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…it was a little bit of a struggle to get everyone feeling comfortable that it was still gonna be okay so that we experience that visceral reaction that you feel when you're really hooked into a story while not traumatizing anybody

[00:00:17] Jenny Ely: Welcome to the Lighter Darker Podcast where we talk about the creative process of filmmaking and the art of visual storytelling. Thank you for joining us for this, our 16th episode, 16 of 20 episodes planned for our first season, releasing every other Tuesday. Great to have you with us. I'm Jenny Ely, producer of Lighter, darker, and production manager at Industrial Light and Magic. Todd is taking some well-deserved time off this week.

So Rob and I will be hosting with our special guest today.

[00:00:44] Rob Bredow: And I'm Rob Bredow, SVP of Creative Innovation Digital Production and Technology at Lucasfilm. And all work together at ILM and Lucasfilm in the visual effects animation and immersive entertainment industries. And today we have a special guest with us. Happy to introduce Bryce Dallas Howard.

Good to have you here with us, Bryce.

[00:01:03] Bryce Dallas Howard: Hi, Rob. Yes. Very good to be here.

[00:01:06] Rob Bredow: Bryce is, as you probably know, an acclaimed director, actress known for a helming, well, a bunch of different things, but especially, uh, with us helming a bunch of episodes of the Mandalorian Book of Boba Fett Star Wars Skeleton Crew. As well as, uh, directing and producing the award-winning documentary Dads, which if you haven't seen it, you've gotta see it. It's the most heartwarming thing.

[00:01:26] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh,

[00:01:27] Rob Bredow: She's also delivered stand out performances in front of the camera. Films like The Village, Jurassic World, Black Mirror, the episode Nose Dive, if you're looking for her episode. Uh, huge range of depth an actor as well. So she's known for blending innovation and storytelling across both acting and directing in Hollywood.

Of course, welcome to Lighter Darker, Bryce.

[00:01:48] Bryce Dallas Howard: Aw. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:01:52] Rob Bredow: This is so fun. It's so fun to have you on the show,

[00:01:54] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, no, it's so, so great to be here.

[00:01:56] Rob Bredow: And we're gonna do, um, we're gonna take a couple questions from the mailbag to get us started, um, and then we'll dive right into something we call Film Foundations. Things that are, uh, films that are interesting and inspiring to Bryce. And then our final topic will be storytelling and innovation in filmmaking. Um, really focused on some of the projects that we've gotten to work on for Bryce and in her filmography. So it'll be really fun to dive into that. So, uh, Jenny, do you wanna get us started from, with a question from Stephen?

[00:02:23] Questions from the Mailbag

[00:02:23] Jenny Ely: Yes. All right. From Stephen Cope, we have, we're aware of the use of your artistic talents in giant space battles. What are some of the most subtle changes you've been asked to make? Maybe a little more steam on a coffee in the background of a breakfast scene, or adding a bit of sweat to the brow of an extra in the distance.

[00:02:41] Rob Bredow: I love question. As visual effects artists. What are the smallest things we've done to a shot?

[00:02:47] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh my gosh. I love it. I love it. I love it. So for me, this is, this is such a weird place for me to start, but I'm a little bit, like to search for things. I'm a big scaredy cat in life when I'm watching, when I'm watching shows and movies and all of that. So I pay attention to everything and it affects me viscerally when I'm watching.

And so I'm sort of searching for that. So if it's, you know, the way that blood is dripping or, or actually I should like back up a little bit. Like I, I feel very strongly about like seeing sort of body fluids in some way, shape or form, even though on television it cannot be red. And so I'm a, I'm like a big champion of like green blood, you know, dripping down the side and just kind of pushing that as far as you can go.

there was, I'll, I'll use, I'll use just, just kind of one, one fun example, which is, um. Which is from Book of Boba Fett, the episode that I did was kind of focusing more on Mandalorian, Din Djarin and, and his storyline. And it was a bit of a departure within the series. And, there was a whole set piece in the beginning, with Klatooinians and, uh, it was sort of this, like this butcher shop with like Klatooinians in there and gangsters and stuff.

and it's this sort of reveal of Mando having the dark saber and um, which I was really excited about. And I just, I just. It's so fun. I had so much fun doing this. Everybody had so much fun doing this. And I just, I just wanted it to just be brutal. Brutal. You know, it's, it's, it's Mando post baby. You know, I, I feel like he's gotten to a really dark place.

He has this, you know, he's supposed to have mastery over weaponry. He's a mandalorian. There's this thing that he's pretty clunky with, you know? and I just wanted it to be as violent as Disney would allow. and so there are a few examples of that. Um, I'll, I'll just mention two.

One is, is when you finally see the severed head. Of kind of the head Klatooinian, um, and there's like green blood dripping and it's in the foreground. That was a shot that I obsessed over. And, and,

[00:05:14] Rob Bredow: The specific drips of blood?

[00:05:15] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yes. yes, And just because it was, it was a little bit of a struggle to get everyone feeling comfortable that it was still gonna be okay for kids and families, you know, that it, that it was going to do what is necessary for the storytelling to get us there so that we have, that we experience that visceral reaction that is so extraordinary and almost supernatural, that you feel when you're really hooked into a story while not traumatizing anybody.

[00:05:44] Rob Bredow: Right.

[00:05:44] Bryce Dallas Howard: At all. In any way, shape or form.

[00:05:47] Rob Bredow: So was this a matter of finessing the amount of blood to have, have the exact reaction you're looking for.

[00:05:52] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yes, exactly. But here's, here's where, where we got to a slight impasse. Um, and I just forever will love Jon Favreau for giving this one to me and let, and letting me just sort of trusting me with this, which was, I, I just so badly. I wanted, I, I wanted Mando. Like, yes, I, I wanna see a severed head, but I also wanna see somebody chopped in two.

Like that is, that's the joy of a dark saber and someone who is wrestling with their own inner demons and they haven't gone to a Jedi Academy and they, you know, it's, is a completely different sort of like moral construct. And so you just wanna see 'em. Slice through the bad guy. And uh, and I was very excited about this.

And um, and when we were shooting it, Jon kept being like, um, don't you wanna kind of just like lower the frame or it happens just out of frame. We hear it, perhaps we don't see it. You know what I mean? All of that. And I was like, no, I wanna see it. And it got to the point where it was, you know. It became basically a visual effects problem.

A visual effects decision, uh, because everything was done. And, Jon was a little concerned about that shot. And so he was gonna kind of fix it with VFX and repo it and, and so that you couldn't really see it. And he called me and he asked me about it, and he started it with being like, I feel like I know what you're gonna say.

And um, and he asked me and I was like, Jon, you gotta see it. You gotta see it. 'cause we've seen, we've seen really what really bad guys do with Lightsabers, and we've seen what really good guys do with Lightsabers. Um, but we haven't really seen in live action a Mandalorian using a lightsaber where we're this much inside of their psychology.

Like we relate to them so, so deeply. And so it's, it's, it's almost like. You know, it's what they, what a human being would experience if they had a light saber.

And, and so it just, it felt like an important thing to experience, you know, the sort of darkest version of the wish fulfillment. Um, if you have a weapon like that, especially if you can't, if you can't, I mean, I did, I did martial arts for a long time, and I remember when you start to use something like, you know, like nunchucks or something like, and you don't really have, a skill with, with the weapon, but you, you can do kind of a big thing at the end and it feels sort of like you, like stuck the landing and, and it, it, that was sort of that, that moment, and I felt like it represented a very specific psychology, that Mando was, was that Din Djarin was experiencing.

And, um. And as it related to basically the, the, the loss of a, a child. So, um, that's what's most juicy to me. And those were both very much so kind of decisions made, uh, you know, during the VFX process.

[00:08:55] Rob Bredow: I love it. I love the fact that these are like fine tuning the visual storytelling, but like just hearing you talk about this, it's so clear that you're such a storyteller. Like every component of this is about the character arc. It's about where the character is versus where the character's going and showing those contrasts between that, that guy who can hug the baby Grogu and the guy who can't anymore and where he's at.

That episode is so strong and it's something that's so consistent in your work showing those strong character arcs and, and I can see that from holding on to the things that are gonna be the strongest visual reinforcements of those arcs to you.

[00:09:33] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, thanks, Rob. I mean, it's, it's just, it's so fun what, what we get to do and kind of understanding stories and characters to a degree that it gets so detailed and you can tell the story with every little detail. And that is so powerful and exciting. And I often find that, uh, it, I mean that's what I love so much about the workflow that exists, you know, within sort of the Mando verse where there is so much time in advance of production where you're having those conversations and you're having your conversations with, you know, with, with the artists who are gonna be ultimately delivering the film and, and asking those questions.

And so every single decision that's made is made together from early on in the process as opposed to, uh, you know, VFX artists inheriting a bunch of stuff and needing to interpret it. And I think that sort of collaborative arts is what I'm interested in. And I feel like it's getting to work with Lucasfilm and ILM and Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni and you know, this, this entire group, the last whatever, how many, however many years it's been, seven years, has been just such a beautiful example of the power of a bunch of storytellers to have a, a lot of different areas of expertise coming together with the same mission in mind.

It's cool.

[00:11:07] Rob Bredow: Well, I had a super boring answer to Steven's question, so I'm gonna do it really quick 'cause I wanna get back to Bryce and other answers.

[00:11:12] Bryce Dallas Howard: That's just one question. That was one question. See, this is.

[00:11:15] Rob Bredow: Yeah, but you nailed it. You it. But I was gonna, I, I was thinking about like, what's the most menial thing that people probably don't even know we do in visual effects.

And a lot of times when you're shooting poor man's process for cars, um, you, you shoot it without the glass and then you put the glass back in. And the number of conversations we have about whether the curved glass should be in focus or out of focus on where the reflection should be and what would happen in real life.

Um, I remember one conversation on, uh, Stewart Little, he's in his little red car, we're putting the windshield back in, in front of Stewart. And there, there was days of conversation about how blurry or how sharp the reflection should be to make it look real, uh, in a miniature environment, uh, for that movie way back in, what would this have been, uh, mid two thousands. So yeah, we do focus, uh, as Bryce was highlighting, we focus on the details and hopefully, I mean, Bryce's example is so great 'cause it's in service of the storytelling and service of the characters. That's the best possible version, even if you're just adjusting the amount of steam off of a, off of a coffee cup.

[00:12:10] Bryce Dallas Howard: Mm-hmm. It's very true. And, and it's something like that, It's a very specific detail, but it's not a small detail because that's, you know, hugely, the glass in the car is hugely represented in the composition of the shot and whether or not it's in focus and where the light is pinging. And whether or not it feels honest and real. It's, I mean, I constantly, I've seen things, I'll be watching something and, and it will not feel right and I won't understand what's going on, and I suddenly stop listening to the performance. So it's crucial.

[00:12:48] Rob Bredow: Those things, you'd think those would be easy? Those car comps where you shoot 'em on a blue screen. 'cause we do 'em all the time and they're really hard visual effects shots. I remember being terrified at the beginning of Solo 'cause we were gonna do the convertible action sequence. A big set piece where they're running around on a speeder and it has no roof. And that's actually the hardest thing. 'cause the lighting has to be honest, the integration has to be honest. I'm really happy with where we got. Two on that. And that was in part because the production as a whole was committed to real cars and real locations.

And then we could match the poor man's process, the stuff we shot on a blue screen in a stage we could match to that real honest lighting, which was, uh, a game changer in terms of bringing that level of fidelity to those otherwise. Well, you'd think they'd be straightforward shots, but they're actually not. They're very challenging to get just

[00:13:29] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah. Yep.

[00:13:31] Rob Bredow: This is fun. Okay, Jenny, we got one more question from the mailbag.

[00:13:34] Jenny Ely: Yes. Um, I cheated a little bit. This is not exactly from the mailbag. This is a question from me.

[00:13:39] Rob Bredow: You, you, you control the mailbag so you can

[00:13:41] Jenny Ely: I control the mailbag.

[00:13:43] Rob Bredow: to the top. How did

[00:13:44] Jenny Ely: Yes.

Yeah. I don't know where that came from.

[00:13:46] Bryce Dallas Howard: is it? Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[00:13:49] Jenny Ely: I know, in 16 episodes I've never done this, but I actually am really interested in the answer and you kind of almost answered it when you were talking about, um, convincing Jon Favreau to let you cut people in half.

But, um, so you are part of a very elite group of filmmakers entrusted with Star Wars storytelling on the screen. So how do you bring your personal touch to a project when there's already such an established style in the universe of Star Wars?

[00:14:14] Bryce Dallas Howard: So that's such an interesting question. And what's, what's really interesting is that the only reason why I have a little bit of an answer to it is because now I've done a number of episodes and I can go on, the internet and say, what, what is different? Like what is specific? Because it's not.

It's with Star Wars in particular, but really it's any project I feel this way as an actor when I'm working for a director. You know, when I'm an actor working for a director, I'm in service of their vision. When I'm a director working for a show runner, I'm in service of their vision. Um, and when you're working with something like Star Wars, which is, such a part of our cultural narrative in a way that it is, genuinely in disservice of the storytelling if you're not factoring in the sort of larger perspective of the audience, this perspective of the creator of it, you know, all of that.

And so I never, ever, ever think about me, it, it as a storyteller or kind of anything like that. But I do listen. Very carefully to my instincts in terms of what am I obsessed with? What am I craving, what do I like? Uh, like when, you know, when I was reading the, that episode for, for Boba Fett and I was like, oh my God, there's a womp rat, there's a womp rat guys, everybody, we need to see this womp rat.

And it's not like, oh, it's really important to me that the creatures we've heard about but not necessarily experienced get, you know, brought to the forefront of the storytelling. Like it's not, it's not conscious at all. And, and that's not even true. It's just like, I wanna see a womp rat.

And so I, I trust, I trust the sort of immediate gut reaction that I have as an audience member that everybody has as an audience member. and because of my. The things I like and the things that I dislike, you know, I'm sure that affects it, but not consciously in any way. and then a huge thing I think that impacts the way that I direct is that, is that I'm an actor and I really trust actors.

I really trust actors and actors are often the least trusted people on a movie set. Um, not because people don't literally trust them, it's that what they do is very mysterious and they don't wanna mess it up for them. They don't wanna like, you know, like, it's like spooking a horse before a race.

[00:16:49] Rob Bredow: Yeah.

[00:16:49] Bryce Dallas Howard: I'm just gonna, not gonna mess with the horse and just trust the jockey to do whatever they need to do.

It's, you know, it's sort of this, Strange thing where it's like, okay, we've done everything. Now bring in the actors, you know, and it's like, bring in the magician or something. and I think that, while that respect and understanding that sort of what actors do is like, is very specific in that sort of environment.

I do find that it's, it's most exciting when actors have been included early on. They feel as if they're almost part of the crew. They're a storyteller alongside you and you're creating an environment for them to bring everything to the table. And then I like to then play with that and do things like, I do silent takes where there's no dialogue and it really helps editorially and all of that.

And so it's, um, so that there's just lots of options. And so I think that I'm very, very focused on, on the performance, on the characters. And, and then just for myself as an audience member, it's like when I am watching, it'll be like I'm watching, I'm watching, I'm watching, and then something happens that doesn't quite make sense.

And then I'm just derailed as an audience member. It is very difficult for me to kind of get back on board. So it's impossible for me to not call out those things. So those are just the things that, you know, empower the actors, creating an environment where they're brought in very early, where they're trusted, um, where it's a safe space for them to play and mess up.

You know, I. every other department has quite a bit of time. I mean, we all, nobody has enough time. Nobody ever has enough time, but every other department has much more time typically, uh, spent with the director in advance of production than, than the act I call it the acting department. So, um, sometimes when things happen, I'll be like, uh, oh, we didn't, we didn't deliver the script to the acting department in time.

Let's talk to the HOD of the acting department, you know, head of the head of the department and see what they say. You go to number one on the call sheet. Sorry about this. How, how are we going to make it up to this department? You know, it's, and sometimes you don't really think of it like that. Like you think of it as just everyone's independent and they're just, you know, they just do their thing and then they, and then they kind of leave and then that's that.

It's not, it's not entirely mysterious. And, uh, and so anyway, I've just gone, I've just gone on and on and on and on about that, but I don't, I don't think

[00:19:26] Jenny Ely: This is what I wanted to hear, and, and I think it comes through intuitively. It, it must if you're saying it's just, you know, you respecting the process and the director, but I think it's one of the things that, um, our Star Wars episodic things do so well is that there are different directors, but it's all, you don't ever feel like you're taken outta the story because someone different is directing, but there is a distinct feel when, when you're directing an episode or someone else.

And then it's always interesting to know who, who directed something specific because of the style that's coming through. That's the reason I asked the question. I was just, I've always been fascinated by that process. So that was a great explanation. Thank you.

[00:20:01] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, thank you. I mean, I can totally see it myself with others where, where I'm just like, oh yeah, clearly Daniels directed that. Like, who else would come up with that? You know? I mean, that's amazing. You know, I can really, I feel like I have an understanding of Dave Filoni as, uh, not just with his animation, but with live action.

There's a real quality and sensibility to his work. Um, and so it's fun. It's really fun to identify that in, in, in other people, and almost impossible to recognize that yourself, you know?

[00:20:35] Storytelling and Innovation in Filmmaking

[00:20:35] Rob Bredow: I love it. This is literally like film. This is better than film school. And hey, we're putting it out on a free podcast for everyone to listen to. But man, if you wanna direct listening to the way Bryce is focused on the character development, on the talent in front of the camera, and it, I think what you were just sharing about of time they have to get this right, which is one of the reasons it does feel a little mysterious to us.

Non-actors, you know, we've been prepping and thinking about this shot for six months and they get on set and you know, there's been hours of setup and lights and everything. And then it's like, okay, can we get this done in five minutes? And it's like, whoa. The most important part is the magic gonna happen on screen happens or doesn't happen in a pretty narrow window of time. Uh, and that chemistry between the director and the actors is so critical for providing a safe space to make that all happen.

[00:21:19] Bryce Dallas Howard: It is so critical. And, and something that's interesting, very interesting is a little bit of a mystery for me is why did Jon Favreau entrust me? With anything, you know, like, why did he say like, yeah, she'd be able to do this. And he's, because I focused and specialized in emerging technology before working with him.

I worked with Canon for years. Um, got to be the first director to shoot on the C 300, the C 500. Um, it was, you know, making little short films, testing their prime lenses. Like, it was just so wonderful. And it's been something that I've always, I've always cared about. Very much so influenced by overhearing George Lucas growing up.

Very much so visiting the prequels a lot. I went to summer camp with Natalie Portman and was good friends with her. And so, like, we were just like 15 frolicking around during, during the, during the prequels. And, I was so excited about digital filmmaking. I remember with, my second film, Anthony Dod Mantle, uh, was the dp and he was, uh, this was like in 2002 and, um, shooting it digitally.

And so I was always, I ran up to him and I was like, tell me about the flicker effect. What's gonna happen? You know, I was just, I was just very, very, very, very, very excited about all of this. And so, you know, that's been something that, is organic to me. But Jon Favreau did not know that. He didn't know that, And so, um, and, and we had, we had conversations about things, but, I don't think I was impressive enough necessarily. I, I, am really being articulated to him. Like I was just kind of asking him questions. And one of the things that he said, 'cause at one point I was sort of like, why did you, like, why'd you hire me?

And he said that he, um, you know, he, he, he's like, I, you know, got a bit of a sense for these things. uh, but he also, he's like an actor. He believes in actors transitioning to directing because that's what he did. Um, he's an actor, writer, director. And it's because as an actor, you are there in the five minutes before you actually put something. I was gonna say, you know, on film, but you know, you actually shoot something and those decisions, that's like where the rubber meets the road and those decisions are so crucial and being, uh, when you're an actor, you can be helpful in terms of some of the problem solving with blocking and whatnot, but you're really not, that's really not your call.

And so you're just, you're just watching and you're taking it in and you're thinking about, okay, this is a problem that they're dealing with right now. I wonder if I could do anything to help them out. If I could like, lean here and then the light won't be an issue, or, you know, whatever. Grab the prop at that moment rather than earlier, whatever it is.

But you're, you can't really do anything to help apart from just being present. and it is extraordinary that, that problem solving, it's extraordinary to witness. People solving those similar problems again and again, and again and again in different ways, in different circumstances, and to just get to experience that for decades.

And most people are not around that. If you're a writer, very sadly, you are often not privy to that process, so that if you make the leap to being a director, you have incredible skill sets. But the, you know, that kind of crucial pressurized game time moment, it is not something that you've necessarily been privy to.

And so, and, and when Jon said that, I was like, you are completely right. Like, not, it doesn't mean that necessarily a person can do it, but you've, at least you've seen it done a, a zillion times in different ways with different personalities and different kinds of problems. and you know, if you're paying attention it adds up.

And, and so, yeah.

[00:25:33] Rob Bredow: Not, you know, even the most successful writer in the world might get a film or a series made every two or three years, once every two or three years, and they might be able to spend some time on set. But as an actor, you've had dozens of opportunities on these films and seen all different sets and seen different ways people have worked.

It's being on set is an amazing education no matter what your role is, but especially if you're gonna be the one in the hot seat, uh, in about five minutes as we're gonna do those, that next take

[00:25:59] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, and that's actually something that my dad shared that he really misses about acting, because as a director, similarly, typically the only set that you're on is your own. And, uh, and it's amazing to see how other people do it. You learn so much watching how other people do it.

And so, it's something for me where when I first started acting, I, um. You know, perhaps Obnoxiously wrote down a list of all the directors that I wanted to work with. And it was because I loved, I loved their stuff, but, but I, I also, I just wanted to see how they did it. And it was sort of amazing getting to like, check off names where it's like, yeah. M. Night Shyamalan, yeah. Lars von Trier. Yeah, Ken Branagh. Like, yeah, Sam Raimi, you know, it's, it's, it was, yeah, Clint Eastwood, like, just to see like, I, and, and, and I was talking to my dad, just that we were, we were together, um, the last few days at a, at a conference together. And he was, and he was asking me about Clint, and he was like, well, how does, you know, how does Clint do this? and I was kind of explaining to him and everything, and he was like, oh, wow, that's so interesting. You know, it's just, it's wonderful to get to, um, infiltrate, sneak onto those sets.

[00:27:21] Rob Bredow: And, just in case, um, you aren't familiar, uh, Bryce's dad is Ron Howard who

[00:27:26] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, yes. Oh gosh.

[00:27:27] Rob Bredow: No, I mean I think most people are familiar, uh, but Ron Howard has directed maybe, maybe the most experienced director in Hollywood. I mean, he's directed maybe 50 movies. It's just an incredible, um, legacy and,

[00:27:41] Bryce Dallas Howard: Well, he's, he's one of the more experienced people because he started working at a very young age. Um, but you know, it's, it in terms of as a director, Steven Spielberg, you know what I mean? There's a lot of directors who have had very prolific careers and continue to, and all of that. But I think, as far as the longest working person, because he was a child actor and whatnot, that might actually be true.

[00:28:06] Rob Bredow: him.

[00:28:07] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah.

[00:28:07] Rob Bredow: He's also a delightful collaborator. I have to tell you, you've made a list of directors you wanted to work with as an actor, which sounds like you've been able to check off many of the people on that list. I did this when I was getting into visual effects and I got to check off Tim Burton and some amazing filmmakers off that list. And the last one on my list when Solo came around was Ron Howard.

And when he came in, for real, when he came in to take over the show, um, well first I didn't know if he was gonna keep me on as the head of department of visual effects, so I'm like, well, Ron's either gonna, this is gonna be either a good day. I get to work with Ron Howard, or I, it's my last day on the show. Let's see what happens. And I go to have my one on one meeting with Ron and like, he literally, before even saying hi, he goes, just so you know, I'm keeping all the HODs who wanna keep working on the show. Like immediately, like leaving it, alleviating any fear. And

[00:28:52] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah.

[00:28:52] Rob Bredow: such a good experience getting to work together.

And that's where we first met on the

[00:28:56] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yep, yep, yep. Absolutely. Oh, he loved working with you on that, Rob. Like, and, and he mentions you all the time. He just, he adores you, respects you and, uh, you know, just you, you're a, you're a total legend. So he was excited working with you.

[00:29:14] Rob Bredow: He's too kind, we had, we had a lot of fun. It was, it's one of my best filmmaking experiences, getting to learn from him. And he invited me to sit side of set and just, and he's like, give me any ideas you have. He's like, I won't always be able to take 'em, of course, but I'm, I'm genuinely interested 'cause he came on the show late. He's like, you know, so really well you've been working on it for a year and a half. So just being invited into his process was such an honor. And then getting to watch him with his mastery of the craft block scenes, uh, and work with actors in a way that I had. And he's, he's amazing.

Yeah. He's an amazing director.

[00:29:47] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, I love it. Yeah, I had so much fun on that, Rob, getting to just kind of go there and, and shadow, um, when I had just been in England shooting Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom and uh, Solo was shooting simultaneously. And when I heard that, you know, that. Uh, he was gonna be stepping in to that. I was like, please, can I shadow please?

Because I just, you know, this is a very, uh, unusual circumstance. It's a very difficult circumstance. and it's the high wire act of, continuing on taking the baton, completing a movie, uh, that is at this level and this scope and whatnot, and at this stage, um, while also needing to kind of like, you know, it's like good story well told, like it's, it's, that was, that was really

just to get, to sort of be there was, was an education for sure.and yeah, and getting, getting to meet you there. And I remember so vividly, sort of like and, I don't know, you'll be able to describe it accurately, but like an early version of the volume with the Millennium Falcon and you see like, and there was that big eyeball when they're doing the Kessel run and yeah, it's the coolest thing

[00:31:08] Rob Bredow: It was so much fun! We had 20 minutes of content on a wrap-around projection screen around the Millennium Falcon cockpit, and we could run the whole Kessel run. Actually, we had planned to be able to do a couple minutes at a time because like technically it was complicated to do like a 20 minute show, like it was a continuous ride. And I remember like the. Two days before we were gonna start shooting, Ron's like, can we do it end to end? 'cause I think Alden can do it end to end if, if you guys can. And I'm like, uh, I don't know if we can do it end to end. So I went, we sat down with the teams and we strung together. The Kessel run in its entirety.

It was about a 20 minute show and he's like, I think Alden wants to at least give it a shot and then we'll go back and do sections at a time. So we had like 200 cues. It was like, you know, cue the pews from the tie fighters, uh, turn on the giant monster eye. You know, we had all these cues through the whole thing. So I'd be sitting next to Ron, calling these cues and then making tweaks to the Kessel run and the actors loved, well similar to with stagecraft, this really leading up to it, the actors loved being immersed in that. And you know, the combination of shaking the cockpit and seeing the giant space monster and the gravity wells and everything that was involved in the Kessel run and seeing it on the screen, there was, there was kind of no substitute to that.

[00:32:17] Bryce Dallas Howard: It really like, I, I remember seeing that and as, as a performer of myself being like, okay, now we're talking like, this is it. This is cool. Like this is gonna really just make everything so much easier because it's also oftentimes. When you're, when you're working as a performer and you're looking at something and, like just getting the correct eye line is a whole, is a whole thing.

Like I remember on the first Jurassic World, like working with kids, you know, basically, and being like, okay, okay, we're looking up there. Do you see it? Do you see the top of that leaf? The yellow part? No, no. Not the orange part, the yellow part. That's where we're looking,

that's where it is. That's the Indominus Rex over there.

And, um, and so getting the leap from, from that to then seeing what was possible within Solo and just the, the coordinated cues, you know, actors aren't gonna be jumping at different moments. They're all gonna be looking at the same place. The reaction is gonna be, At an appropriate level. Sometimes one person will be like, ah, and, and one person will like be totally stoic and one person will like faint.

Like, you know, it's like, mm, no, this is actually the level of scary it is. And it's, it's hard to articulate that. And that's, that's where previs has been so useful for quite a while now in terms of storytelling as a, as a tool. But this was a whole other thing, um, that you guys did on, on Solo. And I really remember perking up and being excited.

And then when Jon Favreau, or when I got to kind of see. Stagecraft. Um, 'cause I got to visit ILM the next year. I did a little program, I don't know if you remember this, Rob, John Knoll did the program as well. It was like, uh, a program where we developed some, some short films. And, um, my husband and I wrote a short film together and John Schwartz, you know, incredibly involved in that, who's now my producing partner.

Um, It was really, really, really, really cool to, to get to, like when we, we went to the ranch and everything and we got to see demonstrations of Stagecraft and, uh, sort of see where ILM was at with, with this technology and to see kind of going from solo to seeing that Stagecraft. Then later that year, getting to be involved in Mando.

It was cool. And I remember, um, Clint Spillers kept being like, oh my gosh, is your mind just exploding? Is your mind exploding? And I was like, you know, when we, I was getting kind of caught, brought up to speed on Mando, um, and I was like,it's exciting. It's a lot. But I, I'm tracking what you're saying.

Like I understand. And perhaps some of that was because I had seen the Stagecraft, because I had seen what you guys did on Solo. And so it wasn't an esoteric concept to me. Like I had seen it practically used.

[00:35:17] Rob Bredow: And also, like, not everyone who is an actor is also standing on side of set doing all the problem solving you're doing and thinking about the camera and thinking about the digital technology and looking at the way the cues are changing the way, like not everyone's mind works the same way yours does, which is why like when Clint asks if your mind is exploding, 'cause everybody else's mind's explo exploding, and you're like, no, I grew up watching George Lucas do this and Ron Howard, and honestly, this is kind of what should be happening next.

Uh, I'm, I'm tracking. It's, it's okay. But not everybody has that background, that experience in mind that is like tracking that way the way yours does, Bryce.

[00:35:51] Bryce Dallas Howard: I mean, thanks Rob. Um, I mean, I definitely remember, like it was yesterday, the day that they were using morphing technology on Willow and seeing what was involved, feeling the palpable excitement. Just talking through sort of, okay. And then she's gonna turn into a tiger. You know, like just like, and, and how they were trying to do it.

I was only, um, I was five. I was five. I was, I was, I think I might've turned six during that and, uh, during Willow and, and I remember it like it was yesterday, and I think it's, as a growing up being on a movie set as a kid, oh my God. It's just, there's, there's nothing more exciting. I, and I feel like it's, it's as an adult too, you know?

[00:36:45] Rob Bredow: It's one of the best places to be, isn't it? And there's so many. Talented and capable people that are specialists all focus on that storytelling. Like, where else can you say, oh shoot, we need, we need a knife with, uh, this much fake blood, but I need a four inch knife and a six inch knife, and, uh, 25 minutes and props primer's like, yeah, no problem.

And they come in with five options. They're like, you know, do you want it to be green blood or red blood? Or whatever the next thing is. And it's, people are at that level and they're that prepared and they're that ready to help you tell the story. I don't know of many places in the world that are like it

[00:37:16] Bryce Dallas Howard: Rob, you are so right. And it is what is special about the movie industry because when I did, the Village, which was my first movie that I acted in, I remember Night Shyamalan would create almost like a, uh, it was very wholesome, um, but like a little, like a bar sort of like off set.

And after work, everyone would go and they would hang out and he did it again for Lady in the Water. and I've never had a sip of alcohol my entire life, so I kind of would never really go because I just didn't drink. And I was like, oh, I'm gonna be up the next morning, and all that kind of stuff.

You know, I'm, boring like that. And uh, uh, but then when I, I remember like kind of finally going during Lady in the Water, there was like a night where, where, I don't know, there was some game or something and, and I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll go. And I walked into this sort of hut that had been constructed and it was like.

The Greensman was in charge of it, and it was, every department had contributed a different element to this, to this structure and this experience. You like walk into this thing that you thought was gonna be a bar, and it's like, you know, you're walking into Disneyland or something. Like, it was like the most imaginative world.

And, um, a lot of the, folks that I've, that I've worked with on Mandalorian, a part of Legacy Effects were involved in, in that. And they were just doing crazy things and building animatronics to kind of scare people in the corner when they walk in and everything. And, it's, the level of talent and specialization is remarkable and everybody is different, and everybody has very different backgrounds and gifts and interests, and we're all focused on a shared goal. And we're all involved. And without any one of us, it'll fall apart. Like, it'll actually fall apart. And it is such a privilege to be part of that team. 'cause it's really like a team. You know, you don't wanna assemble a team of everybody having, you know, kind of one very specific skill. You want everybody to balance each other out. And that's what it is. And when you're on a set, it's a military structure, so there's a very clear hierarchy. Uh, not that I'm somebody who, who loves to have a very clear hierarchy at all, at all times.

I'm all for, you know, existing within a teal organization structure. But the benefit of it is, is things happen fast and there is agreement and there is clarity as to what your role is and how you can help and support the team. And I it is. So thrilling. It is so thrilling to just watch people do their thing and Exactly to your point, you know, watch the property Master run in, you know, the Josh Roth on Mandalorian and Jon Favreau randomly mentions an idea for something and Josh was like, yeah, just, uh, gimme five minutes.

And then like five minutes later comes back and you're like, what? How did this just materialize? Josh? Where's the 3D printer that you just came up with this dude

[00:40:31] Rob Bredow: It's miraculous, what can happen on a set. I couldn't agree more. And like you said, that hierarchical structure, great ideas can still come from absolutely anywhere, but it's very clear who's gonna discern whether that goes in the show or not. And that's what you need because you only have five minutes between takes.

So there is a person who is making the decision, and that's why when people are signing up for shows working under you, they, they know, they know who's in charge and they know who's gonna be making those final decisions, whether it's you and then you, and then the showrunner and the combination of the team that's gonna make those calls.

That's super fun.

[00:41:00] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:41:02] Film Foundations

[00:41:02] Rob Bredow: Well, let's dive into a movie or two that has inspired you to become a filmmaker. Film foundations. Um, we have so many things to talk about. We could go on for two hours, but in our remaining time, let's at least get started with that. 'cause it might inspire folks to watch these movies if they haven't or be inspired themselves.

So what got you underway early in your career?

[00:41:20] Bryce Dallas Howard: Okay. So I pretty much guarantee you that everything that I was inspired by is, is something that someone has watched because they're, they're classics. My first sentence as a human being was watching E.T. I was, I don't know, 18 months old or something like that. And I pointed at the screen and I said, "E.T. fly!"

[00:41:43] Rob Bredow: No way. That was your first sentance. First two words.

[00:41:48] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah. First two words, being strung together. And I was obsessed with E.T. I had a poster above my crib, like on the ceiling and, uh, and toys and all of that. And it just, it, it's, that movie, blew me away. And I was kind of, because I knew, I knew you were gonna ask this question and I was just thinking a little bit earlier.

I'm like, okay, so what are the movies like? Like really what are, what, like, thinking back as to moments when things clicked and, and I wrote them down and I was like, Bryce, this is what everybody says. I'm sure of it, but I'll, I'll just, I'll tell you what it is. 'cause I wrote them down so it was ET for sure.

Big time. The Land Before Time, like animation, like specific animated movies, really made a huge impact. Land Before Time, Brave Little Toaster and The Last Unicorn, all those movies really resonated. Um, Labyrinth, Princess Bride, and then Jurassic Park. And Jurassic Park was a big moment for me because I was 12.

I wasn't allowed to see the movie originally. On opening night, my parents saw it, my dad came home. He's like, it's cinema history. You have to see this in the theaters. I got to see it on a Saturday. Uh, I cried, not because I was afraid or because it was part of the narrative, because of the visual effects.

Like I was so mo I was like dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are real. And It was a profound experience for me. I'm just like, I'm realizing I'm getting moved right now because I'll, I'll tell, I'll tell you why this is crazy and surreal. I just spent time at this conference and one of the people I spent time with is a molecular evolutionary biologist, and she's focusing on de-extinction, but she's doing it right. She's doing it right and, you know, and she's not that much older than me,

[00:43:47] Rob Bredow: so she was inspired by these films.

[00:43:51] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. You know, I mean, like, I'm not gonna put that in her mouth, but, but, um, uh, it's, it's part of, you know, Michael Crichton's storytelling. What Steven Spielberg did, what everyone did at ILM, it changed what was possible for storytelling, but it also changed what was possible in terms of people's imaginations who are paleontologists and scientists and explorers and, um.

kind of like the Mr DNA, like, it's, that kind of idea really, really, really sparked things for people, for so many people. And so, um, anyway, she shared that there is an animal, I can't say what it is, but there is an animal who went extinct many, many thousands of years ago that they have brought back, and they're gonna announce it in April.

I know. I'm like crying. It's unreal. It's unreal. And it's not like a, you know, and it's, there's so very thoughtful ethics around it. It's, it's like, you know,

[00:44:53] Rob Bredow: I'm glad they're not bringing back the T-Rex first. Hopefully we've learned that lesson.

[00:44:58] Bryce Dallas Howard: I know. Exactly. Exactly. And they have a lot of fun with it. And so it's, that's, you know, that's what these kinds of stories are supposed to be. They're supposed to be cautionary tales, um, but they're also meant to spark the imagination. And there is a cost for, you know, what we see in these kinds of stories is that, we see what's possible with technology, but we also see the cost of pursuing that technology. But we also understand the cost of not pursuing that technology.

And, and the kind of, the balance of, of the ways in which storytelling can contextualize the ethics of how we, uh, enter into the future is, is it's just, it's such a privilege. And so, yeah, just, I mean, you know, I'm just the lady that like ran in heels from a T-Rex. I have nothing to do with that. But getting to see, you know, the impact that.

Storytellers or just the interplay really, I shouldn't even say impact 'cause it's scientists. You know, Michael Crichton was a scientist. Like, it's, it's scientists impacting storytellers, storytellers impacting scientists, and that, and the way in which we all collaborate together on being human beings. Um, so yeah, Jurassic blew my mind and I, and I totally cried at the visual effects.

And, now next month, folks are gonna, I'll have to email with you, Rob, when it, when, when it comes out, when, when it's.

[00:46:20] Rob Bredow: I can't wait for this news, this is crazy.

[00:46:22] Bryce Dallas Howard: When it's announced. the woman, um, is named, Beth Shapiro. And she wrote a book called How to Clone a Wooly Mammoth, which she, uh, joked that, um, she later became involved in, in an organization. I think she's the CEO now of Colossal. It's called Colossal. And uh, she was like, and they wanted to meet with me about it, and she's like, clearly they didn't read the book because what I said in the book is that you can't clone a wooly mammoth. But she's like, that didn't stop them.

Um, I, I hope what I'm saying is like, okay, and not weird. I'll maybe follow up with you, Rob, and say like, we need to cut all of this. You need to cut everything. But, it's cool. It's, it's cool to get to, to just see sort of what's happening out there in the world. And it, it is, it's more amazing than anything you could imagine.

[00:47:12] Rob Bredow: I love this. And we'll link

to those films in the show notes. If people haven't seen all those movies on Bryce's List. Uh, highly recommended.

[00:47:19] Storytelling and Innovation pt. 2

[00:47:19] Rob Bredow: Um, and we've already been talking about storytelling and innovation in filmmaking and honestly, I mean, we could keep going for another hour for sure. I wanted to pick your brain about a couple of shots that are standouts to me in, uh, Boba Fett.

[00:47:32] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah.

[00:47:32] Rob Bredow: So Episode five of Boba Fett was the Mandalorian episode. You referred to it already when you were talking about the meat locker scene at the beginning. Um. I mean, there's so much we could talk about, but one of my favorite shots is the elevator oner, and I'm really curious to hear bit of the story of how that evolved into the shot that it was. 'cause it's incredibly technically complicated, but it's also super satisfying in the context of the show. It's like an amazing, amazing shot

[00:47:58] Bryce Dallas Howard: oh, thank you so much, Rob. No, I, I feel very lucky that I got to be the director to sort of play with that idea. Um, Jon, I certainly don't wanna speak for Jon, but I'll just kind of share. How I've interpreted his sort of mission and ethos and whatnot, which is that, you know, he's, he's an incredible storyteller and very passionate about this story, but he is also, uh, very passionate about the technology and creating opportunities to really kind of like push the, the, the, uh, push the technology, test the technology, see what's possible.

Sometimes there would be an idea and someone would be trying to kind of figure it out. Uh, you know, it's either a technical issue or an engineering issue, but they're trying to, they're trying to solve it. And I would be like, oh, well, we can just shoot it in a different way, Jon. It's okay. And he'd be like, no, no, no. Just let them see if, if they can give, give them a moment to just figure it out. Because they, they. might just figure it out and, and then it'll be really, really cool. And so it's where most, most showrunners wouldn't necessarily have the patience for that. It's just like, whatever's the easiest thing, just do it, you know?

Um, and so for that reason, there were a lot of, slightly daring things that, Jon was willing to try. That wasn't the easiest path, you know, it, it was sort of like, okay, let's actually, instead of just shooting these scenes in the way that they're written with kind of classic coverage, let's try to do this all as a one and do it within the volume.

Um, which is a very limited space. It's a very limited square footage. And, um, and so basically, essentially what was happening was in this one. The character, the Mandalorian Din Djarin, was going through a series of environments, uh, and traveling. So you got the sense that he was, he was going to places where you really weren't, because the volume is, it's in a sound, it fits inside of a sound stage.

It's about half the size of a sound stage. Um, I, I don't know. What would you say, Rob? Like half the size of a football field? Pretty much kind of.

[00:50:15] Rob Bredow: Yeah, what is it, like 65, 70 feet across? Um, so you have, you have some room, but not a ton of extra room. Especially for something as ambitious as this, where he is gonna be in three different environments in a very compressed period of time.

[00:50:27] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah. And so what happened was, I mean, my background is in theater. Like I started in theater and what's so fun about theater is, you know, you're in, you're on a stage and there are reveals of things, but it's all, it's all pretend and you're needing to kind of like just work with the environment that you're in to create this story. and things are rehearsed and, and then executed after a lot of rehearsal. And, uh, what was happening in this circumstance was, Mando was, on Ring World. He was with that bloody, with that bloody head in a bag. and he was, exterior. of a bar. He goes into an elevator behind him. The content would move on the wall so that it looked as if he was going up in the elevator. He was not moving, he was stationary. Um, so at this point we've only really used like five feet of the volume, but you feel like you've gone up three floors, um, from outside. then Mando exits. This is the same shot, into a room.

We're following him. What's revealed in this room is that there's a bunch of people partying and there's kind of this like, uh, like sexy Star Wars music and, we follow him behind him and we see all of this. We see out the window of this kind of third floor. We, we get another view of Ring World. We turn with him.

We're now inside of a smaller room. We go around. This table where we see all of these characters and more is revealed. And then he goes back into the elevator, and then while he's in the elevator, the content wall is then moving. It looks like he's going down to the basement while that's happening, everybody that was on stage needs to exit stage quietly.

Like that was the part that was funny was when he's in the elevator, we're like, shh. And we're like, okay. He's out there in the elevator. Everybody dance. Everybody dance. Okay, now quiet, quiet, quiet. Now everybody hide. You know, like it was, it was ridiculous. You go back into the elevator content wall all the way down, and then you exit at another floor.

And this is, so you're not actually doing a lot of moving, but it's a dance with, with the content on the wall, with the actors in this space, with the, you know, with the crew, with the camera. And it was so, so fun. And it only took 17 takes. Rob.

[00:53:01] Rob Bredow: 17's pretty good! But, what is it? Two minutes of the show? 17 takes. That's a very efficient use of your shooting days. You got two minutes of the show done in one day. I love it.

[00:53:12] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah. Yeah. It might have even been like half a day or something. It wasn't, yeah. Yeah. It wasn't, it wasn't bad. It wasn't, but, it took so much planning and it was involved. That was an idea that happened before me. I inherited that. Um, when I got involved in prep on that episode, uh, Dave Klein, the DP, was like, we're designing this winner.

I'm really excited. Yeah. and so I was then involved in all the conversations and for me it was more learning about, alright, what are the goals here? What are the challenges? What are the things that we're worried about? So that I could be something that I say to my husband sometimes whenever we're, we've been together for over 20 years, so we're doing great.

But whenever there's like a little, a little moment and he's like, what do you need from me? And I'm like, I need you to worry more than me. Like, I need you to be more worried than I am. 'cause then I can relax. And that's sometimes how I feel as a director coming in. Like, I need to catch up so that I can be more worried about things than anyone else who's involved.

And so that everyone else can relax. Like Jon Favreau can relax because I, I understand. I've inherited his worry and in fact I'm more worried.

[00:54:22] Rob Bredow: You now have enough expertise to be the most concerned person and know it's gonna take a few takes to get that sort of magic to work, but you're gonna pull it off. I mean

[00:54:30] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah.

[00:54:31] Rob Bredow: um, yeah, that is

ship, uh, amazing ship. I, I'm already jumping to the next thing in my mind.

That's an amazing shot.

[00:54:37] Bryce Dallas Howard: That's fun.

[00:54:39] Rob Bredow: We're almost out of time, but I have to ask

[00:54:41] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, no, no, no. Just do it.

[00:54:42] Rob Bredow: The kid rodian in the transport ship, which isn't too far

[00:54:45] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yes.

[00:54:46] Rob Bredow: in that same sequence, that

when I saw that I, 'cause I was, when I was just watching it as a fan, after they were, all the episodes were out on Disney Plus, I was like, oh, this feels like a Bryce moment.

And was that a Bryce moment introduced? 'cause it feels like we're humanizing him in a new way. And I had even forgotten that it was a rodian until I re-watched it. I thought it was a real kid 'cause he had so much fun in the performance.

[00:55:07] Bryce Dallas Howard: Rob, that's so cool that you called that out. Yeah, no, I, I, um, that wasn't in the script and I asked, I asked Jon, I was like, I, it would be, um, really great to have a moment alone with Mando where you see him, see a child and you see him miss Grogu, like you just know. Exactly what he's thinking about. And, um, after he's now lost his family, essentially, he's lost his family in terms of Grogu. And he has lost his family in terms of, you know, his, his clan and being part of Mandalorian culture. and Jon was so cool because it's not like there's any extra time to shoot anything. And that was gonna require a new set that was gonna require additional cast. Like, that's, that's, that's money that was, you know, and every, I'm sure everyone thinks that, you know, there's like just oodles of money, nothing is wasted.

Like, like everyone is very, very mindful about not wasting and kind of stretching a dollar around the block and doing everything that they can to, uh, just maximize the resources available. And so the fact that Jon. Kind of just was on board with that was, was constantly kind of asking me like, how do you, how are you envisioning it?

You know, are you seeing outside of the ship, inside of like, what, what, like what is the, um, like what are the beats? What are the moments? How can we make this as small as possible? Um, it was a little bit of a, uh, a thing because, you know, with a, with a Rodian child, it's the mask is a face mask, you know?

And, um. And with a kid, you gotta be careful 'cause you don't want them to be scared like inside of a mask. And at first I was thinking, because I have, my nephew is like obsessed with wearing creature costumes to a degree that is like really wild. He's like, for years now, all he does every single day is like walk around in like mummy costumes and like bear costumes.

And like he, I was like, you have a future at Legacy Effects. Like get, get in a suit.

[00:57:13] Rob Bredow: Ready to get in a suit.

[00:57:14] Bryce Dallas Howard: You are a suit performer, sir. Um, and so I was like, okay, worst case scenario I could maybe throw, see if I could like, you know, I know that he would be comfortable in that situation, but, um, but he was not, not in that state, nor would I think his mother would let him do that.

But, it was really cool. We auditioned performers and, there was a, you know, a young girl, I think she was five and. Really cool and really felt very comfortable the whole time. They created a version of the Rodian mask that was magnetized, so it could just kind of come off and on. It was very easy.

Um, and, and I just, I, I, I, I loved that, that got to be a moment. So I, I, I can't believe you asked me about that, Rob. That's, that's something that I'm kind of specifically proud of, so I'm, I'm really glad that you mentioned it.

[00:57:57] Rob Bredow: Well, I'm not the only one who notices how good your episodes are, and this is in a great series that we love. But like I, it's funny 'cause watching that episode, I wasn't sure which one was yours until, of course the credit comes up at the end as directed by Bryce Dallas Howard. I'm like, I knew it. I could just tell. And I love the fact that you got that moment in there, and it is, I mean, this is back to where you started, which is the character development and doing it in the most visceral, powerful way. Whether it's the chopped off head in the bag, or whether it's the reminding us of his, you know, missing his child with that kid, rodian in that scene. So such powerful storytelling. So we just, we just love it. Getting to work with you on those shows.

[00:58:38] Bryce Dallas Howard: thank you, Rob. It's also, I think what's so fun about Star Wars is it's these moments that we all relate to set in these really extraordinary circumstances. So like, we've all sat on a bus or train or a plane, and there's a kid in the seat in front of us turning around, looking at us, and it's kind of like specific moment of human connection and absurdity and, you know, there's innocence and humor in it.

And so to take something that is just, uh, an experience that we've all encountered in one, form or another. and then getting to, you know, set it on, a planet or a ship or, you know.

[00:59:22] Rob Bredow: Outside of Ring World, as happens, you

[00:59:24] Bryce Dallas Howard: Exactly. Exactly. It's what makes it so, so fun. So it's, it's why I love Star Wars in particular, and, will never say no if they ever ask anything of me because it is such a joy. Such a joy.

[00:59:37] Rob Bredow: That's very fun. Well I hope we get to continue to make more Star Wars together 'cause it is a joy. We love working with you on your shows and your episodes. Bryce, it's so much fun to have you on this show.

[00:59:47] Bryce Dallas Howard: Thank you, Rob.

[00:59:48] The Martini

[00:59:48] Rob Bredow: I could keep going for another hour but we make about hour long show, so I guess that takes us to our martini.

Jenny, do you wanna get us started with your martini today?

[00:59:56] Jenny Ely: Yes. Um, yeah. Thank you, Bryce. This has been such a fun conversation.

[01:00:00] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh no, I love it, have me back again. We'll just do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Please, please, please, please. Yeah. yeah. Yeah.

[01:00:07] Jenny Ely: Okay so, my martini this week is an Instagram account. So, uh, you know, social media can tend to be a dumpster fire sometimes of negativity and just awfulness. So I love it when I can find an account that is just humorous, educational and just lighthearted.

And especially when it comes from a organization or a corporation that has just found that person to run their social media, that is just hilarious with the puns and the entertainment. So, um, right now, the one that I'm very into is the Merriam-Webster Instagram account, the dictionary. So I highly suggest you follow because it is educational.

But they do things that are topical for, you know, like holidays or whatever. They have hilarious puns. They do really funny memes sometimes. So it's, it's humorous, lighthearted, and you're getting a little bit of education with grammar and spelling. So, Merriam-Webster on Instagram.

[01:00:58] Bryce Dallas Howard: doing it.

[01:00:59] Jenny Ely: Excellent.

[01:00:59] Bryce Dallas Howard: Sold.

[01:01:00] Rob Bredow: I love it, a little lighthearted instagram in your feed sounds great.

[01:01:04] Jenny Ely: Mm-hmm.

[01:01:05] Bryce Dallas Howard: What's yours, Rob?

[01:01:06] Rob Bredow: I am, mine's pretty geeky. It's the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO. You can get the limited edition, or not, doesn't matter. They're headphones. And I was looking for a set of headphones for this, podcast.

And I, I asked my friends over at Skywalker Sound, what headphones should I get? And they're not cheap headphones, but they're among the best in the world. They're very durable. Um, they're like 150 ish dollars. And it, you might get intimidated 'cause it asks you, there's like three different versions with different ohms. And like, I don't know how in any ohms do I want a 32 or an 80 ohm, or 250 Ohms for my headphones? But fortunately I had the guys at Skywalker Sound who were saying, well, if you ever wanna plug it into your phone. the 32 ohm one, if you're just gonna use it at home, plugged into an amplifier, you can get the 80 ohm one.

So they told me which one to get. I got the one I could use anywhere. And they're just great quality headphones, um, and very durable. And, and somebody else recommended using them. Somebody else, uh, was using 'em on their podcast and I was like, oh yeah, I haven't mentioned these really, really nice headphones.

So if you have $150 and you like listening to music or you wanna, you know, do your own podcast, I recommend the Beyerdynamic DT 770's.

[01:02:15] Bryce Dallas Howard: Ooh, I love it. And I like biodynamic vegetables as well, and biodynamic farming.

[01:02:24] Rob Bredow: Perfect. Perfect Don't eat these though. Okay. What did you bring Bryce for your martini?

[01:02:32] Bryce Dallas Howard: So I have been, um, at the, at the age of, I'm now 44, at the age of 42. I got really into art. I had never drawn or, um, painted or anything really. And I got into watercolor. And then in October of 2023, I started an art program and it's called the Milan Art Institute.

And it's an online program. and I'm still doing it. I'm in the, portfolio stage of my education. If you do it, pretty much full-time, um, full-time being 20 plus hours a week, but around 20 hours. So I guess that's part, part-time. Um, you can finish it in a year. It's very rigorous, but you can finish it in a year.

It's taking me longer than a year. It's gonna take me a full two years. So I'll be graduating this October. Um, but it has, I've learned oil painting, fine art drawing, mixed media. Um. It is an incredible, it's been an incredible education for me in terms of color theory and composition and dimension and, and all of it.

And someone who's been such a cheerleader during this for me is Dave Filoni actually. who is, uh, obviously, uh, Mr. Star Wars, but he's also, um, himself an incredible artist. He started in animation and, um, his, his father, uh, was a fine artist, and his paintings were absolutely gorgeous. And so, um, during this, I've been, I've been texting with Dave and, and being like, you know what?

You know, doing all of the classes and whatnot within this program. And he's been giving me lots of, lots of tips. And then recently he gave me, he's like, oh my God, you've learning, you're learning so much. Like you're really learning this. I'm like, no, this is an incredible program an unbelievable program.

So I just, anyone who wants to learn, uh. You know how to, how to do art, but at a, at a level that is, uh, that at first seems intimidating, but they make it very, very, very feasible. It's called the Milan Art Institute, and it's online. They have an incredible YouTube. I started by just subscribing to their YouTube and watching, and listening to their podcast and stuff.

They have incredible, incredible tips and, you know, guidance and kind of, um, uh, organizing principles that I think help anyone who wants to explore their, their creativity and, and their voice as an artist.

[01:05:01] Rob Bredow: Some of your water color paintings, uh, you've had some of them in your, uh, newsletter from time to time, right?

[01:05:06] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah.

[01:05:09] Rob Bredow: if you're a fan of Bryce like we are, we'll link to her newsletter at Nine Muses where she gives really encouraging advice for, especially for people who are, uh, up and coming in the industry, in these creative worlds.

And it's a very inspiring, uh, very nice newsletter. So, uh, we'll link to that in the show notes as well, so you can stay in touch with some of the things that are happening at her production company.

[01:05:30] Bryce Dallas Howard: Thank you, Rob. Yeah, no, it's a free newsletter and, um, and I, I actually, I haven't been doing it for a little while, but I was ju I'm, I'm gonna be starting it up again. And, one of the things I'm gonna start up again is, is just like where we last left off, here were the watercolors and now, now here are my series of meerkats that I paint. weird. So weird.

[01:05:56] Rob Bredow: Yeah, and the fact that it's not like every day in your inbox is actually delightful. 'cause when you get something from it, you're like, oh, this is nice. I, I'd like to keep up with what's going on. It's really fun.

[01:06:05] Bryce Dallas Howard: Oh, thanks Rob. Yeah. I don't want it to be too much.

[01:06:09] Rob Bredow: Well, thank you so much everyone for listening to the Lighter Darker podcast and thank you so much, Bryce, for joining us today.

You've been amazing and we will take you up on your offer, uh, preemptively to have you back. 'cause we would love to have a part two.

[01:06:21] Bryce Dallas Howard: Please.

[01:06:21] Jenny Ely: Yes, absolutely.

[01:06:22] Bryce Dallas Howard: I would love that. This just, it's, it's so great to get to talk with you both and to be a part of this and I just, I feel, I feel very, very lucky. One thing that I'll just say is, 'cause I know that this is, you know, an audience that is really technologically savvy and, you know, folks know what they're doing and whatnot. in case there's anyone out there who's, maybe less secure and confident in that area, when I started working in emerging technology with Canon, you know, and then, getting to work with you guys on all these shows. Everybody when they're learning something new in this area, they're a beginner. And I think that people think that they're supposed to know everything before they start. Like they're supposed to understand the technology fully before they start. And honestly, the moment that you understand something, it's gonna change. And so having that mindset of like, I'm just learning something new and I'm just gonna try to use this as much as possible to see what the limitations are, to see what the mistakes are, to see how difficult it is to use, or how easy it is to use and to just kind of play.

That's just a wonderful thing to get to experience. And I think that I, I just wanted to kind of mention that because I am. Because I, I've worked in emerging tech, but I don't know how to turn on my television. Like I, I work in emerging tech, but like my IT guy is my husband when it comes to my computer and this microphone and, you know, the ear pods and all of that.

And so it's an area to play and it's for anybody who's curious about anything and excited about exploring the things they like to see. and that's really it. And if you have that curiosity and desire to see things that make you excited, then you know, join in the fun and don't, don't feel intimidated and you know, it, it's not gonna take too long to learn the language that goes along with, this art form.

and you can use the Merriam-Webster, uh. Dictionary app in order to, uh, or you know, Instagram to, in order to look up some of, some of those, terms and whatnot. But, you know, I just, I just wanted to just say that really briefly. 'cause people get so intimidated and they're like, oh, I'm not good at this.

And it's like, it's not a thing that anyone is really good at. It's just something we're figuring out together and then continuing to figure out together.

[01:08:53] Rob Bredow: That's so smart, the, especially with as rapidly as things are changing right now, no one has more than a few months of experience with the latest technology because it's only been around for a few months and this is the phase that we're in. So you can become the world's expert on a thing that's coming out today, uh, because that is literally how fast things are changing in the, in the world that we're all working in, in visual storytelling.

So that is such great permission to just dive in and play,

[01:09:19] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah.

[01:09:19] Rob Bredow: your, find your clan and make some stuff.

[01:09:21] Bryce Dallas Howard: Yeah, truly.

[01:09:23] Rob Bredow: Thank you, Bryce.

[01:09:23] Bryce Dallas Howard: Thank you.

[01:09:24] Rob Bredow: Jenny, do you take us out?

[01:09:26] Outro

[01:09:26] Jenny Ely: Thank you for listening to The Lighter Darker podcast. If you have a question for the show or you would like to suggest a topic you would love to hear discussed in a future episode, please email lighterdarker@ilm.com. You can also contact us or follow us on social media. Our links are in the show notes, which you can find at ilm.com/lighterdarker, along with the transcripts.

If you like the show like and subscribe, leave us a comment on YouTube or a review on Apple Podcasts and let your friends know about the show. Thank you to Industrial Light and Magic for hosting the Lighter Darker podcast. This show is produced by myself, Jenny Ely and Rob Bredow. Today's episode has been edited by David Dovell, and we wanna thank ILM's PR team led by Greg Grusby, who worked behind the scenes to help make this happen. Thank you for listening to The Lighter Darker podcast, and until next time, may your pixels be both lighter and darker.

[01:10:18] Bryce Dallas Howard: