Made in Hollywood

In late May, Duke returned to New Zealand. After two long years of preparation, the preliminary work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy was completely completed and filming was about to begin.

Taking advantage of the time before filming started, Duke also had a detailed discussion with several important cast members. For the soundtrack, he still found Howard Shaw. The other party had just finished the soundtrack of Peter Jackson's King Kong and wanted to rest. For a while, but in the face of a sufficient salary, the soundtrack work for the trilogy was not a problem at all.

Afterwards, Duke met Andy Serkis, who made a special trip to New Zealand. He also ended his work on King Kong not long ago, but he seemed to be particularly interested in motion capture. With little effort, the crew worked with He signed Gollum to an actor contract.

However, both of them needed a vacation and left New Zealand after getting the relevant scripts.

This will be a trilogy with an estimated total production cost of $350 million, and with a huge investment, there must be corresponding publicity.

Before the Lord of the Rings trilogy was about to start filming, Duke revoked the news silence of the crew, and Warner Bros. and even Time Warner Group also invited a large number of media to rush to New Zealand to prepare to witness the opening ceremony of the trilogy with overwhelming reports.

Discordantly, on the day of the press conference for the opening ceremony, outside the Wellington set, a large group of Lord of the Rings fans from the United Kingdom and the United States gathered, and they strongly protested the adaptation of the series into a film.

Although there are some negative effects, it also increases the topicality of the film.

In fact, movies are like stars. What’s worse than being talked about is that no one talks about it.

It's okay for these protesters to ignore it. It takes a lot of energy to deal with the reporters, but it takes a lot of energy after the whole morning of the press conference. Duke felt that his head was about to become two big. If a considerable number of questions were not prepared in advance, the madness of the reporter would be really hard to resist.

The situation on the scene is not difficult to understand. No film project today will invest such a terrifying amount of money, and it is recognized as the most difficult Lord of the Rings trilogy to adapt.

As is usual in Hollywood, even if it is planned as a series. I will only shoot one film first to test the water, otherwise in the case of Cutthroat Island, the first film will bankrupt the second-tier film company, and the trilogy will be filmed at the same time. If something goes wrong, even Warner Bros. will Can not afford.

Regardless of the protests of book fans, or the inevitable criticism from the media. The preparation of the trilogy is now, and the shooting is imperative.

The press conference was over, and after a symbolic shooting of a purely prop scene, today's work came to an end, followed by reception and public relations. There will be a special person in charge of the crew, and there is no need for the director, Duke, to come out in person. He directly returns to the office on the set.

There's a list of temporary assistants on set.

When Duke walked into the office, Tina Fey handed him a list. You'd better see it for yourself.

These things are all Tina Fei can make decisions. Duke couldn't help but wonder, Is there a special place?

After taking a look at the list, Duke frowned slightly, Isn't it the same name?

I have seen the temporary work contract. Tina Fei said with certainty. It's Ivanka Trump, daughter of Irene's sister Jane Lauder and Donald Trump.

What do they want to do? Duke asked, putting down the list. The two are in Wellington now?

Need me to call them?

Tina Fey looked over here, and after Duke nodded, picked up the phone on the desk and dialed.

About ten minutes later, two girls in blue overalls knocked on the door and walked into Duke's director's office. Ivanka Trump was a little cautious, while Jane Lauder greeted generously. .

Hi, Duke.

Sit, Jane. Evie, take whatever you want.

The two girls were sitting on the bench opposite, and Tina Fey helped them each pour a glass of water. Duke thought about it and asked, How did you come to New Zealand?

We're on vacation. Jane Lauder thanked Tina Fey, showing a bright smile, I want to find a place to work to gain work experience...

She looked at Duke and saw that Duke's expression had not changed, and gently poked Ivanka Trump with her arm. Seeing that she had no intention of opening her mouth, she had to continue, One portion can exercise myself, and I can take Temporary jobs with good pay are not easy to find at all, just because we know that your crew is recruiting temporary workers, so we plan to come and try our luck.

Duke nodded. After all, these two girls are not ordinary people, and he warned, If you encounter problems, you can call Tina. And...

Don't worry. Jane Lauder said first, We will definitely work hard, and we will never become a problem for the crew.

Tina, leave your phone to them.

When Tina Fey handed the cards to the two girls, Duke waved to them, Go on to work.

Uh... Jane Lauder was stunned.

Duke looked at her and asked, Any questions?

No more. Ivanka Trump pulled up Jane Lauder and said, We won't disturb you, Duke, and invite you to dinner another day.

Not long after Jane Lauder and Ivanka Trump left, Duke hung up two calls each to New York, and then said to Tina Fey, Turn them into your assistant team.

Needless to say, Jane Lauder is Erin's sister anyway, and Donald Trump is working with his mother's Santa Fia, and Duke knows how to do it.

The Lord of the Rings crew is extremely large. Duke controls the entire crew through his own team members. The Hollywood crew is very complicated. If these two girls encounter inexplicable harassment later, he will not be surprised.

It's just that Duke didn't expect that in just half an hour, Erin Lauder called back, and then Jane Lauder came over to bid him farewell, took the evening flight, and returned to Los Angeles obediently.

In contrast, Donald Trump seemed to be reassured that his daughter was here, and called him at night to ask Duke to help him take care of Ivanka Trump.

There are always inextricable connections among the wealthy in New York, and Duke will not refuse even for the sake of Santa Fia's partners.

The early morning sun just set, a large number of reporters gathered at the entrance of the Wellington studio, but the treatment they enjoyed was completely different from yesterday, and they were completely stopped at the entrance.

These guys who were chasing news, as soon as they saw Duke's car approaching, immediately rushed up. If the driver hadn't slowed down in time, maybe tomorrow's entertainment headlines would have been there.

Regardless of the reporters outside the car or the book fans holding the banners protesting, Duke sat in the back seat and whispered with Tina Fey about work, until the car squeezed into the set from the reporters before getting out of the car towards the Go to the studio.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy officially begins shooting today!

The first scene Duke prepared was Gandalf versus Saruman.

Walking into a small studio, which was mainly arranged as the interior of Isengard and the Prancing Horse Hotel, Duke summoned the heads of the assistant director, director of photography, art know, lighting director and other departments to open a brief meeting. After the meeting, according to the plan made in advance, everyone led the staff to start the tense arrangement in the venue.

Your coffee.

An assistant came over to deliver coffee. Duke turned his head and glanced at it. It was Ivanka Trump, who was transferred to the assistant team by Tina Fey, nodded to her, and said, Thank you.

He took a sip of coffee, frowned slightly, and put it on the director's table without saying anything, and walked towards the place where the four actors gathered.

Although this scene has only two characters Gandalf and Saruman, but the crew prepared four actors.

Ian McLean and Christopher Lee are both a hundred and fifty years old together, and it would take their lives to have them in action.

Needless to say, stand-ins are a must.

In fact, it is not difficult to use the doubles of the two. Saruman and Gandalf both have long hair, and the long hair that is fluttering will naturally cover their faces. As long as the stunt doubles pay a little attention, the difficulty of shooting is not great.

This scene has been criticized most by fans on the other side. It is ridiculous to think that wizards fight like warriors.

But they all overlooked the important point that this is not an original movie, the Witcher has to follow the original setting.

In Tolkien's original work, wizards are not a profession, but a race, and they have powerful melee capabilities. Gandalf, Saruman and even Sauron are all Maya, and they are not the so-called mages in those online games.

Therefore, whenever an enemy strikes, Gandalf's preferred method of fighting is to draw his sword. Melee combat is one of the most powerful fighting abilities of the wizard.

Moreover, the wizards in the Lord of the Rings need spells. In the face of enemies with equally powerful melee capabilities, would two powerful wizards be so stupid to chant spells?

This is a movie, not an online game! Shooting movies in the way of games is called suicide.

Why did Peter Jackson make such a scene? Really poor enough to have no money to do magic special effects? Is that possible? He just follows the basic settings of the original book and the movie.

The idea of ​​adding splendid magical effects to the battle of Gandalf and Saruman at every turn can only be said to be wishful thinking.

This film is first aimed at the entire Western audience. Duke is very clear about the audience group who will pay for the film. Therefore, The Lord of the Rings must first conform to the Western point of view. All are out of his consideration.

The crew has been preparing for this for two years. Gandalf and Saruman have been discussed and implemented countless times. All Ian McLean and Christopher Lee need to do is to show off their vicissitudes in front of the camera. Faces, fights are all done by stunt doubles.

In the sudden battle between wizards, there is no time to recite spells, and it is still dominated by powerful melee combat. (To be continued ~^~)

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