The Art and Science of Arrival E-Book

Tanya Lapointe

• Herausgeber: Titan Books
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 196

Beschreibung

Official retrospective companion book to the film Arrival starring Amy Adams, Jereny Renner and Forest Whitaker, featuring concept art, sketches, behind-the-scenes photography and interviews with key creative and scientific team members.Since its release in 2016, Denis Villeneuve's Arrival, based on the Hugo-nominated short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, has embedded itself firmly in the minds of moviegoers around the world. The film garnered many accolades, including nine BAFTA nominations and eight Academy Award® nominations, proceeding to win an Oscar® for Best Sound Editing and a BAFTA for Best Sound. Since then, the film has generated larger conversations within the cultural landscape of academia including film, philosophy, and linguistics.In The Art and Science of Arrival, author and producer Tanya Lapointe revisits the film and its legacy with the production's key team members. This lavish hardback volume recounts the genesis of this modern classic, from Ted Chiang's short story The Story of Your Life to its premiere in Venice and its subsequent eight Academy Award(R) nominations. It explores the film's concept of non-linear time, and showcases the remarkable concept art that brought the aliens, their ships and their startling logogram language to life.

Leseprobe

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ARRIVAL

Standard edition ISBN: 9781789098464

Limited edition ISBN: 9781789099492

Ebook ISBN: 9781803360805

Published by Titan Books

A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd

144 Southwark Street

London SE1 0UP

FIRST EDITION: September 2022

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© 2022 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

© 2022 XENOLINGUISTICS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor beotherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is publishedand without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

Set photography by Jan Thijs

Photographs by Denis Villeneuve

Photograph by Milan Popelka

Photograph by Shawn Levy

Photographs by Aaron Ryder

Photograph by Jóhann Jóhannsson

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TITAN BOOKS

CONTENTS

FOREWORD BY TED CHIANG

6

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

8

DIRTY SCI-FI

48

THE SHELL

70

COFFEE WITH SOME ALIENS

90

XENOLINGUISTICS

104

SOUND AND MUSIC

138

GOING FULL CIRCLE

160

AFTERWORD BY DENIS VILLENEUVE

174

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

176

FOREWORD

In 1955, Albert Einstein sent a letter to the family of his friend, MicheleBesso, who had recently died. Einstein had known Besso since theywere both in college, and Besso was the only person Einstein thankedby name in his 1905 paper on special relativity. In his condolenceletter, Einstein wrote, “Now Besso has departed from this strangeworld a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, whobelieve in physics, know that the distinction between past, presentand future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” He wasn’t speakingmetaphorically; he was referring to a discovery he had made whendeveloping his theory of special relativity.

Before Einstein, people assumed that there was a clear distinctionbetween past, present, and future: the past was fixed, the future wasyet to be determined, and the present was the line that separated thetwo. Moreover, people assumed that at any given moment, everyonecould agree on what category any specific event belonged to, nomatter where they were. What Einstein discovered was that thingsweren’t so simple.

He showed that if you and I are moving at different velocities, youcould perceive two events as occurring simultaneously, while I wouldperceive one event as taking place before the other. And this wouldn’tbe a misunderstanding based on an illusion or a communicationsdelay; there would be no way for either of us to prove that one was rightand the other was wrong. Einstein realized that the only explanationwas that both of us are right. But if there was a moment when oneevent took place in my past and the other event lay in my future, howcould that be reconciled with your observation that both events tookplace in your present? The solution is that the future is exactly as real asthe past. There is nothing special about the present moment; it doesn’tconvert the indeterminate into the fixed. The future is already out there;you and I might encounter events at slightly different angles, but thoseevents are just waiting for us to catch up to them.

This is what Einstein was talking about in his letter to Besso’s family:in a physical sense, Besso’s death wasn’t any ‘realer’ in 1955 thanit had been in 1900 when he was a young man; it had always beenout there, waiting for him to catch up to it. And while Einstein didn’tknow that he himself would die a month later, he knew his death waswaiting for him too, and always had been.

This may be disquieting, but relativity also suggests that there’s noway for you to gain information about your own future in advance;someone else might learn about your future before you do, but by thetime they could tell you anything, you’ll have caught up to it yourself.The fact that the future is no different from the past may have far-reaching philosophical implications, but it has no practical ones. Wewill never know exactly what our future holds, so the conundrum thatLouise Banks faces in Story of Your Life isn’t one we have to deal with inthe real world.

While the intellectual core of the story could be phrased as “Howcan one reconcile oneself to the fixed nature of the future?” theemotional core is a different question: “How do we live with theknowledge that pain lies ahead of us?” No one, in reality, has to facethe situation that the Louise of Story of Your Life faces, but manyparents have to face a situation similar to the one faced by the Louiseof Arrival: seeing their child diagnosed with a terminal illness andfiguring out how to be a parent with that knowledge. More broadly,we all know that loving someone means potentially setting yourselfup for pain in the future. If you want to avoid any possibility of loss,you would have to completely shut yourself off from love. And that isultimately what the story and the film are about; that’s the conundrumthat we all have to solve for ourselves.

Ted Chiang, author of Story of Your Life

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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ARRIVAL

FOREWORD

7

CHAPTER 1

BEGINNINGSAND ENDINGS

FIRST CONTACT

In 2015, I walked onto a soundstage in Montreal, Canada. It wasspring, or maybe summer. The sun was shining, but inside the studioit was dark, making It difficult to decipher the faces of the crewworking on and around the film set. I found director Denis Villeneuveon set with Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker and MichaelStuhlbarg. In the scene, their respective characters—Louise Banks,Ian Donnelly, Colonel Weber and Agent Halpern—were discussing analien invasion. I knew very little about the film at this point, only that itwas an adaptation of a science-fiction short story called Story of YourLife, and that it was about humans making first contact with extra-terrestrials called heptapods.

There was a comforting silence on set. The entire team workedquietly under the guidance of first assistant director Don Sparks. Hiscalm, yet booming voice kept the crew focused and on schedule. Overthe course of the 55-day shoot I became a frequent visitor and avidobserver. I was a reporter, and had been for almost 15 years at thatpoint. This wasn’t a news assignment, however; I was given privilegedaccess to the set and yet was sworn to secrecy. I was thereforeselfishly absorbing every detail of the filmmaking process to satisfy myown curiosity.

Full disclosure, Denis Villeneuve and I were in a buddingrelationship at that time. Unbeknownst to both of us, being on setwould lead to my full-fledged passion for filmmaking. I had takenfilm classes in college and loved watching movies. So much so thatcinema became my beat in the newsroom. I had covered the Cannes,Venice, Toronto, Telluride and Sundance film festivals. I had also beenassigned to the Oscars® a handful of times. But this was the first time Iwas crossing the divide and watching moviemaking in real time.

I observed how Denis directed the actors. After what appeared tobe a perfect take, he would walk over to one of them, whisper privatedirections, and walk back to his monitor. Then the magic happened.

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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ARRIVAL

“Memory is a strangething. It doesn’t work theway I thought it did.”

Louise Banks

Subtle changes brought nuance to the scenes, increasing tension or adding realism. Within three or four takes we were onto the nextsetup. I had never witnessed this process before,and I couldn’t getenough of it.

Even though I wasn’t on duty, my journalistically trained mindtook in all the details. I remember cinematographer BradfordYoung’s warm laugh, but also his intense focus as he sat by hiscamera discreetly listening to jazz music between takes. Bradfordkept those army tent sets dark, which was a constant source ofdiscussion. How dark could he push the limits before it got toodark? This wasn’t a random artistic decision, though—the lowlighting in those early scenes was meant to reflect the lack of humanenlightenment in the face of an alien intelligence.

I also remember production designer Patrice Vermette showing upon set to give Denis an update on set construction. His enthusiasmand energy were, and still are, contagious. He clearly loved what hewas doing, leaving nothing to chance, his work ethic aligning perfectlywith Denis’s diligent attention to detail.

That summer, I also met Sam Hudecki. The concept designerand storyboard artist was always ready to draw what Denis wasenvisioning for the film. How Sam can extract images from his mind isstill a mystery to me, one that I do not wish to intellectualize. I simplycelebrate the magic that happens when they get into what they havecome to call the “zone”.

TOP LEFT: Captain Marks (Mark O’Brien), Agent Halpern (Michael Stuhlbarg), Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), LouiseBanks (Amy Adams) and Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) discussing the alien invasion.

BELOW LEFT: The dark military windowless tent scenes were shot in the summer of 2015.

BELOW: Denis Villeneuve, Bradford Young and Patrice Vermette on set.

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

11

When I think back on those days, I remember the epic sense ofhumor and reassuring presence of producers Aaron Ryder and DanLevine, who were on set every day of the shoot. I didn’t grasp theintricacies of film production until much later, when I became aproducer myself.

I officially started working on Arrival in January 2016. At that point,Denis was spending his days—and many evenings—with editor JoeWalker to tell this non-linear story, which challenged well-establishedfilm tropes. I saw various versions of the film as the cut progressed,and noticed how the process looked very much like rewriting visualcinematic codes to ensure audiences understood the twist ending.

Denis says that the success of a film is proven not only by its box-office results but also, and perhaps more importantly, by its capacity

to withstand time. Arrival has, so far, achieved both. Theinterest for this complex and unconventional story enduresas discussions around the film’s meaning, the notion ofnon-linear time, and the challenges of communicationpersist in the larger cultural landscape. The film, which wasgrounded in a certain level of plausible science, has also

generated conversations within academia, breeding newideas and challenging age-old thought processes.

Writing The Art and Science of Arrival six years after myfirst set visit has given me a new perspective on the movie.Please be warned that you will encounter spoilers, lots ofthem. I’ve spoken to over 30 people who were involved in

this film, and who were only too happy to share previouslyuntold stories of their experiences. Among them arescientists, philosophers and linguists, who offer us a betterunderstanding of the science in Arrival. The combinedknowledge of these experts is a masterclass in impactfulstorytelling. Enjoy the journey.

STORY OF YOUR LIFE

The origin of this movie dates back to 1998, when author Ted Chiang’sshort story titled Story of Your Life appeared in Starlight 2, a science-fiction and fantasy series published by Tor Books. It tells the story ofLouise Banks, a high-profile linguist, who is called upon to communicatewith aliens. As she deciphers their language and starts learning it, shealso develops the ability to see the future, allowing her to perceive allthe wonders and the hardships to come in her life, such as the birth,sickness and death of her unborn daughter. The narrative prompts manyphilosophical questions. “Could someone cope with knowing the future,even though they could not change it?” asks the author. We are aware ofour own mortality, but how are we dealing with that, if at all?

The idea for Story of Your Life stemmed from Ted Chiang’s fascinationwith physics. “When I was young, my aspiration was to become aphysicist and study physics for the rest of my life.” His college studiesintroduced him to variational principles, such as Fermat’s Principleof Least Time, which offer teleological explanations to physicalphenomenon. Meaning that instead of using a linear cause-and-effect approach to explain events, they are instead analyzed from agoal-based perspective, therefore connecting the dots backwards tounderstand the overall predictive nature of these events. Althoughgoals are more often than not associated with people, the field ofphysics suggests that they can also apply to other phenomenon, suchas light refraction in water. A ray of light, for example, will take a longerpath through liquid in order to travel faster, which suggests that lightknows its endgame before refracting. “This is something which is notcommonly known, but I think is mind-blowing. I wanted to write a storythat could show people how cool this was,” recalls Ted.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: Concept art of the alien spaceship, called a ʻshellʼ.

RIGHT: Louise Banks approaching the protective barrier in the shellʼsinterview chamber.

“I used to think this was thebeginning of your story.But now Iʼm not so sure I believein beginnings and endings.”

Louise Banks

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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ARRIVAL

Using concepts of variational principles to structure the short storyalso allowed Ted to challenge the way readers perceive time. “I wantedthe narrative to be about a character who knows the future but can’tchange it, knowing they will experience both great loss and great joy,”he explains. He then had to figure out how the protagonist wouldgain knowledge of the future. He considered mind-altering drugs andmeditation, but none of those options interested him. “Then I thoughtmy protagonist could learn a language that grants them this ability.”This idea was based on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, which states thatthe language you speak shapes the way you perceive reality. This theoryhas been contested by linguists (we’ll get into that later). Nonetheless,Ted Chiang found it inspiring as a way to tell his story.

For five years, Ted read books on linguistics in his free time. Whenhe finally felt ready to start writing, he used language as the foundationfor the short story. Even though some linguists dispute the idea thatlearning a new language can rewire the brain, they agree that a subtleform of this phenomenon is possible. “Enough people have experiencedthe weak form of it that it resonates with them,” says Ted. Even learningnew words in your own language can have similar effects. “Having newterms to describe a concept allows you to think about it in a way thatyou couldn’t when you didn’t have any words for it.” In that spirit, Louiselearns an alien language, which in turn allows her to transform the wayshe perceives and experiences time. “A lot of linguists are sick to deathof the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis,” says Ted. “I know that, and I certainlydo not for one second believe that one can learn a language that willenable them to see the future.” But this was fiction after all, and the ideaserved the larger purpose of telling the emotional story of Louise Banks,her encounter with aliens, and the life and death of her only daughter.Ted Chiang’s short story went on to win a Nebula Award, and wasnominated for a Hugo Award. In 2002, it was again published in acollection of the author’s short stories called Stories of Your Life and

Others, attracting science-fiction enthusiasts such as screenwriterEric Heisserer. “My obsession with Ted Chiang’s work in general andStory of Your Life in particular was how it made me feel at the endof it,” explains Eric. “That tends to be what motivates me to adaptsomething, is to have such a deep emotional reaction to it that I wantto infect others with it.”

Eric had written Hours, a thriller he would later direct, when he first metwith Dan Cohen and Dan Levine at 21 Laps. The two producers wantedto work with him, and pitched potential projects he might be interestedin. At the end of the two-hour meeting, as Eric was walking out the door,Dan Levine asked him what he had recently read that inspired him. Hementioned the book of short stories by Ted Chiang. “Story of Your Life wasthe gem,” says Dan Cohen. “One of the best things I’ll ever read.”

At that time, 21 Laps was mostly known for its “lightheartedpopcorn comedies” says founder Shawn Levy. But that was about tochange. “I read the short story and immediately thought, ‘Holy shit,this is incredible!’, and ‘Holy shit, how could this ever be a movie?’So I was both excited and daunted by the source material because itwas so dense in terms of the science.” Everyone at 21 Laps saw thepotential of an emotional and relatable film, and started working ongetting it optioned to produce as a feature film.

Ted Chiang had never worked with Hollywood studiosbefore, and was cautious about signing his rights away.“Initially, when I was first contacted by the two Dans,”recalls Ted, “I wondered if they were thinking of the rightstory because it was an extremely unlikely choice for anadaptation. But they said they wanted to do somethingdifferent.” Ted asked the producers how he could becertain that it would be a good film. Dan Levine replied,“You don’t. None of us know. If anyone tells you they know,they’re lying.”

RIGHT: Early visual exploration of thealiens, which are called heptapods.

BELOW: Denis Villeneuve in Montrealwith 21 Laps producers Dan Levine,Dan Cohen, screenwriter EricHeisserer, and Story of Your Lifeauthor Ted Chiang.

16

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ARRIVAL

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

17

LEFT: Denis Villeneuve and Bradford Young blocking a scene withAmy Adams holding the baby playing Hannah.

Meanwhile, 21 Laps also met with Canadianfilmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who was comingoff his Foreign Language Oscar®-nominated filmIncendies. Dan Levine asked him what he aspiredto work on, and Denis said, “I’ve been dreamingof doing sci-fi since I was a child.” At this point, theteam at 21 Laps was still trying to track down TedChiang. “We told Denis, ‘Don’t tell anyone aboutthis, we don’t know if the rights are available yet,’”recalls Dan. Shortly thereafter, the two Dans got intouch with Ted. “When we first spoke to him, Denishadn’t read the story yet,” adds Dan Levine. “WhenTed asked us what type of filmmaker we wantedto work with, Dan Cohen and I told him to watchIncendies. When he saw that, it was one of thereasons he trusted us with the rights.”

At that point, Denis hadn’t directed any English-language films yet. Considering him to adapt Storyof Your Life was as unconventional as the short storyitself. And that was a good thing. “If anyone wantedto make a typical alien invasion movie,” says Ted,“they certainly didn’t need to use my Story of Your Lifeas a basis for the script.” And so Ted Chiang was onboard, and 21 Laps secured a shopping agreement,the first of many chapters in the film’s story.

The next step was getting financiers on board.Eric Heisserer prepared a pitch that he presentedto major studios, as well as smaller companies.In his presentation, Eric used cue cards that heconceptually laid out in a circle, which at the endof the presentation demonstrated the circular

nature of the story. “People were saying, ‘This isthe greatest pitch we’ve ever heard, but it’s soexecution dependant’,” recalls Dan Cohen. Thepitch was a success, except for the fact that no oneinvested in the project.

After the first failed attempts at finding financialbacking, 21 Laps felt the movie would be easierto sell with a script in hand. Eric Heisserer, whobelieved in the film, agreed to write it on spec.Pro-bono, if you will. “None of us would be talkingright now if he hadn’t done that,” says Dan Levine.Eric started working on the script, betting on thestudios’ interest later down the road. He startedby talking to Ted Chiang. “Ted is masterful inhis way of appealing to both the mind and theheart,” explains Eric. “He can get your feet wet inthings like linguistics, non-linear orthography,physics, and all manner of scientific principles. Atthe same time, he can fill your heart with joy andthen break it in the next paragraph.” This kind ofscience fiction reminded Eric of the authors thatgot him hooked on the genre in the first place, likeBradbury, Heinlein and Asimov. “I was thrilled totry and find a home for that story, but it turned outto be a herculean task to adapt,” recalls Eric. To getthe science in the story right, Eric was introducedto a non-profit group called the Science &Entertainment Exchange, which pairs screenwriterswith scientists. “I got to meet and sit down withlinguists, astrophysicists, astronomers and expertsto discuss the ‘what ifs’ of an alien first contact.”

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

19

During the screenwriting process, Dan Cohen recalls the feeling of working on “somethingvery special that had head, heart and spectacle.” As Shawn Levy remembers it, “Thisscreenplay was developed with only Dan, Dan and Eric for nearly five years. Alone. This was 21Laps with a short story that nobody wanted. My own home studio rejected this project threedifferent times; when it was a book, a screenplay, and a full package. It was far from obviousthat Arrival would be a success, but we at 21 Laps truly believed we had something special.That’s what kept us going all those years and across so many hurdles.”

Once they had a solid script in hand, 21 Laps went back out to studios to pitch the filmagain, but this time with a different director since Denis had gone on to direct Prisoners. Thebig studios respectfully declined, but other companies were interested. “I remember going into FilmNation, and meeting Aaron Ryder,” recalls Dan Levine. “He smacked his hands on thetable and said, ‘Let’s make this movie.’ He gave no notes, he just talked about how we weregoing to make it.”

It just so happened that Aaron had been desperately trying to find a science-fiction storywith an emotional hook. “At that moment I felt like it was an underserved genre,” he says.“I don’t think we’d seen anything like this since Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was