SPOILER ALERT: This story contains minor spoilers for “Whalefall,” out now in theaters. In the new feature “Whalefall,” Jay (Austin Abrams) is a grieving son searching for his father’s (Josh Brolin) remains off the coast of California. As he dives deeper, Jay encounters a giant squid being chased by an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale.
When the goliaths of the ocean battle it out, Jay finds himself sucked into the whale just as the squid’s tentacles wrap around him, proving to be a force he can’t contend with. Jay finds himself in the belly of the whale with only an hour’s worth of oxygen left as he fights to find his way out. What follows is an intense, anxiety-driven and claustrophobic adventure, with Brolin’s voice and flashbacks guiding Jay along the way.
Avery achieved that because he created practical whale sets, including a 30-foot whale head with a functional tongue mounted on an animatronic arm, allowing it to open and close. Filming in water and in camera using practical effects provided additional challenges, with the design of the set varying depending on where inside the whale Jay was located. The process began with extensive research.
Avery started by examining autopsy photos of sperm whales and working closely with Dr. Joy Reidenberg, a biomedical research scientist. I would get up at 6 a.m., look at autopsies with her as she was cutting open whales and explaining things to me.” But that still didn’t give him a sense of what the inside of a whale’s stomach looked like when it was alive and in water.
But we do have cameras going into the bellies of orcas, dolphins and porpoises, so we were able to start with that and see what they look like when they’re filled with fluids and when they’re moving.” Avery began with the key stomach set, which he calls “stomach number one.” This is where Jay spends most of his time. Director Brian Duffield wanted everything to be in water, so Avery built a 60-foot-wide tank that was 20 feet deep. The tongue in the back of the whale’s throat was also a physical build, capable of moving up and down.
Finding the right material to construct the stomach was a challenge and required exploration. The exterior was covered with heavy-duty canvas and coated with glue for added rigidity, while still allowing flexibility. The finished product required some additional digital effects work with Weta Workshop, but ultimately was “strong enough that it stood up for Jay being in it with water and stunt guys and camera and visual and special effects for six weeks.” Avery reveals the claustrophobia feeling comes from the inside.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
