Made in Hollywood

The three old tanks were then shipped to Ireland, where they were naturally modified by professionals according to Duke's requirements. At the same time, a large number of US military equipment from World War II also arrived on the set, Sherman tanks, old-fashioned off-road jeeps, plus The army green tents and other military installations erected on the top of the film, the film set occupied by "Saving Private Ryan", has completely turned into a real battlefield.

"Told you unfortunate news."

Sofia Coppola, wearing a woolen jacket and dark jeans, walked into Duke's office tent. "The Irish military sent 800 soldiers to help us shoot?"

"Why come so early?"

Putting down the pen, Duke stood up from behind the makeshift desk and poured a cup of hot coffee for Sophia. The temperature in Ireland at the end of October was not high. "As originally planned, didn't they arrive ten days before the shoot?"

At that time, these soldiers will play the roles of soldiers, and they will be used as background paintings. It is enough to show their good military literacy. Ten days is enough for some basic shooting exercises.

"That's what I mean by misfortune."

Taking the coffee cup, Sophia grabbed a chair and sat down, "They want to go to our neighbors first?"

"Braveheart?" Duke understood immediately.

Sophia shrugged and took a few sips of hot coffee. "I have contacted the officer leading the team. It is said that "Braveheart" has a lot of war scenes, and it is a medieval war. It needs enough time to rehearse."

"Will it affect us?"

That's what Duke cares about. "I don't want to be shooting only to find out there's no one available."

"Irish meaning..."

After taking the coffee pot, Sophia filled herself with coffee. "They have already provided the manpower. The specific shooting time of the two crews needs to be communicated and coordinated between us and "Braveheart"."

Hearing this, Duke could only sigh, the "Braveheart" crew not only lived next to their studio, but also lived in two adjacent hotels in Dublin. to deal.

"Who made Braveheart?" Duke asked.

Putting down the coffee cup, Sophia said, "The first producer is Mel Gibson. He is a very difficult person to deal with. If I remember correctly, you have had friction with him before?"

"so……"

After thinking about it, Duke said, "Let Robin or Charles negotiate with them. If I come forward, things will only get worse."

A large number of extras with military literacy are not easy to find, otherwise Duke would not have come to Ireland with the crew. The Irish side was very straightforward. After the crew hired a large number of locals to work on the crew, they directly sent an army over. , As for whether the two crews will have conflicts due to coordination issues, that has nothing to do with them.

Throwing the communication work to the two production managers, Duke continued to work on the preparatory work.

In terms of clothing, the costume designer specially hired by the crew designed and produced 3,000 sets of military uniforms that are fake and real. They also found a company that made military boots for the US military during World War II, and asked them to re-produce 2,000 pairs of military boots in the style of World War II, and then make all military uniforms and military boots special. Processed to appear baptized after countless battles.

While refitting the tanks, the props team collected and ordered 2,000 weapons for shooting. Special personnel will maintain and inspect the guns every day to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

Compared with weapons, the biggest difficulty for the props team was to find enough landing craft used by the Allies during World War II. They searched around in the UK and Scotland, only to find a few. Later, they simply advertised in the UK and the US. A large number of landing craft were found in Palm Beach, California, and were transported to Ireland, where they were repainted and awaited to take part in the filming of the landing.

And safety is one of Duke's top concerns, and he, along with safety director Cole, pyrotechnic chief Joss Williams, and director of photography John Schwartzman, went to several locations to investigate the explosion. The location of the points delineated the script, the movement of the actors was determined as soon as possible, and the safety of the detection of explosives was repeatedly requested, trying to ensure the safety of everyone when shooting the explosion scene.

Small injuries and illnesses are unavoidable when shooting this kind of play. If there is a major safety accident, it will be a big trouble, not to mention that it will affect the filming of the crew, and the neighbors next door will not stand by then.

Duke has never underestimated CAA's capabilities and the means of intense competition.

Time just entered November, the crew ushered in the most heavyweight audition actor, Oscar best actor Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks auditioned only once. When he appeared in the audition room in his military uniform, in fact, these people, including Duke, knew that image and acting skills were definitely not obstacles for Hanks to play Captain Miller.

Standing in front of the camera, Tom Hanks has thick curly hair, a broad forehead and plump cheeks, with a natural innocence, especially his sensual nose, which is like an inverted exclamation mark. This appearance is simply the best interpretation of the word 'good man'.

Judging from the camera, his performance is simple, neither aggressive nor hoarse with excessive force. He is very good at adapting and shaping the environment, and he can easily turn himself into a member of the ordinary people in the camera.

Similarly, in just ten minutes, Tom Hanks won the approval of Duke and others.

As two of Hollywood's most representative actors in the 1990s, if another Tom has a passing score of 60 in his acting skills, this Tom can at least get a 90.

There was a brief silence in the audition room after Tom Hanks left.

"Robin, Charles..."

Looking up from behind the camera, Duke looked at the two production managers. "What do you think?"

"Captain Miller is an ordinary junior officer, a very ordinary member of the Allied army."

The two production managers exchanged eye contact, and Charles Rowan took the initiative to say, "Duke, according to your settings, he is a typical civilian hero. I think Hanks' temperament and appearance are very suitable."

Charles Rowan's opinion was obviously approved by everyone, and everyone else was nodding in agreement.

"Let's get in touch with Hanks' agent." Duke thought for a while, then said, "Robin, Charles, try to keep his salary down, I can't accept the $20 million base salary!"

To show his attitude, the rest of the matter is up to the producer to deal with it. Duke confessed that Ben Watts, who was in control of the camera, took back the audition video and left the audition room first.

What Duke did not expect was that Tom Hanks and his agent did not leave, but waited for him in the lounge built by the tent next to him.

"Hi Duke, wanted to meet you a long time ago."

As soon as he walked into the lounge, Hanks' agent, Eno Martin, greeted him. Duke gave him a light shake, "I've wanted to meet you for a long time, Eno."

These words are not all polite. Duke once read a little information about CAA. The Italian Jewish person in front of him is the future helm of CAA. After Michael Ovitz stepped down as a loser from Walt Disney, he returned to Back in the entertainment brokerage industry to start a brokerage company, he once poached Martin Scorsese and others from CAA. It was Eno Martin who led CAA to beat Michael Ovitz to a screeching halt, forcing him to retire sadly.

Two thousand years later, Martin Scorsese failed to hit the Oscar for best director continuously. Except for the obvious purpose of rushing for the award, it has nothing to do with him leaving CAA, which is good at rushing to the Olympics.

"Hi, Duke."

"Hi, Tom."

When shaking hands with Tom Hanks, Duke politely said, "Forrest Gump you created is my favorite movie character."

"It's an honor." Tom Hanks said modestly.

This is the first official contact between the two parties, and it is unlikely that there will be too deep contacts. They just briefly talked about "Saving Private Ryan" and the hero Captain John Miller.

And it's not the same as what Duke thinks. Eno Martin is not like Martin Bob and other CAA's agents. He doesn't smile when he sees him. Instead, he looks like Tom Cruise's agent Pat. ?Kingsley, seems interested in befriending him.

After thinking about it a little bit, Duke basically wanted to understand. Just like there is competition between Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, the high-level structure of CAA is probably not without the personnel struggle that every big company will have. Eno Martin is likely to Those who are on the opposite side of Martin Bob.

"I missed your director."

When he left, Eno Martin said with regret, "It is definitely the biggest mistake CAA has made since its establishment. I hope this will not affect our cooperation."

The other party has released goodwill, of course Duke will not refuse, "I don't think CAA will be an obstacle between us."

Shaking goodbye with Eno Martin, Tom Hanks also walked in front of him, "I like Miller's character very much, and I hope there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future."

"I also hope to cooperate with an Oscar winner." Duke said politely.

He and Tom Hanks are in the position they are now. Whether they can cooperate or not depends not only on each other's wishes, but there are too many aspects to consider.

The day after sending Tom Hanks off, the candidates for the film, James Ryan, who needed to be rescued, also rushed to the set, although the acting skills of these young actors were not very good, and it would be hard to come here. It would be a bad candidate, but after comprehensive consideration, the crew basically settled on Leonardo DiCaprio as Ryan according to Duke's wishes.

In the following time, the audition work of the main actors ended one after another. Like Leonardo DiCaprio, most of the actors who were selected by the crew were based on acting skills, but the price was relatively cheap.