hollywood melon man

Chapter 218 The Birth of Hackers

After the project launch conference, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron immediately threw themselves into training.

The request to Cheng Long also came to fruition. I heard that the great Hollywood director Gilbert Landrini Jr. personally invited him, but Yuan Heping actually did not agree as he imagined.

This action director is arrogant. In an era when Westerners generally looked down on Chinese people, he looked down on Westerners.

Therefore, Yuan Heping asked for a very high price, offering a sky-high salary of four million US dollars.

Of course, the crew couldn't agree to it. They could only give up to half a million US dollars.

So the two sides began tug-of-war negotiations, but little Gilbert didn't have the patience to wait, and Yuan Heping was not the only action director on Hong Kong Island.

At the instruction of Little Gilbert, the person in charge of the negotiations immediately started contact with Yuan Heping's staff, and also began to look for other Hong Kong action guides.

Yuan Heping looks down on Gui Lao and doesn't want to make US dollars, but that doesn't mean his subordinates don't.

After his subordinates expressed opposition, several important members of the team vaguely had plans to leave, and Cheng Long personally flew to Hong Kong Island to persuade, Yuan Heping finally compromised.

Scarlett still played a small role, and to this day she still has not fulfilled her dream of becoming the heroine of a Little Gilbert movie, which makes Scarlett very unhappy.

I leave it to you to design a good action plan. "Little Gilbert asked, please.

This made Keanu Reeves understand one thing. As long as he cooperates well, the crew will not change people, because it is little Gilbert who makes the decision.

Johnny Depp liked the role, and Leonardo DiCaprio strongly requested to play the role.

"To be a bit exaggerated, the story of this film takes place within the matrix, so it can violate the principles of physics and make actions that are impossible in reality.

Little Gilbert personally named him. As long as Keanu Reeves doesn't make mistakes, others will have no excuse to replace him.

Yuan Heping said it was no problem. He was very familiar with action design and was very good at it. Within a few days, he came up with a new set of action routines.

Compared to Charlize Theron, who is already prepared, Keanu Reeves trains much harder.

Keanu Reeves later asked Johnny Depp, and Depp's reply was: "Falke, I didn't receive the invitation at all, otherwise would there be a chance for you? Shet..."

He was also worried that once he returned to Hollywood, he would cause unnecessary trouble to little Gilbert.

Or maybe Brad Pitt has a bruised knee that he must have licked, so he has a good chance of taking over the role of Neo, etc.

Yuan Heping found the martial arts of two of his men, demonstrated it to little Gilbert, and asked, "Is that so?"

Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron need to learn these new action routines, but Gilbert Jr. doesn't go out of his way to make things difficult for the actors.

Old Gilbert, who had a small cameo in the last movie "The Sixth Sense", made a cameo again in "The Matrix" this time. The old man is addicted to acting and is likely to return to Hollywood as an actor.

The remaining actors in the film are being determined through auditions.

What's more, directors like Gilbert Jr. and Spielberg generally serve as producers of the film, or let their cronies serve as producers of the film so that they can control the crew more easily.

After signing the contract, Yuen Woo-Ping immediately flew his action director team from Hong Kong Island to Los Angeles to work with Gilbert Jr.'s regular stunt director Tony Ridley as the film's action designer.

Based on past performance, it is understandable that investors do not trust Keanu Reeves.

In fact, little Gilbert is quite relieved about Keanu Reeves, after all, the performance of the original version is there.

After Hugo Weaving passed the audition and played the role of Agent Smith, he also started practicing action routines with the action guidance team.

He must meet Little Gilbert's requirements, otherwise there will be no date for the film's release.

Not everyone is Tom Cruise and can play to such extremes. Sometimes the safety of the actors still has to be considered.

If little Gilbert is unhappy and goes to his old employer Universal, or to Paramount and 20th Century Fox, those film companies will definitely welcome him with both hands and feet.

Laurence Fishburne plays the role of Morpheus, Joe Pantoliano plays the role of Cypher, Gloria Foxx plays the role of the Prophet, and Robert Taylor plays the role of Agent Jones.

This is normal, after all, Keanu Reeves had just messed up "Speed ​​2" not long ago, and after starring in "Speed", the box office results of several movies were not very good.

Little Gilbert also talked with Yuan Heping: "I hope you can use some characteristics of Chinese Kung Fu in the film. The fighting should be fancy enough and make people feel cool enough."

Therefore, if there is a conflict between the producer and Little Gilbert, the producer must be the one to blame, not Little Gilbert.

For some difficult action scenes, little Gilbert had already prepared stuntmen for them.

In terms of acting skills, Keanu Reeves can only be said to be average, but in this kind of cool role, Keanu Reeves is very good at it.

In order to allow the willful Keanu Reeves to cooperate with the crew, the agent was directly stationed on the crew to comfort Keanu Reeves who was easily distracted at any time.

The agent also talked very interestingly, and from time to time he would scare Keanu Reeves by saying that Gilbert would rather pay liquidated damages than change actors.

After all, the action director is a team, and he can't function without the people under him.

Hollywood is a producer-centered system, but this producer-centered system has little restriction for those directors who have reached the top.

In the end, the two parties reached an agreement, and the crew paid a little more, and hired Yuan Heping's action guidance team for US$700,000.

What can I do if I don’t trust you? You can't change the director, or let the producers restrict Gilbert Jr., right?

The old man didn't say why he quit the industry back then, and little Gilbert was too sensible to ask any more questions.

Warner and Disney don't want the producer to have a conflict with Gilbert Jr. Now the hottest director in Hollywood is completely tied to their chariot.

The worries about Keanu Reeves mainly come from Warner and Disney.

Except for the main roles, which were auditioned and finalized by Little Gilbert himself, other auditions were conducted by two assistant directors, and the final list was handed over to Little Gilbert.

However, the old man is currently only guest-starring in his son's movies and has not accepted invitations from other films.

However, Gilbert Jr., who has the most power in the crew, must have his reasons for choosing Keanu Reeves. Investors will only maintain enough trust in Gilbert Jr.

This film also has a lot of special effects scenes, especially the amazing bullet time special effects shots.

So Gilbert Jr. arranged for his own Orange Special Effects Studio to be responsible for the main special effects production work. If Orange Studio can't handle it, go to Industrial Light and Magic.

But in fact, worries in this regard are unnecessary, because today's special effects technology is updated and iterated very quickly with the development of computers.

Facing a new field, whether it is Industrial Light and Magic and Orange Studio, or James Cameron's digital field, they are all standing on the same starting line.

Compared with Industrial Light and Magic, Orange Studio has another advantage, that is, it can get technical support from the Internet company owned by Gilbert Jr.

In terms of physical model production, Orange Studio is not as good as Industrial Light and Magic, but in terms of computer special effects, Orange Studio has achieved a slight lead by virtue of its technological iteration advantage.

When little Gilbert told his request to the special effects director, the special effects director quickly gathered people and designed a special effects plan through computer simulation.

Little Gilbert thought it was good after watching it, so Orange Studio began to invest in special effects production before the filming started.

What makes The Matrix unique is its unique punk aesthetic, with a biomechanical aesthetic.

To this end, in addition to the production of computer special effects, Orange Studio also worked with the crew's art director Serena Haifey and cartoonist Geoff Dallow to complete the design.

After Gilbert Jr. provided a rough sketch, the props team created a model of the eight-meter-long giant mechanical octopus. Through some circuit design, this giant octopus can achieve brief movements. In order to increase the sense of oppression, its eyes occupy most of the entire head, showing a scarlet light.

Not only that, the props team also designed and manufactured several human training chambers. Through special effects production, the scene will be transformed into thousands of human training chambers.

The giant octopus shuttles among these human cultivation chambers, just like a farmer, inspecting his harvest.

This sense of absurdity and horror will definitely bring a special experience to the audience.

Another very interesting design point is the design of the Nebuchadnezzar. In the initial version of the design, it was rejected by Gilbert Jr. because the design was too exquisite and neat and looked like a new ship.

He told the design team: “The spacecraft was built using limited resources, so the internal facilities must be a bit old because some old parts need to be found to build the ship.

At the same time, the wiring is also messy and even exposed outside, and tools and other things are scattered everywhere. "

After little Gilbert explained it clearly, the design of the Nebuchadnezzar in the second version was much better, and it looked more like a spaceship that humans could put together in the doomsday world of the future.

After the design was completed, the crew immediately made a 1:15 scale model of the spaceship in the Warner Studio studio. In addition, they also built the interior scene facilities of the spacecraft for filming.

In addition to the preparations for the films themselves, the films also made a lot of money from advertising placements.

Tyrannosaurus glasses cost 100 million US dollars, Nokia mobile phones cost 500 million US dollars, Coca-Cola's rival Pepsi-Cola paid 300 million US dollars, Apple paid 200 million US dollars, Facebook and Banana paid 200 million US dollars and 300 million US dollars respectively...

In addition, there is investment in advertising such as automobiles, electrical appliances, and clothing sponsorship.

The film has not yet started shooting, but it has already raised US$2500 million in advertising sponsorship alone.

Little Gilbert's films have always been advertisers' favorites, with good results and high commercial value. Therefore, in recent years, as long as it is a film directed by him, the advertising space has increased.

Product placement is inevitable, after all, movies are made for commercial gain. It's a good thing that advertisers send money in advance.

As long as it is not as exaggerated as the movies and TV dramas seen in previous lives, the audience will not be disgusted with advertising placement.

Sometimes they don’t even notice that it’s an advertisement.

Of course, when negotiating with advertisers, Little Gilbert asked to contact these manufacturers. It would be best to do some joint activities between the release of the film and its release.

For example, the launch of the same sunglasses as Neotritini and Morpheus, the Nokia mobile phone used by Smith, specially customized for "The Matrix" and so on.

These peripheral designs will continue to generate revenue for the film in the future.

So movies are not just movies, they are also a huge advertising platform for advertising these peripheral products.

In addition to focusing on these preliminary preparations and peripheral designs, little Gilbert also watched the actors' training.

In order to meet Little Gilbert's requirements, the actors had to train hard before they could go into filming.

But no one complained, let alone complained.

What's much better than the little fresh meat in the previous life is that these Hollywood big names know what they do, so they cooperate with the crew's work very well.

If it were the pigeons and pigeons in the previous life, little Gilbert would probably be worried.

He encountered something in his previous life. At that time, he was filming a martial arts web drama with many action scenes in it. As a result, Ge Ge, who played the role of the young hero, only sprained his foot and lay in the hospital for half a month.

Little Gilbert didn't know if he had really been lying there for half a month. Anyway, that's what his agent said, and the crew was not allowed to visit.

However, a few days later, little Gilbert saw Pigeon on a variety show. Gegege, who was supposed to be lying in the hospital, went to record the variety show intact, so no wonder she had to be allowed to visit.

At that time, little Gilbert understood why his seniors used stand-ins. It was not that they wanted to use stand-ins, but that Pigeon was easily injured and there was really no time!

The role of a stand-in is to replace the actors in completing some difficult actions that the actors cannot complete. However, many basic scenes are actually completed by the actors themselves.

But unfortunately, the pigeons couldn't even complete basic movements. They complained endlessly when they were slightly injured, and then rested for half a month to a month, which delayed the crew's work.

The key is that the pigeons really only need to recuperate, but in fact they just use the convenience of recuperating to go around and make money.

From then on, little Gilbert used a substitute whenever he could and never dared to let the pigeons go into battle.

If he strongly urges the pigeons to go into battle, then it will be him, not the pigeons. Because the use of pigeons is a requirement of the investors, he, the director, has no decision-making power.

So little Gilbert could only endure the humiliation and keep all his dissatisfaction in his heart.

But things are different now. Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron are training seriously, and there is no such thing as slacking off or pretending to be injured as an excuse not to participate in training.

This is not Little Gilbert’s disparagement of Chinese actors. Actors are actors, and those pigeons are not actors at all. They are insulting this profession.

It’s not that there are no good actors in China, it’s just that most of them have been buried and haven’t had much opportunity.

But having said that, Hollywood a few decades later is not much better. It is still indifferent, and it also causes troubles. It even has characters like the Black Mermaid, which makes people laugh.

The reason why it is still popular all over the world is that it can be supported by the industrial system. In addition, Hollywood does have a great influence.

However, many Chinese movie fans who understand clearly no longer buy Hollywood's account.

Looking at the hard training of the actors, little Gilbert asked Yuan Heping: "How long will it take these actors to train?"

Yuan Heping said: "Kung Fu is a very profound knowledge. If you want to master it, you must work hard."

"It doesn't matter, I just need them to play well enough in front of the camera." Little Gilbert said.

"This is quite simple. As long as you have good physical fitness and practice some routines, you can meet the requirements." Yuan Heping said, pointing to the fitness equipment on the sidelines: "Actors must reserve enough physical fitness to persist in training."

"Very good," little Gilbert expressed satisfaction: "Pay attention to safety and don't let them get hurt, otherwise it will be very troublesome."

I secretly complained about these ghost guys, how can I not get hurt while filming a kung fu movie? However, Yuan Heping agreed: "Don't worry, I'll let Chen Laohu watch it in person. There won't be any problems."

Chen Laohu is a member of Yuan Heping's team and is proficient in English and Cantonese.

Little Gilbert speaks Mandarin quite fluently, but Yuan Heping cannot speak Mandarin well, so Little Gilbert did not show off his Chinese skills and directly asked Chen Laohu to act as the translator.

In fact, many of Yuan Heping's team speak Mandarin relatively well.

Little Gilbert also heard several people communicating in Mandarin privately: "Hide those really good moves, don't expose them, otherwise these ghost guys will learn them."

Little Gilbert wanted to laugh when he heard these words. These filmmakers from Hong Kong Island are still conservative and don't know how to be open and enterprising.

How long has it been since you kept it secret? Can you preserve the future foundation of Hong Kong cinema?

The world outside is changing rapidly, and they are still living their lives clinging to what they have.

In fact, from the moment "Jurassic Park 2" landed on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong Island movies were finished. There is only one way to save them, and that is to go north.

It's a pity that only a few people can realize this. The entire circle actually resists the road north.

Little Gilbert has no intention of participating in this kind of thing. Just like when people call him a ghost in private, he is indeed an outsider now and people will not listen to him.

Compared to their film circle, little Gilbert had a better relationship with the North.

(End of this chapter)