In Iceland in August, you can't feel the scorching sun, but instead feel a biting cold.
In fact, at the same latitude, Iceland is already relatively warm, but this warmth is relatively limited. It should be cold when it should be.
The temperature can stay around ten degrees during the day and drop below freezing at night, which really allowed the crew of "Batman Begins" to experience the world of ice and ice.
But one comfortable thing is that Iceland is a place with many volcanic resources, which brings a lot of geothermal resources and hot springs.
Although most hot springs cannot be used due to the high concentration of sulfur dioxide and the local government's environmental protection, there are still some hot spring resources that have been developed.
The hotel where the crew stayed was such a hot spring hotel. After a hard day's shooting work, returning to the hotel to soak in the hot springs could wash away the fatigue of the day.
Therefore, hot springs have become a frequent place for Chinese film crews. Compared with the Chinese crew's love for hot springs, it seems that Hollywood staff have little interest in this.
After a lot of preparations, "Batman Begins" officially started shooting the first scene in Vatnajökull Glacier.
Walking on the temporarily constructed simple road, Zhang Hao felt the howling cold wind while discussing the shooting plan with the core team of the crew.
According to the prior agreement with the local government, this road will be built by the local government, and the crew will provide part of the funds. In exchange, Zhang Hao will also hire local people as temporary workers for the crew during the filming in Iceland.
You will get something if you put in the effort. This is the basic rule. Most of the time, Zhang Hao abides by the rules of the game.
Guo Fan continued to serve as Zhang Hao's deputy in "Batman Begins" and assisted Zhang Hao in completing the filming of the film together with another American assistant director, Jonathan Cross.
After getting off the off-road vehicle, Zhang Hao assigned shooting tasks to his two assistant directors.
This place is close to the Arctic Circle. Although the temperature is around seven or eight degrees above zero, the sky is overcast and snowflakes are actually starting to fall.
Zhang Hao asked the liaison officer assigned by the local government to the crew: "Is it common to see snow in August here?"
The liaison officer shook his head and said: "It's not very common, sir, but it's not unprecedented. It may be affected by the cold wave. This year's temperature is slightly colder than in previous years."
"Will that have any impact on our shooting?" Zhang Hao asked.
"Don't worry, sir, there's absolutely no problem. Many tourists come here every year," the liaison officer assured.
At this time, Guo Fan came back and reported to Zhang Hao: "I can hear the clicking sound when I step on the glacier. I am worried that the glacier will break and the safety of the actors cannot be guaranteed."
Zhang Hao immediately asked the liaison officer, who explained calmly: "This is a characteristic of Vatnajökull. Many ice layers will make this sound when stepped on, but they will never actually crack. I can guarantee it."
Even so, Zhang Hao still couldn't hand over the actors' safety to unreliable guarantees, so he told Guo Fan: "Let the actors wear safety protection equipment to ensure safety."
"Okay," Guo Fan nodded and went down to do some work.
Despite the liaison officer's assurance, Zhang Hao installed additional safety ropes for Liam Neeson, Christian Bale and their stunt doubles just in case.
These can be easily erased in post-production, but if something goes wrong with the actors, the crew will be in even more trouble.
Each action scene was shot in many fragmented shots. In view of the whistling wind and environmental noise, Zhang Hao did not use live sound recording, which reduced the difficulty of the actor's performance.
Under Qian Jiale's training, both Christian Bale and Liam Neeson maintained their best physical condition. Although the filming was stop-and-go, and some difficult scenes were performed by stunt doubles, overall the first scene was
It was relatively smooth.
After filming this scene, Zhang Hao asked the local meteorological consultant whether the next scene could be filmed smoothly.
The meteorological consultant had just assured Zhang Hao that there would be good weather in the next few hours, but after lunch, the wind suddenly started blowing.
The wind was so strong that it even tore off the roof of Zhang Hao's director's tent and blew it to who knows where.
Some people were even knocked down. If they hadn't been supporting each other, they wouldn't be able to stand still.
As for the layout of the set, the relatively light props were like kites with broken strings, flying everywhere, and one prop even hit a crew member on the head.
The unlucky crew member screamed and fell down immediately. The blood from his head was blown everywhere by the wind, and the smell of blood could be smelled in the air. The scene looked extremely terrifying.
Zhang Hao witnessed this scene with his own eyes and quickly ordered the crew's medical team to rescue the poor staff member.
Fortunately, it was just a broken scalp. It looked terrible, but it was not fatal. He could just rest for two days. Zhang Hao breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the report. It was good that nothing serious happened.
Hiding in the off-road vehicle and watching the howling wind outside the window, Zhang Hao helplessly said to Charles Luo Wen: "I remember a magazine boasted that Iceland is the most livable place. If it were livable, I would rather move to the Himalayas."
Mountainous area.”
Charles Rowan smiled and said: "It's probably for publicity. After all, if you don't say that, how can you attract tourists?"
"That's right," Zhang Hao nodded, and then discussed with Charles Rowan: "If the wind doesn't stop, I'm afraid we won't be able to shoot this scene in the afternoon. I plan to move it to the evening."
"Are you in such a hurry?" asked Charles Rowan.
"It's not that I'm anxious, it's just that the weather in Iceland is fickle, just like a woman's face. Let's finish the scene here as soon as possible and evacuate as soon as possible." Zhang Hao explained.
"It makes sense. I will communicate with the crew." Charles Rowan agreed to Zhang Hao's plan.
In fact, this afternoon scene is a night scene. Unlike many domestic crews who wait until night to shoot night scenes, Hollywood crews usually shoot night scenes during the day.
Here, it is technically not difficult to replace scenes shot during the day with a night background, and shooting at night is often more complicated from lighting to environment.
Another reason is the labor system.
Although Hollywood crews do not have a rigid eight-hour work system, and the shooting time often lasts more than ten hours, the excess will require overtime pay.
There is no reason for overtime pay for domestic film crews. They can even shoot for 25 hours a day and the money is still so little. (The author has personal experience. When I was an extra in Inner Mongolia and filmed "Mountains and Rivers", I actually took two shots.
Fifteen hours, I’m so stupid.)
But Hollywood is different. It takes such a long time to shoot. If you don’t pay overtime for the hours worked, just wait for the union to come to you!
There are various trade unions, such as directors' union, producers' union, screenwriters' union, and other behind-the-scenes positions such as photography, lighting and props.
In order to catch up with the schedule and pay more for overtime, Zhang Hao accepted it and finished the work early.
Led by a local guide, the crew found a leeward place to avoid the strong wind. After waiting for more than three hours, the wind finally subsided, the sky darkened, and the temperature gradually began to get colder.
"It's minus five degrees now," Guo Fan said to Zhang Hao, holding a thermometer.
In order to ensure everyone's physical strength and safety, Zhang Hao and Charles Rowan asked the crew to gather around several large trailers to keep warm.
Hearing the temperature mentioned by Guo Fan, Zhang Hao was amazed: "Guigui, it's August now. Except for the Antarctic and the North Pole, I have never thought of any place where the summer temperature is negative."
"It probably didn't exist in Iceland before. Didn't the liaison officer say that? Affected by the North Atlantic cold current, the temperature in Iceland in August this year was a little colder than in the past." Guo Fan said.
Zhang Hao's assistant Tang Qianxi handed Zhang Hao a cup of tea and also participated in the discussion: "This is not surprising. Anyway, the temperature has been changing recently. I hope we can end the filming here as soon as possible."
On the other side, starring Christian Bale and Liam Neeson were also discussing, but the topic was not the weather, but the Chinese director Zhang Hao.
"Bell, what do you think?"
"What do you think?"
"Have you not worked with Chinese directors? Do you think Zhang is an excellent director?" Liam Neeson asked.
Christian Bale shook his head and said: "Zhang does have the ability. Although he lacks experience, he is very talented and very young.
Director Zhang, another director I have worked with, is different. He has reached a bottleneck period. In the future, the world of Chinese directors will definitely be Zhang’s."
In fact, Christian Bale doesn't have any bad feelings towards Guo Shi, but he can't stand Zhang Weiping, Guo Shi's partner. The guy's dictating style makes Bale bored.
Christian Bale is not a nice guy. He has a very bad temper. He almost couldn't help but want to beat Zhang Weiping. Fortunately, his agent dissuaded him in time.
"It seems you have a high opinion of Zhang!" Liam Neeson smiled.
Christian Bale shrugged and said: "Anyway, I think Zhang is a good director. If it were not for the restriction of skin color, I am optimistic about his future in Hollywood."
"Then will our movie be successful?" Liam Neeson was concerned about the most critical question.
Christian Bale said he didn't know either: "The script is a good script and the story is a good story, but there are too many variables in the film market.
No one will know whether the film will be successful until they see the real results."
Anyway, he has already participated in the film. Of course, Christian Bale hopes that the film will be successful, preferably a big success, so that he will be qualified to command a salary of 20 million, and thus officially enter the ranks of A-level stars.
Christian Bale is a relatively taciturn person. Compared to the talkative Liam Neeson, he doesn't talk much and doesn't like to communicate with others.
Since joining the crew, he has communicated with Zhang Hao only a handful of times about his roles, but there is no doubt that his professional attitude is worthy of praise.
After resting for another half hour, the sky had completely dimmed. Zhang Hao drank the tea in his cup, stood up, clapped his hands and said, "Work has started, work has started..."
"Batman Begins" is undoubtedly a film that requires actors' acting skills, which is why Zhang Hao advocated choosing Christian Bale instead of Ben Affleck.
Bale's acting skills are obviously better than Ben Affleck's.
There's only one scene tonight, and it's about Bruce Wayne and Henry Ducard's conversation about anger, determination, and revenge.
The bonfire prepared by the prop team in advance was lit, and Christian Bale and Liam Neeson were ready and sat in front of the bonfire.
Due to the lack of natural light sources, the lighting team needed to provide some artificial light sources. Zhang Hao stood behind the main camera and saw that the shooting pictures met the requirements, and then he officially started filming the scene.
"Rub your chest hard, your hands can help keep you warm." Henry Ducard added dry wood to the fire and said to Bruce Wayne, who was curled up in a ball, "You are stronger than your father."
Bruce Wayne raised his head and looked at the other person, "You don't know my father."
"But I understand the anger in your heart!"
This is exactly Bruce Wayne's state of mind after his parents were brutally murdered.
"Your anger makes you temporarily forget the pain, until you can no longer bear the thought of your loved ones, and one day you will wish that they did not exist so that your pain would disappear."
Bruce Wayne showed a slightly confused look, and Henry Ducard said calmly, "I have not always lived in the mountains. I once had a wife, the love of my life, and she was brutally murdered.
Like you, I have learned not to condone bad people and never show mercy to them. Anger gives you a lot of power. If you can't learn to control it, it will destroy you. Anger almost destroyed my life."
"How do you deal with anger?" Bruce Wayne asked.
"revenge!"
"This doesn't work for me."
"Why? Why don't you avenge your parents, Bruce?"
These two sentences show the ideological differences between Bruce Wayne and Henry Ducard, or the Shadow Warriors Alliance, and they will eventually part ways.
"Stop," Zhang Hao stopped filming and walked over to explain the scene to the two actors. He first told Liam Neeson: "Henry Ducard, your expression is a bit too much."
When filming on the set, Zhang Hao is usually used to calling actors by the names of their characters.
"You are a firm believer in the beliefs of the Kagemusha Alliance. You firmly believe that evil must be eliminated and a new order be established on the ruins. You have no doubt about this."
Then Zhang Hao said to Christian Bale: "Bruce, do you know what the acting you just did is called? It's called AI wooden man style acting."
Liam Neeson couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard this new term. He saw Zhang Hao and Christian Bale looking over at the same time and apologizing again and again: "I'm sorry, please continue."
Zhang Hao continued: "Bruce Wayne, remember, you have no superpowers, only money abilities. You are a person who has stepped down from the altar. You have human feelings and you have to express these."
"Sorry, director, I understand." Christian Bale nodded.
"I'll give you ten minutes to think about it..." Zhang Hao said and returned behind the camera.
After Zhang Hao finished speaking about the scene, the condition of the two actors who filmed the scene again improved significantly. The scene ended successfully and everyone got off work successfully.