Spawn director Mark Dippé and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro adapt a best-selling cult comic book drenched in darkness.
Spawn was presented to me while I was still shooting The Long Kiss Goodnight," remembers director of photography Guillermo Navarro. "I had a meeting with director Mark Dippé and producers Clint Goldman and Alan Blomquist in a room where the walls were covered with story-boards detailing all of the movie's visual effects and action scenes. Shooting a story based on a comic book was something I had never approached before. And the world of Spawn doesn't belong to reality at all, so everything could be treated as having its own reality. That was something I really wanted to try."
The Image Comics title Spawn is the creation of writer/illustrator Todd McFarlane, a 36-year-old native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada who honed his skills on such Marvel Comics titles as The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, G.I. Joe and Amazing Spider Man. The first issue of Spawn sold 1.7 million copies, and thus became the best-selling independent comic book of all time. Since its debut, the title has sold over 55 million copies worldwide. The saga's characters have been transformed into a very successful line of action figures, and its narrative was recently brought to life as an animated series for HBO.
The $43 million New Line Cinema film version of Spawn also presents the tale of Al Simmons (Michael Jai White), a government assassin who has been betrayed and burned alive by his own top-secret agency. As he dies, Simmons can think only of the love he has for his wife, Wanda (Theresa Randall), and he makes a Faustian bargain for another chance to see her. The duplicitous powers of darkness grant Simmons life, but return him to Earth as a disfigured hellspawn endowed with amazing abilities that will allow him to be the leader of Hell's army. Spawn is then relentlessly tested, particularly by the similarly empowered Clown (John Leguizamo), an obese killer in greasepaint. Clown can transform at will into Violator, a hulking demon who is both Spawn's companion and nemesis.
The Spawn character is distinctly different from other comic-book icons. He is the only superhero to get his powers directly from Hades, and his adventures are graphic and decidedly adult in nature. Asked about the prospect of seeing his creation come to life on a 60-foot movie screen, McFarlane exhibits an enthusiastic excitement. "This is the first time I can force people to focus on my creations for an hour and a half and then see if they 'get it,' if they care, if it makes any sense, if it's gutsy enough, or if we wimped out."
Guillermo Navarro's career path has been as unusual as McFarlane's. Born in Mexico City, Navarro took up still photography as a teen. By 14, he had found a creative outlet, and his hard work and talent also provided him with economic freedom. The tragedy of his father's death gave him the passion to excel at his craft. The cameraman reasons, "In order to survive, I had to grow up fast. Photography was my companion in that process."
Navarro's sister Bertha later gave him his first look at filmmaking by hiring him as a unit still photographer. He explains, "She produced a film called Reed, Mexico Insurgente, the story of [American Socialist] John Reed and the Mexican revolution." Shot in black-and-white 16mm, the picture went on to earn the Best Foreign Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
During those same formative years "I was swept away by the powerful narrative of Latin American authors like García Marquez, Borges and others. And it was through this that I knew I wanted to be part of the process of telling stories through images: I knew I wanted to 'become' a cinematographer.
"I briefly became an assistant cameraman, but I was terrible. What I did learn was how to deal with a crew; I would never put anybody through the situations I had experienced.
"Today, I have a very good relationship with my crew, and I'm very grateful to them. My most valuable players have been my key grip, Rick Stribling, and my gaffer, David Lee. I've done all my American movies with them and they're good friends. They had worked together before meeting me, and I've learned a lot from both of them."
After his brief tenure as an assistant, Navarro began shooting documentaries. It was during that time that he felt a need to travel and experience new things. He recalls, "I decided to go to Europe. I was in London for a while and took some workshops at the National Film School."
Later, in France, he joined up once again with his sister, who was attempting to produce a feature based on Malcolm Lowry's novel Under the Volcano. Navarro was introduced to cinematographer Ricardo Aronovich, who was slated to shoot the film. "That film didn't happen, but Ricardo had a very strong influence on me," says Navarro. "He became my mentor and teacher. When he shot the film Providence, directed by Alain Resnais, the camera union there had a program for directors of photography to take aspiring cinematographers on the journey of making a movie. Ricardo brought me very close to the process. I learned how to prep, how to define the concepts behind what the movie should look like, and how to time dailies things you'd never do or learn anywhere else."
Asked if any other cameramen have inspired him, Navarro cites Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC, explaining, "He is one of my strongest influences, in terms of how I think about my work and try to build it into something emotionally connected to the story of a film." The cinematographer also singles out Gordon Willis, ASC as another primary influence, and additionally mentions two contemporaries. "Darius Khondji [AFC] is so involved with creating new things; he has shown me that not everything has already been done. Another cameraman I admire is a colleague from Mexico, Emmanuel Lubezki [ASC]. I respect them both."
Navarro's subsequent return to Mexico was a sobering one. He recalls, "The camera union was completely closed, and it was impossible to get work. Ricardo later came there to shoot Missing for Costa Gavras. I was the only guy he knew in Mexico. But because of my situation with the union, I wasn't able to work with him."
Navarro was only able to practice his craft by working outside the establishment. He explains, "The first movie I shot was part of an experimental film competition. It was called Love Around the Corner, which earned me an award for best cinematography."
After working on several small non-union features, Navarro had the opportunity to shoot the film Cabeza de Vaca. Set in 16th-century Mexico, Cabeza follows a Spanish conquistador who surrenders to the indigenous culture when he is held captive by a group of Indians and begins to understand their world. To create a sense of naturalism accurate to that period, Navarro lit his night scenes exclusively with fire.
During the production, Navarro met Guillermo Del Toro, then a special effects makeup artist who wanted to direct his own script for a horror film called Cronos. He eventually invited Navarro to shoot the project, a non-traditional tale of vampirism that added several kinks to the familiar lore. Atmospheric, shocking and humorous, the film was a smash hit in Mexico, won the Critic's Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and also received critical attention in the U.S. "Cabeza and especially Cronos were my first opportunities to have my work seen here," the cinematographer recalls.
In short order, Navarro connected with American director Robert Rodriguez, who asked him to photograph Desperado, a 35mm sequel/remake based on El Mariachi, the director's low-budget 16mm breakout movie. Navarro shot the picture in Mexico with a Mexican crew, and now considers the hyperkinetic film to have been a great learning experience and a turning point in his career. "Robert's energy is infectious and he enjoys collaborating and creating visually interesting images for the screen," Navarro remarks with enthusiasm. After teaming with Rodriguez again on the action/horror film From Dusk Till Dawn and a segment of the anthology picture Four Rooms, Navarro collaborated with director Renny Harlin on the big-budget action film The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Prior to shooting Long Kiss, Navarro joined the International Photographer's Guild, IATSE Local 600. He reports, "They welcomed me immediately. It was completely different from my experience back home, and I'm happy to be with them."
Asked how his background prepared him to work on major films in the U.S., Navarro notes, "In Mexico, I had to work with fewer technical resources. But I came away from that experience knowing how to make films without large amounts of equipment. I also learned to place greater emphasis upon forging close relationships with the director and the actors. The Long Kiss Goodnight was one of the strongest examples of this kind of relationship. Renny Harlin and I were both very committed to establishing a unique style to tell the story, while overcoming the size of the movie. That was part of my job, and he was more than willing to help me."
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