Made in Hollywood

Although Morocco is a small area in North Africa, it has rich and diverse topography and landforms. It guards the Strait of Gibraltar, has both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, the snow-capped Atlas Mountains in the middle, and the vast Sahara Desert in the southeast.

When the film industry boomed in the 20th century, people with cameras discovered this place and began to set up camp in Morocco to shoot movies. Some cities, mountain villages and even desert areas in Morocco gradually became the scenery on the screen, and the location industry here also flourished.

Having said that, Morocco is indeed born with all the conditions that a location has.

There is plenty of sunshine all year round, the 'weather is hopelessly good', the color contrast is clear, the red Marrakech, the red Ait Ben Haddou village, the red desert... and Att across Morocco Las Snow Mountain has created the complex terrain and diverse landforms here, and these are the favorite backgrounds of blockbuster directors like Duke.

Ouarzazate, a small town on the edge of the Sahara Desert, is a place where Berbers have lived for generations. Since Hollywood directors discovered this geomantic treasure, the scenery in this area has frequently appeared in the films of major Hollywood directors.

The locals established a film city at the filming location of the directors, called Atlas Studios. The ever-expanding film city covers an area of ​​more than 150 hectares today. Many films are not only taken on location here, but also in Here's the interior.

Just like Bollywood in India, it is nicknamed "Mollywood".

For a chase scene in "Inception", Duke chose to shoot in the small town of Ouarzazate.

Although the script stated that this scene took place in Mombasa, Kenya, Duke would not go to that country to shoot. In fact, this is basically the case for all Hollywood crews. Most of the African scenes in Hollywood movies are shot in Morocco.

The crew delineated the shooting range of an alley and half a street. And it was temporarily closed, and the relevant staff arranged the venue nervously, and Duke found the key figure in this scene, Leonardo DiCaprio.

He stood by an extremely narrow wall gap, and kept gesturing with his hands the width of the gap between his body and the wall. When shooting, he needed to come from the other side.

Duke walked behind Leonardo and reminded him. "I think it's better to use a substitute."

Leonardo turned his head, looked at Duke, and then at the narrow gap in the wall. He seemed to understand something, and couldn't help but widen his eyes. "Hey, Duke, do you think I won't be able to get through?"

Look at the crack in the wall. Looking at Leonardo's body which was much wider than his own, Duke didn't say anything, but had a tacit attitude.

"You really think I can't make it through!" Leonardo confirmed this, and circled around Duke, "I tell you. I can do it!"

Duke shrugged and patted Leonardo's arm, "If you get stuck inside, I will find a special demolition company to rescue you."

For whatever reason. It is an indisputable fact that the former Leonardo DiCaprio is evolving into a middle-aged uncle.

Compared with Duke's slightly thin body, he can indeed be described as wide and fat.

After the crew is ready. The on-site shooting started soon. Leonardo was chased all the way, and got into the crack of the wall from the alley opposite, trying to squeeze through the middle...

Leonardo just entered the crack in the wall. A photography assistant immediately set up the camera to the opposite side of him, capturing the front shot.

In the crack of the wall, Leonardo squeezed forward desperately. Although Duke teased him that he couldn't squeeze through, in fact, the crew chose this place as the filming location, and they have already conducted field tests. Even if Leonardo is fatter than before Quite a few, squeezed in without any problem.

Besides, not having a crew would allow a superstar like Leonardo DiCaprio to take unnecessary risks.

Difficult to squeeze over, Leonardo ran a few steps forward, Duke announced the completion of this shot, followed by Ken Watanabe and James Franco who had been prepared for a long time, and the crew started shooting again Busy.

The shooting time in Morocco is not as intense as in Japan, and Duke has been to the Kyoto area of ​​Japan more than once before, but he has never been to Morocco. He specially spared time and hired local vehicles and drivers to talk to Leonardo and James. ? Franco and several people went out together for a few laps.

Tourists who know movies like Duke, walking in the valley along the road from Ouarzazate to the Sahara Desert, seem to have entered the shots of a large movie, and can vaguely remember the scenery shots of many movies. It seems that many movies are here. Taken the scene.

Running along the highway between the Atlas Valleys, the driver clearly recognized Duke and his party, and told them professionally from time to time that this movie was shot here, and that movie was shot there.

It's just that people like Duke are focusing on the scenery outside the car window.

As the car drove past, the scenery flashed outside the window like a large film. The already dazzling scenery, coupled with the legendary experience in the movie, seemed even more mysterious.

In Duke's eyes, the scenery in front of him is no longer a simple scenery, but has been endowed with many story situations by the movie.

Did the protagonist of the "Babel Tower" walk out of the long and narrow valley in the Atlas Mountains? Is there, an ordinary village at the foot of the mountain, the Jerusalem of the "Kingdom of Heaven"? Among those majestic and magnificent peaks, is it the "paradise" in the eyes of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Cleopatra, and even God?

The yellow and red soil, jagged stones, and gentle streams under the mountain stream here are indeed unique.

Because of the "Mollywood" relationship, many local people make a living from movies, and the labor is cheap, which is another important reason why European and American film crews are here.

During the lunch break, the driver took Duke and others to a Berber village to watch them weave carpets. As a result, James Franco always thought that the owner of this house was very familiar, and he must have appeared in some Hollywood blockbuster.

In the end, Duke and his team went to the viewing area of ​​Atlas Film City, where the crew of "Inception" did not shoot.

Probably Duke’s bodyguards gave enough tips, or it might be due to Leonardo DiCaprio, the superstar. The driver and tour guide who accompanied the three of Duke, Emad, was very enthusiastic and special. There are many, constantly introducing the buildings or scenery encountered to everyone.

Walking in the Atlas Film City, even in the face of professionals like Duke, Leonardo and James Franco, Imad still kept talking.

"We have plenty of sunshine, diverse scenes, much lower prices than Europe and the United States, and extra actors who are readily available, which is most suitable for Hollywood blockbuster shooting." He said, "This wasteland has also supported three Thousands of people."

Although the visiting area of ​​Atlas Film City is not big, each hall and scene has a lot of origin in the introduction of Emad.

The fortified Roman-style hall is the judgment hall in "The Last Temptation of Christ", and not far away is the ancient Egyptian temple in "The Return of the Mummy", which is smoky like a war; turn into a courtyard, The patriarchs of "Alexander" held meetings in it, and the row of mud houses next to it served as the slave market in "Gladiator". Gorgeous Cleopatra, as for the mirage-like castle in the desert in the distance, it is the royal palace of the holy city Jerusalem in "Kingdom of Heaven"...

In fact, every building I saw, no matter how exquisite and heavy they looked, was a fake made of wood and mortar in the eyes of professionals like Duke.

The sun gradually turned to the west. Duke and Leonardo stood on a high step and looked into the distance. Under the slanting sunset, three riders in Arabian robes sat firmly on horseback and watched from a distance. The "Jerusalem" came in sections, passed the "Temple of Karnak", and then bypassed the ruins of several ancient Greek temples, and went straight to a Tibetan-style Lama Temple-that is Martin Scorsese's " "Little Living Buddha" - go.

This scene through time and space seems to make people fall into the situation of a Hollywood magic movie.

Morocco has little to do with words like occlusion and chaos. Maybe it has something to do with France’s special geographical location, or maybe it’s too close to Europe. In short, it’s not just Hollywood directors who are attracted to the rich colors and sharp contrast here, but also Those fashion photographers and designers.

In the Atlas Film City, Duke and his party also met a fashion crew, many female models were shooting fashion blockbusters under the command of the photographer.

Seeing those female models, Leonardo was the first to stop, followed by Duke and James Franco.

The reason is simple. Among the female models, they saw an acquaintance, and the leader was Candice Swanepoel, the signing angel of Victoria's Secret.

"Want to go over and say hello?" Duke said to Leonardo.

The other party has blond hair and long legs, which is in line with Xiao Li's aesthetics.

Leonardo shook his head, "Let's go, I guess they won't finish filming in a short time."

Candice Swanepoel nodded to him during the filming interval, and Duke also nodded slightly to the other side, and then left Atlas Film City with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Candice Swanepoel is obviously not shooting a Victoria's Secret fashion blockbuster, but other brands.

In fact, after reforms at the beginning of the century, Victoria’s Secret Angels are no longer the exclusive models of the only brand. Models who sign an angel contract with Victoria’s Secret only work for Victoria’s Secret for dozens of days a year, and the rest of the time is free.

And compared to the first batch of Victoria’s Secret’s exclusive angel Heidi Klum and others, the remuneration that Victoria’s Secret angels can get from Victoria’s Secret is not high now, with more than hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and even less. Less than a hundred thousand dollars.

Compared with their income in other aspects, this amount of money is a bit insignificant, but many models still want to become Victoria's Secret signing angels, because signing with Victoria's Secret means more exposure opportunities and greater fame.

After less than a week of filming in Morocco, Duke led the crew to Paris. (to be continued ~^~)

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