For three months prior to filming, visual researchers delved into countless art libraries searching for illustrations that would capture the vision Ward had in mind. Ultimately, Friedrich and other 19th-century masters helped to define and communicate Ward's vision to a whole range of artisans, from production designer Eugenio Zanetti to cinematographer Eduardo Serra, AFC and a half-dozen visual effects artists. "I think that's what drew me to this project," Somers admits. "When I first came in, every wall in the production office was covered with the most amazing artwork that I'd ever seen, and many scenes were literally based upon classical 19th-century artists because Vincent was trying to create this underlying, subconscious, painterly tone."
Toward that end, Somers actively pursued freelance fine-arts professionals who could help translate Ward's vision to film. In turn, they were teamed up with the appropriate effects house. "Finding classically trained fine artists is a whole different world," she says, "and it's certainly difficult to marry with the technological world! Our effects companies were not always staffed with people who had the 'soul' that Vincent was looking for, so we had to search for artists who met Vincent's fine-art criteria and hire them to design and/or produce elements.
"We hired Josh Rosen as the art director for Mass.Illusions and installed him in that community. Although all of the people working on the project at Mass.Illusions — even the software people — were painters themselves, Josh's art direction had that certain feel we were looking for. He was a software developer we found on sabbatical in Italy doing illustrative work for a book, but on the side, he was off painting frescoes! We also hired Syd Dutton of Illusion Arts and Michael Lloyd to do matte paintings. And we basically went to POP because there were certain artists there that I knew would match Vincent's criteria — such as Deak Ferrand, who became an incredibly instrumental person on the film. Finding the right type of personnel was a bit like finding needles in a haystack."
Despite bringing ideal artists to What Dreams May Come, then overseeing and often making key suggestions on hundreds of effects shots, Somers insists that her role was primarily to shepherd the process and ensure that elements were delivered on time. "The 'visual effects producer/supervisor' title does not make me the visual effects supervisor," she states. "I respected and relied upon the in-house supervisors. I was not the lead creative person delegating my vision to the effects facilities, but rather a liaison between the director, production departments and vendors. My title does reflect that I worked directly with the supervisors, making sure that the directions we took would satisfy the director's wishes and work for production. In order to protect production, it also gave me veto power and the responsibility of signing off on shots, which meant I had an equal opportunity to comment on them. But I would feel very bad assuming any sort of responsibility for creating the tools, because I did not. I simply supported people and made sure they were given what was needed in order to make those tools work."
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