DB in live action: what does and does not work (pics)

[DragonBallFoodie]

DB's artwork is so cartoonish, it can be difficult (some say impossible) to make it work in live-action.

Nevertheless, let me contribute some artwork that could work out well:

Shenron



King Kai's world



Frieza







Beerus





Goku

[MR.Mark]

Shenlong and Kaio's world are great examples of things that can be right out of the manga, just with real world detail applied, pretty straight forward.

My own preference, but two of those Freezas are either pointlessly busy in design or just downright ugly to the point where it might as well be another character.

I really do like that outfit Goku has going on though. I think you inspired me to do a mock up of Beerus next.

Also, while I'm sure filmmakers would take the cgi route, for a character like Babidi, I would love if he was brought to life via an animatronic puppet ala Yoda, with cgi for full body scenes where necessary.

EDIT

On further inspection, I think this artist pretty much nailed what a live action Beerus should be, I only wish i could see this look with a playful expression just to see that other side of Beerus. But yeah, well done, very good.

[MR.Mark]

When you add to much detail to Fat Buu, you risk making him look downright repulsive. I think most can agree most of his humor derives from being like a jolly big kid. Not some fat slob with bad teeth that looks like he has B.O.



So I did some tweaks for what I could picture in live action. I can see this Buu playing with his puppy and paling around with Mr. Satan. I also tried to make Babidi a little more wicked in looks.

Less is more with Fat Buu, he can get away with looking more cartoony.

[MR.Mark]

Not bad, but alittle too on the nose of creature from the black lagoon man in suit look.



I find this stunning though, i wonder if the artist has a full body design somewhere?




You pretty much need a Caucasian to pull of Goku and Vegeta imo. His gloves and armor would need more details in live action too.



This is probably the closest I've seen Goku's hair possibly working, I like the details on Vegeta's armor and gloves too.

[MR.Mark]

double post*

[MR.Mark]

Then I made some tweaks into what I could see as a live action Freeza:

Tweaked it alittle more:

[Professor Freeza]

Even though i know these are just bad fan renders, i cant get behind a Live Action DB.

I guess some things are best left where they originated from. Marvel seems to be the only studio to get these CGI right. Everything DCEU did has failed. So did Fox.

Then again. Its my personal opinion.

[Hellspawn28]

Anime and live action just aren't a good combo.

There is live action movies based on anime and manga that are good. People always forget that Old Boy and Lone Wolf & Cub are based on manga. No ever brings those up when it comes to adaptions.

[MR.Mark]

Even though i know these are just bad fan renders, i cant get behind a Live Action DB.

I guess some things are best left where they originated from. Marvel seems to be the only studio to get these CGI right. Everything DCEU did has failed. So did Fox.

Then again. Its my personal opinion.

Kinda goes against your own argument in the first place. If Marvel can do it, so can another studio. Even then there's other examples of films juggling far out concepts like Hell Boy, Men in Black, and Ghostbusters. With a nice mix of practical/cgi effects too.

Anime and live action just aren't a good combo.

There is live action movies based on anime and manga that are good. People always forget that Old Boy and Lone Wolf & Cub are based on manga. No ever brings those up when it comes to adaptions.

Another good example.

[Professor Freeza]

Even though i know these are just bad fan renders, i cant get behind a Live Action DB.

I guess some things are best left where they originated from. Marvel seems to be the only studio to get these CGI right. Everything DCEU did has failed. So did Fox.

Then again. Its my personal opinion.

Kinda goes against your own argument in the first place. If Marvel can do it, so can another studio.

If we see the History, no. People need to understand that MCU is an anomaly, not a rule. There wasnt even supposed to be an MCU. Historically Batman films and Superman films have all been bigger than Iron Man 1. But they never started a cinematic universe.

MCU is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. Where awful stories like Thor 2 can do well too.

[MR.Mark]

It still can be done, it's about evolving and learning from mistakes. There's directors and artists out there that can handle the material.

Marvel isn't the only ones with the financial resources out there. Get the right team behind it and audiences would love a good live action series.

Either way, this topic isin't for those of the opinion that it can't work period, so.

[ABED]

There might be a limit to how cheap the effects can look but generally speaking, I think most can look past it if the story is good, the cast is good, and the chemistry is there.

[MR.Mark]

I don't think anyone is disagreeing that a actual well done live action DB should look cheap. It definitely needs a good size budget to work.

[ABED]

That's not where the time and effort should go towards. More time is spent on those sorts of things in blockbusters as is. Plenty of big budget films have great looking VFX and have crap stories.

[MR.Mark]

Balance, it should go on all fronts of the production, like any good film should. If you don't believe the characters in front of your eyes are doing these incredible feats it won't matter how well done the script and cast is.

[ABED]

Balance, it should go on all fronts of the production, like any good film should. If you don't believe the characters in front of your eyes are doing these incredible feats it won't matter how well done the script is.

Except that no matter how good the visuals are, I know generally what is real and what is not. People can't fly and no matter how good it looks, I know I'm watching a fantasy. So while sure, the better all the elements are the better the movie, but it's all in service of the story and if the visuals come up a little short, people can get over it if they are into the stories, performances, and characters.

[MR.Mark]

Splitting hairs, if we can have the best of both worlds why not? I know what's real and what's CGI too but that doesin't mean I'd accept shitty effects even if everything else was good.

Why would anyone even want to watch a live action series focused on fighting if the fighting didn't even look good? Talk about wasting everyone's time. General audiences would expect fighting on a visual level of something like Man of Steel, and I don't blame them. DB has been about spectacle in it's action for some time now.

Unless you want to make a slice of life movie series of other story driven concepts.

[ABED]

Not splitting hairs.

Yes, you can have the best of both, but given how little attention is paid to story in big budget spectacles, I'd rather play the odds. There's a far greater chance of them making a DB movie on a smaller budget than most hollywood comic book films.

Man of Steel's fight wasn't that great. It was all smashy smashy and not much care given to the characters and story of the fight. Toriyama has a great feel for unique visuals, but he tells a story through the action.

[MR.Mark]

Makes no difference, Man of steel was a visual comparison, I really don't care weather you liked the fight/story itself or not.

Dragon Ball is about fighting, it should look impressive. You not caring because your mighty brain can never be fooled by visuals is a lame argument.

Dragon Ball is the series it is now because of action, not amazing character driven storys, it's popcorn entertainment. Suggesting otherwise is ludicrous.

Toriyama has a great feel for unique visuals, but he tells a story through the action.

Exactly the reason the visuals should look as engaging as possible. In many ways it's just as important as the characters themselves.

You can't make accurate Toriyama scale fights without a decent budget. Balancing everything must be done or adapting DB is pointless.

The chracter's keep us coming back, but the fighting drives the series. If you think the characters and writing are so strong that audiences wouldn't care if the fights looked mediocre, you shouldn't be against a slice of life series then.

You need epic looking fighting, period.

[ABED]

It's not JUST as important. All aspects are important, but it's not as vital as the story and characters. If the series didn't have the characters and the humor and the quirkiness, it would be a well choreographed generic action show. To say the fights drive the series isn't nearly as meaningful as you think considering the characters are warriors. The characters drive the action, not the other way around. It's all one. That's another thing that bugs me "character driven story". It's redundant. Characters are the story and story is the characters. Story is nothing more than what the characters do and say.

You don't need a budget for well choreographed fights.

Dragon Ball is about fighting, it should look impressive. You not caring because your mighty brain can never be fooled by visuals is a lame argument.

No one's brain is fooled. Stop making this personal.

At its core, what I'm saying is even on the crappy budget Evolution had, it could've been infinitely better. The fundamental issue isn't the visuals. It's the story. The story didn't even work on paper. Cheap visuals didn't help it, but it wasn't why it was a bad movie. Even in animation, DB has always been cheap. Some episodes look better than others, but the story and characters and quirkiness and fight choreography keep the show engaging.

Epic looking fights without interesting characters and stories means NOTHING. If there's anything the DECU proves, it's that.