American Cinematographer - April 2009 - (Page 28) Watchmakers Cinematographer Larry Fong and director Zack Snyder reteam to bring the epic graphic novel Watchmen to the big screen. by Jon D. Witmer Unit photography by Clay Enos he year is 1985, and the 37th president of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, continues to occupy the Oval Office, leading a nation on the brink of war with the Soviet Union. The Watchmen, self-made vigilantes who emerged in the 1930s, have recently been outlawed, but some of them continue to operate as either criminals or secret government operatives. Their ranks include Ozymandias, The Comedian, Night Owl, Rorschach, Silk Spectre and Dr. Manhattan. The new film Watchmen is T 28 April 2009 based on a 12-part comic-book miniseries written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons and colored by John Higgins. Director Zack Snyder says the project “made me realize comics can be so much more than I ever dreamed. I thought I knew what was possible as far as superhero mythology and how it’s experienced in pop culture, but Watchmen showed me I had no idea what was possible — my mind got blown.” Embracing the prospects of a live-action rendition of the labyrinthine story, Snyder gathered a team that included cinematographer Larry Fong, a collaborator on 300 (AC April ’06), and production designer Alex McDowell and visual-effects supervisor John “D.J.” DesJardin. “A director of photography has to be someone who’s going to raise the bar for me and care about the project as much as I do, and Larry totally does,” says Snyder, whose friendship and collaboration with Fong dates back to their student days at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. Fong was given a bit more
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