The Yeti, a creature feature directed by Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta, delivers visual immersion from a grounded place. The filmmakers love the expansive, Panavision look of such movies as Battle of the Bulge and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and that visual depth is evident in their feature. Gallerano and Pisciotta talked to Deepest Dream about their ambitious tale which hits AMC Theaters April 4th and 8th and arrives on Digital April 10.
Read more: Gene Gallerano And William Pisciotta Discuss Soundstage And Anamorphic Aesthetic of ‘The Yeti’
Merriell Sunday Sr. (Corbin Bernsen) and explorer Hollis Bannister (William Sadler) have gone missing in Alaska. A brave team, which includes Hollis’ daughter Ellie (Brittany Allen), embark on a rescue mission which is derailed thanks to a monster in the wilderness.
If you’re looking for a CGI, green screen driven adventure, you’ve come to the wrong place. Most of The Yeti was filmed on a soundstage, and practical effects and sets were the name of the game.
“We wanted to build this movie like The Revenant in a box,” said Gene Gallerano, who also stars as one of the expedition members. “We call ourseves the backyard J.J. Abrams, where we’re going for these massive films and with scope and just cinematic vision to the max. And we’re doing it sometimes in backyards that we’ve built sets – sometimes in our basements. I built a set in my mom’s attic in Texas.”
As for the visuals, William Pisciotta wanted to create “large frames” where all the characters are in it, giving The Yeti a CinemaScope aesthetic. “Nowadays I feel like everything’s really shallow, depth of field,” said Pisciotta. “It’s like super close. We tried to do it (as many of the scenes) like paintings as possible. We wanted all the characters there – very Renaissance-esque.”
***CinemAddicts host Eric Holmes talks to Pisciotta and Gallerano on our latest episode:
