Superman revolutionized the comic book industry when he arrived on the scene in 1938. Before Superman, there weren't many comics to choose from, and no one had heard of a superhero. "Action Comics" #1, Superman's first appearance, sparked the golden age of comic books. Comics became extremely popular, and they defined what it meant to be a superhero.

Just as Superman made room for superheroes and comics, DVDs made room for bonus features. The extra space and digital format of a DVD created the need for more content, like behind-the-scenes footage and featurettes. For this reason, many movie sets now include cameras rolling behind the scenes, something that didn't happen in the early days of film or home video.

Now, you don't always have to wait for the DVD to see a film's behind-the-scenes footage. Some filmmakers are releasing extra features over the Internet long before the release of the film itself. For example, director Bryan Singer created a series of video production diaries for "Superman Returns." This article includes a selection of those diaries and will give you a glimpse of what went on behind the scenes. You can watch all of Singer's videos at the official site.

Like a lot of recent book and comic book adaptations, "Superman Returns" has pretty big shoes to fill. The character of Superman has an almost 70-year history that includes immensely popular comic books and movies. Set designers and decorators had to re-create settings that many people are already familiar with. One example is the Smallville farm where Clark Kent grew up, which was re-created in Tamworth, Australia. The crew had to build a four-mile access road to the set and plant about 494 acres (200 hectares) of corn. They allowed the corn to grow for several months, much like the "Lord of the Rings" crew allowed the vegetation in Hobbiton to grow for a year before filming began.

Along with the details of the farmhouse itself, the expanse of full-grown corn helps create the illusion that the Kent farm is real and has existed for years. Set decorators had to take similar steps to age the interior offices of the Daily Planet. The walls of the Daily Planet are decorated with old issues of the newspaper, artwork and certificates, including one that recognizes the Bryan Singer Award. Set decorators also hand-painted office fixtures to give them an aged appearance.

In addition to realistic sets, the people behind "Superman Returns" had one particular challenge in recreating the world of Superman. Superman has to be able to fly, and his flying has to look real. Flying stunts required the actors who played Superman at different ages to wear harnesses that attached to wire rigs. Each flight stunt required a different rig.

Since it wouldn't be a Superman movie without a large dose of heroism, the crew also created big-picture disasters. One scene involves a crashing Boeing 777. Interior shots of the airplane required real people on a physical set rather than a digital re-creation. Filmmakers built a hydraulic gimbal platform to move a recreated airplane cabin in three dimensions, mimicking the effect of extreme turbulence. The gimbal is 20 meters (22 yards) long and 6 meters (6.5 yards) wide, and it took three weeks to design and eleven weeks to build.

Smallville, the Daily Planet and dramatic disasters are only a fraction of what went into "Superman Returns." Other production diaries include behind-the-scenes footage of other stunts, scenes and characters. You can watch them at the "Superman Returns" official site.

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