Chapter 102

The white building complex is located under the sky and consists of the main building and the east and west wings. The unique neo-classical style, coupled with the stars and stripes flying above the main building, appears dignified, elegant and atmospheric.

According to rumors, the ghost of John Adams' wife Abigail Adams washed clothes in the East Room; the ghost of Dolly Madison likes to haunt the rose garden; Lincoln's bedroom is a place frequently visited by "honest Abel"; Marilyn Monroe also passed through a certain secret passage and came here to meet her master.

This is the political center of the United States, claiming to be the most hospitable official residence of the head of state in the world, and the famous White House!

And this building, surrounded by nearly ten cameras, will be completely blown up by Duke under the gaze of dozens of people!

"Everyone, back! Back!"

Standing on the stable shooting stage, Duke held up the megaphone and kept shouting, "Don't step on the turf in front of the White House! Mr. Ben Watts, if you knock down the grass and trees on the turf again, I will tie you up. Blow up together at the White House!"

The one who was warned loudly by Duke was an assistant of photography, introduced by Naomi Watts. After passing the inspection by John Schwarzman and Duke, he joined the film crew. He is also an Australian actress. 'S brother.

"The White House is ready, ready!"

"The Oval Square is ready!"

"The Kennedy Garden is finished!"

"Lafayette Square is finished!"

There was a sound of 'ok' from the set, special effects and modelling team, and then the pyrotechnic special effects group of Jos Williams entered the venue and began wiring the explosives that had been placed under the White House in advance.

Of course, this is definitely not the real White House, but a scaled-down model specially copied by the crew. Not only is the length of this White House more than seventy feet in length, the model team has also restored all of the front courtyard of the White House in accordance with the current layout. Architecture and scenery.

"Are there shots in Hollywood movies that directly blow up the White House?"

Sitting on the shooting stage, Duke asked Robin Grande who was standing next to him, "Or something similar."

"should have."

The production manager nodded, and then shook his head, "But not many really make an impression."

"Robin." Duke put his chin in one hand, "What do you think of using the picture of blowing up the White House as the first propaganda poster?"

"Charles and I have the same idea." Robin Grande obviously agreed.

"Perhaps after we make the sample..."

After the announcement of the two films, Duke also had more thoughts, "It can be sent to the White House first for the Bill Clinton family to watch. No matter what he evaluates then, it can be used as a promotional point, right?"

"Good idea." Robin Grand wrote in his notebook.

The scene arrangement gradually came to an end. Duke stepped off the filming stage and circled the White House twice. After confirming that there was no problem, he returned to the back of the monitor and waited for Jose Williams' team to complete the final work.

"Fireworks, ready!"

Hearing the voice coming from there, Duke shouted to the film crew, "John, lower the boom, and the first unit is shooting as planned."

Wide-angle shooting plus mid-range shots and close-up shots with a mixed upward angle are all Duke's expertise when shooting explosive action shots. As early as the beginning of the set, he and John Schwarzman had finalized the specific plan. Position and shooting method.

Adjusting the monitor, Duke carefully observed the effects of each camera position and made several fine-tunings. He took the megaphone next to him and shouted to the White House, "Clear the room! One last time, clear the room!"

Even if the model was shot in the studio, military explosives were still used, and Duke didn't want anyone to bump into it stupidly. Some accidents would cause a mess such as the union.

"The clearance is over!"

An assistant director shouted.

"Jos..." Duke pointed the loudspeaker at the pyrotechnic group, "detonated in the last twenty seconds!"

The vicinity of the White House has become empty, as if there are really aliens coming. Under the cover of darkness, it looks extraordinarily quiet and gloomy. It seems that this is not the presidential palace, but a **** full of servants.

"10, 9, 8..."

The countdown from the fireworks group on the other side was extremely loud, reminding everyone that a heavyweight explosion was about to happen.

"3, 2, 1, detonate!"

The bright ball of fire rose instantly, not only the White House was blown to pieces, but even the lawn in front of the White House was cracked and flew into the sky. The flames spread rapidly, engulfing the garden trees before and after, and the administrative center of the United States was completely destroyed by Duke. destroy!

"Great!" Duke stood up from behind the monitor and exclaimed with satisfaction, "Good job! The first shot passed smoothly after booting up!"

Warm applause broke out at the scene, and dozens of people were celebrating the successful blow up of the White House.

"Transitions!"

After the firefighters put out the flames of the explosion, Duke shouted again, "The next target, the Capitol!"

The director is the commander-in-chief of a crew and the soul of a crew. The characteristics of a director often affect the entire crew. Undoubtedly, after experiencing joint fighting, Duke's team is shooting explosive and visually impactful scenes. At that time, the job can always be done relatively easily and well.

In half a day, Duke led the crew to conduct continuous operations, destroying the White House and the Capitol one after another. After resting for an hour, he came to the Empire State Building.

However, the Empire State Building is no longer an independent building, but is connected to the entire Manhattan. What the crew wants to blow up is the lifeline of the American economy and the financial center of the world.

"Duke, some questions."

Others were still setting up the venue, and Jos Williams found it, "According to our plan, the explosion was centered on the Empire State Building, and then the flames spread outward, but most of the flames after the explosion burned upwards and it was difficult to spread around ."

"Why don't you blow up Manhattan all at once?" he asked tentatively.

"no no..."

Duke shook his head. According to the setting, the flames of the explosion spread from point to surface, and the special effects group of Industrial Light & Magic has started the production of computer special effects for laser weapons. If you change it rashly, you will have to make a lot of preliminary preparations. Work overturned and restarted.

Even if the preliminary preparations are perfected, various problems will still be encountered during shooting.

Walking to the Manhattan model, Duke looked at the model fixed on the chassis, frowning with Jos Williams, who was obviously thinking about a solution.

After turning around the model chassis, Duke called the heads of several departments.

"In this way, fix the camera position on the model chassis." Duke said as he gestured with his hands. "Then hang Manhattan up with a boom, or use the Empire State Building as the explosion point. After the explosion, the flames should rise. Rising, we only shoot half of Manhattan above the Empire State Building..."

Duke walked to the model, pointed his finger at the Empire State Building, and slid backwards, "After hanging up, the part below the Empire State Building is properly shaded, and the lens highlights the explosion and fire in the upper half."

"This method is fine." To ensure the smooth shooting, Jos Williams still said, "I will take someone to do an experiment with other abandoned models."

Even if it is a scaled down model, in order to save money, Manhattan only produced one.

About half an hour later, Jos Williams sent feasible experimental results. All departments restarted. Three small cameras were fixed on the Manhattan chassis at different angles. After he arranged the explosives by himself, the mobilized boom slowly lifted the model.

It was another routine clearing. After Duke called the start, the Empire State Building was reduced to ruins and half of Manhattan was plunged into a blazing fire.

Sitting in front of the monitor, Duke watched the effects of the two shots back and forth. Although it was not as expected, it was fine.

"I'm here for today." He gave an order to call for work, "You can get off work when you are done!"

Someone left one after another. Duke was still sitting in front of the monitor and watching the shots taken today. When he saw the explosion of Manhattan just after shooting again, words with monotonous nasal sounds came from behind him.

"The alien's laser beam exploded, and the flame did not rise upwards, but spread to the surroundings. It is too unreasonable. How would you explain it then?"

"Why explain?" Duke looked back at Sophia Coppola, "This is an alien technology, a weapon that is hundreds of years more advanced than the Earth. We don't need to explain at all!"

I really want to explain these issues one by one. I don't want to shoot action movies and science fiction movies. Let alone other, the famous screen hero Rambo, according to common sense, I don't know how many times I should die.

"When will you be back?" Duke asked.

"This afternoon." Sophia pulled the chair next to him and sat next to Duke. "When I got off the flight from London to Los Angeles, I came here directly."

"Thanks." Duke picked up the coffee maker, found a new cup, and poured her a cup of coffee. "Is it going well?"

"You know that in New York." Sophia took a sip of coffee before saying, "We have taken it down because Broadway is going to restart the show. It took a little bit of effort and cost more than expected, $2 million. ."

Having talked on these calls, Duke nodded, "What about London?"

"Not very smooth." Sophia sighed. "Your Duke's studio is just an empty shell, without any influence. It is too difficult to get the copyright of this masterpiece."

"This way..." Duke was thinking about it for a while before he said, "Continue to talk to them and keep in touch with them. Maybe after "Independence Day" is released, something will change."

If "Independence Day" can achieve the expected results, then he will be Hollywood's leading commercial film director, and can even stand in the ranks of the top commercial films, then his signature will be even louder.