The exterior scenes that Duke and the Taken crew shot in Paris weren’t many, nor were they particularly difficult. The hardest part remained getting road closures in this extrely prosperous and crowded city. Both ti and space were extrely limited, and Duke had to direct the crew to complete the planned scenes as quickly as possible, without compromising on quality.
Fortunately, Liam Neeson was in pretty good shape. As long as he maintained his condition, the filming progress could be guaranteed.
On the temporarily closed elevated bridge, traffic was jamd bumper to bumper. The cara mounted on a dolly kept retreating. Right in front of the lens, Liam Neeson was striding forward with all his might. This actor, already over fifty, was running at nearly full speed.
"Cut!"
Behind the cara, Duke lifted his head and called a halt. "Five-minute break. Riley, touch up Liam’s makeup."
The tall Liam Neeson leaned over a car, panting heavily. Even with systematic training, running up this long upward slope was still a bit too much to handle.
Duke walked over and asked him a few questions, then extended the break to fifteen minutes.
The character setting of Agent Bryan made it impossible to cast a younger actor. A retired agent of advanced age, still capable of close-quarters combat to take down a bunch of strong young thugs this could only happen in the movies.
Fifteen minutes of rest ti was already the limit. Although the actual shoot location wasn’t the elevated bridge near Charles de Gaulle Airport and the traffic here wasn’t overly busy, the crew still couldn’t occupy it for too long.
Duke stood up and walked to the edge of the elevated bridge, first gazing off into the distance. Then he looked over toward the crew’s blockade line, where Tina Fey had just crossed over and was walking quickly toward him.
"The plane has taken off," she said as she ca up beside Duke. "Ivanka will call you once she gets to Australia."
"Mm." Duke nodded.
Ivanka had only stayed here for four days before heading to Australia. Right now, the company was in a rapid developnt phase. Saying it was expanding globally was still far off, but entering Europe and the five English-speaking ally regions that had close ties with North Arica wasn’t difficult.
As for the company going public, although Ivanka had brought it up multiple tis since returning from New York, Duke had always delayed it with various reasons. A company reaching a certain stage of developnt seeking public listing for funding expansion was completely normal. And this company had been investing for years without any returns. Ivanka wanting to go public seed perfectly reasonable in his view.
However, based on Duke’s understanding, the matter of going public seed to have Donald Trump’s shadow behind it. He didn’t want that troubleso guy sticking his hand into his cake.
Of course, going public was a future necessity. If Instant Share wanted to continue expanding, it would undoubtedly require huge funding. Though Duke did have so assets, most of them weren’t liquid. And he couldn’t possibly invest large amounts of money into just one uncertain project.
The IPO could wait a bit longer at least until after Google went public.
The short break quickly ended. Tina Fey seed to have more to say, but Duke told her to wait, as the next shot wouldn’t take too long.
Liam Neeson, who had been breathing heavily, had mostly recovered. Although the final shot took four NGs, Duke called it good in under forty minutes.
The scenes on the elevated bridge were completely done. A portion of the crew stayed behind to wrap up, while Duke took the mbers involved in the shoot and headed by car to a minority community within the city.
In the moving car, Tina Fey brought up the matter she hadn’t had ti to ntion earlier. "Warner’s distribution departnt sent word. Their international distribution team has basically reached an agreent with the people across the strait."
Hearing this, Duke imdiately showed interest.
"They’ve agreed in principle to your terms. Taken can be released simultaneously, and they’ve suggested you take the film to next June’s Shanghai Film Festival."
Tina Fey opened her work log, glanced at it, and continued, "They also have one condition. They want you to deliver a final screening version of the film by mid-April at the latest. They need..."
"Need to review it?" Duke asked.
"Yes," Tina Fey nodded. "They need to review it before it can be released there."
This was entirely normal. Not just now even over the past decade any movie shown in theaters across the strait had to pass a review. In fact, this situation existed worldwide. Before a film could be released, it almost always faced so form of scrutiny.
Take North Arica, for example. Though the MPAA rating system isn’t mandatory, what distribution company wouldn’t submit their film for a rating? Without it, theaters almost always refuse to screen the movie.
After thinking for a few minutes, Duke said to Tina Fey, "Agree to their terms."
As for the issue of a certain big pair of scissors, Duke wasn’t worried. Though his films after entering Hollywood were highly Aricanized, they had never touched on topics sensitive to the other side. For example, in The Rock, the South China Sea content was changed under his direction to involve Iran and the Persian Gulf...
Moreover, regardless of who’s directing, any film that wants to be shown in theaters across the strait must pass through this process.
Although the review standards over there were notoriously inconsistent what could pass today might not pass tomorrow that mostly applied to their dostic films. For foreign films, the quantitative standards were relatively clear.
ntioning the big scissors, Duke had once felt helpless too. But after spending ti in Hollywood, he completely understood that no country or region would allow audiovisual products with actual propaganda or incitent potential to circulate freely.
Political correctness was the mandatory choice for any nation’s mainstream audiovisual products. While the big scissors did suffer from inconsistent standards and too much subjectivity, it wasn’t fair to lay all the bla solely on them.
Take, for example, certain divine drama projects he had worked on in his previous life.
Back then, he had spent ti on the sets of several divine dramas and knew very well that their popularity wasn’t just due to the presence of the big scissors. The market also played an inseparable role.
Apart from the mandatory requirents of the great scissors, a little analysis would reveal that among the many types of television dramas, god-dramas are perhaps the most clearly defined genre. They follow a globally recognized model clearly defined conflicts between good and evil, endings where justice triumphs, and life-or-death plotlines...
Moreover, with the rapid developnt of the internet, no one can deny that the age of television viewers has shown a trend of aging, gradually shifting toward people born in the 50s and 60s. These individuals, who grew up in a special era, often have a strong passion for god-dramas, which creates a rigid demand in the market.
Where there is demand, there will be a market for survival. Especially for TV stations and production companies, god-dramas co with low risk and high return.
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First, god-dramas are politically absolutely correct and have a large amount of "rigid demand" they must be aired during various commorative days. Second, god-dramas have clearly defined genres and a loyal target audience like elderly viewers. Compared to other shows, god-dramas don’t require celebrities, the investnt is relatively small, the rerun rate is high, and the returns are substantial. At the sa ti, god-dramas that are "red, professional, and locally flavored" often receive governnt support and generous financial subsidies.
Although he never truly made a na for himself in his previous life, Duke’s turning point ca from working on a god-drama crew. Pyrotechnicians are essential personnel in god-dramas, and the abundance of such crews provides newcors with opportunities to stand out.
Perhaps the behind-the-scenes roles are not eye-catching, but judging from the actors in these dramas, it’s not hard to understand the opportunities this genre creates for cast and crew alike.
God-dramas are the type of productions that place very low demands on the cast those who aren’t pretty, aren’t tall, and have plain looks may not be able to act in other genres, but they generally have no issue appearing in god-dramas.
In fact, many seemingly glamorous second- or third-tier idol celebrities might not earn as much as god-drama actors whose nas are barely known.
Duke once heard so producers say that so second- and third-tier artists, who specialize in idol dramas and slice-of-life shows, might still rely on their families to pull strings and cover living expenses. In contrast, god-drama actors so long as they work hard often have an endless stream of roles and can earn big money.
To exaggerate a bit, in the film and television industry where opportunities matter more than ability, god-drama cast and crew might be the closest to the ideal of "you reap what you sow."
The popularity of certain genres of movies and TV shows is usually the result of multiple factors. It’s impossible to simply bla any individual or organization.
Just like how Captain Arica once beat up Hitler and Quentin Tarantino wiped out the Nazi high command whether it’s in China or the U.S., both share a similar attitude toward film and TV: political correctness must be encouraged, and romanticized imagination is allowed.
Of course, appropriate imagination and embellishnt bring more entertainnt value to a show, which is enjoyable to everyone. But if vulgar elents are added, then criticism is only to be expected.
All in all, as a forr industry insider, Duke had a pretty good understanding of where the bottom line of the great scissors lies. Moreover, he was a director who knew how to make tily adjustnts not a stubborn type like Christopher Nolan.
Upon arriving at the minority community, Duke fild only a few shots before wrapping up the day’s work.
There weren’t many exterior scenes to shoot in Paris, but they were quite fragnted, and the schedule often had to be adjusted according to the situation in the city. As the production entered mid-January 2004, the crew finally reached the final scene.
All the high-difficulty shots were fild at the studio in Burbank. For Liam Neeson, the hardest part was undoubtedly the running scenes. When he finished his last sprint across a bridge on the Seine River, Duke announced that filming was officially complete.
This film took just two months to complete all the scenes. Duke did not remain in Paris he needed to return to Los Angeles to continue post-production and also had to work the awards season circuit to maintain visibility.
Rubbing shoulders with the judges is sotis very important, and the first stop was the upcoming Golden Globe Awards.
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