The Career of Director Zack Snyder: From 300 to Superman
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VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton
He has brought Zombies, fearless Spartans, unconventional superheroes and even owls to the silver screen. This filmmaker has led a fruitful career as a TV commercial shooter and director. Building a reputation for the speed and quality of his work, he has added his sense of style to the remake his childhood favorite horror feature “Dawn of The Dead.” Using its success, it primed Warner Bros. to seek his help in adapting Frank Miller's iconic graphic novel “300” to film. Spurring another massive hit, he went on to adapt the so called un-filmable graphic novel "Watchmen", the "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole", "Sucker Punch" and was named as the director to bring Christopher Nolan's "The Man of Steel" to the silver screen. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we take a look at the career of director Zack Snyder.
The Career of Director Zack Snyder: From 300 to Superman
He has brought Zombies, fearless Spartans, unconventional superheroes and even owls to the silver screen. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be taking a look at the career of director, producer and screenwriter Zack Snyder.
Born on March 1st, 1966 in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Snyder developed a passion for the arts when he was only eleven years old. Originally interested in creating animation, the original Star Wars film instantly shifted his passion to photography and filmmaking.
Attending the Heatherly School of Art in England, he went on to hone his craft at the Art Center College of Design in California, alongside such classmates as future director Michael Bay.
Throughout the 1990s, he went on to shoot and direct television commercials. Working at a breakneck pace, he visited countless exotic locales, and his sleek finished produced made him a top choice for ad agencies. As a result, he created ads for companies like Nike, BMW and Budweiser.
In 2002, he was to finally realize his dream of directing a Hollywood feature film. However, his deal with Columbia Pictures to direct a big budget adaptation of the 1975 TV series S.W.A.T was cancelled due to concerns over his gritty shooting style.
Despite this setback, he was later offered the chance to remake his childhood favorite horror feature “Dawn of The Dead.”
Raking in over 100 million dollars on an incredibly modest 25 million dollar budget, its success primed Warner Bros. to seek his help in adapting Frank Miller’s iconic graphic novel “300” to film.
Spending four-months shooting entirely on a soundstage with enhanced blue-screen technology, it became a unique and unforgettable box office juggernaut.
Due to his skill, and focus when dealing with the subject matter of graphic novels, Warner Bros. asked him to helm the highly anticipated comic-book adaptation “Watchmen.” While it went on to become a box office success, it was plagued by mediocre reviews and squabbling over its distribution rights.
In 2010, Snyder tried his hand at directing the family-friendly computer animated feature “Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.” This was based on the first three books of the series of the same name, and was seen as a major change of pace for the director. Not only was it unlike anything he had done before, but it was the first of his films to make due without the use of graphic sex and violence.
Perhaps due to this move, he became named as the director to helm Christopher Nolan’s 2012 Superman Reboot “The Man of Steel.” But before he could fully make the transition to the mainstream, he released his action-fantasy film “Sucker Punch” in 2011. This project had been in limbo for several years, and he personally described as “Alice in Wonderland with machine Guns.”
Known for his use of slow motion, dazzling cinematography and unparalleled sense of style; Zack Snyder is a director who is out to bring movie audiences their next big cinematic thrill.
