I’m in Hollywood

In the center of Los Angeles with many high-rise buildings, a street of about 500 meters near the Santa Monica Expressway has been blocked, and no outside vehicles are allowed to enter. From 8:00 in the morning, a large number of filming equipment began to be taken from the truck. Remove.

Residents nearby have also become accustomed to the presence of the crew. This is Los Angeles, and countless film crews start their operations every day. Because this road is not too prosperous, but it is between high-rise buildings, many crews will be here. Framing.

But this time there were obviously more onlookers, not only because the film included two well-known superstars Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, but also because of the director Eric, many people saw the live director However, there are very few young directors who have achieved great achievements before the age of nineteen, and it is not surprising that they have aroused people's strong curiosity.

There are many paparazzi with cameras hanging on their chests among the crowds watching near the street, hoping to take some valuable photos, even if they can't take the best news such as some accidents in the crew, but if they can take a few close-ups of the leading actors , also worth the day's wait.

Are the extras in place? Beside the three yellow taxis, Eric watched the camera crew install a camera on the front of the car and asked his assistant.

Fifty people, all of them have come. Royce asked me to ask you, do you want to start preparing?

According to the plan, let the group performers familiarize themselves with their positions first, and then we will shoot a few street scenes.

Well, Allen replied, and added: By the way, the people from the community agency said that we must open this street for one hour at noon. The reason they gave was that the traffic flow would be relatively high during that time. Big, need to pass through this street.

Eric rubbed his forehead in distress. This is purely for nothing. Noon is not off-duty time. How much can the flow of people increase. But he didn't want to deal with these difficult agencies too much. Anyway, the crew also needed to eat at noon: Reply to them, no problem, we will stop filming and make way for the street from twelve o'clock to one o'clock.

After Allen left, Eric turned his attention to several taxis. The license plate numbers of the three taxis were exactly the same. This was just so that these details would not appear in the footage. Once the shooting was completed, the three cars would be replaced. Back to the original license plate.

Of the three cars, one does not require any processing, and the cameraman will shoot from the co-pilot, while the other two have additional cameras on the front hood and outside the windows on the sides of the rear seats.

Today, we will shoot the scene where Sean wants to drive Andy to the police station for the first time. The scene in the script is less than two minutes, but according to Eric's calculation, if it is completely filmed, the accumulated footage will be nearly One hour, so today, if we can finish this scene in one day, it will be a success.

After the camera mounts on the taxi were all ready, Eric picked up the walkie-talkie and started giving orders to everyone in the crew, while Cruise and Hanks, who had been in the trailer, got out of the car and waited nearby. The paparazzi who had been around for a long time began to press the shutter frantically. There was not much special in their outfits. Cruise was dressed in black casual clothes, while Hanks was dressed like a courier, wearing a peaked cap and wearing a Plain white work suit.

After Eric's brief re-instruction, the two got into the first taxi without any modification. The first scene was to shoot the exterior scene of the taxi driving on the street.

Eric walked behind the wireless monitor, looked at the screen that was less than seven inches, and made sure the lens was lit correctly,

Eric just confirmed to the camera again: Alan, have all the onlookers left the shooting area?

All have left, and now there are several cameras in front of our actors. Alan's voice sounded on the walkie-talkie, mixed with the sound of chi chi.

Eric had to confirm this again. If in the future, after the production is completed, a face that does not belong to the actor appears on the screen, then the excitement will be big.

American group performances are also actors, and the price is very expensive, but Eric still can't take the real crowd into it, not to mention whether the real passers-by will cooperate with the camera lens, even if they do cooperate, then the film production will be completed in the future. , once someone finds out that they appear on the movie screen, with the American character, they will not have a sense of vanity like 'I am in a movie', they will only contact their own lawyers to infringe their portrait rights. If you sued the film crew for reasons like this, it would be considered light to pay $1.8 million to pursue it. If the movie is not finished, it may be forced down halfway through its release, which would be a big deal.

Therefore, although Eric has confirmed it here, after the post-editing is completed, he will also organize manpower to conduct a detailed screening of the identities of the characters appearing in the footage to ensure that no 'outsiders' who do not belong to the actors are included in the film. .

So, when you see a Hollywood movie where the protagonist walks through the crowded streets, then, don't doubt, even if there are hundreds or thousands of pedestrians in the camera, it must be an actor, not an actor. Any real passerby.

After Hanks was familiar with the road conditions several times in the taxi, with Eric's order, the tedious filming of the day officially began.

Eric's eyes were fixed on the monitor, watching the performance of the two people in the car. The conversation between the two people sounded in the headphones. Although it was not too clear, it was clear enough to hear. This part must be re-dubbed later. However, the original sound of the movie also needs to be preserved and used as a reference when dubbing.

It was already in the afternoon, and Eric couldn't even remember how many times this was the repeated shooting. Anyway, there were a lot of NG shots. At this time, Eric was standing, and the staff deliberately raised the monitor to the position in front of Eric. Although he felt a little tired, Eric had to continue to persevere.

Cruise and Hanks have plenty of rest time. Every hour of shooting, the two will have a break. The two people in the shot are still in good spirits and have no fatigue at all.

But when they were resting, Eric had to arrange other shots. The shooting time he agreed with the community agency was only today, so many shots had to accumulate enough material to prevent problems in the later stage and make up for it.

In the shot, Andy slowly unzipped his jacket, took out the pistol, and asked casually, Where are you going?

The nearest police station. Sean glanced at the rear-view mirror and watched Andy slowly screw on the muffler.

Andy looked out the window and smiled: Are you alone?

Sean shrugged indifferently: Enough.

You don't have a gun, aren't you afraid I'll kill you?

You shot me, Sean turned his head and said, The car will overturn.

Yeah, it's very dangerous, Andy's relaxed smile didn't change, he slowly rolled down the car window: If you can send me to the police station, even if you win.

A silencer-mounted pistol sticks out the window, and Andy pulls the trigger without hesitation.

The camera progressed here, and Eric called to stop, the taxi stopped, Cruise and Hanks got out of the car at the same time, and Nikkor, who was in the co-pilot seat, also got out with a camera on his back.

After the three left the taxi, the crew of the crew quickly stepped forward and drove the taxi back to its original position. Many prop vehicles on the road also turned around and returned to the starting point in an orderly manner, waiting for the start of filming again.

Eric told the three about the flaws in the shot just now, and ordered the precautions when shooting again. After everything was restored to its original position, Cruise and Hanks returned to the taxi, and Nikkor carried the camera. Then drilled in again.

Soon, another shot began.

Dark War is a movie without too much depth. A policeman and a robber have a 72-hour battle. When promoting, they will definitely use the ups and downs of the plot. In the eyes of ordinary audiences, it is true It is so.

But for Eric, compared to those brain-burning blockbusters in memory, this movie doesn't have any plots that require brainstorming, it's just a cool commercial movie. Therefore, the requirements for the acting skills of the two leading actors are not too high, especially the location scenes of this film, which basically do not require too much acting skills, and can be easily controlled by the strength of Cruise and Hanks.

During the month from mid-April to mid-May, the crew spent most of their time running around the streets of downtown Los Angeles, sometimes staying on a street for two or three days, and sometimes finishing all the shots in half a day. All in all, the process can only be described as boring.

Jeffrey traveled to the UK for a few days with the Island crew, then returned to Los Angeles, and soon flew back to the Scent of a Woman crew in New York. Firefly's employees, except for the security guards at the company headquarters and the clerks who are responsible for sending and receiving emails and handling daily affairs, basically follow Eric's crew to work. If you ignore the horror monetization of Firefly's films, the studio is no different from many of the smaller independent studios in Los Angeles.

Although the shooting of the location scenes of Dark War is very cumbersome, it has not encountered too many problems so far. The shooting progress is basically the same as the previously set shooting schedule. It is expected that the film will be officially closed around May 15. Columbia Small-scale publicity in the early stage has already begun, and scattered news about Dark War will appear in the media from time to time.

Colombia's market value has soared to $3.5 billion due to negotiations with the wealthy Sony consortium during this period. Seeing Colombia's stock price rising day by day, the Japanese have nothing to do. This huge merger involving billions of dollars It is absolutely impossible to complete the case without a year and a half. The media estimates that if everything is negotiated, the contract will not be signed until September at the earliest. Moreover, even if the acquisition agreement is finally successfully signed, the subsequent series of handovers will also take time. several years.

Therefore, the box office performance of the summer season has become the last opportunity for Colombia to push the stock price higher.

Warner Bros. originally had two major productions to be released, namely Batman and Lethal Weapon 2, but because Dark War was set for July 7th, Warner had to release the original film that was also planned to be released in July. Lethal Weapon 2 delayed until the end of the year.

The box office of Lethal Weapon in 1987 was more than 60 million US dollars, which was considered a big hit. Therefore, the cost of the second film this year has doubled. If you want to recover the cost, the box office must reach at least 100 million US dollars. Next, Warner executives have no intention of competing with Dark War, which has three big names, Eric, Cruise and Hanks, and actively postponed the schedule to the end of the year.

So Colombia has become the only movie giant with two blockbuster release plans in the summer. The other big production is Ghostbusters 2, which is also a long-awaited sequel to fans. One was released in 1984, and it has been five years from now. As for why Colombia suddenly launched this plan at the beginning of this year, the shooting progress is almost the same as that of Dark War. Its purpose is self-evident. After all, Colombia has only Such a great series of movies.

Eric, do you need to recruit some more people?

In late April, Jeffrey completed the tour of the two crews and returned to Los Angeles. The two met for the first time in half a month. It was in the Firefly's conference room at eight o'clock in the evening. During the day, Eric simply Time to company.

At this time, Eric was looking at the documents of Smell the Scent and The Cry of the Island brought back by Jeffrey, and said without raising his head: No, wait for the completion of Smell the Scent and Know the Woman and The Cry of the Island After that, I'll have Jonathan and Martin recommend some cast members to join Firefly.

Okay, then, what about the TV series, the one you said... that, Friends, the time is getting tighter, the executives of Fox also contacted me, I hope you can provide the script, they are willing to help with the preparatory work .

Eric smiled. He had made it very clear to Barry Diller before that Friends would be produced independently by Firefly, and Fox still didn't give up the idea of ​​​​intervening. This is understandable, after all, this is a sitcom, the production cost is very low, and if it can co-own the rights with Firefly, if the TV series is successful, Fox can also prevent Eric from using it as a bargaining chip. It failed, and it was only a few million dollars of investment, which was no pain for Fox.

Reject them, you see, they found you, instead of contacting me, it shows that Fox also knows my character.

Jeffrey hesitated for a while, but still said, Eric, you...you're not doing well.

Eric finally raised his head: Huh?

You...you are too independent in everything you do. Movies do not allow others to interfere, and TV dramas are not allowed. This is not feasible in Hollywood. Now even many small-budget movies will introduce many investors to share the risks. Sharing profits, this is the orthodox Hollywood survival rule, even if the six major film companies, although the competition is fierce, there is also a phenomenon of cross-shareholding among them.”

I understand what you want to say, Eric scratched his head: It's just... Maybe it's not the time yet, I will definitely share it with others in the future, but while I can eat alone now, of course I need to eat more. Now, when the others can't take it anymore, I'm giving them some.

Jeffrey showed a helpless expression: Okay, when will we start preparing for Friends?

Starting tomorrow, Eric said: I called you today to discuss this matter. We must start this project as soon as possible. I plan to insert a few Friends shots into Dark War.

Dark War inserts the footage from Friends, Eric, are you talking about the commercials, even if Columbia agrees, it's not worth it, and it may even arouse the audience's disgust.

It's not a commercial, Eric denies, explaining to Jeffrey the intent of several shots in detail.

It's a good idea, Jeffrey nodded, and then questioned: But in less than two months, and you promised Fox to direct the first two episodes, do you think you can do this?

Eric shook his head: No, I don't need to finish any episodes, all the ideas are in my head, we just need to determine the characters as soon as possible, complete the set, and then shoot a few interesting clips.

Jeffrey felt that this plan was very feasible, and he also saw that if the plan was successful, it would have an unexpected publicity effect on Friends.

But, Eric, I don't have any experience in TV production. Maybe you need an experienced TV producer.

I said, I won't let Fox interfere in this matter, Eric spread his hands: So, Jeffrey, you can only work harder.

Jeffrey showed a somewhat ambiguous smile, with a little ridicule and ambiguity: Actually, one of the people you know has been a TV producer.

Eric's thoughts turned, and soon the pretty face of the little stubborn girl and John Aniston, who had met several times, appeared in his mind.

He...John should be from NBC, and his main energy is still on actors. Eric's first reaction was to resist. Father-in-law and son-in-law, these two creatures are naturally mutually exclusive.

Jeffrey said: But he is always more experienced than me. I don't know anything about the production of TV series. If there is enough time, I can explore slowly, but you are still so tight. ,so……

Eric squeezed the paper in front of him and rubbed it a few times before he nodded slightly: Then I'll contact him as soon as possible to try it out. If it doesn't work, I'll ask you to come forward.

Jeffrey nodded: So, the actors?

Jenny's role has been determined, Eric said, I need another five roles. I'll go back in the evening and write down the role requirements. I'll give it to you tomorrow, and start casting as soon as possible. This time, the scope should not be too large. , otherwise it will be too troublesome to interview, at least there must be actors with acting experience, I think in this case, those who are willing to sign up will not think so much about the previous movies.

It wouldn't be much, Geoffrey laughed. TV shows don't have the fascination of movies.

After discussing things until nine o'clock in the evening, Eric did not leave the Firefly's office building. To invite John Aniston as a producer, it is best to pass through Aniston, so Eric drove to Aniston's residence. .

When he came to the door of Aniston's apartment, Eric didn't knock on the door. As usual, he took out the spare key from the flower pot beside the door, but after turning it a few times in the keyhole, he found that it was locked inside.

Wouldn't it be aimed at himself, Eric thought with a wry smile, put the key into the flower pot, and knocked on the door.

Who? I faintly heard the girl answer. After a while, the door opened a crack. Eric was about to push the door, but found that there was an anti-theft chain between the crack of the door. This thing is definitely new. Look at that chain, shiny!

It's definitely for yourself.

Eric thought so in his heart, but he put his body on the door frame in a pose he thought was windy, stared at Aniston, and asked in a very hippie tone: Girl, you have a long night of unintentional sleep, you need a What is it that a strong man comforts your lonely little heart?

Go away! Aniston glared at Eric and slammed the door shut.