In order to gain experience for his future career as a director, Rowan joined the crew and participated in the early preparations.
Roberto Benigni gave him convenience and also provided a lot of guidance from his experience as a senior who wrote, directed and acted in the film.
Rowan's Italian is not authentic, but there is no problem for daily communication.
This code of wealth came in handy for him at this moment.
In his spare time, Rowan also read books recommended by Peter and his friends, and systematically learned to work behind the scenes from scratch.
Generally speaking, the production cycle of a movie, that is, from creative planning to the big screen, generally goes through five stages: script, pre-production, shooting, post-production and distribution.
In Hollywood, this cycle takes an average of 871 days.
It is unscientifically long because it takes into account the waiting time for script creation.
Some scripts have been shelved for several years, and many movies will use these years to promote them, saying things like "Ten years of polishing" and so on.
It's as if after ten years of polishing, a pile of shit can be turned into treasure.
Maybe in the eyes of some female fans, it really is a treasure!
In short, Rowan is currently most involved in the filming process.
When it comes to the actual shooting stage, it only takes an average of 106 days to complete.
Like "The Mask of Zorro" where the filming locations are relatively concentrated
Although there were quite a few big scenes, thanks to Rowan's outstanding per formance, the filming was completed in just one or two months.
Comedy and horror films have the shortest shooting period, and some can be completed in just a dozen or twenty days.
So far, the only two films Leonhard can be said to have participated in the entire filming are Taxi and Life is Beautiful.
The process of "Taxi Express" needs to be more "neat".
Make a plan before shooting.
Schedule, storyboard, scene division, selection of filming equipment, props/make up/costumes...
The lighting plan is the most detailed.
Ordinary photography is to give full play to people's subjective initiative under limited equipment and lighting conditions, and shoot whatever is available.
Film photography requires great control over the image.
To put it simply, film is about creating the scene and photography is about capturing the scene.
The lighting requirements for Taxi were very strict.
Because most of the shots were taken outdoors, a lot of time was spent waiting for good lighting and shooting windows, otherwise the shooting time could have been shortened.
In this regard, "The Mask of Zorro" likes to build the scene and will not wait for the light window, but the light requirements are even more stringent.
Because there are many night scenes, it takes a lot of effort to capture the desired images.
Although Rowan did not participate in every link, it can be seen that "The Mask of Zorro" requires control over all visual elements within the picture.
In a seemingly ordinary scene, "The M ask of Zorro" also uses an unusually large number of lights and auxiliary mobile devices outside the screen.
Not only is the equipment expensive, but the lighting ideas of the photography and lighting teams are also beyond ordinary people's imagination.
When the film comes out, these lights are also part of the acting, or part of the "performance effect".
Face/off on the other hand built some sets while also uses outdoor shoots so John Woo incorporated both methods.
Visual creation is achieved by controlling light and art, and this link is also the most time-consuming part of shooting.
Adjusting the light is also one of the hard skills of a director.
Before Rowan entered Hollywood, he would wonder why some actors' acting skills were superb in one movie but poor in another.
This has to do with the director's ability in this area.
Let's take cooking as an example.
Good actors are top-notch ingredients, and good directors are top-notch chefs.
Top-quality ingredients combined with an ordinary chef may still make a dish delicious, but if it is to become a state banquet, both are indispensable.
Only a good director + good actors can create those classic screen moments.
Of course, it is not absolute. He knows many movies with great directors and actors that were bad.
Compared to "Taxi", "Life is Beautiful" is much more casual.
There is a plan, but it's not that strict.
It's still in the preparation stage and hasn't started shooting yet, but Rowan can already sense the problem.
There is certainly no problem with professionalism, but the style of the crew is too Italian.
To put it in a better way, it is a handicraft.
At worst, it's extremely inefficient.
This made Rowan intuitively and deeply feel the difference between Hollywood and European films.
Rowan gave some advice, which Roberto Benigni accepted.
"I want to be strict too."
Roberto Benigni: "Originally I planned to direct and act in the film, so I didn't have enough energy to consider all aspects. Now I have enough energy just to direct."
"I don't want to be overtaken by your film. I'll improve my efficiency so that you can free up time to act in Spielberg's film."
He made a joke.
Rowan was ashamed.
While preparing, Rowan was thinking about becoming a director in the future, so he decided to just build a set and shoot.
Compared with the authenticity of outdoor scenes, shooting on set has more advantages. It provides a relatively comfortable shooting environment and can greatly save shooting time.
The daily commuting, loading and unloading of equipment, and on-site lighting adjustment are very time-consuming.
There is no need to go through this every day when setting up sets for shooting. The efficiency of the lighting team is greatly improved, which not only saves costs but also allows you to have greater control over the picture.
The design of some special shots can be involved in the art concept map stage, so there is no need to think about cutting down trees on the scene. It can better restore the environment and atmosphere described in the script and perfectly present the dsired storyboards.
If conditions permit, you can also add special effects.
Computers perform much more stably than humans and can create newer effects.
Of course the price will be a bit more expensive.
After all, machines cannot play the emotional card, the price is what it should be.
If it breaks and costs $1,000 to repair, you can't save a dollar, and you won't do a favor like a human and give a 10% discount.
People can be laid off, and unlimited internships can be used. Machines also need maintenance during off-seasons, and there is no internship period...
Rowan studied and thought.
During this process, Rowan strongly agreed with a point of view of Roberto Benigni.
"Actually, this script has several flaws."
Roberto Benigni then explained "To create the dramatic effect of the protagonist being taken into the camp and his wife being separated, the wife was set to be a non-Jew, but in Italy at that time, a Jewish man would never marry a non-Jewish woman."
"And confessing to his wife on the radio in the camp is also totally unrealistic."
"There are many such logical problems."
"Maybe it's because I'm not capable enough to handle it well. After hesitating for a long time, I decided to ignore these problems and do everything for the sake of the plot."
Roberto Benigni said self-deprecatingly.
Rowan however disagrees with this "If everyone wanted truth, then everyone would make documentaries, why bother making movies. It's normal for artistic creation to be altered."
As long as there is no ulterior motive or deliberate smear campaign, Leonhard is n ot that keen on truth.
"Face/Off" and "Zorro" are both directed by realistic directors.
The former is better. John Woo pays attention to authenticity but is not so pretentious.
Of course, Rowan is not yet a director, so he can't really talk about style.
But in terms of preference, Rowan is more inclined to what James Wan the horror director with the best value for money in the chatroom said.
We are making commercial films, so as long as the quality is guaranteed, efficiency and cost-effectiveness will of course be the top priorities.
This is also because Rowan believes in not wasting money.
However, no matter how much money is saved, the core goal is still to make the film a big hit at the box office, so that the dream copy created will not be a shoddy product.
Sometimes you can't be so cost-effective, and you can't save money in some places, such as the heroine in "Life is Beautiful".
The role was originally to be played by Roberto Benigni's wife.
Now that the male lead has changed to Rowan, the female lead certainly cannot be his wife.
Roberto Benigni does not have the hobby of watching his wife being intimate with other people - the art of this movie is not good enough to be rated R, but it is still at level of Pg 13+.
"Do you know any suitable actress?"
Roberto Benigni sought Rowan's advice.
Rowan wanted to say no, but after thinking about it, he asked Mary.
Mary recommended an Italian actress named Monica Bellucci.
He didn't know if they met.
But there is a big age gap between Monica Bellucci and Rowan, but she has an excellent appearance and a long blooming period. Her early thirties are no different from her twenties, and she has more temperament, beauty and charm. This is the best age for a woman.
Rowan has a mature temperament, and after putting on makeup, there is no sense of incongruity when he plays a couple with Monica Bellucci.
Rowan was pleased.
It may be a bit embarrassing to say this... Rowan feels better when acting with Monica Bellucci.
He got into the role very quickly!
After the leading actors were confirmed and other preparations were made, "Life is beautiful" officially started filming.