January, 2008
January 30th, 2008 | Digg This
And so the Dark Knight news continues in absence of Heath Ledger, that melancholy feeling continues to linger. It is going to be a little weird in these next few months, as promotion gears up again and we get more viral marketing campaigns - probably with the same Joker stance.
Coming Soon have posted three new shots of Batman in an assortment of poses:
A possible new poster here, looks a little green and fake but that may just be the quality of the image itself. I prefer the other posters that we have seen.
Bruce Wayne aside the new Bat-suit (everything always has to be new and improved!)
January 27th, 2008 | Digg This
These are some very kind and interesting words recanting Heath Ledger’s on set aura, as told by Chris Nolan (via Newsweek)
One night, as I’m standing on LaSalle Street in Chicago, trying to line up a shot for “The Dark Knight,” a production assistant skateboards into my line of sight. Silently, I curse the moment that Heath first skated onto our set in full character makeup. I’d fretted about the reaction of Batman fans to a skateboarding Joker, but the actual result was a proliferation of skateboards among the younger crew members. If you’d asked those kids why they had chosen to bring their boards to work, they would have answered honestly that they didn’t know. That’s real charisma—as invisible and natural as gravity. That’s what Heath had.
Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren’t many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them.
One time he and another actor were shooting a complex scene. We had two days to shoot it, and at the end of the first day, they’d really found something and Heath was worried that he might not have it if we stopped. He wanted to carry on and finish. It’s tough to ask the crew to work late when we all know there’s plenty of time to finish the next day. But everyone seemed to understand that Heath had something special and that we had to capture it before it disappeared. Months later, I learned that as Heath left the set that night, he quietly thanked each crew member for working late. Quietly. Not trying to make a point, just grateful for the chance to create that they’d given him.
Those nights on the streets of Chicago were filled with stunts. These can be boring times for an actor, but Heath was fascinated, eagerly accepting our invitation to ride in the camera car as we chased vehicles through movie traffic—not just for the thrill ride, but to be a part of it. Of everything. He’d brought his laptop along in the car, and we had a high-speed screening of two of his works-in-progress: short films he’d made that were exciting and haunting. Their exuberance made me feel jaded and leaden. I’ve never felt as old as I did watching Heath explore his talents. That night I made him an offer—knowing he wouldn’t take me up on it—that he should feel free to come by the set when he had a night off so he could see what we were up to.
When you get into the edit suite after shooting a movie, you feel a responsibility to an actor who has trusted you, and Heath gave us everything. As we started my cut, I would wonder about each take we chose, each trim we made. I would visualize the screening where we’d have to show him the finished film—sitting three or four rows behind him, watching the movements of his head for clues to what he was thinking about what we’d done with all that he’d given us. Now that screening will never be real. I see him every day in my edit suite. I study his face, his voice. And I miss him terribly.
Back on LaSalle Street, I turn to my assistant director and I tell him to clear the skateboarding kid out of my line of sight when I realize—it’s Heath, woolly hat pulled low over his eyes, here on his night off to take me up on my offer. I can’t help but smile.
January 22nd, 2008 | Digg This
This is shocking and terrible news, who knows what shall happen to The Dark Knight now that he has died. All principal photography has been completed but this is a heart wrenching blow to all of us that had fallen in love with his portrayal as The Joker. I personally can’t find the words to explain my feelings at this point, what a horrible loss - an actor that seemed to be reaching his peak and had such great things ahead of him.
From the BBC,
Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence, a New York Police Department spokesman has said.
“He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead,” a police spokeswoman said.
Police are investigating whether the Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, died of a drug overdose.
The 28-year-old was found dead in the SoHo flat at around 1530 (2030 GMT).
Police said they did not suspect foul play and that his body had been discovered surrounded by pills.
From the Associated Press:
Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence, and police said drugs may have been a factor. He was 28. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let him know the masseuse had arrived found him dead at 3:26 p.m.
A large crowd of paparazzi and gawkers began gathering Tuesday evening outside the building on an upscale block in SoHo, where several police officers guarded the door.
Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.
January 22nd, 2008 | Digg This
The readers over at /film have sent in some very cool Dark Knight promotional items - a beautiful Joker card set donned with the phrase “Why So Serious”, the Batman logo and the film’s release date and a white t-shirt with a hideous Joker grin sprawled across it.
