When Extras Are More Than Extras
Alex Gray’s documentary, “Masterpiece: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns” was originally released in 2013 so it may seem a strange choice for my first podcast in the DC realm. But at least for now, it isn’t my intention to chase the most current superhero release or the most tweeted about Batman topic or the hype of the upcoming “The Batman” movie (which I am excited to see), rather, I am interested in Alex Gray, the filmmaker. So I asked Alex which documentary extra best represented his work. He mentioned a handful of titles, all of which I reviewed, and “Masterpiece” was the one that I thought best reflected his philosophy of creating extras that elevate, educate, and entertain fans as to why comic book heroes and their mythology is the ideal storytelling for this moment. Fortunately, Alex agreed. However, as I dug deeper, I found another part of the story that revolves around the Home Video business that I found fascinating and it led me to the insight that sometimes extras are more than extras. I’ll explain what I mean in a moment, but first, let me give you some background.
The documentary “Masterpiece” endures in large part because it is about the iconic “The Dark Knight Returns” graphic novel and its legendary creator Frank Miller. It was Frank Miller's vision (inspired by the work of Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson) that brought us the brooding, psychologically complex Bruce Wayne living in a world gone mad and filled with villains both subversive and deadly. This was a 180-degree turn from the comedic Batman TV series of the 1960s and it ushered in a new, darker vision of Batman that was expanded upon by subsequent writers and filmmakers. “The Dark Knight Returns” world reflected our own, with its obsession with media, with politicians run amuck, with a public that would rather retire to the comfort of self-preservation, but pulled back into a world of devilish villains wishing to bring our demise. Has much changed? Our current times seem much the same. And because of that, the “Dark Knight Returns” Batman continues to be the Batman for our times.
For those of us who work in creating the extras for the studios on a new film or TV release, there is always that tension of promoting the work by providing what is needed for the publicity and marketing departments, while also serving the filmmakers and creating extras that go deeper than a simple “making of” featurette. When the possibility arises to go deeper, to create something lasting, you know you have an opportunity you don’t want to waste.
Alex Gray directing on the Mad Max extras
For Alex, this was exemplified in the opportunity that he was presented with when the DC Animated Original Movie development team greenlit “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.” Let me just state that not every filmmaker would have had the vision to pitch a full-length documentary about Frank Miller and the original graphic novel in the way that Alex did. That’s for a multitude of reasons, but mainly because the budget and vision for a project of this scope weren’t in the original plan. Alex, working with his long-time collaborator and studio executive Bonnie Spence, took what would normally be a budget to create a “making of,” a sneak peek, and some other extras, and expanded the creative to encompass a feature movie-length documentary of Frank Miller and his original graphic novel “The Dark Knight Returns.” This is no small feat. It is so much easier in the studio system to do what is expected, to not rock the boat, to keep in the budget and timeline, and slightly “undershoot” expectations. But in all the years I have known them, neither Bonnie nor Alex have fallen prey to that easier route. They push farther, they present more complex and challenging creative projects, and because of that, they often needed bigger budgets.
And this is where we have to talk about marketing. Marketing sets budgets for extras, based mostly on previous sales history or comparable titles from other studios. In the case of the DC animated movies, the budgets are decent, as these movies sell directly to the consumer without the usual theatrical run, or at least that was the case back in 2013 when “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” was released. (This has changed recently with some one-off screenings through Fathom Events, however, these one or two-day runs in theaters don’t have the promotional muscle of the worldwide theatrical release of say, “Wonder Woman.") For the most part, these animated films rely on premieres at Comic-Cons, special screenings, exclusive online content, and the super-human efforts of the publicity department. And as usual, with the interest in the film peaked, the extras become that bonus material to help finalize the buyer’s decision to purchase. So when the special features team pitches a compelling idea, the marketing team is intrigued with the possibilities. But there is still the issue of the additional cost. Can the release make back the money?
In the instance of “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” the release was the first of the DCU animated movies to be conceived as a two-part release due to the wealth of source material they were working from. Part 1 was based on the original Frank Miller graphic novels “The Dark Knight Returns” and “The Dark Knight Triumphant.” Part 2 covered the releases “Hunt the Dark Knight” and "The Dark Knight Falls.” A Deluxe Edition containing both movies, part 1 & part 2, was not in the original plan. There was no precedent. If fans had purchased part 1 and part 2, why would they need to buy them again in a Deluxe Edition? Yes, they could watch the complete movie without interruption. But that wasn’t enough to justify a whole new release.
And likely our story would end here, with a nice package of extras being created for part 1 and part 2. But behind the scenes, Alex was reaching out to Frank Miller to see if he would agree to participate. If Frank didn’t, Alex could still create compelling pieces referencing the source material while detailing the work of director Jay Oliva, writer Bob Goodman, executive producer Bruce Timm, and the rest of the creative team on the animated movie.
But that all changed once Frank Miller agreed to be interviewed. Alex and Bonnie’s concept of creating a feature-length documentary film based around Frank Miller now changed the calculus of the release.
Alex recounts the initial concepts of the extras in our first podcast, so listen here for that part of the story.
In part 2, When Extras Change the Release Plans, I detail the origins of the Deluxe Edition and how that was a crucial component to funding the documentary “Masterpiece: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.”
Additional credit to Alex Gray and Bonnie Spence for their assistance in writing this blog post.
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Batman images copyright DC Entertainment.