Made in Hollywood

"I'm standing in the kitchen, slicing chicken to prepare dinner."

The tall black woman walked out of the iron gate, stepped on the beat of the music, came to the camera proficiently, and danced around the camera rotating at a constant speed of 360 degrees, "I am doing my own thing wholeheartedly, my husband Weber But walked in..."

This black woman named Mia Valentine, although her appearance was mediocre, her performance was very contagious, demonstrating the profound stage skills of Broadway actors. She danced proficiently and slowly turned to the direction facing Duke.

"Cut!"

Looking at it from this angle, Duke immediately noticed what was wrong. Valentine was taken aback for a moment and asked, "I... I made a mistake?"

"Mia, your performance is very good."

If you talk about acting and singing and dancing alone, this black woman will have the two heroines Naomi Watts and Catherine Zeta Jones, but the movie is not just acting and singing and dancing, even if she is launched by Broadway in the new season. The very ordinary image of Velma's candidate in "Chicago" is destined to be the heroine of the movie.

Duke walked to Valentin and pointed to her bra, "Who did this? Don't have another time."

There is no problem with Valentin's clothes. It should have been stuck in the bra ≡▼, but the miniature microphone used for recording appeared.

The recording team is dealing with these small problems. Duke called Lily Fred to discuss with her about Valentine's singing and dancing. Her singing and dancing scenes are only this section, and she performed very well. According to common sense, this is a good phenomenon. , But she is not the heroine, one of the heroines Velma will also play subsequently, if suppressed by a supporting role, it will inevitably affect the film.

Filming was temporarily interrupted, and Catherine Zeta Jones, who was waiting aside after putting on her makeup, fiddled with her specially cut hair. Not knowing what was thinking, another actress who also appeared in this scene walked over.

"Kate, you should think of something." She whispered.

"Huh?" Zeta Jones looked at her pretendingly, "Lola?"

"Don't say you don't know."

The blonde woman named Lola said, "She was robbing you during the rehearsal. She is so excited today. Obviously she wants to show you a good look. Don't forget, you are the heroine!"

"Thank you, I know what to do."

Although Zeta Jones looked at the black woman with cold eyes, she did not plan to do anything. Through this time of getting along, she knew where the director’s bottom line was. In other respects, it’s good to say that if it affects the shooting...

Yes. During the whole rehearsal period, she did not miss out on others, but she knew what to do now is the most appropriate.

Seeing Zeta Jones walking towards the director's chair, the smile on Laura's mouth was fleeting, she also came from Broadway, and the first role she auditioned was Velma.

"Tina, can I have a few words with Duke?"

Zeta Jones was very smart, and instead of going to Duke stupidly, he walked up to Tina Fey. "About the role."

Tina Fei nodded, waiting for Duke and Lily Fred to finish the discussion. Stepping up to ask a few words, beckoned to the back, Zeta Jones walked over immediately.

"Something?"

Sitting behind the monitor, Duke looked at Zeta Jones, who was wearing a costume. This woman was indeed very smart, just before the crew started. I took the initiative to find Duke and asked to cut off a long hair to prevent the audience from seeing her face when singing and dancing.

In this era, long hair can be said to be the second life of an actress, and very few people can get it off.

Zeta Jones felt some of Duke's temper. Without going around in a circle, he said directly, "I think Mia's effort today may affect me too much."

"I know."

Duke also noticed this problem. Mia Valentine's performance is indeed excellent, but the supporting role is a supporting role.

He pointed to the side, Zeta Jones walked over, sat with Tina Fei, stopped talking, but kept his eyes on the monitor.

"Anna," Duke said to the assistant director, "I am ready to start shooting."

Did not make any changes? Zeta Jones' brows can't help but frown, but he still resists sitting here. Successful directors are all paranoid...

However, after filming started, she immediately realized that she was wrong. Duke obviously made a change, and this change was agreed before she came over.

Not much has changed, but Zeta Jones looks over from here, and the effect shot on the monitor is clearly different from Mia Valentine’s infectious live performance.

The camera lens is no longer directly facing Mia Valentine, but from a forty-five degree angle, taking Mia Valentine’s profile as the focus of capture, no matter how brilliant she performs, Appearing in the lens can only be said to be so-so.

Simple, isn't it?

Zeta Jones couldn't help but smile. The director could easily ruin the performance prepared by the actors as long as the director adjusted the shooting angle slightly. I am afraid that Mia Valentine can only see her singing and dancing shots from the side only when the movie is released.

And other shots, nothing else, Zeta Jones believes that she can be suppressed with just this face of her own.

After the singing and dancing of the two blacks ended, Duke called to stop, and after a ten-minute rest, he did it again, and adjusted the camera position again. In this shot, Mia Valentine’s performance Better than just now.

After watching the two shots after shooting again, Duke turned his head and said, "Kate, you go to prepare and shoot your part first."

Then he turned his head and shouted to his assistants, "John, the main camera is back to its original position. Zach, pay attention to the red light you control."

"Anna, inform the other actors to prepare for group dance."

Anna Prinz nodded and turned to leave. Duke waved to the side. After Lily Fred walked past, he said, "You control the singing and dancing scene. My requirements are still the same. You must be explosive."

"I know."

The crew worked at full capacity. Twenty minutes later, Catherine Zeta Jones stood behind the iron gate of the prison, and the other actors were in place under the command of Lily Fred.

"The forty-fifth scene, the eleventh scene." Anna Prinz's field card was placed in front of the camera, "Now!"

The actor and actress turned to the two sides one after another, in order to set off the heroine Kaset Zeta Jones, Verma, who she played, twisted her body and walked out of the crowd.

"My sister Vinika and I are in a duo show, and my husband Charlie is between the two of us..."

This is a very simple monologue shot. Duke directly yelled through, but the subsequent shooting ran into some trouble.

A group dance with Velma as the main part, because it was rehearsed for several months in advance, it was not a problem to cooperate. Zeta Jones’ performance was also okay, maybe Mia Valentine’s performance was before Duke. I always feel that there is something missing from Velma.

The crew was temporarily stopped, and Duke looked at the footage just shot through the monitor again, "John...and Kate, come here."

John Schwarzman and Catherine Zeta Jones walked over together. Duke selected the group dance scene of the six murderers, pressed pause, and pointed at Laura Young and Mia Valentine on both sides of Zeta Jones. Said, "John, adjust the aperture and blur the two of them."

Duke looked at Zeta Jones again, "You can be better!"

"I..." Zeta Jones opened his mouth, but said nothing. In the eyes of the director, actors are always better, not best.

"You are too subtle." Duke frowned and thought, staring at Zeta Jones and said, "I want your singing to be more explosive, and the dance to be more frivolous and wild, and to sing out all the anger and dissatisfaction in the character's heart. , All jump out!"

Duke coldly warned her, "You were pressured by Mia Valentine, this is not a quality that a heroine should have."

Catherine Zeta Jones took a few deep breaths, knowing that working with the director would not help at all. The only convincing thing is singing, dancing and acting.

"Can you give me ten minutes?"

Hearing what Zeta Jones said, Duke nodded and sat back in his chair, "Don't let me down, Kate."

Catherine Zeta Jones worked very hard. Duke confirmed this. After several months of rehearsal, she was quite proficient in dancing and singing. Although she was also from a major class, no matter how hard she worked, she could not change her talent disadvantage. Her voice And the explosive power of action is always slightly inferior to black actors with inherent advantages.

It's not unreasonable that Mia Valentine can get the role of Velma in the musical.

Ten minutes later, the crew restarted filming. Zeta Jones’ performance still couldn’t satisfy Duke. If it weren’t for John Schwarzman’s use of lens techniques to play down Mia Valentine on her side, it’s true after the film was released. Will be robbed of the limelight by the role actors.

After stopping five times in a row, Duke said nothing. Everyone knew that the problem was with the actors.

"You also have a lot of dance scenes."

In the temporary rest area of ​​the studio, Naomi Watts looked at the set in casual clothes, talking to her agent Nancy, "Are you mentally prepared, Nami? You should understand Duke’s character, and he will also Treat you like this, as long as you can't satisfy him, he will keep shooting and make you jump off."

Naomi Watts looked at the once-familiar and now-unfamiliar director, "If I have been preparing for this role for two years from the beginning, everyone thinks that Duke will fail, but I believe he will succeed. , I will definitely succeed!"

"As long as "Chicago" meets expectations." Nancy seems to be inspiring, and it seems to be agitation, "As the heroine, you can be on the front line, even the first line."

"I will use all my abilities!"

Naomi Watts coldly glanced at Catherine Zeta Jones, who was still being tortured by the director, and turned around and walked to the dance studio to prepare for the pas de deux filming two days later. (To be continued...)