Easy? Of course not, even if it is a small-budget independent film, as long as you want to make it well, then the director's job will not be easy. If someone asked herself this question, Angela would answer like this. Although it is very official and standard, it is also a fact that nothing will be easy to do seriously. But, again, it won't be too hard, unless...
"No no no, Dad, don't do this, I've already talked to Grandpa... Yes, I promise, I told Grandpa about my idea in detail... The result is not bad, he will explain it to them for me," Angie Ra was walking around in the shadows of the house with the phone in hand, "I know, I asked Sparrow to tell you that, he's my manager after all, right?… Well, I love you, Say hello to mom and the little ones for me."
Turning off the phone, Angela rolled her eyes and exhaled, then walked back to the studio to greet the assistant and prepare to continue shooting. No pressure? How can there be no pressure. Of course, this pressure did not come from the media. Although the quarrel that broke out on both sides of the Atlantic was beyond Angela's expectations, she did not take it to heart.
But the phone at home gave her quite a headache, and even if she could plug Sparrow's phone and avoid her parents' calls on the pretext of needing to direct a movie, she couldn't help but answer Grandpa's.
Fortunately, although Grandpa's tone was serious, he didn't blame her for anything. He just had a good discussion with her about her thoughts on that history and the novel "The Pianist", which made Angela somewhat relieved. After a sincere conversation, she finally didn't have to worry about the reaction of the National Jewish Association, and then called her father.
And although the father had a lot of complaints about her hiding it for so long, but when he heard his daughter's voice, he didn't have any dissatisfaction. So Angela, who turned off the phone at this time, finally felt a lot easier, and the next thing to do is to make this movie well to shut up those who laughed at her.
At present, the crew is running well. Although all scenes related to the war were filmed in more than three weeks, they still did a very good job under Angela's efforts to adjust. Those Polish and German actors who have a lot of scenes not only performed well, but also very stable. The performance of the appointed actor Ariane Brody is also very good, but they are not as stable as them. After all, he is still too young. Only 26 years old. However, once Brody is in a good state, the shooting will be very smooth, even a lot of overshoots, and the progress has not fallen behind the plan until now. In addition to a small amount of overtime, he has more or less credit.
Soon it was the end of May. During this period, in addition to visiting Mr. Spearman, who was still alive, Angela devoted herself to the filming. The mobile phone was stuffed to the economic man again and no one answered, including herself. The three lovers - Natalie has long known and Jessica is psychologically prepared, only Kate is angry that Angela is hiding it from herself, and she didn't reveal it at all when she went to Boston to see her. So Kate scolded her on the phone, and even claimed that she was going to Warsaw to ask for her guilt, which is probably one of the reasons why Angela didn't answer the phone.
However, the debate that should have been gradually subsided has become lively again with the interview with Lewis published in the New York Times in early May, especially in response to the American media's hype that "planning began at the age of 13" and "Angela" Very confident" and "The crew members admitted that she did a great job", the European media increased the intensity of cynicism, so the two sides of the Atlantic quarreled for more than half a month before giving up.
This two consecutive quarrels made more and more people pay attention to "The Pianist" directed by Miss Genius. Everyone laughed and said that it doesn't matter even if Miss Genius smashed the shot. People were successfully aroused their curiosity, so If the cost of the movie is low enough, then maybe there is still money to be made.
Although Angela put all her energy into filming, she is not ignorant of these disputes, but she still maintains an attitude of knowing that it is enough. "Speaking with facts" has long been decided. And as she threw herself into filming, her mood became a little bit unstable.
Because Angela asked Brody to go on a diet when the preparations began, and he only weighed about 100 pounds at the time of the report, so in order to match the first shot of Spearman's escape scene after the death train, it was also a scene cruel play.
During the shooting, Angela finally realized Spielberg's original state of mind. The feeling of returning to that time and space to be a bystander is really bad. Especially in the scene in which a few workers were randomly selected and let them climb on the ground and take headshots one by one, Angela, who was sitting in the director's chair, kept clenching her fists and clenching her teeth. Double, there are a lot of times when the images of the two cities overlap.
The only good thing is that she doesn't speak Polish, so the assistants do things like holding the trumpet and making the extras stand in line.
However, this is the case, Angela still occasionally shows a trance and tired look in the short rest time.
"I want you to understand, Ed, you are not only someone who hasn't eaten for a few days or even a sip of water, so the first thing that comes to your mind is to drink water," standing in the center of the room that looked like a hospital, Angela was doing Gestures play for Adrien Brody, "You even had to go to the hospital spittoon to get water to drink because of thirst, I want you to keep your numb expression and express this emotion with your eyes and body movements, understand ?"
"Yes, Angela, I get it, but should I move more rigidly or more impatiently?" Brody asked after thinking for a few seconds, "After all, it's winter in the movie, and before I come in, not only Lying on the icy road for several minutes without eating or drinking... Angela?"
"Ah? Oh, sorry, I'm a little... distracted..." After walking out of the daze staring at the room, Angela thought for a while: "I'll take a look at it when I try to shoot, but don't make it too obvious. "
Then she looked at Brody carefully, then turned her head and called, "Brahm, come here."
"Yes, Miss Angela, what can I do for you?" A young man in his early thirties walked out of the crowd.
"Fix Ed's makeup, the light will be darker than before, so I want his face to be paler." Angela pointed to Brody and said. After the two of them left, she immediately communicated with the others.
Each scene in the hospital was repeatedly shot five or six times before the filming was completed. Angela, who announced the completion of today's mission, pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly, and then found Brody: "Ed, your What's your weight now?"
"Well..." Brody, who was already tall and looked dry and thin after a long diet, thought for a while, "It seems to be around 85, does that matter?"
"Of course," Angela nodded and looked at the assistant beside her: "Vellin, is the set on the outskirts of the city ready?"
"It's ready for use," the other party replied knowingly. "If we're going to shoot there, we'll immediately come over with Mr. Thomas Kletcherman, and he'll arrive later."
"Let's do it then." Angela explained a few more words, then said goodbye to them and walked out of the room set up as a hospital. Sparrow was already waiting at the door at this time.
"Is there still time?" Angela asked after the manager opened the car door for her and raised her head to take a look. Although it was already evening and there was no sun in the sky, she still felt that the light was a bit dazzling.
"The plane will arrive in 30 minutes, and it's just right now." Sparrow said and closed the door for her.
"This should be good news. Since John is willing to come to Warsaw, the soundtrack is basically settled." After sitting in the seat, Angela rubbed her face and forced a smile.
"Actually, there's a surprise," Sparrow said, gesturing to drive.
"surprise?"
"Yes, you'll know when the time comes." The agent smiled, obviously not going to the airport, but he immediately put away his smile: "I think you should take some time to rest for two days and adjust your own Emotions, you're a little too eager to speed things up, and... the movie is already showing signs of clouding your judgment."
"Didn't I rest or adjust?" Angela suddenly became impatient.
Sparrow looked at her without answering, and after a few seconds she sighed: "Well, you're right, it's true, but everything is still under control... Don't worry, I'll make adjustments."
Having said this, she paused and suddenly laughed: "Thank you, Jack, you have done a lot for me."
"So are you considering giving me a raise?" Sparrow asked half-jokingly.
"Don't even think about it," Angela glared at him immediately, "don't forget that I promised you, as long as you do it."
Having said this, she suddenly sighed again: "It seems that I should find a completely personal assistant for myself, so that I can share some things for you."
"A completely personal assistant? Seems like you already have one?" Sparrow shrugged.
"Don't think of Annie's ideas, and she's not good at these, playmates and assistants are two different things." Angela pouted, "Forget it, let's talk about it later, I can't wait to see what surprises are."
Surprise is the unbridled enthusiasm and surprise of encountering a completely unexpected situation, and the simultaneous presence of John Williams and Itzhak Perlman in front of a disguised Angela fits that.
"God, Mr. Itzhak?!" Angela cried out uncontrollably.
"I thought you'd be more flamboyant," said Perlman in the wheelchair, smiling. "Long time no see, Angie."
"It's been a long time indeed, no wonder there was always an RV behind me when I came." Angela involuntarily rubbed her nose with her fingers like a primary school student. The depression and heavy miraculous temporary disappearance of this period of time.
"Why did you come to Warsaw, Mr. Itzhak." Angela asked respectfully as soon as she got into the RV, and looked at John Williams suspiciously.
"If I hadn't taught at the Juilliard School of Music, I should have come to see you a month ago. You must know that this movie of yours is making a lot of noise." Perlman said with a smile, and raised his finger and waved it. .
Angela had to swallow the sentence "Mr. Itzhak", and then shrugged: "Okay, Ian, I hope you didn't come here to ask for guilt."
"No no no honey," Perlman laughed, "I'm just curious, very curious, and I don't start questioning without knowing the situation like some people do. You can always do something your peers do. An achievement that didn't come out, although I always regret that you refused to take a step closer in music, I didn't expect you to be so good in film."
Angela didn't say anything but smiled embarrassedly, and then looked at Williams with doubtful eyes again.
"Don't think about it, dear," the old man laughed, "I didn't know that he planned to come to see you until I was talking about you on the phone, so I invited him to come along, for no other reason. I think you remember what we talked about before you came to Warsaw that the main instrument for the soundtrack would be—"
"Piano." Angela immediately took over the topic and understood.
"I came to Warsaw just to see you, Angie, to see how you directed this movie, that's all." Perlman said with a smile, "Although you rejected so many media, you shouldn't reject me. ?"
"Obviously, no." Angela raised her mouth and spread her hands.
The next day, the whole crew moved to the outskirts of the set of the broken wall made by the props team, ready to shoot the scene where Spearman meets the German officer Wilhelm Hosenfeld who saved his life.
"Crack!" Angela shouted loudly, "Ed, you have to understand that although you are in a relatively safe environment now, it is only a little better than before, thinking that the attic is full of German soldiers. And because of the long-term You are very nervous about running away, so when you eat that jam, you can temporarily put your mind down and think about what it should feel like? Greedy, lucky, contented!"
After a pause, she said in a joking tone: "If I am not satisfied again, then I don't mind letting you starve for a few days before shooting this scene."
The people around laughed softly.
"Oh, please, don't." Brody immediately showed a bitter look, and the long-term diet had made him very uncomfortable.
"Then try to do it well." Angela shrugged playfully, because the arrival of Perlman and Williams made her feel a lot lighter.
"As for you, Thomas, you've done well, keep it up," she said to Thomas Kletcherman again. This German actor has a dignified and mighty German appearance, which is very suitable for playing a German officer. The film department can say that a lot of efforts were made during the preparation. For example, the assistant director Hamblitt recommended for Angela once served in some war movies. Deputy director.
"Bruno, is the piano ready?" Angela asked her assistant director in a low voice when the actors were in place.
Although Matthew, who has served as the assistant director of his four films, knows himself better, but he is still a little bit lacking in this subject matter, but Bruno Hamblit has done a really good job.
After a few shots, the shooting of this section was completed, and the staff moved it outside to prepare to continue.
"The next thing we're going to shoot is the scene where Spearman plays the piano at the request of German officer Hosenfeld," Angela explained to Perlman as he pushed Perlman's wheelchair. "Of course, in the novel Without this, Hosenfeld didn't ask for that when he helped Spearman, and he'd rescued a lot of Jews before that. But, you know, the movie's limited time couldn't put pen and ink on Hosenfeld Too much, so I use this passage to express a transformation...like the little girl in red in Schindler's List."
If it was said that when she was directing a movie before, she was just slowly picking out the areas she was interested in and learning, now she will think and analyze everything that may be used, so—
"Very good, very good." Although Angela said so, there was a thoughtful expression between her eyebrows.
"Are you going to come again, Angie?" Hamblit asked from the side, and the scene had been retaken five or six times.
Angela didn't answer immediately, her hand came to pat on the arm of the director's chair several times: "One more time."
This time, she did not observe the performance of the two actors in the venue, but closed her eyes and listened carefully, and soon with the dialogue Brody began to play Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G minor. However, just after playing a section, Angela, who closed her eyes, shouted: "Crack!"
Everyone suddenly stopped and looked at the girl who walked to the venue in confusion, and she waved her hand: "Nothing, you all did a good job, nothing to fault... Take a ten-minute break and let me think."
Following her, she pinched her chin and started pacing back and forth on the set, sometimes closing her eyes, sometimes frowning, wondering what she was thinking, until the ten-minute break was almost over before Angela suddenly raised her head: "The others Continue to rest, the sound engineer is ready to record!"
Then, she sat down on the stool of the piano stalk and opened the lid, took a deep breath and put her hands on the keys. Soon, the sound engineer raised the recording equipment above her head.
"Now please keep quiet." Angela opened her eyes and pressed the keys.
Unexpectedly, the music she played was one of Chopin's 27 etudes.
What is she trying to do? When everyone was at a loss, the sound of the piano suddenly changed to "Ballet No. 1 in G minor", which was completely different from what Brody played, not the way of playing, but - everyone could hear the deep meaning. The strong emotional color in it, the sadness, pain, confusion on the way to escape, and the fear of facing the Germans at this moment are all integrated into it.
If Brody's emotions are superficial and only reflect the emotions of this piano piece, then Angela is completely substituting herself into it and playing this song with her heart song.
Angela's ten fingers were constantly flying on the keys, and the whole person seemed to be swaying with the tune. The music was flowing, tumbling, roaring, and choking in the room, making all the listeners hold their breaths for fear of disturbing them. This beautiful and sad piano piece.
Finally, the last note fell, and the room was silent, the only thing that could be heard was Angela's light breathing.