The sky is clear, the crew is busy up and down, Renly and Felicity are no exception, they are ready to film their last scene in the Maldives, and also the ending of Cassian and Jyn-Erso—
The two teamed up to steal the Death Star's blueprints and after a lot of tossing, they finally sent the data to the battleship outside the planet, but they had already missed the opportunity to leave the base, because the Empire had already sent an army, led by the Black Warrior. , surrounded the entire planetary base; then, Darth Vader issued an order to directly destroy the entire planet in order to prevent the blueprint from being leaked, so everyone who stayed in the base, no one could leave alive.
This also means that the entire resistance army team that stole the blueprint was wiped out.
Taking into account the overall situation and rhythm of the film, Gareth did not plan to use sub-shots to explain everyone's reaction when facing death, creating a Michael Bay-style slow-motion tragic, but to focus on Cassian and Jean Erso. Two people, who bear the weight of the whole ending, are tragic and tragic.
Undoubtedly, this is a very important scene, and it is also a scene that elevates the mood of the whole story. Who else in the entire crew can be more suitable than Renly and Felicity
For this scene, even Renly did not dare to take it lightly. The content of the performance itself is difficult, but the more important thing is to "lift the weight lightly" - just like the last scene of "Interstellar", it must show the depth of the characters and the story. , and it can't be too violent to appear deliberately sensational, this measure is undoubtedly the core of the whole scene.
Previously in "Interstellar", it was a performance by Renly alone, and he was in control of himself, and he found the correct performance track through careful consideration; but now it is a rival show, and he needs to cooperate with Felicity, The fit between the two sides goes beyond individual prominence, and they need to find a correct rhythm and track.
Originally, this is not a problem, just run in and practice, the two actors are experienced in many battles, so they will not be embarrassed; but the bad weather has become an unknown factor, and they continue to make troubles, occasionally interrupting the rhythm , as unpredictable as a child's temper, the result is that the rhythm fluctuates fast and slow, and it is impossible to find the right direction. Even if the experience is as rich as Renly, it will inevitably be disturbed and unable to enter the state.
Faced with the mischievous weather, Renly can only smile helplessly, which is one of the difficulties that must be faced in the field shooting.
However, Renly and Felicity also made corresponding adjustments according to the situation, making full use of the rest time for rehearsal, finding the best rhythm for each other outside the camera, treating the movie as a stage play, using the repeated Continue to find the best state, and then board the stage of the "camera" to complete the performance in one go, hoping to complete the shooting before the weather damage arrives.
According to Gareth's conception, the last scene is undoubtedly the sublimation and explosion of emotion. He expects that the chemical reaction between Cassian and Jean-Erso will explode at the closing moment, and then put the insignificance of personal emotion in the rescue. In front of the great achievements of the galaxy - not to "depreciate" personal feelings, but to make people truly realize that behind the great achievements that promote the historical process, all are composed of independent individuals, thanks to those "small" The existence of "great" is born.
Obviously, Gareth has very high expectations for this scene, but his understanding of the performance is far from being in place, and it can even be said to be simple and straightforward.
In Gareth's blueprint, two seriously injured people came to the beach and witnessed the magnificent explosion of the imperial warship destroying the planet. They calmly faced the imminent death, and Jean-Erso took the initiative to hold Cassian's hand, and then Cassian hugged Jyn-Erso to meet the end of destruction, and the camera finally freezes on Jyn-Erso's tearful eyes.
But Renly offered a different opinion.
The context and ideas of the whole scene are correct, but the execution method is only on the surface, more showing the emotional fusion of Cassian and Jean-Esso - from hostility to side by side to intimate, the two finally open up. The heart, accepting the other person with a hug, and also embracing death, then, Gareth's conception just stays here, and can't be further sublimated to the level of "individual and collective".
holding hands. Embrace.
Such an action contains too much personal information and shows more personal emotions, and stripping away the identities of Cassian and the Jean-Erso Rebels also strips away the meaning behind such a sacrifice.
A straightforward explanation is: this can be seen as the outbreak and destruction of the love between Cassian and Jean-Esso, but it cannot feel the tragic and solemn sacrifice of the entire rebel team.
Renly objected to this interpretation, he didn't think it was the right way to open the final scene, the emotion between Cassian and Jean-Erso was similar to love but higher than love, only using "love" to bind the relationship , is undoubtedly superficial and rude, it should be a kind of "Love" above the basic human emotions:
To their family, friends and loved ones, to the land and world they love, and to their beliefs and dreams that they unswervingly support and follow.
It's a "big love".
If it just falls on the shoulders of Cassian and Jyn-Erso, it's an ignorance and contempt for the entire Rebel squad, for the entire movie, for the cause they sacrificed for; as Gareth conceived In general, this scene has a heavier and deeper meaning, but the problem is that Gareth doesn't know how to explain and state it, and how to evolve the idea into a shot.
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If it is written through words, it can be described clearly and accurately; but through the lens, how should the director and the actor cooperate to present that greatness and grandeur
This is the source of the charm of the film: some directors may choose the way of narration, expounding it clumsily and bluntly, instilling their ideas into the audience; but some directors choose the lens to tell their ideas, the light, the composition, the perspective Integrating with the performance of the actors, telling in detail the surging undercurrents hidden in the depths, and leaving the space for reflection for the audience, this is a truly brilliant approach.
But now there is a problem. This is a commercial film. It is impossible for Gareth to carefully sculpt the shots like Terrence Malik, or even spend too much time on the presentation of emotional narratives, otherwise It's about to fall into the rut of sensationalism - Michael Bay is a bad example.
Proportion, scale, weight, these are the shackles on Gareth's many ideas, which also makes him restrain his hands and feet, and the final picture and performance that he conceived are rejected by Renly.
So what did Renly think
This is undoubtedly a difficult problem.
The ending of "Gravity" inspired Renly. At the end of the film, Ryan Stone escaped from death, fell into the lake, as if returning to his mother, and then got rid of his mother step by step, just as ape-man evolved into human. , once again learn to stand up with your own legs, and finally stand upright on your feet in a three-dimensional manner.
Alfonso Cuaron uses only one lens to present the interdependent yet mutually exclusive relationship between humans and gravity.
Now, could the same be true for Rogue One
In terms of directing skills, Renly couldn't ask Gareth to imitate Alfonso—it was not necessary, but in terms of performance, Renly and Felicity could learn from their ideas and find a way to present them. Discuss and rehearse, learn from mistakes again and again, try to find a more suitable performance method, and lightly draw a perfect ending for the film.
After repeated rehearsal, they did find a way to present it, but the discussion is just a discussion. After all, the actual effect cannot be truly felt on paper. In the end, it needs to be presented on the "stage", which is the real "shining moment". "—
See what exactly Gareth's footage captures, and does it live up to expectations? Or is it... Renly's idea is just over-the-top after all
After waiting and waiting, the opportunity finally came again.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself very much." Felicity could feel Renly's eager excitement and jubilation seeping out between her brows.
In fact, they should be nervous, because the weather window is very small - the heavy rain that may come again at any time is on the one hand, and on the other hand, Gareth hopes to seize the moment of the sunset, use the sunset to simulate the explosion effect, and then transition from the sunset to the The mushroom cloud of the planet's explosion outlines a tragic beauty at the moment of the planet's destruction.
This is an emotional rendering method that Garris is best at. It does not need to be too sensational or too much soundtrack. It can create the atmosphere of the scene just by relying on the picture. If this was a studio shot, then Gareth probably wouldn't have asked for that much and could just use computer effects to create an explosion effect; but now that it's on set and it's suffering from the weather, why not hurry up? What about opportunities
Therefore, the crew needs to race with the rainstorm and the sunset, either worrying about the rainstorm coming, or worrying about the sunset disappearing - if you miss today, you will have to wait for tomorrow. Therefore, every second counts now, and it is even more tense than the stage play. After all, the indoor performance of the stage play does not need to worry that the rainstorm may come to make trouble at any time.
But Renly didn't.
He showed a big smile at Felicity, "Shouldn't it be? This is the fun of an actor, to feel the world in our way and present it, let the audience feel the emotion of the character, not a simple explosion, Or drag racing, or some other popcorn VFX, but the real emotion that really connects with the audience, the real heart behind the computer effects. I'm doing an important job right now, and it's a job I love, even if It's stressful, and I enjoy it."
In Renly's eyes, Felicity saw the stars.