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MCU's Echo director Sydney Freeland reveals why the close-up shots in the show look different; find out how sign language is incorporated into the series
Marvel's Echo, featuring a deaf superhero played by a deaf actor, is a unique and engaging experience, with director Sydney Freeland's efforts in incorporating sign language in the shoe.
Echo is Marvel's first TV show featuring a deaf superhero, played by a deaf actor. The entire cast and crew learned American Sign Language to communicate with Alaqua Cox and Maya Lopez on-screen. This allows for different close-up shots, a feature director Sydney Freeland and her team worked hard to incorporate, making Echo a unique and engaging experience for viewers.
The limited five-episode series follows Maya played by Alaqua Cox as she returns to her hometown in Oklahoma, where she must reconnect with her Native American roots and embrace family and community for healing and moving forward. The cast includes Tantoo Cardinal, Graham Greene, Cody Lightning, Zahn McClarnon, Vincent D'Onofrio, Charlie Cox, Kingpin, and Daredevil respectively.
ALSO READ: When is Marvel's Echo series releasing? Checkout the streaming details, cast, plot, and more
Echo director talks about the close-up shots and incorporation of sign language in the series
In Echo, close-up shots frame the actor's face, emphasizing sign language through face, hands, and body language, incorporating more than just face to convey the message effectively. Sydney Freeland explained to GamesRadar+, " Early on, myself, my department heads, and our crew – we all started taking American Sign Language classes. One of the things that I learned in that experience is that the way that you communicate [in ASL] is different than the way you and I talk. Between you and us right now, I'm verbalizing my words, but the way I deliver those words – that is the subtext. And you need both, the text and the subtext, to get the full emotional intent of what is being communicated."
Freeland continues, "What we found out is that in sign language, you typically sign just in the chest area or just off to the side of the head area. When you sign, that is the text, but that's only half of the idea. The other half is the face and the way that you emote, and the way that you express yourself through your body language. That's the subtext, right? So, to get the full emotional intent of what's being communicated, you need to see [face], and you need to see [hands]. In our show, [face and hands] is a close-up. And because this is a close-up for Alaqua, that means it’s a close-up for everybody else. That was one thing that we really worked hard to incorporate."
The series portrays Maya's deaf community, where everyone can communicate with her, including Kingpin's ASL interpreter and her deafness is normalized as a strength rather than a hindrance. "One of the other things that was important to us, in terms of family members who aren't deaf – we learned that there are degrees of proficiency in ASL," Freeland said. "We try to incorporate that into our story. So, you have characters who are more 'fluent' in ASL than others. People that are more fluent will sign, but they won't speak."
Freeland continued, "The people who are less proficient might be a little bit stilted in their signing, but they will also speak at the same time, and that's called simcom. So what we tried to do is actually build a spectrum of experience in the family members surrounding Maya Lopez. It all comes down to authenticity. And in doing so, hopefully we get to tell a more true story."
Chaske Spencer and Devery Jacobs talked about learning ASL for the show
Chaske Spencer and Devery Jacobs, who play Henry Lopez and Bonnie respectively, say they were fortunate to learn ASL for the show. "It was a gift," Spencer says of learning ASL for the Marvel series.
Spencer continues, "I had no experience with that whatsoever, and Marvel set up a really good production to help us learn ASL from Doug Ridloff [who also consulted on Eternals and is husband to that film's star Lauren Ridloff who portrayed deaf superhero Makkari]. Alaqua Cox was also very patient with us. They put a lot of time and heart into it, and I think you can see that in the production. I was very honored to be able to be part of that and be able to learn ASL."
Devery Jacobs also told GamesRadar+, "I felt lucky that I had a chance to learn ASL for Echo. Doug Ridloff was the ASL master and one of the producers of the project. And, we couldn't have crafted the performances and the lines of ASL without his mastery. He’s like an ASL Slam poet. His work and Alaqua's work were just really incredible. I'm still learning ASL. It’s hard but really fun. I think it was a challenge that we were all up to the task for."
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