Pre-Production Unit- "Action/Thriller" Genre and Writing for Realism.

In my previous blog post I wrote about the main reason I couldn't work with the Mr. Freeze character, and briefly discussed the possibility of creating my own superhero and original characters. However, after some more thinking, (and the fact that I am writing my film script with the intention of actually filming it for my major project), I do not believe creating a "super"hero per say would be something I could actually create with a student budget.
In order to create the fantastic costumes and special effects needed for such a film, I would need an incredibly large budget, and access to equipment beyond anything I could hope to acquire at this point in my career.

Explosions such as this one in X-men are common in super hero films, but can be difficult to pull off on a small budget.

This hasn't stopped me from investigating other ways that I could work with the super hero genre however.
Something I have considered, is creating a more realistic super-hero, much more akin to a vigilante crimefighter than some super-powered being. I hope that this would not only make it easier for me to create the film (as I would have to acquire less assets and wouldn't need as much manpower to pull off realistic effects etc) but it would also make the situations, characters and the world I create more realistic, and therefore relatable ones for audiences.

Pre-Production Unit: Initial Ideas

For the pre-production unit which I will be beginning in the final year of my television production course, I decided to begin brainstorming my ideas early so that I am better prepared when the time comes to actually begin putting my project together.
The initial idea I had when the project specifications were described to me during a lecture was that I could script a series based on the DC Comics super villain, Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze is a character known mostly for being played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1997 film, "Batman and Robin", and is famous for being a very cheesy interpretation of the character.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's interpretation of the Mr. Freeze character.

Freeze's backstory involves him being a cryogenic research professor who discovers that his wife is afflicted with a terminal illness. As a result, he decides to cryogenically freeze her until he can find a cure. In order to fund his continuing research, he decides to rob banks, destroy parts of gotham and steal the things he needs in order to accomplish his goal.
Although this is obviously a typical trait for super-hero villains to have, the overall reason Freeze does the things he does is to save his wife, giving him an almost neutral, somewhat heroic alignment. This is what initially interested me in creating something based on this character.
It's no secret that movies based on comic books (particularly the "dark knight" series) have been dropping the cheesy, campy style that is associated with comics as of late (such as the 1960's Adam West Batman TV series) in favor of a much darker approach.

"The Dark Knight". Notice the dark, gritty way it is portrayed.

The Adam West interpretation of Batman. Notice the comic styling, bright colours and overall more optimistic portrayal.

My idea was to take the character of Mr. Freeze and explore it further, modernizing it for an audience that would appreciate the Dark knight interpretation, It would be my hope that this modernization would open an audience's mind to the Mr. Freeze character, and also introduce a new dimension to him that hasn't been seen before.
The reason I chose specifically to create a series based on the character was that it would allow for a much more extensive evolution of the character, with bigger analysis of why he becomes a super-villain, and how he acts in certain situations. Essentially, I would be emulating the formula created by such television programs as "Smallville" and "Gotham".

So why couldn't I go through with this idea? Well, rather than my creative ideas, the reason I couldn't get past the initial planning stages for this idea was that working with licensed material is something that hasn't been explored on this television production course before. Therefore certain problems and disputes would arise that hadn't been dealt with in previous years. This would hinder my project somewhat, and after a brief email exchange with my course leader, it was suggested that I possibly explore the idea of creating my own super hero instead.
This is something that has both pro and cons.
The pros are that I have complete creative freedom, no obligation to stick to any particular comic storyline and I can create and introduce any characters that I want without fear of it going against any other set storyline.
The cons are of course that there will not be any previously existing commercial interest in my creation, as it will be completely original. This is a minor gripe however, as if my created franchise is decent enough, I would have no problem creating something new, fresh and interesting.