Without a sound 3: how do you shoot a film in silence? Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn answer us – Actus Ciné

In 2018, John Krasinski unveiled his postapocalyptic concept film, Quietly, in which he starred alongside his wife, actress Emily Blunt. A critical and public success, the film grossed $340 million worldwide for a budget estimated at $17 million. In 2021, the director is filming the sequel, still led by Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe (who play the children). Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou are also in the cast of this second part, which has grossed more than $297 million internationally. A third film – in the form of a prequel – was quickly announced.

Three years after Quietly 2, find out how it all started. The first film in the sci-fi trilogy not directed by John Krasinski (who nonetheless produced), Quietly: Day 1 takes place in New York, the day of the alien invasion that rendered the Earth silent. The feature film is carried by Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), Alex Wolff and Djimon Hounsoualready present in Quietly 2.

If the name of Jeff Nichols (whose film The Bikeriders has just been released) was circulated for a while for the direction, it was ultimately Michael Sarnoski who was chosen to direct this prequel. We owe him in particular Pig, worn by Nicolas Cage.

Succeeding John Krasinski

For the promotion of Quietly: Day 1, AlloCiné was able to speak with the film team. The director tells us thus: “I didn’t have to be very convincing. John Krasinski saw Pig and he absolutely loved it. He then reached out to me and said, “Would you like to bring some of that porcine touch to the Quietly Saga?”

It was just about finding the character I wanted to follow and finding my vision to make this story my own. John was really supportive in letting me take the direction I wanted. In my film, both characters go on an emotional journey and I think the first two films had that as well and that’s what allows the audience to identify and become attached to the characters.”

And the central character of the film is none other than Lupita Nyong’o, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave in 2014. The actress, also seen in Black Panther, Star Wars, Us, plays here a young woman suffering from cancer who finds herself in right in downtown New York on the day of the invasion. The latter is quickly supported by Joseph Quinn, already seen in the series Stranger Things.

“Silence, we’re filming… in silence!”

And shooting a silent film wasn’t the easiest for the team. During filming there is always great emulation. What was it for Quietly: Day 1 ?

Director Michael Sarnoski explains: “On the set, people were not calm. During the emotional scenes this was obviously the case, but the team was enthusiastic and far from silent. I think the challenge of silent directing is really to rely on the actors so that they are able to bring these moments of emotion without using dialogue.

I love writing long dialogue scenes, but there’s also something really fun about having to strip down the dialogue scenes and figure out how to introduce the characters without it. For this, we had to rely on incredible actors, whom I was lucky to have.”

So everything depended on the actors. And if in the previous opuses it was a family, the heroes here are two strangers who will have to create a bond and learn to get to know each other without speaking… The filming was therefore a real challenge for the actors who had to compete in inventiveness to manage to convey the emotions without a sound.

Joseph Quinn explains: “We shouldn’t make any noise. So we had to adopt new techniques. When you don’t have a language to communicate with, you’re reduced to a very primitive mode of communication, and in the end it’s a lot of fun.” Lupita Nyong’o ajoute : “You really have to listen to what’s going on, watch, observe and react. It’s not written in the script. These are the nuances of how we communicate as human beings, and they’re emphasized because That’s all you have.”

To complicate matters, the other hero of the film is… a cat! Shooting a silent monster movie with a cat is quite an achievement. A feat nevertheless brilliantly achieved by the actors.

Shooting with a cat…

“It was an extra difficulty indeed, but it was very interesting. We were very lucky. We had two cats on set and they behaved very well.” specifies Joseph Quinn on our microphone.

“Indeed. You have to be patient to work with an animal because we take a shot, we think it’s good but we realize that the cat is looking straight into the lens and we have to start again. Sometimes it takes our patience to the test I learned a lot about patience during this shoot!” add Lupita Nyong’o.

The most difficult scene to shoot combined everything since it is an aquatic scene during which the characters find themselves in a flooded subway corridor with the cat and the monsters. A scene that gave the team a hard time. Joseph Quinn explains: “This sequence was a challenge in itself, but it was also a question of logistics. There was a lot to do. There were waterfalls. There was a cat, there was a bag, monsters and lots of water. It was intense, but it was a lot of fun.”

A film about helping others

But beyond the monster film – creatures that we see more than in previous parts – Quietly: Day 1 is also an intimate film about mutual aid and the bonds that unite people.

For Lupita Nyong’o, this film carries a message of hope and mutual aid. “In the first film, we followed a family, in this film the characters are not related. But, as human beings, we all come from some semblance of family, and we understand this intrinsic need, this visceral need to stick together and survive. Investing in these human relationships is obvious.

In this film we follow two strangers, they are complete strangers who meet during a hectic day. So the bond or commitment of one person to the other is not what you would expect, and I think that’s what makes this film a different story than the previous installments. We see how two strangers meet and must rely on each other to survive. And I think it’s a great way to remind people that there’s more belonging outside of blood.”

Without a sound: day 1 can be seen at the cinema from this Wednesday, June 26.