A series of notes compiled after watching a cinema screening of “Project Hail Mary” over Spring Break.

Visuals

Visual Effects

Overall, it was really impressive; this plus the cinematography as a whole, made it a film that I found worth watching on the big screen in a cinema. I’ve heard discourse about how cinema as a whole is getting desaturated and dull, but I think the directors seem pretty bold in some of the space scenes, where imagination is required (and encouraged). For example, the colors in the planet Adrian/Petrova line, or even the visuals in Rocky’s ship. 

I didn’t follow the technicals much, but I heard they tried not to rely too heavily on CGI for certain effects (?). Either way, I might be betting on an Oscar nomination for visual effects.

Cinematography

One of the most striking things about this film is its cinematography, both in examining Project Hail Mary as a movie and as an adaptation from a text medium. For me, this would be an example of how you use a movie to “bring the story to life”. I didn’t take notes or rewind anything, so I obviously couldn’t remember many specific scenes from the 2.5-hour viewing, but here are some details that left an impression on me. 

Focus and blocking in the scene where Grace superimposes Rocky’s model over the digital map of the nearby star system to illustrate how Rocky was using a model to communicate with Grace. Just random bits of shifting focus in scenes, playing with reflections on the spaceship, where they start by focusing on Grace’s face and widen the depth of field to show outer space outside the window (just so pleasing to watch on the big screen). 

The way they used cinematography or camera/set motion to show Grace spinning in the spaceship, or just somehow the way they used tilted angles to convey the haphazard nature of space travel? Or, the fishing scene where there’s a shot of the spaceship and then Grace’s silhouette as he tries to grab onto the rope, and you feel the tension so strong its almost palpable, and his desperate actions are condensed into that featureless outline.

Some actually crazy match cuts between the current timeline and the flashback that just looked so good on a big screen. 

Editing (and pacing)

I really like how there seemed to be a conscious use of pacing in the clips to elicit a visceral reaction to certain moments in the film. For example, there’s a segment where Grace wakes up and goes around the spaceship, where there are a bunch of fast/rapid cuts that cut on motion that create this panicked, frantic pacing, before the audience is pulled back by a really long shot of Grace just poking his head out of a random door. It creates this unique rhythm that highlights his disorientation, and honestly, it was just so enjoyable to watch. 

The way the scene with the centrifuge was edited was also incredibly amazing, especially when coordinated with the lighting and sound. 

From an overall point of view, I also greatly appreciate how the film’s pacing was managed. The film does seem to drag a little (2.5 hours for a sci-fi film?), but the editors also grapple with a dual storyline and do a pretty good job of balancing the two. Although it’s been a while since I read the book, I do think they made changes to how much they showed per flashback and when they cut to it, but something about the way they arranged it made a lot of sense. Neither storyline felt chopped up or forced, and there were never instances where the flashback was so long that I forgot what was going on in the main story. 

Acting

Honestly, I don’t have much to say, but Rocky and Grace genuinely had great chemistry. For me (as a non-acting expert), if I don’t notice anything, it means that it was executed well, and Ryan Gosling had pretty good comedic timing and was very convincing throughout the film. He was, for the most part, a pretty likable main character and someone you would root for.

Sound Editing and Design

Overall it was great, I like that there seemed to be a clear understanding that there was no need to constantly overload audiences with non-diegetic music, it was used pretty appropirately to enhance scenes – my favourite part is when the played “the two of us” by the beatles near the end of the movie because it contributed to the mood and the lyrics of going home actually added meaning to the scene as a whole. I also appreciated their editorial decision to cut all audio during crucial scenes (like the excessive centrifuge scene where Grace gets knocked out and almost dies). Besides being absolutely enthralled and on the edge of my seat, a part of me wanted to jump up and hug the editor because it enhanced the visuals in the scene and captivated the audience by heightening tension and uncertainty. There was also a good balance in the use of diegetic sound during normal scenes, which sounded really satisfying. 

Comments on artistic choices 

– The one thing I feel was missing from the overall good sound editing was an “auditory signature” from the movie. To illustrate what I mean, consider these other 2 sci-fi movies I can most clearly recall: in Interstellar, Hans Zimmer’s theme is enduring and iconic, and it’s a recurring melodic phrase that is worked into many key scenes. Meanwhile, the same instruments (organs/synths?) are used throughout, constantly reinforcing the “space epic drama” scope of the movie. While I have a less distinct impression of the score in The Martian (also an Andy Weir book adaptation, ha), I distinctly remember hearing a lot of diegetic disco music (one genre). This is used to enhance the comedic tone of certain scenarios, reducing the tension from the movie’s high stakes, and also sort of functions as characterization (“Tell Commander Lewis, disco sucks!”). 

Now, I do think the non-diegetic music in Project Hail Mary was ‘appropriately’ used, in that it was fitting for the scenes it was used in, and it does somehow fit with Grace’s character and the overall tone of the movie. Additionally, the songs were tastefully chosen (in my opinion), so the film won’t age rapidly. But considering it from a broader perspective is where I feel there was room for some auditory cohesion. Because they used a variety of modern (mostly pop) music spanning different genres and decades, the soundtrack as a whole gave more jukebox musical vibes. In contrast, a sort of “title track” song that’s associated closely with the film could’ve been used to highlight certain themes. Given all the reels I saw, I thought this would be “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles (the choice of which would actually have made sense), but instead it was underutilized as an almost abrupt karaoke scene. Again, it made sense in isolation, but imagine if they had just done a bit more and made a special orchestral space epic rendition of the song (I assume they already had the rights to the song, so it wouldn’t have been a gargantuan effort). 

Another reason why this could be something to consider is that it gives the movie a way to tie itself together better. I had the benefit of knowing the entire plot before watching the movie, but it is a pretty long action movie involving a flashback storyline and plot twists. Having an auditory motif is one way to reinforce key moments or themes consistently, for example, a motif of “bravery/sacrifice” that develops over time. And it’s not like this is only to add literary value to the film, but it’s also just more fun for the audience; even less serious action movies like Mission: Impossible have an iconic theme that helps you remember the film and your experience watching it.

Another personal, subjective thing that came up in the viewing experience that made me raise this point is that this is a perfect movie to experiment with sound engineering. It’s all about space and loneliness, giving you the possibilities to explore different sounds to reflect unique physical and psychological states. I’ve seen those “sounds of space” videos on YouTube, and honestly, it would’ve been cool to have seen that in the film, especially since sound waves/electromagnetic waves are actually a bit part of the story –

Which brings me to my next point about sound engineering from the perspective of this movie being an adaptation of the book.

“Lost in adaptation” 

I noticed (maybe this is just me) that sometimes he would say the same word/meaning, but it would be dubbed with different audio segments. There was no logical way to break apart or decode parts of the language yourself (and anyway, his original language was quickly dubbed over by the humanoid voice). Logically, the non-lexical vocalizations (grunts, etc.) were probably included to quickly and effectively humanize Rocky before Grace figures out the Eridian speech system. However, there was still untapped potential that’s locked into the very plot of the book that’s being adapted, and to me, if they executed this well, it would be such a new thing in the genre. I read a really detailed (and technical) Substack article about Eridians speaking in harmonies (for western music notation), such as perfect fifths, which means there was potential for nice-sounding soundtracks that ALSO functioned as a narrative tool. 

Scope and Genre

I also think the scope was well handled overall. And this is less noticeable because it’s one of those things where an indicator that it’s done well is that the whole movie feels comfortable. In my opinion, the directors were self-aware and not aiming for a grand space epic. The movie is very much about one man (and a rock spider) in space, and it doesn’t try to tie Grace’s character development and Grace and Rocky’s relationship into some massive drama. There’s a good balance between the stakes of Earth dying and the immediate stakes of Grace and Rocky’s survival in space. The lack of information about Earth’s situation while Grace is in space may feel a bit awkward and isolating, but the book is written in first person, and it’s not a huge issue. Overall, the movie doesn’t feel unbalanced or overloaded/thinly spread at any point, nor does it suddenly wax poetic about philosophy and the nature of humans. 

In terms of genre, I feel like the movie was a decent science fiction adaptation, though, for practical purposes, they tapped into the more “action” aspect of the book than the science. While I agree with making the start of the book a fast (Grace’s amnesiac phase was much longer in the book, and it was a slow start), I also think it’s important to note that some quirky sci-fi details were cut out. So, in all, the movie was more like an action under the backdrop of sci-fi rather than just ‘sci-fi’. It’s like how people tried to call Never Let Me Go science fiction, but it was actually about human nature/drama/coming of age, with clones merely being a tool or vehicle to highlight greater themes and ideas. BUT it was a perfectly enjoyable film, and I do recommend it. 

Notes on Adaptation (for fun)

A truly interstellar perspective?

Continuing my tangent about Rocky’s language, I also wish the movie had expanded more on how Grace set up the talking system. A lot of the movie featured Grace talking to Rocky, who replied through an automated voice, but they never explained how Rocky was able to interpret what Grace was saying.

On the one hand, I get that there’s a necessary trade-off in adapting a sci-fi book written by an ex-programmer into a mass-market blockbuster film, but from my recollection, movies like Arrival (2016) have been able to execute it in a way that is understandable and interesting. 

Additionally, there was less focus on the difference in perspective between Grace and Rocky. Their different perceptions of time are underplayed, with the only explicit reference being Rocky saying he has been with his ‘mate’ for 130+ years. Whereas, in the book, it’s really interesting to see how evolution plays out differently across races, and it’s also significant that these differences complement each other, and that, despite so many challenges, Rocky and Grace end up saving their respective races. Personally, I feel like the film was also more skewed toward Grace, and didn’t show Rocky helping with scientific discoveries as much, even though in the book it’s acknowledged that Eridians are superior at mental math and certain tasks. 

A Math Student’s minor tangent

Other details concerning Rocky and Grace’s different perspectives were also excluded from the main plot. For example, when Grace and Rocky show each other their civilizations’ clocks, Rocky brings out something with rotating faces. It was clear there were about 5-6 faces on there, suggesting the Eridians operate on a different base system from humans (I fact-checked this, and they seem to operate on a Base 6 system). It would be weird, in fac,t to have twcivilizationsns both use a base 10 civilization, and seeing another civilization operate in a different base system has been a fantasy ever since I learned about binary numbers, but I get that it was a practical choice to remove it from the movie (this is one reason you should also read the original book though)