A Wrinkle in Time

 

Cast: Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peňa, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Pine
Director: Ava DuVernay
Producer: Jim Whitaker, Catherine Hand

Genre: Live Action

 

From visionary director Ava DuVernay comes Disney's 'A Wrinkle in Time," an epic adventure based on Madeleine L'Engle's timeless classic which takes audiences across dimensions of time and space, examining the nature of darkness versus light and, ultimately, the triumph of love. Through one girl's transformative journey led by three celestial guides, we discover that strength comes from embracing one's individuality and that the best way to triumph over fear is to travel by one's own light.

Meg Murry is a typical middle school student struggling with issues of self-worth who just want to fit in. The daughter of two world-renowned physicists, she is intelligent and uniquely gifted, as is Meg's younger brother, Charles Wallace, but she has yet to realize it for herself. Complicating matters is the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Murry, which has left Meg devastated and her mother broken-hearted. Charles Wallace introduces Meg and her fellow classmate Calvin to three celestial beings (Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who) who have journeyed to Earth to help search for their father, and together they embark on their formidable quest. Travelling via a wrinkling of time and space known as tessering, they are transported to worlds beyond their imagination where they must confront a powerful evil force. To make it back home to Earth, Meg must face the darkness within herself in order to harness the strength necessary to defeat the darkness rapidly enveloping the Universe.

 

 

A Wrinkle in Time

In Cinemas 29 March

Trailer

 

CASTING The ICONIC CHARACTERs

With immensely-talented women like director Ava DuVernay, screenwriter Jennifer Lee and producer Catherine Hand involved, 'A Wrinkle in Time" already had a strong female voice, but DuVernay has always been an advocate for projects that promote inclusion, and was committed to making a film that would resonate with everyone. As a result, gender and ethnicity were of no concern during casting, resulting in a range of ages, sexes and cultural backgrounds represented on screen.

 

'This is a story about belonging," says DuVernay. 'It's about a girl who just doesn't feel strong in her mind, body and spirit. But through this epic journey, she finds her strength and learns that the center of the universe starts inside her. It's about Meg feeling like she belongs in the universe and has a mighty part to play…as do we all."

 

Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who are the three visitors born of stardust who are now pure light and have come to Earth in human form to shower Meg with wisdom and love as she searches for her father. Each is of significant importance in L'Engle's original narrative, and as brilliantly fleshed out in the screenplay brings even more to the story. Says DuVernay, 'We all have Mrs.'s in our lives. The Mrs.'s represent our instincts, our imagination, our education and our experience, all of these intangibles, and if you hone in on the best of yourself and listen to that, then you give yourself permission to be on the journey you should be on."

 

'Meg has been fighting a large fight against her own demons when hope arrives in the form of these  three Mrs.'s," says producer Jim Whitaker, 'which serves as the catalyst for Meg coming to realize that she herself possesses all the tools needed to overcome her own darkness."

 

In keeping with her primary objective to create a more diverse representation on screen, DuVernay chose to stray from L'Engle's description of these three characters when casting the roles, and went with Southeast Asian, Caucasian and African-American actresses. The choice, while wholly original and somewhat unexpected, further substantiated the fresh new experience the filmmaker was looking to provide audiences.

 

DuVernay always envisioned Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Which, the oldest and most knowledgeable of the three Mrs.'s.  Along with Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who, they are self-proclaimed warriors who strive to protect all that is good and bright in the universe and have dedicated themselves to helping Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin in their search for Mr. Murry.

 

Actor, producer and philanthropist Winfrey is chairman and CEO of the cable TV network OWN, but is probably best known for hosting the long-running, award-winning 'The Oprah Winfrey Show." She also has acting and producer credits on numerous film and television titles, including: 'The Color Purple," 'Selma" and 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," among others. Winfrey and DuVernay first worked together on 'Selma," and the TV series they co-created, 'Queen Sugar," currently airs on Winfrey's network. The director also has a production deal with Winfrey's Harpo Films.

 

'I'll never forget the day we got a phone call from Ava asking us, -What do you think about Oprah as Mrs. Which? What do you think about one of the wisest people in the world playing one of the wisest people in the universe?'" producer Catherine Hand says. 'And there wasn't a moment's hesitation. We asked Ava if it was something Oprah would even consider and she said -yes,' which was really exciting for all of us because Oprah is the perfect Mrs. Which."

 

'There's nobody greater in the world than Oprah Winfrey in terms of her personality, her lightness and her emotional resonance in the world," adds Whitaker. 'And Mrs. Which is a similar character.  Formerly a star, she has lived in the universe for eons and eons and has the warmth and the wisdom and the judgment that the other two Mrs.'s are lacking."

 

Says Winfrey, 'Mrs. Which has been around for millennia. She is an angelic cosmic being who has complete empathy and connection to all humans and is one with the universe. She understands that love and light is all that matters and journeys throughout the universe to spread that message."

 

She continues, 'For me she was a cross between the wisest woman I know, Maya Angelou, and my all-time favorite magical character Glinda, the good witch from -The Wizard of Oz.' But she had to be grounded in something, so I grounded her in Maya Angelou, who is a personal friend, mother figure, sister figure, teacher and mentor for me. There is a certainty, an assurance of purpose and wisdom that would come from Maya in such a way that sort of filled her presence."

 

Winfrey was impressed when observing DuVernay on set, and found it undeniably clear that the director was truly at home in this environment. 'One of the things that I so appreciate about Ava is that she understands not just the value of the story, but of all the people who help to make the story as well," Winfrey says. 'She surrounds herself with the best crews, with people who are good and kind and who share the same vision and are willing to do whatever is necessary to see it executed."

For the role of Mrs. Whatsit, the second ethereal guide who has journeyed to Earth, the filmmakers were looking to cast someone charming, delightful and funny"all words that describe Reese Witherspoon. The actor and producer, whose credits range from 'Legally Blonde" and 'Walk the Line" to 'Big Little Lies" and 'Wild," was a huge fan of the book as a child and was thrilled when offered the role of the youthful and free-spirited Mrs. Whatsit.

 

She was also excited to work with DuVernay. 'I was so impressed with what Ava did on -Selma,' creating this beautifully written, beautifully directed, beautifully cast film," says Witherspoon. 'And to have this incredible, strong, female filmmaker at the center of the story was just really appealing to me."

 

In describing her character, a star who gave up her existence in order to fight the darkness, Witherspoon says, 'Mrs. Whatsit is the youngest of the three Mrs.'s…she's only 2 billion years old. This is her first mission as a guide traveling the universe fighting for light and goodness in people and humanity, but she is new to Earth and not used to being in a human form and is very curious."

 

'She is innocent, almost childlike, and desperately wants to impress Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, but she doesn't understand how things work, so she is always playing with things," Witherspoon continues. 'And sometimes she says things out loud, not realizing people can hear her, and sometimes they are inappropriate."

 

Comedienne-actor-writer Mindy Kaling ('The Office," 'The Mindy Project," 'Inside Out") plays the third astral guide, Mrs. Who, a character who represents a melting pot of the world we live in, both historically and in today's modern times. The quietest of the group, Mrs. Who has adopted the language of some of the greatest spiritual warriors as a means of communication, speaking in proverbs and quotes from the likes of Shakespeare, Churchill and Buddha.

 

'Mrs. Who has evolved so much that she doesn't quite understand why we need language," explains screenwriter Lee, 'so in order to communicate she doesn't bother to think up things herself, she just steals words from everyone else."

 

Says Kaling, 'Mrs. Who is a very mysterious character because she speaks through other people's words and sentiments, and for someone like me who is very expressive and always has a lot to say and a lot of opinions, it was a really challenging role to play. It also meant I wasn't able to improvise on set, which is one of the first times that has ever happened."

 

Mrs. Who personifies unconditional love and serves as a surrogate mother when the children are away from home. And it is her unusual spectacles, a gift she gives to Meg, that prove to be of crucial assistance when rescuing Mr. Murry.

 

Twelve-year-old Storm Reid was the first actress DuVernay saw for the role of Meg Murry, the story's protagonist and heroine. Reid was raised in Atlanta and only had a handful of credits under her belt at the time ('12 Years a Slave," 'NCIS: Los Angeles," 'Chicago P.D."), but she nailed her first audition, effortlessly conveying the right mix of caution, curiosity, charisma and vulnerability the role demanded.

 

DuVernay was impressed from Reid's very first reading, as were the rest of the filmmakers. 'She is exceptional in the movie," says Whitaker. 'She's just extremely gifted, and you can feel what she's feeling when you watch her."

 

For Reid, being chosen to embody the iconic literary character was equal parts thrilling and terrifying. 'There's a lot of pressure being one of the first African-American girls to be the lead in a sci-fi film," she explains. 'But when the announcement came out I received so much positive feedback, with little girls saying, -Oh my God, there's Meg and she looks just like me.' That really inspired me, so I feel blessed to be given the opportunity to be a part of something so special."

 

'Meg is a really wonderful role model for girls because she's not perfect," says Charlotte Jones Voiklis. 'She is awkward, she feels out of place, she loses her temper, she gets into fights and she feels alone and misunderstood. Reading a story about a young person dealing with these things who is able to grow and realize that her anger and stubbornness, things she believed were her faults, are actually the things that are going to help save the universe, can be very powerful."

'Storm Reid as Meg is a departure from the description of the girl in the book," says DuVernay. 'She's a biracial child, so this is a girl who is inclusive of different kinds of people in her very being. The hope is that you see this film, no matter who you are, and you see yourself in it. The real world is made up of all kinds of folks. It's a quilt, you know, it's a tapestry, and we all have a thread within it."

 

'Storm truly is a singular talent," DuVernay continues. 'During filming, she made my jaw drop on a daily basis because of what she is able to do as an actor. She's a romantic lead, she's a heroine, she does action sequences, she gets to save the day, cry, laugh, be impatient, be forgiving, be loving, be spiteful…she can do it all. She's in every frame of the film, and she holds it like a freaking rock. She is a force of nature, and aptly named."

 

Warriors can come from the most unexpected places, and Meg Murry has no idea that she is, in fact, part of something much bigger. Her father's disappearance"and her belief that he is still alive"prevents her from seeing herself completely. She is unsure of herself and begins to shut out the world, convincing herself that when her father returns things will go back to the way they used to be.

 

'One of the things I love most about Meg is that she doesn't care what other people think of her," says Reid. 'She gets bullied at school and there are all these rumors going around that her dad is missing, but she goes on this beautiful journey where she learns to love herself and to stand up and fight for her family."

 

During filming, Reid immersed herself in the character and reveled in the thrill and excitement of stunt work, completing many of the stunts herself. 'One time we were running through the redwood forests with special effects that made it look like trees were falling behind us and I slipped," she laughs. 'I kept on going because it made it look more real, but it was a little nerve-racking. Another time I was high up in the air and basically was thrown off a cliff, but I really had so much fun."

 

To Hand, Reid is more than just a talented actress. 'She's a very kind, loving and gracious human being who is incredibly grateful for getting the role. I don't think there was a single day that she didn't give me a hug when she arrived on set."

 

According to Winfrey, 'I've been around a lot of children in my day and I've never seen a girl like Storm Reid. She is talented, giving, kind, gracious and generous with her time and with her heart."

 

'Storm has this strength of character and she's a phenomenal performer," adds Witherspoon. 'I've never seen a young person explore such deep scenes with such incredible empathy."

 

It was near the end of a six-month worldwide casting search – and three weeks away from the start of principal photography – when the filmmakers found their Charles Wallace, casting 10-year-old newcomer Deric McCabe as Meg's younger brother. Precocious and wise beyond his years, Charles Wallace adores his older sister but doesn't have many friends his own age. While searching for his father, he falls prey to the same evil energy that is holding Mr. Murry prisoner.

 

'Charles Wallace is brilliant, but he is brilliant in a very 5-year-old way," says screenwriter Lee. 'He sees the world and all the magic that's in it and all the potential it holds, but he's also a kid who isn't afraid to speak his mind and who can sound a little arrogant for his age, which occasionally gets him into trouble. Still, there's something special about him, and what makes him special also makes him vulnerable, like a lot of people in life."

 

Completing the trio of intrepid young travelers is Australian actor Levi Miller ('Pan," 'Better Watch Out"), who portrays Calvin, a student at Meg's school. Calvin is a star athlete and quite popular with the girls, and while he comes from a dysfunctional family, he turns out to be a kind and understanding friend to Meg when she needs it the most.

 

'Meg has a crush on Calvin but doesn't want him to know," says Reid. 'Unfortunately that makes her appear standoffish and not interested in him, but on the journey she learns about Calvin's relationship with his father, which causes them to bond and begin to trust one another."

 

Chris Pine, the star of numerous box-office hits and acclaimed independent films, including the 'Star Trek" franchise reboot, 'Wonder Woman" and 'Hell or High Water," was cast as Mr. Alex Murry, father to Meg and Charles Wallace. A theoretical physicist employed by NASA who, along with the help of his wife, discovered tessering, he mysteriously disappeared four years ago and is being held prisoner on the planet Camazotz.

 

Whitaker worked with Pine on the nautical thriller 'The Finest Hours" and had a feeling the role would appeal to the actor, and Pine was interested, as he felt the story was so relevant to today's political climate.

 

'Ava and I met for coffee and had this really great conversation about life," Pine recalls. 'I really dug Ava and dug her worldview and what she was striving to achieve with this project, and in the first 10 minutes I was like, -I'm in!'"

 

He continues, 'My impression of Mr. Murry began to take shape in that very first conversation with Ava. We talked a lot about ego versus soul. The ego is very invested in being validated, but what does the soul need? As we were talking, I was like, -My God, this is exactly what this film is about.' We're talking about precisely who Mr. Murry is: He is defined by this great struggle between wanting to achieve great things and wanting to be grounded, being pulled between the two forces of the family and the self."

 

'Mr. Murry is a kind of frenetic, obsessed, ambitious doctor who really wants to do the right thing for his family"and for mankind"which he believes is going out into the universe to find something that has never been found before," says Whitaker. 'He's striving to find something that is bigger than himself, which becomes a complex dilemma for him because he doesn't want to sacrifice his family in the process."

 

'Chris has a wonderful ability to not be Chris Pine and just be the person he needs to be in the moment, and in this case it's Meg's father," continues Whitaker. 'It's not a huge part, but it's an important part because the audience has to have an emotional connection to the character and believe in the relationship he has with Meg, which drives the film emotionally."

 

Reid elaborates, saying, 'Meg and her dad have an amazing relationship. They are very close and used to do everything together, but once he is gone Meg doesn't have the strength to go on or know how to navigate her life anymore."

 

Gugu Mbatha-Raw ('Beauty and the Beast," 'Miss Sloane") plays Pine's on-screen wife, Kate Murry, an award-winning biophysicist and the epitome of a modern woman. Working from a science lab in her home so she can maintain a loving and warm environment in which to raise her children, she is devastated by her husband's disappearance and baffled as to why he left. As brought to life by Mbatha-Raw, the character is at once heartbreakingly believable and incredibly empathetic.

 

Red, a character known in L'Engle's book as the Man with the Red Eyes, is played by Michael Peña ('Ant-Man," 'American Hustle"). Red joyfully approaches the children on a beach on the planet of Camazotz in outlandish attire, but he is really a pawn controlled by the IT that seduces Charles Wallace. In fact, at one point, the audience can see that Red actually has strings on his back, like a puppet.

 

Comedic powerhouse Zach Galifianakis ('The Hangover," 'Baskets") is the Happy Medium, a seer whom Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin visit, hoping to gain insight as to Mr. Murry's location. In L'Engle's book the Happy Medium is a woman, but the filmmakers chose to cast a man since the cast was already so female-centric. 'Zach is hilarious every time he opens his mouth but he's also very emotional, too," says Whitaker. 'His character lives in a cave wanting to avoid the darkness altogether and it's an existence that he's created for himself in order to not interact with anyone."

 

Kaling is vociferous in her praise of the actor, saying, 'Zach never does the same thing twice in a scene because he likes to keep things fresh, which is something that comes from comedy training, and which helped me so much as an actor. He really changed the dynamic on set because he is really that funny."

 

Additional cast includes: André Holland ('Moonlight," 'Selma") as Mr. Jenkins, the principal at James Baldwin Middle School who is frustrated with Meg's poor attitude and disruptive behavior; Rowan Blanchard ('Girl Meets World," 'Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World") as Veronica Kiley, a classmate who relentlessly taunts and belittles Meg but is really just insecure and unhappy herself; and Bellamy Young ('Scandal") as a woman on the planet Camazotz under control of the IT.

 

 

 

EMBARKING ON THE CINEMATIC ADVENTURE

Bringing Madeleine L'Engle's classic to the screen was a massive undertaking, and one that demanded the best of the best across the board. 'Every movie has a moment in time when it needs to be made," explains producer Jim Whitaker, 'and this one definitely felt like it needed to be made but could also finally be made. It's a very challenging film but we're living in a very challenging time, too, and with the combination of technology catching up and the themes being so right for the time we live in, it really felt like the perfect time to make this movie."

 

To help bring L'Engle's story to life the filmmakers enlisted some of the most accomplished artisans working today: director of photography Tobias Schliessler, ASC; production designer Naomi Shohan; Oscar®-nominated film editor Spencer Averick, ACE; two-time Academy Award®-nominated costume designer Paco Delgado; two-time Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor Rich McBride; GRAMMY®- and four-time Emmy®-nominated composer Ramin Djawadi; makeup department head LaLette Littlejohn; and Emmy-nominated hair department head Kim Kimble.

 

As with the cast, the filmmakers encouraged department heads to reach outside their customary circle of talent in an attempt to bring in fresh blood and new ideas to help expand L'Engle's original vision. 'The book is timeless and has an enduring quality," director Ava DuVernay says. 'But we wanted to give audiences a new experience, too."

 

Adds Whitaker, 'Ava wanted every department head to work with their teams to find the best way to portray every single scene as inventively as possible. At every turn, she asked, -How can we pay homage to the ideas in the book but also show the audience something that is different?'"

 

Principal photography on 'A Wrinkle in Time" commenced in November 2016 on location in the city of Compton near downtown Los Angeles. Subsequent filming locations in California included the West Adams district of Los Angeles, Venice Beach, San Pedro and the redwood forests of Northern California. The production also shot on soundstages at Santa Clarita Studios outside Los Angeles.

 

Upon completion of principal photography in the U.S., a condensed crew traveled to New Zealand to film for two weeks on the picturesque South Island before wrapping in late February 2017. The production filmed on several remote locations hoping to capture the country's unspoiled natural beauty, and each setting turned out to be more breathtaking than the last.

 

Producer Jim Whitaker and executive producer Adam Borba know New Zealand well, having spent several months there filming 'Pete's Dragon" in 2015. Along with executive producer Doug Merrifield, they were able to navigate the country's infrastructure, securing film permits and tapping into the local workforce to hire supplemental crew members, stunt doubles and cast stand-ins.

 

'Moviemaking can be long. Shooting can go on for weeks, and things can move very slowly, but sometimes there is a magical moment like the one we had when we first arrived in New Zealand," Whitaker says. 'It was pure euphoria. The weather cleared and beautiful sunshine, beautiful mountain views and beautiful lake views presented themselves just like that."

 

'New Zealand was magical," says Reese Witherspoon. 'The colors are different, the air is different…even the food tastes different there, and the people are all so lovely."

 

'One of my favorite days in New Zealand was also one of the most challenging as well," remembers Oprah Winfrey. 'We were filming a scene where the three Mrs.'s are standing out in the middle of this beautiful field of golden grass, and it turned out to be one of the finest shots I've ever seen."

 

Production Design ~ NAOMI SHOHAN

One of production designer Naomi Shohan's ('American Beauty," 'The Lovely Bones") primary roles  on a film is to create the visual context and flow that will ultimately shape the viewer's experience. On 'A Wrinkle in Time" it was also finding ways to take the story and open it up to make it feel as cinematic as possible. She began by analyzing the nature of the project, including the story and its emotional and philosophical intention, with her team and all the other departments. The resultant information was illustrated and then further refined into concept art used to determine how (and where) the film would actually be shot.

 

For the unspecified metropolitan city where the Murry family resides, the filmmakers chose Compton, a city in Los Angeles County located south of downtown. Compton, and Los Angeles itself, is a fusion of diversity, which was the ideal setting, and visually, Crenshaw High School was perfect to represent James Baldwin Middle School, where Meg is in the eighth grade. It also happens to be the alma mater of Ava DuVernay.

 

A traditional American Craftsman home in the West Adams district of Los Angeles became the Murry residence. Because Meg and Charles Wallace visit fantastical worlds in 'A Wrinkle in Time," it was important to the filmmakers that audiences first see the family living in a believable, real world setting to make their world feel grounded. Shohan chose this particular neighborhood because the architectural style of the homes makes for a very comfortable and welcoming environment for a family.

 

She found the history of the area fascinating, too. 'The West Adams district has changed a lot in the past 20 years," Shohan explains. 'It was originally built in close proximity to the center of downtown Los Angeles by prosperous, educated people, but over the years those people evacuated and moved elsewhere. Those homes were then repopulated by people who are considered to be more -on the margins.'"

 

The home featured a beautiful semidetached garage, which was perfect as Mr. and Mrs. Murry's laboratory. 'When we first arrived at the house the garage was crammed full of stuff from top to bottom," Shohan laughs. 'But we emptied it out and cleaned it up and made it look really nice…in fact, I'm quite jealous of their garage now."

 

In the story, the Murrys' intergalactic research leads to their discovery of tessering, a means of space travel where great distances can be achieved in the blink of an eye. The travel is possible via a fifth dimension known as a tesseract and is something that falls outside the rules of time and space known to most people.

 

The art department brought in actual scientific equipment provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for use in the garage lab to make it look like an actual workspace, as DuVernay wanted the scientific elements addressed in the story to be as realistic as possible. The walls of the lab were covered with charts, graphs and data applicable to the pursuits of both doctors, and every equation was a tangible calculation provided by real astrophysicists and theoretical physicists.

 

Madeleine L'Engle's granddaughter, Charlotte Jones Voiklis, admits her grandmother didn't have much of a scientific background when she wrote the book. 'Her love of science was in the metaphors they provided," she says. 'She loved the idea that in opening the heart of the atom we released something we didn't have the knowledge to control. She saw great creative potential"as well as great destructive potential"in that." 

 

Still, the filmmakers were hoping to be able to explain, in theory, the concept of tessering, both visually as well as thematically. According to Shohan, 'In this story we're showing our characters tessering from point A to point B, which are 92 million light-years apart and without any time passing, so we wanted to be able to explain that in layman's terms."

 

When questioned how possible the theory of tessering is, NASA astrophysicist Amy Mainzer and systems engineer Tracy Drain confirmed that a tesseract is indeed a real geometric concept, but geometrically speaking, a square is two-dimensional and a tesseract is four-dimensional.

 

'Think of it as a cube within a cube, or a hypercube," says Drain. 'Figuratively speaking, the tesseract in the film allows for travel by way of a fifth dimension, which, in real life, is still up for debate. So in essence, the possibility of tessering really depends on who you ask."

 

'You have to have certain inner qualities and a certain inner strength to tesser well," says DuVernay. 'That is one of the things Meg has to find on her journey." In the end, the camera focuses on the characters' reactions to the tesseract, which allows the audience to better imagine what the tesser would actually feel like.

 

Visual effects ~ rich mcbride

To visually create the tessering effects on screen, as well as the numerous other effects needed to bring Ava DuVernay's vision to life, the director reached out to Rich McBride from Industrial Light & Magic, having admired his work on films like 'Gravity" and 'The Revenant."

 

'What I learned from Rich is that visual effects are steeped in cinematography," DuVernay says. 'To create light in a digital image in the same way that I create light and shape light on set, was a huge part of my journey with Rich. I'd never worked with a visual effects supervisor who also spoke in those terms. It's not just about the elements, it's also about using the light to make it feel as real as possible. It was a very collaborative process"and a very intense one as well"but it was a true pleasure."

 

Establishing the looks of the different planets visited while searching for Mr. Murry was a task production designer Naomi Shohan was eager to tackle, and determining what these distant worlds would look like involved months of work and input from all the departments. The planets are also an important part of Meg's story arc. When the story begins she is in school, which is a world where it's easier to conform than it is to be your own person. Each planet she journeys to challenges aspects of her personality, and by finding herself she, in turn, grows stronger.

 

The planet Camazotz, where the evil energy of the disembodied brain known simply as the IT exists, constantly changes its appearance. The IT controls all inhabitants of Camazotz, including Mr. Murry, who is imprisoned on the planet. Camazotz is the one planet where the three Mrs.'s cannot tesser, as they are pure and positive light and thus cannot exist in a dark place.

 

Some scenes set on Camazotz were filmed in New Zealand, while others were shot in the redwood forests of Northern California at Patrick's Point and Sequoia Park outside Eureka in Humboldt County, including the scene where Meg and Calvin fear something is stalking them in the forest. To film the scene, McBride used drones to capture footage that was then entered into the computer so that the visual effects artists would have access to the full depth of the forest to use when designing the computer-generated effects.

 

'What we did essentially was take elements of the forest that you see in the background like the trees, the foliage and the dirt and brought them to life so that the audience realizes that it is actually the land, it's the forest, it's the rocks, it's the dirt, it's everything coming together and going after them," McBride explains.

 

'We start with a simulation of something similar to a storm, of a wind knocking down the trees and dirt and leaves kicking up amid all this wind blowing into the air," continues McBride. 'The special effects team then creates wind and throws some real trees in front of the actors to sort of redirect them, which will be added later to the CG elements they are mixing in."

 

To create the picture-perfect neighborhoods of Camazotz where the children stumble upon a suburban community comprised of identical homes with children bouncing balls in sync, Shohan assumed her department would have to build the homes themselves. Fortunately, they found a military base in San Pedro that worked perfectly. The area provided a perfect sense of uniformity and required only a minimal amount of landscaping to ensure all the yards were identical in appearance.

 

'Everything looked alike and luckily no one in the community paid any attention to their yards, so it was the perfect gift," says Shohan. 'But it looked perfectly eerie at the same time."

 

This scene is a pivotal one for Meg, as it challenges her desire to be like everyone else as opposed to developing any sense of real individuality. Also on Camazotz is the scene that takes place on a crowded beach where Red approaches Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin, which was filmed on Venice Beach in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to the children, the beach is actually an illusion created by the IT.

 

'This is one of my favorite scenes in the film and it is one that was in Jennifer's first draft," says producer Jim Whitaker. 'Red basically says, -Why don't you come with me on a little trip?' which begins this seduction of him trying to bring them into the dark world of Camazotz. But it begins with Michael Peña looking like a guy who's just coming out of nowhere to help them out."

 

Uriel, the first planet to which Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin are tessered, is a lush, green and fertile planet that and has only known light. It has oversized plants and flowers covering its hilly terrain, some of which can even communicate with humans. The majestic mountains of Aoraki Mount Cook in New Zealand served as the backdrop for several scenes set on the planet Uriel. Filming took place on the western shores of Lake Hawea in Central Otago, a 7,000-acre property with beautiful green farmland on the shores of a bright blue lake surrounded by the picturesque snowcapped mountains.

 

'Reading the beautiful description of Uriel in the script instantly made me think of a flowering place where there is constant sunlight and plenty of water to help all living things grow," says DuVernay. 'Picture the most beautiful place on Earth…Uriel is that times ten."

 

'It's where the flowers speak the language of color, the trees speak of movement, the sky speaks and the water speaks and they all have their own language," adds Oprah Winfrey.

 

It's also where Mrs. Whatsit transforms into a magnificent winged creature and flies the children around the planet. 'She's like part-butterfly, part-serpent, and it was truly magical to film," says Reese Witherspoon.

 

'A Wrinkle in Time" was Witherspoon's introduction to the world of CGI effects. 'It was amazing to be able to observe the process of having my character, Mrs. Whatsit, turn into a magical creature," she says. 'It's what I've always loved about Disney films….the imaginations of everyone involved with the visual effects is so impressive. Those people can create anything really."

 

The planet Orion, which has layers of dense, low-hanging gray fog covering its rocky landscape, is home to the Happy Medium, a seer who lives in a cave so as to avoid any confrontation and to hide from the darkness. The cave created for the film is much more complex than the one described in the book and was built on soundstages at Santa Clarita Studios. It was the largest set built, taking close to four months to complete.

 

The concept of a happy medium is about balance in one's life, so Shohan and her team completely reinterpreted his home and created a space that reflected the theme of balance. Screenwriter Jennifer Lee explains, 'The cave is a complicated system designed to help visitors balance everything in their lives, and things that shouldn't balance, do. It consists of wonderful sculptures and complicated balance beams, making it a world that they have to learn to balance in before they can even succeed at what they're trying to do."

 

The cave has an amber color scheme and is vertical in design, spiraling downward. The walls were made of wood, which was plastered then painted, and crystal amber beams made from fiber-glass were attached to the walls, which were made to look like steps (but moved more like a see-saw). Once everyone in the cave is balanced and in harmony, the Happy Medium uses his energy to create visions, resulting in an exciting and emotional scene.

 

Cinematography ~ tobias schliessler

While 'A Wrinkle in Time" is a personal and emotional story about one girl's journey to overcome the darkness within herself, it is also a sprawling visual spectacle featuring extraordinary worlds that called for a savvy cinematographer with experience lighting and shooting a variety of looks and atmospheres.

 

Cinematographer Tobias Schliessler, whose diverse credits include 'Beauty and the Beast," 'Patriots Day," 'Dreamgirls" and 'Friday Night Lights," enjoys moving back and forth between film genres, as it keeps him on his toes. 'My job is to take a director's vision and bring it to the screen, so each film presents me with a new challenge as to how to best interpret the story using cameras and light," he says.

 

Growing up in Germany, Schliessler was not familiar with L'Engle's novel and arrived on set with a basic idea as to the story and characters. Fortunately, director Ava DuVernay already had a vision as to how she wanted to visually tell the story and he was able to hit the ground running. The two soon developed an effortless work dynamic.

 

DuVernay wanted the emotional aspects of the story to be evidenced on screen, so the DP looked for creative ways to help visualize emotions. 'Even though this is a big movie, we went back to our independent roots and shot it with a lot of framing," Schliessler says. 'Ava challenged me to do nontraditional framing, which, while somewhat unexpected, gave the scenes more atmosphere and tone."

 

When it came to cameras and shooting formats, the cinematographer was looking to try out some new equipment and capture some exciting action footage. While on location in the redwood forests of Northern California filming the scene on Camazotz where Meg and Calvin are literally being chased by the planet itself, Schliessler set up a Spydercam cable rig directly above the heads of the kids, which whipped through the massive trees and rough forest terrain at 30 mph, producing some amazing low-flying shots.

 

He used a drone and a handheld Artemis Maxima gyro rig for the same scene and got some incredibly smooth handheld tracking shots to supplement the footage previously shot. The 42-foot Chapman Hydrascope was used for most of the crane work in California, while in New Zealand Schliessler opted for the 50-foot Technocrane to capture the strikingly-beautiful landscape and effectively convey its scope and magnitude.

 

The shooting locations were set amid the natural beauty of New Zealand's terrain, so Schliessler shot with different apertures and neutralizing density filters. 'The beautiful mountains were so right there in front of us that I really wanted to try and bring that to the screen," he explains.

 

'Normally I would just put NDs in the camera and shoot with a wider F stop to give it greater depth of field and makes it somewhat softer, but I wanted this to look as sharp as possible on screen. In the story it's the first time the characters were on a new planet, so we shot everything at a high F stop to make everything more in focus and combined it with polarizer filters to help cut through the haze and make everything really pop."

 

To best capture the spectacular costumes worn by Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who, as well as their dazzling hair and makeup on screen, the DP did some stylized lighting setups with ARRI SkyPanels, Soft Suns and old-fashion tungsten and HMI fresnels. 'Tobias just knew how to film all our incredible sets so that they looked amazing," says Mindy Kaling. 'And the way he lit us and the surrounding atmosphere was like nothing I've ever seen before."

 

The biggest hurdle for the camera department was lighting the Happy Medium's cave built on a soundstage at Santa Clarita Studios, which proved extremely difficult due to limited access to the lighting fixtures. 'We ended up using remote-controlled moving lights for the sharp-patterned focusable lights and colored lighting fixtures for any color accents when needed," he explains.

 

Costumes ~ paco Delgado

Director Ava DuVernay had many ideas as to how to creatively expand Madeleine L'Engle's unique vision, one of which was dressing the three Mrs.'s in stylish and incredibly forward-thinking fashions. Producer Jim Whitaker immediately thought of the Spanish costume designer Paco Delgado. 'Paco is terrifically talented and thinks way outside of the box," says Whitaker. 'And Ava wanted someone with a lot of imagination and creativity who could help bring her vision of clothes for the three Mrs.'s to life."

 

DuVernay pictured their costumes as haute couture fashions that could symbolize some of the prevalent themes in the updated story, and it was an idea Delgado embraced wholeheartedly. The costume designer, whose credits include 'The Danish Girl" and 'Les Misérables," among others, usually does his best work on films when there is a fluent exchange of ideas and communication with the director, and the two were immediately in sync creatively.

 

'Ava knows what she wants, physically, visually and emotionally," Delgado explains. 'She is someone who pays a lot of attention to the aesthetic side of the characters' movements, and she clearly understands how the characters' wardrobes can complement the story."

 

Delgado went on to design and build outfits to be worn on each planet visited by the three Mrs.'s, and each was stunningly original, creatively outrageous and visually eye-catching. 'I like to be very eclectic and incorporate every single image and idea that pops into my head," he says.

 

With Oprah Winfrey's character, Mrs. Which, the wisest of the three Mrs.'s, it was agreed that she should exemplify energy and light and be warrior-like in her appearance. 'Mrs. Which has her own style," says Winfrey. 'She has been around for millennia on top of millennia, so she picks her garments from the stars, from pieces of the cosmos, and throws these things together and she looks good and she knows it."

 

The costume Delgado designed for Mrs. Which when she visits the planet Camazotz is an unusually-shaped dress crafted from a heavy metallic organza with a corrugated-like texture. To help play up the notion of an exploded supernova, the inside of the dress was adorned with tiny light bulbs and metal cage-like frames were attached to Winfrey's torso and hips. 'Most period costumes for women have a similar structure underneath to support the layers of materials on top," Delgado explains. 'We did just the opposite: We put it outside."

 

While on Earth, Mrs. Which wears a floor-length chain metallic gown, and when inside the Happy Medium's cave on Orion, a brass pleated floor-length dress with a corset-breastplate made of metal resembling a coiled spring over a white, feather-like top. 'Stepping into these costumes, which were not of this world, helped transport me as an actress," says Winfrey. 'But while a steel-rod corset may look good, it is definitely not comfortable."

 

Delgado had more freedom when designing the wardrobe for Reese Witherspoon's character. 'Mrs. Whatsit is very whimsical and light on her feet and she is always happy. In the screenplay, as well as in the book, the first time we meet her she is dressed in stolen bedsheets," he says. 'I wanted to shake that up a bit, so I chose to stick with the sheets and made them more sculptural and a little bit abstract in a way that doesn't follow any body lines so it enhances her waist and gives her an almost silhouette effect."

 

He created a special material that resembles moving fishtails for the lower portion of the dress she wears on Orion. The top is a thin layer of fabric underneath a copper vest with shoulder pads. Delgado was inspired by calla lilies when designing Mrs. Whatsit's costume for Camazotz, a beautiful, white, flowing dress with lots of movement.

 

'Paco's costumes were just gorgeous…beautiful colors and vibrant metallics and so much fabric, but it was real pageantry," says Witherspoon. 'He had a distinct vision and there's nothing subtle about any of it…more is more with Paco."

 

In contrast, the wardrobe Delgado designed for Mindy Kaling's character, Mrs. Who, encapsulates different cultures, continents and time periods. His ideas were manifested in a variety of beautiful garments made from textures and fabrics with a Japanese aesthetic and Nordic influences. The designer pictured Japanese kimonos when creating Mrs. Who's earthly attire, which is a stunning gown with layers and layers of bright colorful material bisected in non-symmetrical lines worn with a silver-and-pastel-colored foil cape adorned with embroidered feathers.

 

On Orion, the dress her character wears was inspired by photos Delgado had seen of Colombian women balancing baskets on their heads. It features a number of different fabrics and patterns stitched together like a patchwork quilt with a skirt worn diagonally on top. On Camazotz, Mrs. Who's costume is a more casually-styled dress that Delgado created from a fabric similar to those found in 14^th-century Japan with some of the quotations her character speaks in the film printed in different fonts on top of the material.

 

MAKEUP ~ lalette littlejohn

Paco Delgado's magnificent costumes for the three Mrs.'s merge futuristic vibes and elements of the earth, sea and sky with unusual fabrics and textures, and because of the delicate materials used and their intricate construction, they were not easy to put on. When hair and makeup gets factored in, it took Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling each three hours every day to get camera-ready.

 

Makeup department head LaLette Littlejohn, an artist with more than a decade of experience working with Jamie Foxx and on films including 'Dreamgirls," 'Collateral" and 'Horrible Bosses," was tasked with overseeing the women's individual makeup artists, which included Derrick Rutledge, Molly R. Stern, Tracey Levy and Cindy Williams. Taking their lead from Delgado's elaborate costume designs, Littlejohn and her team set off to create out-of-this-world looks for each character that accentuated their diverse ethnicities as well.

 

When designing these looks, director Ava DuVernay asked Littlejohn that the makeup not be too couture or highbrow, as she wanted fans to be able to replicate the characters' looks for themselves with products that could be purchased at any cosmetics store.

 

Rutledge has worked with Winfrey for years and knows instinctively what she does and does not like.

It was his idea that her character's overall makeup theme become stars (since she does, in fact, come from the stars) and that her distinguishing traits would be her eyebrows and lips. He conveyed this by giving her crystal eyebrows to make her eyes sparkle and by affixing an assortment of stones, gems and jewels to her face. 'I got all my makeup from the stars," laughs Winfrey.

 

As with the costumes, the looks for each of the Mrs.'s change per environment, so when Mrs. Which visits Earth in her metallic dress, she has metallic skin tones and pieces of broken, dark-colored crystals and silver leaf on her eyebrows and sparkling silver and black colors on her lips. On Uriel she has emerald eyebrows made from ground-up jade minerals, gold skin tones, silver stones added to her forehead and orange/pink sparkling lip coloring, all which accentuate her costume.

 

For the planet Camazotz, Rutledge decided to play down the character's signature trait of stars. 'We kept the running theme of glitter lips and used shades of pinks, blues and silvers, but for her eyebrows and the bindi on her forehead, natural colors and stones," he explains. On Orion, she wore natural lipstick and had natural skin tones accentuated with amber stones.

 

'The makeup style for Reese Witherspoon's character, Mrs. Whatsit, the baby star, was more subtle and laid-back," says Littlejohn. 'Her costumes are simpler than the other two guides so for the most part we went with light, airy, skin-like makeup with minimal foundation."

 

Littlejohn continues, 'Mrs. Who, played by Mindy Kaling, on the other hand, dresses more formally and academically, but her makeup is still not too pronounced." On Camazotz she has a teal bindi on her forehead while on Earth she wears purple lipstick and eye shadow and on Orion, blue lipstick and eye shadow.

 

HAIR ~ kim kimble

The fabulous and futuristic hairstyles for the three celestial visitors were overseen by Kim Kimble, the film's hair department head. A third-generation hairstylist, and one lauded for her creativity and stunning wig designs, Kimble has more than 25 years of experience in the industry working with artists like Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige and Shakira.

 

From the moment she sat down with director Ava DuVernay to talk about the film, she knew she had to be involved. 'One of the most exciting things we discussed were the three Mrs.'s," she says. 'Ava wanted them to look like they actually were from other worlds. She wanted their hair to be really creative and to change on each planet they visit, and I was like, -Sign me up.'"

 

While Kimble has worked on fantasy films before, this film felt totally unique for the artist. 'This is a different kind of fantasy," Kimble explains. 'This was really looking at who the character is and creating a whole persona for them, and we wanted to design looks that no one has ever seen before."

 

She continues, 'We rarely see high-fashion couture wigs like these in films...any of the hairstyles for the three Mrs.'s would be appropriate on any fashion runway."

 

Working closely with Paco Delgado and LaLette Littlejohn, Kimble and her key stylists Jasmine Kimble, Kendra Garvey and Colleen LaBaff made sure the hairstyles also complemented the characters' costumes and makeup to ensure there was one cohesive look for each character on each planet. Her team created hundreds of intricately-styled wigs (Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Whatsit each had more than 10 wigs apiece) and spent countless hours designing, fitting and adjusting them.

 

'Kim is a visionary hairstylist and the way she works with hair is just extraordinary," says Reese Witherspoon. 'I still don't know how she was able to make all those wigs."

 

Early on in pre-production Oprah Winfrey told Kimble she wanted to try something really different with her character's hair, both in terms of color and style. 'When I was a little girl I always wanted curly hair because there I was in my pigtails looking at all the girls with curly hair on TV," says Winfrey. 'I got to live out my fantasy of all the hair I ever wanted here: blonde hair, red hair, you name it."

 

'She ended up with this beautiful, metallic-inspired hair color," says Kimble. 'It is a very specific hue we created ourselves by combining different colors like platinum, gold, silver, beige and even gray, and it is big hair, too."

 

When visiting the planet Orion, Mrs. Which wears a wig that is sculpted vertically like a Mohawk with a long braid created from several smaller braids that hangs down to her waist. 'It was very simple, but very detailed, and Oprah loved it," says Kimble. 'She was whipping it around on set as if her powers actually came from that braid."

 

'It was the best braid you've ever seen in your life," adds Winfrey. 'I wanted to take her home and give her a name."

 

To create the wig Mrs. Which wears when visiting Earth, which is the first time the audience sees her character on screen, Kimble had to order hair from numerous suppliers around the country due to the volume of hair her design required. It consisted of a web of sculpted braids that were enhanced to provide additional volume and crimped to provide greater texture.

 

Mrs. Whatsit's defining look was her hair. 'It's this incredible fiery orangey-red color, which felt like the perfect match for my character since she's so spunky and spirited," says Witherspoon. 'The transformation of each character from planet to planet really helped me to create my performance."

 

As carried off by the actress, the red hair was a bold choice, and one that contrasts perfectly with her fair skin. On Earth, Mrs. Whatsit's hair is bohemian in style with a braid down one side wrapped in a fishtail. Her hair on Camazotz is more ethereal in style, worn down and wavy.

 

While these styles played up Mrs. Whatsit's more mischievous side, on Orion she wears it bone straight, sleek and tucked behind her ear with a beautiful braided crown around her head.

 

It was the wigs for Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) that turned out to be the most creative"and most time consuming. Kimble and her team wanted her hairstyles to symbolize different cultures, as her costumes do. On Earth, it is an elaborate crown with a web of very fine braids in the back and multi-colored tendrils framing her face. 'The style feels kind of Asian and it gave her hair texture," says Kimble. 'And the braids were so fine that light shined through them and made her look just beautiful."

 

Kimble describes the wig Mrs. Who wears on the planet Orion as 'Asian futuristic." It is bob length and made from clusters of hair, each with three types of braids and strands of yarn intertwined, which gave it texture and dimension and provides a little softness around the face.

 

When visiting Camazotz, her hair is down to her waist and looks somewhat grungy but with lots of texture. 'My character is so inscrutable that her hair and makeup helped me immensely because it made me feel so confident," says Kaling. 'When you have a 10-pound wig on and are wearing a costume that extends four-feet in each direction, you can't be too tentative in your choices."

 

Music ~ ramin djawadi

Ramin Djawadi, the composer who has written the scores for 'Game of Thrones," 'The Mountain Between Us" and 'Westworld" among other film and TV projects, appreciates the role music plays in storytelling. The emotional elements of the story are essential to director Ava DuVernay, which presented an exciting challenge to Djawadi. 'There were so many different cinematic environments to explore with music," he explains. 

 

'The best thing about each episode of -Game of Thrones' is the music," says DuVernay. 'It is, hands down, the single most dynamic, unforgettable theme song of any show on television, so I jumped at the opportunity to work with him."

 

She continues, 'Ramin is a sweet, kind, open and giving artist. He is strong, but has a genuine sensitivity to the work and to others. I loved just watching him on the stages conducting the orchestra with all these beautiful compositions he created…compositions that I believe will stand the tests of time."

 

'-A Wrinkle in Time,' at its core, is about family, love and emotion," says Djawadi. 'Ava and I wanted to capture the complex journey through musical themes that bridge the gap between fantasy and drama."

 

Djawadi's score was recorded in Los Angeles with a 71-piece orchestra, 29-person choir and 24-member children's choir. 'The score has a variety of instrumentation from various cultures around the world such as the Indian tabla and hammered dulcimer. Since we were working inside a fantasy world, there were no boundaries or rules," he says.

 

To help accentuate the intergalactic travel aspects in the story, Djawadi's score includes bending notes so it sounds like the music itself is actually stretching. 'Ava and I felt the more musical diversity within the score, the more interesting the atmospheres would become," he explains.