From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. She sleeps all day."

Mary Jane entered the ward, softened her footsteps, and carefully approached the bedside, quietly watching Aunt May, who resembled a sleeping beauty.

She was somewhat lost in thought.

"Thank you for coming to see her," Peter said.

Peter's words brought Mary Jane back from her thoughts. She turned to look at Peter and said softly, "Of course." But she turned her head again to look at Aunt May, and couldn't help but drift off again, her thoughts scattering.

Self-blame, guilt, worry, disappointment.

Her shoulders drooped weakly, and the strands of hair falling over her shoulder slowly scattered down. You could feel her complex emotions without a word.

Peter stood behind her, unable to see Mary Jane's expression, but he could feel her disappointment and struggle. He didn't understand the reason, and he didn't know where to start to try and comfort her. He raised his right hand towards Mary Jane's shoulder, but as soon as he raised it, he lowered it weakly again.

A wave of helplessness.

Behind the helplessness, there was also fear and panic, bewilderment and unease. Because there were too many thoughts, she fell into a blank state, her brain simply devoid of any ideas.

Peter quietly watched the back of Mary Jane's head, so focused and so immersed, his eyes filled with love and sadness, spreading out like smoke and mist.

A single glance was enough.

Jake Gyllenhaal himself didn't realize it, slowing his breathing as his thoughts gradually succumbed.

Although Jake didn't notice, he was, in fact, only a part of the set. The entire crew couldn't help but hold their breath, feeling the heartbeat, feeling the emotions.

Even though there was no dialogue, they could feel the two young people trapped by the troubles of their youth.

The world fell silent.

Briefly, they were far from the chaos and noise outside, temporarily free from having to think about those life choices and life problems, simply letting themselves be immersed in those emotions.

But.

Peter noticed.

In that brief moment, the complexity and turbulence in his heart inadvertently leaked out. This was dangerous, and he couldn't let Mary Jane fall into danger as well.

Then, Peter lowered his eyelids, cautiously and timidly concealing it.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "I mean, about that night."

Mary Jane was startled, thinking that her emotions had been seen by others. She quickly forced a smile, turned to look at Peter, and raised the corners of her mouth, "Me? I'm fine, it's just that, I shouldn't have left Aunt May."

If she hadn't left, leaving Aunt May alone at home, perhaps the Green Goblin wouldn't have targeted Aunt May, and perhaps Aunt May wouldn't be in a coma.

Peter opened his mouth, because he knew that Aunt May's incident wasn't Mary Jane's fault, but the words had already reached the tip of his tongue, yet he swallowed them all back down.

He couldn't say it.

After an emergency stop, Peter changed the subject, "Have you talked to Harry?"

A one hundred and eighty degree turn, very awkward and very stiff.

Peter was a little annoyed, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if his teeth hurt, and then he quickly concealed it. Fortunately, Mary Jane was also upset and didn't notice. She let out a long breath, her face full of annoyance.

"He called me."

— But.

Obviously, that tone indicated that the words weren't finished, and there was still a twist to come.

However, Mary Jane also hesitated, swallowing the words that came to her lips, walking around the bed towards the windowsill, trying to find a place to put the flowers she had brought, using this action to hide her panic.

After all the words, in the end, there was only one sentence left, "I haven't called back yet."

What should she say?

What else could she say?

Mary Jane was agitated. Standing in front of the window, she lowered her head and looked at the flowers in her hand, the sparse sunlight shining through the glass onto her face.

Mary Jane didn't speak, and Peter didn't urge her. He stood still, his footsteps unmoving, but his body seemed to feel the attraction of a magnet, leaning slightly towards Mary Jane's direction.

The air was silent, no one spoke, but they could clearly feel Peter's restraint and Mary Jane's confusion. Emotions were quietly surging, leaving infinite space for interpretation, letting thoughts sprout.

Behind the monitor, Sam was still like the sloth Flash, one hundred percent focused and one hundred percent invested, his eyes revealing a hint of determination—

He was very sure and certain that Anson and Kristen could bring surprises.

In such a scene, complex emotions and chaotic thoughts all surged together.

If relying only on the simple dialogue in the script, it would be impossible to show the context, and it would just be a jumbled stew thrown up, simply and crudely stuffed into the audience's mouth, regardless of the audience's feelings, requiring the audience to accept the emotional changes of Peter Parker and Mary Jane without explanation.

Are all commercial films so unreasonable?

But now, the situation is different.

In fact, not everything has to be explained clearly, especially emotions. You only need to leave some blanks to ferment in the audience's mind, and that's enough. Those hidden messages outside the dialogue are the reason for the excitement brought by this scene.

However, Sam immediately realized—

Relying solely on the power of acting is not enough.

Why is a movie a movie? It's because the director needs to mobilize all means to create an atmosphere, an experience, an immersive feeling.

Here, they should add the trivial sounds of the electrocardiogram and the IV drip. Maybe there is a blue alert in the corridor, maybe there are vehicles passing by outside the window, using these noisy and chaotic sounds to create the illusion that the world is collapsing, setting off the ripples in the two people's minds.

Background sound, reflecting the characters' psychological state.

Such shooting techniques are a piece of cake for Sam.

Most importantly, you can't use shot-reverse-shot.

Shot-reverse-shot, such a simple and crude shooting technique, is simply unable to present the intense sense of pulling between the two people, completely wasting the two actors' understanding and interpretation of the characters.

But similarly, the camera position of this scene also needs to be adjusted.

Thoughts surged in his mind. Sam also knew that this scene was not perfect, and it might need to be reshot repeatedly, and even adjusted.

However, Sam didn't call stop, but quietly admired it, slowing down in the hustle and bustle, letting the two actors continue to sort out the characters' emotions.

It wasn't until this moment that Sam suddenly remembered a key point:

When did Mary Jane fall in love with Peter Parker?

Not Spider-Man, but Peter Parker.

The thought only had time to pause briefly in his mind, and then Sam's attention was once again drawn to the two figures in the monitor.

Describing it seems infinitely long, but in reality, it's just a short second.

A spacebar, objectively existing but not disrupting the rhythm.