Chapitre 76: A rush of nostalgia
Director Lyman's new work, the World War II-themed film "Fury", had been officially approved for production...
"According to our reporter's interview..."
The above excerpts set the tone for the interview press release that Jordan, the on-site reporter for the entertainment section of the Los Angeles Daily News, was about to write. The weather was a bit hot and stuffy. He stood among the crowd, trying his best to fulfill his obligation.
If you ask what his obligation was, well, he just accepted a bribe and wanted to safely pocket the money.
"Director Lyman, can you reveal some specific details about the new film? Such as the casting choices and production preparations."
Another news media worker asked a question, a good one. Everyone pricked up their ears, wanting to hear the interviewee's response.
Surrounded by the crowd, facing the gaze of the audience, Lyman maintained a calm expression and continued to answer with the most perfunctory statement, "Hmm, to be more specific, it's about depicting the story of the Allied tank troops during World War II. As for the specific effects it will present or which actors will be invited to perform, you'll have to go to the cinema after the film is released and see for yourselves."
This was Los Angeles, and the ongoing event was the pre-release promotion of the film. According to Paramount Pictures' intention, it was necessary to quickly find some media outlets to generate buzz for the new film while Lyman still had some popularity.
Of course, the second half of that sentence was the result Lyman could think of. In Lyman's view, this press conference was simply meant for that purpose. Was everything just for publicity? Lyman didn't support it, but he didn't oppose it either.
Since they joined this project, Paramount Pictures' promotional efforts had taken the lead and appeared particularly urgent. In the past few days, many tabloids and magazines had started to publish various topics related to the film "Fury".
One moment, they would say that a certain A-list actor was rumored to join the cast, and the next moment, they would confidently say that someone else was interested in participating. In short, there were too many false things. Who could distinguish them? As a result, Paramount Pictures specially held a film press conference to clarify these rumors.
And looking at Lyman, who had planned the entire promotional event, what else could he say besides sighing and saying, "The city knows how to have fun"?
Releasing false information and then clarifying the facts themselves made this film attract the attention of many news media outlets, which was quite interesting. But people in various parts of North America just loved falling for this trick. With this perfect combination of moves, a small wave was indeed stirred up.
In addition to online users who had already started spontaneously spreading news about the film's preparations, many entertainment and movie enthusiasts also learned some information about the film from newspapers and magazines. In this way, Paramount Pictures achieved its goal of pre-release promotion, not disappointing the time, effort, and cost they had invested.
In any case, leaving a basic impression and letting people know that such a film existed was considered good enough. As for the question of the actors' roles, Lyman himself hadn't decided yet, so what else could be said?
The on-site journalists reluctantly accepted the perfunctory response they expected and prepared to return to write their promotional articles. The limited information they received, coupled with the lack of controversial or engaging content to write about, depended on how each of them would spin it. Accepting bribes but not doing the job was not an option. They also had their own principles.
Although it's hard to talk about having principles as entertainment reporters, as long as they themselves didn't think otherwise, what could others do about it? Taking a sigh of relief in his heart after dealing with these troublesome matters, Lyman turned back and returned to the backstage lounge.
He heard René jokingly ask, "Lyman, how does it feel to be under so much media attention? Do you have anything to say?" He gestured with his right hand, pretending to be in the pose of an interviewing journalist.
Lyman cooperated quite well and answered helplessly, "Tired. It's even more exhausting than when I was rushing to meet the shooting schedule. The questions are all over the place, and it gets noisy. It's like being surrounded by a swarm of bees. It's not a pleasant feeling."
"Haha..." René burst into laughter. He was the type of person who enjoyed others' misfortune.
"Do we have any water? I want it chilled." Just after cooperating for over an hour, his throat was parched.
"Here you go." René took a bottle of mineral water, tossed it lightly, and threw it over.
Lyman caught it effortlessly, unscrewed the cap, took a big sip, and finally felt a bit relieved.
"Are the documents ready?" Sitting comfortably on the couch, Lyman suddenly remembered what his main tasks were for today.
First, of course, was the film's promotion, and second was the initial round of casting. In fact, shortly after signing the cooperation agreement for the film, Lyman wrote a casting sheet for "Fury" and asked EuropaCorp and Paramount Pictures for help in compiling a list of suitable candidates.
"Fury" was different from "Buried" and "3 Idiots". The requirements for casting were more demanding. The difficulty in casting was also greater, mainly because it involved an ensemble cast with many on-screen roles. His casting sheet established some basic criteria for certain roles, including the main cast of the tank crew. For example, the role of the military officer "Wardaddy" had requirements such as a tall and strong physique, familiarity with firearms, and a preference for actors with previous military roles...
Although the standards for the subsequent roles varied, the phrase "prior experience preferred" was repeatedly mentioned. He sent the casting sheet and asked those who met the criteria to prepare their career information. Then, Lyman would review the list, filter out some candidates who didn't meet his expectations, and finally submit the remaining actor list to either EuropaCorp or Paramount Pictures. They would then organize the audition schedule and location.
That was the entire process, which was relatively straightforward.
"The documents are all ready," René said, taking out a stack of files from the briefcase on the nearby sofa.
"So many?" Lyman was a bit surprised. Judging by the thickness, there were probably hundreds of personnel options.
"A total of 327 relevant actor profiles." René smiled. "These cover all suitable role candidates from mainland France, North America, and some European countries. What do you think?"
"Is it necessary to be so exaggerated?" Although Lyman said that, he obediently took the documents and started flipping through them. He understood the intentions of both production companies. After all, casting decisions were in Lyman's hands, and while Paramount Pictures wanted to have a say, EuropaCorp had refused.
Just like Luc Besson's ability to think from the director's perspective, giving a certain level of creative freedom to a director was absolutely advantageous for the project's filming. Of course, that was as far as Lyman would go; he could handle the relevant filming matters well. One's abilities were indeed a reference point. At least, during the filming of "3 Idiots", there were no accidents on set.
Lyman slowly reviewed the materials and made occasional notes. In "Fury", there were over ten main roles, including the crew members of the Allied tank "Fury" and German and Allied commanders, as well as German civilians...
These roles all had their own significant parts and were naturally important. As for the composition of the personnel in the two opposing armies, there wasn't much need to worry about casting. They served as the backdrop for the battlefield and didn't require exceptional acting skills. Age wasn't a concern either; young or middle-aged, they could all be considered. Even height, weight, and appearance weren't crucial for these extras. Who cared about them?
Therefore, the main focus of the casting was on those roles with lines and significant face time. Among them, the most challenging to select were the members of the tank crew. Their roles had strict physical requirements, and Lyman pursued a military demeanor. They also had many dialogue scenes, so the acting had to be good enough. In addition, there were considerations such as remuneration budgets and scheduling.
Then there was the tank driving aspect, where it was preferable to have some knowledge, but not knowing wouldn't immediately disqualify someone. At the very least, they had to be familiar with firearms. A touch on the gun, aiming—making it feel like they were experienced. Of course, except for one of the main characters, Norman, whose character was a newcomer, he didn't need to possess these skills initially, but he would gradually need to acquire them. In short, it wasn't an easy task to select the cast.
Of course, these were the responsibilities he willingly took on. It might be tiring and demanding, but Lyman didn't want any peculiar actors appearing on his set. Unclear lines, awkward acting—those kinds of people must not appear in his film. He had made up his mind about this, and even God couldn't change it! With these thoughts in mind, Lyman suddenly felt motivated. Even his actions of flipping through the actor profiles became more efficient.
"No, not physically robust enough; he looks like a tall and skinny bamboo pole, pass. Eyes too small, suitable for playing honest characters, but not suitable for portraying fierce military personnel on the battlefield. Plenty of experience in shooting films, with many military roles in his acting resume, but a bit old for the main cast, maybe suitable for the role of an Allied commanding officer..."
Lyman kept making notes and eliminating some people, while also selecting a preliminary group.
Next, specific role assignments would have to wait until both parties had met, conducted auditions, discussed remuneration, and then finalized the selections. Everything before that was just to better arrange the audition process. Lyman continued to confirm the profiles of dozens of actors, eliminating them one by one. Suddenly, he came across an interesting one.
"Heath Ledger, 185 cm, born in 1979."
Haven't seen him in half a year. What has this old friend been up to? Lyman wondered in his heart.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone