Made in Hollywood

I love the natural rhythm of the shoot,

In front of Los Angeles International Airport, the staff of the crew were busy delivering the packaged packages to the chartered plane, and Duke accepted an interview with reporters, After shooting a scene, clean the floor, turn back the lights, and the actors can drink a glass of water. You Needing to be more involved in the role of director than checking e-mails - because the assistant is doing it for you; you have a light meter in your hand, looking at the effect of the light on the actor's face...

As ever, how the shot visually engages the viewer is central to Duke's work, as evidenced by his fondness for moving cameras, in which he eschews sweeping static panoramas and naturalistic Shooting top-down, instead relying on Steadicam to design dynamic panoramas, allowing a scene to unfold and reveal key points on the move.

Since starting work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the most difficult scenes have sometimes been the simplest and most straightforward on the surface, and two people talking in a room—or in the Millennium Falcon—is always the hardest Shot, Duke tried to balance the majesty, scale, and intimacy and heartbeat of each character as much as possible in Star Wars.

Also wanted to approach the film in a more retro style.

That's not to say there won't be some quick-cut action scenes, but he's trying to take longer, more confident shots.

It's a very rewarding job, Duke doesn't need shots that lack energy, and he won't accept sloppy work, his eyesight is as good as ever, and he catches everything, so when the crew work meets his requirements, Others will know they are doing a good job.

At the end of the scene in Warner Studios, Duke will lead the crew out of the studio in Burbank because of the filming of The Galaxy Far and Far. To create grand scale and magnificent spectacle.

In fact, Duke has never shot so many locations in one film before.

Facing the reporter’s question about the location, Duke said, “We’re going to the forests of Wales, Skellig Michael in Ireland, the frozen forests of Iceland. The deserts of Abu Dhabi. There’s a deniable presence, their energy pours into every scene, every actor, every crew member. It’s an energy that helps the film.”

Of course, for Duke and the crew, after arriving in the UAE, the part of filming in the desert of Abu Dhabi was the most difficult part. The backlots were separated by hundreds of miles, and the actual locations were built with the power of wind, sand, and natural light in ways that are rarely used today.

A small fleet of Fords formed the convoy to support the desert expedition, and each camera had its own white pickup truck full of lenses. Like a rickshaw.

Frankly speaking, this is the most difficult film shot by Duke. The desert in Abu Dhabi is hotter and drier than expected, but only two days. Some had shown signs of dehydration, and Duke had to force the order. Let everyone have to drink a lot of water.

Fortunately, IMAX film cameras are very reliable in this situation. Under the same conditions, digital cameras would not be able to shoot due to overheating. Extensive testing also ensured that the film crew would not be affected by metal expansion at high temperatures. In extreme environments, film also shows its own advantages, more like a perfect medium, and photography in such a bad environment also shows that today's IMAX shooting technology is very mature.

In order to ensure the shooting in the desert area, Duke specially hired a team to do the maintenance and maintenance of the film, coupled with the customized rain and dust cover, it can completely let the IMAX camera breathe.

In addition, the crew also contacted a well-known local producer and entrusted him to buy a large amount of dry ice from Abu Dhabi, and put them together with Velcro in the cover to fit the fuselage tightly to reduce heat.

After coming to the UAE, Duke hired a large number of locals to work in the crew to reduce the difficulties encountered.

Movies are an international language, but words like monopod or electrical tape are not international. If you plan to shoot a scene abroad, and you come to an unfamiliar environment or even in the wild, unexpected In case of an emergency, how should the equipment be selected and used? How to save the material? What are the local filming regulations? What should I do if I break the law unintentionally?

These are not just language issues.

For any Hollywood crew filming overseas, especially outside the English-speaking five-gay zone, there are many problems that need to be paid attention to.

For example, Duke's crew did a lot of preparations before coming to the UAE.

In terms of equipment alone, in addition to the two IMAX cameras of the Death Star and Millennium Falcon, Duke also specially asked IMAX to provide backup cameras. It is not that he did not have a record of destroying IMAX cameras in the past. So far, there have been two IMAX cameras. The camera scrapped during his filming.

There are also plenty of film, batteries, memory cards and various connections, and no one can predict what will be damaged during the shooting.

Just to transport spare items, the crew hired a large cargo plane. This is the result of the crew visiting the desert in Abu Dhabi several times in advance to lose weight for the equipment list.

Before the delivery, Duke asked people to test all the equipment to make sure everything was safe. It was very difficult to find such a professional repair shop when foreign languages ​​were not spoken. He ordered the equipment to be shipped in advance and arrived the day before the crew. UAE, avoid wasting time in foreign shooting locations, the earlier the equipment arrives, the sooner you can enter the shooting stage.

At the same time, I also prepared a large number of adapters for plugging in equipment—the plugs in the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea are different—and purchased a batch of local phone numbers.

In addition, the most important thing when shooting overseas is the shooting permission.

In the local area, the more filming permits you apply for, the better. Contact the local film bureau. Although the locals may allow the crew to shoot without any permits, the local government may not think so.

It is also necessary to find a local producer. He will obtain the signatures of all people who may be photographed in the shooting location, and he is familiar with the legal provisions of the local film shooting and understands the local customs and customs.

How do people greet each other? What actions and words are impolite? What are the local traffic rules?

These seem unimportant, but they will actually affect the operation of the crew and the efficiency of shooting.

And another advantage of hiring a well-known local producer is that it can effectively prevent theft.

There are criminals everywhere, and the number one defense against theft is to keep your gear within sight, and if you can work with a local producer or crew, they can tell you how safe the shooting area is , which places and which time periods are less safe.

Find some locals to work with, it will cost extra money, but it will be worth it in the end, they can give the crew some sound advice and save time on filming.

Coming to the desert of Abu Dhabi, the early morning and evening became the busiest time for Duke and the crew. Firstly, this time period is relatively cool, which is conducive to the best working conditions of the actors and other staff; The most particular golden shooting time.

What is Golden Hour? The English name of Golden Hour is Golden Hour, also known as Magic Hour. Using gold and magic power to describe it is enough to show the preciousness and magic of this time period.

It lasts for a short time, and the color of the shot is mainly golden. The shooting time is mostly after sunrise in the morning and before sunset in the evening. If you want to capture it, the opportunities during the day are extremely limited.

In the desert, when the sun is overhead at noon, the shadows are strong and hard, and the light is dazzling, but after sunrise in the morning and before sunset in the evening, when the sun is close to the horizon, the light will become warmer and richer, because of this The atmosphere through which the light of time passes absorbs most of the blue light in the light, leaving behind the warmer components in the spectrum, showing the charm of golden light. Show a new look.

Unlike the warm yellow artificial lighting under fluorescent lamps, the outdoor natural light during the golden hour is warm, soft and has a sense of hierarchy. At this time, the sun is just above the horizon, so the shadows left are longer and deeper, visually It can add a lot of possibilities for shooting, so if you choose a good composition, the more likely the lens will be brilliant.

Soft light is so important to cinematography, allowing photographers to capture changing shooting conditions without losing detail and shadows.

Duke has very strict requirements for shooting during this time period. The golden time does not mean that there are only a few tens of minutes, but in a large sense it depends on where on the earth the shooting is. Shooting in the polar regions can last for 1-2 months. Hours, but filmed in Abu Dhabi near the equator, prime time probably only lasts a few minutes.

Many desert scenes in Star Wars: The Force Awakens were shot at sunset, especially the scenes of the heroine Daisy Ridley, many of which needed sunset or sunrise backgrounds.

Although he did not shoot in person, Duke still made two requests to John Schwartzman's film crew. One is not to set the white balance to automatic white balance; the other is to arrange the camera positions reasonably. Scenario specific analysis.

For a dialogue scene between Daisy Ridley and BB-8 to be filmed, the golden shooting time is very short. A few hours before the golden time, Duke led the crew to the venue in advance and prepared all the equipment Well, this saves a lot of time for making mistakes. If you can’t finish shooting at one time and NG many times, you will waste a lot of time.

Therefore, how to get enough shooting time during the golden shooting time, the key point is to prepare for shooting in advance. (to be continued ~^~)