"You seem to be under pressure?" Naomi Watts asked tentatively after touching Duke's glass.
After drinking the wine in the glass, Duke shrugged, did not answer her question, and asked casually, "What about you? Why didn't you develop in Australia first? Instead, came the more competitive Hollywood?"
"At the end of last year, I came here to attend a friend's bachelor party before marriage." She took two glasses of whiskey from the bartender and placed them in front of herself and Duke. "Then stayed in Los Angeles temporarily, wanting to watch Seeing if there is a chance, my friend also helped me a little bit. This is my third movie role, but the first one with a line."
"Perhaps you have heard of her." Naomi Watts raised his glass to Duke again. "My classmate in acting school, Nicole Kidman..."
"It turned out to be Mrs. Cruise."
Taking a sip of the golden wine, Duke nodded, but stopped talking, using his friends to raise his identity is a common method in this circle.
After drinking all the wine in the glass, Naomi Watts returned to the crowd. Duke's thoughtful gaze had been chasing after her!
"Fancy her?"
A monotonous nasal voice came from the other side, and Sophia Coppola pulled up the high chair and sat down, "Then take the initiative."
"Love is a kid's trick." Duke turned his head and gave her angrily. "Do you think I will be distracted by this kind of thing?"
It took him two lifetimes of accumulation to get a rare opportunity now. As long as "Life and Death" has not been completed, he will never distract his energy.
If you use a more appropriate vocabulary to describe the current Duke, it is a workaholic!
After a short day of rest, the intense and busy filming work started again. Fortunately, the main locations are in Santa Monica and Greater Los Angeles, and the crew also avoided the long-distance travel.
The Speed Studio rented an unfinished highway from the Santa Monica cartoon to Long Beach as the main filming location. It also rented hundreds of second-hand cars from three car rental agencies, and got rare advertising sponsorships. , An automobile manufacturer provided four buses to the crew for free.
The value is not too high, but it can always save some money.
In addition, Lucasfilm also showed a deep side of its own heritage. They have been in contact with the Los Angeles County Police Department a long time ago. The police are very interested in this distinctive Los Angeles police promo and will participate in the entire location shooting.
This can be regarded as the norm in North America. Congress, the Pentagon, the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, Washington authorities and even the public departments of some large cities have offices or liaison offices that deal specifically with Hollywood, often participating in the shooting of Hollywood films. In order to promote your positive image.
"Life and Death" simply meets the needs of the Los Angeles police. With Lucasfilm's reputation, they will not only send a swat team as the background picture, but also provide a variety of equipment including police helicopters. Except for fuel costs, basically no other fees are charged.
This can save the crew a lot of money.
For the next ten days, the crew basically spent time surrounded by collisions and noise. Several major actors completely retreated to the second line. Most of the time, they were selling faces in front of the camera, stunt actors and the vehicles they drove. Is the protagonist in front of the camera.
In shooting such a scene, it is inevitable for someone to be injured. Not to mention a few lightly injured stuntmen, even the director, Duke, was also scratched his brow bones by flying car debris during a shooting.
Fortunately, it is just a skin injury, and a piece of ok stretch is attached, which will not affect the work at all.
Bright sunlight illuminates the ground. On the originally empty highway, dozens of cars of various types are parked. The props team is busy changing road signs, and the stunt team installs three cars on the catapult frame, in accordance with Duke's requirements. , Adjust the appropriate ejection angle.
Duke was standing on the side of the road and was discussing the next shooting with Cruz, when Deputy Director Kone hurried over.
"Duke, do you want to install wireless cameras on the car again?" He directly questioned, "In the last week of shooting, you have damaged three expensive wireless cameras in crashes and explosions!"
Turning his head, Duke looked at him, "My decision will not change!"
After that, he stopped going to the management department and walked directly to the director's camera.
"Arrogant, paranoid..." Kone looked at Duke's back and said to the director of photography Cruz, "This movie will be destroyed in his hands!"
"Whether the movie will be ruined or not is the issue that the producer should consider." Cruz obviously does not want to participate in the personnel battle, "I will do my job well!"
The crew is composed of one individual. Everyone's thoughts and interests will collide, leading to many disputes. The contract they signed is the best constraint. Don't expect to convince people with personal charm in this vanity fair. It is the most naive and stupid idea. Power and legally binding contracts are far more direct and effective than unreliable things like convincing people.
Duke knows that this is a circle full of lies and snobs. He is on the road to success. If he stops because of some inexplicable small problems, it will not pay off.
"Props?"
Standing on the slide table behind the director's camera, Duke asked the loudspeaker routinely, "Camera?"
"Ok!"
"trick?"
"Ok..."
"All departments are ready..." He put a Los Angeles Raiders hat back on his head, "Game 133, Act 25, start!"
When he was sitting behind the camera, the motor of the car sounded one after another. A bus came from a distance. Because it did not slow down and turned, it hit several moving cars one after another, and these cars hit other cars. , Then the catapult was launched, and several cars rolled and flew into the air...
The doors, bumpers, and broken glass of the car, like a heavy rain, poured on the road nearby.
"Cut!"
Standing up from behind the camera, Duke shook his fist hard, "Excellent!"
Medical and rescue workers who had been waiting on the side of the road for a long time flocked to the scene of the 'car accident' and dragged several stunt drivers out of the car. Because safety measures were in place, they were not injured.
"Half an hour off!"
After such an exciting scene, Duke also temporarily relaxed the crew.
"Duke..." Sophia Coppola walked over quickly, "Someone came to visit the class."
Leaving the camera, Duke pointed to himself, "Me?"
Then, he saw the two people following Sofia, with sincere smiles on their tired faces, strode over, spread his hands and hugged gently, "Mom, I'm so glad you can come!" "
"I heard you did a good job." Mrs. Leah took a step back. "So come and have a look."
Duke turned to the other side and squeezed the hand that Lucas stretched over. "Uncle George...well, George, I didn't expect you to come too."
"I have seen all the films you took." George Lucas said seriously, "You did a lot better than I thought!"
This is not the place to talk. Duke led the way and returned to his director's trailer with his mother and Lucas. But as soon as he said a few words, Sophia came over to inform the stunt team that there was something to look for him. Duke had to Leaving hastily.
"Sophia..." George Lucas called the assistant director who was about to leave, "Get Robin."
A few minutes later, Robin Grande walked into the trailer. He probably learned that Lucas was coming, and was not surprised when he saw the two.
"Duke still doesn't know that you invested 10 million dollars in the film!" Leah Rosenberg said when asked.
"Before the film is finished, don't let him know." Leah briefly explained, "You can't see anything from Duke's face. In fact, he is under a lot of pressure and his sleep is not good recently. His pressure, I don't want the heavy burden to overwhelm his young shoulders, even if his ability to bear pressure is very strong."
"Robin, let's talk about it." George Lucas said. "How is Duke doing?"
"At first it was immature and lacking experience. During the first week of starting, the entire crew was completely out of order. If not all departments are veterans who often cooperate with Lucasfilm, Duke will have all the originally planned scenes. Changing to extras will most likely cause conflicts in the crew."
Robin Grand is telling the truth completely, "But Duke's ability to adjust is very strong. It took only more than ten days to lead the crew through the most difficult stage of running-in. He has obviously studied Hollywood production in depth. He has completely entered the role of a director, and his concentration on work is surprising. He no longer looks like a novice when he finds the state. Not only can he convey his ideas to the crew, but also through himself The work of drove the status of other people. When the filming went on for a month, the crew gradually showed the rhythm of some mature Hollywood crews."
"The most important thing is that Duke is very clear about what he wants or should do. Many people on the crew are skeptical of him, but Duke can ignore these stereotypes and use his work to temporarily pinch the complex crew. Being a group, for a young man, this is a very rare quality!"
"Then it is professional ability. No matter how strong a director is in other aspects, he must prove himself through shots and works. "Life and Death" has not yet been completed. I have no way to talk about the work. I only talk about the shots that have been taken. Duke is There is a keen ability to capture big scenes such as crashes and explosions, and the most exciting parts can be recorded with the lens."
When he said this, the corners of his mouth trembled, "According to my calculation, even if Duke can't tell the story of "Life and Death", the thrill of the film is definitely not a problem, even if the film has not been post-processed, I can I can imagine that when they appear on the big screen, they will be full of shocking visual impact!"