as long as the story and the spirit of the strips are kept intact. The story in the movie should also be understood by the audience who has never read the strip.

2. GOOD SPECIAL EFFECTS
These are undisposable in making a movie about superheroes strips, but also in most of other filming of special strip worlds. Thanks to the digital revolution it is now possible to create a convincing wall-climbing hero or to simulate a mutant power.
We don't have to paint bodybuilders green anymore to create the Hulk, or pull a rope around a stuntman along a high wall to see Spider-Man in action. This has happenned in the television series in the seventies.

3. CHARACTERS IN FLESH AND BLOOD
However, digital effects are not gloriously-made. What made the television series of the Hulk interesting was the characterization of Bruce Banner (Bill Bixby) and his quest for recovery. We read strips often also because the characters reflect to us and we live with them.
What makes strip-heroes as superheroes characters so captivating is the fact that behind the mask hides a normal person who has daily problems as everybody else. Spider-man is Peter Parkerm who tries to pay his rent, knows relationship problems and has a helpless aunt. Inspite of their special gifts, these strip-heroes are very normal people, therefore the readers can identify themselves with them. This gives the heroes a realistic tint.

The strips are larger-than-life, but they would also like to be realistic, they are a combination of action and dramatic elements, like what a soap has. If the hero is to be filmed, then it is important to have these elements in the movie. Again, Spider-Man is taken as a good example. Raimi keeps in the story the development around the characters at the forefront. The bond among the characters in the movie also gets stronger. So the crook the Green Goblin in Spider-Man is a substitute father-figure for Peter Parker, while in the strip this is not the case at all. Raunu keeps the same trick with Dock Ock in the second part. While the crook this time is not a father figure, we could see Ock as the knowledge mentor of Peter. This is also the reason that a movie as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen does not have a depth as the strip's thickness: the many characters stay out in superficial type rings; since they don't possess the depth, it is absolutely unfacinating what they do.

The combination of realism and a larger-than-life aesthetic is difficult to translate into the white screen. Therefore the three-hunderd kilo's weight of Hulk almost succumbs under the weight his youth trauma in Ang Lee's film. And also the movie Daredevil doesn't work due to a bad mix.

(continue to part-2)

Derived from an article by Michael Minneboo, "Zo maak je de perfecte Stripverfilming", at MYX Stripmagazine Nr. 11 Tweede Jaargang/ December 2004 [www.myxmag.nl]

Arsitek, Bantu Aceh Bangkit!

http://bantu-aceh.iai.or.id/
Jurnal tim arsitek yg berangkat ke Sumatera Utara tgl 7 Januari 2005 yang lalu.

another 9-months diary

Some positions are just hard to cope when you have a big tummy.

Well actually these pages were from the later weeks during my second pregnancy. Our daughter, Syastira Lindri Dwimaharsayani was born on 19 October 2003.

9-months diary

I made this drawings during my pregnancy of our first child, since the first checking day (at the midwife) to the day our son, Prasidya Dhanurendra, was born (17 December 2000).

Minestrone

Description:
This mealsoup is quite filling - a perfect dish for a winter evening!

Ingredients:
200 gr cooked (achter)ham in thick slices (ca. 0,5 cm)
200 gr salami, in thick slices (ca. 0.5 cm)
1 winter carrot
1 courgette (zucchini)
1 leek
1-2 pcs garlic
2-3 tbsp olive oil
150 gr blocks of lean smoked bacon
1 can peeled tomatoes (400 gr)
1 lt meat or chicken stock, from a jar, tablettes or self-made
100 gr elbow macaroni
1 jar white or brown beans (400 gr)
2 tbsp pesto (from a jar)
salt and freshly-milled pepper
freshly shred Parmesan or old Gouda cheese


Directions:
1. Cut the ham and salami into blocks. Cut the peeled winter carrot and the washed courgette into blocks and the leek in rings. Mince the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a soup pan and let the bacon cook shortly. Put in the carrot, the courgette, the leek and the garlic and let them cook shortly. Pour the tomatoes and the stock and bring to boil.
Put the macaroni into the pan and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Put in the beans and let it cook for another 5 minuets, until the macaroni is almost done. Mix the pesto into the soup and bring to taste with salt & pepper. Serve the cheese apart.


Transalted freely from the Keurslager website [http://www.keurslager.nl]

Tumis Bola-bola Daging Sapi

Description:
"Masakan ini bergaya campuran barat dan asia, mudah dibuat dan bahan2nya mudah diperoleh di mana pun, dan yang penting, anak2 pasti doyan!" - Tita

Ingredients:
300 gr daging cincang
1 sdt garam
1/2 sdt merica bubuk
1/2 sdt pala bubuk
2 sdm tepung roti
1 bt telur
3 sdm margarin
6 sdm minyak goreng
1 buah bawang bombay, iris
2 sdm saus tomat
1 sdm kecap manis
1 sdm kecap asin jepang
100 cc air
2 batang wortel, potong menurut selera
4 sdm kacang polong beku

Directions:
1. Campur daging cincang dengan garam, merica, pala, tepung roti, dan telur, aduk rata, bentuk bulatan2 kecil.
2. Panaskan margarin bersaam minyak goreng, goreng daging hingga matang, angkat. Panaskan kembali minyak dan m argarin, tumis bawang bombay hingga harum, masukkan saus tomat, kecap manis, kecap asin jepang, dan air, masukkan daging, wortel, dan kacang polong, masak sebentar, angkat.
3. Sajikan hangat dengan nasi atau kentang pure.


Sumber: Masak Mudah & Lezat bersama Sisca Soewitomo - jilid 3, 2001