Chapter 122 Sullivan and Ball’s Adventures on the Set (Part 1)
"John, how is the effect?" Little Gilbert asked during the meeting after work was finished in the evening.
John Schwartzman's thick eyebrows flew wildly, showing his uneasy mood, and he was dancing with excitement: "Director, you will never believe what kind of amazing scenes we shot.
It is indescribable to watch the Golden Gate Bridge and the tail flames of the fighter jets in front from the first perspective of the fighter jets, which will definitely excite the audience. "
"Okay, okay, I've already predicted it. As long as it works well." Little Gilbert clapped his hands.
After all, he came up with the concept of this shot, and he had already anticipated the effect.
In the following days, six fighter jets cooperated with the crew to complete the remaining filming tasks. Of course, the part of launching the missile cannot be shot in real life. After all, Alcatraz Island is not really going to be bombed.
Therefore, this aspect requires cooperation with Industrial Light and Magic and the use of miniature models and special effects.
However, little Gilbert still loves to shoot on location. Car chase scenes and explosion scenes are his specialties.
After the literary and drama parts were almost finished filming, the crew returned to the explosive state of "Speed" and began to torture the crew's ears.
Roger Moore has rich experience in shooting 007 movies, and Ed Harris has acted in many movies, so there is no shortage of this genre.
On the contrary, Nicolas Cage, although he has experience in action movies, has never participated in such explosive movies.
Therefore, when filming the explosion scene, Nicolas Cage was completely blown away.
The first time he experienced this kind of scene, Nicolas Cage was shaking all over when he came down and was so scared.
"Here," Sofia actually handed over a glass of wine: "You will feel much better after drinking it."
Nicolas Cage took a sip, felt much better, and said to Sofia: "Thank you..."
"You're welcome..." Sofia was not surprised. When she first started studying with little Gilbert, she had experienced this scene and was so frightened.
After finally calming down and looking at little Gilbert who was busy directing the set, Nicolas Cage asked Sofia: "Has he always been like this? Exploding here and there?
Is there no other director in Hollywood who is as obsessed with explosion scenes as he is? "
Sofia shook her head and said, "Director Cameron is the same as him. Have you forgotten True Lies?"
Nicolas Cage thinks the same thing. If you think about it carefully, the styles of Gilbert Jr. and James Cameron are quite similar.
It's just that Little Gilbert's shooting style has a touch of realism and sincerity, which brings more stimulation to the audience's senses.
No one would have thought of setting up a high-speed wireless camera in the cockpit of a fighter jet to capture the scene flying under the Golden Gate Bridge from a first-person perspective.
Although I haven't seen it yet, Nicolas Cage seems to have expected the impact this scene will have on the audience when it appears in the feature film.
Some explosion scenes and car chase scenes, although there will be starring actors and close-ups, the rest of the scenes are basically completed by stunt doubles.
This is not just a concern for the safety of the starring actors, but mainly due to the requirements of third-party insurance companies and the Screen Actors Guild.
For things like going into battle in person, unless the actor specifically requests it, the crew will usually choose to use a stunt double.
After all, not everyone has the skills of Tom Cruise, at least the three leading actors in "The Island" can't do it.
This requires superb skills and constant practice. It's okay to let Nicolas Cage practice, but let Ed Harris and Roger Moore, two old men who are almost 120 years old together, shoot these scenes. It’s too difficult for them.
But there is a scene that is quite interesting. Roger Moore's John Mason and John Spencer's Intelligence Director Jim Womack are on the rooftop of the hotel.
In this scene, John Mason took advantage of the handshake opportunity to hang Jim Womack with a rope, and then threw Jim Womack off the balcony and hung him.
This part of the scene involves a lot of camera switching, which was actually done by stuntmen.
After all, John Spencer was over fifty, so hanging him outside the balcony was a bit difficult for him.
Because this part of the scene was shot in real life, the stuntman was hung outside on the day of filming and was seen by passersby on the road.
Enthusiastic people immediately began to watch, and some called the hotel: "Hey, Fairmont Hotel? There is a man hanging outside on your top balcony. Send someone to take a look."
Some onlookers also called the police: "I saw a man hanging outside the Fairmont Hotel. I suspect foul play. Please send detectives over to take a look."
After the scene was filmed, the hotel manager hurriedly came up to take a look at the situation and informed the crew that the police suspected they were committing murder.
Sophia was confused when she heard this: "We have already registered it. You can check our records. There are some dangerous scenes to be filmed."
The hotel manager secretly murmured: Everyone thought your car chase scene was dangerous enough, but who would have thought you would hang a man thirty floors up!
If someone is not careful and falls down and becomes a meat pie at the door of the hotel, what will the people passing by think of the hotel? Can you still do it?
What is a terrible scene for the hotel manager is not worth mentioning for the crew.
For several weeks, the crew filmed car chase scenes on several streets in San Francisco.
With the help of the local government and police station, these streets were blocked during the day. Except for the crew and related extra performance vehicles, other idlers were not allowed to enter for safety reasons.
If it hits an innocent passerby, the crew will face a lot of trouble.
However, despite all precautions, two locals who were particularly curious bypassed the heavily guarded road and entered the shooting location from the roof of a certain street.
"Bauer, are you sure this is here?"
"Of course." Bauer also brought his own map, took out the map and pointed: "Look, this is it. From here to here are the neighborhoods where the crew of "The Island of Braveness" was filmed."
"That's good," Sullivan, the leader, took out the camera he bought and said to Bauer: "I've been looking forward to this movie since it was established. I can't wait to go to the cinema to watch it. I want to see the filming scene in person. how is it like."
Ball nodded in agreement and said: "I have been in love with Gilbert Jr.'s movies since "Speed". His shooting techniques are definitely among the most unique in Hollywood."
It turns out that these two are both avid action movie lovers, fans of Little Gilbert.
The two of them hid in a small alley as planned. At this time, they could vaguely hear the sound of tires scraping the ground and the sound of police sirens.
Sullivan and Ball were so excited that their hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and they slowly moved closer to the source of the sound.
Unlike the one-stop car chase scene in the movie, a car chase scene is actually composed of many short shots, and each short shot means a scene.
Unlike the literary part where the actors perform their best, this kind of car chase scene requires the full cooperation of all departments. It is usually normal to shoot a scene for several hours.
This will test the director's patience and hard work. He must take every shot seriously and not be careless.
Fortunately, little Gilbert is not the kind of careless person. He is very serious.
The next shot is a bit dangerous. The stuntman needs to drive a Hummer into the back of a water truck. It is real. Impact.
Of course, in order to ensure smoothness and safety, the prop team made some modifications to the rear of the water truck and spliced a part of it.
At the same time, for the sake of visual beauty, the bucket of the water truck is designed to ensure that it will burst when squeezed with a certain force, and the water inside will spill out.
After this design, of course the car cannot travel long distances, but the crew only needs to shoot a few short shots, and it is enough for the car to travel a short distance. This lens design comes from the original version, but it is actually presented in the script with a simple sentence:
John Mason stole a car and fled, and Goolsby and federal agents gave chase before disappearing.
Afterwards, John Mason met his daughter and was blocked by Fobler. That was another scene.
It is worth mentioning that the role of John Mason's daughter was played by Liv Tyler, the daughter of Airsmith frontman Steven Tyler.
Liv Tyler is very much like her father's personality. She looks quiet on the outside, but she has a rebellious rock 'n' roll feeling inside.
Although the scene was short, it was her first time filming, so Liv Tyler was on the set for two days.
In the past two days, she found an opportunity to corner little Gilbert in the makeup trailer and said she wanted to be his girlfriend.
"I saw your rumored girlfriends, and they are not as beautiful as me. I have to say that your aesthetics are questionable. I am the most suitable for you, and we are a perfect match."
"Uh," little Gilbert was speechless after hearing this, and after a while he responded: "Liv, you are still young, under 18 years old."
"Does that mean I can be your girlfriend when I turn eighteen?" Liv Tyler asked.
Little Gilbert quickly waved his hands and fled the scene, leaving behind a message: "Let's talk about this again when you grow up!"
Liv Taylor posed in front of the dressing mirror and muttered: "I've grown up, okay? What's wrong with me?"
Afterwards, Sofia asked: "I heard that Liv Tyler cornered you in the dressing room. You didn't do anything to her, right?"
Little Gilbert was even more speechless: "Sophia, this joke is not funny. She is not yet eighteen years old. If the Child Protection Association finds out, she will cause trouble for me.
And I didn't do anything? "
"Why?" Sophia asked in confusion: "Don't you see a beautiful woman and try to sleep with her? How can you resist such a beautiful woman?"
"I'm not a pervert. In your eyes, am I a person who can't walk when he sees a beautiful woman?" Little Gilbert asked his friend.
Sophia said nothing, but looking at her expression, it was clear that she said: This is who you are.
Little Gilbert could only say: "Her face is too long, I don't like it."
Sophia suddenly realized: "I asked you why you didn't think about sleeping with me. It turns out I'm not your type!"
Little Gilbert looked Sophia up and down and asked a very heart-wrenching question: "Are you a beauty?"
Sophia said matter-of-factly: "Of course, the people who pursue me can fill up the Walk of Fame in Los Angeles."
Little Gilbert raised his eyebrows, but did not expose Sophia's dream. Are those people pursuing her? She is just pursuing her father, director Coppola.
Of course, this is just teasing between friends. The filming process is very boring, so some supplements are needed to relieve fatigue.
Back at the filming site, the speedster stunt director discussed with the stunt actors how to hit the water truck at the safest and fastest angle.
The angle must be found well, otherwise it will hit the main body of the water truck, and the scene may not be very pretty.
In the car chase scene, little Gilbert used his specialty in "Speed", including the tire perspective and the first-person perspective in the car.
Gilbert Jr. also discussed with Doyle Randolph and John Schwartzman to modify a camera and set it up on the car.
This lens takes a car as the main subject and shoots the road. What appears in the lens is that the road is constantly receding.
Similar shooting techniques were common later on, but they are a novel idea in this day and age.
Since little Gilbert became famous, this is the first time his father, Gilbert Sr., has come to watch his son filming.
After reading it, the old man doubted his life: "Wow, is this really a genius that our Landrini family can produce?"
If he hadn't seen little Gilbert grow up and look like himself when he was young, the old man would have doubted whether this son was his son.
When little Gilbert saw the old man coming to visit the class, he thought that since he was already here, he might as well be a free extra, so he arranged a role for the old man.
After this scene is finished, I will shoot the old man's scene.
Little Gilbert plans to have the old man star in every future movie, turning him into an Easter egg character like Stan Lee in Marvel movies.
The younger Gilbert couldn't help but get excited when he thought about future fans digging up these interesting Easter eggs when looking back on his movies.
This is the interesting thing about film creation. Although Gilbert copied it, it is more interesting to add some of his own understanding on the basis of copying.
When the film is appreciated by fans and various details are analyzed by fans, it is the happiest moment for little Gilbert. Even better than having a threesome with Cameron Diaz and Naomi Watts.
Sullivan and Ball had sneaked close to the filming location, and the crew could be seen going back and forth to set up.
"Hide well so you don't get discovered. Where's the camera?"
"Here it is."
The two hid themselves and secretly took pictures with their cameras, without being discovered by the crew.
At this time, the set was ready, and after the safety inspection was confirmed, the shooting of this shot officially started.
As soon as the scene notes were recorded, the stuntman drove the Hummer at high speed and rushed directly towards a slowly passing water truck at the intersection.
Then, while Sullivan and Ball were stunned, they bumped into each other and the bucket burst, spilling water.
The huge impact caused the water to splash. Under the sunlight, a rainbow actually appeared, and then disappeared instantly.
This shot is perfect, and Sullivan's camera faithfully recorded it. This astonishing scene made the two people, who saw a Hollywood crew filming live for the first time, open their mouths wide and couldn't recover for a long time.
After a long time, Ball couldn't help shouting: "Oh my god, it's so cool."
This voice instantly attracted the attention of the crew's steward to the two of them. The steward quickly followed the voice and looked for it: "Who is it?"
"Bauer, you idiot, we were discovered." Sullivan covered Ball's mouth, put away the camera, and pulled Ball away quickly: "Run, it will be bad if you are caught."
Ball followed Sullivan, and the two nimbly shuttled through the alleys, trying to escape from the scene.
Unfortunately, the two of them were not John Mason. In the end, with the full cooperation of the crew, the two were caught.
(End of chapter)