Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 102 Filming Begins (Please Collect and Read)

"Ben, what happened to your foot?"

As they walked downstairs, Link noticed that Ben Affleck was walking with a limp.

"Ah? It's nothing. I just kicked the iron plate accidentally. I'll be fine after moving around for a while."

Ben Affleck quickly stamped his feet a few times to show that it was not a problem.

"That's good. We will start filming The Blair Witch Project next week. The filming period is about ten days. You should prepare in advance."

Link said as he walked, introducing Renee Zellweger to the two of them.

Next, the three of them will shoot a movie together and get to know each other better to facilitate their work.

Arriving at the KFC restaurant downstairs from the company, Link ordered some fried chicken and drinks, and talked about the script with the three people while eating.

This script is simpler to shoot than "Paranormal Activity". It is shot entirely on real scenes, does not require music, does not require lighting, does not require too many performance elements, does not require too many props, and has very low requirements for shooting.

It really feels more like a documentary.

What he needed to tell the three was that, whether they believed there were witches in Illinois or not, when filming the movie, they should try to shoot it with curiosity and treat the Blair Witch as a real person.

An evil witch who has lived in the forest for hundreds of years, likes to appear at night, likes to hang many strange ornaments in the woods, and likes to take people to the corner and kill them.

After acknowledging this, people will show excitement and agitation before taking action, and will show curiosity, fear, despair, hysteria and other emotions when exploring the forest.

Only if the performance is more realistic will the audience believe that the Blair Witch is real and watch the movie out of curiosity.

If it is not true, it will not be able to deceive the audience.

This was the purpose of Link inviting them here to eat KFC, to do some psychological work on them before filming, so that they could get into their roles and immerse themselves in the story of the script.

If someone can't do it, they can quit.

"Link, can I ask you a question?"

Ben Affleck asked, eating fried chicken.

"Ask whatever you want."

"Link, will anyone watch this? Last time when you were promoting Paranormal Activity, you also said it was a true documentary, but it turned out not to be, and many media accused you of false propaganda.

If we use this method to shoot The Blair Witch Project now, the audience will not be fooled. If no one watches the movie, then the movie will lose money.”

Ben Affleck asked.

"Before filming Paranormal Activity, I publicly stated that the first few films were experimental films, using films as experiments, not caring about box office and word of mouth, and filming completely according to my personal ideas.

It doesn’t matter whether anyone watches this movie or not. Even if I know that no one will watch it, I will continue to complete this work according to my plan.”

"Link, that's a very cool idea you have."

Matt Damon said before Ben Affleck that "the investment in this movie is not high, even if the box office is lower than expected, you will not suffer any loss. It is indeed very appropriate to use this kind of script as an experiment.

In addition, "Buried" and "Paranormal Activity" were also your experimental works, and they sold well after they were released. This "The Blair Witch Project" also has the potential to be a box office hit.

That is, if the movie fails, you won’t lose anything, but if it succeeds, you’ll have one more hit movie. This experiment is very cost-effective.”

Link smiled and said, "Matt, you're right. Another thing is that I'm a new director and I'm not familiar with the various tasks of a director. I need more practice before I can direct a large production.

The three scripts of "Buried", "Paranormal Activity" and "The Blair Witch Project" are simple and suitable for practice, which is why I chose to shoot them. "

After hearing his words, Ben Affleck's mouth twitched a few times. Link called himself a new director who didn't know how to make a movie and needed more practice.

This sounds very reasonable and there is no loophole at all.

But the movies this guy used to practice, "Buried" and "Paranormal Activity", one created a box office revenue ratio of 3500 times, and the other became the annual box office champion with a revenue ratio of more than times.

Crush all the top Hollywood directors at the box office.

Even Link said he doesn't know how to make a movie and is still practicing.

If those big directors in the industry heard this, they would definitely go crazy and hate Link to death. "Ben, any other questions?"

"Oh, no, it's perfectly reasonable to practice with low-budget movies. Students majoring in directing in film schools often do this, but they're not as good as you, and no one watches the movies they make."

Ben Affleck said.

Renée Zellweger took over and said: "Those directing students in college were very envious when they saw that Link made "Buried" and "Paranormal Activity" with only $20,000 and earned hundreds of millions at the box office.

Now many students majoring in directing in universities are learning from Link, controlling costs when making movies, and then coming to Hollywood to try their luck.

Media reports say that in recent months Hollywood film companies have received a large number of videotapes from directing students, totaling hundreds of works.

The media also raised a question, who will be the next Link? From now on, the successful director is Robert Rodriguez. "

Link shook his head. He was not optimistic about those new directors who followed the trend. Those people did not have good scripts, solid directing skills, or box office subsidies, so the risk of losing money was extremely high.

But it’s also very interesting to think that I have single-handedly led many new directors astray.

Link continued to eat fried chicken, drink beer, and chat about the script with the three people.

After Sofia Coppola arrived, Link brought a few people to the studio rented by the company for a trial shoot, mainly the scenes of the heroine's departure and the meeting of the three actors.

The test shots turned out poorly.

The main reason is that the three of them didn't adjust their mentality well, they tried too hard in front of the camera, their performances were very obvious and it looked unreal.

"Cut!"

"Reni, don't be too serious when facing the camera. Relax your body and think of it as a home video. How about holding the camera and trying to take a selfie?"

In the room, Link said, standing behind the camera tripod.

"Okay, let me give it a try."

Renée Zellweger smiled, walked over to adjust the camera, set it to automatic shooting mode, then stepped back a few steps, smiled towards the camera,
"Okay, this is my home. I will leave here at the weekend to visit the legendary Blair Witch. These are the reference books I prepared, including "Basic Reading: How to Survive in the Forest" and "Because You Don't Know What Will Happen". This is a very important book. It can explain what happened to Coffey. It looks very old. And this is my wilderness survival notebook."

Renée Zellweger held a camera and took pictures of several reference books on the table.

"cut!"

"Not bad, slightly better than the last one, but the sense of immersion is still not strong enough. You need to further strengthen your identification with the role."

"Okay, I'll hurry up and prepare."

Renée Zellweger laughed.

Link also tried out scenes with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the room.

The two were well prepared and had memorized their lines by heart.

During the test shoot, Ben Affleck performed slightly better because he was very relaxed and nonchalant when performing, which just fits the character's personality.

Matt Damon was too serious and not relaxed enough, like he was acting in a stage play.

Link talked to Matt, gave him psychological counseling, and taught him how to shoot. The second try went a little better.

“Okay, the test shoot is over, and everyone performed better than expected.

If you have no questions, we will officially start filming "The Blair Witch Project" next Monday. It is expected to take ten days to shoot. Please make good work arrangements and try not to take leave during the shooting. Any questions?"

Link asked.

"No! I'm available anytime."

Renée Zellweger shrugged and laughed.

"So are we."

"Well, that's the end of today's meeting."

(End of this chapter)