The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| Posted: 03 Mar 2013 03:15 AM PST With Arrow, hooded vigilante Green Arrow has become the coolest hero on TV. COMIC book aficionados will know the long history of Green Arrow, a character created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, who emerged during the Golden Age of DC Comics in the 1940s (along with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Aquaman). The story of Green Arrow and his alter ego Oliver Queen has changed drastically over the years: in the earliest version, Queen was a famous archaeologist specialising in native American culture who would wield his bow and arrow to fight criminals who came to rob him of his precious artifacts. In later versions, Queen is a billionaire businessman (also a playboy) in Star City who is stranded on an island after falling off a cruise ship. He learns to survive by any means and builds himself a makeshift bow and arrow. When he eventually gets back to Star City, he realises that he can use his skills to fight crime and protect the city from criminals. Though the character has featured in a number of animated TV series and movies (like the animated series Justice League Unlimited, Young Justice, The Batman and Batman: The Brave And The Bold) and had a significant recurring role in the later seasons of live-action series Smallville, Green Arrow has largely stayed in the comic book realm. But his name and fame are set to spread beyond the medium, thanks to the new TV series Arrow developed by Greg Berlanti (Green Lantern, Brothers And Sisters), Marc Guggenheim (Flash Forward, Eli Stone) and Andrew Kreisberg (Warehouse, The Vampire Diaries). In his latest incarnation, Oliver Queen (portrayed by Canadian actor Stephen Amell) returns home to Starling City after being presumed dead for five years following a shipwreck that killed his father and his ex-girlfriend's sister (they don't call Oliver a playboy for nothing). He is welcomed home by his mother Moira (Susanna Thompson), stepfather Walter (Colin Salmon) who used to be his father's good friend, sister Thea (Willa Holland) and best friend Tommy (Colin Donnell), who pretty soon realise that Oliver isn't quite the same person he was five years ago. Noticing his badly scarred body, they ask him repeatedly what happened to him on the island but Oliver refuses to talk about his experience, except to say that it was traumatic. The audience, however, gets to see the real story unfold through flashback sequences in every episode. We learn very quickly that the island Oliver was stranded on was fraught with danger; to survive, he had to fight for his life and, if necessary, kill. We will see how he is rescued by a mysterious stranger (who we later come to know as Yao Fei) who teaches him the art of survival. The flashbacks not only fill in the back story of Oliver's "missing years", but are also relevant to his present-day dealings in each episode. His stay on the island has transformed Oliver and he returns not only an expert archer and martial arts exponent (with killer six-pack abs and a chiselled body – oh, boy!) but a vigilante, bent on cleaning up his city of criminals, namely a list of people in the criminal underworld that his father handed him just before he died (the two had a moment where the old man came clean to his son about his own wrongdoings, and asked him to help right those wrongs by taking down the people on the list). So begins Oliver's crusade: in the day he resumes his old persona of the entitled billionaire playboy, but at night, he puts on his hood and assumes the persona of Arrow, the vigilante archer. (Incidentally, the character retains the essence of the costume worn by the original comic book character: a green hooded costume quite like that of Robin Hood, albeit with a little edge). The show, however, isn't just a chronicle of the Arrow's "takedown of the week", although he does cross a name off his list in almost every episode. As the show develops, Oliver discovers that there's more to the list than meets the eye, and the people he thought he knew and loved may not be who they claim to be. And so we have a deeply conflicted and damaged superhero, much like how Batman is portrayed in the Christopher Nolan movie trilogy (which is not a bad way to go, if references have to be made). In a recent interview with collider.com, creators and show runners Guggenheim and Kreisberg shared their vision for the superhero. "If you look at the history of comic book characters on television, the series that have had the most success are the ones that hue a little closer to the street-level superhero than the more cosmic-level superheroes," Guggenheim says. Kreisberg adds: "We want everybody to like this show. If you've never picked up a comic book, you have no idea who the Green Arrow is and you have no idea what DC Comics is, you can watch the show and really enjoy it. "And yet, if you are a huge fan of comics and Green Arrow, you will see enough DNA from the comic books and enough of what makes the comic books special. Much to our delight and surprise, we feel like we've found this magical formula that lets new people come in, and yet also pays homage to the people who've been fans forever." The two have obviously played their cards right. And, after a successful first season in the United States, the series pulled in the highest ratings for the CW network with over four million viewers tuning in for the pilot (which was directed with David Nutter who has worked on Game Of Thrones, Smallville and Supernatural among others). When the pilot of the series was screened at Comic-Con last year, it received a nod of approval from fans who, according to reports, applauded at the end of the episode after a particular tense fight scene. Now, if that's not a validation, what is? Arrow premieres on Warner TV (HyppTV Ch 162) on March 11. Related Stories: |
| Posted: 03 Mar 2013 12:56 AM PST AS Oliver Queen's sensei on the deserted island in Arrow, Byron Mann's character Yao Fei never cracks a smile. In fact, he seldom looks anything but stern. He is extremely fit and ridiculously rugged, but hardly opens his mouth, speaking only when necessary. As Mann walks into the interview room at the HyppTV offices in Kuala Lumpur, it feels like he is still in character. Although there is none of that ruggedness (no sign of Yao Fei's beard or long hair), he appears very serious as he extends his hand. "Hello," he says, "I'm Byron." A man of a few words, like his character perhaps? "Well Yao Fei actually will smile," says Mann with a laugh, when asked about his character's sullenness and if they share any similar personality traits. "You'll see. Yao Fei is so mysterious ... I'm still getting to know him myself, but there are different sides to him." Mann confesses that he knew very little about his character when he agreed to take on the role literally days before the series began shooting. "I was actually shooting an episode of Nikita in Toronto, Canada when I got the call. I've worked with the casting directors of the show before and when they called to offer me the role, they didn't even have a name for the character. They had very few details about him. I mean ... I got the call on Saturday and they were set to begin filming on Tuesday. "So I called producer Mark Guggenheim and asked him to tell me a little about this character and asked what the role was, and he said all he could tell me was that he was an integral part of the development of Oliver Queen (while he is) on the island. "That was pretty much it. There was no back story and the character begins to unfold as the episodes progress so, really, I am as surprised as you (will be), at the development of the character," says Mann. Having acted mainly in films (including Street Fighter, Crying Freeman, The Man With The Iron Fists), Mann admits that it was a little difficult "going in blind", not knowing too much about his character. "In films, you have to know everything there is to know about your character ... right down to where he went to school when he was three years old. That kind of detail, you know. But I guess this is prime time television for you, as I am beginning to find out. Especially on a show like this where there are twists and turns and a lot of mystery ... I think not even the writers know the full story. "They get a lot of notes from the network and there are a lot of people weighing in on the show so changes happen all the time, at the last minute. Like, I'll be reading a draft of the script where a character appears in the scene with me and we do a lot of things together and in the next draft, he is gone! How do I deal with it? "Let me tell you my Glenn Close story. I have a friend who worked with Glenn Close on Damages and he told me that she had the same problem. At a certain point, she didn't know what was going on and there was just no time ... the episode was about to shoot and she had no access to the information about her character. What did she do? She picked a motivation ... she just picked a scenario and played that out, hoping that it would be the right choice. And, if it wasn't? Well, it wouldn't be her fault because she didn't get the information," he says. In Mann's mind, Yao Fei is a survivalist. "He's an expert archer and a survivalist. He is an animal in the purest sense. He has been on the island for a while and though we are not exactly sure why or how he came there, I think he wants to get out. The story gets more convoluted as it evolves. There are many people on the island ... military-type people that mean him harm and he is using Oliver to help him survive and ultimately, escape," Mann conjectures. The story of Oliver and his alter ego, the hooded vigilante Arrow, unfolds in two distinct stories: the present-day drama of Oliver Queen after he returns to Starling City and assumes this secret identity as the hooded vigilante; and the back story of his time on the island, surviving against the odds. Yao Fei features in the back story, which is told through flashbacks. With his action background and knowledge of martial arts, Mann does many of the action sequences (and there are plenty) in Arrow himself. As does his co-star, Stephen Amell. However, archery was something new to both actors. "I didn't know how to work a bow and arrow. I had to be trained. I mean again ... It was a Monday and on Wednesday we were shooting a scene where I teach Oliver Queen how to shoot. I make a call to the producers and say, 'Hey guys, you have to show me how to do this'. And they go, 'You don't know how to shoot a bow and arrow?' And I said, 'Not really, no'. I mean, who shoots a bow and arrow, really? "So a couple of hours later, they took me to this archery place and I was trained by a woman who represented Canada at the Olympics. It was a crash course but each time there is any archery being filmed, she is there on set. "There is a lot of technique and form and posture related to shooting a bow and arrow. You have to get it right, otherwise the arrow will not go straight and you end up hurting yourself. For example, when shooting, your left arm – the one holding the bow – cannot be completely straight or when the string snaps back, it will hit your arm and it is very painful. Both Stephen (Amell) and I have been hit many times," he says. Both Amell and Mann are actually working the bow in their scenes. With hours of training under their belt, the actors do the draw and release of the bow while the arrows are added in later via CGI. "It would be too dangerous to actually have us shoot the arrows. We would have shot the producers for sure. No ... not on purpose," he says, laughing. The very believable action sequences and layered, intricate stories of each episode are what Mann has come to like about the show. "It is a very ambitious show. They (producers) want action in every single episode and it's really good too. I've shot a lot of (it) and I'd say it's some of the best action scenes on TV. I mean, it's better than Dallas! "But action takes a lot of time to shoot. Shooting two people talking in a scene is very quick ... with action, you have to shoot pieces, one at a time, so it takes a lot of time. And when we're trying to fit in a lot of great action in every single episode ... it takes more time. We are supposed to shoot an episode in eight days, but a lot of the time we go over and shoot for nine days or maybe 10. "There was one fight sequence with Deathstroke (a character that is introduced in episode five) which we shot in an hour. It was the last scene of the day and, you know, the producers tell us we have one hour to get it done. And just like the question (about not shooting arrows), they asked us, 'You can't shoot in an hour?' and I was like, 'No, dude. It's hard'. But, we got it done," he shares. Naturally, Mann is pleased that the series has been received well by both critics and fans (of both comic books and archery). He credits the success of the show to both the stellar writing as well as the mass appeal of the superhero genre in general. "I think that everyone likes a good superhero story. My theory is that as long as you don't execute (it) poorly, it's going to be OK. And, if you execute it well like I think Arrow has, then you have a good chance of becoming very popular. The superhero complex exists in most of us. We all want to see a hero fighting for justice or correcting injustice, beating down the bad guy. It's a universal thing." Related Stories: |
| Posted: 03 Mar 2013 12:00 AM PST HyppTV and Warner TV are giving away Arrow merchandise to lucky readers. Fill in your personal details and answer the four questions below and you stand a chance to win Arrow Hoodies (Grand Prize, x 5), Arrow T-shirts (consolation prize, x 5), Arrow Mini Darts (x 10), as well as HyppTV pillows, pens, cotton bags, Warner TV folders, HyppTV laptop brush and Warner TV sticky notes (x 10 each). Send your entries to Star2-HyppTV Arrow Contest, New Media, Level 41, South Wing, Menara TM, Jalan Pantai Baharu, 50672 Kuala Lumpur by March 18. Please note that the distribution of prizes is at the sole discretion of HyppTV and no correspondence will be entertained. Name: ................................................................................................................ Address: ................................................................................................................ I/C No: ................................................................................................................ Phone No: ................................................................................................................ E-mail: ................................................................................................................ 1. What is the channel number for Warner TV on HyppTV? ………… 2. The series Arrow is based on a comic book character. True or False? ....………………………………………………………………………………….... 3. Byron Mann plays the character Yao Fei in the series. True or False? …………………………………………………………………………………….... 4. Warner TV on HyppTV is my destination for world class entertainment simply because: …………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………….... …….…………………….… (complete slogan in not more than 20 words) Related Stories: |
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