Project Hail Mary director clarifies 'no green screen' comment

Christopher Miller prompted confusion when he said the film used "no green screen in the movie whatsoever. Not a single green or blue screen was used," adding that the whole ship interior was built and that a large section of the exterior was constructed. The comment came during an interview that accompanied the trailers, which are heavy on visual effects.

Fans questioned how those shots were achieved without green-screen work, and Miller took to X to clarify: "Some clarification here: 'no green screen' doesn’t mean 'no VFX'. There were, in fact, thousands of VFX shots in the film (2018!)." He thanked the physical and digital effects teams who helped complete the images.

Miller explained that the production built the entire interior of the Hail Mary, and still used digital fixes such as wire and puppeteer removals and ceiling replacements. When Ryan Gosling’s character was on the hull, they filmed him against a black background for space or a shifting-hue backdrop for an aurora to achieve truer interactive lighting.

christopher miller, ryan gosling, hail mary, green screen, vfx, visual effects, practical sets, ship interior, wire removal, puppeteer removal