**
"First unit, ready."
"Second unit, ready."
...
"Fourth unit, fourth unit, the crowd has entered the frame, need to move them back by five yards."
...
"Makeup team, please blot Mr. Robinson's shine, the camera is catching some glare."
"Sound team, raise microphone three slightly; it's visible in the shot now."
...
"Camera team ready, waiting for lighting."
"Give me a little more time."
Bustling, busy, orderly chaos, everyone on their feet.
Just another typical day on set.
"Spider-Man" officially started filming in early March. Sam Raimi wanted the story set in winter to capture the cold and indifferent essence of New York. If filming were delayed any further, spring would arrive and summer wouldn't be far behind. Sticking to on-location shooting would then present a series of challenges.
The crew already had experience from shooting "The Princess Diaries," where they had to build sets of a fictional small country in a studio, splitting filming between real locations and the studio.
For "Spider-Man," they took it a step further. The movie required extensive computer effects and the "destruction" of many New York City buildings, necessitating green screen shoots in the studio.
At the same time, Sam still wanted on-location shooting. A studio can never fully replicate the texture of reality. This is why he scouted cities like Berlin, Paris, and London. Although "Spider-Man" is entirely set in New York, the New York City government doesn't always approve every filming request, forcing the crew to seek locations in other cities.
Because of this, filming "Spider-Man" has become a challenge—especially for a newcomer like Anson.
Movies aren't shot in chronological order or according to the storyline; they're filmed based on the locations.
Currently, the crew is in New York, so they have to film all the New York scenes regardless of their place in the story timeline. Once they're done with all the New York locations, they move on to the next filming site.
Disrupting the timeline means disrupting the storyline and emotional arc as well.
When audiences watch a movie, they follow the development of the plot and characters, feeling the emotional flow. However, when filming, actors don't have this luxury. One moment they may be portraying happiness and joy, and the next, they might be acting out scenes of separation and loss.
This places strict demands on the actors:
They must clearly understand their character's backstory and fully immerse themselves in the character's world. Only in this way, when filming any given scene out of sequence, can the actors present emotions and states that are consistent and seamless, like pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together after the film is edited.
Large film crews operate this way as a rule.
Of course, things can be simpler—after all, this is "Spider-Man," not "Sophie's Choice." Actors just need to express the right emotions at the right moments—
Sadness? Joy? Happiness? Bitterness? Frustration?
And so on.
As long as the emotions are correct, the portrayal on screen won't feel jarring, even if it doesn't perfectly match every detail. It wouldn't be noticeable to the audience.
But Anson doesn't think this way.
Character arcs and emotional threads—these seemingly simple yet complex expressions—are key to distinguishing the quality of a commercial film. An excellent commercial movie may not need to delve into the depths of human nature, but it does need to maintain a smooth viewing experience. These invisible threads play that role.
Take "Titanic," "Avatar," and "The Avengers" as examples—there's a reason these movies became box office hits.
In the previous world, "Spider-Man" achieved tremendous success and is undoubtedly a landmark in superhero films, still regarded as such many years later. Anson himself likes it a lot.
But is "Spider-Man" perfect?
No, it's not.
At least, not in Anson's view. The most important reason is the performances of the three actors.
Whether it's Tobey Maguire, James Franco, or Kirsten Dunst, their performances were too much like idol acting.
Starting with Tobey, who gave Peter Parker a shy and awkward quality, but during several emotional transitions and psychological changes, his performance was superficial.
This is actually a common habit in his acting style. Looking at his later works, such as "The Great Gatsby" and "Seabiscuit," you can see the similarities across different characters. His emotional portrayals always stay on the surface without depth or power. His acting career is more about repeating the same character—
There may be some slight differences, but they are very limited.
The result is that the character arc is complete, but more due to the script than the performance. It isn't missing, but it also isn't rich.
In the end, "Spider-Man" becomes more of an idol film. Although the script provides Peter Parker with a complete and three-dimensional growth space, Tobey Maguire's version of Spider-Man never delivers the impact that Christian Bale's Batman did.
Of course, there is a doubt here:
Not only Tobey, but James and Kirsten also had the same problem.
This makes Anson wonder—either this was Sam Raimi's intention, consciously keeping the story light and avoiding heavy emotions, or it was Sony Columbia's influence, aiming to maintain the film's entertainment value with box office first in mind, without needing to delve deeply.
As a result, they made an "idol film."
To a large extent—about 90%—Anson agrees with this view. The box office success of "Spider-Man" was due to such a strategy; deep bitterness wasn't necessary. But there's a thin line between excellent and classic. If that line could be crossed, the movie could undergo a transformative change.
Anson thought, if it were possible to add layers of psychological change to Peter Parker in some emotional outbursts or plot twists without affecting the film's editing and overall tone, would this template for a story that has the potential for becoming a classic truly release its charm?
So, even before filming started, Anson was studying the script and the character, examining character relationships and psychological states, not just for the role but also to be able to accurately capture the mood in any scene during filming and attempt to enrich his portrayal.
Without a doubt, this is a challenge.
Moreover, it's also Anson's first attempt at something like this, and his first time as a lead actor, completely different from his experiences on "Friends" and "The Princess Diaries."
Whether it's a donkey or a horse, you only know when you take it out for a run.
In no time, the "Spider-Man" crew had already been shooting in New York for half a month. From the initial chaos to the gradual improvement, the crew had finally found its rhythm.
Then, today, the crew is set to film a key scene—
From Anson's perspective, this could be considered the core of the entire movie, and it's also the key to making the movie stand out.
The classic line "With great power comes great responsibility" comes from this scene.
Also, the crew chose to shoot on location in New York to capture the city's authentic light. The geographic location was set at the entrance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art—
Another iconic landmark in New York.
And so, the scene unfolded with the crew bustling around, yet orderly in chaos, creating sparks of excitement and energy in the air.