This panel was the third and final installment of Impact24’s superblock series of three panels and featured creatives from Minecraft, Agatha All Along, The Penguin, Daredevil: Born Again, Snow White, and more! Panelists included supervising director Andrew Schmidt (Wondla), editor James Thomas (Minecraft), composer Jeff Morrow (Snow White), VFX supervisor and 2nd unit director Johnny Han (HBO and DC’s “The Penguin”), cocomposer Michael Paraskevas (Agatha All Along), composer Nikhil Koparkar (The Wheel of Time), editor Stephanie Filo, ACE (Daredevil: Born Again) and was moderated by executive producer at Shade Studios and host at ShadeTV, Marissa Hill.The panel began with a question for Stephanie Filo: What did you first “fan over” and how did it influence your work today?• The opening title of Seven. They tell so much without saying anything. Watch the edited scenes and watch the movie on mute!
Question for Andrew Schmidt: What was your approach on Wondla to capture new and returning fans?• We brought the original story guy on board and then made sure the world you and your audience is something you would want to go to.• Ask yourself “what best serves the story?”.• Tell the story through the protagonist’s eyes to immerse the audience.
Question for James Thomas: How did you craft a “crear narrative” flow in edits but still keep an opening with Minecraft?• Decide who should narrate. There are usually 30 – 40 iterations of the narrator.• This is not THE Minecraft movie. Everyone has their own way they played the game.• There is another Minecraft movie in the works.
Question for Jeff Morrow: How do you honor legacies but create a new and fresh feeling?• For Peanuts, the sounds were iconic, but the music needed to be updated.• You have to honor what’s there but go more 2025 like in Snow White with Dopey.
Question for Johnny Hann specific to The Penguin: What was your strategy with balancing dramatic effects with delicate storytelling?• There is so much gray, and you don’t know who you are rooting for. The victor is us and we don’t know who to trust, we need to feel what he is feeling• Don’t make it like the film, it’s all about Victor and his family. Not the Riddler.• The spectacle shouldn’t be the big flood pull, the shots should become victor. Keep it intimate from his point of view.
Question for Stephanie Filo: How did you balance the action with the story?• It’s about the emotion that leads to the fight sequence. They are fighting to comeback to their true narrative. Build the moments
Question for Michael Paraskevas: How did you choose the instruments to convey the characters?• They are nontraditional characters, so they needed more eerie instruments like strings, trombones, slides and used bendy notes.
Question for Nikhil Koparkar: How did you bring sound in to build worlds for new and existing fans?• I read all 15 books!• Layer smartly to create a question of where you are.• Used orchestral love letter to Sieri.• For The Hills of Tanchiko he used body bare song with dark undertones.
Think Ring Around the Rosie.• He also uses sea chanty’s, along with Malaysian, South African, and South Asia instruments. The next questions were for the whole panel.Is there a moment in your work that captures your voice?• Stephanie – Gala episode 8 – I got to explore and be weird and fun by playing with color, getting to collaborate; I had free reign.• James – Doing the chicken sounds in Minecraft. I also did chicken sounds in Borat.
• Andrew – It’s hard to insert your own voice while following orders from what the story needs. Those chances just don’t always come along.Any easter eggs you would like to share?
• Johnny – Oz finally gets to have a Penthouse. The red neon sign is visible in every episode as foreshadowing.
• Jeff – Snow White: Jim McDonald got people with ocarinas and whisky jugs to make the sound of Dopey’s organ. They still had the 100-year-old jugs to make this music. They are the original ones and were brought from archives.Funniest or unexpected fan moment.
• Stephanie – Heather and Matt are arguing in DD and it became a meme.
• Michael – One fan made a google doc with light motives. The remix of Witches Road• Nikhil – Fans singing at cons and making shirts that say “Hills of Tanchico”.What advice can you give all of us?
• Jeff – Say Yes if given the opportunity.
• Stephanie – Push through imposter syndrome. Reach out to people, don’t be afraid to organically connect.
• Johnny – It is a small community so make friends and build connections. Be a good person, be ethical. You have to communicate with others so build those relationships.
• James – Set benchmarks for yourself and build skills.• Nikhil – Cultivate your own voice and bring from your own personal experiences. Final all your passions of your work
.• Andrew – Be uncomfortable and push yourself to learn those things you don’t know.• Michael – Learn new art, listen to new music, or see new things.What are some future projects?
• Stephanie – Dare Devil Season 2
• Andrew – Underwater Texas sea creature• Nikhil – A game his wife is producing is SailorMoon 90’s anime inspiredOne final thought from the guest panelsts at the end of this 3 panel series:
• AHA moments…they happen all the time, especially when you step away!
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