Greetings! It is I, Robin again writing in with more bat-trivia. But, first off, a Bat-movie update. We are almost through editing Episode Three, just a few more bits to go. Being the savy editor that I am, anymore detailed information is strictly reserved for Batman. However, I will satisfy your appetiet for our completed project with another tale from the super hero vaults. I entitle this one: "Bat-Pole Woes."
For our third and fourth film, Joey and I wanted bat-poles. Previously, our entrance into the bat-cave was to leap through Joey's garage door and into the cave. This, obviously needed to be changed. Besides, everyone knows that the bat-poles are one of the defining moments in any batman epidsode. When that bookcase opens up, you know it's game time. The masks are going on and someone is going to get KAPOWED! Even the Joker had a ride on the bat-poles once and you can bet he enjoyed it, that is until Alfred turned on the reverse bat-pole slide and sent him flying back up until the police arrived.
Therefore, bat-poles were a must. However, the only way to truly create this illusion would be to build a set very similar to the one they used in the show. After looking at some blueprints from the set used to create the illusion, it became blatently clear to Joey and I that they way the 1970's show was done was by the use of 3 sets: 1) a very deep closet with the poles built into the roof and ceiling with the book case (this allowed the desent into the cave. 2) a long shaft with the poles (the descent into the cave with the automatic costume changer) 3) the cave itself with an additional 6 or 7 feet of pole space to create the slide into the cave shot, in costume. Joey and I groaned upon realizing this because we could not exactly remodel our homes to follow the needed construction prints. We entertained finding a house that was being built which might give us the nessicary shaft or large space needed for the poles, but quickly ruled that out at the thought of crimial charges.
What we needed was a mobile set that we could transport between locations. Thankfully, we didn't have to go far. Our Stately Wayne Study was Joey's living room and our Bat-cave was Joey's garage. But, we only had about 9-10 feet of ceiling height to work with. So, after a trip to home depot (the movie makers store) we determined we could buy 2 sturdy metal plumbing pipes. I then figured out how to construct a base that could hold these poles in place. The base was not a very complicated design. I took a two by four, but it in half and used a scroll saw to cut out the needed holes for the poles. Then, I used two bolts to refasten the base. The poles themselves were about 7 ft in length. Everything seemed to work fine. The base held the poles up fine and I could slide down them without hurting myself. Further, everything fit in the back of my truck, so they could be transported. Now that we had our poles, how the heck would we film the whole entering the bat-cave sequence?
Joey's living room did not have the proper space to fit a bookcase. Also, we knew it would be impossible to have us hit a button and the thing to actually open up to a shaft. However, we did determine that a small bookcase Joey had in his room could be moved downstairs to cover the entrace of his basement. We could then situate the lense of the camera to include just the shot of the bookcase. This was a brilliant discovery because, previously, our ideas had been to move a bookcase in front of a sliding glass door at either Joey's house or my house. We decided on this because we could adjust the size of the hole and such to fit the bookcase. But, it had the huge problems of 1) being outside (so we'd have to film at dark and pray no bugs were flying around in the background 2) no drop off for a sliding into the cave effect. So, the basement was a huge and a brilliant idea.
The shots were starting to come together in my head. Joey would flip a switch or something (we hadn't deterimined what device to enter the cave with yet). The next should would be us running and jumping onto the poles and sliding out of sight. Then the camera would fade out. It was a brilliant idea, the basement provided the needed shaft like apperatus and we could put the poles far enough back on the basement steps that we could run, jump onto the poles, and slide out of sight.
Wait a minute... did you say, "steps?" Somehow in my mind, steps, running, and jumping down into a basement does not sound like a good idea. Add the addition of costumes and you have a full blow, while surely comical disaster. The idea may have worked except remember, the only thing holding the poles together was a bolted two by four. Further, Joey and I had enough problems keeping the poles level on solid ground and trying to slide down them together because there was no lateral support for the device. Just our own downward force and balance to keep the poles upright. Fortunately, Joey pointed this out to me. When filming, I tend to be the director that is just like, we need to do this shot and latches onto the first concept that enters his head. Just like the time I ran, jumped, and rolled down a small hill with my camera because I thought it would look good. It did, but it hurt, a lot. Thanks to Joey, we avoided a very messy accident that would have surely have gone something like this:
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"Filming the Batman Movie"
Scene 3: Joey's House
(Joey and Kenn are whispering excitedly. They place the poles into position and set up the camera. They take their spots for their run.)
(Cut upstairs to the bedroom of Joey's mom and dad. They are fast asleep. Suddenly, there is a loud bang, followed by a sickening crack.)
Mom: What was that?
Dad: It sounded like it came from the basement.
Mom: Joey?
(Mom goes to investigate the livingroom. Camera stays behind dad. He walks to the basement door. At first, he is not sure what he sees. Quickly, he determines that there is a metal pole jamed into his basement ceiling. His eyes follow the pole down to the steps of the basement which reveal two limp bodies.)
Dad: Call 911 honey. ...they did it again.
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After many nights discussing this problem, I finally came up with the answer of how to film this scene. I was so obsessed with filming the episode just like the tv show that I never considered alternative ways to film the scene. Joey's living room had a very large entrance to it. Instead of a doorway or a walkway, they just did not install a wall. It's very spacious and attractive. Also, perfect for filming a bat-cave. Here's what we did:
Shot 1) Joey hits the switch
Shot 2) a CU of the bookcase being pulled open to reveal the poles in the basement
Shot 3) back in the living room, the poles are set up in the large entrace. The camera is put behind them and elevated slightly. From this angle, it looks as if we are filming from directly behind the batpoles, in the cave. Low lighting in the hall way helped achieve this effect. Joey and I run and the camera, jump and slide off screen.
Shot 4) CU of bookcase sliding back into position, fade out.
Brilliant huh? It looks fairly decent too. Now, to conclude this entry on the bat-poles I will wrap up with how we decided to operate the bookcase. In a technical sense, it was just Joey and I pushing/pulling from off camera. But, in the show, the bookcase is operated by a switch inside a bust of William Shakespear. The top opens, the button is pushed and the bookcase opened. That should be a simple prop to procure, right?
WRONG!
Joey and I combed ebay, online stores, value city, craft stores, costume shops, etc. trying to find a shakespear bust. After a few weeks of looking, we decided to settle upon any bust. After a month went by, we got desperate. We could find busts of Shakespear to use, but they were very expensive, made of stone, or too small. We wanted a plastic bust because we figured that a plastic one would be the easiest to modify to contain a switch. Once we exhausted our supply of shakespear sources, we moved on to other famous busts. I found some nice busts of the founders, but they were again too expensive of made of stone. Finally, we abandoned our online approach and hit the streets.
After seeing an elephant bust in a store, Joey came up with the idea that lawn orniments may be our best bet. So, we began to look for them. The best statues we came up with were a statue of a young boy and two small angels (I suggested they could symbolize bruce's parents), both of which were in the range of $30.00 dollars. After some discussion Joey and I decided to find another way. Afterall, why spend $30.00 on a prop we would use about twice and were not happy with? Joey briefly suggested we make a bust, but upon reconsideration of our combinded artistic skills, we realized that just because we could sew a little did not mean we could craft a bust of shakespear or anyone else other than "Round-up", the wal-mart smiley.
Joey and I decided we could make the entrance to the cave basically anything you would use to enter an secrete passage. Something like playing a note on a keyboard, pulling a candle stick, or hitting a button. Joey and I decided upon the latter. Joey took a small brown jewlery box and spray painted a top of a water bottle red. He then inserted it into the box and placed it on a small table near the center of the room. Viola! A secrete button in the box. The prop does not look too bad and is only on screen for a few seconds up close. But, for all pratical purposes it looked great. Now, you know what really gets at me?
When I was at Stratford-upon-Avon (shakespear's birthplace in England) they were selling great busts of Shakespear by the dozens. I almost bought one so we could re-shoot that scene. Man, sometimes you just get so mad, you can't. Anyway citizens, I have taken up enough of your time for today. Check back soon because there are more bat-pole misadventures to discover. In my next thrilling issue you will learn:
-how joey injured himself, multiple times
-how to slide down a bat-pole
-bat-pole limitations and miscaluations
-the auctomatic costume changer
-filming errors
Holy Captivating Caper Batman! The best is yet to come!
THOCK!,
Robin
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