“Dune: Prophecy” Cinematographer Pierre Gill Captures the Many Moving Pieces of a Dangerous Game

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A frequent collaborator with director Denis Villeneuve, award-winning cinematographer Pierre Gill respects the filmmaker’s legacy but also relishes being able to play in the same sandbox and create his own vision with Dune: Prophecy.

A prequel to Villeneuve’s Dune films, Gill maintains the epic scope of the universe in the three episodes he directed, including the pilot and finale of the acclaimed six-episode HBO show, which focuses on the origins of the powerful, secretive sisterhood known as the Bene Gesserit. Tasked with establishing a look for the show, set 10,000 years before Dune and Dune: Part Two, he shot 75 percent of his episodes in camera [meaning using practical effects and designs rather than CGI] and using an almost entirely local Hungarian crew.

Pierre Gill on the set of “Dune: Prophecy.” Courtesy Pierre Gill.

Here, Gill explains how he used everything from eyeliners and necklines to silhouettes and Danny Elfman’s Batman theme to help him create tension and identity in the science fiction series visuals.

What were your first creative thoughts when you read the scripts for Dune: Prophecy?

It was really fun, actually. A really cool thing happened in the scripts: You discover things that are related to Denis’ movies, which is good information. The films are complex, and it’s good to have more pieces of the puzzle. I get involved if the script touches me. It’s often very hard to read sci-fi because there are a lot of things like, ‘Exterior Salusa: The spaceship lands.’ Well, what the hell is Salusa? What does it look like? Unless you read something like Star Wars: Episode V, where you know the universe, it’s very difficult to understand what’s happening. This one was like, ‘Okay, it’s 10,000 years before, so what does it look like?’ My mind stayed in the Dune universe of Denis. Right away, I saw in my mind things like the Sisterhood and felt it would be great if this planet was always stormy, dark, and gray. Then I thought the other place should have a high sun, with a very bright, white light. I wanted to make sure you know where you are. It’s a TV series, not a movie, meaning there are going to be more scenes and more sub-stories, and you can get lost. It was clear to me that as I was reading it there were two worlds and then a third one, which you get to see as the series progresses.

“Dune: Prophecy.” Courtesy Pierre Gill/HBO.
Faoileann Cunningham, Olivia Williams. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO

Something you carried across from the films but made your own is the stark geometry.

The production design is really cool. When I got there, the Sisterhood was being built, and it was not straight. It’s crooked on purpose. There’s not one line that is actually a real vertical. It’s really crazy because once you start to do symmetrical, it doesn’t work. All of it is on an angle. It’s a decision to break the equilibrium and make it more strange and lonely. It’s very stark. I was trying to cheat the camera, sometimes going as far back as we could with the actors so there’s more background. I was trying to embrace the sets as much as possible. If we did a scene around a table that’s in the middle of a room, when I do all the coverage, I would bring the table to the side. The audience doesn’t see that but there’s more background, it’s bigger. I was trying to keep it in scope. About 80 percent of the set was built, so it was huge; it’s gorgeous.

Pierre Gill on the set of “Dune: Prophecy.” Courtesy Pierre Gill.

How else did you use framing to give an identity to characters and locations?

What I really like to try to achieve is that the eyes of the audience go to the eyes of the character. If they’re small in a room, I want you to look at their eyes. If you’re super close-up, I want you to look at the eyes. I don’t like to have messy frames. I like it when it is eyes to eyes. I will work on the lighting or shadow as much as I can. I wanted to shoot anamorphic to be closer to the actor with the camera, so you feel them, and it’s not as flat. However, because you’re closer to the actors, they end up looking at each other sideways, which I don’t like. I was stripping the camera so an actor could be tight against it and see the other actor, but just barely. It’s very powerful. It’s one of Denis’ strengths. You look at his shots, and you really feel the actors. Of course, they’re gorgeous and photogenic, but when you look at it, the eye line is dead on.

Emily Watson and Olivia Williams. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO

Something I noticed in your close-ups is that you tend to include necklines. Why?

I don’t like to have a head floating in space. Once you start doing television, you start to think you have to do a big close-up, but a lot of people are still going to watch it on a 55 or 60-inch TV, which is pretty big. Even on an iPhone, it doesn’t look small when it’s well achieved. For example, Valya Harkonnen has this incredible necklace, and I was like, ‘Go back. Keep the necklace in there.’ It makes them a bit stronger. You’re not telling a story with kids wearing a t-shirt in a cafe, and you don’t really care. The costume is very important, very strong, I love to incorporate it. I also like to see the hands as they tell a lot about the character.

Jodhi May as Empress Natalya Arat. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO

There are a lot of epic scenes where you only see the silhouette of a character. How and why did you want to use those?

I would have done much more of it if it had been possible. I think it gives a very powerful mood and gives the audience a chance to participate. If somebody is in silhouette, you’re intrigued, but you have a connection. First of all, it’s gorgeous, and it has a romantic element. In episode one, young Valya and Dorotea stop in a big room, and I get them to be silhouetted. We did this shot, and everybody was like, ‘Oh, wow, it’s amazing,’ and the great thing about it is that they talk, and you listen completely to what they say. I was very happy because they kept it in the edit. The silhouette goes with the beauty of these types of movies and shows because they are part of the architecture. You have an arch, then you have a small character, and it makes them part of the world and puts them into their environment.

“Dune: Propechy.” Courtesy HBO.

You shot this in Budapest. Did you use a lot of local talent?

I have shot in Budapest many times. I filmed The Borgias there, went back for Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Casanova, and did Blade Runner 2049 second unit for Roger Deakins and Denis Villeneuve, but I think I’ve gone back there about six times in total. For certain reasons, I will bring my own Steadicam operator and focus puller, but the camera crew and assistant focus pullers were Hungarian local crew. I only bring three or four people. Some people bring 10 to 15 crew members, but now I use the gaffer, grip, SFX, DIT, and all of them in Hungarian. I know the three main crews that can do a production like this. These are humongous productions, so you need a very strong people. I’m very proud to say that 90 percent or more of my department was made up of the Hungarian crew.

Pierre Gill on the set of “Dune: Prophecy.” Courtesy Pierre Gill/HBO.

There are a lot of scenes in Dune: Prophecy that are very still. How did you find movement in those so that they didn’t feel stagnant?

It’s a good question, but it’s difficult to answer because when there’s a lot of dialog, it’s hard to nail down when and how to move. We could do an interview just about this. Sometimes, we decide, ‘Okay, we’ll move on this line.’ Sometimes, you’re not sure because the scene is being built. That’s a fun part of filmmaking. I have the main operator that I bring with me; he’s my Steadicam guy, but we have the camera on a Technocrane most of the time. I had two Steadicam operators all the time, so I have them working around and making ballet. I talk to them a lot via a headset and build it live. With some scenes, we establish a very slow drift, so there’s a buzz going on all the time. It works pretty well. A lot of it is made on the crane, where we creep in slowly, stop, and then wait and creep again. It’s very precise. I’m always doing the Danny Elfman’s Batman theme in my head, so I can tell my crew, ‘Okay, you’re moving too fast,’ or, ‘It’s too slow.’ It’s that level of subtlety. Most of the time, we try to keep it elegant and strong. You’re doing many more scenes with a TV show, so you must build your show in the editing. I drive the movement to make sure I know it will not get annoying in the editing. There’s nothing worse than a camera that moves too much, or it cuts during a movement. It’s important to keep a nice flow.


Dune: Prophecy is now streaking on Max

For more on Dune: Prophecy, check out these stories:

“Dune: Prophecy” Editors Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger on Weaving the Tapestry of Sisterhood’s Growing Power

Official “Dune: Prophecy” Trailer Unveils a Powerful Sisterhood Rising in a Troubled Universe

Featured image: Courtesy of HBO.

“Barbie” Sequel in Early Stages While Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach Hone Story Idea

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Once Barbie became a cultural and box office colossus, cementing writer/director Greta Gerwig and producer/star Margot Robbie as two of the most sought-after talents in Hollywood, the most obvious question glowed in pink and the largest font possible—when would we hear about a sequel in the works?

While we know there will be no Oppenheimer 2 from Christopher Nolan, a Barbie 2 would need no Barbenheimer effect to command the attention of the global movie audience—heck, Barbie didn’t need the father of the atomic bomb the first time around, even if the twin openings was a fun cultural phenomenon that benefited both films. Now, The Hollywood Reporter hears from two reliable sources that a Barbie sequel is, in fact, in the works.

Yet for a sequel to satisfy after the massive success of the original, which boasted a Kentastic script from Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, that duo would need to come up with a storyline that advanced the arcs of Robbie’s Barbie, Ryan Gosling’s Ken, and the rest of the Barbie-verse. As THR has pointed out, Gerwig has said that her “North Star is, what do I deeply love? What do I really care about? What’s the story underneath this story?” At Time‘s Women of the Year honors in March of 2024, she also said: “If I find the undertow, then we get it. I don’t find the undertow, there’s no more.”

Caption: (L-r) RYAN GOSLING, MARGOT ROBBIE and Director/Writer GRETA GERWIG on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “BARBIE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jaap Buitendijk

THR has learned that Gerwig and Baumbach have located the undertow and are being swept toward an idea for the sequel. Yet the respective reps for the filmmakers and studio aren’t going along. “There is no legitimacy to this reporting,” said Gerwig and Baumbach’s rep. “THR‘s reporting is inaccurate,” a Warner Bros. rep added.

There’s a long, pink road to go before any Barbie sequel is officially in pre-production. Gerwig is prepping her Netflix film, an adaptation of Chronicles of Narnia, while Baumbach has his own major film coming out next year for Netflix, starring Gerwig, Laura Dern, George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Riley Keough, Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Jim Broadbent, and Emily Mortimer, who co-wrote the script.

There’s been no leak on what the Barbie sequel could be about it, as it’s been safely stored in an adorable bank vault in Barbie Land. Gerwig has gone on record about her distaste for sharing script ideas too early, saying on a WGA panel that “I don’t like to talk about things too early or pitch things or show treatments too early because it feels like it’s gonna somehow wreck what the movie is.”

Gerwig also said in an interview with People, “I want to go back to Barbie Land.” Millions of people hope she does and will take us along for the ride.

For more on Barbie, check out these stories:

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“Barbie” Casting Directors Allison Jones And Lucy Bevan on Populating Barbie Land

Featured image: Caption: (L-r) Director/Writer GRETA GERWIG, MARGOT ROBBIE and RYAN GOSLING on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “BARBIE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Dale Robinette

“Dune: Prophecy” Editors Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger on Weaving the Tapestry of Sisterhood’s Growing Power

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No strangers to collaborating on world-building, editors Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger relished the chance to come together to help shape Dune: Prophecy.

The Westworld alums shaped the season finale together, as well as overseeing their own episodes of the HBO magisterial new series that extends the world of Dune set into motion by director Denis Villeneuve’s critically acclaimed films. Set long before Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) was rising to power in the desert sands of Arrakis, some 10,000 years before those events depicted in Villeneuve’s Dune films, Dune: Prophecy offers a six-episode prequel that focuses on the origins of the immensely powerful and violently secretive sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit.

Here, Allwarden and Hauger, who is also an associate producer on the show, explain how they shaped the tone of the story, set a distinctive mood for the flashback sequences, and used sound design and visual themes to take their visions to the next level.

 

What were the first conversations you had going into Dune: Prophecy?

Anna Hauger: Primarily, I joined the project because I’ve worked with both executive producers, Jordan Goldberg and Alison Schapker. Amelia and I worked with them on Westworld, and I enjoyed their collaboration. It was a no-brainer for me. Amelia was more familiar with the Dune of it all. I’ve watched the movies, or it was just the first one at that point, but I’d actually never read the books.

Amelia Allwarden: Alison, Jordan, and I talked a lot about Dune: Part One while we were editing Westworld season four because it had come out that year, and I had just read the first book. Little did I know that they would become involved with the Dune: Prophecy then, but then Allison texted me and said, ‘I want to put you forward to join us on the show.’ My combination of being so into the Dune lore and then working with Jordan and Alison again on an IP that I already loved was like, ‘Where do I sign?’

Emily Watson. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO

You had to take that epic scale of Dune on the big screen and put that on a smaller screen with the same beats. How did you find the proportionately scaled tone?

Hauger: We had a lot to live up to with the features and the tone that had been set. We also had numerous discussions with Jordan and Alison about making the show something unto itself and not being beholden to the films. We didn’t have the budget and the time, but we wanted to make it as big in scope and put in as much world-building as possible to make it feel full and be part of the Dune-verse.

Allwarden: The beauty of television is the serialized workflow, so you get much more into the nitty gritty. Alison’s writing is so character-driven that it was less about asking, ‘How are we going to make this like, or not like, Denis’ films?’ and more like, ‘How are we going to honor the characters, the world they inhabit and make it feel rich?’

What was the anchor for Dune: Prophecy in the edit?

Hauger: I start with the characters. We were really fortunate to have an embarrassment of riches, with a fantastic cast, such as Emily Watson and Olivia Williams, leading it and digging into their emotions. Valya and Tula Harkonnen are such complicated, rich characters, and there are a lot of ways you can go editorially; there are a lot of shades of that balance between good and evil. You service your script in the first pass, and then when Alison and Jordan come in, we can change the dynamics of the whole series by changing performance and cutting to different reactions, focusing on different parts of the manipulation and their power play. It’s a fun exploration.

Olivia Williams and Emily Watson. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO

Anna edited episode two, Amelia edited episode four, and you did the finale together. How did you manage the workflow?

Allwarden: Once we have everything, then we can be like, ‘These storylines are emerging and feeling more important, and these are feeling less important,’ then we go in, and we iterate from there, shaving things down and reordering. The beauty of some of the storylines is that some can be revealed in different orders other than what was originally intended. That happens a lot on shows that have many characters and storylines, like Westworld. Alison and Jordan are incredible collaborators with editors, and they really respect us, so they always wanted to hear how we could better tell the story. It was very much like the best idea wins versus a dictation, and it makes the show better overall.

Hauger: One thing we always had to keep in mind was making sure Valya came across as the smartest one in the room. You don’t want the audience or the other characters to be ahead of her. You want her plan to be piercing through-line across the series. That had to be the top priority.

Dune: Prophecy utilizes flashbacks, which can be quite difficult to integrate without being jarring. How did you find the best way to do that?

Hauger: I didn’t have to deal with flashbacks in episode two as it was a thought-driven episode in the present, but in episode six, we definitely had a lot of discussions about where to place the flashbacks best. The script dictated where those flashbacks were going to be, but in the post-process, I did a little bit of work on it, and we definitely had flexibility in moving those around and putting them in the best place to service the story.

Allwarden: Not to give anything away about episode six, but we were really intentional when we go in and out of flashbacks and present-day to feel like we’re following an emotional throughline, and we’re going there for a reason, not just being yanked back and forth. They were really beautifully written in the scripts, but then we wanted to elevate them when they came to post to make sure we’re feeling a flow of like, ‘Oh, I’ve been too long in the present. I’ve been too long in the past.’

Edward Davis, Emily Watson. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO

Do you find that you created trademark moves in editing that you can pull out to give you an edge in any situation?

Hauger: That’s the beauty of collaborating with multiple editors. Being able to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other, look at a scene, and say, ‘Hey, I have an idea of how to elevate that,’ is great. I know that when I’m stuck in a corner, being able to give the scene to Amelia, have her fresh eyes on it, and utilize her bag of tricks is such a benefit to the whole show.

Allwarden: The way I ground myself in a scene is by focusing on the characters’ eyes. If we’re looking at a character, and I cut back, and they’re looking down, it really bothers me and makes it feel disjointed. If I was ever taking a fresh pass on a scene, I’m reconnecting all the eyes, and then I can take a breath, go from there, and feel how the characters are feeling. I don’t necessarily keep all of those in the final edit, but it is how to get inside a scene for me.

Chloe Lea. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO.

With episodes two and four, did anything come up where you weren’t sure how you were going to solve a problem but were pleased with the results?

Hauger: In episode two, it has got to be the agony, which was our big set piece of the episode. It was shot like a black box theater. You have the main character who has undergone this ritual to unlock her genetic memory, waking up in this cavernous area. It was such a blank page, and there were so many ways that you could go, heightening the horror or the emotion, so it was figuring out what story we wanted to tell and collaborating with visual effects to bring it to life. When I turned in my cut, I said, ‘I have this story and vision in my head, but I’m not sure if it’s going to work.’ Thanks to discussions with the director, Alison, and VFX, bouncing ideas off of each other, we really brought something magical to the screen. Bringing the sound design and music into that, too, was beyond my expectations from just looking at the dailies when I received them.

 

Allwarden: Similarly, with the two dream sequences that bookend episode four, there’s Emeline’s dream at the beginning and then what’s revealed to be Tula’s dream at the end. When you have a dream sequence, it can be cut in many different ways. There was a really great plan going in, then it was like, ‘How do we elevate that?’ Emeline is walking through the sisterhood; she’s following someone who she realizes is herself, but she’s blind, kills herself, and there’s sand pouring from the walls, so we have all these elements to play with. Many of them were visual effects we could improve upon once we got into post, and we could collaborate with our VFX supervisor, Michael Enriquez, and our visual effects producer, Terron Pratt, to elevate those sequences. You want to balance the edge of confusion and excitement, but you don’t want to be too confused. Also, if it’s too straightforward, it becomes boring. I’m really proud of where we landed in both sequences because they’re driven by the character and where we want their headspace to be. It gives a really fun playground to play in, with visual effects and sound design and little breadcrumbs for future things, too.

 

 

Dune: Prophecy is now streaming on Max

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Featured image: Edward Davis, Emily Watson. Photograph by Attila Szvacsek/HBO

“Nickel Boys” Cinematographer Jomo Fray Takes a New Angle on a Difficult Past

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“Every aspect of the visual language that we built always came from being rooted in the script,” cinematographer Jomo Fray tells The Credits about director RaMell Ross’s moving film Nickel Boys.

Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, the screenplay, co-written by Ross and Joslyn Barnes, follows the blooming friendship between two black teenagers – Elwood and Turner – as they’re forced to attend a reform school in the Jim Crow South during the Civil Rights Movement. In photographing the imagery, Fray and his director framed the story through a first-person viewpoint, a technique that intimately connects the audience directly to the narrative as if they were the characters. The decision greatly influenced the cinematographer’s approach to composition and lighting.

“We didn’t want to just show some events that were happening,” says Fray. “We wanted to invite the viewer to have the bravery to ask themselves, not just, wow, this is some really tough stuff happening to Elwood, but to ask themselves, what would I feel if I was in this situation?” The result is a camera language that viscerally immerses you in the magnetism of the characters as you walk step by step with them through their emotional journey.

 

With the novel being such an impactful piece of literature, was this project an automatic yes for you?

You know, it was an automatic yes for me. Before I had even started the script, RaMell Ross, the director, was someone I was so completely and utterly enamored with after seeing Hale County This Morning, This Evening. That movie really just completely had me sitting in awe when the lights came up. I truly had this feeling where I needed to meet the person who made this work. I needed to talk to the image maker behind it, so when the request came in for Nickel Boys, on RaMell’s name alone, I was like, I’m in.

In terms of developing the visual style, what came from those first conversations with RaMell?

In our first conversation, he was like I want this movie to be from a first-person perspective. Just the boldness of that choice was so exciting to hear as an artist because, truly, I feel like the scripts that get me the most excited are the ones that I can’t pre-visualize when I’m reading them.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as Hattie in director RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS, from Orion Pictures.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Orion Pictures © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

What considerations went into developing the first-person camera language?

Something that helped RaMell and I is that early on in prep, we actually almost stopped using the word first point perspective or first person or POV. The way that he and I described the image to ourselves is that we wanted a sentient image. By that, we wanted an image that felt like it was connected to a real body inside the scene and a real body that was navigating a dangerous time for them.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as Hattie and Ethan Herisse as Elwood in director RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS, from Orion Pictures. Photo credit: Courtesy of Orion Pictures © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

So, how did the viewpoint influence the camera blocking and framing?

It was a lot of conversations with RaMell in prep, going through the script line by line, moment by moment, beat by beat, and asking ourselves, whose perspective is it taking place from? And what is their feeling? What is the emotion we’re trying to draw out of something that they’re feeling? And as an audience, how do we feel about what they’re feeling? And then what’s an establishing shot? What’s a cut? What’s a transition?

Brandon Wilson stars as Turner in director RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS, from Orion Pictures. Photo credit: Courtesy of Orion Pictures© 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

So, for example, in the place of not having a traditional establishing shot, what does the image mean when maybe it’s a wider image of a space? What are the socioeconomics of the space? What are the socioeconomics of the person whose eyes I’m seeing? And what’s the juxtaposition between their socioeconomic position and the socioeconomics of the space? And are they comfortable in that space?

Did shot list help imagine scenes, or did you approach them more organically on set?

RaMell and I spent hours and hours building a meticulous shot list together, where we designed every scene as a one-er, knowing we would cut in post. We didn’t give any of the actors marks, and we would constantly try to find ways to make it feel real and grounded for the performers and ourselves. To try to get an image that had some real immediacy to it was ultimately what we were after.

Brandon Wilson stars as Turner in director RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS, from Orion Pictures. Photo credit: Courtesy of Orion Pictures © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

What was the approach on a technical level?

In prep, we would have a DSLR when we were shot listening together, and we would just try things out. We also did a lot of camera tests and tried hard almost to unlearn what we knew about certain camera systems to ask ourselves, what does this feel like? And then our key grip team, led by Gary Kelso, needed to build custom rigs for some of the shots. Since we were doing each scene as a one-er, it meant that essentially every single shot of the movie was a trick shot, so we had to have a bespoke system to be able to run the entirety of every scene. Sometimes, that was handheld. Sometimes, that was having a camera on a bungee apparatus. Other times, it was a body rig. Oftentimes, it was a remote camera head that I would use in mimic mode. So that way, the remote camera head could sit in front of the actor, and in another room, I could be doing handheld and look down at my body, and the camera would look down and see the actor’s body on set.

What brought on the idea to film Nickel Boys in a 4:3 aspect ratio?

Things like the aspect ratio, the use of telephoto lenses, and the use of shallow depth of field were our attempts to try almost to create the illusion of selective focus. We wanted to make an image that felt like the way the brain takes in knowledge in a space and then creates more information by the way those things juxtapose each other.

Ethan Herisse stars as Elwood in director RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS, from Orion Pictures. Photo credit: Courtesy of Orion Pictures © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

One emotional element you captured so well was breaking from the viewpoint to show us the character, whether that was through a reflection or breaking the fourth wall. What went into finding those shots?

There was a moment on set for RaMell and me on the first day that Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor came to set. The scene in particular is where her character, Hattie, talks to Elwood and tells him some news that is hard for her to say. When I was operating the camera as Elwood’s gaze at that moment, I remember right before she’s going to tell this news I sensed she’s about to say something she doesn’t want to say. So the camera as my eyes drifted away with the lens. There was a pause, and Aunjanue, completely off script, touched the table and said, Elwood, look at me, son. And there was a way in which the camera had to float back. It had to meet her gaze. And Hattie looked into my eyes as Elwood delivered that news.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as Hattie in director RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS, from Orion Pictures. Photo credit: Courtesy of Orion Pictures © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

When we first saw that take, I think we yelled cut, and he and I ran back to the monitor, and it was like, oh, this is what POV is. This is what an ascension camera is. It’s that the camera itself has to be a scene partner to the actors. It has to be present in the scene, and if an actor changes what they’re going to do, the camera language has to change to meet it. I think that was an explosive moment for the two of us because it changed how we connected with the image.

Nickel Boys is in select theaters on December 14.

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Featured image: Ethan Herisse stars as Elwood and Brandon Wilson as Turner in director RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS, from Orion Pictures. Photo credit: Courtesy of Orion Pictures © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Feral Frame: How “Nightbitch” Cinematographer Brandon Trost Helped Amy Adams Unleash Her Inner Beast

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In Nightbitch, six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams hurls herself into dog mode, slurping meat from a bowl, pawing through the dirt in her backyard, and running with a pack of neighborhood canines in feral protest against the stultifying bonds of motherhood. Cinematographer Brandon Trost, teaming for the third time with writer-director Marielle Heller after Diary of a Teenage Girl and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, visualized the movie as a comedy-laced family drama studded with surreal body horror elements. Trost, like Heller, has young children. “Watching the dad in this film at times feels like looking into a mirror,” he says. “It was actually terrifying at times and a real eye-opener.” Nightbitch (now in theaters) co-stars Scoot McNairy as “Husband,” with two-year-old twins Arleigh Snowden and Emmett Snowden portraying the couple’s mischievous toddler.

Speaking from his home in L.A.-adjacent Studio City, Brandon, who also shot Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (opening Dec. 20), talks about capturing a dog’s point of view, borrowing from Poltergeist, and enjoying the perks of filming in his native Los Angeles.

 

How did you and Marielle Heller arrive at the plan for how Nightbitch should be shot?

There’s always a kind of alchemy where we begin the process of figuring out how we want something to feel. With this movie, it checks a few different boxes from a genre perspective: Family drama, comedy, horror film, and body horror. But at the core, Nightbitch is about motherhood and Amy Adam’s character reclaiming her identity. Once we identified what we wanted the film to feel like, I tried to translate that through lenses, camera, camera movement, and lighting.

Beginning with the set-up, right?

We needed to sell the monotony of Mother’s home life situation. And that’s one thing I can say that both Marielle and I have a lot of experience with.

The monotony of domestic life?

Well, not entirely, but we both have kids the same age, and we’re just at that stage of our lives. At its core, this film is a family drama, but I also wanted it have a little bit of a bite, and that comes down to the sharpness of lenses.

What kind of lens?

As my horror 70s throwback, I used a lot of zoom in this movie where you start wide and move in closer. Early on, when Amy’s staring at her son on the kitchen floor, sipping coffee, we’re pushing in during her voice-over, but then it goes beyond a normal close-up. We used a special macro anamorphic lens to get in really close, so it’s just her eyes.

Amy Adams in NIGHTBITCH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

Getting inside her head?

Yeah, a lot of slow zooms to get into her head space. That also led us to this macro level of detail that highlights the gross-out stuff in the bathroom. We didn’t want to hide from that. In another moment I liked, Amy wakes up at night and hears the dogs outside. She walks down the hallway toward us, then turns, the camera hinges over, and she goes to the front door. We push in [with the dolly] and zoom back, which makes the hallway look like it’s slowly stretching — something I ripped off from Poltergeist. It was more instinctual than anything else. The zooms just felt right.

 

The first act, showing Mother home alone with her toddler, includes some excellent physical comedy.

A lot of the humor comes from these emotionally stinging scenes, almost like PTSD, which can be kind of a relief for parents to laugh at because it’s so crazy. But yeah, we wanted to establish this life rut for Amy’s character where you give everything to your child and lose sight of yourself because everything you wanted to be gets put on hold.

 

SPOILER ALERT

And then. . .

Then, she reclaims her identity by turning into a dog. We wanted Mother’s feral instinct to feel like an itch that needs to be scratched. Compared to gory experiences in horror movies, Amy turning into a dog feels more like a flower blooming. For Amy’s character, it’s this release into becoming what she needed to be.

Amy Adams in NIGHTBITCH. Photo by Anne Marie Fox. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

How did that translate into film gear?

We shot in a small house in the Valley. I wanted to give the location a little cinematic flair and chose anamorphic lenses for that reason. Being such a small space, we wanted a wide frame because I like the way anamorphic lenses can distort things a little and give you this subtle feeling that things may not be so perfect.

The night-time sequences that come later mark a distinct shift in tone once Amy starts running with dogs from her neighborhood.

When Amy makes the transformation, it’s like when a dog hits an open yard for the first time and takes off, runs around, and goes crazy. We wanted to induce that kind of motion and energy with our shots of the dogs just running.

Amy Adams in NIGHTBITCH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

How did the cameras keep up with the dogs?

We had something that’s effectively a souped-up golf cart, which we rigged with a couple of cameras. The dogs were moving so fast it was the only way we could film them.

What gear did you use to convey Amy the dog’s point of view?

It’s very trope-y [in horror films] to have the werewolf POV or the monster POV, so we did want to see things through her eyes, but we also wanted to make the dog’s POV very specific to this movie. What we landed on came from the flashbacks in this film where Amy remembers her youth growing up with her mom in a Mennonite community. We shot all of those memories with Petzval lenses, which are old-timey portrait lenses that have a circular smeary border on the edges.

Which lets the audience know those scenes happened in the past.

Yeah. So while we were testing lenses and cameras, I discovered a filter that’s flat on one side and convex on the other. When we mistakenly put it on backward, all of a sudden, it threw the outside of the frame way out of focus, like a Petzval times a million. The tiny little center of the screen is in focus, and everything else is smeared away. We realized, “That could be the dog POV.” I also liked how it bridged to the tone of the flashbacks.

 

The Nightbitch story seems like it could take place in Anywhere U.S.A., but the quality of light suggests sunny Los Angeles.

Yes, we filmed Nightbitch entirely in Los Angeles. That’s a testament to Amy Adams, who was instrumental in getting this film made. One of her stipulations was “Shoot in L.A.”

Economically, a production like Nightbitch surely means a lot to the local filmmaking community. As a department head, did you enjoy hiring crew from the area?

I feel like the best crews in the world are here so for me, there’s no better place to shoot than Los Angeles. Unfortunately, I think I’ve shot like two movies in L.A. in the last ten years. A lot of TV still gets made here, but especially with small-budget and mid-budget films, that doesn’t happen much anymore.

What are the perks?

I get to work with my favorite people, so having that level of comfort and familiarity induces a kind of calmness. And of course, I use local vendors. It’s easy to do tests because I can just go to the camera house and dial in all the lenses. And we shot our hair and makeup tests at Panavision in [Los Angeles suburb] Woodland Hills. For me, when it comes to filmmaking, L.A. is ground zero.

Nightbitch is in theaters now.

For more stories on 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Marvel Studios and what’s streaming or coming to

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Jeremy Allen White Joining “The Mandalorian & Grogu” Movie as Iconic Villain’s Son

“Snow White” Trailer: It’s Rachel Zegler vs. Gal Gadot in Enchanting Second Look

“Moana 2” Paddles Into Movie History With Record-Shattering Debut

Featured image: Amy Adams in NIGHTBITCH. Photo by Anne Marie Fox. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

The Shared DNA Between Writer/Director Jean de Meuron’s “Edge of Space” and “Top Gun: Maverick”

Posted on by babrams

A visually lavish and emotionally captivating short film about the early days of manned spaceflight exploration, writer/director/producer Jean de Meuron’s directorial debut, Edge of Space, is set in 1961. The 18-minute film follows U.S. Air Force test pilot Glen Ford (played by the Sniper film series’ Chad Michael Collins), who risks it all for a suborbital test flight in the X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. The film provides a refreshing glimpse into the decade leading to the Apollo missions, culminating with the Moon landing in 1969. “When working on Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall, where NASA was an official partner, I recognized that there is no future without the past. So, I wanted to explore how it all started,” de Meuron recalls. It all began while he was an executive at Emmerich’s production company, Centropolis Entertainment.

Jean de Meuron on the set of “Edge of Space.” Courtesy of Jean de Meuron.

Recently hosting a screening of the film at CAA followed by a conversation with de Meuron, Emmerich (Stargate, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) had this to say about the ambitious short: “Edge of Space is a thrilling, visceral dive into the 1960s space exploration era, capturing the spirit and intensity of that crucial time in history in a way that truly resonates,” the legendary director shares. “Having worked with NASA myself on Moonfall, I was really impressed by how beautifully and suspensefully the film portrayed the drive, sacrifices, and heroism of the first space pioneers. The filmmaking is remarkable — not just in its amazing technical precision, epic scale, and ambitious scope, but also in the cinematic storytelling.”

A breath of fresh air with its stirring optimism, the film shares a surprising connection with Tom Cruise’s 2022 cinematic love letter to aviation. Top Gun: Maverick’s aerial coordinator, Kevin LaRosa II, plays a significant part in Edge of Space. Besides managing the drone crew for the aerial sequences, he also plays another test pilot in the film, Tom Mitchell (an homage to Cruise’s Pete Mitchell in the Top Gun milieu). Impressed with de Meuron’s ambitious creative vision to explore the nascent space race era, LaRosa was excited to participate in the project. “Jean reached out to me shortly after the release of Top Gun: Maverick. As an aviation fanatic, I wanted to be a part of it. He then surprised me by asking me to be a part of the cast! He believed that as a pilot, I would bring a level of authenticity to the role,” he reveals.

On the set of “Edge of Space.” Courtesy of Jean de Meuron.

La Rosa is also thrilled to be involved behind the camera. “I organized the drone crew to execute Jean’s vision. He directed the shots and drone movements with precision, knowing exactly what he needed for the VFX plates. The epic aerial sequences are truly cinematic and stirring, providing an immersive sense of flying with the pilot in the cockpit,” he says. When he saw the final cut, he was thrilled with the results. “Watching the final film in the theater was a moving, inspiring, and thrilling experience. I was deeply impressed by what Jean, his producers, and the entire team accomplished. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of this uplifting story.”

An official selection at the OSCAR and BAFTA qualifying L.A. Shorts International Film Festival (Jury Special Mention) and the HollyShorts Film Festival (Nominee), Edge of Space is eligible for the Academy’s consideration in the Best Live Action Short Film category. De Meuron recently spoke with The Credits about his three-year journey to bring the project to the big screen.

“Edge of Space.” Courtesy of Jean de Meuron.

Edge of Space is your directorial debut. What drives your passion for space exploration and military aviation?

I’ve always been fascinated with space exploration, specifically the pioneer spirit pertaining to scientific innovation and overcoming the impossible against all odds. It’s extraordinary that in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright were able to fly an airplane that they built for 12 seconds above the sand dunes in North Carolina. We went to space six decades later and landed on the Moon in 1969. Our perseverance as a species, when we’re collectively united by one shared goal and common purpose, is inspiring to me and hopefully uplifting for the audience as well.

Most cinematic efforts have focused primarily on the Apollo missions, which makes your choice to highlight the USAF’s first suborbital test flight on the X-15 very refreshing.  What made you decide to focus on the era before the Moon landing for your first project?

We’re currently experiencing a renaissance of space exploration. When Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth in 1961, it ushered in the era of the US-Soviet space race. With the Artemis Program, NASA aims to return a new generation of astronauts to the Moon. So, it’s an interesting time to trace the origins and pay homage to the visionaries who risked it all. To quote President John F. Kennedy’s speech to a joint session of Congress in 1961, Edge of Space is dedicated to those who took “a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth.”

On the set of “Edge of Space.” Courtesy of Jean de Meuron.

Is Glen’s character based on a composite of real-life pilots from the period between 1959 and 1968, when the X-15 was deployed?

The film is inspired by historical events. Tom Wolfe’s book “The Right Stuff” was a major influence. It details the heroic and brave exploits of the test pilots-turned-astronauts with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircraft. Glen is based on the likes of Chuck Yeager, who, in 1947, became the first pilot to exceed the speed of sound in level flight, and Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon.

What kind of assistance did you get from NASA on this project?

NASA provided us with archival footage that I studied with my team as part of our in-depth research. We really wanted to make the film as historically accurate and authentic as possible.

Chad Michael Collins in “Edge of Space.” Courtesy of Jean de Meuron.

The aerial shots of the drop-launch from the B-52 were visually stunning, delivering studio-feature-level production value.  Were they done with models or VFX?

They were all done in VFX. I storyboarded the film and shot specific plates with my visual effects team from VFX Los Angeles (Izzy Traub, Charles H. Joslain, and Joseph Sperber), which served as the foundation of our shots. Then, we modeled and textured the 3D assets, which we then compiled into the shot. Technically speaking, VFX compositing is the technique we used to combine several visual layers/elements into a single frame. We were immensely meticulous because we wanted everything to look as photoreal as possible.

“Edge of Space.” Courtesy of Jean de Meuron.

Do you plan to make a feature-length version of Edge of Space? Military aviation-centric films have really seen a return in popularity ever since Top Gun: Maverick blew up the scene in 2022.

I love Top Gun: Maverick. It’s an excellent film, viscerally cinematic and immersive—it blew me away. I’m very proud that Kevin is part of our cast and supported the film with his drone crew for the flight sequences. There is certainly potential to expand the narrative as the dramatic material lends itself to a feature-length version.

What was it like to work with LaRosa on the flight sequences?

Kevin organized the drone crew via his company, XBrand. He flawlessly executed my vision as I directed the shots and drone movements when we filmed in the desert. He knew exactly what I needed for the VFX plates and convinced his crew to be part of this ambitious undertaking. We had access to historical NASA archival footage from the ‘60s, which served as my reference and inspiration in terms of camera angles, framing, and composition. As far as the aerial sequences, I designed, storyboarded, and executed them all. When I had questions, Kevin provided invaluable guidance with his expertise. With his passion for aviation, I always saw him as part of the cast. When I first saw him in the Mercury spacesuit during the costume fitting, I had an overwhelming sense of pride and connection to the astronauts who pioneered the quest of exploration into the unknown. So, I knew then that I had made the right choice. I think my instincts paid off.

For AMPAS Members, Edge of Space is available to watch in the Academy Screening Room.

 

 

 

“Maria” Cinematographer Ed Lachman on Painting Angelina Jolie’s Mythic Opera Legend With Light

Posted on by babrams

Passionate Greek-American soprano Maria Callas was the world’s premier opera star when she was struck with various ailments that limited her capacity to sing. She led a life rivaling any opera drama, including a tumultuous relationship with Aristotle Onassis and explosive interactions with collaborators and fans that made her increasingly controversial.  She said, “I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best.”

Director Pablo Larraín chose to highlight Callas in his new film Maria. Lauded for Spencer and Jackie, which brought stories about Diana Princess of Wales and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to the screen, Maria continues his examination of complicated women in the public eye. Starring Angelina Jolie as the exacting and enigmatic performer, the film considers her last weeks of life before death from a heart attack in 53. Callas was living in relative seclusion in Paris, liberally self-medicating with dangerous drugs and undertaking risky behavior. Through Steven Knight’s screenplay, Larraín leverages a mixture of flashbacks, present-day experiences, and a fair number of drug-fueled hallucinations in imagining Callas’s last days.  

There’s a good reason Maria cinematographer Ed Lachman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Middleburg Film Festival in October of this year. The three-time Oscar nominee has lensed some of the most beautiful films of recent history, including Todd Haynes’s Far From Heaven and Carol and Larraín’s most recent feature, El Conte. Lachman approached Maria as if filming an opera, with what he calls “a moving proscenium.” He also worked to recapture the light and color of Paris while on location in Hungary.

The Credits spoke to Lachman about how he created the visual language of Maria, a film that has put him on the Oscar nomination shortlist for Best Cinematography. 

MARIA. Cinematographer Edward Lachman on the set of Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

Many of the buildings that gave Paris that famous, luminous light were created by Haussmann, but Maria was filmed in Budapest. Can you talk about finding the right building and recreating that light? 

There is one shot where you see Maria’s actual apartment. It was a two-shot of her walking with Mandrax before they went to the Trocadéro. Anyway, even though it was a set we created, we were in a real location, in a building in Budapest that Pablo and Guy Hendrix Dyas, the production designer, had found and felt had the right bones. So many of the beautiful old apartments have been or are being renovated, but that apartment building hadn’t been renovated yet, so they could go in and make all the changes they wanted. The problem is it was on the 6th floor, so I had to get 90 or 120-foot cranes and put them outside each window. 

MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.
MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

Why was that?

Pablo used what I call a moving proscenium frame, which meant using lenses anywhere between 21 and 28mm; I didn’t have anywhere I could hide the lights. I put China balls over the chandeliers, but if I put a light, the camera would see it, so I decided early on that I would light from the exterior with these big HMI lights. The problem for me was, how do I vary it so we don’t feel like we’re always in the same light? 

MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

What did you do?

I did that in two ways. One was through color temperature, by changing the time of day with gels on the lights. The lights are daylight-balanced, but you can use orange filters to make them warmer. The direction of the light and the height of the light to the window outside would change. The real source of the light coming in in the morning would be lower, where you would see the shadow of the window higher, and as the day went on, the shadow of the window would go lower. When we were shooting, I was very sensitive to what time of the day it was in the storyline. I had to place the lights in the right position to show the time of day.  The other thing I realized was that in Paris, the streets aren’t very wide apart from each other, except on the boulevards, so the light moves over the buildings from the front to the back. The light still comes in the windows, but it comes through reflection by bouncing off the windows on the other side of the street or off the opposite building because most of those buildings were made of light limestone. So I recreated all of those aspects by using those big lights outside, and taking all those elements into consideration. 

 

The visual approach is also very much influenced by Maria’s dramatic life. 

Yes, as I mentioned, it’s like a moving proscenium. For me, the aim is really an opera about Maria Callas rather than a biopic. It’s as if we made an opera because her life was really a summation of all the tragedies she lived through in her operas. She even said, “My mind is a stage, and my soul is the opera.” She saw herself as living in an opera, in a way, to save herself, and when she lost her voice, she lost her will to be able to endure or fight her personal suffering. She never obtained in her personal life what she did in her public life through the adoration and love that she felt from her fan base. Another aspect of the visual approach was the many elements, like the setting, props, and wardrobe, which were all a bit mannered and theatrical, and so I played with the light that way. I used warm colors and tones for her interiors, and then greens and blues coming from outside, and the greens and blues are always fighting against the warmth. She was hiding, in a way, against the cool tones. 

MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024.
MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

There’s definitely an emotional component there in terms of leveraging color. 

Artists, from Goethe in 1810 to Joseph Albers in 1963, have always understood that color affects the viewer psychologically. Cool colors like green are more restful, that’s why hospitals usually use greens and blues. Restaurants are painted in warmer colors to help people with their appetite. So I try to use color not only as a decorative element but also to affect the viewer emotionally, and I did that in Maria. Rarely do I get to do that. I did it in Far From Heaven, where I had Sirk as inspiration and Todd’s background in semiotics, which meant he totally got it.  

MARIA. (L to R) Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas and Haluk Bilginer as Aristotle Onassis in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

One of the most dramatic and memorable scenes was the Madam Butterfly performance outside in the rain, which is clearly something going on, at least in part, inside her head. What were some considerations that went into that?

Actually, the night before, I thought about the fact that I might need the crane we’d just used, and couldn’t remember if I’d have the use of it again. Sure enough, it turned out they had sent it back. So we spent all day working to get the crane back in time, and by the time it got there, it was perfect. There were lights there because that building was an electric water facility, and there was a heavy glass enclosure over the doors, so I had a lot of lights bouncing there, giving a little texture. Then I had the one big light on the crane, which worked out exactly right. It also helped with the rain so that you could see the rain better. 

MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024.

Maria is playing in select theaters as of November 27th, and will stream on Netflix starting December 11th. 

 

 

 

 For more on Maria, check out our interview with costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini.

 

 

 Featured image: MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

Regional Sustainability Advisor Clara George on Greening Netflix’s “Virgin River”

Posted on by babrams

A film or TV set is usually powered almost exclusively by diesel generators. These generators were loud, hot, large, environmentally unfriendly, and often used at such a low capacity that they were practically idling. They weren’t just bad for the environment; they were wasteful and highly unpleasant.

This is increasingly no longer the case, as new technologies come onto the market and new, less fuel-dependent approaches to how filmmakers and TV creators get their shots become possible. According to Clara George, the Regional Sustainability Advisor for Netflix in Canada and a veteran of the industry with over 30 years of experience as a line producer, the key is crew buy-in. As a former line producer, George knows first-hand how crews are the power generators of any film or TV set, and the key to her work is incentivizing the crews to embrace the opportunities inherent in greening up a production. “If you want something done, you get a film person to do it,” George says. She knows this to be true from vast experience.

George and the crew of Netflix’s Virgin River are leading by example. By implementing clean mobile power on the series, they’ve greatly reduced the use of diesel generators and gas-powered vehicles on set. Whether deploying batteries, hybridizing a battery, or tapping into the local grid, what’s happening on Virgin River is part of a larger effort to create a more environmentally friendly approach to filmmaking.

From the creators and producers to the grips and the gaffers, the Virgin River team has embraced the challenge and made it a part of their mission. We spoke to George about piloting brand-new technology, the beauty of the battery, and how creating a greener set means creating a more pleasant working environment.

 

Can you tell me a bit about how you went from being a line producer to a Sustainable Production Advisor for Netflix?

I was a line producer for over 30 years. During the last few years of producing, I became cognizant of green productions, which got me involved with Reel Green, part of the BC Film Commission. They’re a group of stakeholders who work together to support the greening of productions across BC. I’m trying to produce this sustainable movement by working directly with production. Virgin River came under my watch because I’m based in Vancouver and Canada’s regional sustainability advisor. What that means is I partner with Netflix’s sustainability team as on-the-ground support to identify opportunities where we can reduce emissions on set. I first met with the crew during production for season four and started bringing up the conversation about what we could do better. I’ve been working with them for the last three seasons.

A TV production has so many moving pieces; how do you approach implementing sustainable practices for such a complex machine?

We’re working on decarbonization, and on a production the primary way to do that is to reduce how much fuel is burned. So we’re looking specifically at the fuel used in diesel generators and the fuel used in all the transport vehicles to move the production around. That streamlines everything in the beginning—who needs power, where they need power, how can we replace it, and how can we encourage clean power? We identified which vehicles drive the most, and if they are replaceable, how can we replace them? Film people know how to do this. We’re really good multitaskers. If there’s a problem and you need to figure out how to put the crane on the mountain, we figure it out.

Virgin River. (L to R) Barbara Pollard as Melissa Montgomery, Benjamin Hollingsworth as Brady in episode 501 of Virgin River. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023

I’ve heard this theory for years now: ” If only the world were run by film crews.”

By being able to introduce this as a challenge for the crew, the crew is a partner, and I’m just helping guide them. We also had a really incredible production sustainability advisor on the ground, Diana Donaldson, who has worked on Virgin River for the last two seasons. She was the go-to person daily.

Can you walk me through how the process of greening Virgin River worked practically? 

We started with a concept meeting. Just as you would when you get a script, I went into the office and met with the line producer and the production manager, the locations manager, the rigging gaffer, the transportation coordinator, the sustainability coordinator, the production coordinator, and the accountant, and we asked ourselves where do we see an opportunity, and then you lean into the opportunities. Every show is completely different. What’s great about Virgin River is that they often have the same crew season over season; it’s a similar storyline, it’s a similar schedule, and they have recurring locations they use to make those beautiful vistas, so they could absorb this information by adding another layer to what they had to do because the other layers were already familiar.

Virgin River. (L to R) Colin Lawrence as Preacher, Kandyse McClure as Kaia in episode 512 of Virgin River. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023

How did this evolve season over season?

At the beginning of every season, they say, “Okay, Clara, what do you want to try? What’s the new technology?” Virgin River has piloted brand-new technology, and then they report back to the vendors and me, and I report that internally. We look at what’s working and what’s not, the same approach as running a production. I think that’s how we’re going to green the film industry. We’re not going to green it with a bunch of outside parameters. We need people who know what their jobs are and where the opportunities are. That’s what keeps it from being overwhelming. The crew of Virgin River knows exactly what they need all the time.

 

Can you speak to some of the technology you’ve piloted on the series?

We’re using clean mobile power to replace diesel generators and temporarily accessing the electric grid where possible diesel, which is what people used to call generators. The easiest way to replace a power source is to access the grid power; if you’re shooting in a factory, use their power instead of our own power source. The other thing we lean into is battery storage units for a with a lot of power needs. They come in various sizes, from small to extra large, and they’re all used for different things. Virgin River shoots in the middle of the mountains or on lakes, and it’s actually easier for them to bring in a small battery to power the video village, the crane, or whatever lighting they need. Introducing small battery technology was a game changer for them because they could access locations they would have never been able to get to with power. And, the larger batteries will run your set all day long. I think they had one battery on season four, two on season five, and eight on season six.

What about transportation?

With electric vehicles, it’s the same thing—what can you replace? So, when we started this program in season four, having an electric vehicle on a film set was incredibly rare. They said, “There’s no way; we don’t know where we’re going to charge.” Then, in season five, they had ten, and in season six, the technology had evolved, so now they had electric cargo vans, electric pickup trucks, and electric five-ton trucks. The goal is always to make the schedule, get the shot, and make it look as fantastic as possible. All we’re doing is saying, “Hey, there’s another way.” It benefits them, and they enjoy it.

I imagine that batteries and electric vehicles make the set a much more pleasant workplace.

Absolutely. One of the traditional uses for mobile power is the catering truck and the mobile kitchen. So you’re on set, you finally get a break, you’re trying to eat your lunch, and you’re surrounded by diesel engines and fumes. Everybody on the crew has noticed that the catering truck is now silent. You can actually hear people talking; you’re getting a mental break. Virgin River made a point in season five to see how long they could go without turning on diesel at the set, so it was quiet for the actors, the director, and everybody. In the studio, it’s mostly silent, and then you go on location, and it’s all about how far away the diesel generator needs to be so it’s not picked up on the mic. But people are working near the generator, so the further you go from the actors, the louder it gets. You’re constantly hearing this noise. We’ve received many compliments on how much easier it is to think. It’s that simple.

Virgin River. (L to R) Annette O’Toole as Hope, Colin Lawrence as Preacher in episode 505 of Virgin River. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023

And the batteries must have less additional equipment.

They have less cabling. Generator cables are incredibly heavy, and it’s back-breaking work. That doesn’t have to happen now. You can put the battery right beside you and you can’t hear it. And, of course, there aren’t any fumes and heat. When we have heat waves in the summer, and you’re standing next to a diesel generator? It’s not good.

What kind of benefits are you seeing for the communities you’re filming in?

We are using an electric cargo van in locations, and it’s great because we have curfews and don’t want to upset the neighbors. So the batteries, the tie-ins, and the electric vehicles all create a more pleasant work environment, not just for those working on the show but for the entire community. There are a lot of communities in Vancouver that have clean energy incentives from the city and various municipalities that will give you a break on your permitting fees if you can eliminate a generator because the number one neighborhood complaint is generators. It really is where the industry needs to move..

How quickly is the battery technology improving?

The technology is developing quickly, and the crews are also starting to understand how much power they use. Manufacturers and rental companies will tell you that the generators are so underutilized, usually only running at a ten percent load. They’re efficient at seventy percent, and they idle at anything below fifteen percent. So, instead of needing to bring in the big generator and experience all those side effects we’ve mentioned, they can see what they need. If you’re only shooting in the location for a couple of hours and only need to power the video village, it’s grab-and-go.

How do you see this playing out in the broader entertainment industry?

It’s really interesting because, like anything else on a film set, if you follow the same process and if you have great leaders on the production team who have a strong voice and say this is important to them, then the crew picks up on that and says, ‘Okay, let’s get this done.’ There’s always one champion in every department, and there’s always one champion at the top. Everybody understands the idea of saving fuel and saving the planet. They want to help and do things better, and the film industry, by nature, is very competitive. You’re as good as your last job. If this is the future, you want to prove to everyone that you’re on board. The benefits speak for themselves, so you don’t have to convince them twice.

And to return to a point you made earlier, it’s all about getting the shot.

If it didn’t work, it would go away. It’s there because it’s working for them. There was a power outage in the city one day, and because they had the batteries, they could keep going. They tell me how they’re using this technology. They’re such a fantastic crew—they do whatever they put their mind to.

For more on big titles on Netflix, check these out

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Featured image: Virgin River. (L to R) Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan, Zibby Allen as Brie in episode 502 of Virgin River. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023

Jeremy Allen White Joining “The Mandalorian & Grogu” Movie as Iconic Villain’s Son

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Emmy-winning actor and overall hot commodity Jeremy Allen White is taking a voyage to a galaxy far, far away.

The Bear star is set to appear in The Mandalorian & Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau, as Jabba the Hutt’s son Rotta the Hutt. Deadline confirms the casting and says it’s a meaty role (pun intended).

Considering Jabba doesn’t have any human offspring that have been mentioned, White is likely to be voicing a sizable alien creature befitting a son of the notorious intergalactic crime boss. White joins Pedro Pascal, returning as Mando, and the legendary Sigourney Weaver. The script comes from Favreau and Star Wars writer/director Dave Filoni.

The Mandalorian & Grogu was the first new Star Wars movie to go into production since J.J. Abrams’ trilogy capping The Rise of Skywalker. Favreau brought Mando and Grogu to the small screen with Disney+’s The Mandalorian, the first live-action Disney series ever, a stellar western-flavored action adventure that followed the titular Mandalorian, aka Djarin (Pascal), a brilliant bounty hunter who is tasked with retrieving some valuable cargo. That cargo ended up being Grogu, the baby alien that set the internet on fire, a curious creature with great powers who eventually became Mando’s surrogate son. 

Favreau and Filoni revealed footage from the film at Disney’s D23 event in August. That glimpse showed an icy planet, reminiscent of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back, including AT-ATs booming across the tundra.

Since The Mandalorian bowed on Disney+, a slew of new live-action Star Wars series have premiered, including The Book of Boba Fett, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, and more. 

“Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Wars two new and beloved characters, and this new story is a perfect fit for the big screen,” Kennedy said in a statement when the film was announced.

For more on all things Star Wars, check out these stories:

A New Hope for a Fresh “Star Wars” Saga: New Trilogy to be Written & Produced by “X-Men” Alum Simon Kinberg

The First Trailer for “Skeleton Crew” Unveils the Jude Law-led Disney+ “Star Wars” Series

“The Acolyte” Composer Michael Abels on Scoring a “Star Wars” Story Unlike Any Before It

Featured image: L-r: The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and the Child in The Mandalorian, season two. Courtesy Lucasfilm; Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), shown. (Photo: Courtesy of FX).

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“28 Years Later” Trailer Releases Hell in Director Danny Boyle’s Long-Awaited Zombie Thriller Sequel

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The first trailer for director Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later has arrived, giving us a visceral glimpse at Boyle’s first time at the helm of the franchise since his nervy 2002 original 28 Days Later reanimated the zombie genre, introducing a version of the undead that was quicker, more decisive, and far more rageful.

The trailer opens with a group of small kids watching Teletubbies on the TV, giving us a vision of what the first outbreak was like when it happened 10,228 days ago. Screen text tells us that days became weeks, weeks became years, and the infected were on a death march toward total domination. Then we arrive at the present day, 28 years after the first outbreak, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and a small band of survivors living in a rural and more retro way, hunting with bows and arrows and staying alive by doing the simple work of living day in and day out. They survive in a small community on an island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. When the zombies reach the island, the terror begins afresh. Taylor, Jodie Comer, and a terrifying-looking Ralph Fiennes are all in the carnage.

“Sometime after the events of 28 Weeks Later, the Rage Virus has returned, and a group of survivors must survive in a world ravaged by hordes of the infected,” is the official logline from Sony Pictures. The script was written by Alex Garland, the scribe of the first film, who became an incredible director in his own right in films like Ex Machina, Annihilation, and Civil War. Also returning is cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who would later win an Oscar for his work on Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, who originally deployed Canon XL-1 digital cameras while filming on location in England, a novel approach at the time. 

Another original member from 28 Days Later who is involved with the new film is Cillian Murphy, but he doesn’t appear in the first trailer—or does he? There’s wild speculation that he’s the zombie that pops up at the 1:48 mark in the trailer (the resemblance is fairly striking). 28 Years Later also stars Jack O’Connell, Erin Kellyman, and Edvin Ryding.

28 Years Later is just the start of a new trilogy, written by Garland and set to feature director Nia DaCosta, helming the second installment. 

28 Years Later will be unleashed in theaters on June 20, 2025. Check out the trailer below:

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

28 Years Later is a terrifying new story set in the world created by 28 Days Later. It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.

For more stories on 28 Years Later, check these out:

Ralph Fiennes Says That Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later” Was Shot Partly On an iPhone

Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later” Casts Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes

Danny Boyle’s Iconic Zombie Franchise to Return With “28 Years Later” Sequel Landing at Sony

Featured image: Official Poster for “28 Years Later.” Courtesy Sony Pictures.

How “Gladiator II” Editors and the VFX Supervisor Shaped Three Ferocious Scenes

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Gladiator II picks up fifteen years following the events of Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator (2000), an epically visceral film from Ridley Scott that not only won five Oscars, including Best Picture at the 73rd Academy Awards but is considered one of the greatest action films in movie history – a notion underpinned by its quotable dialogue that has become part of the public lexicon.

Scott tapped Napoleon (2023) scribe David Scarpa to carve out the sequel based on a story by Peter Craig (The Batman), which follows a now grownup Lucius (Paul Mescal) – who is revealed to be the son of Maximus and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) – living with his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonenthe) in the Numidia empire (roughly northeast Algeria today). It’s not until invading Romans, led by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), that he finds himself in a similar situation to his father – a widower fighting to stay alive for the amusement of the Colosseum mob.

Scott brings scale to the narrative through its production design and cinematography, with action sequences bigger, bloodier, and more complex than the original. Editors Sam Restivo and Claire Simpson, along with visual effects supervisor Mark Bakowski, shaped scenes with emotional weight and visceral realism. Below, they discuss what went into crafting three key sequences and share which one almost didn’t make the film at all.

 

Rival Consequences

The opening action sequence in Gladiator II has Lucius fighting General Acacius and the Roman fleet as they invade his village of Numbida by sea. It’s the first time the characters clash, but it won’t be the last.

Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

How did you want to introduce the audience to these characters through the edit?

Sam Restivo: We knew we were introducing two of the big stars of the movie, and most of the time, Lucius is the star of the film, so we wanted to give him plenty of weight. That’s why we had the scene with Arishat [Yuval Gonen] establishing his relationship with his wife and with the head of the Numdians and their struggle against the encroaching Romans. We knew it would be a massive way to start the movie. The first assembly was something like 20-plus minutes long, which is a little too exhausting to ask for an audience to sit through something like that, so a lot of the editing for us was finding the right overall length because when Ridley’s shooting with 12 cameras, the options are amazing.

Paul Mescal plays Lucius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

Claire Simpson: It was definitely a complicated scene, and Mark [Bakowski] and his visual effects team did a brilliant job because we shot it in the desert. Three makeshift boats were standing in sand dunes, so when we were assembling it we had to use our imaginations actually to think of this big vista of boats and everything.

Director Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal on the set of Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

Mark, how did your team marry the practical elements with the VFX work?

Mark Bakowski: The sequence was shot in Morocco on the Kingdom of Heaven set, where Ridley shot before. The logic to that is that he knows its geography, and that set was extended slightly for this movie. Obviously, it’s in the middle of the desert, so there’s no water, so right from the start, Neil Corbett, who’s the special effects supervisor, found these giant machines on wheels that could drive parts of the ship around in the desert. Then we knew we would have to add lots of digital water and environment, fire and smoke, to integrate behind everything as we go.

 

When Acacius and the Romans make their way onto land, what went into balancing the emotional arc between these two main characters while still showcasing the chaos of war?

Claire Simpson: Well, you always have to follow your stars, so Lucius and Acacius were the key elements. Once you’ve got that throughline, you can embellish it with all the other stuff. War is chaos, no matter how you look at it, and to treat it as anything other than sheer and utter mayhem would be cheating.

Mark Bakowski: Coming from the direction of Ridley, we would try to stuff every frame with as much as we possibly could. It was like, oh, there’s a place where we could put an explosion in the background. Yeah, let’s do that. So, we were adding to the chaos as much as we could.

A Bloodthirsty Kill

As a captured slave, Lucius fights as a gladiator inside the Colosseum, and in one such clash, he faces a warrior riding atop an enormous rhino, a sequence Ridley Scott considered including in Russel Crowe’s Gladiator. By its conclusion, Lucius viscously lops off his opponent’s head.

Paul Mescal plays Lucius and Christopher Edward Hallaways plays Glyceo in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

There’s a bit of a crescendo to the scene as the rhino repeatedly charges at Lucius before going into hand-to-hand combat with the rider. How did you want to build the intensity to the moment leading up to its ultimate climax?

Sam Restivo: It’s an intuitive thing. Claire and I are audience members ourselves. We’re watching this movie and we’re kind of following our own feelings and our own taste for how long these moments should last. Once Lucius does this thing where he’s like, no mercy, and then he fights the guy, the actual moment of him deciding to behead the guy, there are a few different slow-mo shots. That was done to extend the moment of his decision-making to make it the most viscerally impactful way to end the scene.

Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

What visual effects work went into creating the beastly rhino?

Mark Bakowski: It was a collaboration between special effects and visual effects. The rhino was a full-sized robot on wheels that could be radio-controlled by someone off-camera. The top part had a gate to it, which is very important because that gives you, when it’s charging around, the actor or stunt actor riding on top has to react to when the rhino is moving. It gave that physicality into the actor and an eyeline for the actors to react. Then, we kept the saddle and the rider, and we replaced the rhino in visual effects because it didn’t have legs. In some shots, when the gallop of the rider was slightly wrong because he wasn’t moving enough, we would replace him for those shots. But it was never the ambition. We’d always try to keep the real thing anytime we could. 

Paul Mescal plays Lucius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

One of the characters in both Gladiator films is the Colosseum mob. How did you want to connect the crowd’s energy to the emotional weight of what’s unfolding?

Claire Simpson: Well, that’s a very good question because that’s the hardest thing we had to do. Originally, we gathered all kinds of sound effects, but they were mostly stadium and modern football crowds, and we couldn’t get the right feel at all. So Danny Sheehan [supervising sound editor at Phaze UK] and Matt Collinge, our sound supervisor, came to the set, grabbed a bunch of people, and put them in the stands. They directed them and tailored the sound effects for each scene. It was brilliant how they did it because we couldn’t do it with our stock sound effects.

Sam Restivo: During the final mix, it gave us so much flexibility because they had so many different things. We’re figuring out as we go, like what we need to feel. What does the crowd need to feel? Because Ridley was very specific about wanting exact tones going on, and credit to Matt and Danny for getting all of this material to give us the flexibility to solve that on the mix stage.

 

Swimming with Sharks

During a climactic battle, Lucius is aboard an attacking ship inside a flooded Colosseum. Swimming below is a school of hungry sharks. Sinking his enemy is his only means of survival.

Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

The naval battle scene is gratifyingly entertaining. Did you have anything to lean into while creating it in the cutting room?

Claire Simpson: That’s all due to Ridley, really, because he had mapped it all out in storyboards. Initially, the studio didn’t want to do it because they thought it was much too complicated and expensive, but we thought it would be spectacular if we could pull it off. And so Ridley was able to get his way, and he storyboarded it all out. He’s got a prodigious imagination.

Sam Restivo: We also shortened that sequence a bit because more things were happening, like more guys getting eaten by sharks. But we just needed to compact it to the right length to tell the story because the whole point is about Lucius’s chance to take out Acacius. So we wanted to get to that as soon as we could.

There’s a dramatic moment where one ship side-swipes the other. How was that treated by visual effects?

Mark Bakowski: That sequence was practical. Most of it was shot on dry land, which means the water is CG, but there are sections of it shot in a water tank at Malta Film Studios. The ship was put on rails, and a breakaway section was put on the side so it could shatter nicely. Backgrounds were added but that’s a practical gag in the water tank. On the day, there was someone from special effects walking between the boats throwing pieces of balsa wood into the air, but it didn’t look as convincing as you’d hope it would, so we removed them and put in some more dramatic visual effects stuff.

Gladiator II is in theaters now.

 

For more on Gladiator II, check out these stories:

 

“Gladiator II” Cinematographer John Mathieson on Capturing Robotic Rhinos & Colossal Carnage

“Gladiator II” Screenwriter David Scarpa on the Herculean Task of Writing a Worthy Sequel

Maximus Effort: “Gladiator II” Production Designer Arthur Max’s on Creating Colossal Constructions

“Gladiator II” Production Designer Arthur Max on Rebuilding a Decadent, Debased Ancient Rome

 

 

“Maria” Costume Designer Massimo Cantini Parrini on Designing Angelina Jolie as a Legendary Diva

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“I am happy with the theater behind my eyes,” utters legendary American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas (portrayed by Angelina Jolie after seven months of intense vocal lessons) at the film’s beginning. Drenched in the melancholy of a woman well aware that her days are numbered, the stunning film traverses between the heights of La Callas’ massive successes in the 1950s and 1960s and present day in her extravagant Parisian apartment, where she reflects on the triumphs, pain, love, and loss in her storied life. Suffering from several illnesses towards the end of her life, she self-medicates with a variety of uppers and downers, including a sedative curiously named Mandrax, which also happens to be the name of the filmmaker interviewing the diva for a documentary (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee).

Chronicling the final days leading up to Maria’s death in 1977, director Pablo Larraín’s third outing in his trilogy of iconic female figures from the 20th century (after Spencer and Jackie) is mesmerizing and visually and sonically luxurious. Served by her protective and patient butler, Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino), and the ever-loyal housekeeper, Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher),

Maria’s outsized persona is adorned with 60 ornate and exquisite costumes by Italian costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini (Ferrari, Cyrano, Ophelia). Working on the film turned out to be a serendipitous venture since the two-time Oscar nominee already owned two vintage pieces that belonged to Maria Callas in his personal collection years before this project came along. This interview was conducted with the help of interpreter Marina Mocetti Spagnuolo.

 

Were the 60 costumes made from scratch or updated from vintage collections?

We didn’t use all of them—we used nearly 50. Most were made by me, and some were vintage outfits that I adapted for Angelina Jolie.

How big was your crew?

We had around 20 people in our lab in Rome, and we collaborated with some tailor shops in Rome. We had a lot to get done—we continued to cut and sew until the end of the shoot. There was a lot involved; sometimes, the director changed the ideas on which we were basing our costumes, and so we had to adapt our costumes as well.

MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

Maria’s wardrobe—especially those from her famous opera performances—was stylish and opulent. What were some of your favorites to design?

The one from Tosca. We only see a little of Tosca in the movie, but it’s now shown at the TCL Chinese Theater in L.A. I hope the audience has the opportunity to look at it because it’s really amazing. I also love her dressing gown, which is pure wool, which was my design from scratch. I made it in close collaboration with a dressmaker who knitted it. I wanted to have this allure that was not the typical classic, beautiful dressing gown that a lady would wear in her home but something that would completely envelop her. It was something that she would keep wrapped around her at home in her nest. The wool is made up of two different types of yarn, giving it a 3D appearance from any angle and conveying an idea of great depth.

MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.
MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

What about the other costumes when we flash back to her various opera performances over the years?

I adored working on the dress she wears during the performance of Medea. The lines of the silhouette are quite simple. However, it was very complicated to make because it had to be hand-painted. I couldn’t reference the original because it is kept at the Museo Teatrale alla Scala [La Scala Theatre Museum]. So I had to recreate it from scratch. We made eight dresses before I was satisfied with the hand-painted part. Pablo Larraín was so happy with how it came out that he actually wanted to buy it! However, it was impossible because the tailors who made it wanted to keep it in their archive. Another dress I loved making was the one that she wore in the Anne Boleyn opera [at La Scala in 1957]. It is a dark blue velvet dress that was very difficult to make because I couldn’t find the right hue of dark blue. Finally, when I found the right fabric, it was a dream come true when I saw Angelina Jolie wearing it. She looked gorgeous in it. She’s really amazing.

MARIA. in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.
MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024.

How did you recreate her jewelry collection, especially for a paragon of fashion from that era?

Yes, I designed and made all of the jewels that she owned and wore. I am a maniac for details. I am a perfectionist and wanted everything to be exactly as Maria wore them. Her jewelry collection was really huge. Back then, divas bought their own dresses and jewelry. It’s not like now, where talent is gifted or lent outfits and jewelry. So, she was a very rich when it came to  her jewelry collection. Most of them were sold to private collections and auctions. But we were very lucky to get two pieces that belonged to her that Cartier had found at an auction. We were so lucky to be able to use the necklace and this wonderful brush. For me, it was very moving to touch something that Maria Callas had wanted, desired, bought, and wore personally. Angelina Jolie was really very moved at the idea of wearing these two pieces. When the Cartier people arrived with them, it was really a great moment.

MARIA. (L to R) Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas and Haluk Bilginer as Aristotle Onassis in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

I read that in your personal costume collection, you own two costumes that used to belong to her?

Yes, I was very lucky. I bought this vintage brown 1950s dress designed by Biki, a very famous Milanese designer from Italy. When Maria Callas was in Italy, she often went to Biki for her outfits. Once I was home, I looked at the garment and saw a piece of cotton on the hem inside that said Mrs. Callas. And then there was also a number on it, which meant that it really belonged to her because those were the digits that would have been placed by her wardrobe lady, so I was sure that it was owned by her. The second garment was also used in the movie—a coat that belonged to Maria Callas that I received as a present.

How serendipitous! You already owned these costumes before you knew you were going to work on this film?

Yeah, I bought the brown dress 10-12 years ago and the coat three years ago.

You’ve talked about designing Maria’s wardrobe based on her state of mind, especially during the last week of her life. What did you want the costumes to say about her state of mind and her motivations?

For the outfits for the last week of her life, in some ways, it was one of the most difficult parts because there were no photographs from this period of her life. Most of this time she spent at home, and she rarely went out. So, I imagined her wardrobe according to some of the photographs from the later period of her life and designed them in various hues and shades of black so that it wouldn’t appear as flat in the film. We decided with Pablo Larraín to use black because I imagined that when she was talking to Mandrax for the documentary, and we had those flashbacks, it was as if she was, in a way, witnessing a prelude to her own funeral. It was really beautiful to imagine her wardrobe in the last week of her life, and I hope that up there in heaven, she adores the job that I’ve done.

MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.
MARIA. Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

 

 

Maria premieres in select theaters on November 27 before streaming on Netflix on December 11.

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Cameron Diaz is “Back in Action” Alongside Jamie Foxx in the Trailer for Her First Film in 11 Years

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Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman Face Off in First “Carry-On” Teaser

Featured image: MARIA. (L to R) Pablo Larraín as tailor and Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Maria. Cr. Pablo Larraín/Netflix © 2024.

 

“Only Murders in the Building” Editor Matthew Barbato Blends on Season 4’s Complex Delights

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Only Murders in the Building began as a cozy, non-sequitur-filled whodunit anchored by three immensely winning performances by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, and it’s never lost sight of that winning formula. Yet season over season, the series has become funnier, more ambitious, and more heartfelt, increasing the body count, laugh count, and guest star firepower while never losing sight of its chief pleasure: three lonely people who are impossibly, perfectly suited to become lifelong friends.

The wattage of the stars who rotate in and out of the series—including Meryl Streep, Nathan Lane, Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy, and this past season, Eva Longoria, Zach Galifianakis, Eugene Levy, and Paul Rudd (again!)—could easily overpower a lesser creation and become a vehicle for glitzy cameos. Instead, OMITB effortlessly threads these superstars in and out of the various storylines while staying centered on the growing love (and co-dependence) of Charles-Haden Savage (Martin), Oliver Putnam (Short), and Mabel Mora (Gomez.)

Balancing the central trio, all these stars, and the murders that keep piling up season after season is not easy, despite the immense skill of the performers and the abundance of hilarious material created on set. Season four was especially tricky, incorporating a film-within-the-show, including found footage, and the first murder of someone close to the group, Charles’s longtime stunt double and best friend, Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch, another major star who blends in perfectly). Editor Matthew Barbato was one of the key architects for keeping the peace between the series’ various elements and many moving pieces.

Barbato cut episode 3, “Two for the Road,” when Charlies, Oliver, and Mabel are paired off with the actors playing them in a movie being produced about their podcast (the movie is being produced by Bev Melon, naturally played by another perfectly cast star, Molly Shannon). Those actors are Levy, Galifianaksi, and Longoria playing themselves playing Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, respectively. In episode 6, “Blow-Up,” Barbato was tasked with structuring it as a found-footage film, which starts as a defense for innocent suspects and ends up being a murder documentary. In episode 9, “Escape From Planet Klongo,” Barbato began tying all the threads together as the gang gets closer to solving Sazz’s murder.

We spoke to Barbato about how he helped expand the world of Only Murders in the Building while never losing sight of the prickly, pervasively lovable trio at its center.

 

First things first—what was it like to get the initial call to join Only Murders in the Building in season one?

I was just an enormous Steve Martin fan as a kid. I listened to the records at home over and over again, I saw The Jerk in the theater, and I just loved everything Martin Short did. So it was really an exciting opportunity to work on a show with those two guys. I think because I had done two shows previous to this with big, talented people [Barbato has also edited Veep, The Good Place, and Lessons in Chemistry], I came in not quite as intimated as I might have been, which was nice so I could enjoy it a little bit more. It really was a highlight and a special opportunity to work on something with these guys.

What were your first impressions?

It was interesting in the first season when we started to work on it; you’re always trying to get your head around, ‘What is this show? What are the priorities?’ We’d discuss with the other editors that the show is these three things: a comedy, a mystery, and a character study about these three friends growing together. Balancing all of that was a little tricky, but we recognized that was the challenge. It’s been interesting to see how it’s developed over the course of four seasons because I think what’s happened is it’s still those things but amped up. That’s added more challenges to the balance.

What was it like to come back for season 4?

I couldn’t come back for seasons two and three, so I could only watch them as an audience member, and I was flabbergasted at how much bigger it got. I could see those three elements still being balanced, but it was creating this whole new thing that was getting bigger but maintaining its core value. I think that core value is their care for each other and those around them. Another balancing trick that the show does is the humor is based on slights and insults. Oliver constantly insults somebody, but there’s a foundation of love for one another, and these are lonely people who have been brought to get together. Once you’ve established that care they have for one another, and ultimately anybody who comes into their sphere who deserves it—even some people they think deserve it and turn out to be a murderer—you have the latitude to get away with some things.

Your first episode this season was episode 3, “Two for the Road,” which has our trio going off with the famous actors portraying them. Can you walk me through how you approached it?

Episode three starts to really punctuate the themes of identity and the self, as well as reflection and doppelgangers, and it breaks the whole thing open. From my standpoint, it was enormously fun to be able to cut these three mini-episodes in episode three, with all of our guys going off with really funny people to solve this murder. It was like three funny mysteries in one that get all tied together. At first, you put the pieces together and see how they play, and as I’m feeling out the scenes between our main cast and our guest stars, they’re each hilarious and dynamic, and then you add Richard Kind to the mix. There are days when you’re editing and you’re struggling, and you’re not having fun, and you’re trying to figure something out, and then there are days when you’re cutting together Eugene Levy, Steve Martin, and Richard Kind, and you can’t really mess it up. Then you have to find the best version of it. Eva Longoria brings so much to it, Zach Galifianakis…the challenge for this episode was, for me, making the Zach and Oliver story poignant. Oliver has such bravado, but then he’s a real person with feelings, and he gets his feelings hurt. Martin Short is so good at playing these kinds of buffoons while integrating a level of real emotion at just the right amount and in just the way. So, he gave us all this great material and you can sit there and absorb and feel both sorry for him and also laugh at him, and that’s a real treat.

 

How about episode 6, “Blow-Up,” which centers on the documentary the Brothers Sisters are making about the gang?

I think this episode was one of the show’s most ambitious and challenging episodes. It was definitely one of the most fun to edit. Although OMITB is always ambitious, this is the only episode that needs to tell a standard story, with all of the emotion, jokes, and clues that audiences expect, but told through the perspective of characters we don’t know much about and that we actually consider suspects. Of course, in trying to create a ‘found footage’ documentary, our amazing director and DP, Jessica Wu and Kyle Wullschlegger, had to find ways to cover the scenes with limited angles. They put a lot of planning and prep into how they would shoot it, and there were many discussions about how we would approach the editing and what tricks we could use to adjust the pace and coverage. Once the footage started coming in, I found myself wanting to keep it as raw and (seemingly) unedited as possible so it would feel like it wasn’t manipulated too much. But at the same time, I was using every trick I could think of to make sure we had the best possible performances and pacing that I could get. That meant that every scene had many invisible edits in it, even if they felt like a single shot. Even some static camera angles have multiple edits in them to adjust the pace. This episode is particularly gratifying for me because it allowed me much more opportunity than usual to contribute ideas, stretch the show’s use of editing, and add jokes. Like when the drone drops into the courtyard, I just knew it had almost to hit Uma, so we added her ADR reaction in there and it makes me laugh every time. And I’ve been hoping someone would recognize the Blue Velvet homage I snuck in by using the curtain to open the episode, but with the Brothers Sisters twist of it being a glitter curtain. There’s lots of stuff like that that was fun to add.

 

You know where this is heading—take us home with your work on episode 9, “Escape From Planet Klongo.”

I co-edited this episode with my excellent long-time editing assistant and now editor in his own right, Jack Cunningham. This episode turned out to be trickier than we expected and is a really good example of how we balance the elements of comedy, investigation, and emotion on OMITB. There were several areas where we needed to sacrifice comedy beats to portray some emotional and mystery storylines best. For instance, as the penultimate episode leading up to a major reveal, we were trying to focus on the investigation and build it to have the driving energy that comes with solving a murder case, but we kept getting sidetracked by the story between Charles and Oliver. Those scenes were great but slowed things down and kept us from tracking the mystery. But, once we realized that the Charles and Oliver story was what the episode was about, it became much easier to see how it all fits together. We also needed to trim some humor to keep the thread of Charles’ anger alive from one scene to the next. And then, toward the end, once Charles and Oliver reconcile and Ron Howard miraculously walks in, we really did have to focus on the investigation and start to build the tension toward our climax. For a while it wasn’t working because there were a lot of very funny jokes packed into the exchanges of information. So we started to trim out the humor and keep things focused on the investigation and I think it built to a better climactic and threatening reveal.

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING – “Escape From Planet Klongo” – Seeking a critical clue, Charles, Oliver & Mabel must infiltrate a film set to get the real “background” on why Sazz was killed. (Disney/Patrick Harbron). MARTIN SHORT, RON HOWARD, STEVE MARTIN

For more on Only Murders in the Building, check out these stories:

Picking Apart the Pickwick Triplets With “Only Murders in the Building” Emmy-Nom’d Editors Shelly Westerman and Payton Koch

Framing Big Laughs & Real Emotion With “Only Murders in the Building” Emmy-Nominated Editor Peggy Tachdjian

Featured image: ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING – “Escape From Planet Klongo” – Seeking a critical clue, Charles, Oliver & Mabel must infiltrate a film set to get the real “background” on why Sazz was killed. (Disney/Patrick Harbron) MARTIN SHORT, STEVE MARTIN, SELENA GOMEZ

“Gladiator II” Costume Designers Janty Yates and David Crossman on Lunatic Emperors & Blood-Splattered Warriors

Posted on by babrams

She won an Oscar for outfitting the first Gladiator, and 20 years later, costume designer Janty Yates once again teamed with Ridley Scott to cloak ancient Rome’s ruling class in bespoke finery. Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as a slave who fights his way to freedom, with Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger in featured roles. Yates and military expert David Crossman, who costumed the downtrodden gladiators, crafted over 2,000 costumes for the sequel.

Speaking jointly from a West Hollywood hotel, Yates and Crossman discuss the film’s Johnny Rotten factor, deconstruct Washington’s deluxe togas, and explain the gladiator fringe known as pteruges.

 

The insane twin emperors Gata and Caracalla, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, make a striking pair in their beautiful robes. Janty, how did you arrive at that look?

Janty Yates: Basically, Ridley’s brief for the twins was Johnny Rotten. We had a wonderful start because Ridley wanted them to be red-haired and ashen-faced, and one of them has a gold tooth. Ridley wanted the twins to look quite mad, so it was great fun to dress them. We used beautiful early 20th-century saris and encrusted them in jewelry.

Fred Hechinger plays Emperor Caracalla and Joseph Quinn plays Emperor Geta in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

Wait, saris like Indian saris?

Janty: They were Indian saris, masculine but with a feminine feel. We also made two or three black saris, which went with some wonderful embroidered panels that I bought at Les Puces, the flea market in Paris. We also used Italian and French fabrics, very rich damask, as the base and just put layer on layer. The boys [actors Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger] had never worn anything like it before, and they were completely gob-smacked. “You want me to wear what?”

The ruling class characters are all beautifully draped. What’s the inspiration?

Janty: Well, it’s based on the tunic and the toga, which is usually draped over one shoulder or maybe both shoulders and then wrapped around the arms to hang down in very long lengths of fabric. Underneath is the tunic. The females could be off the shoulder.

Connie Nielsen plays Lucilla and Joseph Quinn plays Emperor Geta in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

Like for Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla character. And then there’s the gold.

Janty: We had gold on gold on gold, and then we put some more gold on [laughing]. And David created the glorious gold [breastplate] cuirasses. They were made by our wonderful leather worker Jean Paulo, who used wonderful horse characters printed in etcetera in 3D. I was actually only going to put one of them in the cuirasses [breastplate] but they looked so brilliant together we had to go with two.

SPOILER ALERT

After vanquishing North Africa, Pedro Pascal’s General Acacius returns victorious to Rome. David, how did you approach Acacius “conquering hero” look?

David Yates: For his’ triumphal arrival back in Rome, Acacius wears a parade costume made of a lovely soft white, Pierre’s golden pieces and this lovely, embroidered piece.

Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius and Joseph Quinn plays Emperor Geta in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

Even when he enters the coliseum to fight, Acacius’s breastplate looks more elegant than the other gladiators.

David: It has a Medusa. We’d found a nice head from a Roman emblem and just kept adding serpents so they spread over the chest in a more dramatic way—a kind of Medea power logo, I suppose.

Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

SPOILER ALERT

Early on, Denzel Washington’s Macrinus appears in this throne-like chair wearing a sumptuous cream-white gown. How did you fit the clothes to his personality?

Jonty: The costume you’re talking about, he’s in the suburbs, and there’s that baboon fight. [On set] I thought, “He’s looking quite low-key today, and that’s good,” because Macrinus does have an arc. But when I saw the film, Denzel is so strong in his closeup, really magnificent, and I thought, “Oh, you’re not doing it right, you shouldn’t be this wonderful!” He was far too commanding.

Denzel Washington plays Macrinus in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

Where did you go from there?

Jonty: We brought Macrinus to Rome and added various layers on top of his toga. We gave him a heavy necklace and wristlets, bangles, and a ring on each finger. There was talk about turbans, but Denzel and Ridley didn’t want one. But Denzel wore earrings throughout, which I was delighted with. It gives Macrinus that slight oriental quirk.

Denzel Washington plays Macrinus in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

As in Napoleon, you use color to create excitement on the screen. Here, Macrinus and the other rulers dress in rich reds, purples, and blues. How did this palette inform what was going on with the characters?

Janty: In those days [of ancient Rome], having anything dyed was very expensive, so we wanted to imply that Macrinus made a lot of money through his wheeling and dealing. We pushed the envelope because they would never have had the fabrics we used — Italian silk, for example — as well as French and Italian gold bullion trim.

To show they were rich?

Jonty: To show they were so rich, especially the emperors. But also, as Ridley said, this is not a documentary. We did our research but went a bit off the beaten path, shall we say.

David, you outfitted somewhere around 150 “gladiators,” including Lucius. Did you individualize each outfit?

David: We started with Paul Mescal’s Lucius as our jumping-off point, so all the gladiators tie in with what he looks like. Then, we tried to individualize each costume with little personalizations.

Paul Mescal plays Lucius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

All the gladiators wear skirts fringed with strips. What’s that about?

They’re called pteruges — strips of leather that form a kind of skirt offering an element of protection. It’s that classic silhouette, the breastplate, and then the pteruges that move as you move.

Paul Mescal plays Lucius and Pedro Pascal plays Marcus Acacius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

Your ardrobe team created more than 2,000 costumes. How does production at that scale impact the local communities where you filmed in terms of vendors, artisans, and crew members?

Janty: Huge impact. In Morocco, hotels were agog because so many people worked there on the film. We had local breaker-downers [who treat clothes so they look aged], dyers, costume assistants, hair and make-up. In Malta, our production designer Arthur [Max] used hundreds of plasterers, painters, and again, we used local costomers and breaker-downers

Janty, you began working with Ridley Scott on this movie in October 2022. David, you started in January 2023. The movie only wrapped in March. What do you take away from the Gladiator II experience?

David: I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I love the Roman period, and I loved doing the armor. Ridley was great…

Janty: And the cast was absolutely glorious. By the time we left Malta, we’d all fallen in love with the extras, we’d made a lot of friends, and we got to work with wonderful artisans. It was great fun.

For more on Gladiator, check out these stories:

“Gladiator II” Cinematographer John Mathieson on Capturing Robotic Rhinos & Colossal Carnage

“Gladiator II” Production Designer Arthur Max on Rebuilding a Decadent, Debased Ancient Rome

Maximus Effort: “Gladiator II” Production Designer Arthur Max’s on Creating Colossal Constructions

Featured image: Paul Mescal plays Lucius and Christopher Edward Hallaways plays Glyceo in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures.

A New Spin on “Wicked”: Choreographer Christopher Scott on his Whirlwind Creations

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Wicked has danced its way through theaters, earning rave reviews and the adoration of fans all over the globe. The kinetic, kaleidoscopic movement accompanying the iconic songs was largely thanks to choreographer Christopher Scott, who crafted all-new, original numbers for the show-stopping music, ranging from intimate to epic. 

The adaptation of the stage musical, based on Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” follows Elphaba (Cynthia Ervo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) to Shiz University in the land of Oz, where their lives are forever intertwined. The two students clash in style and substance, but a beautiful friendship takes root, taking them all the way to Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).

Scott previously worked with director Jon M. Chu on In the Heights, another rousing musical adapted from stage to screen. Recently, the choreographer spoke with The Credits about creating a world of dance for Wicked.

 

The wordless school dance between Glenda and Elphaba is beautiful. Where did your work start with what those moves needed to communicate?

From the beginning, we knew that this was a really important moment. I’m a big fan of the show, so I’ve seen it a lot and think it’s very different. This is a very different moment, so we really tapped into what the film version was going to be. There are things that work so well on stage that I think are harder to accomplish on film because you have the opportunity to be intimate. So we really took advantage of that opportunity.

Center L to R: Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba), Director Jon M. Chu, and Ariana Granda (as Glinda) on the set of WICKED

How so?

Cynthia’s a very specific Elphaba, and it all really started with the conversation I had with her where I wanted her just to break down how she’s playing Elphaba. I never want to assume that anybody plays the character I already know from Broadway. They’re all going to have their take on it. She’s like, it’s not that she can’t dance or that she’s a bad dancer. I don’t think that’s why we’re already laughing at her physical appearance. We’re laughing at this hat that she wears. And so, the dance doesn’t have to be about that. We should make it more about her being different. It’s just another thing about her that’s different than everybody else, and that’s what dance is. That’s the beauty of dance. Dance has many languages all over the world, and everybody speaks the same language.

 

What dance language did you want for her?

For me, it was all about creating a language that connected and felt like it was from Elphaba in how Cynthia developed her character. So, I worked really closely with an associate choreographer, Comfort Fedoke, on building the movement language. Then we took it to Cynthia, and at first, there were moments where she was like, “I don’t know if the movement is it.” It’s like a new dialogue for her.

Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

How’d it go when she tried it?

I remember she was just like, “Let me try it. Let me try it.” So she took in the choreography, and I saw her internalize it and put it into her body, and it just took this beautiful shape. I’m really proud of the process because that’s how we treated it. It wasn’t like a piece of choreography that everybody would learn. It was an experimental process. It just so happened the choreography lived through it because we designed it in that way, which was informed by conversations.

What about the iconic hat’s role in the dance?

I mean, this hat carries on in her journey. We know this. She doesn’t throw it out. She’s not like, “I hate this hat.” We have to make this a moment about her and the hat as well. So that’s why we decided to set it down on the ground. As she walks away, you’re almost like, is she leaving? Is she going to? And it’s like, no, it’s all about her and this hat now. She’s like, “You know what? They can all laugh at us. They’ll laugh at us, and we’re the same.” So I’m dancing for you. I’m dancing for this hat, and everybody else can essentially kiss my ass.

L to R: Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (as Glinda) with Director Jon M. Chu on the set of WICKED.

Since Oz is a big world, how did you want different cultures or styles of dance to influence the numbers in the film?

I love this question so much because it’s really what I feel like, as a choreographer, dance does. Dance comes from places that have culture. It has a history, and it is our job, as people putting it out in the commercial world, to take care of it. For Oz, there are no rules, but I still want it to feel like it makes sense. They have their own dance world. So, I created different languages for each place in Oz. For example, in Munchkinland, they’re the craftspeople. There’s a rich culture there, a rich history, and that’s why they’re grabbing the dresses and pants. It’s about the fabric. They’re grabbing them, shaking them. That was on purpose to show this connection to fabrics and colors. It’s also grounded and rooted in rituals. That’s why the whole thing with the effigy is coming in; it will be burned, and the whole thing is set. Early on, there was a conversation about how they don’t dance in the opening number because it’s not a dance number.

 

How’d that conversation go?

My perspective was always, “Well, I kind of disagree,” because to me, it’s a war ending. When wars end, people go out in the street, and they dance. So, I pulled from a lot of inspirations of moments—literally when war criminals were arrested, and people were out in the streets dancing.

Christopher Scott and director Jon M. Chu on set. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

How’d you approach dances at Shiz University?

It’s very intricate and stiff and upright, with these little angles and things, because I wanted them to feel like what the youth feels like to me in Shiz, where they’re like – especially because Fiyero comes in from Winkie Country, and he’s going to break it all up. That’s a military-based culture. That’s where the military is birthed out of Oz. So, for me, that’s why it’s all about the boots. There’s something soldier-esque about the boots and the rhythms and stepping – something that almost feels like marching. It was a lot of footwork, a lot of those things. But also, you have to give Fiyero his way of interpreting the Winkie Country culture because he’s the one who unbuttons the shirt and gets a little loose and wild with it. 

Lastly, when you get to Emerald City, how do you want to define the metropolitan look and feel?

Now you pull all different styles and languages from all over the world. We have Afro dance, we have flexing, we have some breaking moments in there, we have popping moments, and Vogue-inspired choreography. It’s all inspired by those worlds to get a feel for all different walks of life. So then when Elphaba’s walking through this place with Glinda, it’s like, well, yeah, now she’s in a place where, “Oh, we’re all different, but our differences are celebrated, together.” And she’s like, “I don’t feel weird anymore. I don’t feel out of place.”

 

Wicked is in theaters now.

“Wicked” Director Jon M. Chu Takes us Behind the Curtain of His Gravity Defying Adaptation

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Spoilers aplenty!

Black hat seated atop her head, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) peers around the corner of the Ozdust ballroom, excited to attend her first party ever.

She tentatively takes her first steps down the stairs, silhouette illuminated by the spotlight, when the music suddenly halts and her peers begin to laugh.

The excitement quickly drains from her face as she realizes that the acceptance she so desperately craved did not come. Once again, she is alone.

We watch as she makes her way toward the center of the room, her expression changing from wide-eyed wonder to hardened resilience.

She places her hat down on the ground and begins to dance.

“When Cynthia came in, as she learned some of the movements, she found that, ‘Oh, my movements are different,’” says Wicked Director Jon M. Chu. “This is what I think Elphaba would do. Instead of being something funny that she does [like the stage production], the choice of hey, she needs to find her space, and how she finds her space… And how defiant is it?”

Moments later, Glinda (Ariana Grande) will join Elphaba in her dance in what is arguably one of the most pivotal moments in the film. She steps out — timid at first, until eventually, she and Elphaba gather momentum. Smiling at one another they move fluidly, tears streaming down Elphaba’s face, her eyes disclosing her pain.

Center L to R: Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba), Director Jon M. Chu, and Ariana Granda (as Glinda) on the set of WICKED

“The decision to play it in silence without music was very scary, and we debated that many times,” says Chu. “But when you look at Cynthia, that uncomfortable feeling that you get to be in her shoes, that was really hard to shoot.”

Filming this scene with no sound, and virtually any dialogue, forces viewers to fully internalize the awkwardness and to absorb Elphaba’s pain. It causes viewers to question if their own actions would have been as brave.

To capture the heartbreaking nature of this scene required a delicate balance of vulnerability from the actors, precise camera angles and proper lighting. Chu says there were “700 lighting cues” and each one was filmed “one take at a time.”

“We could not just cut into it, because the emotions were just too heavy,” he explains. “And so every time our camera goes around, we’re doing 360, lights have to come on and off so we don’t get camera shadow and we could still see [Elphaba’s] eyes.”

Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

“I love that she is surrendering to who she is, and that hat isn’t a dunce cap for her,” Chu says. “It’s actually a real sort of spiritual connection. So when she puts it on, it is an acceptance of who she is, no matter what that is.”

L to R: Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba) and Ariana Grande (as Glinda) with Director Jon M. Chu on the set of WICKED.

The beauty of Wicked is that yes, it is a fairytale, the heart of which is about friendship. But beyond that, it is a story that dissects the true meaning of evil, jam-packed with powerful political messaging that Chu beautifully interweaves whilst maintaining the magical and whimsical nature of the world. The beauty of using film as a medium is that it’s able to add depth and nuance to characters that are already beloved by so many.

“It’s a timeless tale of what happens when you feel oppressed, or what happens when you feel out of place or different,” Chu explains. “When you have Cynthia singing the words to ‘Defying Gravity,’ even though we’ve heard it many, many times — it sounds different coming from her. It means different. She’s exposing different wounds.”

 

Amidst moments of raw vulnerability, there are also moments of pure joy. One of the most viral, cinematic feats of Chu’s Wicked is the giant musical number, “What is This Feeling?” Filmed with various settings, costume changes, sweeping transitions and hundreds of extras, it’s pure creative genius.

“We start with, ‘Ok, what do we need to communicate in this song that this stage show can’t?’” Chu explains of the scene’s conception. “One, we have to do a passage of time… Two, we had to show the jealousy and the actual superpowers… Then, what’s happening at the school? And we also had to talk about ‘Dancing Through Life.’ If Shiz University students have a certain style of dancing that has certain angles and a certain sharpness, and ‘Dancing Through Life’ is going to break that…Then ‘What is this Feeling?’ establishes what Shiz is at this point that we’re going to break later.”

Of all the musical numbers, “What is This Feeling?” is perhaps the most expository. It helps establish the initially fraught relationship between Glinda and Elphaba, and immerses viewers into life at Shiz.

“‘Oh, this is what gym class looks like at Shiz? That’s so cool.’” Chu continues. “‘Oh, what about science class? What about this class? And then [choreographer] Chris [Scott] goes with his team and they create movement for all those things. And then we start shooting that on my iPhone, and we start cutting together a piece through our rehearsals and through storyboards of what it’s going to feel like, and then we start shooting it.”

In the nearly two years it took to film Wicked, Chu says his actors truly immersed themselves in their characters.

“Ari was Glinda for that period of time and so was Cynthia — they might still be a little bit of those people.”

At times, their reactions in certain scenes during filming surprised him. In “No One Mourns the Wicked,” the film’s opening musical number, Glinda is forced to watch as the Munchkinlanders celebrate the death of her once dear friend, and then force her to burn the effigy.

“I did not expect when [Ariana] saw this effigy on fire that she would break down just as a person watching it,” he says. “And I had to continue to tell her like, ‘I don’t think we can go there yet. This is the beginning of the movie. People don’t know. Let’s hide it as much as you can. You are trying to help these Munchkins. You love them.’ And so her restraint in that and trying to keep it in, I think that’s the fight that we’re watching there. And she does such a brilliant job of not showing it too early, really because she’s good at it. But at a certain point she can’t hide it… And she does such a great job walking that fine line of both the comedy, but also those little inches of guilt.”

As Chu settles into post-production for part two of Wicked, set to be released in November of 2025, he shares only mild teasers.

“I have said in the past that if movie one’s about choices, movie two is about the consequences,” he says. “The question of what happens when the home that you love and you’re trying to protect doesn’t want you anymore? Is that a home?”

As Oscar buzz begins circulating around Erivo, Grande and Chu himself, he says he is content with “whatever happens” when it comes to awards.

“We had a responsibility to the Wizard of Oz, to this legacy, to Wicked and to Kristin [Chenoweth] and Idina [Menzel], and I think that that’s what we’re most proud of,” he says. “And whatever happens may happen in the future, but if it were up to me, they deserve it all for how hard everyone worked and how detailed everything had to be.”

For more on Wicked, check out these stories:

Production Designer Nathan Crowley: The Visionary Behind “Wicked’s” Stunning Sets

“Wicked” Cinematographer Alice Brooks on Casting a Magical Light Over This Dazzling Adaptation

Mushroom Couture: “Wicked” Costume Designer Paul Tazewell on Drawing Inspiration From the Natural World

Featured image: Center L to R: Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba), Director Jon M. Chu, and Ariana Granda (as Glinda) on the set of WICKED

“Game of Thrones” Prequel, “The White Lotus” Season 3 & More Coming to HBO in 2025

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Before viewers can return to Westeros, they’ll have a slightly posher option—to check into The White Lotus for season three of Mike White’s biting, hysterical comedy on HBO.

During a tech and media conference on Tuesday night, Warner Bros. Discovery global streaming chief JB Perrette revealed some key release dates for some of HBO’s biggest titles in 2025. The White Lotus has a planned February 2025 release date, while another critically acclaimed series, although drastically different in tone, substance, and style, is HBO’s The Last of Us, which will see a spring 2025 premiere.

Meanwhile, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the second Game of Thrones prequel to make it across the Narrow Sea and onto air, is looking at a late 2025 launch. It arrives three years after the debut of House of the Dragon, the acclaimed deep-dive into the brewing Civil War amongst the leaders and creepers of House Targaryen, which arrived in August of 2022. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on George R. R. Martin’s “Dunk & Egg” novella and is centered on the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and young Aegon V Targaryen (Egg), set 90 years before the events in Martin’s most iconic work, “A Song of Fire and Ice,” which is the series that spawned GoT.

Peter Claffey in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” Photograph by Steffan Hill/HBO

As for 2026 and beyond, there’s a lot of cooking, including the return of Euphoria, with season 3 looking at a 2026 debut. Then there’s the Harry Potter TV series, which was initially looking at a 2026 launch and would have likely been the biggest release by HBO that year. Now Perrette said it might instead arrive in 2027. They are currently casting for the new Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

“As you look at ’26 and into ’27, you begin a 10-year journey on the Harry Potter series, which we’re super excited about,” Perrette said. “And I’d argue, may be the biggest event by the time we get to that series.”

For more on Warner Bros., DC Studios, Max, and more, check out these stories:

James Gunn Teases “Superman” Star David Corenswet’s Freakishly Great Performance

Crime, Crazy Rich Rom-Coms, and More: Producer Janice Chua on Bringing Asian Stories to the World

“The Penguin” Costume Designer Helen Huang on Gotham’s Gritty Glamour

Featured image: Photograph by Fabio Lovino/HBO

James Gunn Teases “Superman” Star David Corenswet’s Freakishly Great Performance

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“Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, David Corenswet is going to freak everyone out with how great he is,” said James Gunn during a chat with his Creature Commandos showrunner Dean Lowery and The Hollywood Reporter. “He is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with, and he can do everything. The man is incredible.”

Gunn, the now not-so-newly-minuted co-chief of DC Studios, was with Lowery mainly to talk about the first season of Creature Commandos, the animated series that will launch Gunn and Peter Safran’s new united DC Universe. A question was bound to come up about the first live-action feature film that will fall under the new DC Universe banner, Gunn’s Superman, so the writer/director delivered his confident take on how the new Superman held up to the task.

Superman is currently being test-screened and it will be a minute before we get a peek at the trailer, but Creature Commandos is coming up now, with its release on HBO Max arriving on December 5. The animated series is set shortly after Peacemaker season one, with the DC’s main macher, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), finding a way around the congressional ruling that prohibited her from using human prisoners for the suicidal missions she sends them on for A.R.G.U.S.—her solution? Use imprisoned monsters instead.

So, Waller finds a new leader for her operation, Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), the father of Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), the loyal, tough soldier who was murdered by Peacemaker (John Cena) in Gunn’s first DC film, his 2021 The Suicide Squad. Gunn, who wrote the entire first season of Creature Commandos on spec before he was tapped to co-lead DC Studios, also found a place for Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. in season two of Peacemaker and in Superman, connecting the animated series, the live-action series, and his first big swing feature.

Gunn says that season two of Peacemaker will surprise people. “We take a very different route than the first season, and it’s a really magical story that people are going to be blown away by.”

“I feel great,” Gunn told THR when first asked about his first crack at retelling Superman’s story. “Superman is an enormous bear of a movie. It’s completely different from this show in every way, but it’s very much fantastic as well.”

For more on all things DC Studios, check out these stories:

“The Penguin” Costume Designer Helen Huang on Gotham’s Gritty Glamour

James Gunn Reveals Updates for “Superman,” “Supergirl,” and “Lanterns”

James Gunn Reveals the Wild First Trailer for “Creature Commands”

“The Penguin” Episode 4 Introduced a Classic Batman Villain

Featured image: David Corenswet is Clark Kent/Superman in “Superman.” Courtesy James Gunn/Warner Bros.

“Snow White” Trailer: It’s Rachel Zegler vs. Gal Gadot in Enchanting Second Look

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Our second look at Disney’s Snow White is here.

Disney first revealed director Marc Webb’s live-action remake of the classic movie at its D23 event in late August, so it’s been a minute since we’ve gotten a fresh peek at stars Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The film’s music comes from Dear Evan Hansen and The Greatest Showman songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and boasts a screenplay from Barbie writer/director Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson—all top-tier talent.

The latest look offers the line that defines Snow White, with Gadot’s Evil Queen asking, “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” The Magic Mirror’s answer, something to do with a fair maiden, hits the Evil Queen where it hurts the most: her vanity. The stage is set for the Evil Queen to unleash her vengeance on the fair maiden and her home kingdom in a petulant rage that has fueled countless adaptations for nearly a century. Snow White is forced to flee to the forest, where she meets a bevy of beautiful creatures and a septet of delightful dwarves who will set her on her path of taking on the Queen and restoring her kingdom.

Zegler’s phenomenal signing chops are on full display here, no doubt one of the magical powers that Webb and the Snow White team are counting on to make this latest adaptation sing. The original Snow White, released in 1937, is arguably one of the most important films in Disney’s long, rich animation history, helping launch the brand into the global phenomenon it is today.

Check out the new trailer here. Snow White enchants theaters on March 21, 2025.

 

For more stories on 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Marvel Studios and what’s streaming or coming to

Disney+, check these out:

“Moana 2” Paddles Into Movie History With Record-Shattering Debut

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Sound Designers on the Splatter-and-Slash Acoustics of a Honda Odyssey Brawl

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Sound Designers on Turning Frozen Tea Towels Into Broken Bones

Featured image: Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“Nosferatu” Review Round-Up: Robbert Eggers Masterful Horror Sinks Its Teeth Into You

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The reviews for writer/director Robert Eggers’ Nosefratu have arrived, and the auteur behind The Northman (2022), The Lighthouse (2019), and The Witch (2015) has delivered a masterful gothic horror. Robert Eggers delivers a “full-blown Gothic melodrama,” Empire Magazine writes. “A moody, stunning visual masterpiece, it’s the best horror film of the year and easily one of 2024’s best overall,” writes Collider‘s Jeff Ewing.

Eggers is a notoriously meticulous filmmaker—The Northman, The Lighthouse, and The Witch proved that—and critics say he’s brought that level of obsessive attention to detail to this tale of gothic obsession between the Transylvanian Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) and Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), the troubled young wife of husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), the man contracted by the secretive Transylvanian Count to find him a new home. “Eggers has unleashed a mutated strain of this terror in his Nosferatu remake,” The Wrap‘s William Bibbiani writes. “This Count Orlock is a gruesome monstrosity, gnawed on and gnarled, as repulsive as movie monsters get.”

A carriage approaches Orlok’s castle in director Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

Count Orlok has plans that go beyond house hunting—his pull over the anxious, nightmare-racked Ellen begins to get Thomas’s attention as the depth of Orlok’s evil begins to surface. The Hutters then rely on help from Dr. Wilhelm Sievers (Ralph Ineson) and Professor Albin Eberhard Von Franz (Willem Dafoe) to fight Orlok before he becomes too powerful to match.

Eggers is perfectly suited to a deep gothic adaptation of the deathless story first created by Bram Stoker in “Dracula” than Eggers. Eggers is already a master of atmosphere, placing most of his adaptation in a hellish urban cityscape that practically hisses with the league. And with his stellar cast, critics say Eggers delivered a commanding, skin-crawling masterpiece. The lead actors are all coming in for plaudits, with Lily-Rose Depp wowing critics with a turn that “easily slides between innocent, erotic, and terrifying in one of the year’s best performance,” Collider‘s Ewing writes. 

Eggers works again with some of his favorite go-to collaborators, including cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, editor Louise Ford, and production designer Craig Lathrop.

Nosferatu is set to rise on December 25. Let’s take a peek at what the critics are saying below:

Featured image: Lily-Rose Depp stars as Ellen Hutter in director Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC