American fame and fortune

"The director is the overall commander of the crew's on-site shooting and does not have to personally intervene in everything."

When the crew was taking a break from filming, Chad discussed the director's work with Martin who came over: "For example, for this shootout scene inside the Continental Hotel, I told the set team and art design team what kind of battlefield I wanted, and the rest I won’t ask specific questions, they will make my request concrete.”

Martin also knew this, but he still listened carefully.

Chad continued: "So, communication is a very important ability for a director. They understand what I need and build the scene. Finally, I will check it over. If I am satisfied, I will naturally start over again."

Martin nodded: "Every work must be arranged on site."

"Yes, I am the chief dispatcher, and there are specific executors below." Chad pointed to the assistant director Hassell who was busy on the set, and said: "He is my executive director. Under normal circumstances, everything on the set He will be responsible for everything. Only in scenes involving you as the male protagonist, I will usually end it myself."

Martin reasoned by analogy: "In action scenes and gunfight scenes, you also tell Tiger and Marcus the effect you want. For example, in the last film, there was a scene where my opponent and I fell down the stairs. You made the request and Tiger was responsible. How to make the design realistic and good-looking, safe when dropped and still achieve the effect, are all the tasks that Tiger is specifically responsible for.”

Chad responded: "It is very important to have a team that can communicate effectively with you and execute your orders."

Martin asked: "Would it be easier to make a film with just a few main characters, three or four main scenes, and a simpler plot than what happened to Jonathan?"

Chad thought for a moment and said: "It's a very real problem. The more crew members there are, the larger the scale, the more scenes are changed, and the harder it is to direct. The crew is not an army. The director wants to direct a team of several hundred people. It's hundreds of times harder to do that with a dozen people, and such scheduling ability requires talent."

He would not mislead Martin on this, and specifically emphasized: "Even talent is more important than acquired hard work."

Martin thought about those talented directors again. Many famous directors usually drink and sleep with women, and they are drunk and dreamy, but they can make a masterpiece if they do it.

More directors are conscientious and work hard, but they remain mediocre all their lives, and the audiences will not remember the films they make.

Martin is very aware of his own capabilities: "I have average talent in this area. I will first try to find a small production with low investment, simple plot characters, and few scenes. If I mess up, I won't lose much money."

Chad looked at Martin and said, "As far as the market is concerned, sometimes marketing is more important than film quality."

There have not been too many cases of bad Hollywood movies selling well in recent years.

Martin smiled: "I didn't want to make this one."

Mene came over at this time and said: "The boss wants to be the next Spielberg."

Martin said: "If I had Spielberg's talent, why would I be an actor?"

The three people laughed.

Including Chad himself, he is not a person with extraordinary talent as a director.

He started working as a stuntman in the early 1990s, and later joined the action director team and participated in the filming of many movies including "The Matrix". He worked hard for more than ten years, and it was not until he collaborated with Martin on "League of Assassins" that he truly became an action actor. guide.

After struggling for so many years, Chad was only able to direct a film alone with Martin's strong support.

Even so, he was still scolded by critics, who believed that he could only shoot action scenes and that his literary dramas were all poor.

But neither Martin nor Chad care, what the "John Wick" series wants is to have fun.

After the break, Martin and Mene touched up their makeup, took the shotguns sent by Bruce, and entered the filming location of the Continental Hotel in New York again.

A large team of stuntmen wearing helmets and body armor covered their bodies also entered the scene one after another.

The filming began. Jonathan, played by Martin, and Winston, played by Mene, cooperated with each other to engage in a fierce battle with the killers who invaded the hotel.

Compared to the killers who were covered in armor, the two were agile and the shotguns in their hands were so powerful that steel-cored armor-piercing bullets could easily shatter their helmets.

In addition to still focusing on the male protagonist Martin, the focus of the camera also gave an important portrayal of Mene.

According to Chad's idea, a spin-off film with the Continental Hotel in New York as the main content will be filmed later.

Mene could be the leading actor in it.

Gunshots continued to ring out in the studio as Martin and Menne took turns filming.

In this way, both of them can get a proper rest.

The moves designed by Chen Hu and Marcus were not difficult for Martin to complete, but they consumed a lot of energy.

Action scenes require extremely high physical fitness from actors.

Most Hollywood stars will undergo physical and fitness training three to four months in advance if they participate in action scenes.

Some even start half a year in advance.

Martin is agile in his movements. In this kind of indoor encounter, he uses close combat combined with the use of a gun, which is quite a bit like gun fighting.

On the other hand, Menai's scenes are basically gunfights.

During lunch, Martin, Chad, Mene and Marcus gathered together again.

Marcus mentioned the subtitle "Parabellum" added to the film's title and asked, "What does that mean? I remember a gun with that name."

Chad said: "This word comes from Latin. If you want to pursue peace, you must prepare for war!"

Mene, who had not received this kind of education, asked: "Isn't preparing for war just to fight?"

Marcus has been on the battlefield: "Peace is achieved through fighting. Without adequate armaments, you can only get beaten, such as Afghanistan and Iraq."

Martin took a sip of water and said: "I heard a saying that I think is very reasonable. Peace is only within the range of a cannon."

Marcus nodded: "It makes sense. Let's talk about the United States. As a relatively powerful opponent, we will not directly use the military. Even if there is some friction between the two sides, we will be timid when we should be timid."

Chad answered: "Are you talking about the bear?"

"It won't be Iraq." Marcus shrugged.

Bruce interjected: "So, if the United States accuses you of having weapons of mass destruction, you'd better have them. If you don't, you'll be in real trouble."

Mene scratched his head: "Why don't I understand what you are talking about?"

"Because you don't care much about politics." Martin added casually: "You spend all your spare time practicing your oral skills."

Mene was not embarrassed at all: "This skill is the same as Mr. Martin's, it is my capital to settle down in Hollywood!"

Chad returned to the topic: "The meaning of this subtitle is that if the male protagonist Jonathan wants to return to a peaceful state with the high table, he must first beat the high table painfully."

Martin agreed: "I changed the scene in Morocco so that Jonathan would go on a killing spree there."

Originally, he thought about setting some of the forces at the High Table as Jews.

Jonathan went to the Middle East to pursue peace, but failed to achieve his goal and started killing again.

But after just communicating with Bruce about this idea, he gave up.

It is said that Hollywood is free to make movies, and the government can be the villain, but there are not many mainstream movies that dare to set Jews as the main villain.

Think about Mel Gibson, who made a few yin and yang lines in "The Passion of the Christ" and then received a series of treatment.

The incident of a drunk driver yelling at Jews can actually only be regarded as a trigger for intensification.

Because of the series of chain reactions triggered by the Moroccan kidnapping case, Nolan has a deep prejudice against Jews, but in his movies, he ignores Jews at best.

The two sides discussed the topic of movies for a while, during which "Lone Survivor", which was adapted from Marcus's personal experience, was also mentioned.

The film received a strong response in North America and grossed US$138 million at the box office when it was released.

Compared with the investment of 40 million US dollars, it can be said to be a great success.

However, the film's response in markets outside North America was not mediocre, and the combined overseas box office was only US$31.02 million.

But the global box office of US$169 million is enough to generate enough profits.

After lunch, the group returned to their respective rest trailers, especially Martin and Mene, who needed to use the noon time to recuperate in order to continue filming action scenes in the afternoon.

In order to maintain his strength and energy, Martin declined Clara's request to come and accompany him.

The action scenes in New York's Continental Hotel were too intensive and very expensive to shoot.

In the afternoon, Martin and Mene changed their AR-15s and continued to fight against the killers in full body armor suits.

The sound of gunfire never stopped in the studio.

The crew was under strict management and there were no unexpected incidents with the firearms.

When work ended in the afternoon, Martin's body was full of the smell of gunpowder. Even after changing his clothes and taking a shower, the smell still lingered.

On the way back to the hotel, he received a call from Taylor Swift.

"Hi, Martin." Taylor's voice was full of fatigue: "I heard that you are filming in New York?"

Martin said: "I just came out of the studio and am returning to the hotel."

Taylor asked about the hotel and said, "I'll be passing there in half an hour. Do you have time? Let's chat alone for a few minutes?"

Martin looked at his watch: "No problem, I'll wait for you in the hotel lobby."

"See you later." Taylor hung up the phone.

Martin returned to the hotel, found a deserted place to sit in the lobby rest area, and sent Taylor a message.

After waiting for less than five minutes, Taylor, accompanied by several assistants, hurried into the hall. When he saw Martin, he asked the assistants to wait and waved over.

She pulled up a chair and sat next to Martin and said, "I have a concert in New York over the weekend."

“I saw the ad and the response was overwhelming,” Martin said.

"The concert is very tiring." The delicate makeup on Taylor's face cannot cover up the mental exhaustion: "It is a huge test for physical strength, singing skills and voice, especially in the middle of the concert, it has a great impact on the voice .”

Martin made a guess and asked directly: "How do you want me to help you?"

Taylor moved closer and kept his voice as low as possible: "You go to the concert on the weekend, and when it's about the middle, you go backstage and help me moisturize my throat."

"Martin, please," she begged.

How could Martin say no to such a good person?