Chapter 140: Big Movie
Levi praised Watts in his heart because while Jim Carrey repeatedly struggled with his acting style, Naomi Watts' performance was very satisfactory.
Levi was amazed by the actress' hard work and intelligence.
It has been a while since this film started, and the filming let Naomi know how troublesome it is to film a large investment film.
Before she joined the crew, she initially thought that the so-called big production meant that the actors were paid more for the film and the number of participants was larger, but she was greatly shocked after joining.
For example, in this movie, there is a scene where she and Jim Carrey sit in the car chatting and then start racing to try to leave the Island. The shooting device specially developed for this scene can not only extend to the inside of the car but can even rotate 360 degrees to smoothly shoot the scene outside the car, making the conversation between two people in the car very smooth.
These things are definitely not seen in small independent movies.
Moreover, the cars they were sitting in were modified to film this scene. The seats in the vehicle can be partially adjusted to match the camera's position so that a harmonious picture can be adjusted at any time, and the car's windshield is modified into a structure that can be lifted to make it easier to shoot.
Naomi has never been in contact with these types of conditions before.
What's more, there are still some things that surprised her even more about the movies produced with big investments.
The first half of the movie was shot in the studio because many special effects had to be done in the studio to make it. The latter part was shot in Florida.
If a small town is completely reproduced in a studio, that would cost too much, so Levi also chose to find a place to shoot the location.
In Levi's view, this is to save money.
But in Naomi's opinion, this is already a waste of money. After entering this big crew, she began to understand gradually.
Why are those movies made at a small cost always difficult to compare with big movies in terms of effects?
Equipment, scenes, and special software; large crews can use them with ease. But the small crew couldn't even think of it.
You will burn money if you want to make a movie shoot better.
Seeing this also makes Naomi very discouraged at times: she is 30 years old, but she has never been exposed to these things.
Others have become accustomed to these advanced shooting methods, but this is the first time she has come into contact with them.
Some people have been experiencing this kind of life since childhood, but what about her? Until now, she doesn't know what investing tens of millions of dollars in production is like.
The gap between them is too big.
However, despite being discouraged, she did not give up: In the past 10 years, she has been frustrated many times, and she has learned not to care about failures every time she persevered, and she has gotten used to and climbed up from failures. Since she doesn't know, she must learn quickly and catch up.
There are more thoughts like this in her heart.
Being able to participate in such a film shoot is definitely an eye-opening experience. Naomi is very aware of this, so she has worked even harder for filming.
Unlike Jim Carrey, Naomi Watts has never had the idea that she is a big name. Although she has also acted in many movies, she is very clear about her identity.
In this drama, there are comedy kings, golden supporting roles, and young actors who are in the limelight. Even the minor supporting actors are also the heroines who acted in classic TV dramas.
Compared with them, her status is far worse.
If you are not as good as others, then you have to learn by yourself.
Naomi has lived in the United States for many years, and she has always been unhappy. However, the torment of life has never made her think about fooling around. She has been working hard to pursue her career.
Now that she has met so many good actors, it has become an essential part of her acting life to ask these actors for acting skills every day.
Ten years of experience let her know what a hard-won opportunity this is. She can have the status of the leading actress in such a large investment movie, which not only means becoming famous but also means that she can learn many valuable things.
After a few days of filming, Naomi Watts gained the favor of almost the entire crew. "This is a smart and studious actor," she has heard a lot of comments like this.
Naomi is very proud of being smart and eager to learn, but she also knows that performing well in this play is not easy. In order to act well, she tried her best to communicate with Levi when she was reading the script.
"Truman doesn't love his wife and is still thinking about other women, and she knows it. Then, when acting, should I show some emotions? Show that she is just perfunctory to Truman, or show her implicit dissatisfaction and jealousy towards Truman? Even if she doesn't love Truman, she can play Truman's wife daily. Shouldn't she be indifferent to this? In other words, everyone else in this show wants to keep their status in the reality show. She plays Truman's wife, one of the most important roles. Should she also show some performance?"
Naomi thought a lot, which surprised Levi, especially as an unknown newcomer actor. To have such an idea is even more extraordinary. This made Levi appreciate her while also thinking about how to tell her about the play.
"The role of the wife in the original book is mainly to reflect a few points: first, Truman's wife is very beautiful, and his life is very happy. Second, she constantly makes advertisements, which will be strung together in the end as clues. Besides, his wife is the first big net to intercept his thoughts. In other words, his wife represents the reality of life. Every time Truman wants to break through reality and dream of some wild pursuit such as 'Fiji,' his wife has to remind him of the reality and pull him back."
"But the effect of this layer of the net is not very good," Naomi explained her own understanding.
"No, the effect was very good before Truman looked at the photo. The previous section, after drinking with Marlon, reflected this. Although Truman had an idea, he would be dismissed by his wife. Until he saw his wife in the photo, which is the turning point when he begins to doubt the wife."
"That is to say, Truman has two attitudes towards his wife before and after... Will his different attitudes lead to changes in his wife? How should I show this turning point?" Naomi pressed.
"It's up to you."
"Myself?" She didn't expect this to be the result.
"I can tell you some methods, but no matter how much I emphasize the methods, these are not as good as your own thinking. I still hope you can use your thinking to have independent movements and expressions. If it is you, what should you do? This is something you have to consider."
Naomi did not expect the director to give her so much power. He pressed down Jim Carrey to lock down every detail, but here the director let her play independently.
She knows that the director attaches great importance to this play, and she also knows that the director should have stringent requirements for the performance of this play.
She saw with her own eyes that Truman heard the truth from the car while walking on the street. How troublesome was the shooting during that period: the director was not satisfied with editing fragmentary shots; he asked for a complete and coherent shot to express all of this.
In this scene, not to mention the many actors, Truman also changed direction several times, which also stimulated Truman to scan the surroundings and enter the office building.
The focal length adjustment, the change of lights when entering and leaving the building, and even the rhythm and position of each actor walking in front of the camera at different times; if all these requirements are not in place, the entire set of shots will look unsightly, not to mention that the stability of the camera is still an issue that must be considered during the shooting process as a whole.
The director refused to use post-production editing but had to ask for a coherent shot, which was enough to explain his requirements for the film.
Although Levi is not a person who likes to show off his skills and play some special skills in movies, he has high requirements for the aesthetics of movie lenses, and these requirements also make his movies very strict in many places.
In such a demanding movie, an actress is allowed to play independently, which makes Naomi flattered. However, this also put a lot of burden on her: Can I really do it?
"Was Director Levi so tolerant to other actresses before?" Naomi couldn't help asking Clark - she knew that Clark was Levi's good friend and was also the assistant director for this film and the editor Levi had always used.
"Of course not; he is very strict with others." Clark immediately denied this, "Maybe, you are special?"
I am special? Naomi froze.
She never thought that a director like Levi would appreciate her every day.
Just, can I really do it?
This idea was quickly eliminated by her in the embryonic stage.
How could I think so?
She always blamed bad luck in the past, and no one acknowledged her. Now that someone has accepted her, she is complaining about too much pressure.
This is not acceptable.
Absolutely not.
Since someone has given me such great trust, I must perform well!
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Cherif Doghri
Scott DePaepe
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
The Main Man
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Mandy G
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