A lot of people think that making movies is fun, but when it comes to doing it, they don't think so.
—By Sammy Griffin
According to Sammy and Rossi's original plan, the film's shooting cycle should be set between ten and fifteen weeks.
But it was a good idea, but when it came to the actual shooting, they had been shooting for almost half a year, and they still didn't finish the filming.
During this time, in addition to the actors playing inconsistently and requiring a little communication and coordination, technical difficulties also began to seriously affect the progress.
For example, the largest snake king model that will appear in the film.
Generally speaking, for this kind of movie, at least two or three models must be made. The rich crew might make more than ten identical models, so that they can be replaced in time when problems occur.
But at first, in order to save money, they only made a relatively simple model with a mechanical skeleton inside, a layer of artificial leather on the outer head, fangs and red eyeballs made of plastic materials.
It's actually very easy to wear up close, but if you shoot it from a distance, it looks like a giant python.
However, what was unexpected was...
This model broke on the first day of official use.
While filming Sheriff Reynard being entangled in it...
It snapped into two pieces (showing how shoddy it was)!
The actor Herbert, who played Sheriff Reynolds, stood there dumbfounded, unable to react.
Moreover, he still hugged the half-giant body of the snake with both hands, but it seemed that he suddenly changed from a poor victim who was about to be bitten to death by a snake to Hercules, the god of Hercules who could crush a poisonous snake at birth. For everyone, we performed a brave tearing of the 'Monty Python'.
The scene is hilarious!
However, after laughing...
The entire crew had to face the tragic situation of 'we made a snake movie, but we have no more snakes'.
Filming had to be temporarily stopped.
The props group also had to recreate Orochi.
This may be the mistake that a novice filmmaker will never avoid—inadequate preparation and crisis management.
at the same time,
After the shooting was postponed due to technical problems, it brought more troubles.
Because from the first day the cast and crew joined the cast, Sammy and Rosie didn't make a 'this movie will be released' promise.
They can't give it either.
After all, whether an independently produced film can be released in the end, and whether the release can be successful, depends purely on luck.
However, when filming first started, people who came to apply for jobs often didn't think so far back.
Everyone came to apply for the job with enthusiasm, and as soon as they were selected, they went to the ground excitedly.
If the filming goes well, it may be possible to keep busy day by day without thinking about it.
Because people have inertia, they repeat the fixed work every day, habitually day by day, day by day, and this goes on;
But once the filming fails, those seemingly prosperous illusions will be broken, and the prospect of loneliness and desolation is immediately revealed.
The actors and staff who stopped working began to think wildly and even became irritable in their idleness.
They couldn't help but start to question:
"Is my current job worthwhile?"
"Am I wasting my youth again?"
"When will I be able to realize my dream? Become a real actor?"
"Can this film really be made?"
As a result, the actor who played a police officer in the film became the first to quit.
He believes that this job currently has neither prospects nor room for growth, and also has low wages, strict requirements, and many things (Sami is not satisfied, they let them shoot over and over).
It's reasonable to think so.
Sammy had no choice but to agree readily.
Fortunately, it is not an important role.
He casually said to the screenwriter Hughes Humphrey: "Next week, let's kill XXX (the police officer)."
Screenwriter Hughes now especially regrets signing contracts with Sammy and Rossi.
He has the pain of getting into a thief's car every day: "You guys made a lot of money, you know?"
As the screenwriter changed the script, he complained incessantly, "It paid me $20,000 in total, and so much after-sales service!"
However, this is just the beginning.
When the first person takes the lead, the second and third people also appear.
More and more performers came to resign one after another.
Some are three-minute fever, and now they think the road is too long, and they don’t want to run back and forth like this again; some also think that the money is too little, and they are unwilling to do it; some are inspired by the Animal Protection Association, thinking that humans should not kill snakes, Not even in the movies (Sami: what???); and going straight to say 'I can't make it in Hollywood, I plan to go back to my hometown to herd sheep and pigs', which means I'm not even an actor.
What can Director Sammy say
He simply waved his hand neatly and let the accountant of the crew watch and deal with it, as long as there was no money dispute, he would approve it.
The overall situation is...
Sammy said to the actors with a blank face: "Go! Go! Go! All go!"
On the other side, he clenched the hand of screenwriter Hughes: "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill all!"
As a result, these actors were soon 'running out of time' in the film, and were killed by the director and screenwriter working together to do everything possible.
In those bright red days... the strong taste of ketchup and artificial plasma, lingering in the studio for a long time!
But the most fatal blow to the crew was the departure of Herbert, the hero of the film, played by Sheriff Leonard.
It was as if God couldn't bear that Sammy's career was going too smoothly, and wanted to cause him some trouble.
This hardworking and honest actor actually ushered in a big opportunity.
A role he had failed auditions for a long time ago was given a chance again because the actor he had chosen at the time suddenly had a car accident and withdrew from the role.
It was a big-budget war movie about the rise of a general in times of war.
If Herbert agrees, he will play a soldier who chooses to escape after learning that his old father died, his wife is seriously ill, and his son goes out to play with the tragic events of disappearance.
Although in the film, this character is not even a supporting role, but he can have a relatively high-profile scene.
This part of the scene mainly tells that although the soldiers chose to defect, they bravely went up to fight when the enemy came.
However, when he was seriously injured and on the verge of death, he couldn't help but grabbed the general's hand and asked in bewilderment, 'Why should there be war'? This sentence greatly touched the general as the male protagonist.
So, this character has two roles in the film:
One is to promote the ideological growth of the male protagonist; the other is to express the harm caused by the meaningless war to the people.
For a young actor like Herbert, this role is definitely a great opportunity that fell from the sky.
Compared with a monster movie with a snake as the protagonist and himself as a supporting role, I still don’t know if it can be filmed in the future, whether it can be released after it is released, and it is also a monster movie with a snake as the protagonist and himself as a supporting role. Clearly the better option.
Herbert really couldn't resist this temptation.
But he was ashamed of it.
So, compared with other actors who came to resign and talk nonsense, this one is obviously more sincere.
When asking Sammy about his 'resignation', he not only kindly returned all the wages he had received before, but also offered to pay double the liquidated damages indicated in the contract, just asking for a little leniency A little while, until he raises enough money.
Hey, you are the hero!
The hero is about to run away!
Rossi was about to be driven mad by this change.
He was so angry that he wanted to shoot people out on the spot.
But Sammy stopped him, and put those wages back into Herbert's hands: "This is what you deserve, there is no need to return it."
Then, he paused and said: "As for the liquidated damages, you can wait until you have money to pay them back, it's not a big deal. Herbert, you are a good actor, I wish you can achieve what you want. But after leaving Before, you had to do a few more scenes for us so that Sheriff Reynolds could end up."
Herbert repeatedly said 'that should be, should be'.
Then, gratefully, he left.
After he left, Rosie angrily kicked off the table, pushed up on his glasses, and sweared.
Then, he said angrily: "You are too kind to him, so why would you wish him to achieve what he wants. Let me tell you, these bastards who have no contract spirit, don't deserve a little bit of a good face at all."
"unnecessary."
Sammy shook his hand indifferently: "It's not easy for Hollywood actors to get ahead, we don't need to stand in their way."
But to be honest, it's not a small problem.
A lot of previously filmed material can no longer be used due to subsequent changes in the plot, and everyone has to re-shoot.
With such a series of incidents, and the loss of the freshness of the filming at the beginning, the work gradually became dull and boring.
Everyone in the crew was working almost numbly, and they didn't like this movie very much in their hearts.
They even thought: "After the film is finished, will there really be an audience? Maybe, we are the only audience?"
In this overall slump...
Sammy is miraculously still very engaged and continuing to work.
He seems to have an innate magical talent. He naturally comes with a firewall, which is fully automatic. He can be passively triggered, actively block and isolate all bad and bad speech and negative emotions, and only concentrate on immersing himself in himself. in a small vacuum world.
In fact, as early as many years ago, he was like this.
When people sneered and talked about 'the youngest son of the Griffin family is afraid that he is not a fool with a problem in his mind, he is going to go up the mountain to slay the dragon with a bread knife'...
He was waving his bread knife happily, and ran two back and forth on the hillside next to him, sweating all over his head, and chopped off two branches. Then, he was taken home by his elder brother.
Now, he has entered this state again.
Apart from doing his best to create this fun and funny snake movie, nothing could attract his attention.
What are you afraid of without a male protagonist
Isn't there a heroine
Na Li inexplicably ushered in the upgrade of the role;
Even Wolf, who played the villain, got more roles.
"Why should I be angry? Why should I be anxious? Why should I be worried? The crew hasn't disbanded yet."
Director Sammy was calm from start to finish.
He also looked at the people around him very strangely, and asked with a puzzled face, "Do you think you have too little work? Or do you think snakes are not cute?"
At this time, behind him...
Dozens of snakes are crawling back and forth around him, the scene is extremely magical and extremely frightening.
Later, the remaining actors of the crew joked in some variety shows: "Other directors may go to walk the dog when they wake up early in the morning, but our director will definitely not... Because he usually wakes up early to walk the snake."
However, the house leak happened to rain overnight.
In addition to major changes in personnel and plot, the funding of the crew has gradually been unable to keep up.
Sammy went directly to Rossi for money.
Rossi, as a producer, naturally had to figure out a way.
But when he checked with the crew's finance staff, he realized he had made a huge mistake.
as a novice producer.
Although Rossi has a bright mind, he is seriously inexperienced, and the result is that he follows Sammy's temperament too much.
Although the two are good friends, Sammy is indeed a capable and talented director, and it is even more impossible to harm him for no reason.
However, the relationship between the producer and the director was originally a mutually restrictive relationship.
For the sake of trusting his friends, he directly handed over the leadership to Sammy.
That doesn't sound wrong either.
But the problem is...
When the director thinks about things, he will only consider 'how to make my film look better', not 'how to make it look good while saving money and not exceeding the budget'.
The result of Rossi letting go a little is...
Money is like water.
All right!
No money.
Rossiter felt devastated.
But he still had to figure out a way to find the money.
So, the investor who took advantage of it met with Rossi again.
An investor who invested in a movie for the first time in his life never thought that such a thing would happen. In his original idea, it was to take some money as an investment, and the movie would make money after it was made. Why do you need additional money
He grabbed a lot of bills, but couldn't understand it over and over again, so he had to ask: "I gave you a full two million last time, where did you spend all the money?"
Rossi began to take the trouble to give him detailed explanations and reports. When hiring employees, renting venues, manufacturing python models, and shooting locations, it also involved clearing the venue and giving local people some compensation...
Investors listened deadpan, as if every rationale for spending money sounded plausible.
But together it is one sentence: spent all, no money.
He took a deep breath: "Then why do you still have to shoot the location? Since there is no money, it is done in the studio."
Rossi replied: "The exterior is more realistic."
"But being realistic costs a lot of money."
"But today's money is for tomorrow's gain."
"Don't make trouble, can this thing still be profitable?" Investors laughed angrily.
At this moment, he had a feeling that he had been defrauded. After investing a sum of money first, he said that it was not enough, and was asked to invest another sum. If you don't vote, the 2 million you invested in the front will be forfeited; if you continue to vote, you are only betting on the possibility of 'success'.
At this moment!
Is it a timely stop loss, or an overweight gamble
This unsatisfactory investor chose the former with no courage, and said very singlely: "I have no money, and I will not give you any more money! You can shoot if you can, but if you can't, forget it."
Rosie went back in frustration.
But his and Sammy's bad luck wasn't over yet.
A director of Disney's human resources called them directly: "Did you forget something?"
"Ah, sorry."
When Sammy got the call, he remembered that he had a job, and immediately covered his head in embarrassment and said, "I have something to do recently, so I didn't go to the company..."
"Oh, can you come now?"
This supervisor of the human resources department is really well behaved, and he can still ask so kindly in the face of the shit worker who has skipped work for nearly three months.
But Sammy sometimes gets stupid and says, "Wait a minute, I'll see."
Then he flipped through his shooting schedule over there.
There must have been a page-turning voice on the phone, extremely ironic...
The HR supervisor who was just polite was probably pissed off.
"I see that you are very busy too."
He continued to discuss politely and said, "Why don't you come over when you are free that day. When that time comes, go directly to me to go through the resignation procedures?"
Sammy then stopped turning the page and thought hard about it.
Then, he said, "Good idea!"
That night, Rosie, who had the same fate as him, knocked on the door of his house.
After he entered the room, he lay on his back on the sofa with a very depressed expression: "We no longer have the hero and no money! It's good now, we don't even have a job... We have nothing, what should we do?"
Sammy advises: "Like Jesus."
Rossi didn't understand: "What?"
"Fake death for three days first..."
Sammy clenched his fists and said with high fighting spirit: "Then, resurrect!"