Chapter 21 Plans are not as fast as changes
"Blinken, come over here and set up the lights! And you, um...what's your name? Okay, Andy, move this thing over there and tell them to clear the area, quickly!"
Following the voice of assistant director and photography consultant Wally Pfister, a busy scene is seen on a Disney set.
The crew of "Angels and Demons" are setting up the environment under Wally's supervision in preparation for the upcoming filming.
As the director, Milo was talking to Tommy Lee Jones on the other side.
In the film, Tommy Lee Jones plays the male protagonist Professor Robert Langdon.
This was originally Tom Hanks' job a dozen years later.
But right now, Tom Hanks is too expensive.
He is a clear member of the $20 million club.
And now that he has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, if you want him to appear in the film, you will probably have to give him an additional 10% of the box office share.
The total investment in the film was only 40 million US dollars, and it was obviously not enough to hire such a big star.
Besides, I am not old enough and don’t have the corresponding schedule.
Tommy Lee Jones is much cheaper.
He is already the most expensive one in the entire crew.
He only got $5 million and no share of the box office revenue.
Calculated in this way, the total pay for all crew members does not exceed 10 million.
The more funds left over, the more they can be used for better post-production and set design.
"You are a professor, a professor, a university professor. You can be impatient in doing things and in your attitude, after all, the situation is urgent. But in an impatient situation, you still need to behave in a manner that is consistent with a professor..." Milo explained with gestures.
"Director, do you think this is okay?" Tommy said after hesitating for a moment.
He closed his eyes and gathered his emotions, then suddenly raised his head and rubbed his face, then looked at Milo with calm eyes, looking very elegant.
"very good!"
Milo clapped his hands in praise, "That's it, you did a great job."
Tommy touched his forehead, which was a little sparse, and laughed, "I'm glad you're satisfied."
"Well, let's get started."
Milo saw Wally's "everything is ready" sign to him, and he patted Tommy on the shoulder and walked towards the camera.
"Angels and Demons" tells the story of Professor Robert Langdon, who cracked the ancient code in the Vatican City and prevented terrorists from assassinating the bishop.
It is the predecessor to the movie "The Da Vinci Code".
But it's 1995, and Dan Brown is still a high school music teacher in his hometown of New Hampshire.
His first novel, Digital Fortress, has not yet been published.
Not to mention "Angels and Demons", which made Dan Brown famous, and its sequel "The Da Vinci Code".
No doubt, after confirming this.
It was Milo who "created" them in advance.
Harvard University's publishing house. Harvard Publishing House has printed "The Da Vinci Code" and will soon be released on the market.
Milo chose to shoot "Angels and Demons" in advance.
The Da Vinci Code is verified to be one of the best-selling novels in contemporary America.
It has been extremely popular since the day it was launched.
Thanks to the hot sales of the novel, Dan Brown's two-part film series was released in the original time and space.
Similar to "Harry Potter", the novel became popular first, and then the subsequent movies became crazy.
In Milo's plan, "Angels and Demons" is about to be released.
By that time, "The Da Vinci Code" had been a best-seller for some time and should have had its influence.
By then, using the name of the best-selling predecessor will definitely help the box office.
Oh, and of course, he won't forget Harry Potter, which made Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros., and author JK Rowling very rich.
But he remembered that Harry Potter had already been created during this time period.
It just hasn't been published yet, and the impoverished JK Rowling is looking for a publishing house to submit her manuscript to.
He did not create "Harry Potter" in advance, but asked Wendy to send someone to London to find JK Rowling last month.
It hasn’t been found yet. After all, JK Rowling was extremely poor before she became famous.
Let’s return to the shooting scene.
St. Peter's Square that appears in the film is a scene built entirely by the crew.
Obviously, the Church would never allow a film crew to enter the real St. Peter's Square to shoot a movie.
Fortunately, the film has Disney's investment, and Disney now needs Milo.
With the help of Disney, Minogue chose the racecourse in Hollywood Park as the set.
The crew will build St. Peter's Square and Piazza Navona here, and the Vatican City will be disguised as the Los Angeles Stadium.
Let’s get back to the shooting.
Milo certainly doesn't have the skills to direct, but he has seen directors make movies.
Although it is a short play or short video...
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
But... do Xiao Si and Lao Han know how to make a movie? They did it anyway.
Xiao Si and Lao Han also proved something to the world.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t be a director, as long as your assistant director and photographer are capable enough.
So when Milo was selecting an assistant director, he chose Wally Pfister.
As of 2024, he is recognized by Hollywood as one of the top five most outstanding photographers in history.
He also has directing skills, but they are not as famous as his photography skills.
Besides, Milo has a complete movie in his mind, and there are even many viewers' complaints and opinions about the movie.
He could completely base it on the finished film and then make modifications based on the shortcomings summarized by later generations.
With this ability, he is confident that he can challenge any director in the world.
Besides, Angels & Demons isn’t a movie that requires character acting skills and directorial ability.
It is not an art or drama film.
It is a detective, thriller and conspiracy theory genre with lots of religious metaphors and theories.
What is needed is the language of the camera and that religious atmosphere.
And this happens to be Wally Pfister's strong point.
It took three days, and with the help of Wally Pfister, Milo gradually got the hang of it.
He successfully filmed the first scene where the Pope died and antimatter was developed in an Italian research institute.
When shooting the following shot, Milo really wanted to complain.
If Italy really has this kind of scientific research capability, it can develop a powerful weapon like antimatter.
Then it wouldn't be a joke of World War I and World War II! But novels and movies are all about fantasy.
As long as it makes sense logically.
After filming this part, the order should be kidnapping the candidate, the Illuminati appearing to kill people, and the detective chase...
But after some consideration, Milo decided to shoot the square scenes first.
This part requires a lot of extras.
When shooting this part, he can put together the plot shots that require more extras and try to finish them within a few days.
This can save money and the effect will be better.
But plans never change as fast as things do.
Whether it is a long-term plan or a temporary plan.
It was the day after Milo started filming the square scene.
The first "work" in his life.
A novel that combines a variety of genres such as detective, thriller, conspiracy theory, and contains a lot of religious theories.
The Da Vinci Code is out.
(End of this chapter)