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Chapter 153: Changing Plans
🕑 Added 2024-11-10 07:59:21 +0000 UTCMusicals once had an extremely glorious period in Hollywood, but they fell into decline in the 70s and 80s. Even in the last few years of Duke's career, they did not make a comeback. Although *Chicago* appeared several years earlier, Duke wasn't too worried; after all, the so-called resurgence of musicals in the new century was merely a false concept.
One film, *Moulin Rouge*, had previously brought musicals back into Hollywood's view. When *Chicago* was released, the nostalgic mainstream in Hollywood eagerly announced the moment for musicals to regain their glory had arrived. But in reality?
It was just a flash in the pan. The subsequent *Sweet Charity* was only slightly better than a flop, and *High School Musical* was a television movie with limited impact, representing one of the most disregarded genres in mainstream Hollywood—teen idol musicals. Musicals had merely gone through a brief revival with *Moulin Rouge* and *Chicago*, and this fleeting resurgence was closely tied to the content and themes of the two films.
Nostalgia can be considered a mainstream societal convention. Each era has a large number of nostalgic individuals, and Hollywood and its audiences are no exception. This is the soil that allowed *Chicago* to survive. Not to mention the film's satire, the nostalgic elements alone are bound to evoke many people's sentiments, especially when the song "All That Jazz" plays, awakening countless viewers of musicals…
Most importantly, Broadway recently announced that *Chicago* would be restaged, bringing this classic musical back to Broadway!
With both the film and the musical in play, it wouldn't be too difficult to stir a small wave of nostalgia for the glorious days of musicals.
Duke was very clear about the fact that musicals had declined; this could only briefly stir the memories of certain people and could not create the viewing frenzy seen with action or sci-fi films.
These were crucial reasons for him to choose *Chicago*, which had a distinctly American flavor, over *Moulin Rouge*.
Of course, this kind of shift was quite significant, and the media and film fans would surely be surprised. How it would be commented on was hard to say, but there were benefits—there would undoubtedly be no shortage of topics for discussion. Controversies would spark curiosity, and some of that curiosity could translate into box office revenue.
In fact, there were many more reasons for this choice. After shooting several films, Duke had a certain confidence in his narrative techniques. Moreover, *Chicago* primarily attracted audiences through visual impact, which posed no difficulty for Duke. The most challenging part was the musical elements, for which he lacked professional expertise.
However, Hollywood and Broadway were not short on professionals in this area. While hiring a specialized choreographer might be somewhat troublesome, it was not insurmountable.
Additionally, the film's investment would not be too high, making it relatively easier to recoup costs. For the film company, winning awards was merely a means of profit; awards that did not yield returns could still lower the director's investment level or even blacklist them.
Ultimately, this film, like Duke's previous works, was a standard mainstream film. Straying from the mainstream was not impossible, but the time wasn't right yet; after all, his capital was not particularly abundant.
As for low-budget, high-return horror films, those were completely outside Duke's consideration. Why would he want to shift directions? Why would horror directors want to transition? If he were to move into blood-soaked horror or poorly-rated films that drained credibility, he would be driving himself into a dead end; it would be better not to change at all.
However, all of this would have to wait until after *Saving Private Ryan*. Duke's current task was to complete the production of this war epic.
After spending three days in London with his mother, Duke returned to Ireland, where the crew gathered again at a film site near Dublin.
There were only a few indoor scenes for the crew; most of the filming was outdoors. After a brief meeting with his team, Duke exited the makeshift studio and headed toward the nearby "Radar Base" at the edge of the *Braveheart* filming location. When he arrived there, he noticed a large number of figures moving not too far in front of him; it seemed that the *Braveheart* crew was filming next door.
"What's going on?" Duke asked.
The main filming locations of both crews were separated by a certain distance, but the edges were not too far apart—probably a few hundred feet.
"That's their set, just the very edge," Robin Grand said, who was relatively aware of the situation. "They started building the set before Christmas; it should be an unimportant scene."
Nodding, Duke didn't pay much attention. Time was tight for him, and as long as they didn't cross boundaries or affect his crew, he couldn't be bothered.
Upon reaching the arranged radar station, Tom Hanks was already prepared. Duke discussed camera positions and lighting issues with John Schwartzman before moving to Hanks's side.
"Tom, this scene has some difficulty," Duke said, sitting on the ruins. "It's a silent cry of pain for you. You're the backbone of the squad; you cannot let others perceive any weakness or excessive sorrow."
"Don't worry about it."
As the two grew more familiar, Tom Hanks occasionally cracked a joke. "I've already practiced a few times during Christmas. Colin even asked me what I was doing."
Duke knew that the Colin Hanks Tom was referring to was his eldest son. He patted Tom's arm and stood up to walk toward the director's monitor. As he said, this scene indeed had some difficulty, but for Tom Hanks, it was just a minor issue.
Preparations quickly fell into place, and upon Duke's signal, an assistant director picked up the clapperboard and stepped in front of the camera.
"Scene 21, Take 1, now starting!"
Sitting behind the monitor, Duke propped his chin on one hand, intently watching the image of Tom Hanks on the screen.
He sat on the ruins, unfolded a map in his hands, glanced behind him, and suddenly crouched down among the rubble, as if trying to hide from others, stifling his grief and sorrow, not allowing himself to cry out loud. Just as two lines of tears slid from his eyes, and his emotions were about to reach a crescendo…
The sound of horses neighing rang out repeatedly. Though separated by nearly a thousand feet, in the empty, quiet film set, the sounds were exceedingly clear; this noise was like a deadly weapon to the actors, and Tom Hanks immediately lost his focus.
Duke stood up and turned to look towards the *Braveheart* set. The distance was a bit far, and besides shadows of people and horses, he couldn't see any substantial details. But before his brow could furrow, there were several more sounds of neighing.
If it were in another environment, these sounds wouldn't matter, but in the quiet film set, it completely affected the shoot.
"Let's hold for a moment."
Though somewhat annoyed, it was hard to say whether the other crew was being deliberate, given how close the two were. Duke signaled for the other crew members to remain calm, "Let's take a break."
To his surprise, nearly twenty minutes later, it seemed the neighing showed no signs of stopping. Although the horse sounds were not as frequent as at the beginning, they would soon erupt again after a brief lull.
"Robin,"
This couldn't go on. Duke couldn't hold it in any longer. "Find someone to negotiate with them."
In reality, it wouldn't be hard to resolve; if the other party simply fitted the horses with bits, they would likely quiet down.
"I'll go over."
Charles Roven approached to stop Robin Grand. He understood that Duke's relations with that crew were not good, so he decided to personally walk over, find Mel Gibson himself, and discuss things.
More than ten minutes later, Charles Roven returned.
With disheveled hair, Mel Gibson came back to the monitor and scrutinized the recently filmed shots, where stuntmen played British soldiers galloping through a village, occasionally neighing as if those British soldiers treated the Scots with such arrogance.
The horses accentuated the humans, and the humans accentuated the horses; Mel Gibson was extremely satisfied with these shots.
"Mel, you're not going to make a concession, are you?"
At some point, Sean Connery had approached him from behind. "If there's less horse neighing, the shots definitely won't achieve the…"
"Put bits on the horses?" Mel Gibson seemed to ponder.
"That crew is Duke Rosenberg's." Sean Connery deliberately reminded him. "He has never had a good relationship with us and has even clashed with you directly. Martin doesn't like him either."
Mel Gibson's fingers gently tapped the armrest of his chair. Sean Connery continued, "We're just filming normally; no one can say anything. They can easily adjust their shooting schedule to film other scenes first."
"Disrupt their rhythm?" Mel Gibson turned to look at Sean Connery. "They would then spend more time, energy, and money, right?"
Sean Connery shrugged and nodded. Why not make things difficult for his rival, as long as it was within his ability?
"Let me be frank with you, Sean." Mel Gibson looked as fierce as the character he played, William Wallace. "I didn't like Duke Rosenberg from the moment I met him at Cruise's party!"
Having said that, he turned to his assistant. "Notify everyone to stick to the original shooting plan!"
On the other side, Duke had just finished talking with Charles Roven. The outcome of the negotiations seemed quite good.
Duke told his assistant to notify various departments, and Tom Hanks quickly arrived. After some brief preparations, filming was about to begin.
"Part 21, Act 1, now..."
Before the assistant director finished speaking, he automatically stopped because Sounds came from over there again!
Duke stood up from the director's chair and looked at the set of "Braveheart" with his dark eyes. He heard the horse braying again in his ears, and his eyes gradually turned cold. The old face of Charles Rowan standing next to him also looked very... It's not a good look, it's obvious that he was tricked by that arrogant Australian.
"Charles, let's change the shooting plan!" Duke's voice was very calm. "We'll shoot the big battle at the end first!"
"I totally agree!"
