Arrival was released on November 11, 2016, which makes this week its tenth anniversary. It is the kind of science fiction film where the design is the story: the heptapod language is not spoken words but phrases written with logograms, and one message is hidden across twelve ships. Here is how the language, the ships and the look around them were put together, fact by fact.
One message split across twelve ships
Donnelly discovers that the symbol for time is present throughout the alien message and that the writing occupies exactly one-twelfth of the 3D space into which it is projected. Banks suggests the full message is split between the twelve craft, which is why the heptapods want all nations to collaborate to decipher it.
Two heptapods, one Abbott and Costello
Banks and Donnelly make contact with two cephalopod-like, seven-limbed aliens on board the craft above Montana. They call the beings heptapods; Donnelly nicknames them Abbott and Costello. The complex written language they study consists of phrases written with logograms.
China read ‘offer weapon’ as ‘use weapon’
The heptapods answer why they have come with a statement that could be translated as ‘offer weapon’. China interprets it as ‘use weapon’ and breaks off communications. Banks argues the symbol can be more abstractly related to ‘means’ or ‘tool’; China’s translation likely results from interacting with the heptapods using mahjong, a highly competitive game.
An asteroid gave the ships their look
Rodeo FX completed 60 visual shots for the film. Its biggest challenge was the sequence in which Louise and Ian first enter the alien craft. The asteroid 15 Eunomia is the inspiration for the look of the heptapod ships.
James Turrell shaped the meeting room
Production designer Patrice Vermette said a big influence on the film’s look was the works of James Turrell, particularly the meeting room aboard the alien craft. He wanted the simplicity and the sensorial experience you feel in a room like that. For Vermette, the big screen is more than a screen: the room is a classroom, and that shape echoes the big window in Louise’s house and her classroom.
Arrival was the first title suggested
Villeneuve changed the title because he felt the original, Story of Your Life, sounded like a romantic comedy and the script had become very different from Ted Chiang’s Nebula-winning 1998 novella. He went through hundreds of possible titles, but Arrival was the first one his team of producers and writers suggested.
Studios called it ‘too smart’
Screenwriter Eric Heisserer adapted Story of Your Life after it had a profound emotional effect on him. He pitched the spec script for several years without receiving interest, nearly gave up, and heard other studios call the project too smart. He believes it was only after he completed and produced 2013’s Hours that others took interest in his work.
Filming kept its feet in realism
Principal photography lasted 56 days, beginning on June 7, 2015, after Jeremy Renner had fulfilled his obligations to Captain America: Civil War. Filming was done mainly in and around Montreal, with Saint-Fabien, Quebec doubling for Montana. Bradford Young was sought out for his sensibility toward natural lighting; Villeneuve wanted the movie to have strong roots in realism.
Richter’s piece kept the score from Oscar
Jóhann Jóhannsson began writing the score as shooting started and developed one of the main themes in the first week using vocals and experimental piano loops. Max Richter’s preexisting piece ‘On the Nature of Daylight’ is featured in the opening and closing scenes. Because of its prominent use, Jóhann’s score was deemed ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Which Arrival design detail did you catch first: the twelve-ship message, the asteroid ships or the Turrell room?
Facts from Wikipedia: Arrival (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.