Carl Newman ‘Ballet Bat’ Appreciation Thread

[Silver Nemesis]

Carl Newman (AKA 'Ballet Bat') was Keaton's movement double on Batman '89 and portrayed the Dark Knight in many of the film's most iconic shots.

I thought it was about time we had a thread celebrating his contribution. Of all the artists who portrayed Batman in the 1989 film, I think Newman was the one who looked best in the suit and most closely resembled the Bruce Wayne from the comics.

This is Carl in 1989.

And this is him in 2023.

Newman's background is in dance, and he used his training and physical conditioning to imbue Batman's body language with a grace and agility that helped define the character in live action. Here are some videos of him discussing his work on Batman '89. Among the topics he covers are the deleted opening scene, coaching the Joker goon actors to move like mimes, and his opinion of The Flash.

I'm not sure why they didn't bring Newman back to work on Batman Returns. Until very recently his contribution to the first film has gone largely unsung. He seems like a really nice guy and is proud of his work on Batman. Hopefully Beetlejuice 2 will be a hit and Newman will get a chance to work with Burton and Keaton again on Batman Beyond. It'd be awesome if the first shot of Bruce in the BB prologue was Newman in the Beyond suit looking up at the bat-signal, echoing the final shot of B89.

[thecolorsblend]

Carl Newman (AKA 'Ballet Bat') was Keaton's movement double on Batman '89 and portrayed the Dark Knight in many of the film's most iconic shots.

Boy, I'll say. These five...

... are some of my favorite shots in the entire film. And I never even heard of this guy until I opened this thread. I guess I just assumed that those shots featured Keaton in the suit. Anyway, thank you for posting this. This is great!

[Silver Nemesis]

I was amazed when I discovered how many shots of Batman in the 1989 film aren't Keaton, but I only became aware of the extent of Newman's role over the past couple of years. To illustrate my point about Newman resembling the comic book Bruce Wayne, this is what he looked like under the suit.

It's Newman you see descending in silhouette with his cape spread before the rooftop fight.

The first clear shot of Batman spreading his cape and jumping down from the ledge to fight the muggers is also Newman. Basically most shots of Batman walking, turning or swishing his cape are Newman. The deleted opening scene where Batman's perched on the cathedral parapet like a gargoyle was all Newman.

It's Newman stalking Jack Napier in Axis Chemicals and it's him you see in front of the neon sign at the end of that sequence. It's Newman you see getting into the Batmobile outside the museum.

It's Newman who steps in front of the Batmobile when Batman summons it with the voice control. It's Newman walking around in the Batcave with Vicki Vale.

The scene where Batman emerges from the burning wreckage of the Batwing and enters the church is also Newman, except for one shot where you can clearly see Keaton's face. The scene of Batman walking through the church, staggering and falling against the benches was all Newman. Newman said the scenes of Batman climbing the stairs were mostly Keaton. But when Batman reaches the top, emerges through the trapdoor and walks around the belfry, that's all Newman intercut with some close-up shots of Keaton.

The bit where the Joker goon falls through the floor and Batman turns to look down the hole was Newman.

The spooky shots of Batman walking around the belfry when Vicki's dancing with the Joker were Newman, and apparently it was Jack Nicholson who coined the nickname 'Ballet Bat'. According to Newman, Dave Lea was brought in relatively late in the production and worked on the cathedral fight and the reshot alley fight. But Newman and Sean McCabe were doubling for Keaton from the beginning of the production. Originally they shot a different version of the alley fight which ended with Batman fighting Bob instead of the swordsman. This is McCabe in the following pictures.

McCabe did all of the shots of Batman falling or getting knocked down, and he handled most of the wirework shots too. The shot of Batman throwing the batarang during the rooftop fight is McCabe.

And it's McCabe you see gliding down towards Napier and kicking the gun out of his hand at Axis Chemicals.

The deleted scene where Batman pretends to surrender to the cops before dropping the smoke pellets was McCabe, and it's him we see rising out of the smoke when Batman escapes using his grapple gun. It's McCabe we see smashing through the skylight at the museum.

McCabe performed the zip-line stunt.

The shot where Batman presses himself against the stairwell wall to avoid being crushed by the falling bell is McCabe.

McCabe did all the shots of batman getting smashed through walls and knocked about during the belfry fight. It's McCabe that catches Vicki when the Joker pulls his false hand trick.

None of this post is intended to take away from Keaton. Indeed, Newman himself is quick to praise Keaton in interviews and to credit him, McCabe and Lea for their contributions. But we've known about the significance of Lea's involvement for years now, and I thought it was time we gave Newman his due.

[The Dark Knight]

None of this post is intended to take away from Keaton.

I think it can't help but impact the perception of Keaton to a degree and I say that as a fan. It almost changes from being labelled the Keaton Batman to the Burton Batman because of the people involved in bringing it to life. I admire the overall approach the creative team had with the terse dialogue and theatrical nature of his movements. Newman is in the suit for a lot of the loved sequences, of which some involve simply standing or walking. But if Newman was better placed to provide that performance then so be it. The character comes first.

But we've known about the significance of Lea's involvement for years now, and I thought it was time we gave Newman his due.

Absolutely. He's a huge unsung part of the film that deserves attention. When people were praising Keaton they were unknowingly praising Newman, but then again that's the nature of body doubling in feature films. B89 was made in a different time when actors weren't hitting the gym or doing extensive weapons training. Things worked out for the best because the depiction still hasn't been topped.

[Silver Nemesis]

I haven't looked into the use of stand-ins on the other Batman movies in the same depth, but I imagine the extent would be similar. Particularly on the Schumacher films. They would've used the same approach for Kilmer and Clooney as they did for Keaton.

Chris O'Donnell's said that when he saw Batman & Robin there were lots of scenes he had no memory of filming, and that was because they'd been shot by the second unit team using stand-ins and stunt doubles. He also said he never actually worked with Schwarzenegger on set, and that whenever he had a scene with Mr Freeze it was always one of Arnie's stand-ins.

I expect doubles and stand-ins would've been used a lot for Affleck as well, although nowadays CG stunt doubles are also a factor. The exception to this trend is Bale, who insisted on doing as much in the suit as he could. This included him standing on the ledge of the Hong Kong skyscraper, despite being told a stunt double could do it. Bale insisted on doing the scene himself.

Bale also insisted on performing most of his own fight scenes. Of course stand-ins and doubles were still used on the Nolan trilogy, particularly on Batman Begins, but even so Bale likely did a higher percentage of batsuit scenes than Keaton, Kilmer or Clooney did. I get the impression that Pattinson took a similar method approach on The Batman, wanting to do as much as possible for himself and performing most of his own fights.

It would be interesting to go through each Batman movie shot by shot and try to figure out who is wearing the suit at each moment.

[The Dark Knight]

Bale also insisted on performing most of his own fight scenes. Of course stand-ins and doubles were still used on the Nolan trilogy, particularly on Batman Begins, but even so Bale likely did a higher percentage of batsuit scenes than Keaton, Kilmer or Clooney did. I get the impression that Pattinson took a similar method approach on The Batman, wanting to do as much as possible for himself and performing most of his own fights.

I appreciate that level of commitment but at the same time I'm happy for the stuntmen to bring those action scenes to life in the best way possible. The warehouse scene from BvS is a good example of that.

Keaton is best when he's using his eyes. The closeups on him inside the Batmobile with Vicki, and inside the cave trying to hide from Vicki. His DNA is there and most obviously in the Bruce Wayne scenes. It's a testament to him and doubles like Newman in the way the performances seamlessly transition in the film, and the others too.

It would be interesting to go through each Batman movie shot by shot and try to figure out who is wearing the suit at each moment.

I'd be very interested in that.