Time gradually came to the beginning of June. The crew signed formal actor contracts with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron. The special effects crew of Industrial Light and Magic was also ready. Duke led the crew to charter a flight to Sydney. .
Upon arriving in Sydney, Duke briefly explained his work here. Duke first went to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, where he negotiated with Charles Rowan about his current job for nearly a week before returning to Sydney to officially start "The Matrix" here. Preparations for the side.
Bringing the director of photography and art to watch the scene in Sydney, correcting the artwork and scripts of the scene, inspecting the rental equipment and props, communicating with the costume designer about the costumes of the main characters in the imagination, etc., are all Duke work. The missing part, and another key point of the preliminary preparation is to communicate and cooperate with the action guidance team from Hong Kong.
"They... They seem to be in pain."
A small studio was transformed into a temporary training hall. Standing next to Duke, Tina Fey looked at the venue with sympathy in her eyes, "Really it will last for three months?"
"At least three months." Duke said without hesitation.
Since a few days ago, the actors of the crew have entered the training state. They are doing some very basic 8← stretching muscles and ligaments. The basic movements are not too difficult, but for non-professional actors. Said, it can be described as a nightmare. In the first two days of training, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, who had the most action scenes, were assisted by assistants to walk out.
This is just a little uncomfortable. No crew dare to make a joke about the safety of the actors. Duke is not James Cameron, and the requirements are not so strict.
This long training is not just some superficial kung fu training, Keanu Reeves and others have to adapt to the hoisting wire. This mature film shooting technology has been used in Hong Kong for a long time, but in fact it has not been widely used in Hollywood. When shooting similar scenes in Hollywood, most of the time the actors are ejected with high-pressure air pumps and then complete a series of actions.
And Hollywood rarely used this kind of smart and fancy fighting style, the kind of kung fu movies. In the eyes of North American audiences, they are actually science fiction films.
Fortunately, "The Matrix" is a science fiction film, in this respect it will not conflict with the inherent perception of North American audiences.
There was a muffled hum from the training ground. Keanu Reeves, wearing a white training suit, completed the one-line horse for the first time with the assistance of Tiger Chen, but the expression on his face was really wonderful...
Turning his head, Duke looked at Yuan Heping sitting on the sidelines, perhaps the inherent pattern of the movie circle over there. His famous action director had no intention of ending at all. All the demonstration actions were completed by Tiger Chen and other apprentices.
In the previous two days, Duke also had initial contact with him and communicated some basic training requirements. Although the other party is stubborn and conservative, his professional ethics is beyond doubt.
"Tina, are you interested?" Duke pointed to the actors who were being tortured in the field. "You can play a cameo role. For example, I can add a guardian angel to the prophet."
"Are you sure!" Tina Fei blinked at her and said innocently. "If you are willing to handle the work in my hands personally, I am also willing to accept this kind of training."
"Forget it then."
In fact, since last year, many jobs in Duke’s studio have been handled by Tina Fei, and Duke is only doing the final review, otherwise he would not say that Tina Fei will be hired as one of the executives of the Duke’s studio in the future. Kind of words.
About half an hour later. The training on the field came to an end, and Duke walked over with his arms in his arms.
"How do you feel, Hugo?"
Worker Smith was moving his wrists with a grin, and when he heard Duke's words, he turned his head and said. "Duke, it is necessary for you to experience it yourself, I strongly request a raise!"
Knowing that he was joking, Duke simply said, "I have a snack at noon, or Chinese food."
"Forget it then."
Charlize Theron came over and stood beside him, dangling as if he would fall at any time. "Not to mention the taste, I looked at it yesterday. It was too greasy, it was a body killer!"
"I think it's okay." Keanu Reeves sat directly on the floor, "It tastes good once in a while."
After a few laughs, although the training is a bit difficult, the main actors have not complained. There has never been an example of continuous success without hard work in Hollywood. They are very aware of this.
The others gradually dispersed to rest, only Charlize Theron stayed.
"You have no problem with your leg?" Duke remembered that she had left the ballet school because of a leg injury. "If you feel unwell, notify the doctor."
"I'm fine." She leaned closer, "I have never felt so good."
Then, she looked at Duke with bright eyes, with a hint of joy on her face, "I didn't expect you to remember that I was hurt."
"Rest."
Turning around, Duke walked towards Yuan Heping’s position, but Charlize followed, "Is it going to discuss motion design? Can I listen to it?"
Looking at Charlize, what was discussed is also related to her, Duke nodded, Charlize cleverly closed his mouth, and silently followed Duke to the place where the action team was.
"Director Rosenberg."
Before getting closer, Yuan Heping stood up. Although he had an opinion about the ghost in his heart, he would not be so stupid as to show it on the surface.
"Hello, Mr. Yuan."
Although he could not understand what the other party was saying, he could always guess that he was saying hello. Duke shook his hand, walked over unceremoniously, sat at the rest table, and motioned to the opposite seat, "Please sit down." ."
Charlize sat on his left hand. After Yuan Heping sat down, Tiger Chen immediately walked over and stood behind him, acting as an interpreter for the two.
He hasn't spoken Chinese for more than 20 years, and Duke didn't mean to show off in Mandarin, and just as he couldn't understand the other party's Cantonese, Yuan Heping only had a little knowledge of Mandarin. Instead of blunt communication, it was better to let someone translate directly.
Tiger Chen has lived in Hong Kong and the United States for many years and has no problem acting as an interpreter.
"Can three months of training achieve the results I want?" Duke asked.
"Kungfu is a profound knowledge." Yuan Heping's answer is also very simple, "Three months can only learn the most superficial things."
"I just want them to be graceful enough in front of the camera."
Kung fu is not taekwondo after all, and Duke also knows this, "Strength and standards are not important."
"If you don't have strength." Yuan Heping frowned, "There will be a soft feeling in the fight."
"Actually, what I want is this effect."
Without waiting for the other person to say anything, Duke raised his hand and continued, "You should have seen the Chinese version of the script that I have specially prepared, the main plot of the story..."
Speaking of this, Duke simply changed the topic. The matrix and the network were not even clear to some people in the crew, and it was useless to tell Yuan Heping.
"Mr. Yuan, I would like to ask, is it possible to combine guns, kung fu and fighting together to design a new way of close combat?"
After Tiger Chen finished the translation, Yuan Heping looked at him with some doubts, obviously not understanding the specific meaning.
Duke thought for a while, and said to the female assistant standing behind him, "Tina, want some prop guns."
Tina Fei picked up the phone and dialed a number, and soon someone from the props team sent a few pistols and submachine gun models.
"Tiger, go on."
Duke threw a pistol to Tiger Chen, then picked it up by himself, stood in front of the clearing, and said, "In my vision, this is a powerful ability that combines physical skills, spear skills, and brain computing."
"Tiger, don't move!"
Duke pointed at the tiger Chen on the opposite side, and then made a motion of drawing a gun and rushing towards him, but he didn’t have any training, and his movements were slow, not cool enough, but Duke just wanted to use more movements. Intuitively express this concept, "For example, now, I met a master like Tiger, drawing a gun at the fastest speed, using high-speed shooting to strike and suppress first, and at the same time rush to the enemy at high speed with the help of firepower, and half of it Shoot half-combat mixed battles, and use gun handles, hands, elbows, knees, feet and other parts to attack the enemy with powerful melee capabilities."
While talking, Duke made several similar gestures to Tiger Chen. With his demonstration and Tiger Chen’s translation, Yuan Heping gradually understood over there.
Duke added, "In my vision, two such masters will face off together. It must be very interesting, but Hollywood's traditional action method is based on strength, which is not suitable for designing this kind of combat method."
"This... doesn't seem reasonable?"
Many people have heard Tiger Chen's translation. An older martial artist suddenly muttered a sentence in Mandarin. He probably didn't think anyone could understand it here.
This view is clearly endorsed by Yuan Heping. He said, "No one's brain computing power and physical coordination ability can meet this requirement? This is totally unrealistic."
Realistic? Duke frowned. What he wanted to do was to be cool enough to attract more audiences.
"Mr. Yuan, this is a sci-fi movie. The real situation can be put aside." Duke handed the prop gun to Tina Fei and sat in his place again. "Moreover, those flying in the kung fu film The scene of flying and coming is not realistic, right?"
Yuan Heping thought for a while and nodded gently, "I will do related research and design, and come up with a suitable plan as soon as possible."
"Then trouble Mr. Yuan." Duke was still very polite. He pointed to Charlize next to him. "Mr. Yuan, I think we should design different action routines based on the body characteristics of the male and female protagonists, such as Miss Theron. , Her actions had better make her look more **** and agile." (To be continued...)
ps: It will be three shifts tomorrow~~ I finally rushed out, and I’m tired of jumping on the street~~ Seeking tickets~~