Chapter 288 - Who is Baruth?

There are no impermeable walls in the entertainment industry, and Baruth, who had no background in directing experience, was pushed hard into the director's chair of Terminator 4: Salvation by Lin Ming Yang's strong insistence. Lin Mingyang quelled resistance from within MGM Studios and Warner by not sharing dividends if box office goals were not met, but the controversy over the launch of a sequel to a highly publicized franchise has long blown up in the media.

The press was split on the issue, with Lin Ming Yang's audacity already known to the world, and this time the media's attention was naturally focused on newcomer director Barrus, who he "backed". When reporting on the incident, major newspapers coincidentally put out a common question: "Who is Baruth?"

"God knows where he came from... Our big star director Mr. Felix Lim thinks that Baruth is a talented and misunderstood genius, and he wants to use this film to do justice to Baruth... That's right... To give a newcomer a film with an investment of close to $200 million... that's like giving Van Gogh a newcomer. It's like taking a Van Gogh painting to a baby who doesn't know any better...it's a piece of scrap paper...you can scribble all you want on it!"

In response to a question from the press, a well-known movie critic bluntly stated that Baruth is a joke. --The Washington Post

...

"Mr. Baruth is undoubtedly an up-and-coming director who is viewed favorably by our collaborator, Mr. Felix, and I can imagine an unlimited future for him."

Warner president Steve, who appeared to be a bit tongue-tied between his words and expressions when talking about Baruth, was personally quite critical of Baruth, according to his secretary, but would not speak out publicly against the film because of his partnership agreement with MGM. --California Times

...

"Mr. Stan Winston, who died some time ago, made a point of mentioning Mr. Baruth in his own will; he and Baruth were good friends during his lifetime, and Mr. Winston was a great admirer of Baruth's talent, and Baruth coincided with Felix in some of the ideas he had for making the film, and Felix said that he needed a director with whom he could talk, and that Baruth was undoubtedly was the best person for the job."

Whenever a reporter goes to interview MGM president Eckles, he always repeats these lines as if they were pre-written and rehearsed - Chicago Sun-Times

...

"Baruth was my tenant, and before he got lucky, he owed me three months' rent, and of course someone helped him settle that amount in one lump sum. ... and yes, the check was signed by Felix Ring, in the same handsome font as on the signed photo. I can't believe that someone like Baruth would be recognized by Felix, I think he might be a celebrity soon!"

Mrs. Elizabeth, the landlady of the apartment where Baruth lived, thought Baruth was a strange and sometimes neurotic guy who was extremely down on his luck before he met Felix Lim. --Los Angeles Morning News

...

"I say now that he's a genius, but do any of you believe that? Baruth's lack of fame doesn't mean he's incapable, some directors only make a few movies in their lifetime, but he may be remembered by fans forever; some directors make more movies than even they can count in their lifetime, but in the end, no one will recognize him, whereas with Baruth, it only takes one movie for everyone to be able to remember him forever!"

Felix Lim, who seldom gives positive interviews, praised Baruth, who was about to become the director of his new movie, and there was only one other person in Hollywood who had ever received such praise from Felix Lim in the public media. --The New York Times

...

The public watched as if they were watching a heated media discussion about "Who is Baruth?" The public watched as if they were watching a heated discussion in the media about "Who is Baruth?", and all kinds of claims filled the newspapers, and the name Baruth even became a hot word in network news searches. Unfortunately, a lot of newspapers only mentioned the name of Baruth, but did not put a picture of him in person, which led to the fact that everyone knows the name of Baruth, but there are not many people who may match the name with the person.

This way of becoming famous may make Baruth a little bit cry, but no matter how much the media speculated, he did not accept any interviews. In fact, after getting the first money from the investor, he had devoted himself to his work, busy with all kinds of robot modeling all day long, and didn't even have the time to read the newspaper, let alone accepting interviews from reporters.

Baruth was very crazy when he was working, not to mention that the reporters couldn't find him, even Lin Mingyang, the honorary producer, had to make a lot of effort to bypass the obstacles outside the door of Baruth's studio, and crossed into the car repair shop that he had temporarily rented.

If one didn't know the inside story, most people would be mesmerized by the sight in front of them, this place was simply a small robot processing workshop, except that the parts used to construct the robots were the axle parts of a single car. In Baruth's own words, robots are also non-hierarchical level, high-level robots can enjoy the treatment of separate castings, those robots used to act as cannon fodder for human weapons are locally sourced, the abandoned cars and all kinds of machinery assembled together, so as to show the end of the world that kind of desolate and war-torn atmosphere.

Bypassing the workers in the workroom who were piecing together various robots, Lin Mingyang brought a special guest to find Baruth, who was busy sketching in a cubicle. With disheveled hair, a pencil clipped to his ear, and a worn-out jacket, this look of Baruth's was far from the image one would normally recognize of a director. Lin Mingyang, who was used to this style of Baruth's, didn't think anything of it, but the visitor he had brought with him was surprised. The gentleman who was still wearing sunglasses in the room even wondered if Baruth was a director.

"Baruth, this is the actor I hired for you to play the robot killer T-500, what do you think?" Lin Mingyang didn't rush to introduce this visitor, instead, he sold out in front of Baruth.

"This gentleman looks a little familiar..." said Baruth as he carefully scrutinized the visitor, the look of a suit with black sunglasses seemed as if he had seen it before in some movie, but for a moment, he was a little unable to recall it.

Lin Ming Yang nodded at the visitor, "Mr. Viven, you can take off your sunglasses now, let Baruth see your true face, perhaps this will be able to give him some insight."

As soon as the sunglasses were removed, Baruth let out an "ah" as he covered his mouth with one hand and pointed at the other with the other, "You're... the actor who played the Elf King in The Lord of the Rings?"

The moment Baruth shouted out the answer, Lin Ming Yang's heart was suddenly relieved, just now he was really worried that Baruth, this "living treasure" would recognize the other party wrongly, then it would be a big embarrassment.

Lin Ming Yang immediately suggested: "Mr. Wei Wen put on his sunglasses again and let him take a look!"

This time, Mr. Baruth didn't shout any more, his eyes were wide open as he looked at the man in black sunglasses in front of him, his face was a picture of unbelievable astonishment, "You're the villainous agent Smith from 'The Matrix'?"

"Totally!" Lin Ming Yang patted Baruth's shoulder, then smiled and thanked "Mr. Weaving" who had cooperated with his performance, "I didn't think it was possible that the performer of these two roles was actually the same person... Well, let me introduce you to this famous Australian actor, Hugo Weaving. The famous Australian actor, Mr. Hugo Weaving, used to be an excellent stage performer, I won't go into his movie experience!"

After introducing this side, Lin Ming Yang turned his head to look at Hugo Weaving, who had come with him, "Mr. Weaving, this is the director of the film Salvation, Baruth, about him, the newspapers have already introduced him in great detail during this period of time, so I won't be redundant."

The two of them shook hands in a friendly manner, without giving them too many chances to exchange pleasantries, Lin Mingyang followed up by stating the purpose of his visit.

"Mr. Viven was specially invited by me to take on the role of the robot assassin chasing me in the film...for the specifics, let's leave it to you, Baruth, to introduce it to Mr. Viven!"

"Mr. Viven came just in time today, we've already made your robot model, the one on the left hand side as you enter the door."

Hugo Viven followed the direction of Baruth's outstretched hand and looked over, a metal model not much different from the previous generations of Terminator robots was quietly leaning against the wall, with the words T-500 clearly engraved on a part of its chest that looked like a power unit.

"Terminator 4" takes place on Earth after Skynet has unleashed the Final Judgment, in terms of the smoothness of time, this movie is a sequel of sorts to the previous Terminator movies, but in terms of the story logic of the series as a whole, it's more like a prequel to those movies, with Schwarzenegger's T-800 robot still in production and development, and the T-1000 and T-X Press hasn't even started development yet...so technically speaking, the character you play this time will be the first generation of Terminator robot killers."

The background of the story that Baruth began to introduce Hugo Weaving had already seen in the script, so he didn't think there was anything new, but when Baruth later mentioned the structure of the entire Terminator robot sequence, Hugo Weaving was instantly interested, and when he heard that he was playing as the first-generation Terminator, he had already gained a new understanding of the status of this character.

"As the first generation Terminator, does it..." gestured Hugo Weaving to the model of the T-500 in front of him, "and arguably me in the show, have any special abilities, such as the T-1000's Liquid Metal ability from Episode II. "

Baruth's answer gave him cold water on the head, "Because the T-500 is only the first generation of the Terminator, it doesn't have many special abilities on it, it only appeared in order to prepare for the T-800...but he has his own way of existing, because of his relatively simple structure, Skynet can do mass production, which equates to the T-500 having many doppelgangers, something that caused the protagonist a lot of trouble when it infiltrated the human settlement to assassinate John Connor!"

Baruth's description of the Terminator T-500 made Lin Ming Yang think of the tenacious little strong, looking at Hugo Weaving's slightly stifled red cheeks, Lin Ming Yang was stealing joy in his heart, but on second thought he suddenly thought of a problem, it seems that in many movies, the one who really deserves the title of Little Strong should be the male protagonist. With this in mind, Lin Ming Yang quietly put away the corner of his mouth for an unheard of smile, his expression became serious again.

In order to take care of the guest's emotions, Lin Ming Yang added in a slightly comforting nature, "This character of yours will be an enemy of mine in the movie from start to finish, and should be considered the main villainous character in the drama."

His saying this made Hugo Weaving feel much better in his heart, but this crow's mouth of Baruth suddenly interjected at this time, "The real villainous boss in the film is the T-800, a role that we are prepared to continue inviting Mr. Schwarzenegger to star in...although he hasn't given us a clear answer yet. "

Hugo Weaving stood there grinning somewhat awkwardly, speaking with a sour taste in his tone, "To be able to film with such a big star and governor like Mr. Schwarzenegger, it seems like I'm lucky this time!"

The one-track minded Baruth was still ready to continue this topic, but a biting look from Lin Mingyang drank away his urge to speak.

"These past few years Mr. Schwarzenegger has been preoccupied with politics, it's very difficult for him to continue acting, maybe we'll end up having to use computer compositing... In comparison, Mr. Vivian your performance is going to be much more exciting for me to look forward to. Every generation of the T-Series Terminator is a classic, and I hope that the T-500 in Mr. Viven's hands can become a new robot character that can be praised!"

Lin Ming Yang established the importance of the T-500 in the film with a single hammer blow, Baruth expressed his approval with silence on the side, with such a promise, Hugo Weaving took the role of the T-500 after hesitation, the visit Lin Ming Yang brought him over was not a wasted trip after all.

----

After sending Hugo Weaving away, Lin Ming Yang called Baruth to the side.

Seeing that no one was around, he then asked in a low voice, "I asked you to find Schwarzenegger, how did it turn out?"

Baruth shrugged helplessly, "Our Lord Governor is very busy!"

Lin Mingyang raised his eyebrows, "Does he not have time even after work?"

"I went to his office several times to make an appointment, but I wasn't able to see him in person. The last time I did happen to bump into him at the door, but his bodyguards stopped me from going over, and Schwarzenegger actually asked his own secretary in front of me 'Who is Baruth?' , and at that moment I had the feeling of being humiliated, and I swear it was the worst thing that ever happened to me."

Recalling the ill-fated experience, Baruth's face twists a little, "That's when I realized that the social classes in the United States are so stark that a director with no name like me couldn't even speak in front of him."

Baruth's complaints make Lin Mingyang also feel some headache, Schwarzenegger in the "Terminator 3" after the clear statement that he will not continue to star in the movie, is to change into Lin Mingyang personally door to door, Schwarzenegger will only be polite reception, implicitly and politely refused, this is essentially and Baruth went to him the result is not any different.

In fact, Schwarzenegger's T-800 is not an indispensable role in this movie, but the special significance of this character's existence in the film far exceeds its dramatic status in the drama. Shooting time need Schwarzenegger actual shot will not be a lot of footage, relying on computer synthesis can also complete the shooting, but definitely not up to the best visual effects.

To get an actor who is determined not to act to return to his old profession, and the other party is also the governor of a state, Lin Mingyang let Baruth to go is just a chance, he did not expect to use normal means can convince each other. The fact that Baruth had a nosebleed showed that the other party's attitude was very tough, and after the possibility of a positive breakthrough was cut off, Lin Mingyang had to take the side of the sword.

Originally, there were not many people around the place where the two were standing, but in order to be cautious, Lin Mingyang still called Baruth to his car, then he took out an envelope, with a serious expression, said solemnly, "I have something in my hand, and Schwarzenegger's private life is related..."

Baruth, who had originally thought that the air conditioning in his car wasn't turned up enough, suddenly shivered, and under the compelling gaze of Lin Mingyang's burning eyes, he felt that a fine cold sweat began to seep out of his back.

Lin Ming Yang raised the envelope in his hand, "What's in here is enough to Schwarzenegger's political life and completely destroy his family, to be honest I don't really want to use this method to coerce an actor, but I don't have any other better way, so..."

Baruth stared unblinkingly at the envelope in Lin Ming Yang's hand, his mind constantly speculating on what exactly was contained within.

When Lin Ming Yang actually handed the envelope over to Baruth, his hand that was squeezing the envelope suddenly started to shiver, asking him to threaten a governor with something like this, it really needed enough guts to be able to do it.

Baruth's worries were seen through by Lin Ming Yang at a glance, he shook his head, "Don't you worry, this envelope was sealed by me, I'll arrange for a special person to accompany you there soon. This thing is just passed through your hands to Schwarzenegger, as for what is inside, you don't need or have to know!"

Baruth's biggest worry was that he would be caught up in this matter, the gods and goddesses would fight and the little devils would suffer, he was considered to have completely put his heart down when Lin Ming Yang said this, he boldly asked, "Are you sure that this thing will be useful?"

Lin Ming Yang gave Baruth an odd look in his eyes, "Are you curious to know what's inside?"

Baruth immediately shook his head, "I just want to focus on my own work, I'll never care about anything outside of the movie!"

His response was quite satisfactory to Lin Ming Yang, but Lin Ming Yang still warned him seriously, "What's in this envelope is still too much for you to bear right now, besides the person who gave me this, none of the Echos know about the existence of this envelope...it's not that I don't trust you, but I don't want to put too much pressure on you, the inside of the thing knowing it won't do you any good, instead it will bring you endless trouble!"