DGA Monthly

D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 4 I 6 3 Based on the novella by William S. Burroughs, Director Luca Guadagnino's historical romance, Queer, follows William Lee, an outcast American who recounts his life in 1940s Mexico City where he becomes infatuated with Eugene Allerton, a drug using discharged American Navy serviceman. Guadagnino discussed the making of the fi lm with Director Daniel Scheinert and revealed how they created some of the fi lm's more surrealist elements. "We had a lot of miniatures. When we didn't have miniatures, we played with the imagery so that it looked like miniature. Then we animated the miniatures in CGI and expanded it. At the beginning of the process, we thought, 'Let's do the old fashion backdrop painted.' So, we tested it and it was quite beautiful but it wanted a very precise and focused idea of shots for everything. But because I like the idea of performances leading my movies, I didn't want to do that because that would have obliged everybody to stick to a place that the camera had to be. And so we deferred these to later. We had to do the post-production, and we wanted the feeling of a matte painting or glass painting by using digital. So, a lot of these backdrops have been drawn by hand and then put digitally against the built." Luca Guadagnino discusses Queer photo by Howard Wise Membership Screenings Q&As listed in alphabetical order by Director. See more detailed descriptions, additional photos & podcasts online at www.dga.org. DGA Screenings Q&As Director Steve McQueen's historical drama, Blitz, follows group of Londoners as they seek to survive the World War II Nazi bombing of the British capital and the journey of 9-year-old boy determined to return home to his mother and grandfather after being sent to safety in the English countryside. During a Q&A moderated by Director Barry Jenkins, McQueen spoke about how he used music to shape the tone of the fi lm. "It doesn't matter if it's the darkest moment we will always fi nd joy. How could I not show that, but also with music. That's what we did. We soothed ourselves with the music. We cradle ourselves with the music. We fi ll ourselves drunk with joy with the music because it was a thing that gave us a certain sense of regaining a certain kind of control in an environment that was out of control. It's kinda like Prince, 'party like it's 1999,' you know. 'Armageddon's coming but guess what, I'm gonna go out rockin' baby.' And that's what people did. It's not just something I'm throwing in for light entertainment it's part of who we are as human beings." Steve McQueen discusses Blitz photo by Shane Karns Photo: Directors Steve McQueen (right) and Barry Jenkins (moderator) discuss the making of Blitz following the Los Angeles DGA screening on October 13. Director Ellen Kuras' biographical drama, Lee, portrays a pivotal decade in the life of Lee Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II and whose singular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century's most indelible images of war. Kuras discussed the making of the fi lm with Directors Phillip Noyce in Los Angeles and Mary Harron in New York. During the Los Angeles conversation, Kuras – who is also an award-wining cinematographer – spoke about how she used color in the fi lm. "I knew for this fi lm I wanted to use color as part of the story. I had seen a fi lm many years ago called Jude which Edwardo Cero shot and which he used bleach bypass to slowly make the fi lm more contrasty to track the evolution of the characters. So, I knew I wanted to use that grade. I wanted to start to desaturate it and make it go darker as it went to the end. So, we talked a lot about that. I also talked to the production designer, Gemma Jackson, about how to create the pallet in the beginning so that we know in the south of France, it was a time where people were unsuspecting of what was around the corner, it helped support that part of the story. But then when we went into the war it starts to become more monochromatic and darker and helps us to get into the emotion of the character." Ellen Kuras discusses Lee photo by Ryan Jensen photo by Quintin Lundy Photos: Director Ellen Kuras with moderators Mary Harron in New York on October 27 and Phillip Noyce in Los Angeles on October 27. Photo: Directors Luca Guadagnino (right) and Daniel Scheinert (moderator) discuss the making of Queer following the Los Angeles DGA screening on November 10.

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