"THE Batman" Matt Reeves x Keishi Otomo "same age" director special conversation complete version [Director's Interview Vol.194]

Lighting that creates darkness and innovative Gotham City obsessions

Otomo: Also, the lighting is excellent, with a strong emphasis on shadows. The characters blend into the darkness, and he is particular about not showing them. It's been a long time since I've seen such a production in such a Big budget movie, and I was deeply moved.

Reeves: This time, we designed lighting for when you're wearing the Batsuit. Bruce/ Batman is trying to use the shadow/darkness to instill fear in people. For this reason, we discussed and scrutinized the light and shadows for every scene with cinematographer Greig Fraser. There were times when I would get too much light and think, ``Wait a minute, that's too bright.'' Batman is, in a sense, a magic trick, so if you shine too much light on it, the illusion will collapse. He emerges from the shadows/darkness and casts a spell. Lighting was extremely important in making this happen.

At the same time, "light" is also an emotional thing for me. The first time I worked with Greig was on Morse , and there was a nighttime scene in which two children meet in a courtyard. The sodium lamp used there has a texture similar to that of a golden sunset, but it also has a harsh texture unique to night lights, which was used in this project as well. While it has a softness and romance to it, it also has a hard and edgy side. Gotham City was also created with that kind of image in mind.

“THE Batman” (c)2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved TM & (c)DC

Director Otomo: What an interesting story... (lol) Please also tell us about Gotham City. In previous Batman works, Gotham City has been reminiscent of some other city, especially New York. However, the Gotham City of ``THE BATMAN'' is very different from the previous ones. If I had to put it bluntly, I'd say it was New York in the 70s and 80s, and for foreigners like us, it had an atmosphere of those days when even riding the subway was scary.

Reeves: That's right. I wanted to shoot something like Gotham Square, so I knew I wanted to shoot in Times Square, but I didn't want it to be in New York itself. I wanted it to be a city that reminded me of New York or Chicago, but was neither.

To do this, I searched for areas where Gothic architecture was used as the foundation of the city. Liverpool, Glasgow, Chicago, etc. Based on those Gothic buildings, we added more modern buildings using CG. The result is a Gotham City that makes you think, "It feels like Times Square, but it's different. So where is this?"

And the atmosphere of New York in the 1970s that director Otomo was referring to is exactly that. Actually, I myself had been robbed in Times Square, so I had the impression that New York was a very dangerous place at the time. The citizens were in poverty and there was always a feeling that everything was going to collapse. I thought Gotham should be a city with just as many problems.

This is the masterpiece `` Batman : Year One'' by Frank Miller and David Mars- Carrie published in the 1980s! There was something that made me think. It has a tone similar to those 70's movies I mentioned earlier. I wanted it to be a city filled with violence and declining, but also full of hopelessness and a sense of life.

Gossamites go to the Iceberg Lounge because they want to forget about all the hopelessness in their lives - dancing and twinkling lights. Fundamentally, I thought Gotham City had to be a city of despair.

Batman and the Riddler are two sides of the same coin.