I SAW "PROJECT HAIL MARY" WITH THE DIRECTORS' COMMENTARY AND HERE'S WHAT I WROTE DOWN
The voice of the Hail Mary was recorded live on set with Ryan so they could react to each other in real time!!
Ryan was so nervous and intimidated by the kids in Grace's class (who were played by children of the cast and crew 🥹)
The dots of astrophage Grace shows his class??? That was done by filming burning steeling wool, inverting it, then PUTTING IT IN BLACK AND WHITE
Ryan didn't know what was going to be in Yáo and Ilyukhina's bags, and they were real photos of the actors. He was told to "remember who these people are" and a lot of the emotions we see from him in that scene were real 🥹
The walk outside the classroom was one of the first scene Sandra and Ryan shot together. Sandra whispered "You wanna race to the bike?" And they DID and they KEPT THE SHOT which is why they're doing that hysterical little speedwalk I- ajdgsjshsj
They purposely emphasized reflections to reflect the themes of the movie. They loved glass, they loved light, they loved reflections.
They called the hardware store "off brand homedepot" LMAO
When talking about the shopping trip they said they wanted to show that "Playfulness and creativity are intertwined" 🥹
Grace's goggles that he uses to find the astrophage in the box in a box are literally made from an iPhone duct taped into makeshift goggles. And the infrared footage of him finding the four dots was actually shot ON an iphone!!!
There's a bright orange sticker that reads "CIVILIAN" on the back of Grace's flight helmet and the directors don't know if thats something they actually do but they found it hilarious
When Grace is shoved in front of the room full of world leaders to explain the astrophage, they said, "One of the many times we demonstate Ryland Grace's social anxiety by having people stare at him" ajdgsjdgsjjs
There was a team called "The Poetry Unit" who's job was just getting beautiful shots. And goddamn did they do a beautiful job. Also I've been talking nonstop about the inherent poetry of space travel since Artemis II launched and this just solidified it for me.
Talking about Daniel Pemberton's masterful soundtrack, they said, "He would not be alone in the soundtrack. In fact, two different planets would be rooting him on." 😭
THAT SCENE ON THE BEACH IN THE DONT GO CRAZY ROOM WHERE SOMEONE IS WALKING TOWARDS HIM??? THATS HIS FUTURE SELF ON ERID. (They also said "we dont know how they let us keep this in the movie" which is very funny but im very glad its there)
The scene where he catches the canister took ELEVEN takes for him to actually successfully catch it and everyone on set cheered
They call song that plays (or maybe they're were referring to the scene? A little unclear) when Rocky's ship starts spinning "The Gravity Tango" because "as Rocky spins his ship, its an invitation to dance."
They had 3 ramen ship models on set and every single one broke at some point 😆
Some of Ryan's reactions to Rocky copying his dances are his live reactions of being "absolutely delighted" by the puppet team
The "Close Encounters" joke was pitched by STEPHEN SPIELBERG HIMSELF
Rocky's carved patch has the petrova line, as well as the base line six number for 23, the number of crew on his ship
The overlapping blue circles on Rocky's arm is his wedding band!!
When Rocky puts his forearms together, he's displaying his family crest!
Rocky has a lot of nonverbal communication cues, and one of them is that every time he says "Question" to form a question, he stomps twice!
They had a deaf consultant for Rocky's nonverbal communications!
Quote from one of the directors: "Its a movie about looking, witnessing one another."
In the scene where Rocky is bossing Grace around telling him how to build his enclosure and Armando and Mary get involved, one of the directors says, "Mary, Rocky, Armando- he's [Grace] creating his space family!"
When Stratt sings "Remember everything will be alright" it is confirmed she is singing it directly to Grace. They talk alot about how much she cares and loves but cannot care and cannot love, and how much she believes in him. How much she sees in him. I just. Man. Wow. They also say that this scene is a bit of an exchange. Grace is daring her, "Come, be human with us." And Stratt is accepting that dare, as much as she can.
I have seen this film three times (counting today) and until the directors' commentary pointed it out, I didn't notice the little HEEL CLICK Grace does when he comes in from collecting the astrophage coming from and going to Adrian AHHHH
"I love how on the spectrum Rocky is" CANON AUTISTIC ROCKY also the director who said this is a parent of a child on the spectrum which makes this all the more authentic and heartwarming 🥹
A lot of the scene where its revealed to Grace that he is the back up is improvised by everyone at the table
After Rocky saves Grace. The little model of himself that Rocky made that he holds up. The little item he holds up beside it? Thats a model of the device that opens the orb that caught the Taumeoba. Its Rocky telling Grace to finish the job. I'm in tears.
"As Rocky wakes up, the lights turn on, the movie warms up. Its like day breaking." 😭😭😭
They built the flexible panel on Rocky's ball MAINLY so Grace could give him the Earth ball akdhjshd
THE RAINBOW WHEN GRACE IS GETTING SEDATED IS REAL IT HAPPENED WHEN THEY WERE FILMING THAT SCENE IT APPEARED IN THE SKY JUST WHEN THEY WERE FILMING AND THEY HURRIED TO CATCH IT IT WAS JUST TOO PERFECT
"Even though he's going away from his home, Earth, he's going towards his real home, which is Rocky." HIS REAL HOME IS ROCKY Y'ALL MY HEART
When Grace and Rocky reunite on Rocky's hull, the translation of what Rocky chirps at him through the transparent xenonite is "You came back for me, question?" 😭😭😭
The tattoo Stratt has at the end means Life In Prison Without Parole
The beach in the Earth Dome on Erid is so rocky because the Eridians got the scale of sand wrong 😭 They're TRYING OKAY
About all the imperfections of Grace's habitat: "Really, all that matters is that he's with his best friend." 🥹🥹🥹
The song choice for the end credits, the "Hallelujah", is because Grace has ascended 😭😭😭😭
THEY REPLACED THE MGM LIONS ROAR WITH ROCKY'S CHIRPS FOR "AMAZE AMAZE" AWWWWWW
