Bam Kapow's Fan Film Contest Winner: Arkham

Some seriously fantastic fan films have popped up on the mega-web over the last couple of years and here at Bam!Kapow! we’ve always got our ears to the ground for fellow nerds who have the talent and dedication for projects such as those. We decided that a contest was in order, a proper contest, and when Mt. Dew Voltage heard about it they wanted a piece too. So we set the date and let the masses know. Really, we just wanted to give people a purpose to create something awesome. What we received however, we were surely not ready for. Paul Frieling sent in his Batman themed CGI powerhouse entitled Arkham and we said "WOW!". There is so much about it that deserves mentioning: The texture, the lighting, the sound design, the Harley Quinn dialogue, the Joker model… It’s simply two and a half minutes of kick-ass. Check it out here:

Bam!Kapow! got Paul one-on-one for the insider info behind Arkham’s creation and the looming events in the Dark Knight’s future.

Guessing 10 or 15, how big was the team animating Arkham?
Well, as much as I would have liked to have had a fellow 3D sidekick for the process of creating the piece, I was working completely solo. Anyone who understands the filmmaking process knows how much work goes into creating a finished product.  Even for a piece as short as Arkham. Its hard to say exactly how long the whole process took me, I was working off and on for around three or four months. From, conceptualizing, writing, modeling/sculpting, lighting, texturing, recording the actors dialog, sound editing, animating, rendering out the elements, compositing, and finally piecing it together in the editing room.

One guy? Stop lying. What fuels a project this big? What would be the official beverage and soundtrack behind the making of this teaser?                                                             
Hahaha! I guess it would have to be Berry flavored Juicy Juice (Don’t judge me!)  I’ve been a big fan of that stuff since I was a kid and I’m still drinking it to this day. When I first began the modeling process, I was listening to a lot of the The Dark Knight film score. My favorite band of all time is the Pixies, so I was listening to them as well, along with a little bit of Ween, The Clash, Sex Pistols etc.  Sid Vicious was one of my inspirations for the look of the Joker, with the whole Nihilist/Punk Rock look.

Juicy Juice is not a crime. I’d kill someone for a cold glass of Ecto-Cooler. How much better would Arkham have turned out if it had been fueled by Mt. Dew Voltage?
Not sure but most likely the turn over would have been much quicker.  

If you’ve ever done anything as big as this, you know full well that no matter how excited about it you are at the beginning, after the first two weeks of grueling work it becomes just that, work. Start again today, what do you change or add to your process?
If I could go back and do it all over again, I would probably bring more life to Harvey Dent’s cell. Maybe we see his hands grab the bars of the door as we pass by, or maybe we hear breathing or grunting coming from the inside.

You don’t devote yourself like this to characters you don’t love. Name your Batman story arc of choice.
Other than The Dark Knight Returns, one of my favorites is The Long Halloween. Tim Sale’s art direction and color palette is absolutely stunning. I read that book on a yearly basis.

Following Bruce Wayne’s alleged death, Gothem’s Dark Knight is secret identity-less. Who do you say is most deserving to inherit the cowl?
I’ve questioned this to myself many of times over before.  My feelings have always brought me to the same individual, Dick Grayson. Not only has he been beside the Dark Knight the longest as the first Robin, but he, like Bruce Wayne, tragically lost his parents at a young age. The both of them carry that same pain and motivation to become more than just a man of vengeance.

If you’re Christopher Nolan and your film TDK just banked a billion+ at the box office, Heath Ledger won a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and you’ve created a legitimate piece of cinematic history let alone a pillar for fanboy obsession, what direction do you go with the third installment?
I’ve always been skeptical on the third film of any franchise, especially for the super hero genre. I guess mainly because by the third film, I want something completely different from the first two. I would love to see Nolan take the story he has going from The Dark Knight and fast forward it 10 or 15 years down the road.  Similar to what I did with Arkham I guess.

As all of us are, you seemed impressed with Ledger’s Joker. Are you also impressed by the rumor that there could possibly be a cameo by Heath via Benjamin Button style FX in the third film?
My thoughts after hearing it were, NO! Don’t get me wrong the Benjamin Button VFX were amazingly executed, but I think it would feel weird, not just technically, but morally. Ledger left us with an incredible, charismatic portrayal of the joker but to digitally slap his face on someone else’s performance would, in my opinion, be a big mistake.

We’d love to green-light a real budget for an Arkham feature, but our wedding to Megan Fox is going to cost a lot of money and there just isn’t enough to go around. It’s the thought that counts though right? What’s next for Arkham?
I just started writing a full length script for it.  Not going to say much, but it’s going to be kind of  a cross between Arkham Asylum: Serious House on a Serious Earth and the No Man’s Land story arc.  Hopefully one day I can get the rights and budget to make it.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and to everyone who took the time to watch our winner, Arkham. For more from Paul Frieling visit his site at www.arkham-themovie.com. Stay tuned to Bam!Kapow! for more contests and one last special thanks to Mt. Dew Voltage for their sponsorship and provision of delicious caffeinated beverages!