Mahil Senathirajah
By Mahil Senathirajah
Film festivals, in general, are an odd mix of film screenings combined with an industry trade show which the public happens to attend. I have lots of friends who really enjoy movies but don’t care at all how they are made and, in fact, seeing the sausage making ruins the experience. To extend the metaphor, if I went to a sausage making trade show, I doubt I would have the following reaction during a “Blending Ingredients – New Approaches” panel: “oh, you grind the beaks before you put in the cheeks, how fascinating”.
But, if you are interested in how film sausage is made, as I am, there is nothing better than the Artisan’s Panel at SBIFF where talented “crafts people” share stories and techniques from various aspects of making the best films of the year. As you’ll read, there are some unexpected ingredients in this year’s film sausage.
There were a lot of panelists so I thought I would summarize their most interesting story/point. They were also asked “what’s the most common misconception about your job” and I include a brief version of their response.
M. M. Keeravaani – Songwriter (RRR)
To my mind, Keeravaani composed the most crazily infectious song of the year, Naatu Naatu, which drives the best dance-off scene of all time (yes, that includes Pat Bentar’s pioneering dance battle video, Love is a Battlefield). Naatu Naatu’s performance during the Oscars telecast is expected to blow the roof off the place.
Check out Naatu, Naatu here (Naatu Naatu Full Video Song (Telugu) [4K] | RRR | NTR,Ram Charan | MM Keeravaani | SS Rajamouli – YouTube) and Pat Benatar here (Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield (Official Music Video) – YouTube) and judge for yourself.
About the song, the soft-spoken and gracioius Keeravaani said one of the most challenging things was to strike the right balance between the two male leads, both of whom have large and loyal fan bases, implying that an inappropriate imbalance could have lead to real battle. The dance scene was filmed on location in the Ukraine, of all places, and took 10 days to shoot.
Misconception: if a film wins the Oscar it is the best one – they are all good
Frank Kruse – Sound Designer (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Kruse tried to find sounds from World War I but came up empty and so had to get creative. Mud plays a big role in the film and they recorded running through mud, falling in mud etc. But, they also supplemented those natural sounds with sound created by silicon breast implants as Kruse sheepishly revealed. He also used toy cars, which would squeak, on top of metal from air conditioning to create the deep, groaning metal sound of a tank.
Misconception: toy cars are only to be used by kids for play
Son Lux – Composer (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Lux got truly emotional seeing the clip they showed from the film before he came on stage to the point where he had to take a minute to compose himself. He seemed like a sensitive soul in a good way. Lux revealed that the music was created by his band and that there were over a 100 music cues given the number of characters and time periods. He said his “self-serious” bandmates thought they might not be right for the job of creating music cues for people with hot dog fingers – but they took the job anyway.
Misconception: composers write music separately from the visuals and then, somehow, the music gets used. He has been asked, “have you seen the film yet”?
Photo by Fritz Olenberger
Catherine Martin – Costume Designer (Elvis)
Martin said the Elvis was confident about two things: the music and creating his look. About recreating the iconic ’68 special leather suit, Martin said they created a replica, but, tailored it to fit actor Austin Butler’s physique (“everyone has a different butt”). Doing so made the clothing come alive. In fact, she doesn’t like museum costume exhibits since clothes separated from the wearer do them a disservice.
Misconception: There’s an Elvis store where you can buy all the Elvis clothes you need
Florencia Martin – Production Designer (Babylon)
Bablyon’s 30 minute, ultra-decadent, continually evolving opening party scene was shot at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The space allowed the camera to dive and spin. The elaborately constructed scene included 600 extras. Martin said that, after all the prep, when the cameras started rolling, “your were just there” in the party.
Misconception: the set already existed and they just had to shoot in it
Claudio Miranda – Cinematography (Top Gun: Maverick)
Since Tom Cruise does his own flying, Miranda had to set up multiple cameras in the planes rather than using blue screen or other techniques. He wanted everything “in camera”. He also had to work with the Defence Department who had their own camera systems in the planes, ultimately taking theirs out and getting six of his in. He thought it all paid off since you can “feel the drop” in the thrilling flying scenes.
Misconception: the making of the film was all about him as cinematographer
Adrien Morot – Hairstyling/Make Up (The Whale)
The small scale, single room film was shot, in large part, since it could be made during the pandemic. But, because of the pandemic, Morot didn’t have access to Brendan Fraser. Instead, for the first time, he used a 3D printing digital process and the result was a more flawless blending to the skin in comparison to regular prosthetics. Echoing Martin’s sentiment about clothes, Morot said that the prosthetics only come alive when an actor is wearing them. It took 7 hrs to apply the prosthetics for the first time but they got that down to 2:45 mins.
Misconception: he’s going to “put straws up your nose” (so you can breathe while the prosthetics are applied)
Paul Rogers – Editing (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
About reading the script for the first time, which has a crazy number of scenes and characters and editing challenges, Rogers said he had to “read it as fan”, otherwise contemplating the task ahead would have been too daunting. And he knew the first edit would be bad but kept producing and reviewing an edit every two weeks, fully ready or not. However, despite the crazy action, he said the most meaningful editing was in key emotional scenes between mother and daughter and father where he focused on the characters listening to each other.
Eric Saindon – VFX (Avatar: The Way of Water)
Saindon said the biggest technical challenge in the film, which uses motion capture technology, was keeping the glare out of the water scenes. There were 70 cameras below water and 70 above water. The solution: ping pong balls which he used cover the water. He too wanted to avoid green screen and do live capture since “actors overact on green screen”.
Misconception: the actors were painted blue
The 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs through February 18. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. Passes and tickets are on sale now at .
