Sat Feb 16, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

Zack Snyder Answers Fans' 'Watchmen' Questions

Who watches the Watchmen? We're pretty sure you will...

Over at the official Watchmen film website, director Zack Snyder has answered a pretty hefty list of questions from fans about his upcoming big-screen adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

The Q&A is divided into two parts (part one, part two) and covers a lot of ground, from the difficulties of adapting Moore and Gibbons' use of panels and dialogue to create "scenes between the scenes" to the costumes and fight sequences of the film.

On the subject of Rorschach's costume, Snyder shed some light on the level of detail he's aiming for in the character's mask and the way it reacts with Rorschach's mood and hidden expressions:

As you can imagine, the most effective way to render the ever-changing inkblot that is Rorschach’s face is with the use of visual effects. So, we created a blank mask and strategically placed small green tracking markers on it. The markers will be used to track the contours of his face throughout the shot. There is also a hole that reveals Jackie’s [Jackie Earle Haley] eyes not only so he can see, but also to help to the VFX artists later while they animate Rorschach’s face. The opening allows them to see what Jackie’s eyes were emoting. When completed, his open-eyed, green polka dotted face will have been replaced by a CG element, a slowly changing inkblot pattern. We’ve gone through and analyzed the many inkblots from the graphic novel and have assigned them each different emotional characteristics — so that when Rorschach is experiencing something in a scene, the shape on the mask reflects his emotions in a graphic and abstract manner. I have had the opportunity to see some of the early tests and I am very pleased with how it is coming together.

Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, Snyder also addresses some of the rumors surrounding the development of The Black Freighter, the story-within-a-story that unfolds throughout the graphic novel.

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