Heads Up Hollywood

By September, the North American box office of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Man's Menace" had accumulated to 530 million U.S. dollars.

The final North American box office and global box office of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Man's Menace" surpassed the box office myth of "Titanic", but it became the second box office after "Titanic" to break through 1 billion Movies at the dollar mark are just around the corner.

The "Wedding Crashers" produced by Tang En Films has been released in the world one after another. It has been released in North America for three weeks. The box office is 26.4 million US dollars, 23.8 million US dollars, and 22.6 million US dollars, for a total of 72.8 million US dollars.

This is a romantic comedy, and it is impossible for it to explode at the box office like a commercial film, relying on the long-term box office that is as smooth as water. Although it has not won the weekly chart for three consecutive weeks, the strong box office trend has already witnessed another success of Tang En Pictures.

In particular, the wonderful performance of the heroine Reese Witherspoon has gained a large number of fans. I heard that she has received three film contracts in her hand, all of which are the type of silly and sweet comedy heroines.

Naturally, Twain would not limit her acting career, after all, the lead actress' salary was far beyond that of a secretary.

"Twain, there is something wrong with the special effects team." Andy Thompson, Dunn's queen assistant director, walked over worriedly.

At this time, the "Spider-Man" crew is preparing to shoot a thrilling explosion scene in an abandoned factory in Downey, California.

This scene should actually take place in Times Square, New York, but it is absolutely impossible for the crew to shoot the explosion scene in Times Square, let alone the scene of the building collapsing.

Regarding this set of shots, Tang En once discussed with the special effects team whether it is possible to edit the characters on the building that is about to collapse through the green screen shooting in the early stage and special effects processing in the later stage.

The answer from the special effects team is yes, but it takes a long time for special effects processing. "Spider-Man" is scheduled to be scheduled for May next year. If there are too many post-production special effects lens processing, I am afraid that the time will not be staggered.

After thinking about it for a while, Tang En decided to shoot on location.

Of course, it was not the actual shooting of Times Square, but through the close cooperation of art directors, visual effects artists, special effects directors, plate painters and other staff, some scenes of Times Square were restored in this abandoned factory, and then produced Build a building that can collapse.

John Fraser, the special effects director of the crew, worked with Twain when he was filming "Titanic". biggest challenge ever!"

In the next sequence of shots, the heroine Mary Jane sits on a crumbling balcony bombed by bombs, and then her life hangs by a thread.

The balcony is very high from the ground. Even if there are protective measures underneath, in the event of an accident, the balcony really falls, and Jessica Alba is likely to be injured.

"Can't the balcony be fixed?" Tang En frowned, "If it's not possible, let Jessica hang on to Wia."

John Fraser shook his head immediately, "I have adopted a computer-controlled hydraulic device, even if the balcony is tilted to 90 degrees, it will never fall. My worry is another problem."

"oh?"

"Miss Alba is too close to the explosion point, the glass fragments brought by the explosion are likely to splash on her, and even... scratch her."

Tang En was silent for a moment, "Is there no solution?"

John Fraser shook his head, "The explosion is quite powerful and can easily hurt people. I think...a short male stand-in can be found to replace her in this scene."

"I can't use a stand-in, I need to use a wide-angle lens to show Mary Jane's panic and fear during the explosion, to increase the urgency and danger of the lens."

Tang En felt a little helpless.

In the future, when making movies, especially commercial blockbusters, I will definitely not be in a hurry. Such a shot, if it was shot with green screen, it would be too simple. However, live shooting, in addition to saving time in post-production, has too many disadvantages.

At this time, Jessica Alba walked over quietly and said softly, "Director, I can."

"Um?"

Tang En glanced at her in surprise.

After several months of getting along, apart from Jessica Alba's sweet face and hot figure, Tang En was not impressed.

Tang En even made up his mind to end this "partner" relationship as soon as the movie ended. There are too many beautiful girls in Hollywood, and Jessica Alba is not good enough to waste too much energy on him.

Regardless of EQ, IQ, or sex in bed, they are far behind Nicole Kidman.

Unexpectedly, Jessica Alba bravely stood up in the face of this kind of explosion scene that girls can't avoid.

Tang En took a deep look at her, "This may hurt you."

Jessica shook her head firmly, "For filming, it doesn't matter if there is a slight injury. I can turn my face away when the explosion occurs. As long as there is no scratch on my face, it will not affect the progress of filming."

John Fraser glanced at Tang En and hesitated, "Actually, it's not necessarily possible to be injured, it's just a possibility. If Miss Alba can persist, I believe this set of shots will be fine."

"Okay, let's do that!"

Tang En waved his hand and made a decision.

...

In order to increase the viewability and visual effects of the movie, Twain greatly increased the action scenes and the shots of Spiderman "flying" between various buildings. Most of the film's budget is spent on this aspect.

"Camera No. 7, go to the right, yes... move another ten meters!" Tang En held a loudspeaker in his hand, standing on the street built on the first floor of the abandoned factory, looking at the second floor and the elevated cameras , the conductor adjusted the direction.

The explosion scene had to be passed one by one, otherwise it would cause a lot of trouble to the crew. Tang En had to coordinate the work of the crew to make sure nothing went wrong.

Fortunately, in this group of shots, apart from the violent explosion and the collapse of the building, only "Mary Jane" played by Jessica Alba appeared in the shot, showing panic, fear, and frightened expressions.

The rest of the close-ups of the expressions of the onlookers need to be shot on-site in Times Square, New York, and then edited with special effects in post-production to perfectly connect.

In order to take a good shot of this set of shots, Tang En set up a total of 12 cameras, 4 in the air, 4 on the second floor, and 4 on the first floor, to capture the explosion scene from all angles.

Because once the explosion occurs, the model building that the crew spent a lot of money on will collapse, and there is no possibility of a second reshoot.

"Well, good, the location is good!" Tang En looked away from the viewfinder, and then picked up the walkie-talkie on his waist, "John, I'm Tang En, is everything ready?"

Stunt director John Fraser held the master switch of the explosion, his voice was a little hoarse, "Ready, it can explode at any time!"

"Very good! Remember, after the filming is finished, put Jessica down immediately and check her physical condition."

"clear."

Tang En took a deep breath, and pressed the red button on the walkie-talkie, "I am Tang En, everyone pay attention, the explosion will start immediately, the countdown, 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... begins!"

"boom!"

A violent explosion sounded in the closed abandoned factory. The loud sound seemed to overturn the entire factory.

The huge fireball and energy impact caused by the explosion created a wonderful fiery red picture.