Made in Hollywood

"You seem to be under a lot of pressure?" Naomi Watts asked tentatively after touching Duke's glass.

After drinking the glass of wine, Duke shrugged and didn't answer her question. He asked casually, "How about you? Why didn't you develop in Australia first? Instead, come Hollywood, which is more competitive?"

"At the end of last year, I came here for a friend's bachelorette party," she took two glasses of whiskey from the bartender and placed them in front of her and Duke, "and stayed in Los Angeles for a while, wanting to see To see if there is a chance, my friends also helped me a little, this is my third movie role, but the first one with lines."

"Perhaps you've heard of her." Naomi Watts raised a glass to Duke again. "My classmate from 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 eyes were chasing her back.

"Did you see her?"

On the other side came the monotone nasal voice, Sofia Coppola pulled up the high chair and sat down, "Then take the initiative."

"Love is a child's trick." Duke turned his head and gave her an angry look, "You think I'd be distracted by this kind of thing?"

It took him two lifetimes of accumulation to get the rare opportunity today. As long as "Speed ​​of Life and Death" has not been completed, he will never distract his energy.

If a more appropriate word is used to describe Duke now, it is a workaholic!

After a short rest day, the intense and hectic filming began again. Fortunately, the main location was in Santa Monica and the Greater Los Angeles area, and the crew also avoided the long-distance travel.

'Speed' studio leased an unfinished highway from Santa Monica to Long Beach as a primary filming location, rented hundreds of used cars from three rental car dealers, and secured rare advertising sponsorships , a car manufacturer provided four free buses for the crew.

The value is not very high, but it can always save some money.

In addition, Lucasfilm has also shown its profound side. They have long been in contact with the Los Angeles County Police Department. The police are very interested in this distinctive Los Angeles police propaganda film and will participate in the whole process of location shooting.

This can be regarded as the norm in North America. Congress, the Pentagon, the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Washington authorities, and even some public departments in some big cities have offices or liaison offices dedicated to dealing with Hollywood and are often involved in the shooting of Hollywood films. , in order to promote their positive image.

"Speed ​​of Life and Death" is so in line with the needs of the Los Angeles police. With the name of Lucasfilm, they will not only send a SWAT team to serve as a background image, but also provide a variety of equipment including police helicopters. Except for fuel charges, basically no other charges are charged.

This in turn saves the crew a lot of money.

For the next ten days, the crew was basically surrounded by collisions and noise. Several main actors completely retreated to the second line. Most of the time they sold their faces in front of the camera. Is the protagonist in front of the camera.

When shooting such a scene, it is inevitable that someone will be injured. Not to mention a few stunt performers who were slightly injured, even the director Duke, was scratched by the flying car fragments during a shooting, scratching his brow bone.

Fortunately, it is only a skin injury, and an OK stretch is attached, which will not affect the work at all.

The bright sun shone on the earth, and dozens of cars of all kinds were parked on the originally empty highway. The props team was busy changing road signs, while the stunt team installed three cars on the catapult, according to Duke’s request. , and adjust the appropriate ejection angle.

Duke stood on the side of the road and was discussing the next filming with Cruz, when the assistant director Kone hurried over.

"Duke, are you going to install a wireless camera on your car again?" He directly questioned, "In the last week of shooting, you have damaged three expensive wireless cameras in a crash and explosion!"

Turning his head, Duke looked at him, "My decision won't change!"

After that, he stopped going to the management department and walked directly towards the director's camera.

"Arrogant, paranoid..." Corne looked at Duke's receding back and said to director of photography Cruz, "This movie will be destroyed in his hands!"

"Whether the movie will be ruined is something that the producers should consider." Cruz obviously didn't want to get involved in personnel battles, "I'll do my job well!"

The crew is made up of a single 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 snobbery. He is on the road to success. If he stops because of some inexplicable little problem, it will not be worth the loss.

"Props?"

Standing on the slide deck behind the director's camera, Duke made a routine question into the loudspeaker, "Camera?"

"OK!"

"trick?"

"OK..."

"Every department is ready..." He put a Los Angeles Raiders hat on his head, "The one hundred and thirty-third, the twenty-fifth act, start!"

When he was sitting behind the camera, the motor of the car sounded one after another, and a bus galloped from a distance. Because it did not slow down and turn, it bumped into several moving cars one after another, and these cars collided with other cars. , and then the catapult launched, and several cars rolled and flew into the air...

Doors, bumpers, shattered car glass, like a downpour, poured on the nearby pavement.

"CUT!"

Standing up from behind the camera, Duke gave a hard fist, "Great!"

The medical and rescue personnel who had been waiting on the roadside for a long time rushed to the scene of the 'car accident' and dragged several stunt drivers out of the car. Because of the safety measures in place, they were not injured.

"Half an hour break!"

After such an exciting scene, Duke also temporarily let the crew relax.

"Duke..." Sofia Coppola walked over quickly, "Someone came to visit the class."

Leaving the camera, Duke pointed to himself, "Me?"

Then, he saw the two people behind Sophia, with a sincere smile on his tired face, strode over, opened his hands and hugged gently, "Mom, I'm so glad you can come! "

"I heard you're doing pretty well." Mrs. Leah took a step back, "so come and see."

Duke turned to the other side again and squeezed hard on Lucas' outstretched hand, "Uncle George... well, George, I didn't expect you to come too."

"I've seen all the films you shot." George Lucas said seriously, "You've done far 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 he just said a few words, Sophia came over to inform the stunt team that something was looking for him, Duke had to left in a hurry.

"Sophia..." George Lucas stopped the assistant director who was about to leave, "Get Robin."

A few minutes later, Robin Grande walked into the trailer, presumably having heard the news of Lucas' coming, and was not surprised to see the two.

"Duke still doesn't know you invested $10 million in the film!" Leah Rosenberg said when asked.

"Don't let him know before the film is finished." Leah explained briefly, "I can't see anything from Duke's face, in fact, he is under a lot of pressure, and he has not slept well recently, which will only increase His pressure, I don't want to let an overly heavy burden overwhelm his young shoulders, even if his ability to bear pressure is very strong."

"Robin, talk about it." George Lucas said, "How is Duke doing?"

"In the beginning, it was very immature and inexperienced. During the first week of filming, the entire crew was completely out of order. If not all departments are veterans who often cooperate with Lucasfilm, Duke will have all the scenes that were originally planned. With the replacement of extras, the conflict between the crew is very likely to break out."

Robin Grande is telling the truth, "But Duke's ability to adjust is very strong. It only took more than ten days to lead the crew through the most difficult run-in stage. He obviously studied Hollywood production in depth. mode, he has completely entered the role of a director, and his focus on work is amazing. After finding the state, he no longer looks like a novice. He can not only convey his ideas to the crew, but also through his own His work drives the state of other people, and 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. There are many people in the crew who are skeptical of him, but Duke can ignore these stereotypes and use his work to temporarily squeeze the complex composition of the crew. Being in a group is a very rare quality for a young man!"

"And then there is professional ability. No matter how strong a director is in other aspects, he must prove himself through the lens and his works. "The Speed ​​of Life and Death" has not been completed, so I can't talk about the work. I can only talk about the scenes that have been shot. Duke There's a keen sense of capturing big things like crashes, explosions, and being able to capture the best part of it with the camera."

Speaking of which, the corners of his mouth trembled, "According to my calculations, even if Duke can't tell the story of "Speed ​​of Life", the thrill of the film is definitely not a problem, even if the film has not been post-processed, I can Imagine that when they are presented on the big screen, they will be full of shocking visual impact!"

(There will be a chapter after 12 o'clock, and the new week will be on the list, please support!)