October | 2018 | Tinsel Town News Now

German actress Sarah Wessendorf, who plays a key role in the film Chain Opera, is one of the few actors in the world who can confidently say that one of their films has been broadcast in planetariums around the world.

An amalgamation of a narrated story, choral music, and filmed material, director Jos McKain’s Chain Opera is an innovative blend of a film and a documented performance, and it’s a main feature of The New Infinity exhibition. Debuting in Berlin earlier this year where it drew more than 23,000 visitors, The New Infinity is a planetarium-inspired immersive art experience that utilizes digital audio and visual technology to create a full-dome experience.

Chain Opera, a major highlight of the exhibition, invites audiences to lay down their traditional assumptions about life – and the movie-going experience – and open their minds to alternative ideas. The film questions the influential power society holds over each and everyone of us, and its far-reaching effects on the decisions and paths we take in life.

We were lucky enough to catch up with Sarah Wessendorf, who’s character in Chain Opera acts as a symbol of society, to interview her about the film. When asked about what drew her to the project, Wessendorf explained, “I was captivated by the topic of how society influences us… which often can prevent us from living out our true passion and our calling in life. If we cannot stop these voices and actually start listening to what is true and what is authentic to us, we might have to come to terms with the fact that we have wasted a big portion of our life either working for someone else’s dream or fulfilling the expectations our parents, neighbours, teachers and society at large… The consequences of this can be far more painful than actually taking the leap and trusting that the universe has got our back.”

For Wessendorf, the power of the film’s message is deeply personal. Though she grew up performing on stages as an actress, she admits that she was influenced by a slew of external forces, including her family and society, to veer away from her career as an actress and choose something more ‘stable.’ It wasn’t until she was falsely diagnosed with cancer several years ago that she experienced a major wake-up call that life is short and you should do what you love. She’s dedicated her life to her passion and career as an actress ever since, and she’s become quite a successful one at that.

Through the film Chain Opera Wessendorf’s poignant performance has been seen by audiences across the globe as The New Infinity art installation continues to tour internationally. Reinventing the wheel in a way, the exhibition has innovated upon the use of planetariums as a venue for science and education, and turned them into a space for contemporary art; and it is slated to be on view in Wisdome LA’s 360-degree dome theatre next year.

CW: Hey Sarah, thanks for joining us! Can you start by telling us a little more about The New Infinity exhibition?

SW: The program series is a collaboration between Berliner Festspiele and Planetarium Hamburg. It has and will continue to feature selected filmmakers, visual artists, sound artists and game developers until the conclusion of its cycle in 2020. Some of those featured include David OReilly, Holly Herndon, Mathew Dryhurst and Fatima Al Qadiri. All of the projects are broadcast in a mobile planetarium that is setup in each new location.

New Infinity is a very captivating project. The idea behind it was to connect humans through the ancient form of coming together, looking past ourselves and gazing into the stars. We as humans have done this for centuries, wondering what is out there, who we are beyond this experience.

New Infinity implies that we, as humans, still crave to look beyond who we are on this world and into the infinite night sky, but have lost touch with this as we have expanded technology and innovation. The goal of the New Infinity project is to combine this ancient longing with modern technology.

CW: How about the film Chain Opera?

SW: In the film, a woman is stuck in a hospital room at the charité in Berlin. she is pained with agony because she realizes that her life goals weren’t her own, they were dictated by society. All her struggles, all her losses on the way, were in vain. She has to confront the fact that her life in the end was wasted by the expectation that society had of her, one that she happily and readily accepted. Society (which I play) shows her the crushing truth of her life, and leads her into an existential crisis– one where, if she doesn’t completely reinvent herself on her own terms she will be forever lost.

This all is shown through either monologues or dialogues with my character, Society. It is a very abstract and artistic film… there isn’t a direct moment to moment story line. It is fear, pain and agony expressed in different pictures, frames and situations.

CW: Did you see Chain Opera in the planetarium? What was that like?

SW: I saw the film during Berlin’s Art Week in the mobile dome constructed in front of the Bethanien Art Institute, an iconic and breathtaking architectural landmark. Just like the concept behind New Infinity, the planetarium reminds you of gatherings when humans were living in times of simplicity, under the night sky, hearing stories, learning and coming together. The impermanence of the planetarium’s construction gave it the unique feeling of both stability and elusiveness, which could be interpreted as a nod to human existence.

Bringing the audience of my generation into planetariums is such a wonderful idea! It reanimates places usually geared toward a specific group of people. Watching almost in a laying position gave the whole experience a calm, meditative feeling. It was a completely new way of taking in a film. Because they were in a dome, everybody sat in circles together… so much more connected than in cinema rows. These showings felt very intimate. I felt involved, captivated… as though the characters surrounded me; I had to look, find, focus on specific parts. It made for an unforgettable experience and it was very inspiring to see the forms of architecture, technology and art come together in that way.

CW: Chain Opera debuted during the Berlin Art Week. Did you attend, and can you tell us a little more about Berlin Art Week as a whole?

SW: Since the early 20s, Berlin has been a city for artists. Even now, in certain areas, everyone seems to be creating, planning and being inspired by art. Berlin Art Week is a week in which Berlin showcases all the amazing, modern art that is created in the vibrant city.

During this festival, artists, museums, buyers, and collectors all come together to connect. Art brings people together, no matter the nationality, religion, or beliefs. If art is not shown to the world, it remains unknown; it is about being seen and experienced! This is why Berlin Art Week is so important.

I was able to attend the festival and see the film debut. It was an amazing experience! I really enjoyed being with my cast members and viewing all the other projects, but also hearing about how our film influenced the thinking and minds of the audience that watched it.

CW: How was working with the director Jos McKain as you mentioned you knew each other from before?

SW: Jos McKain, the director, asked if I wanted to become part of Chain Opera. He and I became very close friends and I could not have asked for a better director. Jos comes from a dancing background, which we have in common. To approach filmmaking from this background helps immensely with intensifying the physical expression and aspect. It made for a very powerful combination of monologue and using the body to portray emotions, beliefs and opinions.

It was a joy working with someone who takes their craft so seriously and is not afraid to take risks. I admired this about Jos very much, and it helped me to give back the same trust and passion while working on the film.

CW: Is there any other story or part of your experience in Chain Opera you’d like to share?

SW: Chain Opera was shot in a historic part of the Charité, the largest university hospital in Europe. The charité is one of the most renowned institutions in Germany, and gave birth to more than half of all German Nobel Prize winners in Medicine and Physiology, including Robert Koch and Paul Ehrlich.

We filmed the majority of the production in an old classroom, with extremely high ceilings and a round shaped room. The room had not been restored; it was almost falling apart but at the same time had kept the essence of years and years of medical teaching and discovery. To shoot the film there felt important and daring at the same time.

One of Jie Meng’s most distinctive childhood memories is watching The Lord of the Rings movies for the first time. After watching the first film, he was left speechless. Not only were these movies entertaining, but also artistic masterpieces. He began watching the films over and over again, constantly overcome by the magnitude of the stunning visual effects. He realized, even at that young age, that filmmaking could make fantasy a reality, and that was when he knew he had to be a part of that world.

Now, Meng is an in demand Visual Effects Artist. He is known for his work on countless films, including Avengers: Infinity War, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and more. His talents extend to television, such as The Americans, and Freaky Friday, as well as video games, like Quake Champions and Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

“I worked with Jie on Call of Duty: Black Ops IIIand later on Captain America: Civil War.

Jie is a talented FX artist. He strives to create the highest level of quality and is constantly pushing himself to learn new techniques, either independently or from the team around him. He listens to positive feedback and can build FX setups and tools that are used by multiple artists. This makes him extremely productive, a pleasure to work with and I hope to work with him again in the future.” said Peter Claes, FX supervisor and Lead VFX artist at The Mill.

Captain America: Civil War was Meng’s first true taste of movie blockbuster success with his work. The film, the third Captain America movie and the 13^thof the Avengers franchise, grossed over $1 billion at the box office. It was nominated for 17 awards at various festivals and award shows and took home five. Meng worked tirelessly to make this a possibility.

“It was a huge pleasure and honor working on this film. The success made me think of those days when I devoted myself to the work, and now I realize that all my efforts paid off,” said Meng.

The movie sees the beloved Captain America pitted against Iron Man due to political differences. A vast array of Avengers appear throughout the film, taking sides. It’s a story about friends and brothers. It’s a debate between freedom and obeying the rules. Meng had always been a fan of the Marvel franchise and the Captain America films, but he knew this film would be something special and that he had to be a part of it.

“After watching the movie, I thought a lot. It actually reflects a lot of problems in our current society, an individual always wants to be free but also needs to follow the laws. I like movies that reflect the social status and will bring up a topic and let me think about it, and Captain America: Civil War is one of them,” said Meng.

When it came to the effects, Meng worked on many shots in several different sequences. His focuses were the roof helicopter fighting sequence and the final battle scene. He finished all different kinds of effects for various sequences, with little touches that dramatically added to the film.

Meng’s main task, however, was developing the Ironman thruster tool in the final combat sequence between Captain America and Ironman, the climax of the film. Therefore, he knew that his role was of the utmost importance for the film’s success. The tool needed to be packed and shared with other artists at both Los Angeles and Vancouver studios to finish every shot that contains Ironman’s thruster. It needed to be designed as a “one-click and automatically build the thruster” tool, but also contains all kinds of functions to modify and art-direct the thruster effects. Meng re-designed the thrusters from Iron Man 3and packed in a whole new digital asset. Every time he modified and polished the tool, he optimized it and made the tool easier to use. In doing this, he gathered the feedback from different artists and made it more and more productive. The whole process of building the tool was a very valuable experience for Meng and bettered the film as a whole.

“Being part of this feature film, witnessing the whole VFX workflow in the post-production made me completely understand that the VFX process is never easy. The most comforting, and also most important part was I have learned a lot from this project about how to build a digital asset tool that can be used in the visual effects production and was inspired by all the VFX artists around me,” he said.

Meng also worked on other different effects like the debris, smoke, sparks, snow, etc. Those photo-realistic effects elements completed the movie sequence and created a stronger visual impact on the audience. The experience, overall, was a great honor for the visual effects artist, and he wouldn’t change a thing.

“When I saw the film premiere and my name on the credit list, I was so proud of myself and the whole crew members, and that was the most exciting moment to me for watching all my effort paid off and it was so worth it,” he concluded.