Made in Hollywood

"Five, Six, Seven, Eight!"

In the sound of the orchestral music, a sound like a countdown sounded, and a pair of blue eyes full of desire appeared on the screen, and then directly transitioned to the "Chicago" subtitle played by neon lights in the dark background, the bright red neon lights were like a lamp. The signal lights hanging high tell the audience that this will be a colorful movie.

The film begins with a song and dance. The close-up of the announcer's mouth is instantly cut to the dizzying stage. The cold tone of the stage background and the warm tone of the wine pool form a sharp contrast and a strong visual impact.

The reverberating jazz, the sensual audience, and the feasting theater fully demonstrate the richness and confusion of the nightlife of "Chicago".

The good show has already been staged. Velma, who had just killed her sister, came in a hurry. It was just her short walk into the theater. The tone of light and shadow was constantly changing, which also showed Duke's light and color. On the other hand, the technique is almost extreme - the blue and alluring lights of the dance hall come out from the window, and the wet street reflects the lights on the screen. appear.

Although the lens only shows a pair of feet from a low angle, a short distance, it creates the due effect between light and shadow, and also reveals the black temperament of the film.

Coupled with the close-up of the eyes that point directly to the heart at the beginning of the film, in fact, Duke has used his own methods to send a signal to all audiences. The state is externalized, embodied, and amplified to cover up the film noir techniques under the gorgeous singing and dancing, depicting a strong black taste.

"After watching this opening, most of my worries about Duke have disappeared."

George Lucas tilted his head slightly and said to Mrs. Leah. "As long as there is no problem with singing and dancing, I believe that with Duke's ability, the film is definitely above the standard."

Mrs. Leah nodded, she knew that the level line that Lucas was talking about was not the passing line, it meant an excellent movie.

"Chicago" is a musical after all. No matter how well done in other aspects, if the actors' singing and dancing fails, it means that the whole film has actually failed.

As a veteran "Chicago" fan, Gru is very clear about this. The beginning of the film is really good. The gorgeous light and shadow switching and sound and picture processing are absolutely unmatched by stage plays. The movie has a natural advantage in this regard, but the next opening song and dance is the most important thing. Velma is beautiful enough, but I don't know how to sing and dance.

"A typical Duke movie opening."

Allen told Kunites, "He gave up the long takes that 'Saving Private Ryan' often used. He went back to the fast pace of short takes."

Kunites stared at the screen and lowered his voice, "The heroine is a good choice, Zeta Jones is really beautiful. She's also very sexy, and her acting skills are also good. No wonder Duke fell in love."

"If she can't sing and dance well."

Even if he is not a fan of musicals, Allen is aware of this, "Duke will definitely be criticized for his choice of actors, and maybe some unfavorable rumors will spread..."

The stage lights on the screen suddenly turned on. The stage rose slowly, Zeta Jones stood in the white halo, the background completely turned black, black and white intertwined, forming a huge color difference, instantly lit the eyes of the audience.

"Baye..."

In the sound of music, Velma has already started the first song and dance, which is the signature song of the entire repertoire - "All.".

Catherine Zeta Jones' voice is full of magnetism, strong singing, wild and seductive dancing, which is very in line with the character's own setting, and caught the audience's attention in the fastest time.

"She sings pretty well."

Hearing Kunites' words, Ellen nodded hastily, "Her expression is so seductive, when she blinked, I thought she was winking at me, and those legs, so beautiful! This actor Duke was chosen very well. It's gone!"

Gru is also nodding. Compared with the Broadway re-arranged musical, the actress's dancing is a little worse, but her singing is better, and she is worthy of being a West End musical.

Counting three rows ahead of him, Whiteley, a drama critic of The New York Times, was writing down something in her notebook. Although she was not a film critic, she came to the premiere specifically to see "Chicago" "What kind of classic repertoire will be adapted by Duke Rosenberg.

However, it seems that the beginning of the film is quite successful. Not to mention the film techniques that the other party is good at, even the song and dance drama is definitely outstanding.

And in the film, except for the dance that is slightly worse, Wilma completely exploded the musical version of Wilma in other aspects.

This is a normal thing, and Whitley is not surprised. Even if she is just a drama critic, she knows that the film has many advanced post-production technologies, which can modify the singing and dancing performances and even the acting skills, not to mention that this one in the film is called Catherine Zee The actress of Tower Jones has a solid foundation in singing and dancing. Even if she is one or two levels worse than the heroine in the stage play, the movie can still rely on production technology to limit this disadvantage to an infinite extent, or even exceed it.

This is a very unfair comparison, and it is also a completely different form of artistic expression. Moreover, movies are popular, and musicals are relatively niche. Only a fool would compare musical actors to movie actors. It will allow the two sides to widen the distance of three streets.

Therefore, Duke did not worry about whether the nostalgic audience could accept singing and dancing. Lily Fred was originally from a veteran Broadway and was nominated for several Tony Awards. The ability is definitely not a problem.

It's true that the black Velma sang and danced Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta Jones during the live shooting, but don't forget, he is a director, or a technical director, how can he be stupid Instead of stuffing the original song and dance scenes into the movie, I carefully edited a few songs and dances with Lily Fred to remove as many flaws as possible in the character's dance.

Perhaps after the dance has been edited, there are still some deficiencies. After all, no professional stand-ins were used throughout the whole process, but in terms of songs, Duke believes that the studio dubbed version of the film will absolutely blow up the live singing version of any theater.

It was indeed a live recording during filming, but when it came to post-production, Duke didn’t even think about it, so he replaced all the singing and dancing scenes with the studio recording version, and the singing that had been modified by various post-production techniques, how could it be compared to the live performance? what about? Not to mention these musical performers, even Michael Jackson's live singing, also has a clear gap with the studio effect.

Yes, compared to all the musicals that require live performances, the movie version is cheating, and it is an open and honest cheating, and no one can say anything about this cheating, otherwise it is just a joke.

There are also looks. Duke has seen pictures of previous "Chicago" musical actors. Naomi Watts, Catherine Zeta Jones and Tom Cruise have an absolute advantage, not to mention looks are not good for such a movie. Importantly, the effect of singing and dancing with handsome guys and beauties is often amazing.

Moreover, on the basis of ensuring the level of acting and singing and dancing, being beautiful and handsome is the last word.

Heart of beauty in everyone.

When the audience was deeply attracted by the song and dance, another heroine, Lockheed Hart, appeared on the screen after another color change, and the fates of the two beautiful killers were intertwined. Velma was dazzling, and Roxy under the dance floor was envious.

Through Roxy's seeing and Velma's being seen, the film interweaves a projection of desire, which is explicitly expressed through Roxy's gaze.

Then there is a parallel montage technique, which is an extremely simple and ordinary film technique, but it brings a completely different effect from the stage play. I want to show the parallel montage in the way of the stage play... Forget it, the two sides are not comparable at all.

Whiteley added a heavy stroke to her notebook. This adaptation is obviously more attractive than the flat and straightforward way of the stage play, and the intricate entanglement of the two heroines also perfectly reflects the theme of the film.

Judging from the clips that have been screened so far, it seems that the director Duke Rosenberg is completely different from what she has heard from film critics.

Especially in the blue, romantic and mysterious stage lighting, Velma is extraordinarily charming, while the striking red light behind Roxy hints at her inner mania and desire.

As the camera continued to advance and the scene distance gradually became smaller, Roxy met Verma's eyes while staring, and finally, in a moment of turning back, replaced Verma's stage role with his inner fanatical self. The real space and the performance space on the stage are replaced and unified under the projection of Roxy's desire.

It is no exaggeration to say that while the film attracts attention with its colorful and gorgeous singing and dancing, Duke Rosenberg uses a lot of technical flow film techniques.

The singing and dancing parts and the scenes of Roxie's affair are intertwined and constantly facing each other. The filth of human nature and the explosion of desire are infinitely magnified in the fast editing, and the two scenes are also converted through similar composition, same and opposite actions. , the transition is natural and full of meaning.

Whitley couldn't understand how a director who was only explosive in the eyes of film critics could produce such profound shots and scenes. Let alone the use of light and color in the film, he could be called a master. level!

Thinking of this, about the film critics and Duke, a very appropriate description popped up in Whitley's mind - interest and prejudice!

She is only a drama critic. Although she occasionally reviews movies, she has no interests in Hollywood, so she feels that her evaluation is more fair. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  I have to go out for the holidays, these days are still three shifts~~