Hollywood Domination Chapter 203: The project is out of control

Indeed, you don’t need to be a very smart film critic to see it—two days after Jennifer joined the group, there is not much to discuss about this fact, and the conclusion is really obvious: Jennifer Indeed, George's play was suppressed, and this suppression was not a small one, but a big one. She directly compared George's play...

The phenomenon of suppressing drama, as long as under the hands of a relatively reliable director, the crew is really shooting, instead of rushing to work according to the schedule, then it is actually unavoidable after all. It is inevitable that there will be drama pressure, and even the party with poor acting skills will overwhelm the drama with better acting skills because they are too good-looking, but the drama with mediocre appearance, basically, as long as the audience pays more attention to it The phenomenon of a certain role means that there is pressure on the play, and this level of pressure on the play, except for the actor himself who cares about every detail, the director and even the producer are actually indifferent - filming is a handicraft after all, although the game and the backstage It is also very important, but it is the actor's personal quality that plays a decisive role, otherwise there will be no miracles in the entertainment industry, and it will not be reduced to a playground for the big money owners to hold their lovers? It is not uncommon in the showbiz for this kind of supporting role to rely on its own charm to gain more benefits than the protagonist in a movie, and sometimes it is even regarded as a good story to prove how high the actor's own charm is.

But, that's the general situation. On "Michael," director Tony Gilroy had to deal with another tricky situation: It is undisputed that Jennifer's acting skills are superior, not only completely overshadowing George's brilliance, but even "repelling" George's performance, resulting in the serious consequences of the completely uncoordinated style of the whole play ——If this continues, then the crew will face an extremely dire consequence, that is, maybe "Michael" will become a bad film in the eyes of film critics, and this bad film is not because of the lack of script or director's own skills, but because I chose the wrong leading role and entrusted Clooney with the difficult role of Michael...

"cut!" Tony took the small speaker and yelled, "good!"

Another one, except for the ones where the director felt that the camera angles were not good, most of Karen’s solo scenes were just one, Jennifer’s performance was really impeccable, directing her scenes A painful enjoyment - of course, there is no need to say more about the enjoyment. The director is most afraid of encountering stupid actors, and Jennifer's preparations in advance are too good and abundant, and he is far away from stupid actors. , and the pain is because Tony doesn’t need to worry that Jennifer is too stupid to meet his requirements, but on the contrary, he has to worry that his own setting and interpretation of the role of Karen may not be as good as Jennifer’s own understanding and shaping Fullness, in other words, is that the script is too thin to support Jennifer's performance, which eventually causes a further imbalance in the structure. This phenomenon of challenging screenwriters and directors because of too good actors will of course make every director feel happy and painful.

I applauded Jennifer's performance and announced that today's working hours are over. Tony did not choose to join a party of a crew member, but returned to his room, turned on the computer, and browsed the time The shooting materials since then——Thanks to the rapid development of digital technology, "Michael" adopts digital photography, and it is quite simple to look back at the shooting materials. It is no longer necessary to go to a special screening room to search film.

He first looked back at today's shooting material, and marked the passages that he was more satisfied with, which would facilitate future editing—then he looked back at a scene shot yesterday—this is also the story of Michael and Helen's first rivalry.

After the mouse was clicked, the screen quickly jumped out. Michael and Helen were sitting face to face on both sides of the coffee table, looking at each other. The background noise was a bit disturbing without sound correction, but the screen in the script It has been restored quite perfectly. Tony clicked to pause and fixed the screen on the side shot of the two people looking at each other, he rubbed his face with his hand heavily with some irritability, "Oh, *, this time I really messed up-why is she auditioning Didn't show it at all?"

Yes, just the picture of two people looking at each other can clearly see the difference between the two characters. George has always been a very typical expressionist. Watching his performance, you can clearly realize that this is George Clooney playing the role. His unique calm and elegant charm is always there, but you can see from his Read his intentions on the expression, this kind of performance style has a strong personal touch, which makes people feel less substituting for the role, but more appreciative, but this does not mean that George's acting skills are not good , because this kind of appreciative movie-watching mentality is not ideal for the crew. In this more rational movie-watching mood, the audience can better understand the director's deep meaning in the arrangement of some details. It is a very appropriate style, everyone keeps a certain distance, elegant and restrained, compared with the kind of commercial films that sell heartbeats, this style does seem to be more elegant.

For example, in this scene, if Karen is covered and only Michael is watched, then George's performance is actually remarkable. Tired, tense and suspicious expressions, and a little tiredness in the forced smile can guess Michael's current state of mind and his views on Karen-George's acting skills are of course a bit far from those masters, but his job is still It's nice that Tony has been happy with him...at least until Jennifer came on board.

And Jennifer——Jennifer changed everything, Tony put down his hand covering Karen, and looked at the whole picture with his chin, and Karen immediately took most of his attention—even if He is the director and the script, even if he created this character himself, he knows everything he gave Karen.

Jennifer's performance is actually not exaggerated, but also very restrained and self-controlled. Her micro-expressions and small movements are even less than Michael's. Her face is as cold as ice, fully creating a strong, suppressed, and impatient aura. Leaning forward, it seemed that she was about to say something proactively. In this freeze frame, she could not convey more information than Michael. But——Tony just couldn't look away. There is no doubt that Jennifer's performance in this play is completely experiential. She has completely 'killed' herself and was reborn as Karen. This kind of approach of being completely immersed in the character without personal style is very attractive to the audience, and it can also help them get involved in the plot and the characters, invest more emotions and personal connections in the characters, and make them curious about the characters—— If, under the interpretation of expressionistic actors, the characters themselves are tools for interpreting the story, and the actors themselves are the vassals of the director, then experiential actors can make the characters a truly independent existence. Using this story to tell one of his views, but fans themselves may see another reason-experience-style performances are very helpful for enriching the story level, and even get the praise of "good acting skills". But this is not to say that the experience school is necessarily better than the expression school, nor can it be said that the expression school and the experience school cannot coexist. In many cases, a less outstanding experience school actor is not as good as the expression school. Let’s just talk about Karen, if an actor with experience is used to act, it may really be just like the original intention of Tony’s design.

After all, thousands of people have thousands of faces, even if it is a setting, or even a face, the charm exuded by different people is still completely different. A truly excellent experiential actor can not only "kill" herself and become another person completely, but more importantly, she can become another "very attractive" person, which is really crucial. In the movie "Michael", the existing problem of the crew is that Jennifer's Karen is so--too good. She not only has her own story, her own details and her own complete outlook on life, but also in Jennifer. Under the interpretation of Jennifer, this character is still very attractive, not the glamorous charm, but the charm of hanging by a thread. Watching Jennifer's performance, even if it is just a static freeze frame, is like watching a glass of wine precariously at the table. No matter how beautiful the plate on the other side is, the attention of the audience will still be completely absorbed by this glass of water. They really care about when it will fall back and shatter into pieces——Jennifer’s performance is Very edgy flavor.

For this actress’ acting skills, Tony has never formed a definite answer. He doesn’t know how to evaluate her. Jennifer is undoubtedly a genius, but she seems to have not found her own way. Both have a genius way of acting, only to be thrown out by her in the next one without a second thought, and in the two "Pirates of the Caribbean" she plays differently, and honestly, Tony doesn't feel that every one of her Both acting styles are very good. He himself thinks that Jennifer's showmanship in "The Fifth Sally" is a bit sensational. As for whether she deserves an Oscar-who made last year's film industry really lonely, Her not-so-perfect performance is still one of the best among the nominated candidates - Tony likes her performance in "The Devil Wears Prada", depression, very sharp edgy, a weird sharp charm, This is why he discussed with Warner, hoping to bring Jennifer into the crew. (Warner is of course crazy about this idea, because Jennifer represents the box office, but for Tony, he will not pull her into the group just because of this), he was worried that Jennifer would change her style to perform Karen, but in the audition, Jennifer seemed to adopt a similar way of acting. Of course, she had no signs of suppressing George at all. The audition between the two of them can be said to be evenly matched, and George even had a faint advantage...

If it wasn't so unlikely, Tony would have wondered if Jennifer was messing with him on purpose, because after the official filming started, Jennifer's performance was completely reborn, and she was still the dangerous edgy style, but this charm It has been flamboyant to the limit, exaggeratedly speaking, it can even form an aura visible to the naked eye. ——This is not about those actresses who pretend to be noble and glamorous in commercial blockbusters, but about the charm exuded by the characters themselves, and Jennifer's charm is so powerful that it crowds out George's performance. There is nowhere to go, completely divorced from the script, not even the right play, after watching Jennifer's Karen, once the scene switches to Michael's side, Tony can immediately feel Michael's far-fetched and powerless—— By Karen's comparison, George's performance is almost embarrassing and artificial, and the misery plagued by a mid-life crisis becomes genuinely hopeless--even with George's calm charm at his best. , under Karen's desperate collapse, it seems to be a hypocritical joke, which is not funny at all... The more real Karen is, the more attractive and emotionally invested, the more awkward Michael is, and the more people realize that he is The timidity and reluctance revealed in the performance, also as a middle-aged man, Tony himself will feel this way when watching Michael's performance: Does George really understand the midlife crisis? Why couldn't he—he didn't know, why couldn't he be more natural? God knows, he doesn't have children, the scene of him getting along with children is too unreal...

And on the day before Jennifer joined the group, Tony marked this material as his own satisfaction material, thinking that George's performance was remarkable-to put it bluntly, it was all Karen's fault, Before Karen, Michael's performance was good enough, but after Karen appeared, her authenticity completely raised the standard, her aura pushed Michael out, she was like a black hole, the existence in the movie The feeling is so strong that Michael, the star that should be the center of the galaxy, is also torn to pieces and sucked into the horizon of the black hole...

And this is of course a very ominous sign for the movie itself, Tony smiled bitterly, and rubbed his face again - if this continues, the movie will be over. But let George become a better experientialist than Jennifer overnight? This is impossible. Let Jennifer act more restrained? But they didn't steal the show, besides, I never heard that the director made the actors not perform so well, and Jennifer is not a little actor who he can round and flat at will. Is it extremely hard, bully her in this crew? The joke is not funny at all.

Although he is the producer, director and screenwriter, at this moment, Tony really felt the uncomfortable sense of out of control-this is his project, but he seems to have lost control, If the current trend continues, even he doesn't know what kind of disaster the movie will eventually become, and if he wants to restore it from now on, he really doesn't have the energy...

"It's time to invite the big names." After all, he is the screenwriter of "The Bourne", and Tony is still very familiar with the intriguing office politics. It was decided quickly, "These things should be coordinated by them - Soderbergh, and Sidney, it's time to call them...

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"The project is out of control..." Soderbergh hung up the phone, rubbing his head with some headaches—like Tony, he didn't draw a conclusion right away, but opened the film material sent by Tony, He pondered the comparison between Jennifer and George Clooney: This is Tony's first time as a director, no matter how good he is as a screenwriter, it is inevitable that there will be moments of misjudgment. There will be so many celebrities who will come to act as producers for him, and even Soderbergh himself will act as a producer-this in itself is an insurance measure to ensure that Tony has someone to turn to when he encounters problems, and does it cause pressure? , or Soderbergh's personal judgment is safer. In many cases, inexperienced directors tend to be surprised. In fact, the situation is often not that bad, and it can still be remedied through post-production, soundtrack and editing.

He first opened the scene of Michael Clayton playing cards in the casino. This is the first scene in which he appeared in the script. At that time, Michael was in a bad mood, although his years of lawyer career made him feel uncomfortable But the depressed breath still showed from the corners of the eyes and brows, especially when a rude gambling partner started to ask about his restaurant business and poached his painful feet, Michael was even more depressed and aggrieved , Despondent, very strong sense of failure. Soderbergh was very impressed with this scene, and he thought it was quite difficult - Michael's lines were not many and meaningless, George had to express Michael's temperament through facial expressions, movements, and tone, Let this character stand up and plant a vague impression of Michael in the audience's mind, so that in the subsequent viewing of the movie, the audience can easily substitute for Michael, understand the plot effortlessly, and focus more on understanding the director's real life. on the shooting intention.

"It's been a long time since I saw you," said a gambler over the buzzing background noise.

Michael let out a low 'huh' and continued to look at the cards. Steven Soderbergh pressed pause, and then went back to look.

"Tony's storyboarding is not particularly good." He whispered to himself, "It's a common problem for novice directors, but here it can be remedied with post-editing."

After all, he is a great director, and he almost instinctively judges the quality of the film itself, from the director, actors to all the staff. And make all kinds of judgments in my heart: it can be saved, there is little hope, or there is no need to waste time at all.

After making a footnote for Tony's "some minor problems, but it can be saved", Soderbergh pressed the play button again, and he watched George's performance a little critically: Although the relationship between the two is very good, it can be said that He is a close friend, but professionally, Soderbergh has some opinions on Clooney's performance. He believes that although the Lohan series has Clooney as the first protagonist, there is still a difference between Clooney and Brad Pitt. The latter performed better. Clooney often has the problem of too little expression when portraying introverted characters. People who know how to watch may think that his eyes are playful, but for most audiences, his performance is not popular enough. For example, in this part, he I can see Clooney's performance intention, but I also know that many audiences are confused about this dialogue, because Clooney's expression is too little, and he can't completely abandon his own elegant temperament. Many people probably can't understand him. What on earth was he thinking about the failure of the restaurant, maybe he just didn't care? This cognition of "clooney can't be down and out" is a barrier that he has been unable to get rid of. ——Steven knew that George wanted to use this film for the Olympics, but...

"If this old problem has not been broken, I'm afraid it will be very difficult." He said to himself, and after a quick glance at the subsequent performance, he turned off the video and opened Karen's first play. "Let me see if Tony is overwhelmed."

It’s also the rustling sound of background noise. Karen appeared in the shot. Since there was no post-processing sound correction, her voice was a bit vague in the background noise, too soft, and the unmodified shot also made the scene a little bit Dusty, not so arresting. ——This is a cloudy day scene with little indoor light. Without post-production, it often gives people the impression that the lens is very cheap.

"u/north is all over the world... all over the world..." Karen walked out of the bathroom in her underwear. The connection of the waist is clearly visible. Besides, Karen's makeup is really not flattering. The superb special effects makeup artist made her almost 50 years old at a glance.

In the envisioned shot, there will be a set of contrast montages here, but Tony sent a clip of Karen in the bathroom. It stands to reason that the impact of this single shot will be weakened, but Soderbergh But he never pressed the pause button or the fast-forward button, but frowned and watched Karen seriously wandering back and forth in the room, making meaningless monologues, and slowly and often retreating to prepare for the press conference later.

Compared with Michael's appearance, Karen's appearance has less information. The camera will inevitably make the audience feel like 'I have already processed this part of the information', but...

Soderbergh's face became more and more serious: as a director, he instinctively looked for a suitable cutting point while watching, but this choice was delayed. This shot, which logically only needs 5 to 10 seconds of fragmented editing, is because of Karen’s personal charm, because of the stories told in her movements and expressions, and because of her thought-provoking details—Jennifer’s expressions also Not much, and very restrained, but her restraint is like a dormant beast, full of tension. Compared with her, George's restraint is loose and slippery, perfunctory and insincere, as if he only played for himself That paycheck.

Couldn't find the cut point... No, rather than saying that, it's better to say that I don't want to draw the cut point...Karen is the kind of character that even the director is reluctant to use the knife...

"This is really a mess." Glancing at the phone on the table, Soderbergh murmured with a wry smile, "It is indeed a big trouble... This is a problem that must be dealt with immediately..."

According to his grading method, George's acting skills are lagging behind Jennifer's, and he already belongs to the level of "no need to waste time". This fact cannot be changed in a lifetime. George is already in the second half of his life, and it seems that he does not seem to be getting better and better. Soderbergh knows in his heart: George is good at self-marketing, but not good at breaking through himself. And Jennifer Jefferson? Her acting career has just begun, and she is still in her breakthrough period. The comparison of the role of Karen from audition to filming is a very good example.

Since the facts cannot be changed—Soderbergh thought about picking up the phone: Then the only way is to deal with it before the budget is spent and the trouble becomes bigger.

This is a decision that needs to gather all the producers and communicate with Warner. He doesn't know how to deal with it in the end. As far as Soderbergh's own opinion is concerned, he thinks that Jennifer and George are the same. ——The two of them had to leave sadly.