Hollywood Domination Chapter 431: Salvi’s Gatsby
"We...we met before."
In the living room full of flowers, elegantly and tastefully furnished, Gatsby explained to Nick somewhat in vain that he had inadvertently moved the pendulum of the hanging clock, causing it to buzz, Both Nick and Daisy's eyes drifted away at once—the atmosphere became subtle and tense at this moment, Nick's eyes moved back and forth between Gatsby and Daisy, and a half-smile gradually emerged on his face. Emoticons——
"cut!" Salvi shouted, "d!"
The set was filled with noisy voices, and people hurriedly ran around the scene, while Jenny, Leo and Toby walked to Salvi together and accepted his guidance-this was their first time The second shooting of this scene is also a common phenomenon on the set. After the actors enter the state and perform better and better, the director will dig out some important shots before and reshoot them in order to achieve better results.
"Leo and J.J's performance is not a big problem, but Toby, you may not have a full grasp of Nick's mentality - what do you think Nick will think after seeing this scene?" Salvi He is always a little too harsh on the set, and although his tone is not rude, the implied torture is still a kind of oppression for the actors. Toby's nose wrinkled.
"Well, Nick can certainly understand the hidden message of this scene, the tension between Gatsby and Daisy, is a very simple math problem for him, even instinctively doing it in the blink of an eye... ..."
The Great Gatsby is as important to Americans as Fitzgerald is, and it is considered one of Fitzgerald's masterpieces. It is needless to mention the high status in the history of literature - this book is like "Dream of Red Mansions". For an American youth who loves literature, if you have not read this book, it is almost equivalent to not getting started.
However, Fitzgerald's novels are also known for being difficult to adapt. The book was remade into a movie as early as 1926, and has been remade frequently since then. It can be said that it is a super IP of American literature—but the reviews of the first four versions are not very good. Although the cast is very strong, they are all mediocre works that are difficult to leave a name in film history. internal reasons. Fitzgerald's novels are not particularly suitable to be adapted into movies, especially "The Great Gatsby", because the content of the story is simple, the conflict is very clear, and the author is full of genius, and the environment is portrayed in detail, which leads to every Individuals can project their own emotions into it, forming thousands of people's interpretations, and the correspondingly simple story makes it more difficult to adapt the script-if no original plot is added, the rhythm of the movie will be relatively slow and chaotic. Timing random changes must have caused fierce criticism. In addition, it is extremely difficult to shape and grasp the characters and atmosphere. It can be said that although this story can extract very cliché labels, if the director really shapes the characters according to the labels in people's hearts, the movie itself will definitely be It has been reduced to a superficial comic show, and it is difficult to show the insightful wisdom, compassion and loneliness that Fitzgerald has incorporated into his works.
Gatsby loves vanity since he was a child, and later, because of an adventure, he is adopted by a millionaire and taught him the knowledge of the upper class. With the death of the millionaire, he is penniless again, and he is lucky enough to be born in the first world. He became an officer during the Great War, met and fell in love with Daisy who mistakenly thought that his family was rich, and then revealed the fact that he was a poor boy, and then he went on an expedition to Europe, and Daisy eventually married someone else. A few years later, Gatsby returned as a rich man and fell in love with Daisy again. Daisy, who was trapped in her marriage, endured an unfaithful husband-and in a drunken driving, she hit and killed her husband Tom's car. The mistress, Gatsby impulsively took the blame for her, and was shot dead by the husband of the deceased. At this time, Daisy had already packed her luggage and went to Europe with her husband.
——The plot of "The Great Gatsby" is so simple, and there are only a few characters, Nick, Daisy, Tom, Gatsby, Baker, it is very easy to label them all , but if you read the novel itself, maybe everyone will have a different experience. Jenny is not sure what the experience of the crew of "Gatsby" was in the original world line, but judging from the final product, the effect of the adaptation cannot be said to be very good. The actors' performances, scripts, editing, and director's ideas all have Certain problems make the whole film more luxurious than memorable, especially the performances of Gatsby and Daisy, and Toby who plays Nick is also a bit out of tune--Toby's acting skills are not very good, but the micro-expressions The use is still very skillful. Compared with him, Gatsby and Daisy are too exaggerated, and Joel Azelton, who plays Tom, has dedicated the most boring performance in his career and brought one of the most rigid , the most annoying Tom—his ability is definitely more than that, it should be a problem with the director's guidance. In this version, "The Great Gatsby" seems to be a third-rate love story, which fails to portray The irony and cool side behind the American dream, at least for Jenny, this is not a very successful movie, and it seems to have failed miserably in the Oscars that year. Except for the technical awards, the main awards were not even nominated. arrive.
If you want to sum up the advantages of the whole film, Jenny thinks that the luxurious and corrupt scenes in the film are quite well shot. What is to be avoided, of course, is the kind of over-the-top acting style-and thankfully, Salvi's ideas coincide with hers once again, and Jenny doesn't even have to express her own views to find that Salvi, like her, takes The most restrained and low-key processing method: still the same as "Monroe", the scene is luxurious, but the performance of the characters is as real and low-key as possible. Especially Daisy, although she is in extreme pain, for a lady of high society, no matter when and where, Daisy can't show her embarrassment nakedly, and Nick also Not so dull that everything is in doubt, yes, compared to everyone in the story, he seems innocent and simple, but he is well educated, he belongs to the upper class of society - needless to say Doubt, he is very keen. As an observer and the main perspective, he can detect the emotional changes of the characters from the subtle expressions, and his own emotional flow will flow naturally in his gestures - don't exaggerate , Salvi, like every British nobleman, hates exaggeration extremely. In fact, Jenny even doubts whether he secretly uses the family education written in his bones to measure the performance of the characters, wishing that all of them will be like the British, forever That calm rigidity and politeness.
However, in any case, under his direction, Gatsby and Daisy's love is much more convincing-of course, if Gatsby is not a personable gentleman who is polite and courteous, Daisy How could Xi never forget him, even after five years of separation, she almost regretted her marriage because of his news? Although he came from a humble background, he yearns for the American dream and the upper class, but he is more stylish than everyone else. This is what Salvi has always emphasized: his lameness can only be revealed in the details, unless Tom and Nick is so soaked in the atmosphere of the upper class, the top figure flowing with blue blood, otherwise no one can see that he is wrong-even though Tom's own actions are exactly the opposite of the aristocracy.
Including Nick - although compared to Tom, the family is considered to be in the middle of nowhere, but Nick is still a true aristocrat. His monthly rent is almost equal to the monthly salary of people at that time - his reaction is also aristocratic. , unlike men and women of the middle and lower classes who put everything on their faces, what Nick needs is a kind of—
"Very old-fashioned aristocratic style, like Regency Britons, but a little more lazy, because after all, they are the descendants of paupers, artisans and local hooligans, and two hundred years have not made this kind of education Soaked to their bones," Salvi said, his pure rp making both Leo and Nick wrinkle their noses as if with a hint of patriotism—though neither of them were passengers on the Mayflower, So this instinctive performance was just a flash, and they all listened carefully to Salvi's words. "Now, seeing the reactions of Gatsby and Daisy, Nick can almost predict what will happen next. He has a tinge of revenge, a tinge of tenderness in fulfilling pity. The Tom he hates bears his retribution, Daisy. Sy has a suitor of her own, and his hapless cousin Daisy—although he is not so fond of him, he is still happy that she has found a little fun. This is Nick's superficial reaction, and Nick's deep What about psychology? Toby?"
Toby has read this novel back and forth many times, and Jenny knows this-but neither he nor Leonardo finished high school, nor did they continue their education. They all dropped out of school early to enter the entertainment industry, and Toby even said to himself, "My high school days... I just appeared in school, but I didn't learn much"—for this kind of typical child stars in the entertainment industry, their knowledge is not enough. It may be too deep. When Salvi finished talking about the superficial thinking he could answer, he fell into a dilemma, "Uh, he--"
"I think Nick feels a little uneasy about the future too," Jenny replied for him, "Nick's character in the story is actually seeing the big picture, in my opinion, although in his self-narration, his emotions They also fluctuate frequently, and feel pain and confusion about the future, but Nick has actually foreseen the ominous trend of this situation and noticed the true face of everyone. Subconsciously, blinded by his kindness, Nick just doesn’t understand the world well enough, and he doesn’t want to believe that human nature is really so ugly.”
Toby blinked, looking a little lost, but Salvi had already nodded to Jenny, his expression did not change, but there was hidden approval in his tone, "Nick may not be able to say this clearly , but yes, it's part of his emotions, a vague sense of unease, and what j.j doesn't say is his self-blame guilt. Nick knows he shouldn't have done this - Gatsby and Daisy In his eyes, it is like two transparent people."
He pointed to Jenny, "Daisy, mediocre and cowardly, paralyzes herself through vanity, she is not qualified to be the goddess of Venus in Gatsby's heart, but what about Gatsby? —— He is far inferior to others In such a pleasing, personable, and affectionate style, Nick sees clearly his vulgar background and his despair of moving closer to the American dream. His love for Daisy is just a kind of self-hypnosis. Love her? No, what he loves is everything she represents, the silhouette of high society, and the fact that she is actually moved by him. What he did was not to perfect a pair of lovers, he introduced sin to sin, and vulgarity to vulgarity-he knew that he was morally untenable by doing so, but he still made such a choice, because Nick is still weak at the end of the day - and he's also vaguely ashamed of being weak. It's a deep psychology of Nick across all the scenes since then, and I feel like you've instinctively captured that in the last few days of filming. emotions..."
During Salvi's concise and easy-to-understand explanation, Toby also quickly started to try it out. He deliberated for a while and signaled to Salvi that the rehearsal could start, and Leo and Jenny left the makeup artist , and walked back to his buried position.
"It's an intensely unpleasant story, don't you think?" Leo said as he walked, "It's not an enjoyable story in itself—and Salvi's explanation can make it even more enjoyable." The teeth are cold, I don't know what is terrible, Salvi or Fitzgerald."
"Salvi was the one who did the reading," says Jenny, "and Fitzgerald was a little scarier—so he's one of the greatest American novelists, but a good story is often an unpleasant one." Yes, isn't it? That's the truth, and the truth is often not so pleasant."
"So that's why I don't like reality." Leo muttered, but soon, when the two walked to the buried position, he adjusted his state and returned to the scene at the beginning of the scene. In posture, leaning on the bell with one hand. Salvi also came from behind the guide tube, saying vaguely, "standby, 3, 2, 1——!"
"We...we met before."
Accompanied by the sound of "buzz", the eyes of Nick and Daisy fell on the clock, Gatsby immediately stood up straight, he pulled his cuffs a little restrained, Daisy's eyes were soft and focused Staring at him, in the joy of reuniting after a long absence—and the obvious effort to restrain joy, it can be seen faintly that she has a feeling of weighing Gatsby, while Nick's eyes are cruising back and forth between the two, and he follows Dai He looked at Gatsby's diamond cufflinks together with her—a kind of half-smile, hidden in his eyes: Nick saw through Daisy's emotional instinct, and she wanted to To know whether Gatsby is bluffing or has real wealth, she is weighing whether Gatsby's love for her is still there, whether she is still charming, and is planning to leave Tom and start with Gatsby. The possibility of a new life... Don't look at her innocence on the surface, loves to laugh and play, but Daisy is quite shrewd at critical moments.
"Cut!" Salvi's voice sounded. "good—r——"
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Although there are only three people in this scene, and these three actors don't care whether they work overtime or not, the working hours of the lighting engineer, sound engineer, and scene recorder are quite accurate. Paid overtime. And Salvi didn't mean to rush work, so when it arrived at 5:00 in the afternoon, the studio closed on time. People either went directly to the cafeteria to eat, or made appointments to go to the town to hold a tooth festival, and Jenny also refused Leo to go. Invited to sit in a bar in the town, after changing clothes, she went directly back to the resort that she, Leo, and Toby had jointly booked half of. It's a few minutes away, although it's not facing the sea, but it occupies a vast area, which can effectively isolate the prying eyes of the paparazzi, which also made Jenny choose this place as her shelter without hesitation.
The sun hangs low on the edge of the skyline, the garden is silent, Leo and Toby's villa is silent, and the service staff who usually come to run the bar at this time have not shown up-this garden is almost The three of them have their own private plot, and Jenny doesn't drink, but Leo and Toby sometimes come over for a drink. Jenny found a seat by the bar, rested her chin and looked at the lawn in the distance, she almost didn't think about anything, she didn't think about Daisy, she didn't think about the special effects of "Life Journey", she didn't think about Los Angeles, which was so close—
"Hey," Salvi said, and he sat down beside Jenny.
"Hey." She said, turning her chair to face him, "Is the filming over?"
"It's going pretty well," Salvi said, "It's going very well—after all, the storyboards were done on the first shot."
Jenny nodded, but did not speak. They fell into a pleasant silence, just watching the sunset quietly from the skyline, leaving a fiery red morning and dusk shadow.
The night lights in the garden flickered for a while, and then turned on. In the dim light of the resort, the night sky was like a piece of dark blue velvet studded with shining diamonds. Salvi stretched his upper body, Naturally, he leaned over and gently hugged Jenny in his arms. His kiss fell on the corner of her lips, which was also so shallow. Jenny couldn't help but smiled lightly on his lips.
"See you tomorrow," she said.
"See you tomorrow." Salvi said, he stood up and walked out of the garden gate: he doesn't live here, for the convenience of the meeting, Salvi lives in the town with the crew.
Jenny stayed until all the lights were on before returning to her room. She felt calm and happy, and she was full of anticipation for tomorrow's performance.