Uncover the Mysterious Power of the Ladybug Effect with Greg Porper – SYS Podcast Episode 535 Exclusive!
Ashley
interesting. I just want to end on your ladybug story. I think that was a great story. And it’s very emblematic of this production. It sounds like usually it’s the opposite of what actually ended up having you. But tell us about that scene, because I think it’s just a great story. And it’s just to be clear to anybody looking to make a film. That’s not usually how it happens. It’s usually the opposite. It goes completely off. Yeah.
Greg Porper
And production was as chaotic as imaginable, but there were a few moments where luck was just on our side. And an example was, there was a scene in the movie, we had originally in our movie three different moments in which our main character, Susan, spots a ladybug, where a ladybug lands on her. And they happen at moments where she has to make a big choice and decision. And the ladybug landing on her, she interprets it as a sign of good luck, when really the ladybug, which we wrote to be a yellow and black ladybug, mind you, not a typical red ladybug, but a yellow and black ladybug, because the intention was we’re going to CGI a yellow and black ladybug to land on her in these moments. And the yellow and black, yellow, those colors represent a warning. So, we’re visually showing that this is a warning, but our character’s thinking it’s a sign of good luck. But as we’re filming the scene, and we’re going to wear Texas, it was I think in January, actually, when we filmed the scene. And we have it set up where Susan’s going to hold her hand out and was going to land on her hand. And then it was going to like fly out, like kind of go up her shoulder. And it was going to happen three other times in the movie as well. And again, we were always like a little iffy on how we were going to execute it. As we were filming the scene, not only did a ladybug land on her, but it was a yellow and black ladybug. It wasn’t a normal looking ladybug, it was a ladybug that actually was yellow and black. And Patti Guggenheim and Molly Franco, who were in that scene, while the whole cast is like this gasping and like not believing what they’re seeing, they played it off so naturally. And it looks so, and then not only was it on the hand moving around, but then after they say the line, the ladybug happens to fly away in between them, like through the camera. And it’s like, got chills. I’m getting chills even like retelling it, because it’s like, you cannot like, how does this happen? Like this just is the sort of thing that never happens. And that was so realistic. We actually ended up cutting the two other moments with the ladybug showing up, because we’re like, there’s no way we’re going to be able to match that. The best CGI possible would not look as good as what just happened. And then that also makes the moment even more special. So the fact that that happened was just truly wild, truly wild that sometimes like things do work out.
