Made in Hollywood

"Evan, turn down the light and color a little bit."

Standing in front of the monitor, Duke kept giving orders according to his own requirements. "These daytime scenes are also adjusted. I don't need any sunny shots. All the daytime backgrounds are adjusted to a dark and slightly humid environment."

Tina Fey came over at this moment and whispered in his ear, "Hans Zimmer is here."

Like "Batman: Hour of War", Duke once again invited Hans Zimmer to score "The Dark Knight".

After explaining a few words to Anna Prinz and asking her to temporarily take over his job, Duke left the studio and went to a reception room next to him, where he met the Hollywood gold-medal scorer.

"Hi, Hans."

"Hi, Duke."

Duke walked over and shook hands with Hans Zimmer. The two had worked together several times. He was not polite and said directly, "The plot of this movie will be darker than that of "War Hour." It’s not complicated, the soundtrack follows the style of the previous one, but some new elements are added to make it not only more tense and exciting, but also fashionable.”

"I've already read the script." Hans Zimmer understood that Duke was busy with his work, and said directly, "The role of the clown is particularly impressive to me, and I want to use extremely restless electronic sound effects as the description of the clown. music theme."

Duke is not very proficient in music, but trusts Hans Zimmer's ability, "Yes."

Hans Zimmer didn't stay much longer. After confirming the basic purpose of the soundtrack with Duke, he left Warner Studios.

Duke returns to the studio to continue his dark work journey.

However, he has a clear mind and understands such a darkened film. Just like epic films and other types of films, once it is flooded, it will cause aesthetic fatigue. A heavy film like "The Dark Knight" is only this one in his plan.

Not all films fit this style, even The Dark Knight Rises. This style has been severely weakened.

As for the style of the film, the dark style will not be outdated, but like today's epic films, it will no longer be mainstream in a short period of time, or it will no longer be popular with audiences.

Every ten years or so, Hollywood has a change in the type and style of films, musical films, gangster films, comedy films, youth films, action films, fantasy films, and superhero films up to now.

Superhero dark style. It is definitely a new thing at present, and it may not be out of date in a short period of time, but there are not too many stories that can carry the dark wind, and based on the existing content framework and style constraints, all comic movies have become dark winds. And it is unrealistic to completely eliminate the dark wind from superhero movies.

To a certain extent, the visual effect of the dark style is easy to make people tired.

actually. What makes people more tired is the process of watching movies, precisely because the outlook on life is dark. The pros and cons come and go, and the battles are repeated, and human nature is swirling in it, which can easily make people feel "tired".

This kind of movie is not like those superhero movies with light comedy features of Marvel. It gives people a "refreshing" feeling. Although the story of Dark Wind's movies is deeper and easier to resonate with, it is difficult for people to have continuous interest in this kind of discomfort in watching movies.

If it is a similar movie in two to three years, people still have the desire to watch it, but if it is two a year, then I believe many people can't stand it.

Of course, from another perspective, Diablo is not a one-size-fits-all style, nor is it an element that every director can play with. "The Dark Knight" is certainly the pinnacle of the dark style, but in "The Dark Knight Rises", the dark style has been reduced to the point where it is better than nothing.

Of course, there are commercial considerations, but the limitations of this style itself on movies, stories, and characters are also a huge factor.

There are also some people who think that Diablo is a high-profile and high-level movie style, and it can't be compared with the comics in the general sense - especially those movies where the bluffing superheroes team up to fight.

In fact, whether it is a dark style or not, this matter has nothing to do with forced style, but only the personal choice of the studio and director.

It is not difficult for some of Marvel's superheroes to make dark adaptations, but Marvel did not do this in the past, because such a movie style is very different from the style of Marvel comics and the entire series.

More importantly, not everyone will like dark-style films, and movies are just a form of entertainment for most audiences, so shooting seemingly sophisticated and stylized films often simply fails to impress mainstream audiences. The crowd is satisfied.

Especially in the increasingly important overseas film market, the audience's perception of comics is "high-tech special effects blockbusters".

Therefore, when "The Dark Knight" was released, audiences were more willing to regard it as an independent movie, rather than a superhero movie adapted from a comic book.

Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel's business, once said that the movie "The Dark Knight" did show the difference between a comic and a movie and the potential of the movie. But I don't think audiences will simply love this dark, gritty film. Therefore, we did not make "Thor" and "Captain America" ​​into dark films like "The Dark Knight". "

Duke is well aware that this makes a lot of sense, so as a film style, Diablo isn't going out of style, but it's going to fade to a certain extent.

Duke also met Zach Snyder a few times outside of post-production, perhaps because The Dark Knight wasn't out yet, and neither he nor Warner Bros. were too influenced by the style.

As a partner of more than ten years, Duke knows Zach Schneider well. Strictly speaking, he is not particularly suitable for this style.

After all, he was more influenced by Duke's earlier style.

He is already good at adjusting light and color, and may be able to achieve a technically dark style like "Three Hundred Spartans", but he will not adapt to the corresponding heavy theme.

Strictly speaking, Duke isn't a very good fit either. The Dark Knight, like Chicago, can be considered an isolated film in his long career.

Leaving the Batman series, he also won't use this style again.

Until February, Duke was busy with post-production work. At the same time, he also made a lot of requests to Warner Bros., such as the premiere and the film that will be held at the same time. strong support.

The film crew used IMAX cameras to shoot three hours of film. Although it is impossible for the entire film to be IMAX, according to Duke's plan, there will be about 40 to 45 minutes of IMAX scenes in the finished version.

Although it is not particularly long, it is also the commercial film that uses the most IMAX screens in Hollywood so far.

In addition, at Duke's behest, Warner Bros. and Duke Studios are looking for small Batman fans across the United States, preferably those who are seriously ill.

If a movie wants to sell well, publicity and marketing are the key.

According to Duke's request, Heath Ledger has to come to Warner Studios every once in a while to participate in the dubbing. Perhaps these have played a role, and the Australian actor has not had any accidents so far.

Heath Ledger's death contributed a lot to the "Dark Knight", and countless historical experiences have proved that a dead main actor contributes far more to the film than a living one.

Since Heath Ledger did not have an accident, the film must find another publicity point, and one that can attract a lot of attention.

In mid-February, Duke and Mike Dawson began to fine-tune the film, in order to cut the nearly six hours of footage into a suitable release version.

Although many special effects scenes that need to be synthesized using CGI have not been added, those shots that only need to adjust the background and light have been basically completed. After the rough-cut picture style fully meets Duke's requirements, how will the overall style be maintained? Editing the entire story more tightly is what Duke needs to do the most.

With such a heavy theme, Duke believes that "The Dark Knight" will definitely hit the street if the slow rhythm like "Pirates of Fire" is dragged on.

"My request is very simple. As in the past, use concise and sharp editing to form a strong narrative tension!"

After Duke finished speaking, the entire fine-cutting work began. As the director with the final editing rights, he was solely responsible for the entire editing process, and Mike Dawson's editing team did exactly what he asked.

Standing in front of the monitor, Duke looked at the picture. The first shot was a big vision, and then the glass of a building was suddenly shattered, and looking from the outside in, two figures were revealed.

"Stop!" Duke held his chin and thought for a while, then said, "The rear section of the second shot is all cut off. After the window is shattered, the lens must immediately switch to the indoor close-up, and it must be clean and neat."

After a few minutes, the screen continued to play, and Duke kept asking his own request, "The hook of the hook shot, don't wait for it to land, switch to the back of the clown, and continue to push the camera, the same way, use the mirror to push mobilize the rhythm and mood of the film.”

Mike? Dawson personally, one by one to complete Duke's request, the two will exchange a few words from time to time.

"Duke, I think it's possible to break the rhythm of pushing the mirror with the car that suddenly broke into the clown's side."

Looking at the picture, Duke nodded, "Good idea, the same method can be used for the next shot. The clown just got into the car, and immediately switched to the gangster on the other side to get up."

One unfinished action switches to another just started action, which is not editing logic, but Duke and Mike? Dawson's forte. (To be continued ~^~)

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