Style and Substance!

Hi everybody!
For film afficianados, we've seen the hundreds of sketches and designs that have gone into the creation of our favorite films. However, it is wrenching to imagine the thousands of drawings that were destroyed during the heyday of film production during the the 1930s and 1940s. The film stock itself is crumbling away as we speak, how much moreso the anonymous papers that served as the blueprint for the finished product?
Still, there are necessary stages to turn an idea for a movie into an actual movie, and the more precise the planning the better the result.
My Style Book for WONDER WOMAN is not only a visual narrative of sections of the movie, but is also a means to better explain how the various elements should LOOK.
I had recently viewed the unaired pilot for GLOBAL FREQUENCY, based on the whipsmart Wildstorm comic by Warren Ellis. The pilot was shot in the style of DARK ANGEL; all punkish dark all the time, but would have been better served being shot like Joss Whedon's ANGEL; mostly natural lighting with occassional dark sections. The color scheme affects the viewing experience, of course. The producer probably thought that the "doom clock" premise suited making GLOBAL FREQUENCY all dark shadows, but in spirit, GLOBAL FREQUENCY is closer to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE because the good guys always win. Instead, the GLOBAL FREQUENCY pilot emphasized the subversive elements of the comic instead of the heroic elements.
Those in the know about TV production understand that the director of a television series' pilot gets a percentage of the show's profit for the entire run of the series. For example, Ridley Scott filmed the pilot for NUMBERS, which is just now going into syndication. Since Ridley Scott established the visual "Bible" for that series, he gets money for every episode that ever airs on that series, whether he directed them or not. As he is Ridley Scott, he is never going to direct another episode of NUMBERS, this is the guy who directed BLADE RUNNER, for goodness' sake. This is beyond the money he gets as a producer as NUMBERS is a SCOTT FREE production, as well. I'm just saying that being hands-on has its' rewards.
We've gone over how the WONDER WOMAN comic has gone wrong in a number of intractable ways. The WONDER WOMAN movie can easily go just as wrong without proper control on the production level. For example, the movie 300 has a distinctive visual style that drives the audience experience, the visuals practically bury the script and the acting; the images serve as one firecracker after another. That same oppressive visual approach was used on WATCHMEN to much reduced success because the narrative of WATCHMEN required subtleties in script and performance that 300 did not possess or require.
WONDER WOMAN fights crime in lingeree, and the challenge is to not keep hitting that one visual note over and over, again. The bigger challenge is to recognize that WONDER WOMAN is a Champion Fantasy, not a Power Fantasy.
A Power Fantasy; like Superman; is of a character given powers and abilities beyond normal people to make the world safe.
The premise is that the world is dangerous, which is a simple but potent observation.
A Champion Fantasy; which is WONDER WOMAN; is of a character given powers and abilities beyond normal people to make the world better.
The premise is that the world can be improved, which cuts in a more sophisticated way.
WONDER WOMAN's costume is no more provocative than that of a Rockette, and is less exploitation than sublimation.
By providing a WONDER WOMAN style book, we help to keep the emphasis on the Champion elements of our Amazon, which is the only way our movie will reach a wide audience.
Talk to you, soon! Be good!
Brad