Made in Hollywood

The passage of time is always irresistible. In September, Jeff Robinoff came to Sydney for an interview with Duke, and then Warner Bros. began to work with Duke Studio on matters related to the Harry Potter series. Formal contact, Duke simply sent Tina Fey back to Los Angeles to assist and supervise Nancy Josephson's negotiations with Warner Bros.

At the same time, after four months of preliminary preparation and more than three months of actor training, "The Matrix" officially started filming at Fox Studios.

There were no reporters, no special ceremonies, no noisy press conferences, and the film started shooting in an extremely quiet atmosphere.

Because of Keanu Reeves' hair problem, Duke first shot the all-virtual scene.

It's possible to make Keanu Reeves wear a green hat and wipe his hair off in post-production, but that would definitely increase the cost, so it's better to stagger the shots.

Taking advantage of the fact that the training has just been completed, whether it is a few protagonists or stunt doubles in good condition, Duke first shot a lot of action scenes.

"I know, you still don't know what the film is about."

When the various departments of the crew were almost ready, Duke walked to the set up studio venue. Like most Hollywood crews, many actors only had character scripts and did not have the full version of the script. In fact, they did not understand the overall framework of the film at all. , but these are not important, "You only need to complete the scenes of the script, complete your respective scenes according to my requirements, and then you can leave this hell."

Although the amount of training and exercise for up to 100 days is incomparable to the professional level, for these actors, it is tantamount to a kind of physical and psychological torture.

"tiger……"

Duke tilted his head at Tiger Chen, who walked over to Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne, and left the dojo for the last time he explained the routine. Came behind the camera.

It is Yuan Heping who sits here and takes the picture, and professional things are naturally done by professionals.

Due to enough communication in the past few months, Duke nodded to Yuan Heping and walked directly behind the monitor on the other side. After Yuan Heping notified his assistant, the field recorder quickly called to start.

Hong Kong-style martial arts film. After the production is completed, it is very fancy and beautiful, not to mention that it does not conform to the principles of human mechanics. In short, it is quite eye-catching, but the shooting is definitely not good-looking. Under the guidance of Tiger Chen, Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishber Eun's fight seemed to slow down, and the two were as Duke expected. He didn't even learn the fur of kung fu, and he had no strength to fight, and looked quite imaginary.

However, this is exactly the setting of the virtual world, and what Duke wants is the air. It's a science fiction film anyway, and no matter how stupid the audience is, they won't think that kung fu can really fly around.

Not only that, the shooting of Hong Kong-style action scenes, because the action is too complicated and fancy. The shots are much shorter than Hollywood's brash fights, often taking a dozen seconds or even a few seconds. Yuan Heping would call stop, and then let Tiger Chen correct the actions of the two leading actors.

Duke sat behind the monitor, just in control of the overall situation on the set, and the action scenes were completely handed over to Yuan Heping.

This is arguably one of his greatest strengths. Although living a lifetime may not be better than the real elites in this world, his psychological maturity is not the same. He knows that he has talent and accumulation in film, but he is also not an all-rounder. Maybe Yuan Heping can make a complete film 's movie is not even as good as his original one, but in the shooting of this kind of Hong Kong-style fight, the other party is undoubtedly better than him.

Sitting here, Duke is both watching and learning. He has a deep Hollywood imprint on him, and naturally has the eclectic side of Hollywood.

Learning to absorb the strengths of others for your own use is something that any successful director is constantly doing.

Of course, Duke won't use these Hong Kong-style shooting methods in the future, and he won't make pure kung fu movies.

On the first day, only the ground movements with well-designed routines were filmed. By the second day, the scenes of hanging steel wires appeared in large numbers. Although Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne had also undergone some training, unless It is necessary to have a close-up of the face in front or in profile, and Duke mandates the use of professional doubles.

The filming period of the film is only two and a half months. If the double has an accident, there are also stunt doubles that can be replaced. Once the main actor is injured, this part of the scene will be interrupted.

Every day the crew delays, it consumes money.

After two days of shooting, Duke has to admit that the Hong Kong-style production does have its own uniqueness when shooting scenes like Neo and Morpheus, and even clearly leads the way of routine and simplification of the action. It is not a fluke that Hong Kong-style action films can become popular in Hollywood and even North America at the turn of the century, but Hollywood regards them as outsiders, and they regard themselves as outsiders. Various reasons have caused the popularity of the time. too short.

Perhaps it would be very appropriate to describe the future situation of kung fu films in North America with addiction.

There are many shadows of kung fu in the future Hollywood action scenes, but it is no longer kung fu at all. From the simple and rude fights of Batman to the swift and swift attacks of Captain America, Hollywood has absorbed the fur of kung fu stunts, combined with other fighting methods. Innovation.

The fantasy of Hong Kong films entering Hollywood was soon completely shattered.

Not to mention the current Jack Chen, Jet Li and Yuan Heping, even Bruce Lee did not make kung fu films into the mainstream of the North American market even in his most glorious era.

This is an extremely exclusive media market. As long as you do a little research, it is not difficult to find that North American theaters are insulated from more than 99% of the films in other parts of the world. Hong Kong films entering the North American market are just an illusion. That's it.

The decline of Hong Kong films is unavoidable, and it cannot be saved by a single person or a group. Throwing away reasons other than movies, since "Jurassic Park" landed in the city, Hong Kong films have been approaching the end, wait for this year The big ship rushes to the world, and there is only one way for Hong Kong to go - to the north!

The funny thing is, the can of that city. It is impossible to tell the situation at all, the North does not need them, but they must.

Not to mention the film industry, without the support of the North, the rest of the city's industries would soon collapse.

Among them, there are a lot of people who can't tell the situation in their film industry. I don't know that the outside world is making progress every day. I only know that I am guarding the poor thing in my hands, and I don't want to make progress.

For example, during the training and shooting of "The Matrix", Duke heard people communicate in Mandarin more than once - to keep everything in the bottom of the box...

Is it useful to keep it out? Totally useless!

Because people in Hollywood don't need to understand the esoteric and complicated parts of Kung Fu at all, they only need the outermost fur.

These do not require any understanding of what kung fu is.

The current Hong Kong-style action coaching team. In this regard, they have a crushing advantage over Hollywood action directors. If they are willing to actively seek changes, combine the actual needs of North American audiences, and absorb the advantages of other action fighting, before kung fu does not cause aesthetic fatigue. Designing action routines that are more suitable for the world market, it is possible to grab a huge piece of cake in the Hollywood action guidance market!

In Hollywood, there are all kinds of discrimination, but there is one thing that can suppress discrimination. That is profit! As long as it can bring benefits, Hollywood can treat black people as gods!

This is for Duke. It's a very simple reason, but Yuan Heping obviously doesn't want to change, but Duke didn't mean to remind it, the two sides were just pure business cooperation. Apart from that, there will be no other relationship.

If the team is from the north, maybe he will remind, but from that city, forget it.

Hollywood is the epitome of the business circle. Those who can adapt can stay, and those who cannot adapt will naturally be eliminated.

Duke would take over control of the filming whenever it was time for a drama.

"Lawrence!" He sat behind the camera and said to the black man who had just finished the test shot, "Your expression is wrong! You are Neo's guide and believe that he is the savior. So, you lead him to understand the real world and the virtual world. When, to perform..."

After thinking for a while, Duke found the right wording, "Be more like a magician!"

The connotation of philosophical thinking is something that audiences and critics should pay attention to. In Duke's cognition, the prophet of the film is a big magician, and Morpheus is a little magician...

"I see!"

Lawrence Fishburne closed his eyes and thought for a while, then said, "I think I've found my way!"

Completely different from "Chicago", in the filming of this film, Duke did not have high requirements for actors' acting skills. The first is to keep cool. From actors to costumes to scene design, they must be cool and slag; The content of the film shows a bit of mysticism at the right time, but it can't really turn into an out-and-out magic film. After all, this is a standard commercial film, with philosophical connotations, just a little touch.

"Do you think I can beat you faster and stronger than you? More muscular?"

Although Lawrence Fishburne in the shot doesn't have a windbreaker and a magic mirror, his demeanor can still be described as cool and slag, "Neo, do you need to breathe here?"

"Cut!"

With Duke's shout, the scene of this literary drama passed, and the scene of the martial arts field ended.

Although Kung Fu is shown here, the martial arts field is more like a Japanese-style building. Originally, Duke had considered pure Chinese-style architecture, but after Robin Grande and the set designer reminded him, he voluntarily gave up. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:   A new month is coming soon. Thirteen strives to maintain the status of daily updates~~ My guaranteed update is two updates. This month, more than 90 chapters have been updated so far, and there are more updates every day~~~ Thank you for your support Support, the state of three updates every day will continue for a while, but Thirteen is about to get married, and there will be a lot of work in the next few months. If the normal state of the two updates is restored, we will inform you in advance! Having said so much, I still ask for your support!