American fame and fortune

Southern California city, San Diego.

In the parking lot of the Bay Hotel, four people, Martin, Lorraine, Leonardo and Nicholson, got into an old bulletproof commercial vehicle.

The bodyguards who followed behind got into another dirty off-road vehicle.

In the commercial vehicle, two bodyguards who had followed Martin for many years were checking their firearms. The bodyguard on the passenger seat said to Martin: "Boss, your gun is under the seat."

Martin pulled out a black bag, opened it, took out a pistol, and inserted it into the gun pocket under his arm.

Another civilian version of the AR short rifle was placed at his feet.

Lorraine grew up

Growing up in a privileged environment, he said, “Is it necessary to carry a gun?”

"It is necessary." Nicholson wiped his sunglasses: "The place we are going to next is a relatively chaotic community in California, which is full of black people..."

Leonardo corrected: "African!"

Martin also reminded: "If you usually speak smoothly, it will easily leak in public places."

Nicholson nodded: "It was a place where African-Americans and Mexican-Americans gathered. It was full of drugs, depravity and crime."

Lorraine asked: "Can't you change to a safer community?"

Martin smiled: "Don't listen to your father's exaggerated words. This is either the most dangerous place in San Diego or the ordinary African-American and Mexican-American communities."

San Diego is located next to Tijuana, Mexico, and is the first transit point for drugs entering California.

The bodyguard on the co-pilot contacted the vehicle behind, and the two vehicles drove out of the underground parking lot and headed to the southeast of Santiago along the planned route.

Nearly an hour later, the car approached the target community, and there was obviously more black on the road.

When a large number of such people gather in a certain place, it often becomes a mess.

Martin reminded Lorraine: "Be careful with the footage."

Lorraine had already arranged the camera and was filming the crowd on the roadside.

Martin also took out a DV and filmed the footage.

Although he grew up in a lower-class neighborhood in Atlanta, Martin has been away from that life for almost ten years.

In the past ten years, life for the poorest Americans has been said to have become even more difficult.

In an open community, the roads are bumpy and cracked like spider webs. The walls of independent houses on both sides are covered with graffiti. The wooden houses look extremely dilapidated. The people on both sides of the road are mainly black.

These people are not numb, but full of energy.

Just as the car ran over a pit, a sudden gunshot sounded like water droplets falling into hot oil, causing chaos all around.

The crackling sounds came continuously.

Martin asked the driver to stop.

In the alley ahead, a group of old black men rushed out. They should be two gangs. The dozen or so in the back were chasing the four or five in front. Everyone had a gun in their hand.

Two of the pursuers were holding a certain type of spray gun in their hands.

This group of people had improved their marksmanship, and they were all masters of soul shooting. They only heard the sound of gunfire, but no one fell down.

A dilapidated pickup truck rushed out of another box, and the gunman in the car fired randomly at the chasing crowd.

This time, someone finally fell down on both sides.

The painful screams of the old black men and the sound of gunshots could not be suppressed.

"Oh God!" Lorraine's face turned pale. The scenes she had seen on TV and movies were not as impactful as seeing them with her own eyes: "This place is simply hell!"

Leonardo said: "This kind of mass shooting is also an accidental incident, and we happened to run into it."

Nicholson couldn't agree more: "The main roads here are generally relatively safe during the day."

Martin didn't speak, just filmed what was happening.

The focus of his attention is chaos!

The Joker represents chaos, and that won't change in the new movie.

The gunfire stopped, and the surroundings quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Martin and others stayed in the car for a long time and never heard the siren.

Lorraine said: "The police gave up this area?"

Martin has lived in a similar community: "It will probably take a while before the police come, at least to make sure that the gun battle here is really over."

Nicholson said: "It's normal. People here basically don't pay taxes. Instead, they have various welfare expenses. They only pay but get nothing. Who is willing to protect them?"

The car started and kept going.

Lorraine took pictures of community life through the car window and said: "Everyone here seems to be sick."

"They are indeed sick." Martin slightly adjusted the DV lens: "They are sick, let alone doctors, even God can't cure them."

Leonardo was slightly surprised: "I haven't heard of a large-scale AIDS outbreak in San Diego."

"It's not AIDS, it's a disease of poverty," Nicholson said.

Lorraine rarely comes into contact with these things, and today she feels deeply: "This country is hell for the poor."

Nicholson patted his daughter on the shoulder and said, "Not just in the United States, but everywhere in the world, poor people live in hell."

These words reminded Leonardo, and he looked at Martin: "You came here for the role of the Joker. The Joker crawled out of hell?"

"There are factors in this regard." Martin simply said: "The clown was born in a place that is even more chaotic than this community. He was originally just an ordinary person with a weak personality who was often bullied. However, a series of changes made him taste... With the benefit of chaos, his ambition and madness spread quickly."

At this point, Martin pointed outside: "These chaotic places will become his territory and become the clown's admirers."

Nicholson understood what Martin meant: "Are you planning to combine it with reality?"

The car stopped near an open space, and Martin temporarily turned off the DV and said: "A person will not fall for no reason. There is always a reason. This is easy to find. Since the financial crisis in 2008, the U.S. economy has been in decline, and social order has become increasingly... The heavy pressure faced by people at the bottom can drive people crazy.”

In addition to being an actor, Leonardo is also a producer and investor. He understood what Martin meant when he heard it: "Let this film become an outlet for public emotions?"

Martin unfolded his fantasy: "I plan that the exploited and oppressed people at the bottom of the film will be inspired by the clown's series to launch a large-scale urban riot."

Lorraine was surprised: "Do you want to incite Americans to riot?"

Martin laughed: "Commercial movies, of course, are made as long as they can attract the majority of audiences. Most of the people who pay for Hollywood movies are ordinary people. These people are oppressed by companies and are quite dissatisfied with society. They think the authorities are It’s a bunch of pigs in power.”

Nicholson also laughed: "All the faults are the fault of the authorities and society?"

That's part of the plan, Martin said: "There's order in chaos."

"Have you forgotten the goal of this bastard Martin?" Leonardo revealed Martin's so-called true side revealed after drinking too much: "He wants to march into Washington and capture the White House..."

He deliberately teased Martin: "Is this film part of your plan?"

Martin also started talking nonsense: "I am pointing out an effective development path for the suffering American people."

This group of people took photos and watched the excitement during the day, and created a lot of material.

At night, the danger level in these places doubled. Martin could not risk the safety of a few of his best friends, so he simply stayed in the hotel and watched the footage together.

Although neither Leonardo nor Nicholson has ever been a director, they have been working in the film industry for decades. Their experience is more than rich, and they can give Martin some useful suggestions.

In the next few days, Martin and others wandered around Santiago and nearby cities.

During this period, I also encountered an American-style mariachi.

Two gangsters were walking near Chula Vista Park and were questioned by the police. One of them actually pulled out a knife.

As you can imagine, the two Glocks emptied their magazines, and the old Hei who was holding the knife was shot more than 20 times.

Then, black protests broke out in Southern California.

Inside the Bay Hotel, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room of the suite, Martin looked at the small square not far away, where many people were sitting in protest.

Leonardo looked at it for a while and said: "Among the people protesting, there seem to be more white people than African Americans."

Nicholson moved a chair and sat down: "Today's social conflicts are all focused on these bad things."

Martin said: "If a clown raised his arms and shouted at this time and became a model for the United States, would there be big riots in the early 1990s?"

"I found out." Leonardo picked up a glass of wine and raised it to Martin: "You always have the heart to destroy the United States."

Martin laughed: "It's a pity that I don't have such ability."

In the square, the protestors were relatively restrained, and the police did not take any other action except to be vigilant.

After all, these people are not protesting against America’s squid dads.

After four days in San Diego, the group returned to Los Angeles.

Martin immediately threw himself into preparations for "Joker."

Louise had signed a third-party guarantee with Fireman's Fund Insurance Company on behalf of the studio, and the casting director began selecting actors for the major roles.

Some of the behind-the-scenes staff who worked with Martin during the filming of "Shark Beach" gradually joined the crew.

However, the last film crew led by director of photography Dan Rostershin was a member of Chad Starsky's team. Chad was currently preparing to shoot "New York Continental Hotel", and his schedule conflicted with Martin's.

Martin chose Jeff Cronwes, who was recommended by David Fincher.

The latter started working with David Fincher when he directed "Fight Club."

Martin and Jeff Cromwes had filmed "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Gone Girl" together, and they knew each other fairly well.

Jeff Cromwes believed that filming TV series was not in line with his career plan, so he did not follow David Fincher to cooperate with Netflix and stayed in the film industry.

This photography style matches the dark and neurotic style of "Joker" very well.

In terms of location, Louise suggested choosing New York, which has mature studios and a sufficiently favorable tax rebate policy.

Martin has participated in filming at Brooklyn Studios many times. The only difficulty was that it was a little troublesome to shoot the location scenes. .

The film has a very important supporting actor role, and Martin tried to invite Nicholson. After all, it was a huge publicity boo.

But Nicholson was determined to retire and refused outright.

Martin also suggested choosing one of Nicolas Cage, Al Pacino or Robert De Niro, depending on the makeup audition and schedule.

"I don't think Cage is suitable." Louise rarely vetoes Martin's suggestions when choosing actors, but this time she was extremely insistent: "In recent years, in order to pay off debts and pay taxes, Cage has accepted all bad movies and thrown them away casually. Give him a script and as long as the price is right, he will sign the contract."

Martin suddenly thought of the movie White Ghost. When people are poor, they really have no choice.

Louise added, "With one failed movie after another, Cage has ruined his reputation. Now, every movie Cage stars in is promoted as his comeback, but fans are extremely disappointed after it is released. After a few times, fans don't want to buy movie tickets when they see Cage's name on the list of film creators."

Martin did not insist on his own opinion: "Delete Cage from the list of candidates."

He thought about it for a while and said, "In this case, Al Pacino is not suitable either. He has taken all the bad movies in recent years."

Louise nodded: "Yes, he has taken movies like crazy to support his sons and daughters."

Martin said, "Robert De Niro is a little better than them."

Louise said, "Choose Robert De Niro. You worked with him in "Limitless."

Martin replied, "Okay."

Louise returned the storyboard to Martin and said, "You put the Joker in a realistic background."

"Although the movie is adapted from a comic, the main content is closely related to real society." Martin also said, " ... Will not give up the influence of comics: "Bruce Wayne will appear in the film. The master has so many fans, we have to find ways to attract them to buy tickets and spend money."

Louise asked: "Who do you plan to cast as young Bruce Wayne?"

Martin said directly: "It's a small role with little screen time, so let's choose someone through auditions, but we have to build momentum, this is Batman casting!"

Louise pushed up her glasses: "DC will have opinions."

"Don't worry about them." Martin said: "The copyright of this sequel is completely in the hands of Warner Pictures, and Daniel will support us."

Louise nodded and said: "I have communicated with Daniel, and this film will be released during the holiday season next year, and the specific date can be October or November."

Martin thought for a while and said: "I have a movie called "Split" this year, and the release time next year is just right. It seems that the movie "The Revenant" that Leo is going to invest in is also going to be released next year... Haha, maybe I can get Leo."

Leonardo, who has already won the Best Actor award once, can win it again with "The Revenant"?

In the following time, Martin concentrated on preparing for "Joker", focusing mainly on the work of the director, and all the affairs of the crew were handed over to Louise.

The two of them were a bit like Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas.

In April, "The Shallows" ended its overseas screening, with a global box office of 317 million US dollars.

Martin led the crew to leave Los Angeles and go to New York for the final preparation and filming.