Made in Hollywood

The preparatory work has been going very smoothly. Apart from completing their own work, the members of the Duke team are also using the old and new way to teach the experience of those staff members of Marvel Studios who have joined the crew, just like all those who have just entered. Like Hollywood companies, if no one helps, Marvel Studios will take a lot of detours.

Duke is the largest shareholder of Marvel Comics, and it is impossible to only shoot Marvel superhero movies in the future. The faster Marvel Studios grows, the better it will undoubtedly be in his interests.

"Duke, I think your construction of this parallel world is still too conservative."

Walking around the studio where the set was being set up, Stan Lee, who came to Los Angeles from New York, said to Duke, "A lot of the technology and abilities in the comics, in the script based on your opinion, There's not much to describe."

Looking back from the model of Tony Stark's mansion laid out in front of him, Duke said slowly, "Stan, this is the beginning of the whole series. It will always take a process for the audience to truly recognize this world full of superheroes. There are a lot of films that need to be made, and there is no rush at all.”

"You seem to have more confidence than me." Stan Lee took off the sunglasses on his face and turned to look at Duke. "Will our world really succeed?"

Duke laughed. "Don't you want to see Marvel's superhero movies sweep the world?"

Stan Lee laughed, too. As the creator of some of Marvel's most famous superheroes, he wanted more than anyone to see a Marvel movie succeed.

According to the contract signed between Marvel Comics and Stan Lee, any superhero under his command is made into a movie, animation or TV series, and Stan Lee can get close to 8% of the profit from it.

If nothing else, how much income can the "Spider-Man" series alone bring to the old man?

Yes, Stan Lee is really old. It seems that the time has come to completely ignore money, but Duke remembers very clearly that after the Marvel superheroes completely rampaged the world, the former Stan Lee did not hesitate to go to court with his old club Marvel Comics because of the problem of uneven payment.

Today, every cent of revenue that Marvel Comics generates. They are all closely related to Duke. He has long talked with Avi Arad to further refine the sharing contract between Marvel and Stan Lee, and try to avoid the old man's excessive greed and unnecessary trouble in the future.

Of course, there are always two sides to the problem, from Stan Lee's point of view. He is protecting his normal rights and interests, but from the perspective of major shareholders such as Duke, the other party is delusional about sharing the cake that belongs to them.

After chatting with Stan Lee for a while, Duke threw him to the assistant of the crew to receive him, although the old man is the well-deserved core soul of Marvel Comics. But the crew is in a busy preparatory stage, and it is impossible for him to spend too much time on each other.

Moreover, the Marvel screenwriters headed by Stan Lee played the most role in setting the frame and writing the plot, and they were laymen in film preparation. Duke wouldn't be foolish enough to find some layman to point fingers at movies.

Tony Stark's suit, for example, is one thing in the comics. Representing it on the big screen is something else entirely.

Comics and movies are two completely different mediums.

Industrial Light and Magic was responsible for the production of Tony Stark's suits. Since Duke entered Hollywood, because of George Lucas's relationship, Industrial Light and Magic gave him a lot of support. Every film produced by Duke will use a lot of special effects. Except for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which uses Weta Studios in accordance with the principle of proximity, ILM has participated in the special effects production of almost every film of him.

Originally, Duke wanted to use the studio of model master Stan Winston for the prop design of "Iron Man", but the person in charge of Industrial Light and Magic took the initiative to find him and wanted to participate in the special effects production of the film. And came up with a complete set of design plans at the fastest speed.

Every director, in filmmaking, likes to use people they know well, and Duke is no exception.

Although today's computer special effects technology continues to develop, in Duke's conception, the film will not use CGI special effects completely, and must be shot with real props. And to use, hand them nothing to worry about.

And even ten years later, ILM is still the best special effects company in Hollywood and the world.

In the previous preparations, Duke has had sufficient communication with the two drawing designers of the crew. They also combined the characteristics of the past comics and Duke's suggestions to design the initial design drawings, which were handed over to ILM. The department responsible for the mold making, they produced the first-generation samples, which could be finalized only after being reviewed by Duke.

Walking into an exhibition room next to the studio, Phil Sanders, who was in charge of the "Iron Man" business at ILM, was already waiting here. On the two fixed exhibition stands next to him, four two versions of the film were erected. Iron Man suit.

The taller one is gray and rough; the other, slightly taller than life, has a red and gold coating on its surface and looks extremely well made, like a work of art.

"well done."

After simply saying hello to Phil Sanders, Duke circled the four shirts back and forth twice and said, "When did you finish it?"

Phil Sanders has been following Duke, "It was completed yesterday afternoon, and I had it shipped from San Francisco to Los Angeles overnight."

"These samples are made of polystyrene and are just models." He explained beside Duke, "After the final version is determined, in addition to polystyrene, the key moving parts will be made of lightweight and strong titanium alloy, the actor There's absolutely no problem wearing it for a shoot."

"Mass production," Duke asked another question of concern, "would the cost be high?"

"The cost of mass production will be greatly reduced." Phil Saunders calculated silently and said, "Titanium alloy can be replaced by aluminum alloy. In this case, it can be done within three or two thousand dollars."

Duke nodded lightly. If the movie can sell well, the suits of the Mark 1 and Mark 2 can be released in real-life versions, and there must be many fanatical fans who will pay for it.

Of course, the premise is that the shape of the steel suit should be cool, handsome and likable enough.

The four first-edition models in front of them are obviously not in this category. After looking at the good design on paper, after turning it into a real object, whether it is observed by human eyes or shot by Duke with a camera lens, it always feels bad. something.

"Phil, drop both versions."

After walking around the Mark 1 and Mark 2 steel suits, Duke stood beside him and thought about it for a while, and asked the two designers to come over. The model staff had a brief meeting in the exhibition room.

The theme of the meeting was Tony Stark's jersey.

In the script setting, Tony Stark designed the first set of steel suits when he was captured, called Mark Generation, also known as "Grey Armor" in the early Marvel comics.

Duke once again emphasized the concept of combining comics, "The Mark generation was designed when it was captured, especially with the enemy monitoring it. In my imagination, this suit will look a bit like a waste weapons dump. It's going to be the most original prop in a movie."

Phil Saunders is not only a well-known mold maker in the industry, but also one of the best concept designers. He thought about it and suggested, "We can use clean sheet metal as a material to inject imagery into the design. Modernized technology elements, and with some panel accessories, make the Mark 1 look like a combination of weapons and military equipment.”

"Well, yes." Duke nodded in agreement, and added, "But you should also remember a few points. After all, this is not an original movie, but an adaptation of a comic with a huge fan base."

He explained one by one, "First, you can't deviate too much from the original book; second, you must show the evolution of Iron Man. It's better to make the battle suit a bit like the clothes worn when fleeing, like a powerful humanoid tank. ."

After a little thought, Duke added, "And light enough, preferably no more than ninety pounds."

The production of the Mark Generation is not a decoration, but requires actors to wear and shoot in some scenes. If it is too heavy, let alone shooting in front of the camera, I am afraid that even wearing it will be a problem.

"We can completely separate the top and bottom." Phil Sanders walked to the display stand and pointed to the waist of the Mark Generation. "It will be easier to wear and shoot."

Duke nodded and walked over, but this time the target was Mark II. "The design of the second-generation uniform is generally good, but the biggest problem is the color."

He pointed to the part with red and gold paint on the Mark II, and said, "The color is still a little dim, you think about the character of Tony Stark's stinky fart in the setting, since these two are chosen Color, will you not use the brightest one?"

Red and gold are undoubtedly very bright and eye-catching colors, just in line with Tony Stark's way of doing things.

Tony Stark's suit is not only a very important part of the film's pre-production preparations, but also the peripheral products that will be launched after the release, and the consumer groups who are willing to pay for these peripheral products will definitely be composed of teenagers.

The mainstream part of this group doesn't really like relatively dull colors.

Mark I and Mark II battle suits not only take time to design and manufacture, but also take time to test. The battle suits produced must have undergone a series of experiments on field wearing and shooting. to the progress of filming.

By mid-August, the two generations of jerseys had finally finalized the appropriate version. Duke was just about to relax when he received an invitation from Rupert Murdoch. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:   Ask for monthly and recommended tickets!