Challenges

Tim Roth's scene was the first to start shooting on the entire set. 

Levi asked to shoot this scene first. 

On the one hand, he had fewer people in the scene, and the scene was smaller, making it easier to shoot. On the other hand, he also had some thoughts about testing his own film shooting equipment and standards. 

He understood what he was thinking, and so did the other actors on set. When he was filming this scene, he heard that Levi was experimenting with his new equipment. This attempt also attracted many other actors to come and watch.

Meryl Streep was standing on the set at this time, looking at the scenes and equipment for this shooting with interest.

Meryl Streep can be said to be one of the biggest names in this movie, and she was the last to agree to star in the film. Because she had multiple filming appointments, she and Levi had some minor issues in negotiating the time. It was not until recently that she and the crew agreed on the time.

However, when she came to the crew, she soon discovered that maybe she shouldn't worry about the time issue. It might be better for her if she agreed to film earlier.

"Ms. Streep, you are someone who has seen a lot of big scenes. When it comes to performance, I believe you can have more and better insights than others. If you think there is something wrong with my movie, please tell me."

When he saw her coming to watch, Levi also expressed his attitude very sincerely and politely. Although Meryl verbally agreed with his statement, in her heart, she also made up her mind that it would be better to say less about Levi's movies.

Because she discovered, she really doesn't have much to say about this movie.

As a well-known actress, Meryl Streep has participated in the filming of many movies. Among these movies, there are many very classic works, as well as some big productions with big investments. However, she is very clear that compared to the filming of this movie, the movies she has shot in the past seem to pale into insignificance.

The amount of investment in this movie, through these on-site equipment, can be seen very clearly; movies with such a large investment are extremely rare in Hollywood. 

A large number of CG shots, unique shooting equipment, the way the scenes are handled, and the actors' invitation fees all give people the impression of burning money, with hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the set. You can have a clear view.

However, these aspects are not what really surprises her. What really surprises her is the great determination of this film hidden under the large investment.

For ordinary commercial films, the investment is not small. But apart from the investment and the special effects, the connotation and artistry of the commercial film itself, in terms of shooting techniques and other aspects, is slightly worse. 

However, the most surprising thing about this movie is that Levi not only pursues the commercial aspect of the movie but also does not relax at all in terms of shooting techniques.

For example, the most obvious thing is the shooting method used in this movie. 

How many movies would try shooting from a subjective perspective in commercial blockbusters under a CG setting? At least, with so many superhero blockbusters in Hollywood now, none of these movies even try. 

However, Levi chose to experiment here.

The courage to make such an attempt is exceptionally remarkable for a director. Innovating any shooting technique in a commercial blockbuster may come at the expense of box office damage.

Levi's choice has to be said to be admirable. With such great determination, it is really not easy for him as a director.

Moreover, this is not the only one of his attempts. Meryl quickly thought of the scene she needed to shoot.

In this play, Meryl Streep plays the role of the President of the United Nations. Playing such a political figure is not too difficult, and she thinks she can perform well. However, the arrangement of this role surprised her because this scene is the first shot.

The scene shot here is the entire United Nations General Assembly Hall. In other words, this shot was of a huge venue with 1,800 people, and the scene of the shot was a meeting of the United Nations.

This means that this scene is a huge challenge. There are nearly 2,000 people filming, a lot of long shots are part of the scene, and the performers here include Meryl Streep, Javier Bardem, Robert Downey Jr., Martin Sheen, and Ralph Fiennes. There are many famous actors in the crowd below who have no role but need to be part of the background, such as Isabella Adjani, Denzel Washington, Zhang Manyu, and Yamasugi Keiko, who plays Bill Seams' wife.

In fact, even though Meryl has been acting for so many years, she is still very surprised by this lineup. 

Among these people, Washington and herself are both very famous now. Martin Sheen and Fiennes are also long-established actors; Javier Bardem is the well-deserved number-one Spanish actor, and Maggie Cheung is the most popular among Chinese actors. 

Among the actresses, it may not be appropriate to say that she is the first, but there is absolutely no problem in saying that she is among the top three. And even Downey, who seems to be the least qualified, has a very glorious past in Hollywood. 

It's really not easy for Levi to get these people together.

Moreover, this does not include the fact that in this film, Tim Roth, Adjani, and others are basically guest stars.

American stars, European stars, Asian stars, how difficult it is to bring these people together and perform on the same stage! 

In the past, people have always said that Levi's The Departed probably has the most gorgeous cast among all his movies, but after this movie, this title will definitely change.

She heard that Levi really put a lot of thought into it behind the scenes. 

As far as she knew, the time schedule she proposed to the crew was very harsh. 

Denzel Washington put forward new salary requirements for the crew. 

Fiennes was the person Levi asked Liam Neeson to invite. Zhang Guorong got in touch with the help of Hong Kong contacts. Relying on the excellent setting of the role of Yamasugi Keiko, Maggie Cheung was hired by Clark, who was impressed and let her join.

It is really not easy to get these world-renowned actors together. This also made Meryl faintly excited: performing on the same stage with so many well-known actors is a real test of acting skills.

Such a scene is simply challenging, no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, this scene is still held in such a large venue. If any actor is not in place when filming this scene, the whole scene will have to be delayed for a long time, and the scenes of several leading actors also need to be performed separately. 

Martin Sheen's toughness, Javier Bardem's romance, Ralph Fiennes' elegance, Meryl Streep's reserve, and Downey's confusion and cynicism - their charms need to be revealed. It also requires the help and support of more than 1,800 extras below. Such a scene is definitely not easy to shoot.

Moreover, when filming this scene, Levi still had a lot of tasks. At the shooting scene, he used a series of equipment such as lifting cranes, camera stabilizers, zoom lenses, sliding rails, etc. He wanted to use a long lens to capture all the reactions of different people in the venue at once.

Such a long lens itself is very difficult. There are more than a thousand people here. If the shooting fails, you have to start over again. How much trouble is this? 

Moreover, how to organically interweave long and short shots and how to make the characters express a sufficient sense of rhythm so as not to appear particularly abrupt or dull are all things that need to be considered.

Why are Hollywood directors using long takes less and less? The biggest reason is that long lenses are too time-consuming and laborious. A good long lens sometimes takes several months to design and shoot. In such a long time, some directors who like to shoot low-key movies would have made several works.

Time is money; this is an eternal truth.

Since joining the crew, the actors have been busy working on this scene. Unlike Tim Roth's scene, where there are only a few people in total, their lens requires too many things to prepare. 

Now, several people are still in the familiarization stage and cannot start shooting immediately. Such a scene requires a lot of hard work to perform well, and the concentration of hard work requires time and tempering.

For commercial films, spending too much time will lead to increased costs to a large extent.

However, Levi didn't seem particularly concerned about this and just asked that the scene be photographed well. It seems that he has enough confidence in the movie's box office.

Could it be said that such a movie, shot in a 3D version, can really earn such a large box office revenue? Meryl didn't know about this either. 

Although she felt in her heart that if there really was such a movie that brought together stars and had top-notch graphics, she would go and see it. 

She still couldn't believe a movie could take back a box office of more than one billion.

The challenge is simply too great. This movie was even shot with the determination that it would fail if it didn't surpass the Titanic. It would be too difficult to win such a battle.

She had always thought James Cameron was the only one who dared to take on such a challenge - only he could afford to fail. However, now it seems that there is someone who dares to try besides him.

But what if he really wins? What if she was involved in the most popular movie in the world?

This idea also made her a little excited.

So, no matter what, play this role well. Just let yourself see if your movie really has the ability to challenge the best in history!

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons 

Marcelo Maia

Britanna

Mandy G

Scott DePaepe

Oluwatimileyin Olayemi

Herylle Ian Gloria

You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.