After only two days in Dublin, Mrs. Leah flew to London. The annual catwalk in 1995 was not only the first time in the history of Victoria's Secret, but also the most important event after the Super Bowl halftime show as an advertisement. Santa Feia, the planner, has too much preliminary work to do.
After sending his mother away, Duke plunged into work, and even forgotten the matter of inviting Sophie Marceau from the studio next door to drink with him. Although his ability as a director is getting stronger and stronger, he is The focus of this profession has not diminished.
In mid-December, the weather in Ireland dropped to about fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. The set-up of the set and some preparations were not over yet, Duke announced the official start of the crew, because the beach set was ready.
This is Duke's largest filming since filming, and it even surpassed some battlefield scenes of Independence Day.
On the sea, on the beach, and behind the coastal fortifications, all the people who are under pressure are people, including the props, makeup, costumes and other crew members. The total number of people who participated in the filming of this scene has exceeded 2,000. This is a very test of Duke's ability to coordinate. The moment.
Fortunately, these two thousand people will never appear in the same shot. Even the shots of a few hundred people, in fact, except for the few real actors in the front row, the rest will use cgi to add or replace in the later stage. Background, and this is not a one-shot shooting. Various montage techniques are enough to solve many difficult shooting problems.
Of course, there are always a lot of difficulties when shooting. For example, the sea near the British Isles is not calm this season. Fortunately, the several large boats rented by the crew for filming, the landing craft swayed on the sea, causing many people I didn't get used to it, although the shots of vomiting were extremely real. But also wasted a lot of time.
The army loaned by the Irish government is better. Although it is an army, it is also well-trained. The American soldiers and actors headed by Tom Hanks, except for a few people with exceptional natural adaptability, basically They all vomit.
Standing in a tent under the German fortifications. Duke stared at the monitor, and what was shown on it was footage compiled by John Schwarzman from various photographic assistants. The shots were all real reflections of the American soldiers in the landing craft before the battle.
Duke's brows kept frowning, obviously not too satisfied with the shot.
"Any problem?" Sophia asked curiously, "I think it's pretty good."
"Huh?" Duke turned to look at her.
Perhaps she participated in the shooting of many movies, this time as the assistant director. Sophia Coppola obviously had some confidence in herself. She pointed to the screen of the monitor and said, "I think these reactions are very real. Someone vomited. Some pray, some panic, some pretend to be calm..."
"Although I haven't enlisted in the army." Sophia looked at the resting place. It was a few Marines officers. "But I have contacted them. I think this is the most normal reaction of mankind. If every soldier is high-spirited and regards death as home To the battlefield. Is that false?"
"The problem is not here, they are all very good."
Heard these words. Sophia was slightly taken aback. Duke didn't wait for her to react, turned his head and beckoned to the photographer sitting in the resting area, "John! Come here!"
John Schwarzman walked over immediately.
"Is it a lens problem?" he asked.
"Here, look..." Duke pressed the pause button and pointed to the monitor screen. "John, the lens is too bright, there is a sense of distortion, not in line with the documentary method, I want the light to be more diffuse and soft."
"Also." Duke frowned and said, "The colors are too saturated..."
"Fade?" Sophia interrupted.
Duke nodded, "Yes, downplay."
"It's not difficult." John Schwartzman is an expert in this area. "I can specialize the film negatives to lighten the colors."
"As for the lighting issue." He thought about the meeting for a while and shouted to his assistant, "Ben, bring a portable camera over here."
Ben Watts quickly walked over with the portable camera. After John Schwarzman took it, he fiddled with him for a while and took a few shots at the sea interview, saying, "Duke, there is a way!"
He connected the camera to the monitor, pressed play, pointed to the screen and said, "Look at this lens, I took off the protective lens of the camera. Without the protective lens, the light can directly enter the lens and reflect off. It turned out to be more scattered and soft."
"For the time being, do this first." Duke was basically satisfied.
A dozen test shots were taken in a row, and the overall effect was not bad. After a short break, a large number of actors and extras in American military uniforms prepared to board the landing craft and return to the shaky sea.
"Zac..."
Duke is also urgently assigning tasks, "You go to Landing Craft No. 2 and capture the soldiers in the boat. John, you go to Boat No. 1, and your task is to keep an eye on Tom Hanks! Sophia, you and Ben Watts Go to Yacht No. 2, mainly to capture the bow and port side of the landing craft! David, you and I will go to Yacht No. 1!"
After speaking, Duke looked at the other three assistant directors and the other assistants of photography, "You follow the pre-arrangement and use the remote shooting on the shore!"
The group went busy separately. Duke grabbed the portable camera next to him and walked to the beach, shouting to Sophia Coppola, who was walking to the other side, "Be careful! Fasten your seat belt and don't fall into the sea!"
"You still worry about yourself." Sophia shrugged and walked with Ben Watts to the speedboat parked on the beach.
Walking near the landing craft, Duke first waved to Tom Hanks and others, and then waved to the officer leading the Irish side. The American soldiers of the brigade entered the landing craft, and an amphibious landing battle began again.
Now this season, working at sea will inevitably suffer a lot. Although it is far from freezing, the sea is still cold. When standing on a speedboat to take a shot of the landing craft assault, it feels like splashes of water hit the face and fell into the neck. It's absolutely uncomfortable, but Duke's figure has always been straight, and his enthusiasm and focus on this career never seem to fade.
The shooting ends. Back on the shore, he, the director, had no time to rest, reminding the relevant crew of the crew to deliver hot coffee to all those who participated in the filming in time, especially the main actors, who was driven to change dry clothes in the trailer. After all, in case someone gets sick. The delay will be the progress of the entire crew.
"You are almost drenched!"
Sophia, who had finished changing clothes, came over, squeezed Duke's clothes and gave him a thermos. After Duke had a few sips of hot coffee, he urged, "Hurry up and change clothes. If you, the director, is sick, The crew is more troublesome!"
He gestured an "ok" to her and Duke walked into his trailer. He took off his wet waterproof suit, put on dry sportswear, grabbed a baseball cap and put it on his head, and returned to the set.
Most of the crew can rest temporarily, but Duke can't. He has to review the shots that have just been filmed. Fortunately, after re-adjustment, it basically met his requirements. Even if the light and color are still not ideal in some places, they can be solved by post-production technology.
Rested for about half an hour. Duke walked out of the tent, took a look at the scene that was still being set up, and strode over.
Because the filming has just started, the filming can't be said to be very smooth. Let's talk about the first landing boat charging scene, and even rehearse until today's filming is over. It has been used for more than three days, and nearly half of December has passed. If the film wants to catch up with next year's summer vacation, the filming speed must be accelerated at least not slower than the current shooting speed. After all, there must be enough time for post-production.
The next thing to film is the landing craft rushing to the shore. The shots of the Allied forces directly exposed to the guns of the Germans will explode a lot of plasma here. Although Ireland does not have as many messy environmental protection organizations as North America, it has come out to pose problems for the crew, but the seawater here also cannot be polluted casually. Animal plasma is definitely Unable to use, the props team specially ordered special tomato sauce and vegetable juice close to human blood.
The venue Duke has led people to step on it several times. The script sketch and shooting plan alone have made a thick pile. With sufficient preparations in the early stage, the shooting will become relatively smooth. Cameras, blasting points, and main actors Positioning and so on. Under the leadership of the deputy director Zach Schneider, after three brief rehearsals, Duke asked the assistant director to call the start.
Gunshots, wind, water, explosions, and howls were all mixed together for a while. Since documentary shooting is adopted, on-site recording is bound to be used.
The entire shooting scene seemed extremely chaotic. The Irish extras who acted as the background paintings, according to their own settings, some fell at the door of the landing craft, some died on the charging road, and some hid behind obstacles...
Standing on a platform not far away, Duke tried his best to look at the scene as a bystander. Although the beach was chaotic, it was actually not out of control. Before shooting, Zach Schneider had taken them with them according to the preset The plan has been rehearsed here for a long time.
In the most critical position, John Schwarzman personally controlled a portable camera to capture Captain John Miller, who played Tom Hanks. The Oscar actor and Hollywood superstar also showed an excellent career. Literacy, even if the whole body is almost saturated by the cold water, still doing his best to fulfill his role.
The wounded rolled on the ground, the cowering soldiers huddled together and trembled. There is no strong person under the war, only cruelty...
The battlefield gradually became quiet, and Duke returned to the beach, no matter the red liquid everywhere, he began to arrange the scenes of those small scenes.
Soon, the beach regained its vitality. A soldier hid behind a triangular iron frame and shivered. He seemed to have lost his soul. Ben Watts was holding the camera, regardless of the background characters back and forth, just snapping this. Soldiers.
"Mom! Mom!" the soldier yelled in fear.
Perhaps the soldier's performance was too lifelike, or perhaps this timid behavior was indeed cowardly. Duke suddenly heard a sneer from behind. The sound was not loud, but it was enough to be recorded by on-site recording equipment.
He turned his head, his eyes looked back coldly. (To be continued...)