Made in Hollywood

Walking into the dance rehearsal room specially built in the studio, Duke stood in the doorway, watching the actresses doing warm-up activities. Lily Fred and her assistants were scattered among Naomi Watts. Near the main actors such as Catherine Zeta Jones, they explained the most basic movements and precautions.

Although he is not a complete layman, Duke does not have the professional quality of singing and dancing. Most of the time, he is just watching and rarely expressing opinions.

Lily Fred is not only a veteran of Broadway, but also has been nominated for several Tony Awards, and several clips compiled have also been recognized by Duke.

"Duke, I want to talk to you about something."

Seeing Duke, Lily Fred came over and said directly, "I have some different opinions on the arrangement of the song and dance scene."

"Just say it."

The opponent is a professional, and Duke is not a set dictator who can't listen to anything.

"Then we go to the studio?"

After Duke nodded in agreement, Lily Fred and Duke left the dance rehearsal room, walked into the nearby studio, and came directly to a setting area about the prison. The setting up work here is relatively simple, with a row of push and pull props. The prison door has been installed.

%. During these hours, Lily Fred knew Duke’s attitude towards work, and she did not go around in circles. She stood directly in front of the iron gate of the prison and said, “I think six chairs are enough as props in this song and dance scene. "

Duke looked at her and gestured to please continue.

Lily Fred explained in detail, "This is the blackest and most depressing song and dance in the whole play. According to my assumption, the props only need six chairs. Each woman takes turns to the stage to defend her husband. Let's make the deepest roar together. Simple and powerful."

She pointed to the iron gate, "I have seen your ideas. In addition to these, there are pas de deux, group dances, and choruses in singing and dancing, and a section of red silk should be added to the actors' hands. Such an overly complex and gorgeous stage background will weaken the performance of the actors. Charm. There is even a distraction."

"The simplest prop, solo solo solo, with an actor's performance to enhance the atmosphere." Duke walked over there, touched the iron gate made of plastic, and asked, "Lily, is that true?"

"Yes!" Lily Fred replied immediately, "I think this is the most suitable way of artistic expression."

"Your thoughts are not wrong, and the suggestions are very relevant." Duke pointed around. "But one thing is overlooked. We are making movies, not stage plays. These are two forms of expression with huge differences."

"The movie is not just an actor's performance!" Duke walked past the iron gate. "I need more props, dances and chorus to support it to make this scene more visually impactful. Use movable iron gates and red silk With symbols of blood and death, there are also multi-person dances and chorus. They do weaken the performance of the actors, but they can make the film scene more full. It looks more attractive."

When the audience is watching a stage play, they can completely focus their attention on the actors, but movies are different. If only dry actors perform a one-man show, even if they are Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks combined, it will not be attractive. Less than the eyes of most viewers.

From the day of choosing this film. Duke defined "Chicago", which is a musical, but also a commercial film!

Perhaps the way Lily Fred said is more in line with the requirements of art, and the shooting will be more popular with certain professionals. Even if an actor performs well, it is easier to win awards, but Duke will not use it. He is an investor in this film. These methods that do not conform to the rules of commercial films can only be sidelined.

After solving this little trouble, Duke and Lily Fred went to other scenes that were being built, and exchanged opinions on many of the props. One of them was a director and the other was a song and dance director. They communicated with each other. Extremely important.

All sorts of preparatory work had to be put together in the hands of Duke and Robin Grande. They had been busy all morning. It was not until lunch time that Duke felt a little more relaxed.

"Croissant, beef goulash with potatoes, a glass of juice, thank you."

In the restaurant of Warner Studios, Duke is about to finish lunch and walks to the dining table area with his dinner plate. Because there are often crews working in the studio, many big stars and directors are the most ordinary looking restaurant. Frequent visitor of the restaurant.

Sitting at a white dining table, Duke just lowered his head and took a sip of juice when he heard someone questioning him.

"Can I sit here?"

Lifting his head, Duke took a look and said to Catherine Zeta Jones, who was carrying the dinner plate, "Just sit down."

"Thank you!"

Catherine Zeta Jones sat on the opposite side, put down the dinner plate, and pulled her long damp hair behind his head. Duke looked at the loose sweater she was wearing and guessed that the other party should have just washed after the practice. Bathed.

"I have never had a chance to say thank you."

Seeing that Duke just bowed his head to eat and had no plans to speak, Catherine Zeta Jones had to take the initiative to break the silence, "Thank you for giving me the role of Velma."

"You're welcome." Duke smiled at her. "This is what you paid for your outstanding performance."

If the other party's audition results are not satisfactory, Duke will definitely not choose her, even if she is Catherine Zeta Jones, she may give something, and he will not take his own investment to make unnecessary risks.

Career and these actresses are more important, for him, there is no need to choose.

Like most actresses, Catherine Zeta Jones only ate a few things, and then focused on Duke.

"I wanted to invite you to dinner last weekend to express my thanks, but my mother came from Wales."

Not far in front of Duke, Zeta Jones blinked those charming eyes, "Is there time this weekend?"

"Sorry……"

After thinking about his schedule, Duke could only shook his head slowly, "I'm going to New York to visit my mother. I made an appointment very early."

The deliberate disappointment was fleeting, and Zeta Jones immediately changed the subject, "I can hear that you and your mother have a very good relationship."

"I only have my mother as a relative."

Duke put down the knife and fork, Zeta Jones immediately handed over a white and fragrant napkin, and Duke took it and wiped off the grease stains on his mouth. "My mother taught me a lot. Without her, there would be no me today."

His mother is proud of him, why not he is proud of having such a mother.

From the conversation just now, Zeta Jones quickly found a topic suitable for breakthrough, "A great mother can bring us a lot of help."

For this, Duke fully agreed, "It is true."

"I will never forget my mother." Zeta Jones seemed to be lost in memories, his eyes were still a little red. "My original dream was to become a singer, but when I was sixteen, I gave birth to a child. I was seriously ill, and my vocal cords suffered a little damage, and I couldn’t bear the burden of frequent singing. At that time, I felt that the whole world had collapsed..."

There was a faint sadness in her voice, full of infectious power, "It is my mother who has been encouraging me to get me to stand up again. With her encouragement, I went to London to receive professional dance training, and then I have this Little results."

"Of course, I also want to thank you for your help." Zeta Jones said sincerely, "Duke, you gave me the opportunity to return to Hollywood to prove myself."

"So the film must be successful." Duke shrugged.

Zeta Jones asked suspiciously, "Will it fail? I never thought so."

"No one can guarantee the success of a film."

Hearing Duke's words, Zeta Jones did not hesitate to refute, "I think you are the guarantee of the success of the film. How many directors in the world can sell four consecutive films?"

Duke had to laugh, "You are more confident than me."

"I'm just explaining the most basic facts."

Zeta Jones felt very satisfied with the topic that unknowingly guided the relationship between the two. The smile on his face looked more attractive. "I have been following "Saving Private Ryan". This movie is actually your style. It has changed, and it has been so successful."

She took her own juice, took a sip, and continued, "I read the box office statistics yesterday. The box office in North America was US$298.75 million and the global box office was US$612.14 million. It is the most popular R-rated film in history!"

"There will be more popular r-rated films soon."

Looking at his watch, Duke stood up, ready to leave, "It's almost time, it's time to go back to work."

While preparing for "Chicago", Duke also paid attention to the situation of "Saving Private Ryan" recently tossed aside. Due to grading and other reasons, the stamina of this war film is obviously not as strong as "Independence Day". At the end of January, the film had been released from chain commercial theaters such as AMG, Emperor Entertainment, and National Artists. The theaters still showing are basically independent theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

The issuer Twentieth Century Fox's strategy is very clear, which is to target the Oscars during the awards season.

Time slowly entered December, and the traditional awards season of the North American film industry officially kicked off. The actors, directors, and film companies who hope to impact academic awards, as well as their public relations and agents, are all caught up in a During the busiest season of the year, even people like Duke who didn't care about Oscars had to participate in several consecutive public relations activities in accordance with the director's contract.

The Oscars of this era have significantly improved the commercial income of the film. Although they understand that there is almost no possibility of getting the best director, there is still some hope for the little golden man who cooperates with the producer and distributor to compete for the best film.

Oscars actually have a tradition. If the director and producer of the film do not care about the Oscars, under normal circumstances the film will not get heavyweight awards.

In order to share the revenue closely related to him, Duke held a party at home in response to the request of Warner and Fox before Christmas. (To be continued...)

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