In the open-air studio in Wellington, the Minas Talisman Plaza, which took three months to build, looks extraordinarily noble and holy against the surrounding blue screen. Hundreds of actors and actresses who have put on makeup, Under the coordination of the assistant directors, one after another stepped up and lined up in a neat line, ready to welcome the return of the king.
Duke stood on a lifting platform, holding a loudspeaker in hand, and commanding the entire crew in an orderly manner.
"Amanda, debug the boom and recording equipment again!"
The shooting was taken on-site recording, and there was a boom that would always follow Vigo Mortensen, who played Aragon, on the top.
Then Duke turned to John Schwartzman's side, "John, you control the main camera, and your target is Aragon! Ben, the second camera on your boom, capture the panoramic shot according to our plan! Here, your No. 3 machine captures the actors in the front row! Gewell, the No. 4 machine takes the Hobbit."
The director's monitor was also set up on the elevator platform. Duke checked the test shots of each camera one by one, made a few minor adjustments, made an'ok' gesture to John Schwarzman and amplified the sound. The horn is aimed at the prop group.
"Bill, how is the petal preparation?"
Bill, who made the final inspection of the Holy White Tree, replied loudly, ≠, "Everything is ready."
The blood of Essiduo returned to Gondor, and the king came to Holy White City. The withered Holy White Tree was about to bloom again, and petals fell all over the floor.
Although this scene is huge and requires a large number of actors, this aspect is the last thing Duke needs to worry about. First, except for the people in the first few rows, the people behind will use cgi to add in post-production. Second, in today's Before filming, the crew had practiced several times without makeup.
"The prop set is ready..."
"The lights are ready..."
"The set is ready..."
"Photography is ready..."
"The actor is ready..."
After reporting one department after another, Duke waved his arm downward. The scene note took the scene note card to the main camera.
"The Lord of the Rings, the final shot, now start shooting!"
The long boom drew quickly, and the No. 1 unit hung below captured every scene from far and near, and the picture transmitted to the director's monitor gradually shrank from the panorama. In the end, it was fixed on Aragorn in front of the palace.
Vigo Mortensen finally took off his tattered costume, put on a simple and gorgeous armor, and stood with his back to the camera.
Because the combat style is completely personal and hand-to-hand, this Aragon was always sloppy during the shooting process. In order to make his costume fit the characteristics of long-distance travel and close combat, Vigo Mortensen's play The clothes are seldom washed, soaked in sweat time and time again, and many times they have a peculiar smell.
Compared to Orlando Bloom, who always plays cool and handsome. Vigo Mortensen did suffer a lot.
However, the king will eventually return, and Aragorn also ushered in a day of getting rid of poverty, becoming tall, rich and handsome, and marrying Bai Fumei.
Bright lights fell on Vigo Mortensen and Ian McLean, Middle-earth dispelled the haze and darkness, and ushered in light and peace.
The tall Ian McLean put a crown on Vigo Mortensen's head in the same way he practiced yesterday.
King's return!
Vigo Mortensen walked to the top of the steps. Holding the Sword of Anduril, which was recast from the fragments of the Nasir holy sword, briefly said a few words. Sing the glory of the ancestors in Quenya.
"Across the ocean, I came to Middle-earth..."
While Vigo Mortensen hummed, a large number of white petals were spilled from the lifting platform in the air by the prop group, seeming to welcome the return of the king.
"My son and I will live here forever..."
This concert must be dubbed again later. Duke shot in this way, also in order to let Vigo Mortensen better enter the state of Aragon. He walked down the steps and walked forward from the passage of the queue, the third machine controlled by Terry. One by one captures important roles.
The main characters who participated in the holy war of the Lord of the Rings and survived appeared on the monitors in front of Duke.
Gandalf, Gimli, Faramir, Eowyn, Eomo, King Elrond, and Arwen.
The crew rehearsed several times without makeup, which obviously played a role. This long shot was almost perfect, and Duke stopped until Aragorn and Arwen walked to the four hobbits.
"Re-arrange the venue!" he said loudly into the loudspeaker.
In the previous shooting, the Hobbit was only used as the background painting, and Duke used four dwarf stand-ins. Next, we will shoot frontal close-ups of four people, and I must replace Ilya Wood and Billy Boyd.
But the height of four people will be a problem, so the places where other actors are standing around need to be taller to highlight the hobbit's characteristic that the hobbit is only about four feet tall.
More than a dozen platforms that had been prepared for a long time were pushed into the venue by the props team. They were quickly installed and the shooting started again.
Vigo Mortensen led Alexandra Ambrosio to the front of Elijah Wood and the others. The four hobbits bent over and saluted, but Aragon stopped them.
"My friends, you don't have to salute anyone..."
With that said, Vigo Mortensen knelt on one knee, followed by Alexandra Ambrosio, followed by all the actors...
With his eyes leaving the monitor and his gaze slowly falling below, Duke let out a sigh of relief. After 14 months, this long journey finally reached an important point.
end? The post-production is far from complete, the road to making money from the show has not yet begun, and now it is just the end of the shooting!
"Cut!"
The thoughts in his mind were turning, but it did not prevent Duke from calling the entire crew to stop. Everyone in Saint White City slowly stood up. Some were relaxed, some were at a loss, some sighed, and some sighed. The road to filming was too long.
Although "Titanic" took four years, the time spent on filming the actors was not long. Like the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, it took 14 months to shoot movies, let alone Hollywood, look ahead. The whole world is very few.
Duke let out a sigh and raised his loudspeaker, "No matter how magical the journey is, there is an end. I announce that "The Lord of the Rings" is officially closed!"
The elevator platform slowly lowered, and as soon as Duke stepped down, he was surrounded by more than a dozen leading actors who came by.
Activist Billy Boyd hugged Duke first and joked, "Although I'm not sure whether the film will be successful in the end, these are my best memories. Duke, I really don't want to say the last Parting."
"We will see you again, Billy." Duke patted his shoulder vigorously. "Don't forget, you are going to record a theme song for me."
After several changes by Billy Boyd, Duke has decided to use his "The Last Parting" as the promotional song and theme song at the end of the trilogy!
As long as the series can arouse a strong response, when "The Return of the King" is publicized, this song is bound to arouse the feelings of many people.
In such an occasion full of parting feelings, I still think of these business elements. God will forgive Duke, as a director who has a production cost of 350 million US dollars on his shoulders, and the total investment in the final trilogy is bound to exceed 500 million US dollars. If you don't want this, then it really is not a qualified commercial film director.
For example, when the actors hugged him one by one and said goodbye, the camera under the boom controlled by Ben Watts kept faithfully recording every shot.
These are also good promotional materials.
Regardless of the internal relations of the crew. A crew full of friendship and love can meet the imagination and needs of the public.
then. More people began to hug Duke, and Duke said goodbye to these people one by one.
"Vigo, you are the most dedicated actor I have ever seen."
After an affectionate hug with Vigo Mortensen, Duke sent people a souvenir, the sword of the king-Andoril!
"Orlando, you will be the most handsome archer in the world!"
Duke gave it to Orlando Bloom. It is a short bow used by Legolas. According to the description in the original book, its bowstring has been blessed by Queen Galadriel's hair.
What Elijah Wood got was a magic ring tied to a golden chain, which was different from the one he had brought. There is an ancient magic multilingual notch on it-the supreme lord of the ring, dominate the ring!
"Yili, you can take it to sleep every night, you will have a good dream."
Duke made a rare joke. In fact, the souvenirs given to these people, especially the Supreme Lord of the Rings given by Elijah Wood, will be important movie peripheral products in the future.
"Unexpectedly, my elf journey would end so soon!"
With a sense of elegance and agility, Alexandra Ambrosio walked to the opposite side of Duke, looked down at the gorgeous elven robe on her body, "I really don't want to take it off."
"You can keep them."
Duke pointed to her head-to-toe clothing and accessories, "They are all yours now."
While talking, someone nearby gave Arwen's velvet robe to Alexandra Ambrosio's assistant.
"Colin, kiss him!"
I don't know who yelled behind him, Ambrosio hung his hands on Duke's neck, and actively kissed Duke's lips.
Perhaps this was the most interesting scene in the farewell ceremony. There was warm applause, which was no less than the reunion scene of King Ilisa holding Arwen.
"I saw the sky fade away and the dusk gradually rises,
I heard the wind sigh and sigh,
When Xueyu falls to cover my deceased's body,
I whispered this last parting..."
The applause was gone, and Billy Boyd sang a cappella.
"Thousands of miles of rivers and mountains,
Taste all the pain,
No regrets, no regrets, nor forgotten,
Who and I will ride through adversity together...
Although you and I follow all the way, there are also times when the song ends. "
Although after a simple farewell ceremony, the members of the ring team went to the tattoo shop and tattooed the wizard number 'nine' on their wrists to commemorate this special journey, but the crew has reached the moment of dissolution.
Including Duke, most people will start a holiday, and then continue normal Hollywood life.
Duke is going to vacation in Fiji with Alexandra Ambrosio, and then return to Los Angeles with the computer special effects team of Weta Studios to officially start the post-production of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy! (To be continued...)