Free the camera from gravity.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnimated films are made entirely from scratch. Whether it\u2019s a lens flare, a costume detail, or the movement of the camera, every detail is a decision made. When you spend years making animated films like Lord and Miller have, that instinct doesn\u2019t just go away. The duo jumped into this live-action film with the same mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rocky is the most obvious place where Lord and Miller\u2019s animation experience shows up onscreen, but their background also fundamentally changed how they think about the camera. In the \u201cSpider-Verse\u201d films, characters can walk on walls and swing between buildings, freeing the camera from any fixed or logical orientation; the duo could point the camera anywhere from anywhere. They brought that same instinct to \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d Working with cinematographer Greig Fraser (\u201cDune: Part Two,\u201d \u201cThe Batman\u201d), the directors landed on a philosophy early on. \u201cThere\u2019s no up or down in space,\u201d Miller told Rolling Stone<\/a>. \u201cWe should be freed of having to have our camera upright all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe opening scene of the film makes a clear case for this approach. Ryland emerges from a coma to find that all of his crewmates are dead. Amnesiac and alone, he stumbles through the ship, and the camera never quite lets the audience find their footing either. It shoots downward toward the floor\u2014but wait, that\u2019s the ceiling. A hatch opens into the wall\u2014no, that\u2019s the floor. With every shot, the direction of gravity feels more uncertain, and the audience\u2019s experience mirrors Ryland\u2019s disorientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Build characters through movement.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d presented Lord and Miller with a particularly interesting challenge: How do you make an audience fall in love with something that has no face? Rocky has no eyes or mouth and speaks in pitchy, alien noises\u2014exactly the kind of problem Lord told IndieWire<\/a> \u201cwould be fun to spend five years solving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo solve it, the directors leaned again on their experience in animation, which Lord defined to IndieWire as \u201cstorytelling through movement.\u201d Without eyes, a mouth, or a face, Rocky\u2019s source of expression had to come from his body. As the only other character with Ryland in the space timeline, Rocky had to hook the audience into genuinely caring\u2014otherwise the film carries no real stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the filmmakers, with designer Neal Scanlan, built a puppet to keep Rocky tactile and grounded in performance rather than CGI. The catch is that since Rocky isn\u2019t conventionally cute in the way Baby Yoda or Stitch are, they needed a specific human touch behind his movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They found that in James Ortiz, a puppeteer who voiced and operated Rocky, who understood that the creature\u2019s movements had to be informed by his character. He\u2019s not just an alien, but an emotional being far from home on a lonely mission. Ortiz told Variety<\/a> that he saw Rocky\u2019s soul as that of a \u201clittle brother\u201d\u2014one who is always a little bit anxious and \u201creally wants to be invited to the party.\u201d Whether he\u2019s scared of Ryland in their first interaction, eager to come aboard the spaceship, or wounded from saving his life, the audience can empathize with\u2014and even care deeply about\u2014what is essentially a moving body of rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\")
Sandra H\u00fcller and Ryan Gosling in \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d Photo credit: Jonathan Olley<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPlay into the strengths of your talent.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOne of the film\u2019s most memorable scenes wasn\u2019t in the script at all; rather, it ended up in the final cut due to the directors\u2019 willingness to trust their talent. On the eve before the team is sent into space, a party on an aircraft carrier ends with government agent Eva Stratt (Sandra H\u00fcller) singing a karaoke cover of Harry Styles\u2019 \u201cSign of the Times\u201d (2017)\u2014an iconic moment that was fully improvised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a location scout of the aircraft carrier, the crew found a karaoke machine, which worked its way into the scene. When Gosling pointed out the irony that H\u00fcller (who had, maybe, the best voice on set) didn\u2019t have a singing moment, the directors asked H\u00fcller at the last minute if she would sing. She agreed, on one condition: She would choose the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening scene of the film makes a clear case for this approach. Ryland emerges from a coma to find that all of his crewmates are dead. Amnesiac and alone, he stumbles through the ship, and the camera never quite lets the audience find their footing either. It shoots downward toward the floor\u2014but wait, that\u2019s the ceiling. A hatch opens into the wall\u2014no, that\u2019s the floor. With every shot, the direction of gravity feels more uncertain, and the audience\u2019s experience mirrors Ryland\u2019s disorientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Build characters through movement.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d presented Lord and Miller with a particularly interesting challenge: How do you make an audience fall in love with something that has no face? Rocky has no eyes or mouth and speaks in pitchy, alien noises\u2014exactly the kind of problem Lord told IndieWire<\/a> \u201cwould be fun to spend five years solving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo solve it, the directors leaned again on their experience in animation, which Lord defined to IndieWire as \u201cstorytelling through movement.\u201d Without eyes, a mouth, or a face, Rocky\u2019s source of expression had to come from his body. As the only other character with Ryland in the space timeline, Rocky had to hook the audience into genuinely caring\u2014otherwise the film carries no real stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the filmmakers, with designer Neal Scanlan, built a puppet to keep Rocky tactile and grounded in performance rather than CGI. The catch is that since Rocky isn\u2019t conventionally cute in the way Baby Yoda or Stitch are, they needed a specific human touch behind his movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They found that in James Ortiz, a puppeteer who voiced and operated Rocky, who understood that the creature\u2019s movements had to be informed by his character. He\u2019s not just an alien, but an emotional being far from home on a lonely mission. Ortiz told Variety<\/a> that he saw Rocky\u2019s soul as that of a \u201clittle brother\u201d\u2014one who is always a little bit anxious and \u201creally wants to be invited to the party.\u201d Whether he\u2019s scared of Ryland in their first interaction, eager to come aboard the spaceship, or wounded from saving his life, the audience can empathize with\u2014and even care deeply about\u2014what is essentially a moving body of rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSandra H\u00fcller and Ryan Gosling in \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d Photo credit: Jonathan Olley<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPlay into the strengths of your talent.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOne of the film\u2019s most memorable scenes wasn\u2019t in the script at all; rather, it ended up in the final cut due to the directors\u2019 willingness to trust their talent. On the eve before the team is sent into space, a party on an aircraft carrier ends with government agent Eva Stratt (Sandra H\u00fcller) singing a karaoke cover of Harry Styles\u2019 \u201cSign of the Times\u201d (2017)\u2014an iconic moment that was fully improvised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a location scout of the aircraft carrier, the crew found a karaoke machine, which worked its way into the scene. When Gosling pointed out the irony that H\u00fcller (who had, maybe, the best voice on set) didn\u2019t have a singing moment, the directors asked H\u00fcller at the last minute if she would sing. She agreed, on one condition: She would choose the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To solve it, the directors leaned again on their experience in animation, which Lord defined to IndieWire as \u201cstorytelling through movement.\u201d Without eyes, a mouth, or a face, Rocky\u2019s source of expression had to come from his body. As the only other character with Ryland in the space timeline, Rocky had to hook the audience into genuinely caring\u2014otherwise the film carries no real stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the filmmakers, with designer Neal Scanlan, built a puppet to keep Rocky tactile and grounded in performance rather than CGI. The catch is that since Rocky isn\u2019t conventionally cute in the way Baby Yoda or Stitch are, they needed a specific human touch behind his movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They found that in James Ortiz, a puppeteer who voiced and operated Rocky, who understood that the creature\u2019s movements had to be informed by his character. He\u2019s not just an alien, but an emotional being far from home on a lonely mission. Ortiz told Variety<\/a> that he saw Rocky\u2019s soul as that of a \u201clittle brother\u201d\u2014one who is always a little bit anxious and \u201creally wants to be invited to the party.\u201d Whether he\u2019s scared of Ryland in their first interaction, eager to come aboard the spaceship, or wounded from saving his life, the audience can empathize with\u2014and even care deeply about\u2014what is essentially a moving body of rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the film\u2019s most memorable scenes wasn\u2019t in the script at all; rather, it ended up in the final cut due to the directors\u2019 willingness to trust their talent. On the eve before the team is sent into space, a party on an aircraft carrier ends with government agent Eva Stratt (Sandra H\u00fcller) singing a karaoke cover of Harry Styles\u2019 \u201cSign of the Times\u201d (2017)\u2014an iconic moment that was fully improvised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a location scout of the aircraft carrier, the crew found a karaoke machine, which worked its way into the scene. When Gosling pointed out the irony that H\u00fcller (who had, maybe, the best voice on set) didn\u2019t have a singing moment, the directors asked H\u00fcller at the last minute if she would sing. She agreed, on one condition: She would choose the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/05\/Sandra-Huller-stars-as-Eva-Stratt-and-Ryan-Gosling-as-Ryland-Grace-in-PROJECT-HAIL-MARY-from-Amazon-MGM-Studios.-CRED-Jonathan-Olley-PHM_47677_R_rgb-1024x683.jpg\")
Play into the strengths of your talent.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n