BEREA, Ohio — Several scenes of the Netflix feature film, White Noise, might look familiar to those with a well-trained eye. The film, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on Wednesday, used several locations around Northeast Ohio as its backdrop. For one Baldwin Wallace University professor, the production of the film provided him a unique opportunity in ensuring it was as authentic as possible.
Dr. James McCargar, a chemistry professor and associate dean of BW’s School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing, served as a credited science advisor on the film, White Noise, which is an adaptation of a novel by the same name authored by Don DeLillo in 1985. As part of his role as a science advisor, McCargar consulted the production staff on what a laboratory would have looked like in the 1980s. He also helped to coach production staff on how the actors should behave and move if they were scientists.
“I was present for the walk-through and helped them to understand maybe what a scientist would do in these laboratory spaces; how would they move; what kinds of motions that they would make; how would they work with glassware, so on and so forth,” McCargar said.
The scene was filmed over a short period of time last summer when the laboratories were not being used for academic purposes. Much of the lab’s modern-day equipment had to be disassembled and removed before filming could take place.
“There is equipment, instrumentation, all kinds of things in there that would not be from the 1980s. We had to remove those, including refrigeration units, freezer units,” McCargar said. “I think that’s the one thing that I really appreciated. There was always this drive for authenticity and asking me about what would this look like in this environment? How would this actor move? What would they do? To be able to actually talk about that and instruct on that, it really does add authenticity. This brought so much insight into this process. I have so much respect for directors, actors, those that have to make sure that the sets are really authentic and reflect the period.”
In addition to assisting with the authenticity of the set during the walk-through, McCargar was also on set for much of the filming of the scene. Being the scientist that he is, McCargar couldn’t help but to observe and assess the process of filming a feature film as well as the dynamic between director and actor.
“It was absolutely surreal. When you are on set and you’re watching Adam Driver, who has been nominated for an Academy award, and you’re watching Noah Baumbach, I just gained this new appreciation for a how a director works with an actor,” McCargar said. “Interesting how the [director] is so open to the actor in terms of what might work better. As an instructor, that’s something I am always open to — how can I make a class better.”
