It’s a Forrest Gump reunion with the release of the film Here (now in theatres), from filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. Based on Richard McGuire’s graphic novel, the film tells the story of generations of people who lived in one spot, using one camera position throughout the whole movie.
In Here, the people who inhabit this place on Earth goes back to the Native Americans on the land, to the first home built in that spot, followed by the Victorian era and into the present day, where a Black family is navigating the early days of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter. But much of the time is spent with Al (Paul Bettany) and Rose (Kelly Reilly), and their children, including their first-born son Richard (Hanks).
Not only did Richard grow up in the house, but when his girlfriend, Margaret (Wright), is unexpectedly pregnant in their teens, the couple raised their daughter in the home, sharing the space with Richard’s family.
“The idea, of course, is to use one singular view and then everything passes through that, through that singular view,” Zemeckis told reporters. “And the thing that happens is that it gives the audience … not only just an interesting perspective, but it gives them a very powerful emotional pull, if you will.”
“It gives them a very focused idea of what they’re listening to and it gives them an intimacy. … It gives them an intimacy in the scene, because they understand that we’re not going to go show another part of the story in the kitchen or in the bedroom, and they’re going to understand that everything that happens in the lives of these people are only going to happen in this one view. … I find it to be very powerful and I think it’s something that’s incredibly unique.”
The filmmaker added that Here ended up being particularly challenging, largely due to the single view throughout the whole film.
“It turned out to be maybe the most difficult film I’ve ever made, because what has to happen is the the view and the set and the scenery, and the props and the set dressing all has to accommodate every single scene,” Zemeckis explained.
“So it took a massive amount of pre-planning and a lot of work ahead of time to make sure that everything was where it was supposed to be to accommodate not just the one scene, but all the scenes.”
For Wright, she found the singular view of the film “liberating” to work within.
“It was actually liberating because you had to master each take,” Wright said. “With Tom, with Bob, we had to morph it and go back, and let’s recalibrate, because it’s getting boring, because you’re taking too much of a pause here. … There’s no cuts. We’re not getting saved in the editing room.”
De-aging with digital makeup: ‘It’s driven by the actual actor’
Zemeckis really pushed the boundaries of technological innovation for Here, including using digital makeup to de-age actors Hanks and Wright for their teenage years. There were no prosthetics and there were two monitors on set, one that showed the raw footage of the actors, and the other showed the digital makeup on the actors faces, so adjustments could be made to Hanks and Wright’s performances based on that augmented view.
“The digital makeup worked flawlessly, that was beautifully done and that gave me no problems,” Zemeckis said.
When asked about the risks associated with more AI used in the entertainment industry, Zemeckis stressed that what he did for this film was essentially “very fast computing,” adding that there are legitimate concerns about AI use in the field.
“There are things that we have to be concerned about regarding AI and there needs to be guard rails … because it could be a very dangerous thing,” Zemeckis said. “But for the digital makeup that I used in my movie, the key to it is that it’s driven by the actual actor, and there’s nothing animated.”
“It’s the actual performance and it’s exactly what the actors are doing, and it’s that emotional warmth that they bring to the illusion that, in my opinion, makes it work.”
Wright stressed that she doesn’t believe actors can ever be entirely replaced, specifically because of the “emotionality” of performance.
“You see what it can do visually, which is great, because we can still be an actor, older. Even if they want Tom Hanks, we need you to be 32 years old in this role. Great. So use the tool that way. But I don’t think it’s going to take over,” she said. “I think we’ll always be able to tell that it’s not a human being when it comes to the emotion.”
Zemeckis also used an LED screen in Here for the elements shown outside the window of the home. This meant the director could manipulate the light as needed, and create a real neighbourhood outside this setting.
“What’s great about using the LED screen is two things. One, when you’re done with the day’s work, you basically have the shot finished and it’s in the camera. And that’s wonderful,” Zemeckis said. “It also gives you a beautiful lighting and reflection that happens inside the physical set, that comes from the LED screen, which is all virtually impossible to put in there if you’re only shooting in front of a green screen or a blue screen.”
“The thing that’s difficult about it is it all has to be pre-planned and figured out to accommodate the scene prior to shooting. So you have to do a lot of pre-production work to make sure everything you need is going to be there. Otherwise, if you’re not clear, then you’re better off only doing it with a blue screen and making sure that everything is there in post-production. … It’s beautiful and simple to have when you’re on the set, it takes a lot of work and a lot of pre-planning ahead of time to get it there.”
‘My dad didn’t particularly grow up with a dream of what he wanted to do’
Technology aside, Hanks was particularly interested in the relationship between Al and Richard, and the similarities with the actor’s relationship with his own father, coming from two different generations. The generational differences are particularly evident in the film when Richard makes the decision to stop painting when his daughter is born, leaning into his father’s perspective on finances and providing for a family.
“That was very reflective of me and my own dad, simply because of the generation that they came from,” Hanks said. “It begins with Al coming home from the definitive era of his life, the war. My dad grew up in depression era 1930s, he did not understand anything other than the concept of hard work and not complaining. My dad didn’t particularly grow up with a dream of what he wanted to do, he grew up with the reality of what he had to do.”
“My generation, I was born in 1956, and so we grew up with independence. We grew up with sort of a economy of our own. We had disposable income, more or less. We did not have to work hard in order to make sure there was enough food on the table at the end of the summertime. That divide between Richard and Al, it’s so substantial, it gets in the way of every conversation they have, until later on when the roles are reversed, when he cannot take care of himself and I choose to do so.”
For Wright’s character, Margaret goes on an interesting exploration as a woman who got married and stayed in a home with her in-laws, and as she gets older she’s faced with the continued desire for the experiences she never had.
“It’s life experience and it’s playing out in front of you as an audience, and it’s about everything passes, because everything does pass,” Wright said. “And the only constant in our lives, every single one of us, is change.”
“Margaret was married into a situation because in that era, you you got married. … You kind of didn’t have a choice, so that lane was chosen for her.”
In terms of reuniting with Hanks and Zemeckis, Wright said it was “like no time had passed.”
“We picked up where we left off,” Wright said. “I mean, literally, when I saw Tom for the first time he was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to finish that conversation we had about 25 years ago.'”
“And there we were, and we were giggling as we were 30 years ago. It was the same dynamic. It’s a blessing to work with people that you know, it just is. After being in the business for almost 40 years, I only want to do that. If I had my choice, I would do that.”