"Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" Colorscripts

"Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" Colorscripts, a photo by William Joseph Dunn on Flickr.

Whenever possible, I tried to tie in the color for "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" with what Lynn Varley did in the original graphic novel. Occasionally I would deviate for dramatic reasons or if there was a scene in the movie that wasn't in the original graphic novel. In the case of the taxi cab scene, it was a little of both. The characters Joanie and Silk were off panel in the book so their colors had to be established. Also, we thought that the lighting in the back of the cab should give a sense of dread and have a claustrophobic feeling. There was a scene in front of a bar in "Mean Streets" that everything was bathed in red, so I thought that would give the right mood. I figured that the taxi driver would have had his foot on the brake and that the red of the brake light was reflecting into the cab's interior. I know, not likely, but it does look pretty cool, right?

"The Dark Knight Returns" ™ DC Comics and Warner Bros Animation