Superman's movies have always sold themselves on the idea of making audiences believe that a man can fly. This year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice proved no different. Flight has always seemed like one of Kal-El's most enviable abilities, but how exactly do filmmakers pull off that sort of effect? A new behind the scenes photo from Zack Snyder's recent epic seems to shed a bit of light on that topic. Check it out below to see for yourself.
Superman actor Henry Cavill recently took to Instagram to share the above photo from the production of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The photo comes from the titular showdown between the two iconic DC heroes, just as Ben Affleck's Batman is about to fire his second Kryptonite grenade at the Man of Steel. As Henry Cavill notes in the caption to the photo: running headfirst into his one weakness proves to be a rather poor decision for Clark Kent in the end.
The photo in question provides a great deal of insight into how these sorts of shots actually come to life. Although much of the set remains practical, the picture reveals that the filmmakers achieved the look of the scene by strapping Henry Cavill into a series of harnesses while wearing his Superman outfit, and basically hurling him through the air towards Batfleck. Once the actual scene had been committed to film, they send it along to postproduction teams to add all of the necessary CGI that one would expect from a big, climactic battle like this.
This sort of photo just goes to show much we suspend our disbelief when we watch a movie like Batman v Superman. We know that a man cannot actually soar through the air, but Zack Snyder and the crew behind the film made a damn convincing case. Even his cape is CGI'd into the frame during post-production, but we simply forget about that sort of thing in the moment when we watch two of our favorite superheroes face off on the silver screen. Perhaps I'm being overly sentimental here, but that seems like the exact reason we go to the movies in the first place.
With the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition slated to hit shelves on July 19, it seems likely that we will soon be treated to many more of these behind the scenes looks when the special features become available. We will keep you posted with all relevant information related to the DCEU films as it becomes available to us; stay tuned!
