Director - Zack Snyder

Notable writing credits:-

300, Suckerpunch, Batman Vs Superman, Justice League Pt 2, 300: Rise of an Empire.

Notable directing credits:-

Dawn of the Dead (2004), 300, Suckerpunch, Legend of theGuardians, Man of Steel, Justice League Pt1, Justice League Pt2, Batman Vs Superman, Watchmen.

Zack Snyder caught my attention before I even knew who he was. I'm not sure why, but the Dawn of the Dead for me, was an absolute gem of a film. I adore that film as one of my favourite, if not the favourite zombie film. I looked him up when I saw 300 and Suckerpunch and have been constantly impressed with his work through every film. 

Let's find out a little more about him by looking at some interviews, articles and anything I can find. What makes Zack Snyder such a good storyteller?

 

This is a great interview where Zack talks about Man of Steel and the decisions about how to approach the character of superman. A line he says here hit home a very good point about character relatability:

“You wanna make a superman that you want to be, not Superman that you’re just sort of observing.” 

This comes down to one of the most fundamental principles of art from theatre, movies or TV shows. Include the audience in the experience. As an audience, we want to relate to characters, we want to like them, we want to feel apart of the dramatic tension, mystery or character progression in that we come out of the film feeling like we made a long distance friend, an enemy or a crush. 

We revel in characters being like us, we enjoy powerful people displaying emotional instability and contradictions or problems that are similar to ours. It somehow validates who we are as humans to feel that way. 

Man of Steel

In this interview on Man of Steel:

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/zack-snyder-interview

Zack Snyder says something pretty similar to the point above. Superman is a supreme being in that he is stronger, faster, smarter and more talented than men with the bonus of being virtually indestructible. He says:

“The way to think about it is that we’re taking a human point of view which makes it more relevant and emotional” 

This is very true in the way he directed the film.  Superman is a unique man in that his only real weakness is that he is vulnerable to Kryptonite and he is a very morally guided hero in that he is less concerned about himself than everyone else around him. That on top of the fact that he doesn't kill. Making this character weak isn't an easy task, making him flawed just isn't really possible. 

The thing that Zack Snyder does is focus on his lack of an identity, his not knowing his real parents and him being singled out from society. He was bullied as a kid and is forced to restrain his powers. That approach humanises his character and makes him more relatable.

300 - King Leonidas

In this article interview with Zack Snyder about  Man of Steel:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/jun/17/man-steel-zack-snyder-video

He is talking about characters once again. He says:


“When I was young and felt like I didn’t fit in or that I didn’t know what my place in the world was, you know I didn’t have super powers but I definitely could have, understand the way he was feeling.” 

Showing us once again, that Zack is very character based. He makes films with good stories that make sense most of the time, discounting the 300 scenes with mutant goat men but they can be explained by one means or another. He has a very good idea of how to tell a good story because the characters in it are all extensively thought out.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

In summary, I think I understand what makes Zack Snyder such a good film-maker, director and storyteller. I believe it is because he bring the human element to the characters in the films. In 300, Leonidas is a man bound by honour who commands the respect of his men and goes against the law to defend his land, Superman was bullied as a child and is an alien walking the earth in search of who is he, the heroine in Suckerpunch is a frightened yet brave young girl who is coping with the horrifying process of having a lobotomy by imagining a fantasy world full of challenges and trials. 

They aren't a movies about a king killing armies, a super alien fighting aliens or a girl in a fantasy land fighting dragons and robots. They are films about real people who have real problems and their stories are told in a way that we can relate to them and therefore, empathise, route for and adore them. Zack Snyder is such a great director because he brings his total honesty and deepest understanding of human truth to his work.