Chapter 31: to prepare

The next day, Nicholas Cage signed a contract under the witness of his agent and lawyer, that is to say, "Saw" finally had a leading actor.

Ryan paid all the salary for this one-off. The only gratifying thing is that Nicolas Cage did not make any excessive demands except for a separate dressing room and a trailer for rest.

Some Hollywood actors will put forward some extremely excessive conditions to the crew, such as only eating the dishes of a certain restaurant, having to pay for pet feeding, and having a special chef and so on.

It can be said that only you can't think of it, and there is nothing they can't bring up.

Of course, Nicholas Cage's salary is a bit high for the crew.

Now Nicholas - Cage, although not yet popular, but also starred in many films.

Several of them are the protagonists in the film. Considering the current salary, it is already very low, and it can even be said that the salary is self-decreasing.

Ryan is very clear about this, Sophia played a key role, and it is not ruled out that his last film "The Blair Witch" played a role.

Of course, it is also related to the short shooting time of the crew.

Three days later, little Scarlett Johansson, accompanied by her mother, joined the crew.

Monica Bellucci didn't know what kind of agreement she had reached with Helen, she was busy changing her agent, and it would probably take a few days to sign the contract.

In addition, another important role in the film, Dr. Lawrence, has also been confirmed, played by an actor Helen has just signed, Edward Norton.

This name may be very unfamiliar to most people, but when it comes to a film "The Incredible Hulk" he starred in in his previous life, it will definitely make people realize that he played the Hulk in the film.

Cough cough, well, I admit that "The Incredible Hulk" seems to have hit the street.

But after all, he can be regarded as starring in a commercial film with huge investment.

So far, the crew of "Chain Saw" has barely been formed.

Except for a few main actors in the film, there are more than 20 people in the entire crew, including five university interns, whose salaries are pitifully low.

On the other hand, Ryan was very generous when it came to the selection of prop artists, set designers, makeup artists, etc. He chose the best of Hollywood practitioners with a high weekly salary.

Compared with the last "Blair Witch" crew, I don't know how many levels have been improved.

As for the other main actors in the film, Sophia, the police officer's partner Xin, who was killed by the jigsaw mechanism, played a guest role in person.

According to Ryan, the winner of the Golden Raspberry Award for Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress happened to be a cameo.

There is also a female detective, Kerry, and the rest of the small roles, as well as some background cloths and passer-by actors, are all contracted actors from Helen's banner.

From here, it can be seen that the benefits of having a contracted director under the banner are even better than that of well-known actors.

The crew's preparations went very smoothly, except for the box office share of "The Blair Witch".

After several rounds of negotiation, 20th Century Fox finally agreed to pay all the box office ladder share in one lump sum within the first week of the film's release in North America at the earliest, which means that it will not be credited until the end of June at the earliest.

Obviously, for Ryan, the time is a bit too late.

Fortunately, Helen was well prepared and contacted a small community bank long ago to apply for a mortgage loan. The mortgage was the box office ladder sharing contract of "The Blair Witch".

In the rented haunted house, the crew gathered together for the first time.

As the only investor, director and screenwriter of the film, Ryan is obliged to introduce it to everyone.

"Sofia-Coppola, my assistant, part-time assistant director, and crew coordinator, you can call her Sophia."

Glancing at Sophia, who had an ugly face, Ryan naturally understood why, but he didn't say anything, but continued to introduce everyone.

"By the way, Sophia's father is the famous director Coppola. From now on, if you have anything to do, just look for her."

Then, he pointed to Nicholas Cage and introduced: "Nicolas Cage, the actor played by Adam in the film, I think everyone should know him."

"Monica Bellucci, as Amanda Young in the film, a very charming lady."

"Edward Norton, who plays Dr. Lawrence in the film, is a very good newcomer."

In a nutshell, Ryan lets the crowd talk on their own.

However, most people were a little nervous, and their eyes fell on Sofia and Nicolas Cage from time to time.

Among them, several senior Hollywood practitioners were secretly surprised. The relationship between Sofia and Nicolas Cage has long been no secret, and they are all born in the Coppola family.

For a moment, they looked at Ryan's eyes with a trace of awe, not everyone can be related to the Coppola family.

"Sophia, why didn't you say hello when you saw your cousin?"

After finishing speaking, Nicholas Cage turned to look at Monica Bellucci, took a step forward, and showed a smile that he thought was very pretty, "Long time no see, Miss Monica."

"Do you have time for dinner tonight?"

Monica Bellucci was slightly surprised, she didn't expect that the leading actor in the film would be Nicolas Cage.

"Cage, long time no see."

"I would also like to thank you for your recommendation."

"As for whether you have time at night, it depends on the arrangement of the crew."

The two had known each other as early as in the crew of "Four Hundred Years of Vampire Zombies".

Seeing that the eyes of her cousin Nicolas Cage almost fell on Monica Bellucci, Sofia Coppola couldn't help snorting and said, "If you like to flirt at a murder scene, then you It’s perfectly fine to go on.”

Murder scene!

The next moment, everyone's eyes were on Sophia.

"Don't look at me, this is Ryan's rented place." Sofia Coppola gritted her teeth, as if filled with endless resentment.

"This?" Ryan smiled awkwardly, without any concealment, and said: "The house manager said that there was a murder on the second floor a few months ago, and there have been more than one suicides in this apartment. Cursed by a witch."

"So I want to put some of the shots in the film here as much as possible, and maybe add some horror."

"Think about it, what better location to shoot than an apartment where a murder just happened!"

The main actors on the side have to admit that this promotional selling point is very good.

It's just that when I think about shooting at a murder scene, I always feel a chill behind my back.

On the contrary, several senior crew members, Qiqi's eyes lit up, and they couldn't help but look at Ryan with admiration.

From this point alone, it is enough to show that he is a very thoughtful director.

Ryan ignored everyone's reactions and ordered Sophia to post the shooting schedule, saying, "I hope everyone can take some time to go through the main shots in the film and get familiar with them."

Such things are not so uncommon in Hollywood. Before the shooting of many commercial blockbusters ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ the main actors of the crew need to go through long rehearsals.

Of course, if the special rehearsal was done to the extreme, it should be on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

In order to film a "Dream of Red Mansions", the actors from all over the country had to study for three months first, and the daily schedule was very tight.

Every actor needs to shape and lose weight according to the characters in the script, invite red science experts to give lectures, and have to talk and rehearse over and over again.

Even makeup, costumes, and composition have to be learned, and everything must conform to the original work.

The most critical point is that it is only at this time that we start to choose suitable actors from among them. Often five or six actors compete for a role, and those who are not selected have to go back.

It is conceivable that the standards of TV series filmed in this way are stricter than those of movies, so it would be strange if they are not good-looking.

Regarding the rehearsal, everyone naturally has no objection. As the only investor in the film, they are not afraid of wasting time, so they are naturally happy.

As everyone knows, regardless of past life or present life, Ryan is a famous fast shooter. For example, recently a certain director shot a large-scale fantasy film, which took a total of 20 days, which is considered slow in his opinion.

twenty days?

If it had been directed by him, it would have been completed in at most fifteen days, and if it was faster, it would have been possible in ten days.

Ryan just let them get to know each other today, and they couldn't officially start filming as soon as they came up.

In the evening, there is also a small dinner for a little relaxation.

When the shooting officially starts, they will know what it means to race against time, and within two weeks, the shooting can be finished.

Anyway, there was no rehearsal for this film in the previous life.

Now Ryan doesn't want to waste time on rehearsals either.