Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 99 Confrontation on the set
  "What's wrong? Tang De?" John raised his head and left the monitor, with some confusion on his face.

Everyone was following the previous drill very well, but unexpectedly Tang De suddenly stopped them, which was a little strange.

"Move up the lens, yes, that's it, do it again!" Tang De asked Dion to readjust the camera.

"Okay." Dion shrugged.

Tang De himself was responsible for the difficult panning shots, while the shot assigned to Dion was a tracking shot, following the actor forward. This shot is very basic and important. It is one of the bones that connects the entire scene. If this shot is not shot well, the entire stage image may not be able to smoothly connect.

But just now he discovered that Dion's camera angle deviated from the set angle, which was why he suddenly stopped.

But this was just the beginning. Every time the dance performance reached one-third of the way, Tang De would find that Dion had modified the shot route he had planned. Although his movements were very subtle, they could not escape Tang De's eyes.

"Ka! Dion, your lens..."

"Ka! Dion! Something went wrong!"

Tang De, who stopped three times, could no longer bear the chief photographer and came directly to him.

"What are you doing?" Dion stared at Tang De's expressionless face, expressing doubts.

"You ask me? Why don't you ask yourself?"

"Don, are you blaming me?" Dion was silent for a moment and suddenly amplified his voice for everyone present to hear.

"Did I offend you?" Dion spread his hands.

Tang De did not answer his evasive words, but said: "So do you think this kind of shooting is right?"

"What's wrong? Don, isn't this what you arranged?" Dion said not to be outdone: "I shot exactly according to the angles given by the shots. It has been three times and I have never changed! It's all you. Stop filming! Jam, jam, jam, honestly, I don’t understand why you want to stop filming.”

"Because there's something wrong with your lens!"

"What's wrong with me, Don! Is it high or low? John didn't see anything wrong on the monitor, so whose problem is it?"

Everyone and John nodded silently, indicating that they indeed found no problem.

Could it be that the position of director made Tang De too nervous, which led to his mistakes?
  Tang De narrowed his eyes and felt deeper hostility from Dion's attitude.

"Do you think I saw it wrong?" he asked repeatedly.

"Of course! Tang! I filmed the whole process according to the angle you set! There is no problem!"

Dion walked up to John again, pointed at his electronic monitor and said, "If you don't believe me, we can watch the replay!"

The angle of view seen by an electronic monitor is the same as that of a film camera, although there is a huge difference in color rendering between the two.

The reason why many directors have always been fond of film photography is because the color of film is far more natural and better-looking than digital transition.

Since Tang De thinks there is something wrong with Dieng's angle, watching the replay on the electronic monitor is also a way to prove it.

Everyone nodded silently and gathered in front of the electronic monitor.

"Come on, John, turn on the replay." Dion was now confident, as if he really had no fault.

John heard the replay and everyone watched it again, but found no problems.

No mistakes were found in either the angle or the composition, as if Tang De really made a mistake.

In an instant, everyone around him focused their attention on Tang De. Along with Dion's innocent expression, the invisible pressure in the air doubled.

The next second, Zeta-Jones changed the subject: "Maybe there was something wrong when we were dancing. Come on, teacher, let's correct the dance posture again and continue filming, Tang."

Ke Lin also nodded and said to the crew: "The sun will set soon. We still have a lot to shoot for this scene, so let's continue."

John patted Tang De on the shoulder and motioned for him to direct the filming again.

Dion snorted in his heart. He didn't expect that so many people were speaking for Tang De, which made his original idea come to nothing.

But just as things were about to pass, Tang De smiled slightly and walked to Dion again for some reason.

He lowered his head and looked deeply at Dion, then turned to Kidd, the film developer at the scene, and said, "Teacher, please develop the film from Dion's camera. I want to see the finished film."

"Developing the film now?" Everyone was shocked.

Because of the special nature of film photography, the crew always brings a simple darkroom and several developers with them. This is to develop and preserve the film as soon as possible to avoid light leakage due to long storage.

But even if it is developed, it will only be done after every day of shooting. If Tang De asks for development now, it means that they will waste a long time on it, and the progress of the shooting will once again face a stagnation.

Therefore, everyone was hesitant about Tang De's decision.

But right now, the biggest member of the crew is Tang De, the assistant director. Rob is in the hospital, and Belt has also gone to the hospital. Even if he calls now, he won't be able to get back.

"What are you going to do! Don, we are just trying to catch up!" Dion seized the opportunity and said reluctantly: "Do you have to prove me wrong for the sake of face? Then I will admit it now, Don, I was wrong! I didn’t follow the route, is that okay?”

Others also tried to dissuade them: "Don, we can reshoot without sending the film for development. Wouldn't it be nice if you and Dion changed the camera positions?"

"Yes, that's right, we just changed the camera position." "Dion, you will be responsible for the shots above."

"Girls, let's move on again."

"Tang, let's try to go through it once. There are still many scenes that need to be reshot."

Amidst the noise of people, Dion couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't expect that Tang De actually wanted to develop the film, which was not what he expected.

Fortunately, someone else persuaded me...

However, as soon as he felt relieved, a roar made his heart rise again.

"Quiet, everyone!" It was Tang De, his expression was serious, like a lion in full force.

Everyone was frightened and immediately fell silent. They didn't know why Tang De suddenly became angry.

"Kid, go and develop the film. I want to see it in half an hour." After Tang De shocked the scene, he directly arranged for the development, then looked at Dion and said: "FXXK! Dion, do you think I Don’t you know what you did?”

"What do you mean? What the hell are you talking about?" Dion also confronted angrily.

"You lowered the fucking angle of the camera. Of course you can't see it on the electronic monitor, but when the movie is finished and edited, you can see that the shadow on Zeta Jones's face is wrong! Do you think you can hide this little trick? Pass me?"

In photography, there are two most important factors that affect the picture, one is light, and the other is angle.

Needless to say, lighting, the photography angle may seem simple, but it actually greatly affects a person’s facial lines.

For example, if a girl is photographed from above, she will become fatter, if she is photographed from above, she will become thinner, and if she is photographed from the side, defects in the bridge of her nose will be exposed.

Although Zeta-Jones has superior facial features and does not have to worry about exposing her flaws, her hairstyle in the movie is similar to a watermelon-topped short haircut. The biggest problem with this hairstyle is the heavy shadows.

Therefore, Dion used a very covert technique during the filming of the film.

The lights on the stage are all spotlights. From the top of the head downwards, the shadows on the actors' faces are heavy.

Even though there are many light sources on the front, in order to create a dark environment, we still have to make a choice so that the character's face always stays at the intersection of light and shadow.

In addition, in order to show the group dance, the camera was always shot from above, so the dark and depressive feeling of the overall environment was more obvious and also had a consequence.

That is, as long as the camera angle changes slightly, the shadow formed by Zeta Jones's bangs will cover her eyes and merge into one.

Thinking about a shot like that, the actor's eyes and hair are shrouded in thick shadows. This kind of scene is definitely impossible for Rob to agree with, and it will definitely be re-shot.

Whose responsibility will it be then?
  Could it be Dion’s? He can completely refute it by saying that he shot it according to the lens specified by Tang De.

If Tang De didn't tell him, he would definitely suffer the consequences.

As for electronic monitors, it can only be said that the colors of electronic monitor screens in this era are also very limited, and it is impossible to simulate the effect of the finished film. It is gray and can only be seen through the lens scheduling.

Therefore, Dion's trick will certainly not be exposed. Even if Director Rob is on the scene, he cannot confirm it with the naked eye. He can only make a judgment after seeing the film developed.

This is one of the reasons why film photography is so expensive, each reshoot costs a fortune.

After hearing that Tang De exposed his tactics, the anger on Dion's face became more and more obvious, like a bull: "FXXKYOU! You are slandering! I have never done such a thing!"

"Really? It's not up to you to say that! I'm going to show everyone what shit you took today."

Tang De didn't say anything else to him. He just sat back on the chair and waited for the film to be developed.

If it were anyone else, they might not be able to stick to their point of view in the face of Dion's precise words and the suspicious gazes from around them, and would most likely choose to reshoot.

But the consequence of doing this is that the prestige of the director will be damaged, and maybe anything he says in the future will be questioned.

But Tang De is not an ordinary person. He never refuses to admit defeat and will not waver in his decision.

Everyone on the side also hesitated after hearing Tang De's words. After all, Tang De has been a very good person since the filming started, and his help to the crew is obvious to all. Even though he is not a film director, but since he is talking about photography problems, maybe it is true.

So everyone could only disperse, the dance teacher continued to adjust the actors' dance postures, and the lighting engineer restored all the lights. Only Tang De, John, and Zeta Jones sat together.

Dion went outside to smoke.

"Tang, are you really sure?" Seeing that things had reached this point, John felt helpless.

"Of course." Tang De turned to look at the darkroom, and then heard Zeta Jones say: "Are there any other problems with my acting skills?"

She now likes to ask Tang De about her acting skills, because Tang De has very poisonous eyes and can point out the faults or shortcomings of her performance sharply.

"I think you can add some anger." Tang De recalled the dance just now: "Because you are in prison, this is a cage, and you are trapped animals. You never feel that you have done something wrong. This is your biggest Source of anger.”

"Yeah..." Zeta-Jones nodded and smiled again: "Don, if you become a teacher, you will definitely teach many good students."

"Thank you for the compliment."

A few people chatted, and soon after half an hour, the darkroom door opened.

(End of this chapter)