Chapter 44

Jos, I look forward to working with you."

Out of his office, Duke shook hands with a middle-aged bald man, "In my eyes, you and your team are the most suitable candidates."

After an on-site assessment, Duke finally found his favorite pyrotechnician. This pyrotechnic special effects team, recommended by George Lucas and led by Joss Williams, generally meets his requirements. After waiting for confirmation from Warner Bros. You can sign the relevant work contract.

Sending off Jos Williams, Duke did not go back to the office and went directly to the audition room on the first floor. Because too much time was spent on the firework team, the audition was almost over when he came here.

For most of the audition results, Duke is not too concerned. There is almost no room for female characters in this film. The only supporting actress with a little weight has promised to Naomi Watts, whom Nancy strongly requested, for It is normal in Hollywood for his own agent to fight for benefits within an appropriate scope, and Duke does not shy away from this.

↙ Several major roles in the film must be decided by him and the two production managers. Some roles that are not too important have naturally become the focus of some new actors, just like Duke Yu Na Like Omi Watts, other roles also have human relationships. For example, the choice of Mason's daughter is in the hands of Charles Rowan, which can be regarded as a tacit understanding of the crew.

Human relations in Hollywood are equally important. Everyone has human feelings to take care of. For these unimportant characters who can show their faces, the weight of human feelings tends to be greater.

But there is one thing everyone will actively follow. No matter which actor enters the crew through whose relationship, she must meet the most basic requirements of the role!

If a beautiful actress does not have basic acting skills, and she does not conform to the role setting, it will be useless to sleep everyone in the crew. Even if they are squeezed in, they will be "ko" by the director or producer during filming. Drop.

There are indeed various transactions in Hollywood, but transactions are conducted under the default rules of the parties.

Sitting behind the camera monitor in the audition room, Duke just looked at the roster and information of the actors who participated in the audition. He had no intention of interfering with the casting director. Just like some of the crews he had been with, he could see a lot in it. The name might shine later, but he has long been used to it and has no special feeling at all.

Besides, actors need to be tempered, and the front line of the future may be just a rookie now.

The most typical, Keanu Reeves in "Life and Death", if Jack, the actor, is replaced by another complicated setting, instead of habitually holding a serious face, now he might be able to deal with it. It will be difficult.

And why did Duke insist on using Nicholas Cage and Ed Harris in this movie, because they are not newcomers, and both have ten years or more of filmmaking experience, especially Ai who played the role of General Hammer. De Harris, he has acted in more than a dozen movies.

Newcomers can use it, but it depends on the specific role.

For example, Naomi Watts, as Duke said, she does have some acting skills, but after more than ten years of training, she is far from the future.

Opportunities are important, but opportunities are reserved for those who are fully prepared.

The audition soon ended. Duke exchanged a few words with the casting director and an executive producer. After confirming that Naomi Watts passed the audition, he left the audition room and walked to his own director's office on the second floor. When the door was opened and ready to enter, there was the sound of high heels falling from behind. When I turned to look, Naomi Watts and Nancy Josephson walked over together.

"You got this character." Duke opened the door and gestured to them.

"Oh, this is my most heavyweight character so far." Naomi Watts was obviously relieved when he walked in, "Thank you, Duke."

"You're welcome." Duke pointed to the reception sofa in the office, "Sit down."

Nancy Josephson sat a little far away from Duke, and Naomi Watts sat generously next to Duke.

"No action on the caa side?" Duke asked his agent.

"It's very peaceful for the time being." Nancy said after thinking about it, "There is a situation, perhaps we should pay attention to, 20th Century Fox restarted caa's packaging project "Interview with the Vampire", tentatively starring Tom Crew Si and the newly emerging Brad Pitt, and the film is scheduled for next year's summer vacation."

"Maybe it was for "Break into Death Island"?" Duke immediately thought of this.

"It's possible." Nancy Josephson frowned. "If they are targeting you, it is indeed a bit troublesome. Both Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt have a certain appeal. "Interview with the Vampire" also has Broader reader base."

"In the end, it depends on publicity, works, and appeal to the audience." Duke appeared calm. "Don't forget that Anne Wright's novels are more literary. If caa really treats this type of The work is pushed to the summer season where popcorn is popular, but the result is still unknown."

"You only need to understand the situation."

The success or failure of "Break into Death Island" is also related to the vital interests of Nancy Josephson. She stood up and prepared to leave, "I will follow the developments of caa."

She looked at Naomi Watts, "We should say goodbye."

"immediately."

Naomi followed Nancy, and when Duke sent them out, she suddenly turned her head and said in a low voice, "Will you go to my place for coffee tonight?"

"Sorry,"

Although he was a little tempted to see the graceful body, Duke still shook his head, "I asked Zac and John to discuss the shooting plan. I didn't have time."

An expression of disappointment appeared on that charming face immediately. Duke would not take it seriously. Compared with ordinary people, the acting skills of these actresses are really outstanding.

As night fell, the Rock Studio in Burbank was still brightly lit, and the heads of the various departments of the crew were busy. After Duke ended the discussion with Zach Schneider and John Schwarzman, he received a report from Lieutenant Colonel Renho According to the news there, relevant people in the Pentagon finally gave up the idea of ​​letting the crew modify the script.

This is good news. If those interested in the Pentagon forced him to modify the script, Duke would have to say goodbye to them. Obviously, the Pentagon is not an idiot like some people in the previous life described. The publicity effect brought.

Solved the troubles of the Pentagon, and the preparation of the crew gradually got on the right track. Duke was not a complete rookie when preparing for "Life and Death". Although many aspects still need to learn and accumulate, the crew was built with the team he hired as the backbone. Although all kinds of friction continue to appear, no serious internal friction incidents have occurred. In addition, he has the capital of "Life and Death", and there is no person in the crew who directly challenges the authority of the director.

This is a circle of people who chase success. Success is a kind of capital. As long as Warner Bros. supports him, Duke does not need to worry too much about power and personnel.

Preliminary preparation is a long process. Even if there are only a few scenes of the movie, the preparation period is time-consuming and labor-intensive. If you want to make the filming smoothly, the pre-preparation cannot save effort. Except for the staff of Duke and various departments of the crew, the main actors It's not easy either. In addition to rehearsing their roles, they also have to be trained by the SEALs. Although the requirements are not particularly strict, Ed Harris and others, at least look like elite soldiers from the camera.

These are simple to say, but training is actually a very arduous process, especially for those actors who live well all year round, but in Hollywood, if you want to keep going, you can't tolerate the slightest slack in your career. All super directors In fact, both stars and celebrities understand that success is never a simple matter.

And those who succeed easily and don't understand the truth, such as child stars, mostly become fleeting meteors.

According to the setting of the script, the film also needs some small actors. Although there are not many scenes, it is a key play that highlights General Hammer. The crew also issued recruitment notices in the actors' unions on the east and west coasts to find suitable candidates. There are many parents who dream of becoming famous or wanting to turn their children into money-making machines, even from far away New York to Los Angeles to audition.

For these small roles, Duke delegates all powers. As a director of such a large crew, it is impossible to do everything himself.

However, he also urged the casting director to be cautious. After all, children can be classified as uncontrollable factors in filming. The National Child Protection Act and California Entertainment Act also have strict regulations on the working hours of child actors. Hollywood crews have never taken these seriously, but it is also very troublesome to be reported publicly.

For example, "Interview with the Vampire" mentioned by Nancy, it is said that Fox will use Kirsten Dunst in the 20th century. If various regulations are followed, the filming time of this film will definitely be delayed for a long time. Preparation and post-production, if you don't know, you will miss the schedule of sniping "Breakthrough Island".

Duke has thought about whether to wait for the filming of this film to buy off the internal members of the other crew and let them report to the actors' union and the Child Protection Association...

In the end, he gave up this unreliable idea. Without the support of Warner Bros. thigh, what would he use to fight Caa and Twentieth Century Fox? Although the other party saw him upset, he used the methods within the rules, and there was no need to prosecute these two huge crocodiles.

Preliminary preparations took a lot of time. It was not until mid-November when the weather in Los Angeles gradually cooled down before Duke was ready to start shooting.