Exterior Scene
"Very good, the big ship has passed through the Panama Canal. We have finished filming this section. The people on the high-speed boat have no problem filming this part. They did a good job. This section can be passed."
Standing on the shore, watching another important scene of his movie, Levi sighed in relief and felt that his whole body was much relieved.
The filming of this movie was really troublesome. It's already November, and they have just finished filming the Panama Canal scene. If this continues, it will be really difficult to complete the pre-production of the movie this year.
He was still a little nervous since he didn't expect to have much time.
On the promotional website, a lot of footage is available for Levi's movie. However, Levi understands that while this footage can be used for promotional purposes, it is better to use as little of it as possible in the actual movie.
Although such a lens is very cool, it needs some sense of reality.
If there are too many such shots in a movie, it can easily give people a false feeling. If you really want to shoot good special effects shots, it is better to use a combination of real scenes and models.
The reason why Levi knows this aspect is that it is a matter of experience: among the movies released in 2002, there are two that are worth learning from.
A positive example is The Lord of the Rings. There are very few pure scenes in the whole film. Most of them are combined, which gives people a very good impression.
A negative example is Star Wars. In the Star Wars prequel movies, there are a lot of dazzling skills, and the evaluation is not very good.
Levi knows these future evaluations; of course, he must learn from the good ones.
And learning this is easier said than done.
It's more difficult to shoot. For example, shooting the scene of cutting up the big ship is very troublesome.
In order to capture a scene of a nanowire slicing through a large ship, the precedent set by Hollywood is to construct a scale model of the ship, and then a specialized studio must be built that is fully equipped for filming.
In the era before special effects, during the 1980s, this was the only method for producing a science fiction movie. Although the resulting footage may appear crude, it was considered a classic at the time.
And now, the situation is no longer the same.
Because the technology is excellent enough, it needs to be made more sophisticated to satisfy the audience.
After the old steps are completed, the model is imported into the computer for animation processing and combined with the real scene.
Only in this way can a good enough picture be formed.
It seems very simple, but when compositing these two parts, the light and the movement coherence of the characters need to be completely consistent between the two parts of the model and the real-life shooting.
This is also the most difficult part. Compared to the three-day volley and other scenes, which can be completely reliant on technology, this scene is the more difficult one.
What Levi wants is the most realistic picture, so when he was filming the Panama Canal in real life, he also rented a cruise ship and filmed it passing through the Panama Canal.
Then, he combined this set of shots with the scene of nanowires cutting a large ship that he simulated through a model, used animation to make it consistent, and then used editing to make the flaws invisible, and this set of shots was completed.
But this process is really tiring. If you want to shoot a movie on the Panama Canal, the procedures involved are enough to be annoying. Not to mention setting up a camera position and a temporary studio to film the actors' conversations on the shore. Coupled with the capture of light and the simulation of the hydrological environment, this part is also a headache.
Fortunately, this set of shots is finally completed.
"When the model ship is cut open, the camera movements of the people in the port have to be processed. This area needs to work harder to make it right. You can't cut corners in this aspect. This is the most important thing."
Although Levi hoped that the movie could be shot faster, he also knew that the process could not be rushed - the last part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was such an example.
The production of this movie is the same as the previous two, but because there are too many special effects shots that need to be processed, although the movie still maintains a good standard, it is still not as good as the previous two.
Therefore, after this part was filmed, he handed it over to the special effects department.
Levi has always been a cautious person and strives to follow the best experience in every aspect.
"The more I watch these shootings, the more I feel that movie shooting is much more difficult than before. In the past, as long as there were people and cameras, you could basically start shooting. But now, with so much technical equipment, movies are becoming more and more harder to do well." Watching Levi instruct the technicians, Washington sighed.
He originally didn't have a role in this part, but while filming this movie, he became increasingly curious about the story. Therefore, when Levi led the team to shoot the scene, he also came to visit with Levi.
He also has some thoughts of his own: now that he has won the Best Actor Award, he has also had some ideas about trying out what it's like to be a director. It may not be a bad thing to follow a great director and learn how others do it.
However, seeing that this commercial film requires so many steps and work to shoot well, he was shocked, and at the same time, the idea of becoming a director also weakened a lot.
This thing is really not something you can play with.
"There is no way around it. In the future, movies will develop towards paying more and more attention to special effects, which is an irreversible trend.
After all, various means of watching movies are becoming more and more developed. Many movies can be watched at home. There is no need to go to the cinema to watch movies.
If you want the audience to enter the cinema, you must let them see things they can't see at home."
Levi sighed, and he was also just as helpless.
As technology advances, of course, movies are getting better and better, but people are also increasingly able to enjoy watching movies while sitting at home.
General drama movies, even if they are watched at home, do not affect people's viewing experience, so the number of people willing to go to the cinema will naturally decrease.
Washington nodded. Although he didn't quite understand, he was right to agree with the director, "Yes, you have to give the audience some great shots to attract the audience to come out from the small screen. For example, a few days ago, the scene shot in the cornfield is definitely not as enjoyable as watching it on the big screen on TV."
What Washington said was at the end of the movie. When several protagonists watched locusts together, they came to the conclusion that the bugs could not be easily eliminated.
When filming this shot, Levi also asked people to put an excessive amount of locusts directly into a small field and shoot a real shot.
After all, it is okay to simulate human beings through technological means, but it is difficult to simulate a large-scale insect disaster. Such shots still have to be shot mainly in real life.
It was naturally expensive actually to shoot this scene. However, after the shot was taken, looking at the overwhelming swarm of locusts in the shot also made Washington realize that this kind of scene must be shot in order for the movie to be beautiful.
Some things are just played on a grand scale.
Thinking of the scenes that have been shot in the movie, Denzel Washington did feel a little emotional.
In the studio in Canada, the movie completed the filming of scenes such as ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and ancient Egypt.
As for the exterior scenes, the crew also completed the filming of New York, the desert, and the Panama Canal.
Not to mention the other parts of this movie, these shots alone are enough to make people feel fascinated. Big movies do have unique benefits.
But although the big scene was great, another problem made him a little worried.
"It seems that it will be a little difficult to complete the pre-production of this movie this year, right? It's almost December, and there are still a lot of scenes that have not been shot. Can the movie still make it in time for the summer release in May?"
After a few words of agreement, Washington also mentioned one of the most critical issues.
As an actor, he is also concerned about the filming time of the film. December is coming soon, and many people in the crew hope to go home for Christmas and New Year.
This holiday is still very important to Americans, especially a big star like him. At this time, you have to show your face on TV programs. Otherwise, how can you maintain the audience's memory of you?
However, if they go for the Christmas holidays now, will it affect the filming of the movie? If the movie cannot be released in May next year, the loss will not be made up for by one Christmas.
How to weigh the pros and cons is also a question. He couldn't decide whether to leave or stay.
"Fortunately, don't worry too much. The desert scenes were shot in Nevada, and the shots of ancient Rome and ancient Greece have also been completed.
After this set of shots is finished, the remaining part is to go to China to shoot large-scale scenes, group performance, and then return to the United States to reshoot some scenes, and the early shooting can be considered complete."
Levi was somewhat prepared for this, "If you want to go back to the United States to celebrate the New Year, Then you can go back. Anyway, the next step is for me to go to China to shoot the remaining part of the movie. This part, even during the Christmas period, will not delay the work."
With the American entertainment industry, for Christmas and New Year, the importance of other activities is very different. In China, especially at this time in 2002, they did not attach great importance to Christmas.
Levi believed he could continue filming there during this period, and the film would definitely be shot well.
As a director, you have to make suitable arrangements for the shooting time. Coordinating the overall situation is one of the director's jobs, and it is also the most crucial part.
"That would be great. When I return to the United States, I will also participate in promotional activities to promote your movie."
Washington stopped Levi's words and nodded, not forgetting to add what he wanted to do mattered.
"Then, please. Denzel, let's work hard together. Believe me, this movie will definitely be successful."
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
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