Made in Hollywood

"Honey, you don't look like Sauron at all now."

In the manor at the foot of Mount Victoria, hiding in the carefully groomed woods, Cate Blanchett seemed a little dissatisfied, "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, and I even put on makeup before I came..."

She was blond and white, as if Queen Galadriel had come to Wellington.

In contrast, Duke is just a casual summer dress.

"Sorry, Kate." Duke came over and hugged Blanchett from behind, leaning against the bench, "I tried Sauron's outfit, it was too bulky, I put on those How can I communicate with you in depth?"

With that said, Duke lowered his head and kissed her pure white earballs.

Whether it was Duke or Blanchett, they were extremely relaxed and unrestrained in the woods. It seemed that one was really the master of this golden forest, and the other was the most powerful being in the middle-earth.

Since a few days ago, Duke has asked the housekeeping company to tidy up the woods to make it more in line with the atmosphere of Lothlorien, and gave Tina Fey and the few servants in the manor a holiday this morning. , turning this place into a completely independent world for him and Cate Blanchett to do whatever they want.

"Stop, Sauron!"

After all, she is one of Australia's best acting actresses. Cate Blanchett quickly got into shape. She broke free of Duke's hands, turned to face him, and slowly stepped back and said, " This is the Golden Forest, not your territory of Mordor!"

She tightened her pretty face, "You have no power here, I will expel you again like I did in Gorgordo."

"What did you use to drive me out?" Duke approached her step by step, "My.Lady!"

"I..." Blanchett's voice changed suddenly, "Don't come here. Celeborn is nearby."

"Really? Maybe Celeborn will enjoy what he sees next."

Duke was less than a foot away from Queen Galadriel as he spoke, and Blanchett took another step back, leaning back against a large tree, "I warn you, Sauron. I will expel you. ."

"It's better to use your means, My.Lady." Duke stopped and looked her up and down meaningfully, "I'd love to see how you expel me."

"I will conquer you!"

Blanchett's voice was full of power, and the face that belonged to Queen Galadriel was even tighter, "You will see the most powerful side of the Noldor."

Done. Blanchett suddenly stretched out a hand, pulled the white silk satin skirt and lifted it up, smooth hands, slender calves... all displayed in front of Duke.

"Submit, Soren." Blanchett's skirt had reached her waist.

"My.Lady. Although I would love to surrender before your beautiful body."

Taking a step forward, Duke pressed Queen Galadriel against the generous tree, "But I think the descendants of conquering the Noldor have a greater sense of accomplishment."

"Celeborn won't let you go!"

Cate Blanchett wriggled, trying to resist. Duke simply grabbed her hands and pressed them above his head...

The most powerful couple in Middle-earth. He started a close-to-hand fight again, as if to really determine who is stronger in combat in this beautiful forest.

From the beginning to the present, Duke and Cate Blanchett's purpose has been simple. It was only because of the attraction of hormones that they came together and pursued the simplest happiness and stimulation. The two never talked about other things. After entering their respective roles, they always entangled and fought at the fastest speed.

Ang Lee once said that the core of Western society and culture is 'sex'. Duke has been deeply influenced by Western-style society for more than 20 years. Cate Blanchett is also a typical Western woman who can let go. The physical fit far exceeds the spiritual level.

Perhaps it is this relationship driven by the most primitive sex, Duke's sense of Cate Blanchett is far better than others, and even to a certain extent, can be compared with the two best he has ever been. **Naomi Watts compared to Charlize Theron.

So, when Cate Blanchett left Wellington and returned to Los Angeles, Duke simply sent her back directly on his private jet.

Queen Galadriel took away not only the conquest of Sauron, but also those souvenirs specially prepared for the actors by the crew.

Others may believe that Duke's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy will be brilliant, but only Duke knows that this series may be the most glorious moment of many actors' lives.

Such as Elijah Wood, whose baby face has become synonymous with Frodo Baggins.

Sending off Cate Blanchett, Duke led the crew out of Wellington and arrived in Blenheim, a small town not too far away, ready to shoot the Hobbit scene. The design and construction of Hobbiton began two years ago. Built near the town.

In order to create a real Shire, Duke asked the landscaping experts to plant various trees, flowers and vegetables in front of the preset scene a year before the filming, and even built auxiliary landscapes such as bridges and flowing water. New Zealand in January has also entered the hotter season of the year. All kinds of plants planted before have become lush, and the scenery captured from the lens is like a fantasy.

However, there are fly in the ointment.

Duke circled the Shire and Hobbiton, generally satisfied, the only dissatisfaction was the scenery around Bilbo Baggins' Bag End.

When selecting the location, Duke personally decided on the construction site of Bag Di Cave, because above it, as described in the original book, there is a quite old crooked-neck tree, maybe this tree is too old. It is old and has passed the most vigorous stage of vitality. Even in the season of December, the hanging leaves are still a bit sparse.

"Bill."

Stopping in front of Bag End Cave, Duke looked at the tree above and said to the prop team leader, "There are too few leaves, which will affect the effect of the shooting."

Bill stood there thinking for a while, and quickly came up with a solution, "We can use fake leaves and hang fake leaves on branches."

Subsequently, Bill recruited relevant technicians to make calculations, and the result was an astonishing workload.

This crooked-neck tree is too old and is still slightly inclined. The props team needs to fix it with steel cables and supports before they can rely on the lifting platform to start work, pick off the withered leaves, and connect the fake leaves to meet Duke's expectations. To achieve the desired effect, it is estimated that about 250,000 artificial leaves are needed, and it takes ten people about a week to complete.

In addition to these, the crew rented an abandoned slaughterhouse factory near the town, built the interior of the bag end hole, and built 2 bag end holes at the same time.

One is built according to the height of the hobbit, the other is built according to the height of the real person, and all the props are also divided into two sets.

Those scenes with Gandalf without Bilbo or Frodo's frontal close-ups would be done with the dwarf stand-in and Ian McLean in the former.

The scenes where the Hobbit was alone were performed in the latter by actors such as Elijah Wood.

And Gandalf and Bilbo or Frodo get along with, and the close-up shot of the front is undoubtedly the most difficult to shoot.

However, technical problems have never been a problem for a Hollywood director like Duke. With props and special shooting, it is easy to achieve the desired effect of the film.

In Bag End, for example, Frodo Baggins, who was about four feet tall, would set off Gandalf, the mighty wizard, who was seven feet tall, and Duke would have hobbit actors perform and speak on their knees.

Sometimes, he also uses "forced perspective" to achieve this, which is to put Ian McLean in the foreground close to the camera and step on the upper platform, and Elijah Wood is on the ground in the background, so that the Let the audience have the corresponding visual illusion.

In order to make the "forced perspective" more realistic, Weta Studio also specially developed a set of systems for Duke, including a trolley, platform and computer software. When controlling the movement of the camera's platform, the computer will simulate the data in advance. The platform on which the actor is controlled moves to maintain the visual ratio of Gandalf's 7 feet to the Hobbit's 4 feet.

The role of Hobbiton is extremely important. This is the real beginning of the trilogy. If it cannot attract the audience, it will inevitably have a negative impact on the trend of the whole film.

It's no exaggeration to say that a good start is the start of a successful movie.

The epic war drama will be completed by the combined forces of elves and humans in the opening prelude. There is no possibility of fierce battles here in Hobbiton. The beautiful scenery and the pastoral scenery showing the fantasy of Shire are undoubtedly in shaping the characters. , an extremely important part of the film.

For Shire's landscape scenes, Duke took the trouble to shoot, not only repeated the shooting at the same angle, but also kept changing the camera position. His wide-angle lens at sunrise and sunset has been shot countless times.

Of course, Duke has never rejected computer CGI technology. After shooting these shots, CGI will be used for appropriate modification in the later stage, so that the effect on the big screen will be better.

No matter what era it is, it is inevitable that advanced technology will eliminate backward technology, and film technology will be eliminated by digital technology, which is also the general trend of the film industry.

Not to mention other things, the relatively cheap cost of digital technology alone will be promoted by major production companies and the North American Cinema Alliance.

After ten days of shooting in Blenheim, the props team completed the shaping of the big tree above Bag End Cave. If a film wants to succeed, every detail cannot be ignored. Ten people hang twenty-five The crooked-neck tree with 10,000 leaves will never appear in the movie many times, but Duke still requires himself and the entire crew with the strictest attitude.

He's not a perfectionist like James Cameron, but he won't relax his demands on the crew. (To be continued ~^~)