By Charles Salom | Staff Writer
Phil Lord and Chris Miller are the talented directors and writers behind iconic pop culture film properties like “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “21 Jump Street,” and “The Lego Movie.” Along with being the screenwriters for both animated “Spider-Verse” adventures.
Last week, I got the chance to sit down with the filmmakers to talk about their latest film, “Project Hail Mary”. A space adventure starring Ryan Gosling based on the best-selling novel written by Andy Weir.
Like any good story, I wanted to start from the beginning and understand the origins of Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The duo met at Dartmouth College with a shared interest and passion for film and animation. But at such a prestigious institution like Dartmouth, the two were surrounded by future investment bankers, doctors, and lawyers, and were unsure if filmmaking was a viable path.
This all changed one summer break, when they decided to take the plunge.
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Q: You guys are juniors at Dartmouth, Phil, you are interning at ILM. Chris, you visit him in San Francisco. You are both standing on top of the Coit Tower. And you look at each other and say, “I think we can do this thing”. First of all, what is wrong with you guys and what was going through your heads?
Phil Lord: Naivete, it helps!
Chris Miller: Naivete, and then seeing that everybody who’s doing it is also figuring it out. And we’re like, we’re figuring it out, so why not us? And I would encourage everyone who feels the irrational confidence to do it because they can.
Phil Lord: We are afraid all the time. This is a movie [Project Hail Mary] about being afraid. But taking the step, that part is easy. You can kinda syphon off all of the fear for the moment of getting in the car, renting an apartment and starting. If you can start, then all the other stuff that comes, you can trick your body into facing it. That’s basically what we did, we pretended like it wasn’t gonna be horrible.
We have a producing partner, Aditya [Sood], who produced this movie [Project Hail Mary], produced “The Martian,” and discovered Andy Weir. He called us when we were still in college, saying, “Hey, I’m an intern at New Line [Cinema], they are developing a sequel to ‘Dumb and Dumber’, do you guys want to try and pitch it?”. I know you guys, I’ve met the people out here, I’ve read all the scripts. I think you guys can do this”. So having people who believe in you is a big deal.
Q: I loved the YouTube video you guys did on the various film formats. Starting from IMAX all the way down to the New Beverly. I loved what you said in the video, Phil: “We didn’t make one movie, we made twelve”. Why was it so important for you guys to have this film in the dozen premium formats you offer?
Phil Lord: Yeah, on some level, we are all carnival barkers. Trying to provide the most exciting experience and make it worth your money to go to the movie theater. We shot this movie for a 1.43:1 aspect ratio to accommodate the biggest screens in the world. And all down the food chain, we wanted to make a special movie for every format.
So we spent like, what did we do, Chris? Like a month? Formatting and doing every single version for every single format.
Chris Miller: Yeah, and making sure that each one was perfect and a fun, unique experience. You go to the movies to have an experience with your friends, your family, loved ones, or a bunch of strangers. And the more you can feel enveloped in the world of the movie, the better the experience is.
Phil Lord: And every format has something really cool to offer. The Dolby Vision has amazing sounds, and the HDR makes it feel like you have put on glasses for the first time. It is really sharp and exciting. The 70mm prints have a warmth and feel like science and chemistry before your eyes. And all the way down. Even the rumble seats are a treat.
Q: Tell me more about the process of taking the digital files shot on Alexa cameras and converting them into 70mm film? I know you worked closely with Greig Fraser, your cinematographer, to achieve this.
Phil Lord: It’s very simple, but still with a lot of technical complications. You grade the movie, then output onto 70mm film, and one of the big advancements is this guy named Dave Cole, who wrote a script on how to bring that film print back into the color choices, which is a painstaking process and technically required a lot of innovation to match it back.
Q: This is your first live-action film in 12 years. What were the challenges of shooting a live-action film of this scope and scale? Along with the challenges of wanting to do as much as you could practically?
Chris Miller: Definitely slower having a puppet and a team of puppeteers there than it would have been if we just had a tennis ball on a stick. But it made for a great scene partner for Ryan, and his performance and chemistry were real.
Phil Lord: Ryan’s performance is the driving engine of this movie, so anything that idealized that was really important. So, having real places to photograph, always having a Rocky to photograph. Even if we wound up replacing half the shots with Rocky with computer animation. It was always about having something on set for Ryan to perform with.
Chris Miller: And having the whole set there meant that our DP, Greig Fraser, who is very intuitive with a camera on his shoulder, could really see the shot instead of imagining something on the green screen. That is part of what makes the film feel real and grounded.
Phil Lord: The movie is a lovely handshake between the digital effects in post, which we spent a year in effects review. I don’t want to minimize that contribution, but it was great to have that starting place. We knew what they looked like in light and thought about things together as a film crew instead of trying to do it all in our heads.
Q: I want to take a step back and think about your filmography. All of your characters have this common trait of either dealing with self-doubt or not knowing if they can meet the moment. What about that type of character resonates with you guys?
Phil Lord: Yeah, look who you’re talking to.
Chris Miller: I don’t think we relate to super confident characters.
Phil Lord: I always say, “We can’t relate to winners.”
Chris Miller: I grew up in high school. In my freshman year, I was 5 ft. I was the shortest boy in my class. And so I had to learn how to get attention in other ways. We think of ourselves as outsiders, not the cool kids, not sitting at the cool kids’ table.
Phil Lord: And maybe that leads to a feeling of being underqualified. We are kind of self-educated filmmakers, and so we’re always coming to it not from a place of pedigree. But of trying to find an outside angle on the material.
Chris Miller: And I think most people have self-doubt, and it’s a lot easier to relate to that than just being like “Oh man, I’m just like that super awesome guy, who is awesome all the time.” I think a person who has self-doubt but overcomes it is a much more universal story.
Phil Lord: But it’s also a way to find a different lane. Ryan [Gosling] was really insistent that this movie is not a movie about someone who is good at space. And it’s not about a confident guy. It’s about a talented guy who has desires to be great, maybe? But he is too chicken, and so the movie puts him in a place where he has no choice but to overcome that insecurity.
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Special thanks to Phil Lord and Chris Miller. “Project Hail Mary” is in theaters everywhere on March 20th!
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