Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475973
four different train cars with modular pieces that made them feel like the 12 cars we needed on the train, all built on a stage. We had one platform that was also modular and we could re-dress that in different ways, and with LED monitors and blue screen, we were able to create nine different platforms with that single one. So dealing with all that was like a huge production puzzle, but it was also great to work in this style of filmmak- ing, and we were able to keep working during COVID, and we were one of the few who could." You reunited with director of photography Jonathan Sela, along with other core creatives. How important was that? "It's so important to me and on a com- plex film like this it really helps to work with a core team you know well and trust. Jonathan and I have shot a lot of these types of films now — huge logis- tical puzzles, and as usual, we shot on Arri Alexas, with a mix of lenses — both spherical and anamorphic, depending on environments. I think to the untrained eye you won't even notice it, but we used it as a storytelling device, to give our platforms a bit more scope, and the smaller moments on the train a more in- timate feel. And then I had my usual pro- duction designer David Scheunemann, editor Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir and Kelly. It's a really-tight group that I totally rely on. They're my creative collaborators." Where did you post? "Because of COVID, this was so different from any other post I've done, and the director's cut was all virtual. We used this great software program called Pac Post. It's a lot like Evercast, and like Zoom on steroids. So Elísabet could run her Avid output and I'm on another screen, and we could talk to each other virtu- ally while she's live editing. She was in Iceland and I'd get up here in LA at 5am, and she'd been working all morning on the notes from the day before, and we'd meet for a couple of hours, and then for a few more later in the day, and it was this great cycle of cutting it all remotely. I think it's going to be the future of how you cut and post a film, as you can do so much this way now. But we did meet up in-person a couple of weeks before we screened it for the studio, and you need that intimacy for some of the last-minute adjustments and changes, but you can now do the bulk of it remotely." All the VFX play a big role. Who did them? "We had over 1,200 VFX shots in the end, and we had just one vendor — Double Negative, who I've worked with a lot before. Michael Brazelton was the VFX super, and he oversaw a lot of the Dneg work on Deadpool 2 and Hobbs & Shaw, and it was kind of the same stuff I need- ed on this. We had a lot of CG train work and exterior shots, as we couldn't shoot in Japan because of COVID, along with a lot of CG enhancements." What was the most difficult VFX sequence to do? "There are some very surreal moments with Brad, which fit tonally into the film very nicely, but to make sure they're totally photoreal was very hard for the artists, especially as it's not something that's been done before. I wanted to break reality, but not so far that you'd leave the movie, so there was a lot of back and forth, and trying to find just the right balance for this sequence on the train, which is quite heightened." Talk about the importance of sound and music. "It's always crucial for me, and with all the visual information we had in this movie, it's easy to forget just how key all the sound is to telling the story. We recorded the score and mixed it at Capitol, and then did a lot of work and the final mix at Sony with Frankie Montano and JT Roberts from Universal StudioPost. And I can't over-stress how great our com- poser Dominic Lewis was. He did a lot of work before we even shot, and he created suites for me for all the different char- acter scenes. We have a lot of different characters, and I was trying to get them all dialed in so by the third act they would all come together, sort of like 'Peter and the Wolf' style, and he was so bold and creative in his choices. I also wanted origi- nal songs that sounded like needle drops, and he did a great cover of 'Staying Alive,' along with a great original song for Bad Bunny's character that he wrote." Where did you do the DI and how important is it to you? "We're doing it with my usual team at Company 3, with colorist Dave Hussey. I love the DI and as the pandemic is on the wane, we've been able to do the sessions in-person — me and Jonathan and Dave. And as we always do, we choose our LUT on-set, so we're already working with a look we all really like, and we start with that and assem- ble it all. Then [we began] making bolder choices and trying things, as this movie allows us to do fun things. It's a slightly heightened reality — a real pop piece with a lot of bold color, and I'm really happy with the way the film turned out." www.postmagazine.com 15 POST JULY/AUG 2022 LED screens were used for the window visuals of Japan. The feature was shot using Arri Alexas. Company 3 handled final color.