Director Christopher Miller recently caused some buzz by saying their new sci-fi film, Project Hail Mary, wasn’t filmed using green screen technology. Miller is directing the movie with Phil Lord, and the pair are known for their comedic hits like 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie. Project Hail Mary is a different kind of project for them – an adaptation of the popular science fiction novel by Andy Weir – but they successfully met the challenge.
When talking about the new movie starring Ryan Gosling, the director explained that they didn’t use green screens to create the exciting scenes shown in the trailers. They shared this information in an interview with Comicbook.com, saying:
One of the coolest things about the movie is that everything you see was actually built – there wasn’t a single green screen used. The entire ship set was constructed from the inside out, and we even built a large section of the exterior. Because of this practical approach, it really feels like the characters are genuinely there, making the film feel authentic and natural.
Fans were puzzled by comments from the director about the movie’s visuals, especially since the trailers showed a lot of special effects. They wondered how such impressive scenes were filmed without using a green screen. The director noticed the online discussion and responded on X (formerly Twitter) to clarify his statement. He explained that while they didn’t rely heavily on green screen technology, the film actually contains 2,018 shots with visual effects. He also thanked the teams responsible for both the practical and digital effects work on the movie.
Miller’s post on X reads:
Just to clarify, avoiding green screen doesn’t mean we avoided visual effects (VFX) altogether. The film actually contains thousands of VFX shots! We chose not to rely heavily on green screen because it can sometimes look artificial if not handled perfectly – often it’s used as a shortcut instead of carefully planning sets and lighting. For example, we physically built the entire interior of the Hail Mary spaceship. However, even within the ship, we still used VFX to remove wires, puppeteers, and replace ceilings. When Ryan was shown outside the ship, we filmed him against black and color-changing backgrounds to create realistic lighting, which would have been harder to achieve with a green screen. All the exterior space scenes and spaceship shots were created digitally by ILM, and the character Rocky was brought to life with a combination of puppetry and animation from Framestore. It was a huge collaborative effort, and we were fortunate to work with incredibly talented artists.
Regarding the recent discussion about Project Hail Mary, it’s important to note that the directors were upfront about the film’s production. In an interview with Comicbook.com, co-director Lord explained that while they filmed scenes on set, the visual effects artists then took over to complete the final look. This point was made before any confusing comments about green screens surfaced, and the directors didn’t try to hide this process. The current misunderstanding seems to be a result of people confusing the use of green screens during filming with the final visual effects work.
Recently, many films have advertised that they were made without using computer-generated imagery (CGI). Tom Cruise is well-known for this, especially in movies like Top Gun: Maverick and the latest Mission: Impossible films. However, even those movies, while performing stunts for real, still relied heavily on visual effects (VFX) in post-production to polish the shots, remove unwanted elements, and generally finish the scenes. In big-budget filmmaking, a practical shot doesn’t necessarily mean there was no digital enhancement. Project Hail Mary features a lot of exciting VFX shots and is already receiving rave reviews. Audiences will be able to judge for themselves when the Ryan Gosling sci-fi movie arrives in theaters on March 20th.
5 Questions
Found an error? Send it info@movieweb.com so it can be corrected.
Read More
- Movie Games responds to DDS creator’s claims with $1.2M fine, saying they aren’t valid
- The MCU’s Mandarin Twist, Explained
- These are the 25 best PlayStation 5 games
- SHIB PREDICTION. SHIB cryptocurrency
- Scream 7 Will Officially Bring Back 5 Major Actors from the First Movie
- Server and login issues in Escape from Tarkov (EfT). Error 213, 418 or “there is no game with name eft” are common. Developers are working on the fix
- Rob Reiner’s Son Officially Charged With First Degree Murder
- All Golden Ball Locations in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties
- MNT PREDICTION. MNT cryptocurrency
- Gold Rate Forecast
2026-03-05 21:39