Chapter 12: Thrills Are Not a Problem

"You seem quite stressed?" Naomi Watts gently clinked her glass against Duke's and asked tentatively.

Draining his glass, Duke shrugged without answering her question. Instead, he casually asked, "What about you? Why didn't you stay in Australia? Why come to the more competitive Hollywood?"

"Late last year, I came here for a friend's pre-wedding bachelorette party," she replied, taking two whiskey glasses from the bartender and placing one in front of herself and the other in front of Duke. "Then I stayed in Los Angeles for a while to see if any opportunities would come up. A friend helped me a little, and this is my third film role, though it's my first with any lines."

"Maybe you've heard of her." Naomi Watts raised her glass to Duke again. "My classmate from acting school, Nicole Kidman…"

"Oh, Mrs. Cruise."

Taking a sip of the golden liquid, Duke nodded but didn't say more. Using friends to boost one's status was a common tactic in this circle.

After finishing her drink, Naomi Watts went back to the crowd, while Duke's thoughtful gaze lingered on her retreating figure.

"Interested in her?"

A voice tinged with a nasal tone came from the side. Sofia Coppola pulled over a high stool and sat down. "You need to make the first move if you are."

"Romance is child's play," Duke shot her an irritated look. "Do you think I'd let myself get distracted by something like that?"

He had worked for two lifetimes to reach this rare opportunity. As long as *Speed* wasn't complete, he wouldn't allow his focus to be divided.

If there was one word to describe Duke now, it was "workaholic"

After a brief day of rest, the intense filming resumed. Fortunately, the primary locations were in Santa Monica and the Greater Los Angeles area, sparing the crew from the exhaustion of long-distance travel.

The production team rented an unfinished highway connecting Santa Monica to Long Beach for the main scenes. They also rented hundreds of used cars from three car rental companies and secured a rare sponsorship from an automobile manufacturer, which provided four buses for free.

Though not of immense value, it helped save some money.

Additionally, Lucasfilm leveraged its deep connections, having long established contact with the Los Angeles County Police Department. The police were highly interested in this film, which essentially served as a promotional piece for the LAPD, and agreed to participate in all the exterior shoots.

This was quite typical in North America. Congress, the Pentagon, the FBI, the CIA, Washington authorities, and public departments in major cities often had dedicated offices or liaisons to work with Hollywood, helping with film shoots to promote their positive image.

*Speed* was exactly the type of movie the LAPD needed. With Lucasfilm's reputation behind it, they not only sent a SWAT team to act as background extras but also provided various equipment, including police helicopters, with no charge beyond fuel costs.

This saved the production another large sum.

For the next ten days, the crew was surrounded by crashes and noise. The main actors took a back seat, mostly showing their faces briefly, while the real stars of the scenes were the stunt drivers and their vehicles.

In filming such scenes, injuries were inevitable. Aside from a few minor injuries to stunt performers, even Duke, the director, was grazed on his brow by flying car debris during one shoot.

Fortunately, it was just a superficial wound; a simple bandage didn't affect his work at all.

The bright sunlight bathed the ground, and dozens of cars lined the once-empty highway. The props team busily swapped out road signs, while the stunt team installed three cars onto ejector rigs, adjusting the angles according to Duke's requirements.

Standing by the roadside, Duke was in the middle of discussing the upcoming scenes with Cruz when the assistant director, Cone, rushed over.

"Duke, are you mounting another wireless camera on the car?" he questioned immediately. "You've already destroyed three expensive wireless cameras in crashes and explosions this past week!"

Turning to face him, Duke said firmly, "My decision won't change!"

Without waiting for a response, he headed straight for the director's camera.

"Arrogant, stubborn…" Cone muttered as he watched Duke walk away. He turned to Cruz, the cinematographer. "This movie is going to be ruined by him!"

"Whether the movie fails is the producer's concern," Cruz replied, clearly uninterested in getting involved in the conflict. "I'll just do my job."

A film crew is made up of individuals, and their differing thoughts and interests inevitably lead to conflicts. Contracts are the best form of restraint in this environment. Expecting to win people over through personal charm in a place as driven by fame and fortune as this is naive and foolish. Power and legally binding contracts are far more effective than trying to win hearts.

Duke knew well that Hollywood was a world full of lies and opportunists. He was on his way to success, and stopping over trivial issues would be a huge mistake.

"Props?"

Standing behind the director's camera on the dolly platform, Duke went through his routine checklist via the loudspeaker. "Camera?"

"OK!"

"Stunts?"

"OK…"

"All departments ready…" He adjusted his backwards LA Raiders cap. "Scene 133, Take 25, action!"

As he sat behind the camera, the roar of car engines filled the air. A bus sped toward the scene, colliding with several cars due to a lack of braking around a corner. The cars, in turn, crashed into others. Then the ejector rigs activated, and several vehicles flipped into the air...

Car doors, bumpers, and shattered glass rained down on the nearby road like a torrential downpour.

"CUT!"

Standing up from behind the camera, Duke pumped his fist. "That was awesome!"

Medical and rescue staff, who had been waiting nearby, rushed onto the 'accident' scene to pull the stunt drivers from the wrecked cars. Thanks to proper safety measures, none of them were injured.

"Take a 30-minute break!"

After such an intense scene, Duke allowed the crew to relax.

"Duke…" Sofia Coppola quickly approached him. "Someone's here to visit."

"Me?" Duke pointed to himself.

Then he saw the two people following behind Sofia. His tired face broke into a genuine smile as he strode over, lightly embracing them. "Mom, I'm so happy you could come!"

"I heard you've been doing well," Mrs. Leah stepped back slightly. "So I came to see."

Duke then turned to the other visitor and firmly shook his hand. "Uncle George... well, George, I didn't expect you to come too."

"I've watched all the footage you've shot," George Lucas said seriously. "You're doing far better than I expected!"

This wasn't the best place to talk, so Duke led his mother and Lucas back to his trailer. But after only a few words, Sofia came in to inform him that the stunt team needed him. Duke had to leave in a hurry.

"Sofia…" George Lucas called out to the assistant director before she could leave. "Bring Robin here."

A few minutes later, Robin entered the trailer, seemingly unsurprised to see them, having likely been informed of Lucas's visit earlier.

"Duke still doesn't know you invested $10 million in the film!" Robin explained when Leah Rosenberg asked.

"Don't let him know until the film is finished," Leah explained simply. "From Duke's face, it's hard to tell, but he's under a lot of pressure and hasn't been sleeping well recently. I don't want to add to that burden. He may be great at handling stress, but I don't want the weight of it all to crush his young shoulders."

"Robin, how is Duke performing?" George Lucas asked.

"He was quite inexperienced at first, lacking in experience," Robin said candidly. "The first week of shooting was completely disorganized. If it hadn't been for the experienced crew members who've worked with Lucasfilm many times, and Duke replacing the planned cast with temporary actors, tensions in the crew would likely have exploded."

"But Duke is a fast learner. In just over ten days, he led the crew through the most difficult adjustment period. He clearly studied Hollywood's production model in depth and fully embraced the director role. His focus on the work is astonishing. Once he found his footing, he no longer seemed like a newcomer. Not only can he convey his vision to the crew, but he can also inspire the team's energy through his own work. By the end of the first month of shooting, the crew started to show the rhythm of a mature Hollywood production."

"The most important thing is that Duke knows exactly what he wants or should be doing. Many people on the crew have doubts about him, but Duke can ignore those preconceptions and use the work to unite the various members of the crew. For someone his age, that's a rare quality!"

"Then there's his professional ability. No matter how strong a director's other skills are, they have to prove themselves through the camera and their work. Although *Speed* isn't finished yet, I can speak to the footage already shot. Duke has a sharp eye for capturing spectacular moments in car crashes, explosions, and other big scenes. He knows how to record the most exciting parts through the lens."

At this, he smirked slightly. "In my estimation, even if Duke doesn't tell the story of *Speed* well, the film will still be thrilling. Even before post-production, I can imagine how stunning it'll look on the big screen, packed with breathtaking visual impact