THE PHYSICS OF FLIGHT AND THE GENESIS CAMERA
Since the 1970s, when Richard Donner made Superman: The Movie, technology has advanced to levels that were merely daydreams of filmmakers in that era. With these great advances in camera and visual effects technologies, Bryan Singer believes that "we all will believe again that a man truly can fly."
Singer and his team sought to first and foremost create the physics of the character and his universe. "Brandon and I built up our own physical laws which became the directorial palette for the flying sequences," says Singer. "For example, how much strain does it take to catch a plane in flight or when do you leap and when do you float? What kind of hand motions does Superman use to navigate himself during flight? Thanks to endless discussions between me, Brandon, all the stunt coordinators and flying teams and to technology itself, Brandon will fly like no other Superman ever could.
"The state-of-the-art technology we used in making this film didn't even exist two years ago," Singer says. "The progress made in the visual effects arena is just astounding. As opposed to a Super Hero like Spider-man, Superman's hair and face are exposed therefore his performance and personality are exposed even in flight."
The filmmakers paid meticulous attention to detail to the physical shooting of Routh as well as the computer rendering, scanning and animation of the character in order to capture the reality of a man who can fly at will.
Perhaps the single most cutting edge piece of equipment used in making the film is the digital Genesis camera, a joint invention by Sony and Panavision. Superman Returns is the first feature length motion picture to be shot entirely with the Genesis camera system.
"The idea of possibly being able to use the Genesis camera came about after I had cast Brandon in the role," recalls Singer. "We did a screen test with the intended format of Super 35mm and, for the hell of it, we shot one on 70mm. When the film from both cameras was processed, we watched the 35mm first and then clicked projectors to the 70mm. The clarity, the depth, the sheer lack of grain of the 70mm was so exquisite that shown right next to the 35mm film it looked as if we had used bad stock or something…that's how different the two formats looked.
"So I started researching ways to shoot in 70mm," explains Singer, "but I discovered very quickly that, for a million different reasons, it would be impractical and far too limiting in terms of camera mobility and film stock."
Around that time, Singer's longtime cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel told him that Sony and Panavision had developed the new Genesis camera. "At that time I think there was only one of them in L.A. so we shot one of Brandon's early costume tests with it," Singer recalls. "Then we started what had to be one of the most comprehensive comparison tests ever done. Using the Genesis, we shot tests outside in soft light, warm light, night, midday, evening, morning, interiors, costumes, hair and makeup, you name it. Then just Tom and I sat in a theatre looking at all the tests and from those comparisons, we made the decision together to attempt to shoot the entire film with the Genesis system."
It was only a matter of time before more cameras were built for use on Superman Returns. "By the time we needed them in Australia, I believe we had one or two," says Singer. "A couple of months into shooting, we had eight or ten at our disposal."
Although both Singer and Sigel admit that the Genesis provided many technical challenges, they couldn't be happier with the end result.
"Sony and Panavision worked really hard to create a camera and camera system that emulates the curve and color space of film," says Sigel, "so it is not significantly different from a lighting design point of view. Because the raw genesis material looks somewhat flat, we decided rather than slap one overall correction on it, we would do graded dailies, based on reference stills I would send the colorist. By doing so we taught ourselves limits and yet we also began establishing what we could do in post-production to create the final look of the film. An added bonus is that all of the visual effects houses essentially have footage that reflects our intent for the final look of the film, which is a huge help to them in creating their effects. On a movie like this it was critical that we had significant communication with the visual effects department in order to not only establish 'the look' but to preserve it as well."
Like so many other aspects of making this movie, the use of the Genesis is another example of the merging of old and new. "I come from a very traditional filmmaking background," says Singer. "I like shooting on film. Tom comes from a director of photography/camera operator background so shooting on digital was completely new for both of us. We used more wide lenses and had larger framing than we ever did on my previous movies because the size and scope of the canvas of Superman Returns was so big. When we finally saw footage from the first few days shooting at the Kent Farm, he and I both knew that we had the chance to make an extraordinarily gorgeous looking film."


THE FILMMAKERS

MICHAEL DOUGHERTY (Screenplay and Story) is a writer and director making a name for himself in a diverse range of genres.
Prior to collaborating on Superman Returns, Dougherty and his writing partner Dan Harris co-wrote the blockbuster film X2: X-Men United (2003), also directed by Bryan Singer. The critically acclaimed sequel starred Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry and has grossed more than $415 million worldwide. Based on that screenplay, Dougherty was named as one of Variety's top 10 screenwriters to watch.
In addition to his feature film work, Dougherty is also an accomplished animator and illustrator. His award-winning animated films have appeared on MTV, SCI FI Channel, Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation, and G4-TV, while his morbid illustrations are published as greeting cards by Nobleworks.
Future film projects include an adaptation of the best-selling novel I, Lucifer, which Dan Harris is slated to direct; and Trick or Treat, a horror film that will mark Dougherty's directorial debut, with Bryan Singer producing.
In addition, with Harris and Bryan Singer, Dougherty is writing a year's worth of the Ultimate X-Men comic books and the Superman Returns prequel comic books.
A graduate of New York University's film program, Dougherty was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and currently resides in Los Angeles.

DAN HARRIS (Screenplay and Story) is a writer/director with a diverse range of projects.
Harris recently made his feature film directing debut with Imaginary Heroes, a funny and poignant coming-of-age story which was written by Harris and starred Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Daniels, Emile Hirsch and Michelle Williams. The film had its world premiere as a Gala Presentation at the 29th Toronto International Film Festival and opened in Winter 2005 after being given a special recognition for excellence in filmmaking from the National Board of Review.
In addition to Superman Returns, Harris and his writing partner Michael Dougherty co-wrote the blockbuster X2: X-Men United (2003) at the age of 22 for director Bryan Singer, an assignment offered to him after the director read the screenplay for Imaginary Heroes. X2 starred Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen and Halle Berry and has grossed more than $415 million worldwide. In the same year, he was honored as one of Variety's top 10 screenwriters to watch.
On the horizon is I, Lucifer, a film that Harris will be directing in London this summer based on the best-selling novel which he adapted with Michael Dougherty.
In addition, with Dougherty and Bryan Singer, Harris is writing a year's worth of the Ultimate X-Men comic books and the Superman Returns prequel comic books. Recently, Harris's photography has twice been published by New York fashion and arts landmark Visionaire and he was honored to be a part of Vanity Fair's Hollywood Portfolio in 2005.
Before he received his bachelor's degree from Columbia University, Harris's short film Urban Chaos Theory won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the NoDance Film Festival, and the following winter, his short film, The Killing of Candice Klein, played to rave reviews at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
Harris was raised in Pennsylvania. When he was a 17-year-old production assistant, he was accidentally hit with a tennis ball thrown by Woody Allen. He has wanted to be a filmmaker ever since.

DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER
From the 1993 feature Public Access, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, to the Super Hero franchise X-Men, BRYAN SINGER (Director - Producer - Story By) has infused his award-winning films with richly drawn characters and a bold visual style.
He first gained widespread attention in 1995 with the mystery/thriller
The Usual Suspects, which was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Picture and starred Benicio Del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollack and Kevin Spacey, whose performance garnered an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category. The film's screenwriter, Christopher McQuarrie, also received an Oscar for his original screenplay. The Usual Suspects was the first project produced by Singer's Bad Hat Harry Productions, a motion picture, television and video game production company he formed in 1994. Bad Hat Harry Productions has produced or co-produced all of Singer's films as well as the highly successful television series House, the upcoming feature length documentary Look, Up in the Sky!: The Amazing Story of Superman and the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries The Triangle, which premiered in December 2005.
Singer's third feature film was the critically acclaimed Apt Pupil, which was adapted from a Stephen King novella and starred Academy Award nominee Sir Ian McKellen.
Singer then followed with two wildly successful films - the summer 2000
blockbuster, X-Men, and the even more successful 2003 sequel, X2: X-Men United. With X2, he reunited the all-star cast of X-Men that included Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Rebecca Romijn. Singer helmed the adaptation with a keen awareness of the 40-year-old comic franchise's legion of admirers. Comic fans and new audiences overwhelmingly embraced his vision, which seamlessly fused the science fiction and action/adventure genres. X2 was the first feature film in history to simultaneously open on screens worldwide on such a grand scale (93 territories) and to date the X-Men franchise has grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
Singer also directed the pilot for and executive produces the Emmy Award-winning television series House. Currently airing, House received five 2005 Emmy Award nominations including Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama and Outstanding Writing - Drama, the latter of which was won by writer/creator/executive producer David Shore. The series also received two Golden Globe nominations this year, winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama (Hugh Laurie). House has been a mainstay in the top 10 shows for much of its first and second seasons, averaging 19 million viewers each week. The series also now airs in several international markets.