Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/916056
I learned about this project while prepping Pacific Rim II with Guillermo del Toro in the summer of 2015. Guillermo decided to relinquish the director's seat on that franchise and pursue his passion project, which he had conceived to be filmed in black and white. Color can be so useful in conveying a mood, differentiating characters and stories within a film. A black-and-white film both intrigued and intimidated me, as well as the prospect of what a very small budget of twelve million dollars could achieve. Eventually, Fox Searchlight offered up to $19.6 million to del Toro if he would shoot his film in color and, luckily, he embraced it. With that in mind, I began to think about budget and color and the sizable studio build I imagined. The only way this project could even be attempted with this new but still very small budget was to wait until May of 2016 when del Toro's TV series The Strain was going on hiatus. It was very clever producing on Miles Dale's (producer on The Strain and The Shape of Water) part to schedule the shoot during this hiatus to utilize the savings of the office space and more importantly, the studio space and construction crew. Toronto was very busy and there was a shortage of both stages and crew, but because both the series under FX and the film under Fox Searchlight were part of 20th Century Fox, stages that would have otherwise sat empty could be used. I was also able to capitalize on existing sets that were slated to be demolished for The Strain and modify or use parts of them for this film. The concept of the film is an odd one (but what else would you expect with Guillermo del Toro?). Set in 1962 Baltimore, about a mute cleaning lady (played by Sally Hawkins) who works in a government science and research facility and develops a relationship with a newly captured asset—a merman creature (played by Doug Jones) recently discovered in the Amazon, known only as the Asset. Sally's personality comes to life after impossibly falling in love with the creature. Michael Shannon plays the evil boss, Strickland, who has a heavy-handed leadership style, to say the least. Sally's friendships with Zelda (portrayed by Octavia Spencer) and Giles (hilariously played by Richard Jenkins) round out the cast. Although the film is an adult fairy tale, I started out with four weeks of extensive research by the Art Department researcher Danny Haeberlin. Knowing that Guillermo's films usually veer toward stylized fantastical theatre, I A. SketchUp model of the lab by William Cheng. B. Final set for the opening scene in the lab. C. The plinth the Asset is chained to was raised or lowered to suit the scene. Photo of set by Paul D. Austerberry D. Lab inspiration photo of the abandoned French sanatorium Martel de Janville. Photo by Jeremy Gibbs, aka RomanyWG E. Still from the film of Andrew's building at the University of Toronto with digital signage and tile mural by Mr. X. A B C