The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
‘Greyhound’ director talks about working with Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks could have gotten most anyone he wanted for naval drama ‘Greyhound.’ He went with Aaron Schneider.
“Tom Hanks is the easiest actor in the world to work with. Tom the producer was ultimately my boss, and that was more intimidating.”
— “Greyhound” director Aaron Schneider
Aaron Schneider was working as a cinematographer but wanted to become a director.
He started by winning an Oscar in 2003 for his short film “Two Soldiers.” But it took six years before his feature debut, “Get Low” — and another 11 years before his second. But it’s a good one: He returns at the helm for “Greyhound,” a World War II drama written by and starring Tom Hanks.
Hanks plays a navy officer on his first mission as captain; his destroyer must escort an Allied convoy across the “black pit” area of the North Atlantic, outside the range of air cover for days in the remote waters where German U-boats lurk.
The movie was made entirely on dry land, using a stage set, the museum ship USS Kidd and plenty of visual effects, overseen by Schneider, 54, a graduate of the production program at USC’s School of CinemaTelevision. While the film was scheduled for a spring theatrical release before the pandemic, it is now showing on Apple TV.
In an email, Hanks wrote that Schneider “was a cameraman, and he was also a director, so he knew what to shoot. And he put me through some paces that were extremely challenging and difficult that I didn’t see at first blush…Aaron ended up being the filmmaker that needed.”
The following conversation with Schneider has been edited.
Q“Get Low” is about death and loss, and “Greyhound” is about death and destruction, yet they seem like they were made by an optimistic person.
AI’m trying to make the world work the way I wish it would.
I don’t see the world through rose-colored glasses, but I’m making movies about our common humanity. Our whole family makes fun of my mom because after every movie she says, “It was OK, but it was no ‘Pretty Woman.’ “She’s a happy ending kind of person who wants everything to work out, and maybe a little of that is in my DNA.
QHow did your cinematography career influence your directing style?
AI was a music video cinematographer and was pulled out of obscurity in the mid-’90s by Charlie Haid, who played Renko on “Hill Street Blues,” to shoot a Steven Bochco pilot he was directing called “Murder One.” That was my big break. I was green and Steven Bochco made me sit on the set of “NYPD Blue” for a month to absorb the machine that is called TV production. That taught me two things: How to keep a set moving but also the dangers of turning everything into a manufacturing process. I learned about having discipline but keeping the creative piece, and when it came to directing it was the same toolbox.
QWhat about working with Tom Hanks, who is not just a legendary actor but also your screenwriter and producer?
ATom Hanks is the easiest actor in the world to work with. Tom the producer was ultimately my boss, and that was more intimidating, especially because of all the work he has done in the World War II genre as an actor but also as a writer, producer and director on “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” He has expectations of the way to make a World War II movie.
QSo how did “Greyhound” happen?
AI give Tom a lot of credit. Tom and I had a meet and greet that turned into a three-hour discussion about our favorite films and my mentors in cinematography. I’m a freelance visual effects hobbyist and I’d brought in some ideas and images, which is not something you’d see on my resume. And Tom knows cinematographers are all about adapting to the material. Tom knew how to look deeper than most people in the industry.
QThe dialogue was filled with jargon; the action is filled with procedure. You didn’t take shortcuts. Were you worried about losing the audience?
AYou can imagine what this thing looks like on paper — all you’re getting is the jargon and the procedural interaction. When I read the screenplay, I knew I had to find the drama in the procedural aspect of the job. I remember when it cracked open for me was when I likened it to a scene in the opening of “Close Encounters” in an air traffic control room — it’s kind of a foreign language being spoken and you’re looking at a bunch of equipment you don’t understand right away but Spielberg created a really authentic scene.
I said to myself, “That’s our movie; I have to commit 100 percent to the veracity and authenticity of the dialogue and procedure.” Then you can find the moments where the tactical drama is. If the audience understands how a destroyer works, with readings being relayed and chains of communication, then you can throw a wrench into it, so when the guy passing on information has to sneeze, it can be dramatic and suspenseful. It’s not how we typically make drama out of scenes.
QThe action sequences were all done with visual effects. Was it tricky to make sure the biggest moments would play clearly to the audience?
AIt’s very challenging. When you’ve got a scene with two people in an office and one’s in a desk and one’s in a chair, then everybody understands because we’ve all been in that room. Out at sea, there’s nothing to tell viewers where things are, so you have to be super precise about how you convey positional and tactical information to the audience.
QOne link between your two features seems to be an attention to detail — Tom Hanks is wearing a sheepskin coat while being hunted by the German wolfpack. Are you always like that?
AI drove everyone nuts, but it’s in my nature. I’ve got a recording of a Disney World vacation: I was 10 years old and was narrating everything into a tape recorder even as we’re pulling into the parking lot. You can hear my younger sister screaming at me about how much I’m giving too much detail.