View Full Version : Why was the "flying" so good in Superman 1 and so c**p in the rest?
Ron Hill
27-11-2002, 15:49
Watching Superman 1 the other day took me back to when the Superman movies first came out in the cinema.
A thing that always annoyed me was the first film had really,really convincing looking flying scenes as far as integration of flying objects against a background goes. The subsequent movies had really horrendous black borders around Superman and all the rest of the flying objects, reminiscent of the awful effects in Battlestar Galacatica ,Buck Rogers and other 80's sci-fi.
Why was Superman 1 so good in this respect?
How'd they do the flying without the dreaded black matte lines?
Well, IIRC the extras on the DVD, Superman 1 used frontprojection for some of it so no matt lines because no matt;). However, it did use blue screen for other shots(hence Supes looking aqua not blue sometimes;)), and that does lead to matt lines, so hmnn...
Oh, and I watched Superman I/II back to back when I got the boxset, and I thought they had the same "flying quality"(which what you would expect considering they were filmed partially back to back). Havn't seen the later Supermans(and have no desire to see again) for years so can't compare there
Idle Child
27-11-2002, 15:59
I've always found the flying scenes to be of similar good quality in all the movies, but i havent viewed them for a long time.
However, i think the blue screen projection in th superman movies is FAR better than the blue screen projection in Roger Moore era James Bond (which seemed to reach a new level of incompetancy with each successive film) !
Wasnt the Superman 1 DVD remastered with extra Scenes and the effects like the flying scenes polished up, but the sequels were left as is. Would seem strange that later movies with the advances in effects would seem worse, unless the budget was alot less which i dont think was the case in superman 2.
Originally posted by Idle Child
However, i think the blue screen projection... Do you mean blue screen or front/rear projection, make your mind up:p.
I never even knew there was a Superman IV till I saw it advertised on DVDSoon :lol: Apparently it is truly appalling though so I ain't missing anything :|
Idle Child
27-11-2002, 16:11
Originally posted by Mr Nice
Do you mean blue screen or front/rear projection, make your mind up:p.
lol - i dont know the difference!
What I mean is any projection used for any of the superman flight scenes. Generally i thought they were quite competant.
Full Tense
27-11-2002, 16:17
Originally posted by Listy
I never even knew there was a Superman IV till I saw it advertised on DVDSoon
I dragged my mum along to see this at the cinema when I was a kid :D
Never noticed too much of a difference in the flying scenes before.
Originally posted by Full Tense
I dragged my mum along to see this at the cinema when I was a kid :D
Me too.
I think Supes 3 & 4 used a different method for the flying scenes, or the FX company wasn't ILM.
Originally posted by Idle Child
lol - i dont know the difference!
What I mean is any projection used for any of the superman flight scenes. Generally i thought they were quite competant. Bue screen, although its often green screen now, doesn't use projection;). Front/rear projection, where the person is basically standing/suspended infront of a screeen with footage prjected on to it, either from the front, like normal cinemal, used for supes, or from the rear, as in virtually every in car shot in films till sometime in the 80's. Blue screen can give matt lines, until they started using digital compositing instead of optical compositing. Front/rear projection never gives matt lines.
Idle Child
27-11-2002, 16:47
:thumbs: right, that clears it up thanks..
Originally posted by Listy
I never even knew there was a Superman IV till I saw it advertised on DVDSoon :lol: Apparently it is truly appalling though so I ain't missing anything :|
yeah I think it was the one with the Solar Powered Bad Guy :D
the effects are awful in the 3rd and especially the 4th (all computer rubbish and strings), although the first 2 were great!
yeah I think it was the one with the Solar Powered Bad Guy
It was Nuclear Man, Lex Luthor created him :lol:
This was the first Superman that Christopher Reeve written & directed and suprisingly had the biggest budget of the lot :eek: but bombed big style at the box office. Amazing what u can find out with a bit of research hehe :D
Originally posted by Listy
It was Nuclear Man, Lex Luthor created him :lol:
This was the first Superman that Christopher Reeve written & directed and suprisingly had the biggest budget of the lot :eek: but bombed big style at the box office. Amazing what u can find out with a bit of research hehe :D
According to the imdb, Mr Reeve only has a story co-credit on the film. He didn't direct or write the screenplay.
He didn't direct or write the screenplay
Yup ure correct :D I was just testing to see if anyone knew the right answer (joke :lol: ) Damned Superman fan sites :brickwall :lol:
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