Chapter 256 Location

After the crew finished filming in Yellowstone National Park, Gu Wei took most of the crew to Los Angeles for location shooting.

The remaining people will be responsible for dismantling the scenes built in the park and restoring them to their original appearance as much as possible.

The Golden Gate Bridge footage cost over a million dollars a day, and the filming had to be concentrated in the early morning hours.

Fortunately, the main actors were in good condition and the filming was completed in less than a week.

Next comes the scene where the protagonist Jackson drives away from the streets of Los Angeles.

As a special effects blockbuster, CG special effects and motion capture technology are indispensable, and there are more than twenty special effects engineers and modelers following the crew.

Their task at this time is to create a three-dimensional block model with a realistic sense of three-dimensionality on the computer.

"Matt, this shouldn't be difficult."

On the road, rows of prop cars have been prepared and personnel from various departments of the crew are in place.

"Of course, I am a professional 'agent'."

Matt Damon made a joke that these shots were not very intense compared to when he was shooting "The Bourne Supremacy."

The only thing that made him uncomfortable was that most of the scenes in this movie were shot under a green screen. After all, most of the shots were special effects that needed to simulate the end of the world scene.

"All departments are prepared."

In the car, Matt Damon sat in the driver's seat, and Nicole Kidman sat in the back with the young actor.

"start."

As Gu Wei shouted, the car started slowly and drove along the specific planned route.

In the camera, the car is driving in twists and turns, leaving room for adding special effects later.

Gu Wei stared at the monitor. Two cameras were filming behind Matt Damon. There was also a drone following in the air with a small camera on it to ensure that there were no blind spots in the footage.

When filming a movie, everyone wants everything to go smoothly, but we have to take into account unexpected situations on the set, prop problems, and even the actors' condition and temporary forgetting of lines.

Basically, it is impossible to pass every take in just one take. A short three-minute shot needs to be shot repeatedly until Gu Wei is satisfied.

After the crew finished work, Gu Wei received a call from home.

"Director Gu, the filming of Lost on Journey has been completed."

Xu Zheng's voice was heard on the phone.

"That's pretty fast. It's been less than a month at most."

Hearing this, Gu Wei paused and said.

"They were all simple scenes, and many shots were done in two or three takes."

On the phone, Xu Zheng briefly explained the specific situation.

"Director, I've taken the movie to the company for editing. It will be finished in two months at most. I'd like to ask for your opinion on the release schedule."

Since becoming a director, Xu Zheng has learned a lot about this area. There are too many domestic blockbusters and imported Hollywood blockbusters in the second half of the year. His idea is to release the movie in the first half of the year and find a time when the competition is not so fierce.

“Have you ever thought about releasing this movie at the end of the year?”

"Lost on Journey" tells the story of a series of ridiculous events during the Spring Festival travel rush, and it is quite appropriate to release it at the end of the year.

“End of the year?
Director, there are so many blockbusters at the end of the year, and our movie is too small..."

On the phone, Xu Zheng was a little hesitant, mainly because he lacked confidence.

"It's quite suitable to put it at the end of the year. Audiences who have been busy all year will go to the cinema to watch this movie about the Spring Festival travel period. Coupled with the comedy elements contained in the movie, it should be able to achieve good box office results."

In the original time and space, "Lost on Journey" was released in June this year, and the final box office in theaters did not reach 6 million. The timing was not very good.

"Then it's up to you, Director.

I slowed down the post-production editing and tried to get the most suitable version.”

Xu Zheng was quite smart and understood immediately after hearing Gu Wei's explanation.

In the crew of "2012", the Golden Gate Bridge scenes have been completed, and the effect of Matt Damon and Nicole Kidman's partnership is good.

It's time to enter April.

Here in North America.

The movie "Alice in Wonderland" starring Johnny Depp has been released for a month, and the North American box office is close to 400 million US dollars, and the global box office exceeds 500 million US dollars.

According to predictions from major film companies, a movie with a box office of over one billion is about to be released.

"Alice in Wonderland" relies on the popularity of the original work in Europe and the United States and the appeal of director Tim Burton and top star Johnny Depp.

The film was originally planned to be released in China in 2D version, but as "Avatar" sparked a global viewing craze, the producers temporarily added a 3D version.

Just one week after its domestic release, the film grossed 6500 million yuan, which also sounded the clarion call for a 3D film war in the mainland market.

Hollywood Paramount Pictures announced that "How to Train Your Dragon" will also have a 3D version.

At the same time, "Iron Man 2" and "Clash of the Titans", which are scheduled to be released in May, are stepping up changes to their release versions.

"Don Quixote" and "Frog Trooper" have both announced that they will be released in 3D versions.

For a time, there was a craze for 3D blockbusters around the world, and the popularity of "2012" currently being filmed has increased a lot. Many movie fans are looking forward to this big-budget 3D blockbuster.

The scene where an earthquake occurs is being filmed at an outdoor location in Los Angeles.

The logistics staff built a steel shaking platform, behind which is a large blue screen of nearly 800 square meters.

Below the platform, staff used air pumps to make the air bags shake, and combined with the virtual city created by animation staff, they created a realistic earthquake effect.

This scene is still a non-property performance and it really tests the acting skills of the male and female protagonists.

"Matt, your expression is wrong. When a disaster strikes, you have to take care of the children and you also need an escape route. You can't just have a single expression." In front of the monitor, looking at the footage that had just been taken, Gu Wei was a little dissatisfied.

"It takes a combination of both, the love for the child and the haste of escaping..."

Gu Wei held the script and kept explaining it, while Matt Damon and Nicole Kidman beside him nodded from time to time.

"Get it? Take a five-minute break and try again."

"Okay, Gu."

Five minutes passed in a flash and the crew was ready.

Matt Damon took a deep breath and gestured.

"start."

Gu Wei shouted, and the scene suddenly became quiet.

When he was young, Matt Damon made his debut relying on his good looks. In recent years, as he has grown older, his acting skills have become more mature.

In the camera, Matt Damon performed well in the second shot, with many subtle expressions added to his face.

"Click."

As Gu Wei shouted, the filming ended and the logistics staff continued to restore the props because they didn't know whether to continue with another take.

"Director, how is it?"

Matt came to Gu Wei and asked impatiently.

"Not bad, it's still early, take a break, and then we can do it again."

Filming is a repetitive and boring process. It may be okay for commercial blockbusters, but for some art films, one shot may take ten days or half a month to achieve the ideal effect.

Hearing this, the crew members including the leading actors relaxed and took the time to rest.

"Director, can our movie reach the box office of Avatar?"

Nicole Kidman came to Gu Wei with a bottle of water and asked while drinking.

As soon as he finished speaking, Matt Damon and others also showed curious expressions.

After being selected by the "2012" crew, fans have been leaving messages online, looking forward to the film, and other friends around me are also asking about the specific details.

The popularity brought by the 3D blockbuster is so great that many people expressed their envy and congratulations to Matt Damon.

"No one can know the exact box office before the movie is released, but this movie is aiming for the box office record of Avatar. I hope our luck is good enough."

Hearing this, Gu Wei smiled and said, "The box office of "Avatar" is too shocking. The record of more than 2 billion US dollars is unprecedented. As for whether there will be others to surpass it, it depends on the quality of the movie."

"That's great, I hope our luck isn't too bad."

Matt Damon said with emotion.

"Whether it can achieve high box office success depends on your performance. Let's continue filming."

Looking at his watch, Gu Wei shouted loudly.

"No problem, Director. We will do our best."

Everyone echoed and stood up to prepare.

The scenes were packed with scenes, and after a short break they started to get busy again. Everyone put in all their energy and performed with all their heart.

...

In China, the movies "Time Thieves" and "Ocean Heaven", which were released in late February and March, are about to be taken off the screen.

The former grossed 2300 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong Island, but less than million in China. However, the film received good reviews and received unanimous praise.

The latter's investment cost reached 2000 million, but its domestic box office was less than 1300 million.

This art film, starring Li Lianjie and Wen Zhang, suffered huge losses. It can only be said that as commercial films become more and more popular, art films are facing greater challenges.

Compared to the movie box office, the topic of Wen Zhang finding a godfather during the filming of "Ocean Paradise" is more worthy of media coverage.

The two played father and son in the movie. Outside the movie, Li Lianjie had no son, and the other party was very optimistic about Wen Zhang, so this happened.

At the same time, the film "Warring States", produced by Starry Sky and directed by Jin Chen, held a high-profile launch conference at Jiaozuo Film and Television City.

This film brings together Sun Honglei, Kim Hee Sun, Jiang Wu, Wu Zhenyu and others.

There is no need to guess who the heroine is, Lu Zheng made this play just to promote Jing Tian.

"Lu Zheng even called me and asked me to come over to film this movie, but I turned him down."

Ning Hao called Gu Wei and they started chatting.

"I heard that many big directors were invited, but how did they finally decide on this one?"

"Alas, several big directors have movies to shoot, and only people like us who have nothing to do can receive invitations from them."

Ning Hao sighed and even laughed at himself.

"I didn't stop you. Have you changed the script?"

Gu Wei mentioned the script he read last time.

"It's almost done. We still need to tweak the details and think about the actors."

In April, domestic films "Beauty Secret", "Ip Man Prequel" and "Go Lala Goes to Work" were released one after another.

……

(End of this chapter)