Capítulo 59: Chapter 58: The Crazy Director
"Good morning, Gilbert!" Sofia Coppola arrived on set and greeted Gilbert.
Once they got familiar with each other, Sofia began calling Gilbert by his first name.
Gilbert immediately noticed a little girl following Sofia and couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Sofia, who is this little sweetheart?"
Before Sofia could introduce her, the little girl extended her hand and said, "I'm not a little sweetheart. My name is Scarlett Johansson. You can call me Scar."
"Wow, Scar, hello!" Gilbert shook Scarlett Johansson's small hand.
The little girl seemed displeased and said, "I'm a princess. You should do a knight's bow."
If it were anyone else, Gilbert would have ignored the request, but seeing how cute the little girl was, he couldn't refuse.
So he performed a knight's bow, indulging the little girl's princess fantasy.
Sofia Coppola apologized, "Sorry, Gilbert. This is Sloan Auntie's daughter. They've just moved to Los Angeles, and Sloan asked me to take care of her."
"No problem," Gilbert said, looking back at Scarlett Johansson, who was scanning the set. He added with a smile, "Scar, you need to listen to Sofia and not run around. The set can be dangerous."
"How dangerous?" the little girl clearly didn't believe him. "Will it explode?"
Gilbert gave a mysterious smile. "Of course…"
"Boom…" A huge explosion resonated throughout the set. Scarlett Johansson, seeing the Hollywood production environment for the first time, was completely stunned.
The crew had become accustomed to the sound of explosions after Gilbert decided to film them in real life every day.
Sofia thought to herself, "A rookie who only knows how to blow things up."
Indeed, in Sofia's eyes, Gilbert was a rookie compared to her father. However, this rookie was very popular, while Sofia was receiving criticism from reviewers, which she couldn't understand.
She wondered what made "Speed" so appealing with all the constant explosions. Was her father sending her to learn how to blow up props from Gilbert?
Though confused, Sofia diligently completed her tasks, handling everything efficiently.
Seeing Scarlett Johansson's astonished look, Sofia thought the little girl was scared.
So she quickly reassured her, "Scar, if you're scared, I can find someone to take you home."
But Scarlett Johansson, recovering from the shock, clapped her hands excitedly and said, "That was amazing and exciting! Sofia, can we do it again?"
"Uh," Sofia was speechless, not expecting the little girl to be excited about the explosions, just like Gilbert.
Gilbert had no time to attend to the little girl. He was using a megaphone and walkie-talkie, directing the crew.
"Doyle, adjust camera three to the top. I need a high-angle shot." Gilbert then shouted at the lighting technician, "Sam, your lighting is off. The tone needs to be cooler; the colors are too vibrant."
Throwing the megaphone to assistant director Annie Burton, Gilbert climbed onto the central bus and said to Sandra Bullock, "Stop glaring. Your facial lines are too harsh. Soften them up."
Sandra Bullock quickly nodded, indicating she understood.
Gilbert then addressed the other extras on the bus, "You're not wooden dummies. Don't have blank expressions; show some emotion."
The extras held their breath and quickly agreed to perform well. They didn't want to be replaced.
Gilbert then told Naomi Watts, "Naomi, you're doing well, but tone it down a bit. You're stealing the scene."
Naomi Watts couldn't hide her smile. She was the only one who received praise.
As for Sandra Bullock's unfriendly glance, Naomi didn't care as long as Gilbert was pleased.
After finishing the scene, Gilbert got off the bus and called Doyle Randolph over. "I need a camera to capture the tire's perspective."
Doyle Randolph immediately understood. "I'll find someone to modify it right away…"
"Okay," Gilbert nodded and then went to Keanu Reeves, who was resting at the edge of the set. He crouched down and said, "Keanu, I need you to look serious. You're a police officer, not a Chicago thug or a rock star, understand?"
Keanu Reeves just responded with a "yeah," though it was unclear if he took the advice to heart. Keanu had always been like this on set, but at least he wasn't breaking any rules by coming to the set intoxicated.
That would have been much more problematic!
In this type of film, the highlights are the thrilling action scenes and explosions. The actors' performances are secondary.
As long as the actors' performances meet the minimum standard, Gilbert wouldn't demand more.
After finishing the morning's scenes, the crew moved to a new location in the afternoon to film a larger explosion scene.
"Scar, we're blowing up a house this afternoon. Do you want to watch?" Gilbert asked during lunch.
The little girl, who had been itching to see more, immediately nodded excitedly. "Yes, yes, yes…"
"Alright, I'll take you with me this afternoon!" Gilbert patted the girl's head, only to have Scar swat his hand away.
In the afternoon, they arrived at a small town on the edge of Los Angeles, where the crew had found a house set for demolition.
Gilbert walked around the house and said with satisfaction, "This location is perfect. Even if a Tomahawk missile hits it, it won't affect the surrounding houses. It's far enough."
As the fireworks and explosion crew were busy with wiring, Sofia Coppola asked curiously, "Gilbert, why are you using wires to trigger the explosion instead of a remote control?"
Sofia had been influenced by other Hollywood movies.
In Hollywood films, and even Hong Kong movies, there's a classic scene where the protagonist presses a remote control, and an explosion happens behind them, with flames soaring, but the protagonist doesn't look back, creating a cool image.
As the saying goes, real men don't look back at explosions, but in reality, it's not like that.
Gilbert explained, "Sofia, wireless remote controls are not safe. Modern society has a lot of communication interference. With signal interference, there's always a risk of accidental detonation. Wired detonations are much safer, with no risk of accidental explosions. Plus, we're using military-grade explosives, which is definitely safer."
"What?" Sofia raised her voice in disbelief. "Military-grade explosives?"
"Yep, military-grade explosives," Gilbert confirmed with a nod.
Usually, the explosives used on set are pressure-based and much less powerful than military-grade explosives.
To create a bigger explosion effect, the set might be filled with dirt and dust. When detonated, it produces a visual effect of smoke and debris, which looks good.
However, to actually blow up a house, high-performance military-grade explosives are necessary; otherwise, the house wouldn't be demolished.
After hearing Gilbert's explanation, Sofia was stunned. "Aren't Charles and Kane stopping you?"
"That's the highlight of the film, so they…" Gilbert didn't finish his sentence but shrugged. Sofia understood his meaning.
She muttered, "Crazy. They're all crazy."
However, even crazier scenes were yet to come
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