Director Zack Snyder and his work

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

What would moviegoers all over the world do now, if there were no such truly great gurus of the film industry as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, James Cameron. Talented director Zack Snyder, a promising filmmaker who already has a large number of awards and prizes in his arsenal, may soon be on a par with them.

A bit of childhood

Today's successful Hollywood figure, and then still unremarkable baby Zachary Edward Snyder was born on March 1, 1966 in a small American town in Wisconsin called Green Bay. But his parents did not plan to stay long in the stuffy town and moved with the boy to the state of Connecticut, where his mother got a job as a teacher at the school of painting and art photography.

Thanks to this, young Zach was easily placed in the same school, where he was instilled with a love of creativity. Credit must be given to the mother, who from an early age developed in the boy an interest in the art of education. Noticing her son's passionate love for cinema, she gave him a video camera, and although it was not professional, it was quite enough for the stubborn Zach to learn the basics of directing. Youngster's idolwas George Lucas, who just at that time released his "Star Wars" on the screens. It was then that Zack Snyder decided on his film preferences. Fantasy - that's what interested the guy.

Zack, who had been especially successful in his school years, was easily accepted to a prestigious art school in London, and then to a design college in Pasadena.

First directorial steps

Snyder's directing career began in the early 1990s when he began directing commercials. And each work, to which he had a hand, was marked by special success. That is why, at such a young age, Zack Snyder has already managed to collaborate with such monsters of the global industry as Reebok, Nike, SUBARU, Magnum, Budweiser, BMW, Mitsubishi. For special creativity in this area, he was even awarded an award at the annual Clio Awards festival. In addition, his work for Jeep did not go unnoticed - the video, called "Frisbee", received the Golden Lion Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Besides these achievements, the young director has made new acquaintances whom other budding talents dream of meeting at least once. This is Harrison Ford, and Robert De Niro, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and even American basketball star Michael Jordan. The latter, by the way, starred in the documentary Michael Jordan's Playground. This film was the debut for Snyder and was released in 1990.

Principled Zack Snyder

Deciding it's time to quitadvertising, Snyder changed his profile to directing music videos. After directing a decent amount of videos for Sean Collins, Morrissey, Heather Nova and the Soul Asylum team, he eventually achieved his goal of starting work on feature films.

2002 was a turning point for the guy. Having signed such a long-awaited contract with Columbia Pictures, he did not see eye to eye with the company's management and was forced to terminate the contract. And the reason for the conflict was the rating of the future film: the directors insisted on PG-13 (which means that even children are allowed to watch the film), while Zak preferred to start his career with a more serious R-rated picture (that is, videos with elements of violence, erotica, etc.).

Snyder's first "star"

Zack Snyder, whose filmography, in fact, begins with the film "Dawn of the Dead", began work on his first picture in big cinema in 2004. Having spent more than $26 million on shooting, the film's producers have never regretted their choice: by taking Zach as a director, they paid back the film's budget almost 4 times.

To tell the truth, the chosen plot was quite risky, because few zombie movies get success. But Snyder, who skillfully took up the matter, created a real masterpiece of zombie horror. Spectacular scenes, fountains of blood, unpredictable and even scary moments - all this is present in a fantastic action movie. A successful combination of horror and black humor makes the picture even more vivid. Therefore, critics are almost unambiguous in their decision: “DawnDead is a must see for every self-respecting horror fan.

Genius of historical epic

Our star doesn't seem to know how to make regular videos. All the films of Zack Snyder, the list of which is not yet large at all (only 8), are doomed to success. His next painting is no exception. "300 Spartans" is a historical thriller that did not leave indifferent all over the world.

If American critics are rather weak

reacted to the release of this picture (although they called it a “new word” in cinema), the Greeks considered it almost a national treasure. But the Iranian authorities generally banned the screening of the film in the country, regarding it as the beginning of a "psychological war".

Although, according to most American reviewers, the lack of semantic load is successfully compensated by the original graphics and good acting. Gerard Butler, who played the main role of King Leonidas, gained real recognition and popularity after this film.

Zack Snyder's Watchmen

Let's just say that this picture is not as successful as the previous one. If "300Spartans" 7 times paid back the 65 million dollars spent on it, then "Guardians",

which cost the creators 130 million, managed to earn only 185 million dollars at the box office. Well, the difference is the result of devastating criticism.

Snyder was accused of overloading the film with unnecessary details, of the cruelty and "vitality" of the Alan Moore comics on which it was basedJob. In other words, a film full of violent and lewd scenes could easily be cut in half. Although this opinion is ambiguous, and many call "Watchmen" the most unusual and impressive picture of 2009.

Cartoons

In the same seemingly disastrous year for Snyder, another comic book adaptation called Watchmen: The Story of the Black Schooner premiered. The screenwriter invited the already “tested” Gerard Butler to voice the main role of the captain of the ship.

A year later, in September 2010, another animated masterpiece appeared on blue screens. "Legends of the Night Watchers" tells about the wise and brave owls that now completely inhabit the planet. The 80-million budget of the cartoon was "recaptured" in full, the creators also earned about 60 million dollars. It was the first cartoon in which Zach acted as not only a director, but also a producer.

Failure

The main reason why critics criticize Zack Snyder's films is the absence of a definite script, that is, nonsense. Probably, never before has the work of a well-established and well-known director been rated so low.

Released in 2011 for the consideration of the viewer, the project called "Forbidden Reception" combined the characteristics of a fantasy action movie and a thriller. The main role was given to Emily Browning, who skillfully played "Dolly" - a 20-year-old girl whose mother bequeathed to her all her we alth before her death. But then an evil stepfather appears who wants to take everything away from the orphan and therefore places her inpsychiatric clinic, where she is to undergo a lobotomy procedure. Well, then the screenwriter's richest imagination turns on, which takes the viewer to the farthest corners of the heroine's unrealistic thoughts.

This is Snyder's first film in which he simultaneously wrote, produced and directed. As a result, having spent a tidy sum (82 million dollars) on shooting, he barely managed to beat off the budget of the picture. But it is worth paying tribute to Zach's interesting and unusual look at the filming process. This film is definitely not one that you can immediately forget after leaving the cinema.

Another fantasy victory

Oh, this Zack Snyder, who does not change his principles… His filmography is not so great yet, and he has already managed to thunder all over the world with his victories and failures. Already in 2013, the viewer saw the new work of the director "Man of Steel", which justified its exorbitant budget by 300 percent. It took nothing less than $225 million to make a new Superman story!

Zack Snyder's latest masterpiece to date is a kind of historical

epic "300 Spartans: Rise of an Empire". But this is most likely a fantastic saga with mythical heroes, which vaguely reminds the viewer of the story of the battle with Artemisia, which was played very well by the mind-blowing Eva Green. The scenes with her participation did not leave any man indifferent!

So, handsome in every sense of the word Zack Snyder, whose photospeak for themselves, never, apparently, does not change his preferences, stubbornly continues to work in the field of Hollywood. His next work, Batman v Superman, is already being prepared for release - the premiere is scheduled for early 2016.