DGA Monthly

3 0 I D G A M O N T H L Y In Director Drew Hancock's sci-fi thriller, Companion, a weekend getaway amongst friends turns bloody and violent when Iris, a subservient android built for human companionship, goes haywire. During a discussion moderated by Director Rob Savage, Hancock spoke about wrestling with imposter syndrome as a first-time feature Director. "The hardest thing for me was coming back to the hotel every night and just being like, 'What did I screw up today?' I realized week one was that it's this perfect version in my head and no matter how good Eli Born's cinematography is or Sophie Thatcher's performance is, it's not what's in my head. You have to just let that go because there's beauty in the blank spaces in your brain. That's where you lean forward and I think the most valuable words that you can say to a department head or an actor when they ask you a question is, 'I don't know. What do you think?' Then suddenly, it's not just your movie it's their movie too and it's collaboration. Week two I'm like, 'OK, it's not going to be the movie in my head but maybe there's beauty and it's becoming something else.' And then week three I'm like, 'Yes, I got this!'" Drew Hancock discusses Companion Photo: Directors Drew Hancock (right) and Rob Savage (moderator) discuss the making of Companion following the DGA screening in Los Angeles on February 2. 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 A young woman is thrust headlong into an international conspiracy in Director Neil Burger's thriller, Inheritance. Burger's film tells the story of Maya, who must travel the globe, master new skills and unravel the mysteries of the past after discovering that her father Sam was once a spy. Burger discussed the making of the film in a conversation moderated by Director Sarah Pirozek and revealed why and how they shot this film entirely on an iPhone. "The reason we shot it on an iPhone was not as a gimmick but because it gave us access. We could be in that crowded Cairo market and, for the most part, no one paid any attention to us. We shot it on an iPhone 13. We used the app Filmic Pro which we thought was best to make it look great when we blew it up. The whole film is shot on just one lens. We were shooting very quickly because we didn't want to be noticed, there was sort of a different shooting style. It wasn't like, 'here's a wide shot and then over the shoulder and then a close up' and things like that. There's no classic coverage. There's, for the most part deliberately, no match cutting. We did that so we could be quick on our feet." Neil Burger discusses Inheritance Photo: Directors Neil Burger (right) and Sarah Pirozek (moderator) discuss the making of Inheritance following DGA screening in New York on February 2. Asian American Committee Hosts Panel Discussion Visual Effects Approaches for Directors and DGA Teams On January 14, the Asian American Committee's (AAC) meeting included the event, Visual Effects Approaches for Directors and DGA Teams. In a conversation moderated by Director/VFX Supervisor Van Ling, VFX On-Set Supervisor Viki Chan, Director/VFX Supervisor Johnny Han and VFX Producer Maricel Pagulayan discussed utilizing both new VFX technologies and classic techniques for better creative storytelling. During the conversation, Pagulayan noted her work is all about balancing production requirements with the creative and strategizing how to achieve the vision within the given budget. Han pointed out that he tries to communicate exactly what he needs from AD teams in order to save the production time and money later in the edit. Chan noted the importance of getting as much information as you can on set, to make it easier to recreate the same conditions and colors in post and make it as real as possible. photo by Marcie Revens photo by Elisa Haber Clockwise: Director/VFX Supervisor Van Ling (moderator), Director/ VFX Supervisor Johnny Han, VFX On-Set Supervisor Viki Chan and VFX Producer Maricel Pagulayan.

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