Who Watches The Watchmen?

See into the future with a trio of behind-the-scenes books on the most eagerly awaited film adaptation of all time from Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures in association with Legendary Pictures. Now witness how 300 director Zack Snyder recreated the intricately detailed world of WATCHMEN on the silver screen. The countdown has begun...

Zack Snyder Fan Q&A

JDsgirlBev: Watchmen has been in “development hell” for quite some time. What factors came together to made it happen this time?

Zack Snyder: People have been trying to make Watchmen for eighteen years — and it’s a difficult project. I think there are several things that have helped to finally get Watchmen into production this time. I think for one, as we get further away from 1985, the concept of making a movie set in 1985 becomes more viable — because it’s more of a period piece. Before, it might have just been too close to 1985. Funnily enough, as time passed and the project was still in development, most other versions, actually all, planned on updating the story to a modern, or at the time, present day setting. Thankfully, we were able to abandon that approach and set the film back in 1985. I guess a few other factors came together as well — the success of 300, my appreciation for comic book and graphic stories, and a willing studio that had faith. I don’t know if they didn’t exist elsewhere, but I just know that within the context of what I wanted to do, those three strong elements came together to get Watchmen green-lit. Beyond that, from my own perspective, I feel like I’ve come to a place where Watchmen is in my personal aesthetic; it poses both challenges and excitement to me. It has a million mysteries, and it has a million awesome images, and it has a cool story and a cool message. I think as much as it’s hard for a studio to say yes to a project like this, it’s just as hard for a filmmaker to put himself out there and to try and make a movie like this. I think that it was all of those disparate elements coming together and my need to stretch that helped make it all happen.

hank_chinaski: This is your third film that is an adaptation of another work, Watchmen being the second one based on a comic book. Where and how do you find the points of the story where you have to make sacrifices of stuff from the original source material, to make it better suit and transition well for a new medium?

It’s always different. There’s no formula for figuring out what works and what doesn’t work in a movie. It’s really about trusting your instincts, and knowing what you like about the story — and in the end it's about intent and respect. You spend time thinking about what the original artist intended for their story and then work on figuring out how to take that overall concept and make it your own. You find the gems and the things that speak to you. As soon as you decide take on a project, it then becomes your responsibility. So, you better understand the source material and have a perspective, a clear vision and a concept regarding how best to tell that story cinematically while always being respectful.

John P.: Throughout the graphic novel, special attention is made to the subtle changes to society and technology after the introduction of Dr. Manhattan to the world. Cars are strange-looking and fully electric; people smoke tobacco from oddly shaped pipettes, etc. My question is how much will the city in the movie reflect this alternate advancement in technology?

I didn’t focus too much on the technological changes Dr. Manhattan had had on the world in the earliest sections of the story. What I tried to do is save some of those changes for later in the movie. Part of the reason is because I wanted the movie to be immediately accessible to the audience. It was important to me that the viewer begins to understand the world they are in. It is a world somewhat familiar, albeit slightly changed, affected by the presence of masked vigilantes, a super being and the looming nuclear threat of the Cold War. It seemed most important to tell the story of the advent of the Minutemen and later Dr. Manhattan. We were a little concerned that if we pushed the "crazy ’85" too far right out of the gates, it would be neither ’85 nor the future. That being said, as the story progresses we do introduce many of those elements, including showing Dr. Manhattan’s technology and what he's working on as far as world universal energy.

ManOWar: The graphic novel contains quite a bit of symmetry, not only in the artwork, but also in the narration and the dialogue. Scenes happening between characters inadvertently comment on an alternating scene in the next frame. This convention is used quite a bit throughout Watchmen. Are you emulating this technique at all in filming/editing, or do you have another approach?

That’s absolutely right; there is a lot of symmetry in the graphic novel. When designing the shots, I have made an effort to make the images balanced compositionally to reflect some of the illustrated symmetry of the graphic novel. In addition to the visual symmetry, we do overlap the dialogue — that convention of having one scene comment on the next. That happens quite a bit in the graphic novel and I tried to keep that in the film wherever I could.

Keith Ellis: I read the original 12-issue series back in 1989, when the Cold War was still raging. The nuclear disaster paranoia was something fresh and relevant in my 20-year-old mind back then, so the current events of those days really helped me to suspend disbelief and become engrossed in the world of the comic book. Do you agree that one of the biggest challenges you face in making a compelling film out of this comic is “re-raising” the stakes — in other words, recreating the paranoia of that late 1980s America and making audiences of today (who are much more concerned with global warming, terrorism and the current ground war in Iraq) feel the same urgency and sense of dread that permeated the comic book? I ask this because I recently re-read the series, and I found that I really had to shift my mind back to those Cold-War memories in order to fully “adjust” to the atmosphere or “tone” of the book.

I do believe the Cold War stakes are pivotal to the film’s success because in order to believe Adrian’s storyline, you have to believe that he believes that the threat of nuclear war is not only real, but also imminent. We’ve put a lot of effort into trying to infuse the story with that notion — using every appropriate opportunity to reinforce the Soviet presence and the looming threat of a nuclear war on a global scale. On the other hand, I also believe that the book is the book and I don’t want to overstate how it was written. The audience needs to believe the threat, but it has to be conveyed in a way that is proportionally correct with the rest of the story. That’s the balancing act.

Alan C: We know that the “Black Freighter” is being produced as some sort of add on to the film for home release. What I want to know is will the “Black Freighter” parts cut back and forth to the newsstand and the comic as it does in the book? Will the DVD release have an option to include the “Black Freighter” scenes in context with the film (as they happen in the book) or will it just be a standalone extra?

It is my intent right now, and of course all this could change, to create a version of the “Black Freighter” that threads throughout the movie. As I write this, I have already shot the ins and outs of the News Vendor and Bernard… So we’ll try them in the film and then certainly we’ll at least see them on the DVD, but if it works awesome, then it works awesome, and it could end up in the film. I just want to make the best movie I can.

Noel M.: What changes have you made to the costumes from the comic and why?

We’ve approached each character individually regarding the design of their costume. In most cases, we have remained very close to the graphic novel. Although in some cases, we’ve made adjustments. I think Nite Owl and Silk Spectre have probably been changed the most from the original designs. We felt these changes were necessary because we live in a comic-book cinema world where costumes have been fetishized to a huge degree. The costumes, as they’re drawn, might not be accessible to many of today’s audiences. I also felt that audiences might not appreciate the naiveté of the original costumes. So, there has been some effort to give them a slightly more… I would say modern look — and not modern in the sense of 2007, but modern in terms of the superhero aesthetic. It was also important to me that they appealed to my own taste as a moviegoer. Lastly and possibly most importantly, I wanted to be sure that they comment directly on many of today’s modern masked vigilantes — who shall remain nameless…

Oscar: What is the approach that you and Tyler Bates want to take with the soundtrack as far as sound and mood? Are you planning on using the songs mentioned in the graphic novel?

I am planning to use quite a few songs mentioned in the graphic novel. Watchmen is incredibly smart in its use of music references, both obvious and subtle. We did extensive research to make sure we hadn’t missed any of the great music opportunities that exist within the book. As for as the score itself, once we wrap principle photography, Tyler and I will have much more time to sit and look at the cut together. Tyler has spent time on set with us and has begun looking at footage with Bill Hoy, our editor. We have started to formulate a philosophy for the score — but it’s really just the beginning.

TK8103: As we all know, one of the most intriguing elements of Rorschach’s costume is the changing patterns on his mask. How is that going to be accomplished on screen?

As you can imagine, the most effective way to render the ever-changing inkblot that is Rorschach’s face is with the use of visual effects. So, we created a blank mask and strategically placed small green tracking markers on it. The markers will be used to track the contours of his face throughout the shot. There is also a hole that reveals Jackie’s [Jackie Earle Haley] eyes not only so he can see, but also to help to the VFX artists later while they animate Rorschach’s face. The opening allows them to see what Jackie’s eyes were emoting. When completed, his open-eyed, green polka dotted face will have been replaced by a CG element, a slowly changing inkblot pattern. We’ve gone through and analyzed the many inkblots from the graphic novel and have assigned them each different emotional characteristics — so that when Rorschach is experiencing something in a scene, the shape on the mask reflects his emotions in a graphic and abstract manner. I have had the opportunity to see some of the early tests and I am very pleased with how it is coming together.

Soupdragon: Will the fight scenes involve a 300-style of variable speed action or will they be filmed straight?

Each of the fight scenes is a little bit different and they are individually influenced by both the situation and the characters involved. Overall, it’s probably not as extreme in its use of variable speed as 300, but I still want to make sure that the action is cool. It goes without saying that I like action. So, although it might not be exactly like 300, it’s still going to have quite a few intense fight sequences and a style of its own. I have been fortunate enough to have Damon Caro on board as my Stunt Coordinator choreographing the fights. Damon worked with me in the same capacity on 300 and is truly the best when it comes to creating innovative fight sequences. He has put a lot of time and energy into fight training with the actors and the stunt team and the results are apparent.

Cory Brown: Watchmen was such a milestone event in comics. While I’m sure Alan Moore didn’t write it while saying to himself “I'm going to write a milestone event in comics”, he was definitely dealing with fertile if largely untouched ground by placing a superhero story in the midst of more adult themes, an idea which has become commonplace in comic books since then. As a filmmaker aware of the abundance of superhero films today (not to mention the last 25 years of comic books), do you look at Watchmen as just an adaptation of a great story or also as an opportunity to draw your own lines in the sand regarding superhero films (or film in general)?

I think Alan’s work is absolutely groundbreaking and whether he sat down to do that or not, that’s what he did. I think that for me, it’s about adapting that great work into a movie, but it’s also certainly about making a film that does hopefully to the cinematic superhero genre, what the book did to the comic book world. It’s my hope and my intent to shine a light on the current state of superhero movies and what they mean to pop culture, and what they mean to people who enjoy them, and comic book fans. So yeah, I guess if you want to say, “draw a line in the sand”, those are strong words, but it’s strong material, so that might be just what’s happening.