In February, Bat In The SunProductions debuted online their latest short film, "Batman: DarkJustice". Like most Batman fan films, this movie became an instant hit inthe C2FCinema. Sadly the demand was so great for the movie that the filmmakers havenot been able to absorb the bandwidth expense and have been forced to take itoff line.
This week Eli McElmurray,founder of TheDC Live Action Comic Books e-mail group, sits down with Aaron Schoenke totalk about the making of "Batman: Dark Justice."
SPOILER WARNING: Theinterview and synopsis reveal spoiler details about the 10 minute movie. Read onat your own peril.
"Batman:Dark Justice" is set in "Year Two." Commissioner Jim Gordon isunable to trust a volatile situation to his own police force so he recruits theBatman for a special mission. The story on one hand is straightforward, Batmanhas to rescue Barbara from common gangster type thugs. On the other hand thereis a sub plot which plays into Batman's personal life of having lost hisparents. This is shown between Batman's and Gordon's conversation in the alleyway and again at the end carrying over to the gravesite.
Eli McElmurray (EM): This is your second Batman movie, why the change from Batman Beyond to currentBatman?
Aaron Schoenke (AS):Both are great characters, but my fave is Batman, and I jumped at the chance todirect a short featuring the original Batman.
EM: Was the story based on anything in past comic books or a new idea from thehouse of Bat In The Sun?
AS: The story isoriginal to some extent, although there have been so many Batman stories, whathasn't been done anymore? Its like finding pieces and assembling them into onestory. I wanted to show Batman handle and take care of business in a swiftcalculating manner without much difficulty, while the story forces him toreflect on the loss of his parents.
EM: Who are the Actors, What did they play, and how were the picked?
AS: Well the actor whoplays Batman is Tanoai Reed. He is the Rock's stunt double appearing in"The Scorpion King," "The Run Down," and "WalkingTall." Reed's other screen credits include "Daredevil,""Constantine," and "The Stepford Wives."
I picked Tanoai because he hadthe size and look along with the fighting agility that was needed to pull offBatman. He also brought so much experience to the set as well as introducing meto some of his people in the film industry.
Jim Gordon was played by KimHunt, who had spent several years in theater and is also a Batman fan. Hischaracter was very much modeled after Jeph Loeb's Gordon from Long Halloween andDark Victory. He did a great job emoting the many different emotions Gordon wasfeeling and presenting in "Dark Justice."
The main villain was played bymy father, Sean Schoenke, who is a professional musician and scored the originalmusic for the film.
Barbara was played by Kim Weberwho has appear in many theatrical plays.
The ninja was Tyler Rollins,who was involved with my previous project, "Batman Beyond: YearOne."
The thug outside with theflashlight was Trey Howell, he recently appeared in the movie "ColdMountain."
EM: Where was this filmed?
AS: The movie was shotin Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
The alley way scene whereGordon meets Batman was shot in a bad run down part of Los Angeles. Filmingthese scenes was a bit scary, but was well worth the Gotham-esque look.
The whole warehouse scene wasshot in the valley at an abandoned warehouse. We finished our shooting just intime because the following week the building was completely demolished by thecity.
EM: What were the costumes made of?
AS: Well this is adetailed question, so here it is in a nut shell. The entire costume was customfitted to Tanoai's body. The body suit is heavy spandex. We picked up a lot ofthe pieces from an army surplus store like the gloves, belt and boots. We thenmodified them to give them a more tactical Batman look, but it was the actorsbody and movements that made the suit come alive.
EM: Is there a chance for a sequel?
AS: Right now we don'tknow exactly what our next project is. We have so many ideas right now, I lovethe Batman character but eventually I plan on doing something original.
EM: Batman is by far the most popular comic book character and now one of the mostpopular character to do as a Indy movie, why go with yet another Batmanmini-movie instead of another character that has yet to be done?
AS: The idea of doing"Dark Justice" came to us during production of BBY1 our previous filmfrom a few years back. The shooting for "Dark Justice" was finishedbefore the release of "Dead End" and "Death ofBatman."
I was able to meet up with theboth directors Sandy Collora ("Dead End") and Don Flaherty("Death of Batman") since we all live in the Los Angeles area.
I met Sandy at his studio a 3weeks before his film debuted and the San Diego Comic-Con. It was a lot of fun,we watched and commented on each others work and exchanged DVDs. I was able toshow him both "BBY1" and a few edited scenes from "DarkJustice."
The same goes for meeting Don,we met before the Comic Con and talked a lot on filmmaking while exchanging DVDcopies. The three of us met again in San Diego and had a great time. They bothare really great guys. So the idea to do a Batman film came to all of us aroundthe same time without knowing we were all working on similar projects.
EM: What is the basis for the villain for an average villain instead of one ofBatman's more colorful rouges?
AS: I really enjoy arealistic Batman, him in a real environment battling people that we can place inour everyday lives.
EM: Do you think you got across what you wanted to in the movie, if not where doyou think you missed it? Or now that it is done what do you wish you would haveput in it?
AS: Yes I did, I wantedto show Batman in his everyday life, fighting on the streets of Gotham, meetingwith Gordon, him on roof tops, and most importantly the large subplot with theloss his parents and how that reflects on how Gordon almost lost Barbara. Thetheme of family loss is the bases of Batman's character. I felt I accomplishedthat.
EM: What type and how much special FX did you use? how Much was CGI or old schoolFX (smoke and mirrors). What type of program did you use on the CGI?
AS: The only CGI shot inthe entire film was the opening lightening shot, which was accomplished in AfterEffects. Other than that I wanted to keep it very real and relatable.
EM: Now that you have done present day Batman and Future Batman what is next?
AS: Not sure, only timewill tell to be honest.
EM: what do have to say to the new Independent movie makers about doing a comicbook movie?
AS: Filmmaking isextremely involved. Young Filmmakers don't realize how much is involved when itcomes to making a film. Just be prepared to do a lot of work and don't try to doto big of a project at first. There are a lot of talkers, but not a lot ofdoers.
EM: When will the movies be ready to download?
AS: Well Dark Justice isavailable over at the new cool website Batmanfanfilms.com and as for BBY1, weare still working on that. Since the film is 40 minutes in length it makes itharder to find the best way to put it online, but hopefully very soon it will beup. [Editor's Note: At the time of this publication, BatmanFanFilms.com hastemporarily suspended the download of all films, due to bandwidth constraints]
As has been noted,"Batman: Dark Justice" is currently without an online home. If youhave bandwidth available or other technological know-how, and want to help BatIn the Sun put their movie back on the Internet, please contactthem directly.
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