I am particularly fascinated with creative inspiration. For instance I was recently reading the The Art and Making of the Batman Trilogy and came to a section where they described the creation of the Batmobile.
When I first saw it I was not impressed but as I learned the reasoning behind the design and the technological hurdles I came to appreciate it more and more. Director Christopher Nolen wanted as much realism in his movie as possible and illustrated his Batmobile idea by molding a lump of clay into the rough shape he wanted.
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| The Batmobile - Photo from wikipedia. |
Clearly the most striking feature of the vehicle, it's lack of a front axle, was a major technological hurdle. Instead, the front wheels are held on by two arms from the outside. I was amazed that the builders were able to create this vehicle and have it work! When the director was going to compromise and use a conventional axle the fabricating team wanted to try to solve the problem because they knew it would look better.
Reportedly, it also worked better than most vehicles built for movies. Previous iterations of the Batmobile were static displays in some cases. But this one performed beyond expectation and held up to all the punishment it took filming Batman Begins.
This new Batmobile illustrates for me the fact that artists don't just create pretty pictures. They are also problem-solvers. When translating a basic maquette into a finished drawing it is often necessary to figure out how a part will attach or subtleties in textures, building layers of complexity until a convincing mirror of reality is achieved.
By the time the Batmobile reached the final stage of production it was a functioning vehicle. Every level of creative professional had something unique to add to the design of what basically started as a funny-shaped ball of clay. And everyone who came into contact with the final vehicle wanted one.
The final result was spectacular on the screen.
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