America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 527 Don't Miss Any Opportunity

In downtown Los Angeles, near City Hall Plaza, the crew blocked an entire road.

Martin stepped out of the makeup trailer and went straight onto the set.

The road was full of parked cars, and the summer sun was particularly hot shining on the asphalt.

Nolan was directing the entire crew and asking the stunt team to slowly drive the train over.

Mene came over and stood next to Martin and said, "Wow, the crew built a train without tracks."

Martin looked down and saw the wheels and said, "It should be modified from a truck."

Ellen Page entered the set at this time and came over to greet Martin first.

Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy arrived shortly afterwards.

Nolan came back from the crane and reminded loudly: "Be sure to pay attention to safety."

If the main actor gets hurt, all the subsequent scenes will have to be postponed. He added: "As planned, it will be divided into two parts, two cars!"

Everyone nodded.

Nolan was worried and added: "Many of our props are disposable and cannot be used a second time. We need to bring them to their best!"

This is the disadvantage of real-life shooting. If a model that has been built at great expense is broken, it is broken.

Martin got into a red Cadillac.

The filming of this scene has to follow the order of the script. He parked his car on the roadside out of the camera.

Mene and Ken Watanabe got into a yellow Los Angeles taxi.

As Nolan's voice came from the loudspeaker, three sprinklers mounted on cranes sprayed a large amount of water, creating a small-scale artificial rainfall.

But there is still bright sunshine in the sky.

This scene is a dream, and Nolan required that there must be a sun shower. In order to allow the scene to have both light entering and partial darkness, the crew deliberately marked the sun's movement path and hung baffles between the buildings for shielding.

Menez picked up Cillian Murphy in a taxi, and Martin picked up Ellen Page in his car.

What follows is the highlight of the Los Angeles scene, where a dream train suddenly rushes in and squeezes out the vehicles blocking the street.

The originally neat streets became chaotic.

The filming took place in a messy environment, with the constant sounds of motor roaring, brakes and tire friction.

Martin began to shoot a lot of short shots, some of which were only a few seconds long before Nolan called cut.

However, all his scenes took place in the Cadillac and he never got out of the car. His limited lines were also conversations with Ellen Page.

The heavy rain outside the car never stopped.

Emma Thomas sent her assistant Amanda to accompany Maria, who was wearing a raincoat, as she worked on the street.

Maria Guanhai took the DV given by Elizabeth and recorded some busy scenes of the crew when the crew stopped filming.

All these can prove that she has been there and that she has participated in an extremely important social practice.

Amanda reminded loudly: "We are going to shoot a gunfight and a car crash scene next, let's stay away."

Maria nodded and followed her to the absolute safety of the higher stairs.

Amanda pointed to the other side of the set and said, "Look over there, Martin is going to shoot the gunfight himself."

Maria quickly picked up the DV and turned the camera over there, only to see Martin holding a pistol and communicating with director Nolan. A few actors came behind and practiced their movements with Martin twice.

Seeing that the filming was about to begin, she quickly turned off the DV camera.

The sound of gunfire soon rang out.

After filming a few scenes, Maria found that Martin and Nolan started communicating again. The two seemed to talk a lot and would get together to chat from time to time.

The rain became sparse, the artificial rainmaker needed to be refilled with water, and the crew took a break.

Nolan found Martin and said, "I just had an idea. Can you tell me if it works?"

Martin was very confused. Nolan always had his way with filming, so why did he ask for his opinion? He nodded immediately: "Go ahead."

Nolan gestured in the direction of City Hall with his eyes: "Is the first daughter in your relationship? Can we invite her to appear in front of the camera, even if it's just as a passing background."

He is the kind of director who will never miss any publicity and marketing opportunity.

How could Nolan let her go without leaving something behind when she came to the crew? "When it comes to promotion, this will be a very good gimmick."

Martin thought for a moment and said, "You can try and have someone communicate with her. It's okay, just say it directly."

Nolan called Emma Thomas and had a brief conversation with her. Emma Thomas called her assistant Amanda. Not long after, Amanda came over and said that Maria agreed to leave the country.

Nolan added a scene on the spur of the moment. The scene was very simple, with Maria as the background and Martin driving by in a Cadillac.

What Maria wants is a practical experience that can serve as capital, so as to prove that she has been there.

Moreover, her tutor called Michelle Guanhai, and the White House did not object.

Nolan slightly adjusted his shooting schedule for the afternoon.

After lunch, word spread that the crew had started filming in downtown Los Angeles, and more and more people gathered, from fans to entertainment paparazzi.

Assistant Anderson looked at Maria Guanhai in makeup and wrote in the real behind-the-scenes notebook: "The first daughter Maria regards director Nolan as her number one idol and repeatedly requested to join the crew, even if it was just to appear as a background board. Director Nolan decided to give her a chance and wrote a scene just for her."

Nolan passed by, glanced at the real behind-the-scenes record book, and nodded with satisfaction.

Anderson laughed cheerfully. Encouraged by his boss, inspiration suddenly struck him. Just then he saw Martin getting into the red Cadillac used for filming, and he immediately wrote another true behind-the-scenes clip.

"When Martin Davis first heard about Nolan's idea, he decided to star in the film and asked Nolan to agree to let him play the leading role no matter what. He didn't even know what the subject and content of the film would be at that time."

Anderson is well aware that his own future lies in Nolan, so the tidbits he wrote naturally promote Nolan.

The sun gradually turned to the west, the crew and actors left the set one after another, and a professional cleaning company entered the set, carefully photographed and drew the location of every prop car and decoration, preparing to clear the set.

Martin and Mene walked together toward the trailer.

The latter said: "Paris is the last stop of the filming. I will stay in Paris temporarily after the filming of this drama is finished. Boss, if you have anything for me to do, just call me and I will rush back to Los Angeles immediately."

Martin patted Mene and said, "Just focus on acting with your goddess and try to win a Cannes award next year... It may be too late for Cannes, so try to win a Venice Golden Lion Award for Best Actor."

Menet smiled with two rows of white teeth: "Isabelle Huppert must be given priority in the award."

He mentioned one thing: "When I was talking to Isabelle Huppert on the phone yesterday, I suggested that she organize a social party for the actresses in the French acting circle and the crew. I think it would be a good idea."

Bruce came over from the other side and added, "Don't just pick on the 40-50 year old aunt goddesses."

Menet said seriously: "Huppert promised me that she would invite many new generation French goddesses of literature and art, such as Audrey Tautou, who will endorse Chanel No. 5 with Martin, and the heroine in The Dreamers."

Martin had seen this movie more than once and was deeply impressed. The Venus de Milo was too classic. He asked, "Eva Green?"

Menet said: "It should be her. Huppert has a strong appeal among French actresses. She is definitely the number one at the moment."

Ellen Page ran over from the other side and asked, "Martin, I heard you are going to be the spokesperson for Chanel No. 5?"

"It's still under discussion and nothing has been decided yet." Martin gave a clear answer.

The news released now is to test the market's reaction. Other sponsors have no objection, but it is hard to say what movie fans and public opinion think.

In general, the reaction was relatively normal, and there were no inexplicable attacks.

WMA is still collecting various feedback data, so if we really want to reach an agreement, it will take until the end of the year at the earliest.

Ellen Page may be interested in this for her own reasons: "It is a great initiative for a man to endorse a woman's perfume. Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel are very brave."

Martin smiled and said, "But it gave me a difficult problem."

Ellen Page acted like a good buddy, clenched her fist and bumped it with Martin, encouraging him: "I think among all the male stars in Hollywood, except Leonardo, you are the only one who can suppress Chanel No. 5."

Seeing that she was about to bump fists like a man, Martin raised his hand and bumped her fist, saying, "Thank you for your encouragement."

Ellen Page said: "Before you arrived at Astra Studios in Morocco, Tom Hardy wanted to bully me, but then you took the initiative to accept me and he never dared to mess around again."

Mene asked curiously, "What did he do?"

Ellen Page had had more contact with Mene and knew that he meant well. She shrugged and said, "At Astra Studios, Tom Hardy pointed to a local woman in her forties who was applying for a job and said I should go over and fuck her."

She spread her hands helplessly: "The crew members around me were all British. They either laughed or remained silent."

Mene said: "Some British people deserve the mortar treatment!"

Martin now understood why Ellen Page took the initiative to move closer to him, and stretched out his right hand and said, "Ellen, welcome to join the temporary American gang of the Inception crew."

Ellen Page shook his hand vigorously: "Thank you for accepting me."

Martin was impressed by her and added: "You have chosen a very difficult path."

"I know that once it's public, many roles will automatically stay away from me." Ellen Page is very determined: "No matter how difficult it is, I will go on."

Martin nodded: "Good luck."

The three actors went back to their respective trailers to remove their makeup, and when Martin was leaving after get off work, Elizabeth drove over to pick him up in her brand new Porsche and asked Maria to go out for dinner with them.

The latter stayed in the crew for only a few days. After the novelty wore off and he got the practical experience he wanted, he left after the crew had filmed half of the scenes in Los Angeles.

(End of this chapter)