hollywood melon man

Chapter 295 The last drama

With the sound of trumpets, dawn is about to appear, and on the high slopes of Minas Tirith, the Rohan cavalry are ready.

Based on several prior rehearsals, all the extras were ready.

Except for the front row, which is composed of professional Hollywood extras, the cavalry array is basically composed of local troops and herdsmen.

More than a dozen executive directors and more than fifty assistant directors shuttled among the team, arranging positions to ensure that there would be no mistakes or cheating in the shots.

Ning Hao and a dozen other Chinese assistant directors communicated with the Chinese extras: "After a while, when you look at the people in front of you and shout Death, just follow suit and shout louder.

Just shout as loud as you want, you know? "

"I know," the troops who participated in the filming were very disciplined. Although it was quite unqualified to be a group performer, it could set an example for the local herdsmen and the participating group performers and play a leading role.

The Battle of Pelennor Fields in front of the White City was the largest battle in the Third Age of Middle-earth.

It started at dawn on March 3019, 3 of the Third Age, and ended at sunset.

In this battle, King Théoden abided by the oath of Eorl and led 6,000 Rohirrim cavalry to the Pelennor Fields to aid Gondor.

It was also during this battle that Aragorn, the heir of Isildur and son of Arathorn, rode the wind from the sea to the Kingdom of Gondor, and the king returned.

Together they fought against the army from Mordor. In the end, Rohan and Gondor won. Sauron suffered an unexpected defeat and lost his general, the Witch-King of Angmar.

This is the plot of the original novel, but Peter Jackson changed the time and changed it to White City resisting all night, Rohan cavalry marching all night, and finally arriving at Pelennor Fields at dawn.

Little Gilbert took a step closer. The battle before the Rohan cavalry arrived was a transition from day to night.

Gandalf fought hard to command in the city, and the soldiers in the city fought bloody battles until the last moment. The night before dawn is the most difficult to endure and the most debilitating to people's resistance.

At this moment, a trumpet sounded, and with the dawn, new hope appeared.

What makes movie images better than words is that words require readers to imagine themselves, while movies directly turn imagined images into reality.

However, the charm of words is that human imagination is unlimited. A thousand readers will have a thousand imaginary pictures, each of which is different, so words will last forever.

After everything was arranged at the scene, the filming of this big drama officially started.

Bernard Hill put on his armor and helmet, mounted his horse, and ran back and forth in front of the Rohan cavalry formation, leaping on his horse and whipping his whip.

He looked firmly at the army of orcs on the plain in the distance, densely packed and countless. He could feel the fear in the soldier's eyes, and he needed to put that fear away.

So King Theoden gave a pre-battle speech and began to make arrangements: "Eomer, take your people and attack from the left."

"Prepare to attack." Eomer held the flag and exited the camera from the left.

“Gamlin, follow Wang Qi and attack from the middle.

Greenberg, after passing through the city wall, attacked from the right flank. "

The order given by King Théoden was not given casually. It was actually a cavalry tactic commonly used in the Middle Ages. Although simple, in cold weapons, cavalry itself is a big killer.

It is evident that a medieval lord could dominate a party with only fifty knights.

Of course, if someone with the size of Europe in the Middle Ages came to the East, they would probably be beaten to the point of losing their shit. This refers to before modern times. In modern times, thanks to the efforts of the Qing Dynasty, we successfully became the sick man of East Asia.

The performance continues, and King Theoden continues to give a speech and mobilize before the war.

"Go forward, don't be afraid of the dark!
Rise up, knights of King Theoden!

Swing your spears and pierce your enemy's shields. "

Although I couldn't understand the words spoken by the foreigners running back and forth in front of me, Bernard Hill's performance, tone and expression still infected many Chinese extras.

It's a pity that the camera can't be given to them, otherwise it would be quite a wonderful scene.

However, some shots of these group performances can be added to the extras, which is also a very interesting point.

King Theoden continued to ride on horseback in front of the formation: "Kill the enemy with your sword, fight to the bitter end, and won't stop until dawn..."

In order to make this emotion coherent, although there will be multiple cuts, Gilbert Jr. and the camera crew discussed the layout of several camera positions.

It can capture the picture and guarantee that it won’t be fake.

The purpose was to allow Bernard Hill to perform the scene coherently without having to take a shot and then pause and do it again from a different angle.

Every director has different habits. Little Gilbert's habit is not to interrupt the actors' performances so that the whole scene can be coherent.

Because of this, the actors in his movies can perform well and perform better than before.

Tom Cruise knows this very well. When he was filming "Chicago", he would often finish a scene in a row before Little Gilbert would stop.

Although the filming was relatively difficult, it was all worth it, and it brought Tom Cruise his first Oscar winner trophy in his career.

After the line about not giving up until dawn, the time was just right. The sun crossed the horizon and shone on the Knights of Rohan from the east, as if covered with a layer of golden light. The knights of Rohan advanced, spears raised, ready to charge.

King Théoden held his own sword and collided with the spears of the knights. But what was a little surprising was that because the real sword was too heavy, he was holding a plastic sword this time.

As a result, before the actor could enter the picture, he collided with the knight's spear, and the plastic sword was knocked off.

Fortunately, the last scene has passed, otherwise the footage shot today would be ruined.

At this moment, Ning Hao was so anxious that he took a real sword and handed it to actor Bernard Hill. The scene was filmed at the best time.

Bernard Hill was completely involved in the drama. He held up the heavy sword without feeling heavy at all. His tone was excited and he shouted in front of the battle:
"Ready to fight! Prepare to fight! Prepare to fight!
Rush, rush to destruction, rush to the end of the world..."

With the last beat, King Théoden returned to the center of the array, raised his sword towards the orc army in the distance, and shouted: "Death..."

It was time for the extras to perform, and more than 4,600 extras shouted: "Death..."

This scene did not require dubbing, it was recorded live, and it met the requirements, and the effect was very shocking.

After King Théoden shouted Death three times, the trumpet sounded again. The Rohan knights moved forward bravely and rushed towards the orc army in the distance.

The subsequent part of the battle with the orc army has already been filmed.

So when the Knights of Rohan rushed past the last camera position, the eleven-month filming of "Lord of the Rings" finally came to an end.

All the extras and horses returned to the scene, and little Gilbert stood on the wall of Minas Tirith, holding a loudspeaker and shouting: "Thank you, thank you for your continuous efforts over the past three years to complete this film. Movie.

Now I think I can announce that "Lord of the Rings" is officially finished..."

Fearing that no one would hear, the director team and production team next to little Gilbert shouted: "It's done, it's done..."

At this moment, the whole crew's cheers echoed through the sky, and this long shooting day was finally over.

It can be said that this filming was the longest time that all the crew members have ever experienced, and they were physically and mentally exhausted. If it weren't for Little Gilbert's prestige, as well as the high salary and bonus, everyone would have gone on strike long ago.

However, it is a pity for Chinese staff, although their treatment is generally only one-tenth of that of American staff.

But even so, it is still a high income.

Working on the crew for almost a year is equivalent to their usual five or six years of work. I'm a little tired, but seeing the money go into my pocket makes me feel full of energy.

But such happy days are over, because "The Lord of the Rings" has been completed, and I don't know when the next time such a good thing will happen.

After the two sides have worked together for such a long time, many American staff and Chinese staff have formed deep friendships.

An executive director named Tom found Ning Hao and said to Ning Hao in broken and not very proficient Chinese: "Ning, it's a pleasure to work with you."

Ning Hao looked at Tom's outstretched hand, laughed and hugged Tom: "I'm Tom too, and I've learned a lot working with you."

"I heard that you are going to direct the movie yourself?" Tom raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm looking forward to seeing your work, Ning."

"Thank you, Tom, believe me, you will see it." Ning Hao hugged Tom sincerely again.

Ning Hao and Tom were not alone. Many people were saying goodbye at the scene, and some of them were so emotional that they even cried. Those who have picked up Chinese beauties or American Ocean horses are even more reluctant to give up at this moment.

Both parties want to speak and ask the other to stay or follow them. But except for a few people, most people don't have the courage to say anything to save them.

"There is no such thing as a feast that lasts forever," little Gilbert saw all this and said to Charles Rowan: "Are you ready for the wedding banquet? Let them say goodbye properly!"

Charles Rowan nodded, raised his trumpet again and shouted: "Today is not over yet, we have prepared a closing banquet to eat roasted whole lamb.

Everyone, hurry up and call it a day, tonight..."

Charles Rowan paused for a while, seeing that everyone's attention was on him, and then shouted in broken Chinese: "We will not go home until we are drunk..."

"Oh yeah!" cheers rang out, and the crew quickened their pace to finish work.

At six o'clock in the evening, after finishing work, the crew set up thousands of shelves on the prairie. All the nearby sheep of suitable age were bought, all put on racks, and the whole sheep began to be roasted.

There aren't that many professional masters to be found, and it's mostly the nearby herdsmen who help, or the crew members do it themselves.

In this regard, Charles Rowan, who had always been stingy, was extremely generous. He managed enough wine, vegetables, fruits, and meat.

After eating, there will be a large bonfire party where all the talented members of the crew can show off.

Or singing, or dancing, or doing acrobatics, or performing magic.

A girl from Dian Province who worked with the makeup team danced the peacock dance and won applause from the whole room. A few guys from the lighting team formed a rock band, and the performance ignited the audience.

This is a reward for their hard work for so long. In addition to salary and bonuses, this way of relaxation is also an effective way to relieve fatigue.

(End of this chapter)