Hollywood Domination Chapter 219: In and out

"So, you are the famous Pepa Potts," said Leslie Bibb, who played the vanity fair beauty reporter Christina, with a smile in the fusion of the close-up display and the distant green screen. Shaking her own dyed blond hair, she gazed at the calm and composed Pepa Potts with challenging eyes.

"d." Jenny also made a gesture. Her appearance is very similar to that of the manga, both of which are well-cut suits and skirts, and her natural blonde hair has also been dyed red, which is also the advantage of the manga movie. One point is that the character image does not need to be created out of nothing, sometimes just a little modification is enough, and the director does not need to make the final decision, so the preparatory work can be carried out by multiple parties at the same time. Of course, this also means that the director has less right to speak. The level of participation is higher.

"After all these years, does Tony still let you get his dry cleaning clothes?" Christina **** said angrily, showing a sense of superiority, but the actual purpose was of course to hit the most trusted person around Tony The most popular person - and of course the woman who has been around him for the longest time.

Little Pepper, who has always been friendly and professional before, showed a calm smile with ease, and replied with a pun in the same tone, "I will do whatever Mr. Stark asks me to do, of course, including dealing with him from time to time." The **** left behind - is there anything else you can do?"

"Cut! Good!" Director Jon Favreau, who also played Harpy in "Iron Man", picked up the guide tube and shouted in satisfaction, "Very good-take a break for five minutes, let me go to the next door Take a look, and then we'll move on to the next scene on this set."

Different from ordinary crews, "Iron Man" has a lot of post-production special effects content, which also makes Downey's performance quite easy. In many cases, he doesn't even need props and costumes, just need to make his face The makeup is ok—because the footage of Iron Man flying in the sky is all produced by special effects, and during the shooting, Downey was covered with a transparent hood, and then only close-ups were taken. Downey doesn’t have to be idle when taking the main shots, he can just shoot these simple close-up shots in the next studio. Since the literary drama of “Iron Man” is not rich, at least these close-up shots don’t even need to adjust the camera position, just need to Read the lines, martial arts are almost all based on special effects, so the shooting difficulty is not high, and more than half of the close-up shots can be shot by the assistant director and supervisor, with a few sets of shots, without the need for the director to come forward for everything. This can also better save costs and shorten the entire shooting cycle.

Compared to the armor interior shots which are still very cheap at present, the interior layout of Tony's mansion is the most expensive part. In order to create a sense of luxury for this contemporary rich man's home, the crew is not at all ambiguous. Sponsorship, half rented to build a living room full of high-end brand furniture, and a lot of the crew's prop budget was spent on rent. Even the actors have to be very careful when filming in this living room, and the director can use these precious furniture as little as possible, so "Iron Man" is not filmed in chronological order, but while finding out all the scenes related to Jenny , sorted according to the order of scenes. I have been shooting office scenes for the past few days (there are also a lot of expensive furniture and small ornaments), and today I am here to shoot the living room scene. The scene just shot, although it is Pepa’s first appearance , but in fact they have already filmed dozens of scenes, and it has already been filming for almost half a month, and the filming of Jenny's scenes is almost finished.

Jon wandered to the next door to inspect, and soon brought back Donnie who had finished filming part of the close-up shots. The two played some simple dialogue scenes in the living room, and the work in the morning came to an end. In the afternoon, Donnie After Ney's confrontation with the villain Jeff Bridges, the set will also be dismantled and the furniture returned to the brand to avoid expensive storage fees in a warehouse.

"I heard that someone is doing well this morning." At lunch time, Robert Downey Jr. sat down opposite Jenny and joked with a smile, "Jon was full of joy when he came over this morning. I think he loves you so much."

Although Jenny and him have never met before, the two have many common acquaintances. For example, they both worked with George Clooney, and they both have some friendship with David Fincher. In the closed circle of the entertainment industry, after reaching a certain height, everyone really knows everyone, plus Downey himself is very charming and funny, otherwise it would be impossible for so many people to support him all the time, so Jenny is familiar with him It was quite fast, and the cooperation was very tacit during the filming. Although from the perspective of the finished film, Jenny does not guarantee that she will be much better than Gwyneth, but she and Downey are obviously more compatible in the emotional scene. . Because Gwyneth is 175, and Downey is only 174 even if he made a false report. If you are acting in a role, you won’t feel short even if you wear high heels. If you are acting with a short actor, then you can wear flat shoes, which can also make Donnie look stalwart.

"To each other." Jenny said with a smile, "It feels like you are also here on vacation. Did they let you just sit and act this morning?"

"No wonder people love commercials so much," Downey joked. "It's like going on vacation and paying for it—who wouldn't want to be in it?"

Although this is a joke, it is more or less true, but Pepa Potts is indeed the easiest role Jenny has ever played. And the ranking in terms of depth is still the bottom one, and it is the same for Robert Jr.. It's not that "Iron Man" is not a good movie, but this movie does not have connotation and theme, or the theme it explores is too shallow, like actors of the level of Robert Jr. and Jenny, dealing with Tony Stark And Pepa Potts, they are easy to catch at all, not to mention any difficulty. No matter how much acting skills you have, in this role where the full score is 20 points, you can only show the effect of 20 points. If there are too many, it will be too much, so it’s ok to act casually. You have to act very deeply, maybe The director will still call the card.

Of course, compared to Tony, Pepper is less difficult and has less room to play. She is also the first role played by Jenny who claims to be a heroine, but actually only plays a role in a vase. Although she also played Elizabeth before, this role seems to be a vase in "Pirates of the Caribbean", but Elizabeth still undertakes the task of promoting the plot. She has a very deep connection with the main plot and the theme of the movie. In this sense, The "Pirates" series should have three leading actors, but the only leading actor in "Iron Man" is Downey. What Jenny has to do is to be cool in the scenes with her. This is the existence of her role. the full meaning of

When I was an audience in the past, of course I didn’t think so much, but now, as an actor and producer, I look at the manga movies I watched before, and Jenny feels the living space of actresses in the next era. Further narrowing down: In 2014, when she traveled back, the total box office in North America was almost the same as ten years ago, at most it was only a few hundred million dollars inflated, but because of the popularity of 3D movies, ticket prices have increased, and the box office of 3D movies It is often easy to overestimate, and this can lead to a very simple reason-as home TVs become more and more high-definition, projectors become cheaper and cheaper, and those movies that do not use special effects as a selling point are the elements that attract people into the cinema It is less and less, but if special effects movies are paired with a relatively simple and relaxed story that is suitable for all ages, then it is easy to achieve jaw-dropping success in North America and the world. It can be said that "Pirate" is the forerunner of this combination, "Avatar" is the peak, and the Marvel universe is the master of this combination. Their manga adaptation combines 3D visual effects, well-known characters, and a relaxed plot. It is a big hit in the commercial market. The global average is 500 million or 600 million, and 400 million is considered poor. At least in the year she travels to, it seems that the craze for manga adaptations will continue, and it will not retreat within five or six years. ——However, in such an era of trendsetters, there is very little room for actresses. It can be said that in the field of comics and adaptations, the sense of presence of actresses has been weakened to the point where they seem to be there for the first time. To the point of being completely and thoroughly reduced to a vase within a vase.

Of course, this is not to say that there were no actresses in previous visual blockbusters to play soy sauce and act as vases. Obviously, Catherine Zeta-Jones is in "The Trap", Halle Berry is in "Swordfish Action" " are all coquettish vase-like existences, but starting from the "Iron Man" series, the love scenes of blockbuster comics have been reduced all the way, and the more love scenes, the worse the film's reputation, and the heroine's sense of existence is so low People doubt whether there is such a character, "Captain America 2" is full of word-of-mouth, and "Avengers 2" without love scenes is full of word-of-mouth. On the contrary, "The Amazing Spider-Man", which is full of love, has been unpopular since the first part. , the second film directly hit the box office by word of mouth, and was scolded so that the third film was directly in the foreseeable future, and the love drama was second to "Extraordinary", and the "Thor" series, which also had a strong heroine, had the worst reputation, and the darling Nata Lee Portman has generally received Waterloo-style negative reviews. Of course, this is also because the script quality of the "Thor" series is mediocre, and it is an "unfavored child", but it also fully reflects the changes in the audience's movie-watching psychology: the audience does not want to Watching superheroes fall in love, doing those cheesy romantic dramas, they want to watch superheroes fight cool for the sake of women suffering from self-doubt.

There is no right or wrong in the psychology of the audience. Satisfying the audience is also the bounden duty of commercial films, so the further the future, the fewer love scenes in special effects blockbusters. Compared with "Interstellar", you can still have yourself Anne Hathaway’s background story and self-choice, comics are inherently insufficient in arranging "non-love scenes" for the heroine-all personal hero films actually have one theme, that is, the hero’s self-identity And self-growth, to put it bluntly, is how you become a hero as a mortal. In the hero films of the early century such as "Spider-Man" and "X-Men", the love scene is one of the triggers for the reflection of the hero's growth, and the heroine is thus awarded. But now, this trigger has been eliminated by the market, and the emotional triggers for the growth of the hero have become family and friendship, and the status of the heroine has also been marginalized. They have no role in the plot, even if you want to force it Dorcet shots will only cause an imbalance in the entire film structure.

Little Pepper turned into a hit girl in "Iron Man 3", the heroine Carter in "Captain America 1" is a cold and hard female officer, and the most abundant role in the Marvel Universe is Black Widow, a hit girl who has no love scenes. In fact, the screenwriters are trying to cope with this change and want to add drama to the heroine, but the effect of this approach is only general. A good example is that in the opening stage, "Iron Man" can invite Ge Winnis Paltrow, "Thor" can find Natalie Portman, but the further it goes, the harder it is for the new series to find a heroine with real acting skills and Otti's strength. This is of course because Marvel has figured out where the salary should be spent, but it is also because the actress's team has analyzed the pros and cons of appearing in these series: not to say that it hinders the career, but it is obviously not very helpful to the career.

Jennie is not a very strong feminist, she does not have much interest in these political concepts, but she does not like this trend, obviously, it will increase the status gap between male and female actors, less so With a fast-growing channel, the number of notable actresses in Hollywood will definitely be less than that of male actors year by year. Over time, the result that actresses can’t get their hands on such a large box office cake will also be rewarded to the glass ceiling above the actress’s head, and she is the same It is to climb up against this ceiling. Of course, more importantly, judging from the investment process of "Iron Man" and "Avatar", in front of really big projects, the investment of Dameng and her starring are still It will form a bonded relationship. If history is allowed to move forward as she remembers, people will know that in a few years after "Iron Man", the actress is neither responsible for the box office nor popular in the manga project, then People don't care about her acting at all-so Dameng basically can't get involved in comic projects other than "Iron Man". This is also the reason why she wants to board the ship of "Iron Man" even if she is begging for nothing. To put it bluntly, Marvel is not in the right place at this time, and she has no idea about herself, so it is better to fool around...

Before joining the group, Jenny was so busy that many of her ideas were vague and not yet fully formed. , in the process of re-watching those blockbusters in the Marvel universe, these ideas became clear one by one, forming a complete train of thought: After the tragic fall of Halle Berry's "Catwoman", no film company dared to single There are female superhero movies, and Black Widow can only perform fighting skills in other people's movies. Mysterious Girl Jennifer Lawrence won the actress, and her box office ability has been proved by "The Hunger Games", but even so, Fox refused Opening a side story, just adding a play to her in the main story, squeezing her box office value - if history continues like this, except for these two hit girls with special reasons for their rise, it is very likely that there will be no actress who changed from the manga If she wants to try her best to change this reality, then the only thing she can do is to adapt a female superhero movie and star in it herself. If it can be a big hit, then the market will naturally give back. Black Widow and Devil The Legend of the Shaped Girl may come out, and then—needless to say, once this market is formed, others will follow suit, and she can also sit on a series that makes a lot of money. At the same time, his status in the actor world should be further improved, and he should be firmly established as a Super A.

Of course, if this movie hits the street, then Jenny has nothing to say, she is willing to admit defeat, at least she has already done what she can do, since the adaptation cannot be adapted, then she can only admit failure, admit her, or admit Actresses are so unlucky that they can't eat the food of manga movies.

"It can only be said that I have this idea." She and Downey had also talked about similar topics before, so when the two were having dinner and discussing the current status of manga movies, Downey also took advantage of the opportunity to ask her about the past. After mentioning a thought, Jenny said frankly, "I haven't started looking for specific candidates yet, so this is really just a very preliminary idea, but yes, I'm already looking forward to it."

"Don't let the film critics hear this," Downey laughed boldly, "Another Halle Berry? The film critics will be heartbroken to death."

After winning the actress before, Halle Berry went to make a commercial film, which really disappointed many film critics who hoped that she would continue to star in in-depth movies. It's also being a vase, but it's better than being coquettish in a manga movie. The literary and artistic style of manga movies is terribly low. Although film critics will not turn into brainless trolls as soon as they encounter this kind of movie, they can also recognize its commercial value and give evaluations in the field of commercial movies based on facts. It is almost an impossible task for them to say good things to the actor and actress who starred in the manga movie. Of course, this is also normal. After all, the actor and actress must have dedicated an extremely complex and delicate performance in their award-winning works. , this is something that man-made movies cannot do anyway.

"Let them talk," Jenny swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti and said nonchalantly, "I don't care about that. There is only one Daniel Day-Lewis in this world, and even Meryl would be in "" The devil wears prada, and I'm still a ways away from her."

Meryl will definitely not play the role of Pepper in "Iron Man". This is true, but Jenny is not without motivation for Pepper. On the contrary, she was able to change her mentality and look at her relationship with literary and commercial films more objectively-complex and plump characters like Karen and Monroe may allow her to enjoy the performance and make her feel that she is creating a masterpiece, but Pepper , Elizabeth, Andy, and Elle are equally indispensable roles. It is true that playing them is not so interesting, but the box office and influence they can give back to her is something that Karen and Monroe cannot give. There are countless great actors in the world who have filmed a large number of commercial films. Perhaps the number of handed down is not many, but they are famous in history because of such films. As a product to please the public, commercial films may be vulgar and routine, but it is not a shameful and meaningless thing to play a role in them.

As long as it is a well-produced and sincere film, whether it is a commercial film or an art film, it is worth starring in. She should adjust her mentality and not become self-willed just because of Karen. She only wants to pursue her own satisfaction in acting , with contempt for the normal taste of the masses. In any case, the entertainment attribute of the film is the guarantee of its survival to this day. Yes, the public just likes to watch a happy reunion, likes heroes to save the beauty, likes refreshing visual effects, and dislikes obscure and depressing lens language, and dislikes serious political tendencies and preaching. A meaningful movie... After all, they spend money to watch it, and it is only natural to satisfy their own needs, and since you, Jenny, are also relying on the popularity of the public, relying on the box office and popularity that come from these favorites step by step From now on, satisfying the public's preferences can be regarded as a kind of job, because if Little Pepper simply feels that he is wasting time, then it is somewhat too self-centered. Including the mentality of only wanting to invest in "Avatar" and not acting. If Jenny doesn't want to be an actor, she only wants to be a producer. If an actor is a springboard to the producer's road, then it's nothing, but if she still wants to be an actor , that kind of mentality is a bit wrong. Really good actors, such as Robert Downey Jr., the hero of the manga adaptation can act vividly, turning himself from black to red, and fascinated audiences all over the world. I didn’t see him dislike Tony in the performance The way of thinking is simple, and the performance process is too boring. ——To be able to get in and out, to be able to devote oneself to acting in literary films, and to find fun in commercial films, this is a truly qualified and dedicated actor, the real master state.

Of course, she can't guarantee that such an idea is absolutely correct, but at least Jenny has successfully convinced herself with this statement, and now she is not so afraid of the rest of this year's filming schedule, and will not prejudge Is it tedious, uninteresting work, still holding the expectation of finding surprises, discovering oneself and gaining new knowledge, even for the female superhero movie that is still in the clouds and nothing is settled, it is no longer purely for Instead of anger and commercial considerations, I really have interest and expectations from the bottom of my heart.

"So, do you think you are the next Meryl Streep?" Little Robert asked jokingly, but soon returned to his normal conversational attitude, "But seriously, I I’m also looking forward to seeing your superhero movie, maybe I should make a cameo, as Iron Man—don’t forget to bring me to make a cameo.”

Although he has not completely turned from black to red now, Downey has come out of the lowest point, which is not considered down and out. After he remarried and completely quit drugs, it took him less than two years to reconnect A blockbuster with a budget of more than 100 million yuan, and the role of Iron Man, who is also considered second-tier among comic fans, if such an actor wants to come to Jenny's movie, then it is not a hug, but a favor.

It is precisely because of his enthusiastic personality that so many friends in the circle reach out to him again and again. Jenny also has a good impression of him. She said with a smile, "If you wish, don't regret it, Robert. Even if you forget this sentence, I will force you to schedule."

"What are you talking about?" Chris walked over with a cup of coffee in his hand, "What schedule?"

"We're talking about the female superhero movie that Jennifer is going to shoot." Downey greeted Chris with a smile, "hey, man, the shirt is nice-I'm flattered by your words, Jennifer , with your boyfriend on the side, you can make a guest appearance at any time, do you still remember me?"

"What superhero movie?" Chris said blankly, and then he suddenly remembered, "Oh, that line you said in the Maldives—didn't think you remembered it, Jenny."

"Just talking casually," Jenny said with some complaints, "Even if I want to shoot, it will be in 2009 or 2010. God, you can't believe how broken my schedule is."

"Yeah," Chris also made a knowing expression, and he half-jokingly said to Downey, "You can't believe how workaholic my girlfriend is, and it's just 2007. But her work schedule is already three years later..."

He was a little lost in the middle of the speech, and he didn't pull himself together until he finished speaking. He pinched Jenny's face with a smile, "Five feet six inches of endless energy, isn't it?"

Jenny grinned at him and said sweetly, "Did I make you feel old, dear?"

Little Robert also laughed, and he said sincerely, "Pay attention to rest, Jennifer, I know, the whole world needs you now, but believe me, too much travel will make your body overwhelmed— —”

His eyes dimmed, as if thinking of the absurd years after he became popular, but he quickly cheered up again, "Always pay attention to rest, and shoot more relaxing commercial films, just like me, no Give bad habits an opportunity."

Both Jenny and Chris respectfully listened to his sincere and kind advice. Chris grinned and pulled Jenny's earlobe again, "Did you hear that? Always pay attention to rest - dear Jennifer , always pay attention to rest!"

Jenny protested dissatisfiedly, and Downey burst into laughter-among the slapstick laughter, a month of pleasant studio trip passed in a flash, Chris packed his luggage and went to his own set, while Jenny After returning to Los Angeles briefly to rest for a few days, he also boarded a long-distance plane to New Zealand to join the crew of "Avatar" and started pre-production training before filming.