Superhero film set pics: You’re f*cking with the magic
There’s a little story back from the early days of Google. The Google guys go to visit Viacom, and they show the then-head of the media conglomerate how the Google ad model worked–with trackable and measurable analytics. The Viacom executive, who had made his reputation on traditional blind TV ad buys, looked at the Google ad model and said, “You’re f*cking with the magic.”
The internet has been f*cking with the magic for years now. I’m writing this on a blog, for example. And there are a lot of blogs, aren’t there? As someone who has spent the last 10 years of his life following movies online and writing about them, I’ve seen the community grow. But I’ve never seen anything like the excessive coverage of The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and Man of Steel.
I understand that fans get excited. You’re reading a post from a guy who cut out and saved pictures of Catwoman and the Penguin back when Batman Returns was buzzing in the early 90s. And I was happy to post that first picture of Henry Cavil as Superman. Lord knows, I geeked out over a Cameron Crowe movie still, too. But those studio images, well, that’s one thing.
For new superhero movies filming now, I mostly get this:
Yep, that’s a Batwing. With Wheels. Parked.
Oh, and then there’s this from The Avengers set, which is filming in Cleveland–about a mile from my apartment:
Explosions. And people running. Great.
I won’t even post the Amy Adams as Lois Lane shots that hit the web. Those pictures just look like Amy Adams stopped for gas. (Celebrities, they’re just like us!) None of the comic book movie images or videos are interesting when it comes right down to it. But worse than that, they are f*cking with the magic.
Today more than ever, I like to retreat into a dark theater, away from the constant influx of information, and watch magic unfold on screen. That magic makes the difference when your are trying to tell a story on film.
For a second, let’s go back to one of the most magical moments in film history: Kermit on a bicycle. I remember watching it for the first time when I was a kid and loving it. But I also remember my parents asking, how did they do that?
Take a look at the clip:
Now imagine watching that for the first time on either the big screen or the small screen. It’s amazing.
Got it? Now imagine seeing that, but catching this picture online over and over again before hand:
Source: Muppet Wiki
Not so amazing.
When you go into a movie knowing how its made instead seeing it later (as you can in this clip from The World of Jim Henson), the experience is tainted. It’s like going into a first date knowing exactly what the other person did to impress you. No matter how wonderful the rendezvous might be, it won’t leave you breath-taken.
While the internet is a beautiful thing, these superhero film set pictures, like a Facebook overshare or an auto-DM on Twitter, are more of a nuisance than they are essential elements of the film. I decided early on not to post any of them (excluding the ones above, of course). And it’s not just because they aren’t interesting. It’s because when I see the Batwing in theaters next year, I want to experience it… and catch my breath afterwards.
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