Chapter 7： Start preparations

"Duke, this is Robin Grand."

In the conference room of Lucasfilm, George Lucas is introducing a middle-aged man to Duke, "Robin is the production manager hired by Lucasfilm for "Speed ​​of Life"."

"Hello, Duke."

The other party stood up first and stretched out his hand, "I have seen the video you edited, which is impressive."

"Nice to meet you, Robin."

Duke also stood up, shook hands with him across the long conference table, "I believe this is a pleasant cooperation."

As a well-established and well-established production system, Lucasfilm has officially started the preparatory work in just over a week since it notified Duke to attend the first meeting, including several important crews. There are also suitable candidates for the position, and the confidence of the senior Hollywood company is evident.

As the future spokesperson of producer George Lucas in the crew, Robin Grande undoubtedly has a great say. Since Duke has not signed a formal director contract with Lucasfilm, he will focus on What started is Duke's treatment and $() power issues.

"Your director's salary is $120,000."

He looked at Duke and saw that he didn't say anything, and continued, "We will pay 50,000 US dollars first; the filming is completed, and then 50,000 US dollars will be paid, and the final 20,000 US dollars will be paid after the film is downloaded from North America. "

Duke knows that this is Hollywood practice, "I have no opinion."

Later, Robin Grande talked about a series of directors’ powers and obligations. Combined with Duke’s own requirements, he will participate in the preparation of the crew, the preparation of the film and many other things, but like most new directors, He has the right to speak and make suggestions, but not the final decision.

There is also the right to select the main actors. Duke also has the right to make suggestions, but not the right to decide.

"I hope you can carefully consider my actor suggestions." Within a reasonable range, Duke will definitely fight for the appropriate rights for himself. "I request to participate in the post-editing of the film, and the final editing will also be the same. I have to consider my suggestions."

Editing can completely determine the fate of a film. Duke knows that he cannot get the final editing rights, and only hopes to make the film as much as possible to achieve the editing effect he wants.

These requirements have gone beyond Robin Grand’s scope of power. He looked at George Lucas who was sitting in the first place.

"As long as your suggestion is reasonable." George Lucas didn't mean to refuse at all.

Duke breathed a sigh of relief. For the new director, it is very rare to have such power. In the Hollywood production mode, let alone the final editing rights, quite a few directors will be excluded from editing.

"And one more thing."

When the meeting was about to end, Duke tentatively made a request, "Uncle George...well, George, convert my initial salary of $100,000 into the production cost of the film..."

"Then you have a proportional share of the movie's revenue?" George Lucas tilted his head and looked at him.

Probably knowing that his request was excessive, Duke made a few meaningless gestures and completely abandoned these unreliable ideas.

But what he didn't expect was that when he signed a formal director contract with Lucasfilm in the afternoon accompanied by his mother's lawyer, this clause was added to the additional terms of the film...

Of course, this is a little money that can only be allocated after deducting various fees such as theater chains and publishers.

After signing his name on a two-part contract, Duke suddenly felt a weird feeling. He seemed to have more power, right?

But this is a good thing, isn't it?

As a producer, George Lucas is only responsible for the general direction, and the specific matters are basically handed over to the production team headed by Robin Grande. He will be the representative system in the preparation, shooting and production stages of the film. The film crew, the people who deal with Duke and the entire crew in the future.

"The film's tentative budget is 15 million U.S. dollars, and the initial funding of 10 million U.S. dollars has already arrived."

When he came out with Duke, Robin Grande was still talking about the preparations. He obviously got the order of George Lucas to teach Duke some experience through language and work. "The remaining 5 million US dollars Lucasfilm will soon be in place to raise funds, and our studio will be located in West Hollywood near Santa Monica, the main location."

"Does the studio have a name?" Duke asked.

"Not yet." Robin Grand shrugged.

"How about'speed'?"

"not bad……"

They talked and walked to the parking lot, got in their cars, and left.

Duke had already quit his job as a temporary worker, and he would go to West Hollywood's ‘Speed’ studio to report on time every day for the rest of the day.

The studio system can be said to be the practice of major Hollywood companies. Whenever a high-investment film project is established, the production company will set up a corresponding studio to coordinate the film’s funding, preparation, personnel, shooting, advertising, sponsorship and surroundings After all kinds of work, some big movie studios can often exist for several years or even more than ten years.

The pre-preparation and post-production of a film are often more cumbersome than shooting, especially for commercial productions full of big scenes.

Lucasfilm has a profound background and a strong appeal in the industry. The'speed' studio has only been established for more than ten days, and contracts for photography, setting, lighting, makeup, clothing, and art direction have been successively signed, most of which are They are some people who often cooperate with Lucasfilm.

Lucasfilm can also digest many positions internally. For example, the soundtrack was handed over to Skywalker sound effects, and the special effects production was in charge of Industrial Light and Magic.

The entire preparatory process is closely related to the director. What kind of lens language is needed, the possible influence of the actors on the film, the inspection of the studio and other departments to determine the lighting set, clarify the post-editing ideas, and exchange the dubbing with Skywalker’s sound effects. Duke must be prepared in the early stages.

Lease prop venues, make scenery based on Duke's recommendations, contact cheap car rental companies, find suitable roads and locations, etc., all of which will be done by professionals. Hollywood's assembly line production is both cooperative and highly specialized.

In the following month, Duke completed most of the sketches for the shots. The preparatory work for the film was only halfway through. According to Robin Grande, the film will never start shooting before mid-September. .

"There will be at least five large explosion scenes in the shooting."

At the meeting of the crew, Duke said his request, "The two explosions in the opening scene of the film and the collision of the bus with the plane. We can use a reduced-scale model to shoot on the set..."

He must save money. There is no other way. "The bus explodes on the street and the house explodes. Take on-site shooting as much as possible."

"Duke..."

One of Robin Grand’s subordinates said at this time, “The approval for the street explosion has been passed.”

"I'm looking for a suitable house." Another person said, "We have someone who checked the record at the City Hall, looking for detached houses waiting to be demolished in the greater Los Angeles area."

"Model production is in progress..."

When Duke looked over, the head of the industrial light and magic special effects team said, "It will definitely not affect your shooting plan."

The atmosphere of the meeting looked pretty good, at least on the surface. Duke knew he couldn’t convince the crowd at all. The crew basically used Hollywood veterans. These people were very savvy. Even when Lucas stood up for himself, Any thoughts in the heart will not be shown on the bright side.

Duke doesn’t care about these people’s ideas either. Except for the support of George Lucas, he has no capital. In this highly qualified and powerful circle, he doesn’t think that he can convince them by showing his ability at work. It's not realistic at all if they become elite people. Their inner doubts will probably accompany until the crew disbands.

In particular, it took them a few years or even more than a decade to get to the position where he is currently not on the top, but he has made his way to the sky and became a director with a ten million dollar investment level. What kind of imbalance will happen to many of them? , Can also imagine.

These are not important to Duke. As long as he can maintain the apparent working relationship without affecting the production of the film, he doesn't care at all. What he needs most now is a successful qualification!

A successful one can change many things in Hollywood. He will not be the same as before. No one wants to send it to the door. He also has the capital to form his own production team. In the future shooting, as much as possible to reduce the inevitable internal friction of each crew!

Some special effects production issues were also discussed. The dominant voice was gradually taken away by Robin Grande, who is the most powerful person in this office.

As the preparatory stage of the film enters the end, the selection of suitable main actors is naturally on the agenda.

Others quickly left the office temporarily serving as a meeting room, leaving only Duke, two associate directors, and several producers including Robin Grande.

"I suggest that the actor choose Keanu Reeves."

After Robin’s assistant exchanged coffee for everyone, Duke was the first to speak, “Although his acting skills are not excellent, it is enough to handle such a character with a sullen face from beginning to end, and he has a certain reputation. The pay is low enough."

"I have watched his movies and I have also seen him in person."

This is the first assistant director named Kone. He has nearly ten years of experience in the industry. At this time, he put forward different opinions, "Keanu Reeves is too thin! Don’t forget, this is an action movie. Strong muscles!"

His eyes quickly drifted across Kone's face, and Duke was not eager to refute it. This was not the first time the other party opposed his opinion.

"Let’s do it, include Keanu Reeves in the audition and issue an invitation to his broker." Robin Grande took the topic, "In the next two weeks, our main job is to finalize the hero and the hero. And several candidates for the main supporting roles."