From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

In the blink of an eye, the filming of "The Princess Diaries" had reached its fifth day.

Finally!

Anson was about to usher in his first scene.

However, it wasn't a solo scene. To be precise, Anson didn't have any solo scenes in the entire movie. He truly lived up to his role as a qualified pretty face, shouldering heavy responsibilities at all times.

Including today's scene. Not only was it not a solo scene, but it was also a group scene.

This scene was a bit difficult, requiring not only coordination but also cooperation. Therefore, Garry wasn't in a rush to film it. Instead, he waited for the crew to operate smoothly before proceeding with the filming—

Mia, who didn't yet know her identity and was just an ordinary, unremarkable high school student, was walking to school with her good friend, Lily.

Garry needed a wide shot to showcase all the major and minor characters in the school. Different students were busy with different things, full of vitality, including Mandy Moore, Sandra Oh, Anson, and other characters.

Of course, there was also Josh, Mia's crush, played by Erik von Detten, who was also eighteen years old and making his debut on the big screen. Josh was the boyfriend of Lana, the cheerleader captain played by Mandy, and the two were deeply in love.

The difficulty of the wide shot lay in the coordination.

The camera would have a precise moving track to showcase the director's vision, while the actors needed to stand in their positions and maintain their characters.

On one hand, they needed to complete their character's tasks when the camera reached their track.

On the other hand, they needed to remain focused and continue their character's tasks when the camera left and they became part of the background.

Finally, they needed to complete a complete picture.

This wasn't easy. It required acting, rehearsal, and cooperation.

In Steven Spielberg's 2004 directorial work, "The Terminal," there was such a wide-angle shot:

The male protagonist, Tom Hanks, stood bewildered in the center of a plaza in the airport, while other passengers continued to go about their lives, busy moving forward, while he was forced to stay in place.

It was such a wide-angle shot, which only lasted a few seconds in the movie, but Steven used a sand table layout, carefully setting every detail of the picture, even down to when, how many people, at what speed, from which position, and in what direction they moved, all precise to the second.

After three full days of rehearsal, a perfect picture was finally completed. The movement of those people was not only a composition but also a flowing line, presenting an effect that required both busyness and vitality of the airport. The entire picture and the shot itself were a visual enjoyment that brought impact.

This scene fully demonstrated Steven Spielberg's coordination ability. He was undoubtedly a master of composition, coordination, and storyboarding, which was also a part of film art—and a very important part.

Later, the fundamental reason why those superhero movies became more and more like theme parks was that there was no coordination, no composition, and no editing. The imagination of the movies disappeared, and everything became as rigid and stiff as a theme park, completely reduced to a platform for selling movie merchandise.

Of course, Garry wasn't Steven, and he didn't have Steven's creativity and control, but he also had his own ideas about film language. What he was best at was using the camera to capture the relationships between characters.

In fact, he still retained traces of a television director. Compared to film language, he focused more on the script and the visual effects brought by some body language; but this still made him an excellent romantic love director.

For this coordination at the high school gate, Garry also discussed it with the crew for a long time and spent three full hours rehearsing and practicing yesterday afternoon.

This also meant that the crew needed to seize the time, because the time when the angle of the morning sun was suitable was only a short while. Once missed, the natural effect that Garry was pursuing would be greatly reduced, and then he might need to change the filming plan or even completely overturn the existing plan.

It was because of these various factors stacked together that Garry didn't immediately film this scene, preparing while filming, and specially taking time out to start rehearsing after finishing filming early yesterday.

Now, it was finally time for the real thing.

The crew was slightly nervous. Although the staff was still working in an orderly manner and were already familiar with such filming work, it was important to remember that most of the student actors in the middle school were filming movies for the first time, with the exception of Sandra Oh, who played the vice-principal.

Garry hoped that these young people would show the youth and vigor that matched their age, but the price was the lack of experience and awkwardness.

Excitement, there was.

Nervousness, there was.

Although no one spoke loudly, a kind of rustling, bustling, and chaotic sound filled the air. Between exchanged glances, one could clearly feel the surge of various emotions, instantly returning to the middle school era—

The short time when the math teacher, who had originally announced that there would be a class test today, was late, was filled with nervous and excited guesses, but no one dared to make a loud noise to break such suppression.

That was the feeling at this moment.

Anson was no exception.

Acting wasn't nerve-wracking; what was truly nerve-wracking was the performance.

This was Michael's first appearance in the movie, and it was also a wide shot, surrounded by countless students. He needed to leave a deep impression, but he couldn't break the bookish attribute of the character himself. This was also the moment to verify his preparation and research during this period.

James Franco gave a lot of help to Anson in the process of preparing the character and cooperated with Anson to try some performances. As for whether it was effective, now was the time to show it.

Nervousness, after all, was still nervousness, mixed with expectations and the joy of various emotions, plus the surge of emotions from other young people around him, the throbbing and tension of a beating heart quietly spread.

Thump.

Thump.

A roar surged over the eardrums, from far to near, and then from near to far. The world briefly shrank, almost squeezing his shoulders.

Then, the class monitor should shout "Quiet"—

"Ready!"

In the set, it wasn't the class monitor, but the script supervisor.

When the script supervisor appeared, all the noise and all the discussions were extinguished, instantly entering the scene of the Olympic 100-meter sprint final at the moment of the starting gun.

Instant pause, instant stagnation.

The tension and excitement of the young people in the audience were pushed to the extreme, and the golden sunlight falling from the sky also boiled, as if standing at the entrance of a magical world.

Pushing out a hand, that door slowly opened.

"Action!"

Huff.

Gently exhaling a breath, Anson calmed down.

No nervousness, no expectations, no chaotic thoughts, completely focused on the task at hand, the sound of his heartbeat on his eardrums gradually faded away, entering a subtle state, and his attention quietly gathered.

Whirr.

Whirr.

It seemed that the sound of the film rolling could be captured in the air.

The fourth update.