The movie also starsStranger Things’Finn WolfhardandDune: Prophecy’sEmily Watson.
ISAIAH SAXON: It’s a fantasy-adventure movie about a girl and her relationship with an animal.
For the three of you, what was it like reading the script for the first time?
Image via A24
EMILY WATSON: Totally.
I mean, it smelled just so interesting.
FINN WOLFHARD: Absolutely.
Image via Sundance Institute
I’m very disappointed that the Ochi aren’t real.
Youre destroying every illusion that I had.
ZENGEL: They look real!
Image by Photagonist
This is why it’s set in a remote Eastern European location that doesn’t quite exist.
There was never a second thought other than animatronics and puppets.
That was just core to what I do and why I wanted it.
Image by Photagonist
I love talking to actors about how they get ready before they step on the set.
WOLFHARD: I feel like I felt prepared enough.
Obviously,nothing could prepare you for being in the wilderness in Romania.
Image via HBO
It was permission to be eccentric and have fun.
I just come on set, and I try something.
I think what helped me was also the pitch video, which was great.
Then also, this huge yellow jacket.
And I was like, “Yeah.
We’re good.”
Image by Photagonist
ZENGEL: We rescued a dog.
I have a dog.
SAXON: She was just the character.
Image via 20th Century Studios
You adopted a dog?
It was when we were in the Carpathian Mountains at the first stop.
We were thinking, What can we do?
The production helped a lot.
Then we took her to Bucharest, and I guess that was it.
Shes now at my place at home.
What is the dog’s name?
As someone who really loves animals, I really want to thank you for doing this.
Seriously, thank you.
ZENGEL: You’re welcome.
I love her a lot.
I’m so sincere.
SAXON: We used the original Baltars from the ’30s.
They’re the first commercially produced cinema lens in the United States and shot movies likeCasablanca.
You used thelensesthat were used?
SAXON: I can’t say that our set was, but that was the first generation of Baltars.
They were the first American company to make lenses.
And like any director and cinematographer who is passionate, you test 100 lenses.
So, we didn’t know where we were going to net out.
WOLFHARD: Are those the Panavision ones?
Thankfully, we didn’t lose those lenses during our test.
But yeah, we tested 100 lenses.
I would never shoot with a modern, hyper-clinical, sharp lens.
It just looks weird to me.
Why did you shoot it like this?
I think of films more as a moving painting, and so the more impressionistic the better.
The less detailed, the better.
But forThe Legend of Ochi, Im very thankful.
I read that you did, like, 200 matte paintings or something crazy.
SAXON: Yeah, more than that.
Let’s talk about what your involvement was beyond being a director in terms of stuff like that.
SAXON: I think of myself as a filmmaker more than a director.
So, I came across each technique kind of out of necessity.
Has A24 been cool with you saying it only cost $10 million?
Technically, it was $10.4.
A lot of it was just adjusting the weather.
Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, and Finn Wolfhard star opposite some adorable primates.
Ive got to ask a few individual questions if you don’t mind.
I lovedDune: Prophecy, and I’m so happy that it got renewed.
When do you start filming Season 2?
What can you tell people?
WATSON: I can tell youverylittle.
Not because I’m hiding anything.
I really, literally don’t know, except that the end of summer is when we go back.
That’s not soon enough.
I need you to start sooner.
WATSON: There’s a lot of writing to do, I think, between now and then.
It really felt likeDune.
What was your takeaway from the whole experience?
What are you excited to do in Season 2?
SAXON: It’s not her.
WATSON: [Laughs] That was really fun.
I mean, it was pretty chaotic because of the strikes and God knows what.
I have a feeling Season 2 will be a bit of an easier shoot.
WATSON: I hope so.
Obviously, everywhere you go, people bring upStranger Things.
I am no different.
Are these, like, 90-minute episodes?
WOLFHARD: It’s definitely a long season.
But there are some episodes that are still 4045 minutes.
Then there are some episodes that are full-blown hour and twenty, hour and thirty.
I would imagine that the series finale is probably one of those.
It goes without saying.
I read it with the cast andit was unbelievably emotional.
We cold read it.
But Im really happy about it and excited for it to come out.
WATSON: Youve already said way too much.
You know whats really funny?
It’s all stuff that anyone with common sense knows because they filmed for like a year or more.
You’re not filming eight or 10 episodes for a year unless these episodes are longer.
I want to ask an individual question for you.
Were there any lessons you took away from working with him so closely?
ZENGEL:Bloody Tennisis a movie I shot at the end of last year.
Its going to be cool.
So I think that’s something very great.
Also, he’s such a gentleman, really.
He became, honestly, like a family member.
We FaceTime almost every week and talk a lot.
Thank you for sharing.
Last question for you, if you don’t mind, [Isaiah].
I really enjoyed your work, and it’s clear you have a talent behind the camera.
What are you working on now?
What can you say?
SAXON: I’m writing a couple of movies just to see which one goes.
I’ve never heard that from any director, ever.
SAXON: [Laughs] Exactly.
One is a crime romance dance movie set in Las Vegas that’s more likeJackie Brown,Boogie Nights.
So, no VFX, no creatures, no fantasya nice reprieve.
Are you writing these on spec or for people?
The Legend of Ochiopens in theaters in the US on April 25.
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