Chapter 46

The burning cigarette emits a swelling smoke, which faintly obscures Ed Harris's figure. The determined face in the mirror is full of anger...

"Cut!"

Looking at the picture on the monitor, Duke called to stop, and then first said to the other side, "The light is darker, I want to be able to show a heavy and dark feeling. Yes! The light must bring a sense of depression to the lens."

After that, Duke no longer cares about the lighting engineer who adjusts the light, and walks directly in front of Ed Harris surrounded by the camera.

"Ed..." He thought about the words for a moment, "Don't show your anger. General Hammer was indeed very angry at this time, but as a soldier who has experienced the battlefield test, he can suppress this anger in his heart. , His decision was well thought out, and his expression should be calm."

"That..." Ed Harris frowned, "There should be some action or something that can show his mood."

"Eyes, use your eyes." Duke pointed to his eyes, "I will give you a close-up of your eyes ≥√, use your sharpest eyes."

"Is that so?" Ed Harris' eyes widened slightly, and the temperament of the whole person changed. The face without any expression could not suppress the anger in his heart at all, but this anger was not written on the face. On the contrary, it is an unspeakable feeling.

"Keep your shape." Duke gave him a thumbs up and returned to the monitor.

The acting skills of these old actors are not a problem. After Duke conveys his intentions through words and actions, they can always make timely adjustments.

Compared with the two characters that only need to sell faces in "Life and Death", this film has higher requirements for the three protagonists.

"John, use virtual focus to shoot." Duke shouted to the camera, "Snap a close-up of Ed's eyes."

Then, he turned on the loudspeaker, patted it lightly, and said solemnly, "Attention to all departments, don't make any more mistakes, or I will cancel lunch!"

"The first scene and the second act, start!" he shouted himself.

The cigarette burns again, Ed Harris's figure is blurred, but it makes people feel heavy at the moment...

Staring closely at the monitor, Duke's main concern is the close-up of his eyes. When Ed Harris was standing in front of the mirror, John Schwarzman immediately caught his eyes. The sharp eyes were very good. It brought out the depression of General Hammer's temperament and the surrounding environment.

"Cut!" Duke nodded in satisfaction, "This one is over, transition!"

The time-consuming, labor-intensive and meticulously arranged scenes in the studio are often just for shooting a few minutes or even a few seconds. After Duke ordered, the crew moved to the other side of the studio to shoot Christopher Lee's shots.

It was set up as a prison. Christopher Lee had put on a wig and painted makeup. After being notified by the assistant, he immediately came to the venue.

I confessed a few precautions, the photography, lighting and other departments started busy according to the prior plan. All of this was temporarily in charge of Zach Schneider, and Duke took the time to explain a few words to Christopher Lee.

"Although Mason has been imprisoned for a long time..." Duke said concisely, "but he is still a lion."

"I understand." The old man nodded.

"Show how you feel when you were an agent."

Finally, Duke walked to the field, began to look at the situation, opened the door of Mason's "prison", and immediately frowned upon seeing the two books placed in it.

"Wood..." As soon as he finished shouting, the head of the props group walked over quickly.

"director..."

Before he could finish his questioning, Duke pointed to one of the books and said, "This is the "Art of War" you prepared?

Picking up the book, Duke threw it directly to him, "Mason is a British agent, an Englishman who has been imprisoned for thirty years. Do you think he can read Chinese? I want the English version!"

"Sorry..." Wood Ward said quickly, "I will find a solution now."

With the qualifications of "Life and Death", the support of Warner Bros., and the fact that he is one of the investors in the film, Duke's actual power in the crew is not the same as that of the last filming. The two production managers are professional After turning into invisibility, he is the person with the most power on the set. Even if other people have any ideas, they will never question face to face like Ke Nei did.

There was nowhere to find the English version of "The Art of War" in a short time. The props team simply re-made a cover, and finally did not delay Duke's shooting plan.

The heavy footsteps sounded, Christopher Lee's gray wig covered most of his face, and the handcuffs and fetters on his body explained his situation, but the old agent was not tortured by the collapse of his life in captivity, but revealed that he had only been on the battlefield and The temperament of a person with **** hands.

He was aggressive and cold, without the slightest British gentleman's demeanor.

This is exactly what Duke deliberately changed in order to meet Christopher Lee's real experience. John Mason is no longer a seemingly handsome elderly gentleman, his temperament and actions are even sharper.

In fact, the previous John Mason's setting was to take care of Sean Connery to a certain extent, but the problem is also obvious. An agent who has been imprisoned for decades has either become depressed and collapsed, or become More manic, continue to be personable? That's James Bond, not John Mason!

This is no longer a James Bond-style British agent.

Christopher Lee went all the way, John Schwarzman held Steadicam and kept snapping in front of him until Duke called to stop.

Since the startup, Duke has rarely participated in the actual shooting, and almost all the shooting has been handed over to the camera team headed by John Schwarzman, who is more in control of the overall situation.

And the shots will be fed back to the director's monitor for the first time, enough for him to make a judgment.

Although I was very satisfied with the effect of the first shot, this shot was to highlight the characteristics of John Mason. Duke took a few more shots to prepare for more options in post-production.

Next, I moved again to shoot Nicholas Cage. He and Naomi Watts, who played the role of his fiancee, also prepared in advance. After the crew made a little arrangement, the filming began.

Generally speaking, these shots are not difficult. Although the three leading actors are often stunned, Duke sometimes needs to adjust the venue or camera position, and even fine-tune the scene when inspiration comes, but the shooting is fairly smooth, using Ed Harris, Nicholas Cage and Christopher Lee, who are experienced actors and actresses in action movies, have all the benefits of acting. Their acting skills are much better than those traditional zombie face action stars.

Especially Nicholas Cage, he does not lack the hardness of action stars, but he also has acting skills that traditional action stars such as Stallone and Schwarzenegger can't match. It is not unreasonable to be the benchmark of action movies in the 1990s.

Similarly, his problem is obvious.

Cage is like a distinctive, but not very stable football player. He is in good and bad conditions. He habitually plays very well in one movie, and then plays extremely badly in the next movie, even sometimes In the same film, his performance level also fluctuates greatly.

Because I had a problem with the conception of the scene, Duke's time between shooting took a bit longer. As a result, Cage, who was in good shape when shooting with Naomi Watts just now, was inexplicably out of shape after re-shooting. .

"Gusby is a nerd, not a literary youth."

After five consecutive ng, Duke stood in front of the helicopter model, his voice was a bit high, "Nicolas, Gusby is about to take part in the action, and the fate of San Francisco is in his hands. It should be excitement, but nervousness!"

"Nervous, understand?"

Duke at this time is like a high-powered hair dryer, not calm at all, "Nicolas, don't tell me you don't know how to be nervous!"

"Give me five minutes." Cage also understood that the problem was with him.

Duke nodded and went back to the monitor, but just after five minutes of filming, he called to stop again!

"Nicolas, tell me, where is your state?"

Taking a deep breath, Duke suppressed the anger that he wanted to explode. This is not a problem that can be solved by losing his temper. He walked up to the helicopter model, walked back and forth a few steps, and waved his hand to Sophia who was following to deliver water. Finally said, "First of all, this is my problem. I interrupted the shooting for too long, which caused your state to disappear..."

"Duke..." Cage took a bit of embarrassment, because of Sofia's relationship, the relationship between the two is considered good.

"So, Nicola." Duke walked up to him, ignoring the curious look of the SEALs, and said, "Your eyes should keep looking around, your legs in the cabin keep swinging slightly, and..."

Duke turned to Christopher Lee on the other side, "Chris, tell him some jokes that suit the scene. Nicholas, you smile when you hear the jokes, understand?"

Eyes that look right and left at any time; legs that keep swinging in the cabin; a forced smile with Mason; when Nicholas Cage is in a bad state, he can reflect his nervousness from the side.

Perhaps Duke's method worked, or perhaps Cage recovered a bit of state. In the following shots, the overall performance got better and better. When the sixth reshoot, Duke finally shouted with satisfaction. by.

"Thank you."

Seeing the coffee on the table, Duke didn't lift his head, and said habitually, "Sophia, do some fine-tuning of the shooting plan in the afternoon..."

"Miss Coppola is going to help you get lunch." The familiar female voice came without a nasal sound.

Before Duke raised his head, he felt a hot and humid breath blowing through his ears, and he was gently kissed on his cheek.