7th March, 2008
{1st Person POV}
After the article about Michael Young having seen 'The Departed' and loving it was posted, the talk about the film, and subsequently me, had increased greatly.
Both positive and negative discussions were being posted, with the positive ons outnumbering the negatives.
Social media had especially helped in spreading awareness about 'The Departed'.
Comments like "Is it really that good? Seems like a fake promotion to me.", "Okay, I'm kinda excited to see the film now", to "I hate Michael Young, and that's why I won't see 'The Departed'.
And to spread more awareness, I was going to go on talk shows and such. But that would come later, because today was the premiere of 'The Departed'.
The premiere was being held at Cinerama Dome Theater, which was located in Sunset Boulevard.
Cinerama Dome, as the name suggests, is a dome-shaped theatre. It was opened in November, 1963, and was like a go-to place for movie premieres.
The Cinerama Dome was a wide-screen theatre with a 86 ft (26m) wide screen with a Cinerama screen.
What's a Cinerama screen? Well, It's just a large and curved screen, but the name was trademarked by Cinerama.
Oh, and the Dome was able to play films in 70mm, something which I'd love to do in the future.
By the way, I was currently standing outside of the Dome with the cast of 'The Departed', waiting for Keanu to show up. I also asked the cast and crew of 'Halloween' to show up, too.
And as expected, we were getting flooded with interviews from different channels and independent paparazzi.
To be quite frank, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would've been, but it was a bit frustrating getting mic's just shoved in front of your mouth.
Honestly, I was scared that something might go wrong and that'll be up on the headlines of articles tomorrow. But it was also kind of exciting.
"Mr. Knight, how did you get the idea for 'The Departed'?" Asked one of the many interviewers.
'An excellent question,' I thought.
"Well, I read about the Boston Winter Hill gang once, and I quite liked the events that occurred, and just turned that into a film. Of course, 'The Departed' was loosely based on the events and I am, by no means, going to claim that the film is an accurate description of what happened in Boston." I explained.
My explanation only caused more questions to be thrown at me.
"Mr. Knight, were you born in the USA?"
"Oh no, I'm from the UK, specifically Northern England."
"How did you hide your accent so well?"
"Well, if you spend 10 years in a different country, you'll surely start forgetting your own way of speaking and copy the natives way."
"Will you ever create films based on British events or films that are set in the UK?"
"Definitely. There's interesting stories everywhere, and I think it'd be a waste to not adapt them to film."
"What's going to be your next film?"
"I can't really reveal much, but the title is 'The Prestige'."
"Is it true that Michael Young is going to star in your next movie."
"Yes, it's true."
"What's your relationship with Christopher Bird?"
"He's like a father figure to me. We get along and all that stuff. And I'm also the script writer for his next film."
The last line caused a bit of an uproar, and even my fellow cast members looked at me in surprise. Did I forget to tell them about that? Whatever.
"How are you feeling?"
"Oh, I'm feeling absolutely great. It's just wonderful to see a movie you created be attended by so many people, y'know?"
"After your success, many young people are now trying to enter the film industry by creating low budget horror films. What do you think about that?"
"I think it's great. Horror is something which can unleash your creativity because of the tight budget. It, like, trains you to film movies on time and in the given budget. Really, It's just a fantastic genre to start because of the low budget and high return. But obviously, not everyone is suited for horror. So don't just try to get successful by creating a horror film if you don't like horror or yourself or are just terrible at it."
The questions kept on coming, and with the entrance of Keanu, some interviewers left me to interview him. Soon after, Uncle David arrived, and I muttered an "excuse me" and left the interviewers behind.
"Uncle!" I shouted.
Uncle David in my direction, and immediately a smile formed on his face.
"Ah, Oliver! Nice to see you again!" He said and hugged me.
I returned the hug, and said, "Yeah, been like four or five months since I last saw you. Man, I've been super busy to the point I can barely relax."
"Well, why don't you take a little holiday or something? Seems like you're just a workaholic now."
"While that would be nice, I just can't seem to get a good opportunity. Maybe I'll do that when it's Easter or something. For now, I have to promote the film too, so I'm only going to get more tired from here."
Uncle just flashed a warm smile at me, and then said, "I'm sure your father would be proud of you."
"Eh? What's up with suddenly saying something like that? It's kinda embarrassing, y'know?"
"Ahahaha, if you get embarrassed by that much, then I'm not sure what you'll do when someone proposes to you." Uncle teased me.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, quite obviously flustered.
Uncle David chuckled at my reaction.
Behind me, I heard footsteps. I turned around, and it was Keanu.
"Director, the premiere's starting. Let's get inside the theatre." He said.
All of us entered the Cinerama Dome, and got into our seats.
'This is going to be great.' I thought.
Soon, the film started, with the SkyMount logo being shown, and then the screen turned to black. A few seconds later, the words 'Boston: Some Years Ago' showed up with sounds of cars and seagulls in the background.
The screen cut to a scene of two men punching each other, with more joining them and fighting too.
"I don't wanna be a product of my environment." Someone narrated over clips of school buses being protected by the police. "I want my environment to be a product of me."
The movie cut to scenes of more people fighting each other with a burning US flag, and then cut to a 'No' written on to something.
"Years ago, we had the church. That was only a way of saying 'we had each other'.
The movie cut to several clips of people rioting and being interviewed, and then an aerial shot of Boston.
"The knights of Columbus were real head breakers." The camera zoomed into a specific area of Boston. "True guineas. They took over their piece of the city."
Finally, the camera showed the main antagonist of the film, Frank Costello, walking along the street.
"20 years after an irishman couldn't get a fucking job, we had the presidency, may rest in piece. That's what the n*ggas don't realise. If I got one thing against the black chappies, it's this. No one gives it, dear. You have to take it." The narrator finished as the music got louder and louder, until the film cut to a scene of a café.
Oliver, along with the audience, had gotten engrossed into the film. All of them stayed quiet, except for a few chuckles released during the comedic scenes.
And at the end of the film, Colin walks out of the elevator with groceries in hand, and tries to pet the dog going out for a walk. However, the dog's owner doesn't let him and just walks into the elevator.
Dejected, Colin leans on the door to his house and then opens the door and walks in.
Walking in, Colin stops dead in his tracks. He looks at two feet walking and then stopping.
The camera pans upwards to reveal Dignam standing there wearing a mortician uniform and with a piston in his hand.
Dignam aims his gun at Colin, and hesitates.
"Okay…" Colin said, trying to calm the situation down and looked here and there trying to figure out what to say next.
However, before he can say anything, Dignam shoots him in the head, causing blood to splatter over the door.
Colin's body falls to the ground as the groceries slip out of his hands. Dignam puts away his gun and wears a head cover and walks out of the door to Colin's house.
Music from a violin starts playing, as a rat walks to the groceries that Colin bought and eats them.
The screen cuts to black, with two words 'The Departed', and then the words 'Directed by Oliver Knight' being plastered over the gigantic screen.
The credits roll, as the entire theatre was filled with the noise of clapping.
I stood up from my seat and went to greet everyone.
And after all that was done, there were very few people, and one of them was Keanu, who walked up to me, looking a bit teary eyed.
As he got close, he just hugged me.
"Thank you. Thank you for everything you've done up till now. I wouldn't be here if not for you convincing me to join the cast. I don't care if the movie flops; I had an amazing experience working with you and the rest of the crew, and everyone praised my performance as Billy,"
He stopped to breathe, and then continued, "That script you gave me? John Wick? I'll work on it. Even if the pay is lower than the one I got for this movie, I'll do it. I want to repay you to the best of my abilities, and that's why I'll accept your offer to play John Wick." He finished and walked away.
I was a bit stunned, and stood in my place like a statue.
'What the hell?' I thought. 'I know that I flipped his career upside down, but I never thought he'd be affected THIS much!'
"See that, Oliver?" Said Uncle David, snapping me out of my stupor.
Uncle was standing besides me, and I intently listened to his advice.
"You, as a director, have the duty to make sure that your crew had fun filming the movie and had an unforgettable experience. You took Keanu Reece, basically a no-name, and had him perform at his best. You've changed his life; Do you know what that entails? You can change other people's lives, for better or for worse. You can make them leap to stardom, or come crashing down. So, be careful with who you choose and for which role, alright?"
Uncle David, too, walked away.
"I… didn't think about it like that." I muttered.
~~~
A/N: Woooh! Here's ch 26!
Yes, yes, I know many of you would be asking 'but where's the next chapter?' Well, the thing is, I have midterms now, so I won't be able to post more than 1 chapter per week till the last week of September.
And yeah, I know the last part is kinda weird in pacing, but I'll edit it later :P
By the way, I watched the Pirates trilogy for the first time yesterday, and the first one is definitely the best. Dead Man's Chest is my least favourite of the trilogy, and I can't really tell why.
I think the only reason I like At World's End more is because of that Maelstrom battle. That was 15 minutes! Though I was kinda disappointed that it was only 2 ships even though they hyped up the Pirate Lords vs British Navy so much.
Also, the two death scenes were a bit 'eh', to be honest. Especially *SPOILER ALERT* Norrington's. It comes out of nowhere and is anticlimactic as hell.
But yeah, rant over.
See ya later!