Chapter 508: How to play a clown well, Iger: I understand
When Jiang Wen received the call, Chen Linfeng was already in Los Angeles.
The country has been busy for quite some time, and although there are still some short and tight things that have not yet been completely concluded, the preparations for the movie here in Emily Kendall are basically complete, and there are many other things, so it is really hard to wait any longer.
Chen Linfeng explained the bottom line to Jiang Wen on the phone.
Gao Dagen is only allowed to continue to hang out in the music scene, but he is not allowed to get involved in movies, TV dramas, or variety shows. This kind of cuts off his way to get ahead in the future.
The rest depends on how the other party responds after Jiang Wen sends the message.
As soon as Chen Linfeng ended the call, the phone rang again.
"Hey Chen, I heard that you have come to Los Angeles. Do you want to come out and have fun?"
"Leo?" Chen Linfeng said helplessly, "Aren't you in retreat? How come you have time to go out and have fun?"
"I think the weight loss you requested before has reached the target, so I want you to take a look. I know a bar that is very good and keeps it confidential."
"It's better to come directly to me," Chen Linfeng explained. "If you hold back the weight at home, you are also psychologically preparing for the clown. Going to places like bars and nightclubs will have some impact."
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"Uh, okay, it's up to you."
Xiao Lizi felt somewhat regretful. Living as an ascetic for two consecutive months was quite difficult.
"Wait, I'll be there soon."
Leonardo lives in Los Feliz, northeast of the city center and slightly west of Beverly.
But it's still within the same city, not that far away.
More than an hour later, Leonardo arrived at Chen Linfeng's residence.
Chen Linfeng took a quick look and could clearly detect the changes in the other party.
In the past, I could roughly see success through emails, but now that I see it in person, it is still very different.
When Leonardo was young, he was also very thin, but the thinness then was completely different from that now.
Especially now that he is visibly thin and has a middle-aged face, he looks very down and out.
Chen Linfeng rubbed his chin. If he added a bit of haggardness to his makeup, he would be fine.
"Acceptance passed, Leo, you did a great job."
After looking at it in detail, Chen Linfeng applauded to express his approval.
"I think it's really terrible like this, but who told you, the director, to ask for this."
Leonardo shrugged, "When will we start shooting?"
"About half a month later."
It is now mid-May, and the audition process has just started. Chen Linfeng still needs to confirm the filming location and check the preparation of props and scenery.
One of the highlights of "Joker" is the street stairs, and he will definitely have to find a way to recreate them.
Leonardo looked around and asked, "Where's cc? She didn't come with us this time?"
"I'm filming too," Chen Linfeng replied.
Previously, the project of "Rescue 2" was given to Cheng Er. He is not slow and is now about to start filming.
The filming location for the second part was also in Europe. Sissi even left the country earlier than Chen Linfeng.
"Oh, that's it."
Leonardo just asked politely, he was still more concerned about the movie he was going to make next.
He has high hopes for "Joker".
Leonardo had a strong premonition that it would depend on whether he could successfully win the award.
Of course, this premonition has appeared several times, but every time it appears, Leonardo still takes it very seriously.
Afterwards, the two began to fully exchange opinions on the script.
This is also their main purpose today.
"When did Arthur become completely crazy?" Leonardo asked.
"You should think about it from another perspective, when did the clown appear."
"It should be after three white-collar workers were shot dead on the subway. This is a very obvious sign."
"No," Chen Linfeng shook his head.
Leonardo frowned, "It couldn't have been when I was kicked and beaten by a few gangsters at the beginning."
"No, that's not right," he denied first.
"Could it be," Leonardo hesitated, "from the beginning..."
"That's right," Chen Linfeng clapped his hands. "To be precise, the personality of the clown appeared in childhood."
"This way..." Leonardo thought back to the script, and then thought of something, "That unstoppable laugh!"
"Yes, that is the sign of a clown," Chen Linfeng saw that he had figured out the key and smiled. "After Arthur completely became a clown, he never laughed uncontrollably again."
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"No wonder," Leonardo suddenly realized, "that is a mockery of the world, that is, the clown is laughing."
"Then the question comes again," Chen Linfeng asked, "What do you think the relationship between Arthur and the Joker is?"
Leonardo was confused, wondering if it was another personality caused by schizophrenia?
Just as he was about to answer, something struck his mind.
"Arthur was the Joker from the beginning?"
"I thought Arthur was schizophrenic at first, but that hardly explains the scene with the psychiatrist at the beginning."
"The clock time has always been fixed at 11:11. I have been wondering why this is happening. Did he go crazy then?"
The script Leonardo saw only had the clown part, and some other content was missing.
But with the only script in hand, I can already see the depth of the entire story frame, and it's exciting enough. After all, it's a one-man show type of movie.
Therefore, he decisively accepted the role.
Judging from the script in his hand, there was something wrong in it.
He didn't believe that a certain plot point in Chen Linfeng's script was written casually.
Chen Linfeng handed him the complete script.
"You can start from now on and study again how the clown should be played."
Leonardo quickly took the script and opened it to read.
He had already read the previous script many times, so he went straight to find content he had not seen before.
As the reading progressed, he felt a little unbelievable,
"Arthur had mental problems from the beginning. He took 7 mixed drugs to suppress himself. The plot of the movie is the process of the clown gradually unblocking..."
Chen Linfeng watched Leonardo gradually fall into deep thought, his expression looking very satisfied.
In fact, it is difficult to say which of the two statements about the original "Joker" is schizophrenic or that the clown is ugly is correct.
Probably both are correct.
The original work's plausibility and multiple interpretations are the key factors that enable it to gain recognition from both the judges and the public.
Therefore, Chen Linfeng made some tricks in the two scripts, which was to let Leonardo have an idea first, and then give another explanation after he was fully prepared.
There wasn't enough time to adjust, so he would have to bring a little of both.
The original protagonist Joaquin Phoenix in his previous life was a complete experientialist, the same type as Heath Ledger.
Leonardo is more expressive than experiential, and his acting skills are not really top-notch, and the traces of his performance are a bit heavy.
Therefore, Chen Linfeng could only use some evil methods.
In the film "Joker", Leonardo's role as the protagonist is too heavy.
As the protagonist, he not only has to understand what he wants to play, but also understands the internal logic of the entire movie to match the director's ideas.
Chen Linfeng asked him to lose weight before, asked him to watch more Chaplin videos, and also asked him to maintain a gloomy and depressed mood.
In terms of understanding the plot, there are not many requirements, and he is even asked not to think too much about it first, and is prohibited from referring to and observing the images and performances of other clowns.
In addition, two plot understandings conflict in my mind.
We should always allow him to get rid of his previous habitual acting skills as much as possible.
Leonardo ignored Chen Linfeng and studied the script almost obsessively.
I was in a trance when I left.
Chen Linfeng was worried and sent someone to follow him and send him back.
In the next few days, he was busy checking the preparations of Pete and Sister Mei, and also paid attention to the results of the audition.
I basically didn’t pay much attention to Leonardo.
It was his neighbor Tobey Maguire who called to tell him.
"He's like a man possessed now. He's got into the script."
"That's good. This is exactly what we wanted." Chen Linfeng was very satisfied.
Toby cursed in his heart, really all great directors are so inappropriate.
"Oh, by the way, Toby, I have a play in the second half of the year. Do you want to come and try out the role?"
Toby was so happy that he didn't care whether the director was a human being or not.
"Director Chen, thank you for giving me the opportunity. Can I ask what type of role it is?"
"He is a master of magic."
Chen Linfeng briefly introduced the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in "Now You See Me".
He thought of it on the spur of the moment.
Chen Linfeng plans to star him and Sissi as the male and female protagonists in The Four Horsemen. He does not plan to change the other two roles, that of the bald hypnotist.
The last character, the young man with quick hands, feels like Toby should be able to give it a try.
Toby has a tender face, and it is not inconsistent at all to play a young man.
The key is that the price is not expensive now, and after experiencing the glory of the Spider-Man era, now that I am lonely, my character has improved a lot.
This is why he is willing to give it a chance.
"I do," Toby nodded repeatedly, "I will definitely prepare carefully."
If a director of Chen's level is personally invited, as long as it's not too bad, it's generally not a big problem.
Although he is much calmer now, it doesn't mean that he doesn't want to get angry again.
And this opportunity provided by Chen is at least one of the protagonists.
Toby was satisfied and hopeful.
……
In late May, an article "On How to Make Social Media Platforms Maintain Harmonious Development of Society under the New Situation" was published in the new issue of Domestic Internal Reference.
Mr. Tie looked at the author of this article and the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
It turns out that the backhand is here.
She also heard about the Weibo incident about half a month ago.
Public opinion incidents of this scale, especially the continuous occurrence of similar incidents this year, have attracted public attention.
In fact, there has been some relevant discussion at the official level.
Since entering 2010, it seems like we have entered a new era, and many things have changed.
China Central Television's ratings dropped and its influence continued to decline.
It is no longer possible for various state-run media to have the function that they used to have in the past to give full play to the advantages of public opinion propaganda.
Instead, various Internet platforms.
These platforms are basically outside the control of the upper management.
The official departments don't dare to take too much control. It's no joke to die as soon as they are caught. They have experienced many lessons.
"Now, this article comes at the right time."
Mr. Tie couldn’t help but sigh, “We can’t underestimate him anymore.”
"It's just that I'm not big-hearted." Even she couldn't tell whether this article was out of revenge or just in time.
When Chen Linfeng was in Hollywood, he also heard that relevant domestic authorities were convening various platforms to discuss public opinion control.
But he didn't care anymore. Whether it was good or bad, he had done his best.
Chen Linfeng has recently confirmed many actors for "Joker".
It goes without saying that Leonardo is the absolute protagonist.
Among other roles, they are slightly more important.
For example, Batman's father, Thomas Wayne.
There is also a black girl, a talk show star, etc.
Chen Linfeng originally thought about finding Halle Berry to play the role of the black girl.
This black pearl was born in 1966 and is now in her forties. However, it seems to have been well maintained and her appearance is still online. It is the last few years when she can maintain her appearance.
Please...you...collect 6...9...books...!
But he asked someone to ask, and found out that the price was really quite high, over 10 million US dollars.
This makes Chen Linfeng reluctant to thank him. It is too expensive.
In the end, I chose a good-looking black girl.
There are many other roles as well, and the salary for supporting roles is around 100,000-200,000.
Needless to say, second-hand sets are cheaper.
The only person who accounted for a large portion of the cost of the entire film was Leonardo.
Chen Linfeng did not deliberately lower his salary.
Originally, top Hollywood stars usually reduced their salaries when starring in low-budget art films.
However, it is difficult for Chen Linfeng to say whether "Joker" can be regarded as a literary film. After all, it is a superhero movie with its own traffic. In its previous life, the box office even exceeded 1 billion. It is really inappropriate to pay less.
Therefore, he gave him a maximum salary of US$20 million, but the bonus was cancelled.
In his previous life, Leonardo DiCaprio was paid US$15 million for his role in "The Great Gatsby", but now he is not treated badly.
Judging from Leonardo's expression and the willingness of his agent to agree, it is indeed a very conscientious price.
Apart from Leonardo's salary, there are not many other expenses.
The overall movie cost is approximately US$50 million.
It's even cheaper than the cost in the previous life.
There are a lot of premiums here, and the inflation in this beautiful country is really serious.
There is also Chen Linfeng’s team, which is more conscientious.
He has experienced a lot in Hollywood. He has a deeper understanding of the place and knows how many crews work.
All I can say is that everything is reasonable and legal, but it is immoral.
Fortunately, with Sister Mei as the producer, I won't have to learn the unspoken rules of the United States.
You can't just bring a bunch of people over to learn. In the end, what you learn is not the technology, but this set of rules.
At the end of May, just before the movie started shooting, Chen Linfeng still had no time to spare.
Together with Sister Mei, Peter and others, he participated in a movie viewing party co-organized by theaters and producers.
"Inception" is scheduled to be released this summer, and now it's time to determine the rating and lock in the film schedule.
The marketing campaign precedes this.
Since last Christmas, there has been some progress in the film's later stages. When it was confirmed that it would be released in the summer of this year, a series of operations began.
Chen Linfeng's movies now have many followers around the world.
Therefore, promotional posters and some behind-the-scenes videos aimed at many fans were spread on various social platforms.
Here, Chen Linfeng adopted the viral marketing propaganda method used in his previous life "Inception".
First, through the official website, the spinning top aroused the curiosity of movie fans.
Then we continued to add some small tasks such as maze games to the website. Every time you crack one, you can unlock new things, such as posters and trailers.
At this time, settings such as "Dream Machine Technology" and "Conscious Crime" were gradually unlocked.
Movie fans will probably know something about the theme of the movie.
It's just that they are still in a relatively hazy state.
The marketing team began to release another video in which Chen Linfeng interviewed dream scientists and discussed the science of dreams and the principles of conscious crime.
The media also took the opportunity to popularize science and hype related concepts.
Here, Chen Linfeng had to sigh at the sophisticated methods of viral marketing.
Viral marketing for movies sounds simple.
But the difficulty lies in how to arouse public interest and curiosity in the first place;
From now on, we have to carefully maintain this sentiment among movie fans.
In the process of viral marketing, you can neither cover up nor reserve anything.
While ensuring that movie fans are familiar with the film in advance, they cannot lose the sense of freshness.
Disney’s marketing team does this perfectly.
After the related concepts became popular, in order to prevent the public from becoming disgusted with long-term and frequent marketing.
Marketers promptly changed their methods and began to move publicity offline.
There are huge posters on the buildings in the streets of New York.
The three-dimensional effect of the poster is very strong, and it is quite realistic. At first glance, it is quite shocking.
It once again caused a lot of discussion.
This was compounded by the turmoil caused by Chen Linfeng's rejection of the Nobel Prize.
"Inception" has never left the public's attention.
In this way, it has continued to pull emotions until now, and movie fans are always interested in the movie.
The marketing effect is very good, which can be seen from the number of theater buyers, movie buyers, and agents at all levels present at the movie screening.
"Chen, long time no see."
Chen Linfeng turned around and looked surprised.
"Mr. Egger, why are you here?"
The person who came was none other than Disney’s president, Robert Iger.
He said with a smile, "The next most important big project for Disney is "Inception," and of course I have to pay attention to it."
"Besides," he looked at Chen Linfeng, "I need to clear up some misunderstandings with you. I think there should be no misunderstandings."
Chen Linfeng understood that this was a formal reconciliation.
Previously, due to the interest issues of "Infinite World", some senior executives of Disney did some very unpleasant things.
He didn't believe it if there wasn't any acquiescence from Robert Egger.
However, Chen Linfeng is strong enough and confident enough.
He turned directly to Warner Bros. for cooperation.
We also created "Lord of Mysteries", a series that looks better than "Infinite World".
Therefore, Disney as a whole is a bit unsustainable, and those senior executives who stood up to compete for interests were suppressed.
These other factions that initially “disapproved” but “couldn’t stop” gained the upper hand.
Pete's initial statement was a release of goodwill.
It’s just that Robert Iger, as president, is still a bit embarrassed.
Mainly, Chen Linfeng showed his importance through actions, but Disney did not have a good way.
Even "Infinite World" seems to be Disney's best emerging series, and Robert Iger finds it a bit difficult to control.
Therefore, he never showed up.
Even though Chen Linfeng had actually been to Hollywood several times before for the viral marketing of "Inception".
Robert Egger pretends he has no idea.
But now things are different.
In early May, "Avengers" was released and grossed US$1.5 billion at the box office.
This is a new series, and it is a much better series than "Infinite World".
This gave Robert the confidence once again, so he could now come forward to ease the atmosphere and resolve the misunderstanding.
Chen Linfeng pretended not to know the subtleties here and just said "flattered",
"How to resolve the misunderstanding? Peter told me before, but a small number of people just didn't think about it for a while."
He turned to look at Peter, "Yes, I remember, that was last month?"
Peter nodded quickly, "Yes, I've said it a long time ago."
Robert laughed, "Yes, that's right."
"It's just that I still want to formally apologize to you for the wrong actions of those stupid people. I hope you don't mind it. They have already received the punishment they deserve."
Robert Egger's expression was serious.
As the head of Disney, he doesn't have to do that.
But Chen is indeed a talent he is very optimistic about, and he is the "Spielberg" of the new era.
Back then, Universal had been prosperous for more than ten years due to its cooperation with Spielberg. Now Disney also needs to be bound to Chen to some extent.
Chen Linfeng also became serious, "I have received your sincerity, and I no longer have any grudges in my heart."
Binding?
It’s not you who binds me, it’s me who binds you and the Warner family from now on.
The cracks that have occurred cannot be completely eliminated.
It is true that he said there is no grudge, but it is impossible not to care about it completely. Having a fixed partner is his solution.
But it’s better to say such a disappointing thing at this time.
The two looked at each other and smiled, as if they had returned to the days when they were close partners in the past.
"After the production of "Inception" was completed, I haven't watched it. I just wanted to choose a time to enjoy it. Now is a good opportunity."
Robert pointed to a location, "Let's go sit over there."
Chen Linfeng followed the good advice and said, "Okay, Mr. Egger."
Peter and Sister Mei looked at each other and followed behind in tacit understanding.
After sitting down, Robert casually asked about Chen Linfeng's new movie.
"I heard that your next collaboration with Warner is a superhero movie. Is it similar to the MCU universe?"
Chen Linfeng shook his head, "It's not the same thing. It's a new origin story of the clown that is completely different from the comics."
"Why did you think of taking this photo?"
Chen Linfeng then talked about his experience chatting with Leonardo at home after filming "Inception".
When Robert Iger heard about it, he realized that it was an artistic film made to win awards.
He was immediately relieved. Even if he cooperated with Warner, this movie should not cause too much noise.
That's good, otherwise he would be really heartbroken.
Robert Egger has a feeling that "Lord of the Mysteries" may be a pain in his heart forever.
So, clown is good, clown I can rest assured.
(End of chapter)