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"Mike, the opening scene is all high-speed slow motion."

Standing in the editing room of the Rock Studios, Duke stared carefully at the frame on the monitor, "Fade in between Shots Seven and Eight, insert Explosion Shot Twenty-Three......"

After Mike Dawson finished directing the two assistants to edit, Duke looked at it with his hands on his chest for a while, and then said, "The wide-angle shot with sunset on the 45th is in front of the 23rd shot, yes, that's the effect!" ”

With the cooperation of "Life and Death", the editor Mike Dawson and Duke have more tacit understanding, and he is also more convinced of Duke's editing method, because in the just released 65th Oscar nomination list, he won the only Oscar nomination for "Life and Death" - Best Editing!

It was also Mike Dawson's first Oscar nomination.

Recognized by the most authoritative in the industry, Mike Dawson thoroughly approved of Duke's post-production concept, let's just say that the beginning of the film, the nearly four-minute scene is all slow-motion shots, which seems to be completely out of tune with the fast pace of the film, but after being cut, it is a different effect.

The slow motion highlights the majesty of General Hammer and the solemnity of the theme of the film, and this scene is in the cemetery, General Hammer is ready to seek justice from the government for the dead old ministry forgotten by the government and carry out military advice, when he comes to the cemetery to say goodbye to his deceased wife, he happens to see the funeral of the soldiers, but the deceased can enjoy the treatment of the national flag, through the slow motion of the pouring rain, it sets off the incomparable anger in General Hammer's heart.

"Next ......," he heard Duke's voice again, "Mike, we're good at it, short shots are cut, and all the action shots are limited to three seconds." ”

Duke is still Duke, Mike Dawson had the feeling that it was indeed so.

Mike Dawson's idea, Duke didn't know, he didn't care if he knew, the two went through the run-in, and also found the tacit understanding and rhythm of cooperation, and the editing efficiency was much higher than that of "Life and Death", and it took less than ten days to complete the first cut.

However, the total length of the sample was more than five and a half hours, and without the longer and more elaborate editing, it would not have achieved the effect that Duke wanted.

The final film is definitely longer than the 96 minutes of "Life and Death", and Duke strives to keep the film to about 110 minutes, especially Christopher Lee's scenes, unlike the one who once had to retain some elegant images in order to take care of Sean Connery, this Mason is more imposing, not the kind of traditional gentleman agent who makes people look fake.

There are also some side plots, and Duke also tries to simplify them, this is a movie with action and thrills as the selling point, as long as the basic plot logic is maintained.

In commercial films, a lot of logic is ignored for various reasons, not bugs, such as the relationship between Mason and his daughter in "Death Island", Duke could have started a two-hour movie to describe this emotional relationship and psychological changes, but in this film, the shots that are not related to the theme must be omitted, in order to highlight the theme, as long as the basic logic can be smoothly connected.

This is also one of the biggest conflicts between commercial films and professional film critics, who always think that commercial films deliberately ignore the plot of the film for the sake of those explosions and fights, and the director must omit the slow-paced details in order to take care of the audience's feelings and commercial achievements, and provide the maximum enjoyment to the people who pay for it in a limited time.

As for whether commercial films will lose money and investors will not go bankrupt if they become the ideal situation of film critics, those vampires who hold high the banner of art but lie on their stomachs in this industry will never consider it.

If there are relevant online ratings now, Duke believes that after the release of "Death Island", the Rotten Tomatoes index will exceed 60% at most, and he is confident that the popcorn index representing the audience will reach more than 80%.

Professional ratings or something, Duke really doesn't care, film critics do have the right to speak professionally, but the movies he makes are not for awards, film critics score or something, just take a look.

Just like Roger Albert gave the film a score of 10 points like a head cramp after the release of "Life and Death", Duke did not feel any joy, and the average score of the film's professional media was only a little more than seven points, and he would not be frustrated, which could not compare to the benefits that the film could bring him.

And at most, in another ten years, the right to speak in film criticism will not be in the hands of film critics, think about the last few years, there are not a few top film critics in North America who were forcibly terminated by the media they worked for.

Besides, since the "Star Wars" set off a lot of criticism, the impact of film critics on the box office of the film has plummeted, and now it is relatively weak, if I remember correctly, next year's "The Shawshank Redemption" was almost praised by them to the sky, plus the second release with endless sympathy after the Oscar, the total box office and attendance still hit the ground, and it took more than ten years for the production company and the distribution company to recoup the cost.

And what about the film's director, Frank Darabont? Such a word-of-mouth film has not brought much improvement to his situation, he is still only a second-tier or even third-tier director, not to mention ordinary audiences, even in the Hollywood industry, how many people remember his name?

This is Hollywood, professional reputation cannot be completely ignored, but commercial results are more important!

Who would dare to say that directors like Frank Darabont, Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, who were nominated for an Oscar for Best Director or even an award for their first directorial debut, have a better place in Hollywood than Michael Bay, who was never nominated?

In this era, movies have become commodities, this is a fact that no one can deny, before making a film, we must first find out the positioning of the film, aiming at potential consumer groups, Duke chose these films, neither for awards, nor for professional reputation, the first consideration is business.

According to the plan, his next film is even a large collection of vulgar elements of various summer files.

Just like he said, as long as he has a guaranteed business performance, he has enough time to hone himself, and then transform, even if the transformation fails, he can come back and continue his super explosion road.

The Pentagon provided the crew with the F-18 Hornet's take-off and formation flight footage, and Duke not only had to choose the appropriate shots from them, but also edited and synthesized the fighter formations into the scenery of Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Of course, the most exhausting part of Duke's energy is those action shots.

"Every fifteen minutes, I want an action scene."

Sitting at the rest table, Duke explained to Mike Dawson several key points in editing action shots, "All action scenes must show a grand pattern, but not out of control, use short shots and high-speed slow motion to offset the procrastination that may be brought about by a long time, the female characters can save the scenes, and the tone of the whole film is tense and masculine." ”

"There's a problem, Duke."

Charles Rowan, who was sitting across from him, said, "I just looked at the footage of the F-18 provided by the Pentagon, which is the Air Force Blue Angel, not the Marine Corps. ”

"It's okay, it's just a minor issue." Dukla pulled the hat on his head, "Although the operation has always been led by the marines, the film will not explain which side of the final bombardment will be dispatched, and the air force can also launch air strikes." ”

The Los Angeles Raiders hat he wore with the lucky hat on Duke intrigued Charles Rowan, who pointed to the pattern and said, "This is the team you support?" ”

"Sort of."

American football was the sport that Duke played the most when he was in school, and he has paid little attention to it in the past two years because of his work.

"Did you hear that?" Charles Rowan continued, "The Raiders may be moving out of Los Angeles and probably back in Oakland. ”

"How did I not know?" Duke was stunned for a moment, and then it occurred to him that he hadn't been paying attention to the sports news lately, "When did this happen?" ”

"It's not decided yet." Charles Rowan thought roughly, "It's said that after the Super Bowl, the Commandos will be sold. ”

"Oh......" Duke automatically ignored Rowan's second half of the sentence, "Super Bowl!" ”

"Super Bowl!" He slapped his palm suddenly, "I forgot about it!" ”

Mike Dawson and Charles Rowan both looked at Duke in confusion.

"Charles, I'm a layman for publicity,"

In this era, propaganda is more dependent on traditional media, Duke really doesn't know much about it, and rarely mixes it into the publicity, all of which are implemented according to the plans made by professionals, but there is a little confidence in the current tone, "Can I give a little advice to Warner's publicity plan?" ”

According to the contract signed by the two parties, Duke's team of accountants can participate in the publicity and audit related accounting expenses, but he, the director, has no power to interfere in the publicity and distribution, and only needs to cooperate with the reasonable plan formulated by Warner Bros.

This is not the result of compromise, but the convention of Hollywood, Duke also knows himself, he is not an all-knowing and all-powerful great genius, even if he has understood some theories, he lacks practical operational experience, and when it comes to actual combat effectiveness, he is certainly not as good as the professionals of Warner Bros.

Perhaps in the Internet age, he will be able to do a little more in this regard.

"Build yì?" Charles Rowan frowned.

After nearly half a year of getting along, he also has a certain understanding of Duke, the other party is within his own power, and he does not allow others to infringe at will, and he will not stretch out his hand indiscriminately within the authority that does not belong to him, which can be said to be the kind of director that Hollywood studios prefer.

"Yes, a built yì!" Duke emphasized.