Chapter 265: Becoming a Hero

To become a top vase (a visually appealing but superficial or unimportant entity), not all pretty roles are acceptable. Some attractive female roles can be damaging to the career development of a vase, with the typical examples being the innocent and manipulative types.

The path to becoming a vase is not as easy as outsiders and fans might think. For vase actresses like Jessica Alba, who have been guided by Murphy to realize the direction they should take and possess sufficient ambition, choosing roles is all about beauty, beauty, and more beauty.

Roles must be carefully selected for their sunny, optimistic, sexy, and independent qualities. These are the preferred roles for vase actresses.

As long as one lands roles that maximize their physical appearance, acting skills become secondary. Even if their gaze, movements, and overall feeling remain consistent over the years, it doesn't matter.

The focus is that top vases must always play lovable female vases, forever taking on roles that are universally adored.

To be a universally beloved vase, regardless of how many hardships one's face has weathered, the character presented to the audience must exude sexiness that remains constant over the years.

Yes, the goal is to embody both beauty and sexiness.

However, while there are many female stars and vases in the world, very few can claim the title of a universal-level vase.

To become a universal-level vase, achieving the aforementioned is still not enough. To truly highlight the status of a universal-level vase, having several Golden Raspberry Award nominations and at least one Worst Supporting Actress or Worst Actress trophy is almost necessary to live up to the name.

For actresses hailed for their acting skills, the Golden Raspberry Awards are poison. But for vases, these awards only serve to amplify their fame.

Murphy was very satisfied with Jessica Alba's performance. From every aspect, this Latina actress had top-tier appearance attributes. What she needed were the right roles and opportunities to showcase her strengths.

After wrapping up the scene where Jessica Alba falls inappropriately at the right time, the crew continued shooting Robert Downey Jr., as initially described. After Jessica Alba pulls off his mask, his face is revealed to bear a close-up photo of Leonardo DiCaprio.

The standalone "Wolverine" movie hadn't been created yet, and Hugh Jackman hadn't decapitated Wade Wilson in any film. Original gags certainly couldn't be reused here. Since Robert Downey Jr. had already secured Leonardo DiCaprio's agreement, Murphy didn't hesitate to use it for parody.

After this shoot, Murphy had the crew rearrange the set, and a made-up Dwayne Johnson joined the shooting. This was the last shot of the entire filming and a long take.

In this shot, Deadpool faces a choice: to become a hero like the X-Men or continue being a rogue.

Once everything was ready, the final shot began.

Two cameras filmed from different angles around the set. In front of the cameras, Robert Downey Jr. was mounted on Dwayne Johnson on the ground. As Murphy shouted action, Robert Downey Jr. pulled out a small handgun from behind and aimed at Dwayne Johnson's blood-covered face.

It seemed like Robert Downey Jr. could pull the trigger at any moment.

Just then, a loud voice with a Russian accent called out, "Wade!"

Krakow, covered in motion capture markers, strode forward, speaking with a rising and falling tone, "Four to five key moments!"

"What did you say?" Robert Downey Jr. turned to ask.

Murphy signaled a photography assistant, who immediately moved a Steadicam to face Krakow, capturing his close-up. Krakow's voice was like that of a Russian Shakespearean actor performing on stage, with an exaggerated way of delivering his lines.

This was the effect Murphy deliberately sought to highlight Deadpool's choice.

"There are only four to five moments in total!" Krakow said loudly again, "Come on, Wade, become a hero. Many think it's a full-time job, waking up as a hero, brushing teeth as a hero, going to work as a hero. It's not like that. In a person's life, there are only four to five truly important moments, moments of choice, sacrificing the self, overcoming flaws, saving friends…"

Krakow turned to face Robert Downey Jr. directly, "And forgiving enemies. At this moment, everything else fades, the world witnesses us, we..."

A gunshot rang out. The prop gun in Robert Downey Jr.'s hand emitted smoke, and Krakow bent over, vomiting on the ground and loudly questioning, "Why?"

"You just can't stop talking!" Robert Downey Jr. spread his hands, looking innocent, "Okay, I indeed look like an Italian sausage roll, but ugliness won't heal just because you put it nicely..."

After Robert Downey Jr.'s lengthy speech, Murphy called cut, and the shooting of "Deadpool" came to an end.

After filming, Murphy handed the subsequent matters to Paul Wilson and rushed back to North America with Robert Downey Jr. and the completed footage. It was now mid-December, and a new round of "Deadpool" promotions was about to begin.

From Halloween, under 20th Century Fox's meticulous planning and operation, Deadpool had kept his enthusiasm burning through the cold winter. To celebrate the Christmas holidays, Deadpool promised to play Santa Claus, delivering 12 substantial gifts to fans worldwide, one each day.

"Deadpool's" official blog dedicated a Christmas section, with many highly-viewed bloggers actively reposting. Fox Television's entertainment news also covered it daily.

In the twelve-day video series Murphy shot, Robert Downey Jr. continued to wear Deadpool's signature costume and talked nonstop. No film had ever focused so much on actively interacting with the general audience. Deadpool alone pioneered this territory, endlessly "endorsing" himself to fans, full of teasing charm.

From December 14 to Christmas, Deadpool threw out new materials as gifts every day, with 20th Century Fox mobilizing multiple media outlets to support this promotional blitz.

By Christmas Eve night, Deadpool, true to his word, released a new poster in his name in "Entertainment Weekly."

The poster featured Deadpool, fully armed, with a cocked handgun at his groin, accompanied by the slogan "Wait, look at me," a pun continuing the comic's tradition of cheeky humor, aimed at garnering attention and screams from fans.

With Gal Gadot temporarily returning to Israel for the holidays, Murphy and a few friends enjoyed the Christmas holiday before immediately pulling Jody Griffiths's editing team to the Fox Tower in Century City. In a studio prepared by Cara Fes, they began the film's post-production.

A film can't be called a film until it's edited. The screenplay is like a blueprint, and shooting is the collection of raw materials. Only after the film is edited does it truly become a film. Thus, editing is a key step in post-production, bringing everything together to form a story.

Editing is essentially about the arrangement and combination of shots and the meaning created by the connections between these shots.

At the start of the rough cut, Murphy first selected a scene to edit himself, showing it to all the editing staff to explain his editing philosophy.

It was a scene in a bar where "the doctor" tells Wade he can cure his cancer and turn him into a superhero.

When Wade walks away to sit alone, Murphy's editing easily conveys a sense of unease to the viewer, then cuts to Wade sitting by the window, unable to sleep, as it rains outside.

By linking these two sets of shots, it immediately becomes clear that the doctor's words torment Wade, a transition not originally written in the script or planned to be shot. It was purely born under Murphy's hands in the editing room.

Initially, Murphy and Jody Griffiths considered this shot redundant according to the original script structure; there was no need for Wade to sit alone like that.

The shot was filmed as a backup. Later, when Murphy vetoed a planned scene from the script and reviewed the filmed footage, he found that "hinting" at Wade's turmoil over those words helped compensate for the lost script segment, and the result of the edited sequence was even better.

This also shows that sometimes directors cannot be sure which shots will be necessary during filming, making it essential to shoot a vast amount of material.

Moreover, the footage is filled with action scenes and comedic segments, their effectiveness highly dependent on precise editing for rhythm.

Unlike before, Murphy personally took on editing the action scenes. The more he edited, the more he learned. Editing action scenes requires a strong sense of rhythm and cadence. Initially, he thought, "I need to find the best clips, the best stunt work, pile them up, edit them to look awesome, and then it's done."

However, this approach often results in a rhythm that is emotionally unsatisfying.

A movie is a journey, with characters winning or losing, like an arch with ups and downs. So sometimes, Murphy had to reorganize his edits to display the proper, rhythmic action.

Comedy scenes, on the other hand, are very detail-oriented. For example, the timing of a joke, how long to hold a reaction shot for a character, or sometimes a joke might not land, requiring Murphy to switch out a line to deliver the punchline properly. Deadpool often cracks jokes or drops punchlines during action sequences or climactic moments, posing the challenge, "How funny can this joke be before it becomes too much?"

After completing the rough cut, Murphy edited a trailer and sent it to Weta Digital for rush special effects work, aiming for it to be aired during the upcoming Super Bowl.

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