Eli McElmurrayof the DC LiveAction Universe group sat down and talked to Aaron Schoenke, the director ofan independently made live-action Batman Beyond Year One movie.Eli was nice enough to share his account with C2F readers.
I had the chanceto talk to the director/actor Aaron Schoenke of the independent film BatmanBeyond Year One (a live Action movie). I meant Aaron at the San DiegoComic Book Convention this year, and he made an impression on me about his moviethat I had to check his site out and see what this movie was about. On his Bat in the Sun site he has up the trailer as well as images from the movie. While it doesnot tell you much about the movie, it does in fact make you want to see more (orat least it made me).
I emailed Aaron,and told him that I was impressed and wanted more info about this film. Aarondid tell me that is will be around 40 to 60 minutes in length, and was supposedto be released this month but is holding back the release date till the end ofSeptember to add in more special effects.
The followingparagraph is from his site:
"BatmanBeyond: Year One, deals with Batman Beyond's (Terry McGinnis) dark past of beingon the wrong side of justice. Terry must deal with haunting memories as a friendfrom the past returns with a price on his head. When problems occur, Terry isforced to jeopardize his secret identity in order to save his friend, but is hewilling to live with the consequences? The story goes back to the classic Batmanmythos dealing with serious psychological problems of the man behind the mask."
So Aaron agreedto answer a few questions about his movie to help people understand why's, how's,what he wanted to do
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EliMcElmurray (EM) -- What made you want to start a Live Action Independentfilm, when there are still rumors that a big-budget movie is going to be done?
AaronSchoenke (AS) -- I love film and am a film student. I also love Batman andeventually want to direct a batman movie, so I thought this would help. Batmanhas very rarely been captured in his true form on film, which is why this isadapted from the animation. The whole Batman and Batman Beyond animations aresome of the best Batman on film, also including the first Batman movie. The fansdeserve it! If nothing else, it will add to growing my portfolio.
EM--Wheredid you get the idea for the script? Was it based on anything or completely newbased on preexisting characters?
AS-- Thestory is based off ideas from the BB animation and the BB comics. The story andscreenplay was put together by myself, Sean Schoenke and Michael Titielbuam. Weuse the main preexisting character from the show and throw in a few originalcharacters.
EM--Couldyou briefly describe the story and why you chose the title Year One? Does thishappen before Terry becomes Batman, or events that happened before he donned themask, and now has deal with the repercussions from them?
AS--As weknow, the animation was Terry's first year as Batman and this film starts wherethe show left off. BBY1 is the end of Terry's first year as Batman, but it alsoexplains what came before it. I have read many Year One titles, and what yearone means to me is character development and a real dramatic gripping story. A lotof people thought that Terry didn't deserve to be Batman, and I wanted to showthat he has paid his dues to be Batman.
EM--Whoare the actors, what did they play, and how were they picked?
AS--Imyself play Terry and Jon Mann-Krieger plays Terry's good friend Merrick. Otherpeople featured are Adam Poole as Voodoo, Meghan Dunn as Tipsy, Matt Smith asJohnny Hotwire, and Keala Thomas as Bruce Wayne. In casting everybody I wantedto make sure they looked the part. Which means, I didn't want to cast a smallguy for Bruce Wayne, I wanted to cast a 6'2 230lbs body builder.
EM--Wherewas this filmed at?
AS--Themovie was filmed all over the west cost, mainly around LA though.
EM--DoesTerry or Bruce wear the costume, and what was it made out of? AS--Terrydefinitely wears the outfit, without Batman Beyond in the film, it wouldn't be aBatman Beyond movie. Bruce never dawns the outfit, although in a completely BBdifferent script, he did. The suit is heavy spandex with a muscle suit and metalreinforcing.
EM--Whofrom the cartoon series was used in this movie? (Barbara Gordon, Ace, etc)
AS--Bruce,Terry, Dana, Jokerz and with a mention of a few other characters.
EM--Isthere a chance for a sequel?
AS--Achance for a sequel..... oh well, I have written many scripts for Nightwing, BB,and the original Batman. I would really like to explore another characters inthe Bat-family. Although I have penned a few outlines for a sequel, it alldepends how well this one does and how the fans respond to it.
EM--Batmanis by far the most popular comic book character, and for an independent filminggroup to take on this role is a tough one, what was it like for the actors whoplayed Bruce (Keale Thomas) Wayne and Terry (Aaron Schoenke) McGinnis, to fillsuch big roles?
AS--Well, I am a HUGE Batman fan. I mean I have read every Batman [trade paperback]out there, twice, along with reading the comics weekly and having everyanimation taped, so I was pretty familiar with the Terry. As for as KealaThomas, I feel his size is really something he has over everybody else who hasplayed Batman. And on top of that, he was surprisingly very familiar withcomics.
EM--Whatwas the basis for the villains? Voodoo (Adam Poole) is part of the Joker Gang,so who else is there is in his gang? Who and what is Johnny (Matt Smith)Hotwire?
AS--Voodoo is the leader of the Jokerz and the main villain. There will be about 8other jokers that appear in the film. As for Johnny Hotwire, you'll just have towait and see.
EM--Doyou think that 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 wish you would have putin it?
AS-- Ithink I definitely got across what I wanted to in this movie. I wanted topresent Batman in a real dramatic story. I didn't want over the top lightingand story, I wanted real characters with real problems, still keeping the coolsuperhero element in it though. I would have liked to touch upon more of Terry'sworld, such as his family, but that's for the sequel...see question 8 arg...Also, a bigger budget would have helped out too.
EM--Arethere going to be outtakes, bloopers, and deleted scenes in the DVD?
AS-- Yes,most definitely, there is some great stuff of the actors in the fight scenesfalling into walls and what not.
EM--Whattype and how much special FX did you use on Batman, Johnny, Bruce and the rest?How much was CGI or old school FX (smoke and mirrors). What type of program didyou use on the CGI?
AS-- Weuse a decent amount of special effects, you got to in a Batman Beyond film. Yes,special effects were used for all those characters, especially Batman Beyond.Everything from CGI to blue screening was all done on a computer.
EM--Howmuch are the DVD and t-shirt going to cost, and when and where can the fans getthem?
AS-- Oh,well, we are still looking into that. We don't want it to be expensive, we arestill looking into all the costs and what not. But since we are not a bigcompany, we don't get those great whole sale production costs for DVDs. Alsowe will be selling the DVDs for the price we pay for it, which means we will bemaking no money off it. The DVD is there to get the movie from us to you fans,nothing more. As far as T shirts, we have had lots of emails of people wantingthem, but once again, it all depends on how much the fans want them.
EM--Howmuch are we going to see into the Batcave? Are there memorabilia from Batmanpast, or will it just show Bruce at the computer?
AS-- The Batcaveis briefly shown in the movie. Originally we were going to have it in a lot moreof the movie, but it became dead time. We also filmed a gigantic model of the Batcavethat wasn't used.
EM--Arethere going to any hidden images of other DC characters from Bruce's past?
AS-- Moreof the hidden stuff has to do with the Batman Beyond series, not so much Bruce'spast. I really wanted to keep a strong focus on Terry throughout the film.
EM --After this interview, I now more than ever want to see this movie. I hope thefans out there are kind to Aaron and his crew in trying to do what the bigcompanies keep falling out, keeping the movie as close to the comic book aspossible.
Visit the Bat in the Sun website for more information about Batman Beyond: Year One
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