[Nieuws] Geschreven door Quint op 2008-04-03 19:06:21

IGN reageert op Zelda-film

Het moge inmiddels duidelijk zijn dat de Zelda-trailer toch echt een 1 april grap was, maar er zit een toekomst in... Dit is namelijk hetgeen wat IGN heeft te zeggen op de drie-minuut durende trailer, die je overigens hier nog kunt bekijken:[QUOTE]Okay, so the jig is up: Our Legend of Zelda movie trailer was an elaborate April Fool's joke. Did we get you? Judging by some of the thousands of responses in the comments field of the article and across a wide assortment of message boards, at least a few of you out there fell for it. And we can't really blame you, either – the team at Rainfall Films put together a pretty convincing spot. Hey – bare minimum, it beats the pants off anything Uwe Boll has ever attached his name to (and we apologize to Rainfall for that unnecessary comparison.) Even if the trailer was a prank, however, it begs the question: would a real Legend of Zelda movie work on the big screen? There are certainly some uphill battles, some of which were illustrated in our mock trailer -- for example, the fact that the protagonist of the story, Link, doesn't say a single word. But at the same time, the Zelda series shares a lot in common with Lord of the Rings and there's no disputing the success of Peter Jackson's films. The team at Rainfall Films, which consisted of nearly 20 members at its peak, spent about three months working on the Zelda trailer April Fool's prank for IGN. The spot was directed by Sam Balcomb, who also worked on the majority of the visual effects by himself, at home, and on a Mac, we might add. (Sorry, Avid. Yay, Final Cut Pro!) "I work very often as a visual effects supervisor for music videos and stuff so me taking some time out of my evenings to work on the Zelda trailer was a hell of a lot cheaper than getting Digital Domain involved," says Balcomb. For Balcomb and team, the Zelda trailer was not just another job, but a work of passion, as many of the contributors are avid gamers and grew up playing Link's adventures. By Hollywood standards, the nearly-three-minute spot was made for peanuts, but a real Zelda movie would, of course, need to be supported by an equally epic budget. Nintendo's franchise is filled with huge locales, menacing monsters, and the potential for some seriously eye-popping special effects and choreography were it all re-imagined for the silver screen. To make that happen, any Hollywood takers would need to throw down not just tens of millions, but hundreds of millions. "Part of the fun in working with a universe this huge is that there is so much to draw from," explains Balcomb. This, of course, is one major advantage that a real movie could explore, as there's much more on-screen time to flesh-out characters and to develop sub-threads within the context of the story. It's also a disadvantage for an unqualified director because it means that moviegoers need to be entertained not just for three minutes, but for two hours. A Zelda movie would -- like Lord of the Rings before it -- need to be helmed by a competent director with a great eye for style. Names like Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, The Hobbit) or Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Constantine) spring to mind. Uwe Boll does not spring to mind. Although Balcomb and team worked within very limited time constraints, they did put a few extras into the trailer for those really looking. "We cheated a little bit by throwing in stuff -- little easter eggs -- that we hope some people will see," he explains. "Some people have seen them, but most people have not. I think that most of them are so hard to see that most of us couldn't even find them if they weren't pointed out. But that's part of the fun." Rainfall Films chose to go with a cast of unknown actors for the IGN Zelda trailer, an unlikely possibility for a mega-budget Hollywood take. Studios sinking hundreds of millions into a blockbuster movie want at least some level of assurance that moviegoers will come out for it, and the easiest way to gain that guarantee is to populate the film with recognizable, if not beloved actors. See Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie, Hitman with "that guy from Deadwood" Timothy Olyphant, and Resident Evil with Milla Jovovich. To please Zelda fans, these actors would really have to look and act the part right down to the fact that main character Link has remained left-handed in every single Zelda game except Twilight Princess. Why then was the actor in our Zelda trailer clearly right-handed? "Because he was right-handed in Twilight Princess," Balcomb defends and then relents. "The real reason is that JR Killigrew, who plays Link, is right-handed and the fact the he was essentially coming in to shoot for three days and do a fight scene just wasn't enough reason to spend the months to train to fight left-handed." Of course, hardcore fans immediately noted this presentational decision (and most complained). Bear in mind this is a three-minute trailer debuted on April Fool's. Now take this same level of devoted fanaticism and throw it at a Hollywood production, where every announcement and every design choice from whether or not Link should speak right down to how he executes his different sword slashes on-screen will be meticulously dissected and talked about. There's no doubt that perhaps more than most videogame-to-movie adaptations, studios have a lot to live up to in order to please the fan base. Has IGN's trailer shown that a Zelda movie could be made? According to some fan comments, just the opposite -- that the character of Link simply doesn't translate to the big screen. We're still much more optimistic about the franchise's chances for success in Hollywood, though. Certainly stranger things have happened. If moviegoers will go to see Tomb Raider, which mimics Indiana Jones, why won't they go to see Zelda, which is similar to Lord of the Rings? We're keeping hope alive, but until the fateful day really arrives, gamers can at least check out one studio's Zelda movie blueprint.[/QUOTE] Kort door de bocht genomen wordt er hier dus gezegd dat er drie maanden is gewerkt aan de trailer en met veel plezier, maar voor geen enkele andere reden dan een hobby-project. Verder zegt IGN dat ze wel brood zien in een daadwerkelijke Zelda-film, omdat de serie zich uitstekend leent voor Lord of the Rings-taferelen. Bron: IGN