The Pentagon’s generosity saved the production team a lot of money, especially for several large outdoor explosion scenes. The White Sands Missile Range in New xico was the perfect location for these, allowing the team to blow things up without worrying about environntal activists causing problems.
With the coordination of Lieutenant Colonel, the Pentagon liaison, Duke led a group including cinematographer John Schwartzman, art director Hannah Selina, assistant director Zack Snyder, explosives expert Jos Williams, and several leaders from Industrial Light & Magic to visit both Edwards Air Force Base and the White Sands Missile Range. They conducted on-site inspections and discussed how to set up and film the scenes.
Throughout the preparation phase, Duke’s workload was almost as intense as during filming itself. After returning to Burbank from New xico, he sent Zack Snyder and a small cara team to various landmarks and scenic spots around the world, including Cairo, Sydney, the Middle East, Paris, and Mount Kilimanjaro, to capture footage for the visual effects team to use in CGI composites.
Negotiations with the lead actors also progressed. After a series of back-and-forth discussions, Will Smith signed a $250,000 contract. Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Naomi Watts, and Halle Berry also received contracts, completing the casting of the primary actors.
Duke even took ti to attend Scarlett Johansson’s audition. The little girl’s acting skills were far inferior to Kirsten Dunst’s performance in *Interview with the Vampire*, but she was more than capable of playing the President’s daughter in *Independence Day*. Although other child actors had pulled strings, like approaching the assistant director, they backed out after Duke made his stance clear.
After the audition, Duke instructed Sophia to inform Scarlett Johansson and her mother about the result and then returned to his office. He sat down with two production managers and John Schwartzman to discuss the filming plans for the White Sands Missile Range. As the discussion wound down, there was a knock on the door, and Sophia Coppola entered.
"Can I co in?" Scarlett Johansson poked her head through the doorway.
"Why aren’t you in school?" Duke turned his head and frowned, asking, "Did you skip class?"
"I had my audition today." The little girl walked in confidently, carrying a large paper bag. "I took the whole day off."
"Hi, John. Hi, Charles. Hi, Robin." She greeted everyone with a casual friendliness as she handed out ice cream from the bag.
"Is Scarlett treating us?" Charles Roven, the eldest in the group, liked kids. When Duke was busy before, he had asked Sophia to bring Scarlett to the studio to wait for him, so she was familiar with the main crew mbers.
"You’ve all helped so much." Scarlett finally walked over to Duke and, with a serious expression, said to the others, "I had to thank you sohow. I bought this ice cream with the money I earned myself."
"This is for you." She handed a box of ice cream to Duke.
"Thank you." Duke accepted the ice cream and looked at her. She was clever and lively. If she weren’t so chatty, she’d be even more likable.
With work temporarily paused, everyone but Sophia left Duke’s office. Although Duke wasn’t particularly fond of dairy products, he still opened the box and ate a few spoonfuls under Scarlett’s hopeful gaze.
"Tastes good. Scarlett, where’s your mom?"
The little girl had only been staying in Santa Monica for four days before her mother returned from New York to Los Angeles.
"I think she’s negotiating my contract," Scarlett replied. She opened her own ice cream, sat in a chair opposite Duke’s desk, and took a big scoop, stuffing it into her mouth as she mumbled, "Can’t you offer a bit more money?"
"When you beco Kirsten Dunst," Duke put down his ice cream, "I’ll offer you $2 million."
"Dunst?" Scarlett scrunched up her nose, which was covered in white ice cream. "A few months ago, I auditioned for a French director’s film in New York, and I saw a girl whose acting was far better than Dunst’s."
"Then you’d better work hard," Duke replied offhandedly, "Otherwise, you’ll fall far behind."
Just then, the office phone rang. Sophia answered, spoke briefly, then hung up and turned to Duke. "We’ve got trouble again."
"What kind of trouble?"
Pre-production was all about resolving issues, so Duke didn’t pay much mind. "Worse than the Pentagon?"
"Even worse." Sophia frowned tightly. "There’s a dog in the script, right? Steve Taylor’s girlfriend’s dog? The animal protection organization just contacted us—they want to send soone to the set to ensure the animal actor’s rights are safeguarded during filming."
"What?"
Duke stood up and paced behind his desk. "Tell the writers to delete any scenes that heavily feature animals."
For the production, dealing with animal protection organizations was far worse than dealing with the Pentagon. These people cared more about animals than humans. Once they were on set, they would scrutinize every detail involving the animal actors. If the animals were even slightly uncomfortable, they’d cause an uproar. And if the animals worked even one minute overti, expect protests and blockades.
As for whether the human actors were safe or mistreated? Even if soone broke a leg in front of them, these so-called animal lovers wouldn’t give it a second glance.
Since this wasn’t an animal-focused film and the pet scenes weren’t essential, Duke decided it wasn’t worth the hassle of dealing with these people. He had all animal-related scenes cut.
"Scarlett, stay with Sophia for now."
Before leaving to check on the model group in a nearby studio, Duke instructed, "Don’t run around."
"Can I co with you to check it out?" The little girl stood up, looking at him expectantly. "I promise I won’t say or do anything."
"No."
Duke left the office without looking back.
Scarlett Johansson sat back down in her chair, glaring at the closed door. She seed tempted to throw her ice cream at the departing figure but ultimately restrained herself. When the door slamd shut, she just made a face in that direction.
"Is he always that harsh?" Scarlett asked Sophia. "At the party on the terrace, he seed so kind and easygoing."
"Sweetie, people have two sides." Sophia pointed at her. "Just like you—sotis you’re adorable, and sotis you’re..."
"Loud and annoying?" Despite her age, Scarlett was self-aware.
"That ti, you t Duke when he had just finished his vacation and was still in a relaxed mood." Sophia didn’t directly respond, clearly knowing the child could be difficult. "So, he could joke around with you and even play gas when he was in the mood. But now, directors are like devils from hell when they’re working, especially those with hundreds of millions of dollars in investnt on their shoulders."
There’s no such thing as a director without pressure. With over a hundred million dollars in total investnt at stake, it might seem like just a number, but when your future depends on being the key to making or breaking that investnt, there’s no escaping the stress.
Duke’s biggest improvent was learning, after two relatively high-budget productions, how to live and work under such pressure. As long as he had appropriate ways to relax and release tension, he no longer suffered from frequent insomnia as he once did.
"Hey, Stan."
Entering the nearby soundstage, Duke imdiately found Stan Winston, the model departnt leader. "How’s the model coming along?"
"The alien model has just been finalized," Stan Winston replied, putting aside his work temporarily to accompany Duke deeper into the soundstage. "The sample will be ready in about ten days. The alien spaceship is progressing a bit faster."
"This way." He gestured for Duke to follow.
They walked up a temporary staircase and arrived at a glass door. Once the automatic doors opened, they stepped inside.
This area had already been set up as the underground lab in Area 51. The most eye-catching feature was the nearly completed alien spaceship on a raised platform. Although it wasn’t finished yet, the blue-hued craft was already showing realistic details. If soone placed it in the New xico desert, it would easily be mistaken for a real UFO.
After reviewing the Area 51 set, Duke and Stan Winston moved to another workshop where several major projects were underway.
Scaled-down models of famous Arican landmarks, including the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Washington Monunt, and the Statue of Liberty, were being ticulously constructed by the prop masters. Among these, the most prominent was the famous white building—the White House!
Around twenty prop masters, working based on Duke’s specifications, were constructing a replica of the presidential residence over 70 feet long. They had even consulted data and photographs provided by the Pentagon and the White House Liaison Office. The goal was to replicate the White House lawn as accurately as possible to achieve the most realistic effect.
Of course, Duke had only one purpose for this expensive White House model—to blow it up and turn it into fragnts!
All explosion scenes in the film would be shot practically. Since they obviously couldn’t blow up the real White House or build a full-scale replica, the scaled-down model was the most suitable approach. The result would be far more convincing than any CGI or practical effects shot.
Toward the end of the workday, Duke left the model departnt and returned to the *Independence Day* production office.
"Mr. Rosenberg."
As soon as Duke entered, a young assistant approached. "Charlize Theron, who auditioned earlier today, has been waiting in the lobby. She said she’s a friend of yours."
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