Made in Hollywood

Just after Christmas, Duke received feedback from ICM, and Charlize Theron will adjust his schedule according to his needs in the future to participate in his new film.

The two sides only reached the initial intention, and specific matters must still be discussed. Duke is not in a hurry. After all, the filming of "Transformers" has not been completed.

With the holidays over, the crew regrouped, and for the first week Duke and Anna Prinz led a team to shoot some fragmented shots in the Warner Studios studio, and then into 2008, the entire crew Gathered together and came to the eastern part of Nevada.

There's a highway here that just finished construction, and Duke took a fancy to one of its viaducts and planned to shoot a car chase and a King Kong fight.

The latter, of course, is to shoot the material and then hand it over to the special effects production department for completion.

In order to get permission to shoot, two assistants of Tina Fei have been in contact with each other since two months ago. After paying enough money, the company responsible for building the road and related departments finally signed the contract.

Hundreds of vehicles were transported to the highway by trailers, many of which were minesweepers provided by the Pentagon. After Duke arrived, he immediately started busy, directing the crew to set up the set.

"Our purpose is simple."

Standing on the lift car, Duke said to Anna Prinz, "Try to destroy all the vehicles you brought."

On this highway, there will be a fierce battle between the Autobots protecting Sam and the chasing Decepticons, and Optimus Prime will show his power and kill several Decepticons.

Regarding Optimus Prime, the live-action movie uses a lot of cartoon settings, such as combat power.

Compared with the sturdy Megatron, which has not rusted on the seabed, Optimus Prime is indeed slightly inferior. But it is not completely without the strength of confrontation, and when facing other Decepticons, Optimus Prime is like Megatron against ordinary Autobots, and it is not at the same level of existence.

There are not many scenes where actors show their faces in the filming here. The most needed stuntmen are driving. More than 30 stuntmen were hired by the crew. to complete this speeding war.

Shooting this kind of scene was Duke's specialty ten years ago. Now the cameras are more high-definition and smaller, and the existence of high-speed capture cameras is enough to make the shot more visually impactful.

"Transformers" is a 3D film, and as with the previous shooting, James Cameron's improved 3D camera is bound to appear in the main camera position.

This is one of the reasons why the film is so expensive.

Warner Bros. has approved plans for additional investment. An additional $20 million will be invested in the film, pushing the production costs up to the horrific figure of $220 million.

The additional investment is basically spent on special effects production. Duke is very clear that the biggest selling point of "Transformers" is feelings and special effects, and the rest are false.

Like the plot of the movie. His version of the storyline is simpler, as long as the basic logic is maintained.

The scenes on the highway will not exceed ten minutes together, but it will take a week to shoot. This is also the last scene of the crew. After shooting this part, Duke was able to move on to post-production.

Like all movies. Except for the wide-angle lens, the scenes of the big scene are composed of scenes. The shooting was naturally split into countless fragments by Duke, a rollover and a collision. Basically, the shots taken are listed separately.

Such a scene will only last for a few seconds, but it takes a long time to prepare, and most of the crew's time is also spent on preparation.

Collision, explosion, flame, rollover...

These are the themes of the crew during the week of filming. Although the safety measures are in place, several stunt performers were slightly injured. Fortunately, they were all flesh wounds, and there were no serious problems.

When the time is getting closer to mid-January, the shooting is approaching the end.

For Duke, "Transformers" represents the feelings of the past, and he has special feelings for this series, so even he, who doesn't like cameos very much, decided to make a cameo in the film and play a role with Optimus Prime. opponent play.

Beneath the viaduct, a Ford parked on the side of the battlefield-like filming location, Duke sat in the driver's seat, and a camera assistant set up a Steadicam, filming his facial expressions through a specially made window.

"Cut!"

On the other side, Anna Prinz's voice sounded, "Duke, your expression is not in place."

Pushing open the car door, Duke got out of the car and walked behind the director's monitor. Anna Prinz replayed the scene just shot. After watching it, he couldn't help but fold his chest with one hand and squeeze his chin with the other.

"You only panic," reminded Anna Prinz, "not surprised."

Duke plays the role of a passerby who is playing soy sauce. After seeing the fighting Optimus Prime and the noise, he will definitely panic, and at the same time, he will be surprised. How could there be such a existence on earth?

"One more time." Duke got back into the car.

This scene is not difficult, but with his acting skills, it is still somewhat difficult to perform against the air.

When it comes to acting, Duke knows that his talent is extremely general, and he has rarely made a cameo in the film in the past, and this cameo is just a flash of the scene.

"start!"

Hearing Anna Prinz's voice, Duke immediately entered the state, he made a sudden braking action, then turned his head and looked out the window, as if he saw something incredible, his face showed panic and surprise expression.

Looking at the picture on the monitor, Anna Prinz shook her head slightly, confirming that her boss is not a good material for acting at all, but Duke's performance is enough for such a background painting shot of the Transformers War.

"Cut!" Anna Prinz stopped. "This one is over!"

With the passage of the last line, the members of the crew who had been tortured for a week all showed a relaxed look on their faces, and they were finally about to usher in another long vacation.

As usual, there was no excitement, no celebration ceremony, some heavy work and relief after the huge pressure was relieved. Even if the whole team cooperated for many years, the shooting process still could not be sloppy.

This is a $200 million-plus blockbuster, not one of those niche independent films.

"We have one afternoon to go to Las Vegas."

Duke is very clear about the combination of work and rest. He picked up the loudspeaker and shouted, "I've got Tina to book the MGM Hotel, and then it's a night of rave."

Las Vegas is undoubtedly a great place to unwind and revel.

Of course, the crew couldn't have packed the entire MGM Hotel, they just booked the largest private room, and invited dozens of strippers to perform in the private room. This kind of carnival party naturally requires marijuana and cocaine. Touch these things, but never interfere with the rest of the crew.

This is the norm in the circle.

Not only actors and stars, but also occupations such as videographers and makeup artists, drug addiction is also a common phenomenon.

Duke didn't stay in the private room too much. He and several core members of the team passed the stage of infinite carnival early. As soon as the crazy carnival started, they left the private room and entered the hotel casino. Going back and forth between the gaming tables, constantly trying to get lucky.

This kind of gambling is a skill that Duke does not know at all, and he is also the first time to enter the casino, more of a curiosity, but his luck in this area is really average, winning less and losing a lot .

After a few laps between the gaming tables, Duke lost interest.

"How much did you win?"

Just as she walked to the resting place, Tina Fei walked over, "You won't lose everything, will you?"

"Is there a lot more?" Duke showed her the chips in his hand, "I'm not very lucky, I lost more than half."

He asked again, "How about you?"

Tina Fey shrugged slightly, "I've had worse luck than you, and lost all ten thousand dollars."

Looking at the gamblers staring at the table with wide eyes, Duke became less interested, shook his head, and said, "Let's go."

After taking the chips from Duke's hand, Tina Fei finished the exchange, and then left the casino with Duke. The two did not go back to the private room, but went directly to the room upstairs, preparing to rest early so that they could return to Los Angeles early tomorrow. .

Back in Los Angeles, Duke only took a two-day break before starting the post-production of the film. Of course, Mike Dawson and his editing team were the best choice for editing. It took about ten days. Duke and Mike Dawson did the rough cut, but the cut version was not only free of any special effects, but also more than six hours long.

Although the film was only shot for less than three months, Duke still shot nearly 100 hours of footage.

The editing of the entire film has returned to Duke's original style. Just like the film he just entered Hollywood, "Transformers" is a pure popcorn, and the sharp and fast editing is undoubtedly a very wise choice.

The most time-consuming is undoubtedly the special effects production of the film. From the beginning of preparation to the present, the two special effects teams of Industrial Light \u0026 Magic have only completed the special effects of a small part of the scene. Fortunately, the most time-consuming modeling work has been completed. Progress will increase.

Industrial Light and Magic also guarantees that all special effects production will not exceed the beginning of May. The two parties have cooperated for more than ten years. Duke also has enough confidence in Industrial Light and Magic.

Throughout January, Duke spent the entire month of post-production busy, and cut out a 30-second commercial that appeared in the Super Bowl halftime commercial as before, but it was limited by the fact that the special effects were not completed. There aren't many Transformers footage, and shots of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Megatron are all fleeting.

When the time entered early February, the new Oscar nominee luncheon was held on time. (To be continued ~^~)

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