ISSUE 009

Has everyone seen the Odyssey now except me??

I got my ticket for next week in IMAX 70mm...at 8am on Monday morning!! haha crazy i know but I've got 2 kids now, and the newborn can't be babysat yet (so my wife is also going by herself on a different day).

So today, while I wait to finally watch the movie, our new M AD contributor, Ken Westrick, is going to dive into some behind the scenes. Its fascinating seeing the level of craft poured into the film.

But, before you enjoy Ken's breakdown below, I've got a sneaky deal for you...

Early bird pricing for the self-paced version of NEXT Art Director: The Course is now live! 🤫 I haven't promoted this publicly.

It's currently $100 off because I have one more lesson to edit before the course is complete. I think I'll have that finished by Friday. So you have a few days to grab it at a discount.

This is the same curriculum and video lessons that my bootcamp students learn from (minus the live classes, guest speakers and private community).

If you've been wanting to learn but The Bootcamp is out of your price range, this is the best entry-level option. You can also apply the price of the course to a future Bootcamp enrollment if you decide you want to go all in later on.

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The rest of the details about the course can be read here. Let me know if you have any questions.

Now, back to the Odyssey with Ken...

THE ODYSSEY

If you’re a fan of Christopher Nolan, you know that he avoids CGI like the plague and does everything with practical effects where possible. In The Odyssey, his methods were no different.

They used real ships, gave the actors rowing lessons, and actually shot scenes in the ocean.

The armies? Hundreds of real people. Another fun fact on this: To depict the fallen soldiers who rose from the shores of Hades, they even buried extras underground and gave them snorkels to breathe.

And of course, the Cyclops. Instead of relying on post production to bring Polyphemus to life, there was a real 60 foot animatronic puppet on set, designed and operated by Bill Irwin, the same person who operated Tars in Intersteller. This puppet was used as a reference for the actors, as well as the CGI artists who created the final product on screen.

But one of the genius elements in the film is something you can’t even see: the soundtrack by Ludwig Goransson.

Did you know that Christopher Nolan specifically asked Goransson not to use an orchestra? To make the score feel as period accurate as possible, they used instruments like the aulos and the lyre, and collaborated with historians and musicians to achieve the sounds that you would have heard in the great halls of Ithaca. And since the story took place in the bronze age, Goransson experimented with different bronze objects and even scrap metal to create the score that we hear in the movie.

This is the level of depth and attention to detail that brings a 3000 year old epic to life, and what makes everyone want to work on a Christopher Nolan movie.

Watch Ken's video breakdown here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DbbiLd8poHR/​

ABOUT THIS CONTRIBUTOR

​Ken Westrick​

Ken is an Art Director at VaynerMedia with a background in film. He has worked with brands ranging from Wingstop to the NBA2K League, and has a degree in Visual Arts from Columbia University. Originally from Japan, he is currently based in New York City.

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I hope you enjoyed a new perspective from other voices in our M AD community. It got me pretty excited for my early morning solo movie date next week. Thanks Ken!

And lastly, happy August! Hope you're taking full advantage of any sort of summer-downtime. Take care of yourself out there!

Jason 🤘

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