In the film, Emily Watson's character, Dasha, lives in a house at the top of a mountain. The crew had to set up disco lights and keep music playing in the house overnight because bears were getting in and eating or otherwise damaging the set.
Just before filming, several high-altitude locations in the Carpathian Mountains were wrecked by bears, forcing the crew to scramble to rebuild them. The set facades had been constructed from polystyrene (Styrofoam), which the bears would chew and eat.
The production required more than 700 VFX shots, predominantly 3D animation for wider shots and stunt sequences. Director Isaiah Saxon said that CG and VFX have somewhat acquired a tarnished reputation, largely due to corporatisation and an over-reliance on them; he emphasised that visual effects are actually a bespoke, painstaking craft and an art form filled with passionate, exceptionally talented people. He added that at any effects house in the world you will find individuals deeply dedicated to their craft, and that the issue is more to do with the top — big corporate studios that often create schedules which make little sense.
Romania's famous Transfagarasan Highway was closed over the winter so filming could take place.
Isaiah Saxon's script for the film was developed through the Sundance Writer's Lab.
Director Isaiah Saxon had earlier entered his university thesis film for consideration at the Sundance Film Festival, but it was not selected.
Isaiah Saxon's debut as a director.
Director Isaiah Saxon assembled an independent team to handle the film's VFX, led by supervisor Grant White. Some of the work Saxon described as most crucial is also among the most invisible. Filming on a remote mountain in Romania, the director needed the mysterious Dasha's home to feel suitably enigmatic and potentially dangerous, yet the day of the shoot was bright and sunny. "It didn't feel right. So we shot as much as we could in the shade, and then in post-production White used still photographs taken on days when the dog had rolled in while we weren't filming up there, and I had the same perspective but captured in different weather conditions. That allowed me to start compositing those elements into a matte painting that perfectly merges with what we did shoot," Saxon said. "The top half of the frame is fog rolling in over the hills, and the bottom half is our live-action plate." Ultimately, both the 3D animation and the puppetry are storytelling devices, and Saxon was keen to embrace both fully so audiences can inhabit the world of the Ochi without worrying how it was made. "People love to celebrate practical effects, and I think we should celebrate all the practical work in this film," Saxon said. "But if there's a stunt or a wide shot or something we couldn't accomplish practically, then of course we create a CGI version of it. This film comprises 700 VFX shots. This is a VFX-driven film."
Director Isaiah Saxon said he spent a couple of years conceptualising the world and the appearance of the Ochi, "much of that time was taken up with figuring out how to raise money for a debut feature that's a fantasy-adventure when no one wants to back it and the usual industry logic doesn't apply," and he used that period to assemble teams for both the puppetry and effects aspects of the Ochi, repeatedly planning and testing. "I spent years creating fully CG animated pieces with my friends and teaching myself the software. So when it came to building a large 3D environment, that was squarely within my area of expertise, and I intended to be hands-on as part of the team. On bigger films there often isn't thorough shot planning, then last-minute notes arrive and they can just keep throwing money at the problem to paper over their lack of understanding of the process."
As with any crew, the Ochi puppeteers rehearsed intensively to create the illusion of a single sentient, inquisitive, insect‑hungry infant. "We held a performance workshop as soon as we were given the green light in London. My production designer Jason Kisvarday, cinematographer Evan Prosofsky and my producers all convened in London to run through every shot and setup that featured the baby Ochi puppet across the film, working in a makeshift gaffer‑tape and cardboard format to establish the ergonomics the set would require for proper access by the puppeteers," director Isaiah Saxon said. "Because when you attempt these shots it’s really a holistic magic trick."
