Magazine Article: Cinefex Issue 63 (Part 2)

And now for part 2 of the Cinefex article.

Two-Face sets the helicopter, with Batman aboard, on a collision course with Lady Gotham. A large-scale model of the statue is readied for a shot of the fiery crash.  

Effects crew members add last-minute detailing to one of several fiberglass heads built to accommodate multiple takes. Breakaway sections in the cheek were rigged to shatter when struck by the helicopter's spinning rotors. Upon filming, however, the crew discovered that the blades‘ cutting into the head caused the statue to buckle and warp, requiring a digital fix by PDI.

As with the billboard effect, the miniature helicopter is tail-mounted on a rod prior to being pushed into the statue to simulate the collision.

For an establishing fly- through over Gotham and into the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises, Warner Brothers Imaging Technology produced a wholly computer generated three-dimensional cityscape, complete with detailed skyscrapers and statuary.

Wayne Enterprises plant manager Fred Stickley (Ed Begley, Jr.) becomes an unwilling test subject for the Riddler's prototype invention — a television adapter that transforms video images into 3-D holograms while surreptitiously sapping brain waves. For a shot of three-dimensional fish emerging from a television screen, Composite Image Systems digitally extracted the fish from bluescreen tank photography and matted them into space. Color shifts and other surface treatments were added to link the fish with the video environment and simulate the signal beam breaking up.

The batmobile — altered from previous incarnations to include a more streamlined body, with sleek wings running down the canopy and rear fenders — was built full-scale and as a miniature by TFX. To promote the illusion of intense engine firepower, both miniature and life-size versions of the car were equipped with propane burners for spewing flame as the batmobile fires up to maximum power. Modelmaker Paul Ozzimo sculpts the body of a sixth-scale miniature used in several key scenes.  

Crew member David Beasley adds fuel to the model flame-car in preparation for a shot of the vehicle doing a wheelie down an alleyway.

Pursued by Two-Face and his cohorts, Batman escapes by deploying a grappling hook and cable and driving his batmobile straight up the side of a building. The shot was accomplished in miniature using the TFX sixth-scale vehicle on a like-scaled alleyway set built by Grant McCune Design.