COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SIN CITY MOVIE

SAN DIEGO -- Frank Miller's Sin City, the live-action movie based on Miller's comic and from Dimension Films, caused quite a splash at the recent Comic-Con International.

Posters of stars Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King and Mickey Rourke were the objects of cameras throughout the show at the Dark Horse booth, but the biggest stir came during the Sin City panel, when co-director Robert Rodriguez's 17-minute presentation with clips from the film showed exactly how faithful it would be to the source material.

"I saw the clip for the first time and I got goosebumps," said Alba, who plays Nancy and was a guest at the panel. "I can't believe it."

Rodriguez and Miller also welcomed King (Goldie) and Dawson (Gail) to the panel, where they discussed the film and answered questions from the audience.

Following are other highlights from the panel:

* Rodriguez said working with Miller as a co-director was a breeze.

"People wonder how we worked together. We both seem to have strong personalities," he said. "But my goal was to make Frank Miller's Sin City and that was his goal. I really understood where we was coming from. And when in doubt, go by the book. I made him stick by the book more than he wanted."

* King talked about working with Rourke as Marv: "He was great. He was so much into his character, it was pretty crazy. I think I only saw him for about two seconds without his makeup on. So the whole time I saw him as Marv."

* Dawson on meeting with wardrobe about her costume: "When I walked in she was, 'Like, here it is (holding fingers apart). And I understand completely if you don't want to wear it. But try it first?' I fell in love with it. It was cool. It was my S&M super-hero outfit."

* Rodriguez said Dawson cut her hair for the role. "We love people who loved the book so much they wanted to look like the characters," he said.

* Alba, said that, like with Dawson, her wardrobe was a bit daunting. "I had to sit there and look at my leather costume, with the chaps," she said. "It was originally drawn without underwear and I decided I should probably wear underwear because my dad wouldn't like that very much."

* Rodriguez on Alba's performance: "There's a sexiness she brought to the character that really was necessary. And you really did have to fall in love with her."

* Rodriguez said the Yellow Bastard, played by Nick Stahl, was actually painted blue for production. "He was the Blue Bastard," Rodriguez said. "And they we do a hue shift and he becomes yellow later."

* Rodgriguez said the day Quentin Tarantino guest-directed was a highlight for all.

"At the end of the day Frank said, 'This day was the most fun I've ever had in my life,'" Rodriguez said. "And I thought I was glad we did the film the way we did. Because that kind of freedom you only get by doing it outside the rules."

"Robert and I are very serious about our work, and we work very hard," Miller said. "The same is true about Quentin. We only looked like a bunch of kids in a tree fort."

* Rodriguez said Miller took to directing quickly. "Having been a cartoonist, it's just like drawing," Rodriguez said. "Especially with the way we're shooting against green screens, it's like working with layers. And he picked it up in no time. He was already talking all this tech-talk and setting cameras and directing the actors. It really did work."

* Rodriguez said it helped to have the Sin City comics around. "Most of the time you get a script and you have to visualize. Here, you saw what we were after emotionally and with the characters," he said.

* Miller said he has more Sin City comics planned.

* Rodriguez said there will be a "very, very extensive" DVD. The segments will also be longer for the individual stories within the movie.

* Rodriguez said he is still working with Mike Allred on a Madman movie.

"Madman will be more of an adaptation, which we're working with Mike Allred on," Rodriguez said. "Because his world is so schizophrenic. He's done so many books that have had so many great characters and bits, and we're trying to figure out a way to really cuisinart all that together to make it an experience that gets all the best of the favorite stuff in there."

* Miller on Batman Begins: "I was involved with it when it was Batman: Year One. But they switched personnel and made different plans, so I don't know what they're up to. I have absolutely nothing to do with it right not. I'm sure that since it's called Batman Begins, they're going through all the early Batman stories for material, and, who knows, there may be some of mine."