Fede Alvarez Talks The Experimental Series 'Calls' & Going "Low-Tech" For Apple TV+ [Interview]

Fede Alvarez is a director determined to reinvent how we “see” connections. The admitted fan of sci-fi is introducing a new form of audio/visual suspense with the Apple TV+ series “Calls.” Experimental in its very DNA, this experience brings together the familiar constructs of how we speak to one another with the all too frightening possibilities of a universe’s painful balancing act. For Alvarez, director of “Don’t Breathe” and “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” it serves as a jumping-off point beyond audience expectations for the genre.

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Spanning nine episodes, the series presents a seemingly random set of incidents. Over time, it becomes clear there is far more to what is happening, all viewers have to do is find the connective tissue between these events. Alvarez utilizes an uncanny visual aesthetic along with a cast that includes Lily Collins, Rosario Dawson, Pedro Pascal, and Aubrey Plaza to tell these stories.

READ MORE: Lionsgate Lands Rights To New Fede Alvarez Film, ’16 States’ From ‘This Is Us’ Writers

When we spoke to the filmmaker, he discussed the ambitious project as well as how he pulled it off during a worldwide pandemic. 

“Calls” surprised me. I was expecting something a little more cold or detached, especially as we are viewing things through the pandemic. What I found, looking and listening to this series, is it’s about personal connections. I was wondering how you approach this in that way — of personal connection?
When you tell stories like this one, like you said you might fall for the trap; just make it too cold, make it too much about the plot. When sci-fi is involved the character part seems left out because of the sci-fi aspect. We didn’t want to do that. We wanted to tell human stories. 

The sci-fi aspect is something most characters are not aware of for most of the show. You, as the audience, knows what’s going on after a while. They don’t get hung up on that they just hang up on what they learn about themselves. 

[References one of the series’ characters] I don’t think he’s not concerned about how it’s possible he’s talking to the future. He’s concerned with what is going to become of his life as a character and a person. We tried to tell stories about character. Good television and good cinema is about character and character relationships;  it’s what we all have in common. With this, something that needs to travel across the globe from Uruguay, I write with a certain voice; it has some of my idiocracy from here. At the end of the day what is universal is human relationships, travel with your parents, with your sister, those things are equal across the planet. We all have the same issues and we can relate to those. So, I really try on each of the episodes to put that at the center. The human story is at the center.  It’s rare in the genre.

What I thought was fascinating is the visual you introduced as another layer. It requires you to look deeper. I was thinking about the episode “Mom” and its look, like tentacles spreading, just these beautiful spiral tentacles. It’s gorgeous to look at this show, like art. I was wondering if anything inspired this look? I know later on, it’s revealed to be sound waves. What inspired you visually?
The sound waves are a concept you see throughout. The lines move like sound waves and also shapes and forms. Me, working with the art team, it was drawing from abstract art more than anything else. We wanted to always keep it abstract. We never wanted to give you a literal image because we knew that was going to step on your imagination. Hopefully, when you’re watching it you’re picturing all of these things in your head. You’re picturing the spaces and the faces. If I suddenly show you something then it steps on it. We did a lot of experimenting with that. Any image you have in mind will be destroyed by the one I show you and then I’m taking over. We tried to stay in that abstract world. Allowed it to have extensive space. Let you know someone is moving left to right or something like that, very subtle; always trying to guide your attention and keep you mesmerized, and hypnotized. So, trying to get you lost.

I remember the first time we finished the first episode; it starts almost black and white with one grey line in the middle and nothing else, you go is this it. That’s it, one grey line, but as soon as things start popping it just has a great impact emotionally. By the end, you have this red crazy light you feel completely lost in which is super simple but that crescendo of elements was what we took as a guide. We tried to keep it going throughout the whole season. You introduce new elements. We drew from abstract more than anything else and we did in a way borrow from the classic 8-bit Macintosh computers. Being an Apple show we don’t get to go to that black background and very simple RGB colors. It had a nostalgic and simple feeling, a bit sci-fi, a bit low-tech. For Apple, which is 4K, to go a little bit low-tech.  It was the right approach. 

It had a Commodore 64 feel.
I have one at the office by the way. 

Oh, really? I could talk about that all day. 
I’m part of that generation. That’s why it brought me a lot of nostalgia in a way, that sort of graphic. A lot of classic albums in the ‘60s and ‘70s  used that kind of low-tech. If you think of “Dark Side of the Moon,” they did a lot of low-tech on that cover and in the design of this show as well. It’s all referenced from the music world I think and the gaming world I guess. 

Did you do work on “Calls” in-person or did you have to coordinate with the actors remotely? 
The project started before the pandemic. We were coming up with the stories and by the time it came to production we couldn’t get the actors on stage like we were planning. We thought if there is one show that won’t be stopped by the lockdown it’s this one. We sent laptops and microphones to the actors. A lot of the shows were live. It was, I was in my house going action and everybody was in their houses going hello and there would be a conservation starting. It was great for me to just witness that conversation. So, what you get on the show is the actors talking to each other from their houses is literally what’s happening. They were playing these characters from home, which is very special. I think it really made for more realistic performances. When the connection was breaking up and they would say hello they were not pretending, they were trying to get the other actor. It was something very grounded and visceral for the actors recording the whole show that way.

“Calls” premieres on March 19 on Apple TV+.