Made in Hollywood

"smart phone?"

Turning over the Apple concept machine in his hand, Duke leaned back in his chair and looked at Steve Jobs opposite, "Is this the flagship product of Apple's next generation?"

Steve Jobs nodded, perhaps because he had more interests involved with Duke, the businessman's temperament flared up, his attitude seemed much better than before, and he rarely showed a smile and said, "How do you feel? "

"It's pretty good." Duke put it on the table between him and Jobs, "I believe it will be popular all over the world in the future."

"Inevitably." Steve Jobs has always been full of confidence.

Although it has not been used before, Duke is sure that this is basically the first-generation kidney machine. Just listening to Jobs's words, the mobile phone is still in the stage of experimental improvement, and it is still early before it goes on sale.

Of course, if the phone hits the market, Duke would prefer to stick with his custom version of Nokia, a smartphone that, despite all the cutting-edge technology available today, is nowhere near as good as any copycat he's ever seen. smartphone.

According to Steve Jobs, the iPhone generation only supports the 2G network connection provided by AT\u0026T, which is easy to lose packets and drop the line.

"Duke, you are very good at sci-fi movies, and you are always full of whimsy." Jobs asked suddenly, "What do you think this phone can be improved upon?"

Seeing that Jobs rarely asked this question, Duke could not help frowning, recalling for a long time, before saying, "Steve, I think it is completely possible to put the App .Store on this smartphone."

App .Store is part of , a service software for many Apple devices. Allows users to browse and download some applications specially developed for Apple devices, users can purchase paid items and free items, and let the application download directly to their Apple terminal, including games, calendars, translation programs, photo galleries and many other utilities software.

Jobs' eyes lit up immediately, but he didn't get too excited and continued to ask. "Any more?"

"This concept machine can't replace too much background, only the black color set by the system." Duke has a rare opportunity to show off in front of Jobs, and he is a major shareholder of Apple. The better the kidney machine sells in the future, he will naturally make profits. The more, "the system does not have the function of copying and pasting, and it cannot be connected to the computer wirelessly. There is no navigation, and the pixel of the camera is too low to record directly..."

Duke said, and Jobs nodded, "I really didn't expect it. Duke. You have such a deep understanding of mobile phones. What you put forward is indeed the shortcomings of the concept machine, and it is also a technology that needs to be improved in the future."

"The future?" Duke was slightly surprised.

"The future of course," Steve Jobs said, rightfully. "My plan is to launch a new model every once in a while. Then change some corresponding functions. For example, we can add App .Store on the second-generation machine, increase entertainment functions on the third-generation machine, and completely update the camera on the fourth-generation machine. …”

He spread his hands. He said, "Only when the function is continuously improved will users pay for Apple's products. It is never in Apple's interest to launch it once."

Hearing this, Duke can't help nodding heavily. Steve Jobs is indeed a businessman, and he is definitely a model for him to learn from.

When he left, Duke originally wanted to take a concept machine with him. He didn't need it himself. It would be nice to give it to Scarlett Johansson as a toy, but Steve Jobs sternly rejected it.

Duke didn't care either. After all, this is a product in the development stage, and confidentiality is a must.

With the emotion of Steve Jobs's true businessmanship, Duke returned to Los Angeles from San Francisco and threw himself into the intense filming. During the few days he was away, the crew did not stop working and still operated normally. Anna Pugh Linz temporarily took over Duke's position and took control of the shooting schedule.

Even after Duke arrived, she still shot with a team, and the two-line shooting also ensured the progress of the crew and allowed enough time for complex post-production.

In the studio, Robert Downey Jr., wearing motion capture equipment, jumped from a three-foot-high platform and landed heavily on the black mat. Duke watched all this through the monitor, and his brows were furrowed.

"Rob..." he shouted to the camera, "do it again."

Robert Downey Jr. nodded, walked up to the stage again, waited for the field recorder to start, jumped off again, and stood with both feet on the mat at the same time.

Duke didn't look at the monitor this time, and kept his eyes on Robert Downey Jr. When he saw his feet fall, he finally found the problem.

"Jimmy, Rob." Duke raised his hand and called over the actor and the action director, "Let's have a brief meeting."

Jimmy Carter, who had been in charge of the action design, understood that Duke was not happy with the scenes he had designed, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Don't you think Rob's way of landing from the flight is too ordinary?" Duke pointed to Robert Downey Jr. "Jimmy, Iron Man just jumped to the ground, so uncharacteristic."

Robert Downey Jr. scratched his head and deliberately said in a very stinky tone, "I think what Duke said is very reasonable. This way of appearing can't show my handsome and cool side at all."

"Rob..." Jimmy Carter pointed at him, probably because he was often annoyed by the words of this live treasure, he simply ignored him and asked Duke, "Give me a hint, I am good at designing according to your requirements, and I am good at designing according to your requirements. Sex is a pain in the ass."

"Every superhero has its own unique way of appearing." Duke thought for a while and said, "In "Iron Man", Tony Stark always appeared in a flying state after being transformed into Iron Man. Jimmy , the most important thing you need to do is to differentiate the way Iron Man flies from other superheroes, so that the audience's first reaction to him is -- this is Superman or Peter Pan."

These conceptual aspects have always been in the hands of Duke, who explained, "Iron Man doesn't have superpowers; he's just wrapped in a heavy, invulnerable high-tech product, and Superman takes off quickly but likes to land slowly. , and Iron Man took off slowly because his coat was heavy. But he landed quickly and with a dull thud."

Over the years, Jimmy Carter has accumulated enough experience. Hearing what Duke said, he immediately thought of a solution, "For a normal landing, Iron Man can also take a slow deceleration landing. When he appears on the battlefield, he will Leaping out of the air like a thunderbolt, it's a huge impact, and Tony Stark needs to use one knee to slow the impact, and it's cool enough."

Robert Downey Jr. immediately agreed. "good idea."

After finishing speaking, he and Jimmy Carter both looked at Duke. The two of them knew very well that the only one who could really make up their minds was Duke.

"It's really different for Iron Man from other traditional heroes that have been produced. It's also a good one for us."

This problem was solved, and Duke temporarily changed the shooting plan and switched to other scenes to leave enough practice time for Jimmy Carter and Robert Downey Jr. Don't look at this is just a trivial little action, but want to achieve the shooting effect. It also requires a lot of repetitive practice.

Of course, this only solves part of the problem, and there are other problems as well.

For example, Iron Man is based on the ground, and he needs to have natural movement. This aspect is not only filmed, but also solved by post-production special effects.

ILM and Weta Studio worked closely together. According to Duke's request, with the heart to produce a large number of CGs without fear of death, at the same time as shooting, a large number of key frame animations were produced for the film, and there was a little straight forward progress. motion capture animation.

Just like Duke said, those superheroes who can succeed on the screen have their typical characteristics, and they have signature moves that can make the audience unforgettable, such as Superman standing with chest and fists on hips, cloak fluttering in the wind .

But Duke's style for Iron Man is more organic, and while he wants Iron Man to have magical movement speeds, he doesn't want to distract the audience with the fake comic structure, instead trying to insert poses into the various movements. , to enhance the impression.

There is a scene where the original special effects have been completed after filming - Iron Man flies back to attack Iron Man, and Iron Man grabs his arms and leaps into the air with a rocket jet launcher.

This set of actions is far better than letting him put a pose on the spot. There is also a critical moment when he is in the sky, he nimbly raises his fist to hit back at the attack scene of the Iron Overlord. In that frame of posture, Iron Man is just right in the center of the lens.

Solved some problems in the Iron Man action scenes, and the shooting progress gradually accelerated. Before Christmas, Duke completed the shooting of all action scenes, and the rest were some fragmentary shots, accompanying his mother and Scarlett in New York. Leigh Johnson is back at work after the Christmas break.

The sooner the shooting is completed, the more time is left for post-production. According to the plan, the film must be released in the summer next year.

The rest of the shots are Tony Stark's tongue-in-cheek and relatively funny shots.

Just like actors, directors are also not good at things. Duke has never been good at shooting funny scenes, but Robert Downey Jr. himself is an expert in this field. Under his leadership, several actors began to play on the spot. , Duke is also happy to select the appropriate material.

Such as Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams in an opposite scene.

Rachel's Pepper Wave complains about flying around the country to buy mansions for Tony Stark.

"After you buy the next manor, I can write your name on the gate of the manor, called Boci Manor."

Hearing this, Rachel McAdams had an idea and said, "Let's write it down in the room book."

During the last period of filming, the crew was rarely filled with a cheerful atmosphere. After the New Year, when 2006 came, the filming of "Iron Man" was officially completed. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  The end of the month, let’s get more monthly and recommended tickets, there is no manuscript, and every three shifts needs incentives!