Iron Man opens in theaters today amidst the biggest movie hype of the year so far, although I’m going to spend my time trying to find a theater showing another new release: Son Of Rambow, the UK indie flick about two kids making a fan film in the mid-80s (It’s getting reviews as glowing as Iron Man, but doesn’t seem to be playing anywhere). Anyway, never one to miss surfing a big wave of hubris, here’s part deux of our interview with Iron Man fan filmmaker, David Guivant…after the jump.
Who’s in your cast?
Most of the cast are colleagues or friends and the the women are students who wanted to join for fun. A friend of mine, Paul Lasserre, is a Kindergarden teacher and a school director is playing the lead character. Another friend of my uncle is playing Harold Hogan, Tony Stark’s chauffeur.
Did you find it relatively easy to shoot or were there any hurdles to be overcome?
Since I shoot everything on a black background, I shot the scenes at night using the black sky as a background and the harbor’s lights as our projectors. We discovered that the weather wasn’t friendly and stumbled upon rain and too much wind. Plus the big torch lights we used to add some extra lights didn’t help us a lot. Jean Claude suggested we shoot everything in his apartment which is still empty and he and his wife haven’t moved in yet. We invested in some Black cloth and small garden projectors.
How was the editing process and what equipment did you use?
I borrowed a Sony Camcorder DCR PC 115 E PAL to shoot the film; HD cameras are still too expensive. The camera belongs to Fabrice, who plays Nick Fury in the film.
What did you use to make your special effects and how long did that take?
I used Adobe Photoshop; it took about a year and a half to do all the special FX, doing rotoscope; all the FX are done frame by frame–a very long process.
Where was the first place you showed the film, and what was the reaction?
I posted a short teaser on the net that doesn’t reveal much. Mixed reaction actually: Most of the comic fans are happy and are curious about it, same for people who are involved in animation knowing that these short films are made with no budget and they’re seeing that as a demo reel or portfolio piece. A lot of them are happy that someone is making a Marvel-based Fan film. Most of them are based on Star Wars and DC Comics. Others who are more focused on blockbusters prefer to wait and see the big-budget film coming out in May, 2008; they don’t want to look at fan-made reels.
Do you have any future plans for this movie?
I want the audience to have fun and promote my talents in production art and illustration as well as graphic design. Might land me a job in the comic or film industry, if it helps me get into the trading card business, why not?
In the end, how much time do you think you spent on it?
I spent like one year and a half.
What has the local reaction been like to your various films?
Well, filmmaking isn’t part of our pop culture here in New Caledonia. While there is a local short film festival here, people see it as idiots playing with their camcorders and showing off their lousy films which are sponsored by our local government. So they have a negative image of expensive short films being made that only the sponsors get the spotlights.
So when I appeared on the news with my skeleton film crew, people thought it was a hoax and we made that up. How on earth can we shoot a Star Wars short film with no budget and get screened in Paris when the average filmmakers here do lousy expensive films with plenty of budget and get screened nowhere else but the local festival?
Apparently only a tiny portion of this small population knew it was true since they read the Lucasfilm Magazine and saw that we were in it.
But then again, I am not aiming to get popular here in my country, but to make it into the business elsewhere.
How much did it cost?
Less than a 1000 US $
What do you feel that you learned (if anything) from making this film?
Yes, I have learned a lot more about lighting and honed my digital skills a bit more, which is quite a change from my 2D painting skills that I usually use to produce my paintings.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Indeed, based on what I can do with production art, my concept of the images would be very different, but for a painting you can do whatever you want, it stays on paper, your artwork reflect your technical skills to convey a message.
For a movie you need someone to play the character and everything around is in motion. The light, the wind, where you need fans… It’s like a painting but everything is moving. For practical reasons and budget, you are bound to limitations. That’s why I chose to do mine as a half-live and half-animated film, so that I don’t get too many obstacles from the limitations of the media, and can paint a few digital stuff in the background.
Would you make other movies (fan films or originals) as a result of this experience?
I am planning to do a Starman short film and Captain Future.
What do you think drives so many people such as yourself to make their
own fan films?
To me, it’s a great assignment where you can learn new skills in different areas and trying a new media, whereas to some people, they just wanna have some fun and get famous.
Why did you choose to make a fan film, as opposed to making an original movie?
I love all these characters and would like to contribute to the comic universe; the same questions can apply to the writers that choose to write for comics as well: Do they want to write or write for comics, knowing that they’ll deal with ready-made characters and a well-known universe? I think we all want to be part of this wonderful universe and bring our contribution to it.
Were copyright laws, etc. any concern during the production?
These fan films do not overshadow big productions and they only make the big movies more popular and help them with promoting their franchises. Plus the filmmakers only want to train themselves and show their skills in order to make
Is there a glut of fan films?
There are too many fanfilms centered around DC Comics characters. I supposed it’s easier to find Superman and Batman outfits in a costume store.
