Chapter 39 Thrilling Shooting

The filming in the studio went well, and the crew went to the Port of San Pedro in L.A. in November 2002 to transfer to the exterior locations. , with some of the intense naval battle scenes filmed in the studios in the South Bay, and the latter portion of the filming done in the Caribbean.

This time Verbinski enlisted cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, with whom he had previously worked on Dangerous Liaisons, to helm the film. For Wolski, shooting on location at sea was challenging because on land, daytime locations can be adjusted according to the light, whereas on the sea, the ships only sail in one direction, thus creating limitations in terms of framing angles. While looking at the paintings of the era for design sources, Wolski was also reading a lot of early pirate and adventure classics, hoping to learn from them.

Much of the filming was done at sea, and many of the cast and crew suffered from seasickness during the filming of the movie. Keira Knightley took antiemetic pills for fear of seasickness, but she soon fell asleep as a result. In contrast, Lin Mingyang's ability to adapt is better, he quickly overcame seasickness. Lin Mingyang didn't appear in a lot of scenes in the sea shoot, so he often stayed by the side of the cameraman to learn some photography skills from the other side.

As one of the most important pirate ship in the movie, "Black Pearl" is almost the root of all the nightmares of Captain Jack, this looks like a spectacular pirate ship, in fact, there is also an "empty frame", it must be in the tugboat to help sail. In order to film the needs of the crew just enhanced some of the details of the cabin, Captain Jack's lounge, many wooden furniture are made of expensive mahogany, and the center of the ceiling there is a glass skylight.

In the entire filming process, the two stars Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley's biggest challenge than in the "Black Pearl" out of the deck of the narrow planks on the shooting, planks from the sea 15 feet high, the whole plank is only the size of the diving board, standing on it! Only the sound of the wind and water, the slightest action will be up and down trembling, the two actors must be in the absence of a double and any protective facilities, to complete the shooting of this set of shots.

Coincidentally, the wind and waves on the sea in the past few days of shooting were very strong, and the boat swayed up and down a lot. Looking at the swaying board, Keira Knightley was really stunned, Vybinski to Keira Knightley said a lot of words of encouragement, before rest assured to let the beautiful British girl on the board, in the filming groups in position, the assistant director suddenly ran over to tell Vybinski, responsible for hanging in the air to shoot this group of jumping into the sea shots of the close up The second cameraman couldn't stand the reaction of seasickness and threw up in the bathroom, no longer having the strength to carry the camera.

Because it was a sea shooting, the staff with the ship have been screened again, the ship in addition to the captain and sailors, almost everyone in the shooting time on hand have to lose work. Having been a director for so many years, Verbinski was naturally an excellent cameraman, but he had to be in command during the shooting, and no one could take his place. Because of this temporary change, the crew suddenly fell into an awkward situation where no one was available.

Just when everyone was at a loss, the number one cameraman, Darez Wolski, suddenly mentioned, "Actually, there's another guy on board who's idle."

As soon as he said this, all the people's gazes couldn't help but fall on Lin Mingyang who was looking around at the seascape on the deck. Verbinski pondered for a moment, then asked Darez Wolski solicitously, "Do you think he can do it?"

"I can't guarantee it, but that little guy has been staying by my side lately, asking a lot of questions, and I've tried to get him to shoot a bit, practicing connecting hands, and it feels pretty good, he's very perceptive."

"Alright, let him try it then!" In this current situation, Verbinski could only take a chance, anyway, someone had to top that angle of the shot, whether Lin Mingyang could do it or not he had no bottom at all in his heart, but it was better than nothing.

"Felix!"Verbinski waved to Lin Mingyang and called him to his side, "I heard that you've been following Mr. Darez Wolski for quite a bit of time to learn photography techniques, are you interested in this?"

Lin Ming Yang didn't know why Verbinski suddenly cared about this, but he answered honestly, "I'm going to apply to the New York Film Academy after I graduate from high school, and when I do, I'll probably major in directing, and cinematography is an important part of that, and I have the opportunity to do so now, so I asked Mr. Darez Wolski for some professional tips on the subject!"

"So that's how it is!" Verbinski nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Is it possible that I've disturbed Mr. Darez Wolski's work?" Lin Mingyang asked cautiously.

"Of course not!" Seeing that Lin Ming Yang had gotten his meaning wrong, Verbinski hurriedly explained, "Now that there is an opportunity for you to independently helm the camera, I wonder if you want to give it a try?"

"Me?" Lin Ming Yang froze in place, "Do you think I can do it?"

"Our second position cameraman is so seasick that he definitely can't carry the camera for the next few days, apart from you, there's no one else who can fill this empty position right now. Mr. Wolski recommended you to me, and I don't know your level, but it's always worth a try!"

This time, the crew had indeed encountered a lot of trouble, otherwise they wouldn't have rushed Lin Ming Yang, a half-assed level amateur, onto the stage. Verbinski briefly told Lin Ming Yang about the current situation of the crew, and Lin Ming Yang knew that he really had to top himself this time.

This time Lin Mingyang to carry the camera in the air to take the scene, the camera is directly aimed at the standing on the board Keira Knightley, compared to whether he can grasp the angle of the shooting, Vibinsky is actually more worried about being suspended in mid-air Lin Mingyang can not hold the camera. Of course, the reality is much better than he imagined, Lin Mingyang steadily set the camera on his shoulder. Judging from the images coming back from the camera, his technique wasn't too bad.

Lin Mingyang was able to do this already made Vibinsky feel satisfied, he did not expect Lin Mingyang to be able to accurately grasp the framing point, in order to facilitate the shooting, the staff also brought Lin Mingyang with a wireless headset, Vibinsky can use this to command him to adjust the picture framing.

Before filming began, the staff once again inspected the fixed steel cable bound to Lin Mingyang's body. The wind on the sea was much stronger than Lin Mingyang had previously imagined, and with his body suspended in mid-air, he was still able to hear the whistling sound of the wind despite the earphones in his ears. Lin Ming Yang was not worried about his own safety, on the contrary, he was a little worried about how Keira Knightley was going to overcome the fear in her heart and complete the filming of this jumping into the sea.

After everything was ready, Verbinski brought the walkie-talkie to his mouth, "Felix, can you hear me?"

Lin Ming Yang made an OK gesture towards him, and over there Keira Knightley stood tremblingly on the board with the help of the staff on both sides, hovering right in front of the board, the camera's stretch clearly taking in Keira Knightley's expression on the opposite side. Lin Mingyang smiled sideways at her, and his left hand holding the camera gave a thumbs up towards the other party as a sign of encouragement.

Although he didn't know how this guy Lin Ming Yang suddenly carried the camera, his appearance in front of Keira Knightley at this time did calm the other party's apprehensive mood a lot. Because the first shot was taken from behind Keira Knightley, Lin Mingyang was temporarily suspended high up by a steel cable, facing the endless sea and the waves piled up under her feet, Keira Knightley's mood was once again tense.

Director Verbinski had already called for the start, and the vulgar pirates along the side of the ship got into their roles, shouting and whistling vulgarly. Keira Knightley carefully moved her feet towards the front of the planking. As the steel cable was slowly lowered, the camera in Lin Ming Yang's hand formed to focus on Keira Knightley on the plank.

The closer she got to the top of the plank, the frequency of the plank swaying increased with every step Keira Knightley took, and in the mid-air less than three meters apart from her, Lin Ming Yang, who was carrying the camera, sweated for her.

"Felix, the camera is about to receive your side, pay attention to pressurizing your breathing steadily, don't shake your shoulders, slowly stretch the camera as I told you before, and give Knightley's side face a close-up!" Verbinski used the intercom to direct Lin Mingyang's operation.

There was no need for any acting at this point, that genuine tension on Keira Knightley's face was more realistic than any of her performances at any point in time, there was still a small half step away from the top of the plank, and as she looked to be on the verge of a great success, she suddenly closed her eyes and jumped sideways towards the side.

Lin Mingyang, who was closest to where she landed in the sea, was the first to react, he moved away from the camera and yelled out to the sea, "Knightley!"

As soon as his words fell, four or five life preservers had already been thrown down from the boat, and after about half a minute, Kayla Knightley, who had sunk into the sea along with the downward force, finally floated up. Everyone was finally relieved to see her safe and sound. She grabbed one of the life buoys and then waved her hand towards Lin Ming Yang, who was hanging in mid-air, "Felix, jump down and try it too, it feels so good!"

Lin Mingyang guessed that the one standing on the plank was himself, and for the first time, he probably couldn't go as far as Keira Knightley. Keira Knightley, who was pulled onto the boat by the crowd's hands and feet, did not show any sign of panic, which made Lin Ming Yang have to admire the British girl's commendable courage.

Verbinski had originally planned to let her rest for a while, but after drying her hair and clothes, Keira Knightley insisted on continuing the segment. Unable to resist her insistence, Verbinski finally clapped his hands and told everyone to take their places, ready to start filming.

With the experience of the last time, Keira Knightley stepped onto the board again and walked much smoother. This time she managed to make it to the top of the board, but her final jump into the ocean was still a bit forced. After asking her permission, Verbinski decided to re-shoot the sequence again.

Keira Knightley's third performance satisfied Verbinski, and the most difficult and thrilling shot of the entire series was successfully completed. In addition to Keira Knightley's brave performance, Lin Mingyang's work as a guest photographer was also recognized by director Verbinski.

Although he didn't have to take as many risks as Keira Knightley, Lin Mingyang's job wasn't as easy as it seemed. The weight of this kind of professional camera wasn't light, and coupled with the fact that it had been hanging in the air, Lin Ming Yang's back had long been wet with sweat. After putting down the camera, he rubbed his somewhat sore shoulders, finally realizing that this technical work turned out to be not so good.

"How does it feel to be shooting officially for the first time?" Darez Wolski came over and patted Lin Ming Yang's shoulder, he had just watched the shots that Lin Ming Yang had taken, and had to say that even the original professional cameraman could only produce something that looked like this. He taught this "disciple" but did not give himself shame.

"It's just that the camera is a little heavy, if there was a stand, the camera could be a little more stable!" Lin Mingyang wasn't modest either, and frankly stated his thoughts.

"Actually, the cameras nowadays are already very light, if this was in the past, the old cameras would have to weigh two or three times as much as they do now. For a good cameraman, the body is the best support. You see every year the Oscars can get the best cinematography award for the movie, a lot of them are the cameraman with the body to carry the camera to shoot out. If you want to be a good director, you have to be a good cameraman first!"

Lin Ming Yang's complacent tail hadn't even risen yet, and Darez Wolski was already reminding him in an aside not to be proud, photography was a very profound technique, and the camera represented the cinematographer's mind in many cases. Photographer's work is not carrying a camera to the lens so simple, choose the right perspective, accurate capture the character's expression, all of this in addition to the director's command, more importantly, or to rely on the photographer's own comprehension.

The director's arrangements, the actor's play, the set designer's design, and ultimately through the cameraman's lens to realize, so the cameraman in the crew generally have a very high status in the industry, and even the "second director," said, visible cameraman's work is how important.

"Mr. Wolski is right, but just relying on the cameraman's lens is no longer enough to satisfy the needs of modern audiences, especially in large-scale films like Pirates of the Caribbean, post-production special effects production is also very important, and it is even challenging the status of the traditional cameraman." Hearing the discussion between the two, set designer Ryan Morris, who was standing on the side, couldn't help but interject.

"That's in commercial movies, in literary films the position of the cinematographer remains irreplaceable!" Darez Wolski retorted.

Ryan Morris shrugged, "Forrest Gump would be considered a literary movie, right? That most iconic shot of the feathers floating around was synthesized by relying on computer effects. There is no superiority between computer special effects and photography techniques. But if a comparison is hard to make, I don't think there's any cinematographer in Hollywood who can get paid more than the film's special effects production input in one movie!"

Darez Wolski didn't continue to argue with him any further, after he left Ryan Morris quietly slipped Lin Ming Yang a business card, "I'm a member of the Industrial Light and Magic special effects studio, in the future if you do become a director, maybe we can work together! "