Chapter 121 Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn’t work
In front of a business jet, Goolsby, played by Nicolas Cage, and Jim Womack, played by John Spencer, meet.
At the beginning of this scene, Nicolas Cage was in good condition, but due to problems with the lighting team, this scene needed to be reshot.
As a result, with this adjustment, Nicolas Cage's condition miraculously disappeared.
After taking three or four photos in a row, little Gilbert began to frown uncontrollably.
Nicolas Cage seemed to know his problem and quickly raised his hand and said: "Sorry director, my problem."
Little Gilbert didn't get angry, but said: "It's my fault. I wish I had asked the lighting team to fix it earlier. It would have passed. I didn't expect that your condition would disappear after this adjustment."
What little Gilbert said made Nicolas Cage a little embarrassed. He quickly said: "Give me some time..."
Little Gilbert thought for a moment and said, "John, help Nicola with the scenes and get back into shape."
John Spencer immediately agreed, picked up the script and rehearsed it several times with Nicolas Cage, and then performed it officially. Nicolas Cage was in good condition and passed smoothly.
I originally thought that I had regained my form and things would go smoothly from now on, but in the next step, Nicolas Cage's form disappeared again.
In fact, whether it is Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, or John Spencer, their acting skills are much better than Roger Moore's.
Especially Nicolas Cage, who has the figure and tough face required by an action star, but has acting skills that action stars do not have.
No wonder he later became the representative of action movie actors in the 1990s, more representative of Hollywood action movies than Tom Cruise.
Although Tom Cruise can be called an action actor after starring in "Mission: Impossible", what everyone pays more attention to is his face.
Until 2011, "Mission: Impossible 4" came out, and Tom Cruise climbed the Burj Khalifa and scared a lot of people.
Cheng Long even said it was impossible. After the old batch of action movie actors in Hollywood had aged, Tom Cruise became the representative of action movie actors and was called American Cheng Long by Chinese fans.
Of course, Tom Cruise himself may not necessarily like this title. He is who he is and not anyone else.
If little Gilbert told him now that he would become American Cheng Long in the future, the arrogant Tom Cruise would probably not only be unhappy, but also wonder who Cheng Long is.
At this time, Cheng Long was still unknown in Hollywood. Although he appeared in "Iron Fist", he did not attract any attention.
It wasn't until Red Zone earned more than 50 million US dollars at the box office in North America that Cheng Long would receive the attention of Hollywood.
It is worth mentioning that the few minutes of Cheng Long's scenes in "Iron Fist" excited the fans in Hong Kong Island. There are also many fans in the mainland who know Cheng Long and are equally excited.
It is said that the invitation was personally sent by the film director Gilbert Landrini Jr. Now Cheng Long's status in the world is considered secure.
This is a bit like more than ten years later, when many Chinese-speaking actresses went to Hollywood to get a shot, and then exported to domestic sales, which became the operating routine of international movie stars.
Although it is fake, it is very useful.
The difference is that Cheng Long can really make a name for himself in Hollywood.
I don’t know if little Gilbert will be the target of Chinese movie stars to appear in future movies. Thinking of this scene, little Gilbert feels a little strange.
As a Hollywood director, working with Bingbing, Yifei and Mi Mi is a bit exciting just thinking about it.
Back on the set, Nicolas Cage's ups and downs gave little Gilbert a headache.
No way, while Nicolas Cage was in good condition, the crew prioritized filming his scenes to avoid having to adjust for a long time later.
After the difficult shooting, during lunch, little Gilbert discussed the afternoon's work with the director team.
After they dispersed, Sofia Coppola stayed alone and thanked little Gilbert: "Nicola asked me to thank you for not scolding him when he was in a bad state."
Little Gilbert asked strangely: "Am I swearing? I'm very kind, okay?"
"Um...are you nice?"
"Of course, I'm never unkind."
Sophia rolled her eyes and said, "If you say this, no one in the entire crew will believe it."
Little Gilbert is very innocent. Compared to the grumpy set tyrant James Cameron, he has such a good temper, but why does he become so scary in the eyes of the crew?
I can’t figure it out…
During the filming break, producer Charles Rowan also discussed the script and shooting content with Gilbert Jr.: "Gilbert, I think the film is a little too entertaining."
"How do you say it?" Little Gilbert wondered what kind of insights Charles Rowan could give.
Charles Rowan said: "I read the script and the overall atmosphere is very serious, but during the filming process, you will ask the actors to constantly add some humorous scenes, which will destroy the overall atmosphere of the film."
"You are right, Charles, but I did it on purpose," said little Gilbert.
"I would like to hear the details." Charles Rowan wanted to hear how little Gilbert explained.
Little Gilbert thought about it and then asked: "Charles, do you think a serious movie is a good movie?"
"Not necessarily, it depends on the specific quality of the film and whether the audience likes it." Charles Rowan replied.
"How about a light-hearted movie, like "The Man in Disguise"..."
"It's also not sure. It depends on the quality of the film itself and whether the audience likes it."
"The Shawshank Redemption" is of high quality and the film has been widely praised, but its box office only exceeded 20 million US dollars, which shows that it is not popular in the market at all.
"So, whether the film will be successful or not has little to do with its style. Do you agree?" Little Gilbert asked again.
"Uh," Charles Rowan wanted to say he agreed, but when he thought about it carefully it seemed wrong, and he felt dizzy for a moment: "Little Gilbert, you successfully changed the subject."
"Haha," little Gilbert laughed: "Charles, the overall atmosphere of the film is serious, but this is a summer movie, and our first consideration is whether the audience likes it.
Therefore, in some plots, we have to give the film some elements to ensure that more viewers will like it. "But the question is, how do you ensure that the audience will like the film?" "As soon as these words came out of his mouth, Charles Rowan knew that he had asked a stupid question.
Although film companies do a lot of work when developing a film project, the film industry itself is a huge gamble with too many uncertainties.
If we could know whether a movie would be liked by the audience before it was released, there wouldn't be so many flops and flops.
Charles Rowan only expressed his doubts and did not intervene to ask Gilbert Jr. to modify the script and let the actors change the meaning of the performance.
Before little Gilbert was so famous, he couldn't do it, not to mention that now that little Gilbert is a first-line director in Hollywood, he can't even do it.
In fact, it was not just Charles Rowan who had objections to the script. The Pentagon also had objections. They believe that the Pentagon and Forbrough played a disgraceful role in the entire story.
And a character like General Hammer should not be like this. He is a patriotic soldier.
So the Pentagon suggested changing the script so that General Hammer becomes the righteous party, while the villains of the film are a group of foreign terrorists.
However, when Major Hall, the Pentagon's liaison officer, communicated with Gilbert Jr., he was vetoed by Gilbert Jr.
He explained to Major Hall: "In the film, there are no villains or bad guys in the true sense, they are all for their own beliefs and missions.
Hammer, Mason, Goolsby, the motivations and logic of each character are traceable. As for the few traitorous little bastards, they are not the protagonists of the film at all. "
The script originally passed the review of the Pentagon, but Gilbert Jr. insisted not to modify it, so the Pentagon gave up and finally agreed to Gilbert Jr.'s script plan.
Because the F-18 fighter jet itself is still on duty, it is impossible to wait for the crew to appear at all times to assist in filming when needed.
So after communicating with the Navy, the Pentagon took off six fighter jets from an air force base near San Francisco to assist in the filming.
After obtaining permission, the crew entered the air force base and placed a high-speed wireless camera in the cabin of one of the F-18 fighter jets to capture a first-person shot of the fighter jet flying over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Flying over the Golden Gate Bridge is very rare. If you fly at an ultra-low altitude, if you don't make the right decision, it will hit the bridge or the sea soon.
Gilbert Jr. raised questions with Lieutenant Colonel Fremont of the Air Force Base who commanded the flight, worrying about safety issues.
Although he proposed the actual shooting, if an accident occurred, he could not bear the responsibility.
However, Lieutenant Colonel Fremon told little Gilbert not to worry: "The people participating in the filming are all elite navy pilots. Their usual training is much more difficult than flying under the Golden Gate Bridge. There will be no problems."
"That's good," little Gilbert said again, "I need to fly a few more times, is that okay?"
"Why?" It seems that Lieutenant Colonel Fermon doesn't know much about film production.
Little Gilbert explained: "Because I have to take several more shots from several angles, and some of the shots are arranged in a row, so they need to fly several times and shoot repeatedly."
"This is no problem. I will communicate with the pilots." Lieutenant Colonel Feimeng assured.
The U.S. Navy pilots of this era are the elite of the elite. After all, the shadow of that behemoth has just passed, so they still maintain extremely strong combat effectiveness and training.
The requirements put forward by the crew are indeed not difficult for elite naval pilots.
Leaving John Schwartzman to assist in the installation of the high-speed wireless camera, Gilbert Jr. drove back to the vicinity of the Golden Gate Bridge and then arranged the shooting.
As the sun prepares to set in the evening, it shines slantingly on the Golden Gate Bridge, which is extremely beautiful.
After communicating with the San Francisco city government and the Golden Gate Bridge management staff, the crew temporarily blocked the Golden Gate Bridge to traffic, mainly out of fear of accidents.
The fighter jet flew under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a very big scene and it tested little Gilbert's dispatching ability.
Because fighter jets fly relatively fast, all departments need to work closely together to capture the shots.
"Sofia, have you checked it out? Is there anything wrong?"
Sofia Coppola in the distance made an OK gesture, indicating that it was OK.
Little Gilbert asked each group again: "Photography, scenery, lighting?"
"Director, no problem."
"Don't worry, little Gilbert, it's all set up."
"OK," it was his first time filming this kind of scene. Even though little Gilbert had a lot of experience, he would be a little nervous. He turned to Anne Burton and said: "Notify the base that the fighter jets can take off."
Anne Burton communicated immediately, and after waiting for more than ten minutes, six fighter jets appeared on the horizon.
They made a maneuver in the air, formed into a team of two and began flying at ultra-low altitude.
The huge roar was deafening, coming from six fighter jets. They quickly passed under the bridge at a safe speed.
Little Gilbert saw the footage from the camera on the monitor and couldn't help shouting: "Wuhu, it's so cool, Sophia, what do you think?"
The arrogant Sofia was already stunned: "Little Gilbert, you are really a madman."
It's not like Hollywood crews have never done this kind of thing with real-life shooting of fighter jets. They did it in "Top Gun", and a pilot died.
But there is a difference between what I have heard about and what I have witnessed with my own eyes. Watching the fighter jets whizzing past under the bridge is a feeling I will never forget for a long time.
Because of necessity, and because there was still enough fuel, the six fighter jets flew twice more while the weather was fine, and there were no mistakes in their positions. Little Gilbert said it was perfect.
After that, the fighter jet flew back to the air force base and ended the shooting mission.
John Schwartzman, who was guarding the air force base, immediately checked the high-speed wireless camera installed in one of the fighter jets and confirmed that all the images captured inside were preserved.
Then he took the camera and rode back to the set, immediately handing the film to little Gilbert.
(End of chapter)