America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 808 Peace is only within the range of cannons.

"The director is the overall coordinator of the film crew on set; they don't need to personally oversee everything."

During a break in filming, Chad discussed the director's work with Martin, who had come to see him: "For example, for this gunfight scene inside the Continental Hotel, I told the set design and art design teams what kind of battlefield I wanted, and I didn't ask about the rest. They would visualize my requirements for the scene."

Martin knew all this, but he still listened very carefully.

Chad continued, "So, communication is a very important skill for directors. They understand what I need, build the scene, and then I check it out. If I'm satisfied, great; if not, we start over."

Martin nodded: "We need to make sure everything is arranged properly on site."

"That's right, I'm the general coordinator, and there are specific people carrying out the tasks below me." Chad pointed to the assistant director Hasel, who was busy on set, and said, "He's my executive director. He's usually in charge of things on set. I only get involved in scenes involving you, the male lead."

Martin followed up with: "In action scenes and gunfights, you also tell Tiger and Marcus the effect you want. For example, in the last movie, there was a scene where my opponent and I fell down the stairs. You made the request, and Tiger was responsible for designing how to make the fight both realistic and visually appealing, and how to make the fall safe and effective. It was all Tiger's specific job."

Chad added, "A team that can communicate effectively with you and carry out your orders is very important."

Martin asked, "Would it be easier if the film only had a few main characters, three or four main scenes, and a plot simpler than what Jonathan has gone through?"

Chad thought for a moment and said, "It's a very real problem. The more people in the crew, the larger the scale, and the more scenes are changed, the more difficult it is to direct. A film crew is not an army. It is hundreds of times more difficult for a director to direct a team of several hundred people as if they were a dozen. Moreover, such coordination ability requires talent."

He wouldn't mislead Martin on this point, specifically emphasizing: "Talent is even more important than hard work."

Martin then thought of those genius directors. Many famous directors usually drink and sleep with women, living a life of debauchery, but when they are pulled out, they can make a masterpiece.

Many directors work diligently and strive tirelessly, but remain mediocre throughout their lives, producing films that audiences will never remember.

Martin was well aware of his own abilities: "I'm not particularly talented in this area. I'll try a small production with low investment, simple plot and characters, and few scenes. Even if I mess it up, I won't lose much money."

Chad looked at Martin and said, "In terms of marketing, sometimes marketing is more important than the quality of the film."

There have been countless examples of Hollywood's bad movies becoming huge box office hits in recent years.

Martin smiled and said, "I didn't intend to make this one."

Menez then leaned over and said, "The boss wants to be the next Spielberg."

Martin said, "If I had Spielberg's talent, why would I be an actor?"

The three of them burst into laughter.

Even Chad himself is not a person with exceptional directing talent.

He started as a stuntman in the early 1990s, later joined the action choreography team, and participated in the filming of many movies, including The Matrix. After more than ten years of hard work, he finally became an action choreographer when he collaborated with Martin Scorsese on Wanted.

After so many years of hard work, Chad was only able to direct a film on his own with Martin's strong support.

Even so, he was still heavily criticized by critics who believed that he could only film action scenes and that his dramatic scenes were terrible.

But Martin and Chad didn't care; the John Wick series was all about pure enjoyment.

After their break, Martin and Menez touched up their makeup, picked up the shotgun Bruce had given them, and went back into the filming location at the Continental Hotel in New York.

A large group of stunt performers, wearing helmets and full-body bulletproof vests, also entered the venue one after another.

Filming begins, with Martin as Jonathan and Menez as Winston working together to fight off the assassins who have invaded the hotel.

Compared to the fully armored assassins, the two were agile and their shotguns were powerful, easily shattering helmets with their steel-core armor-piercing rounds.

The camera still focuses on the male protagonist Martin, but also gives important characterization to Menez.

According to Chad's plan, a spin-off film focusing on the Continental Hotel in New York will be shot later.

Menez might be the male lead in it.

Gunshots rang out continuously in the studio as Martin and Menez took turns filming.

In this way, both of them can get adequate rest.

The moves designed by Chen Hu and Marcus are not difficult for Martin to complete, but they will consume a lot of physical strength.

Action scenes place extremely high demands on the actors' physical fitness.

Most Hollywood stars who participate in action films will undergo physical and fitness training three to four months in advance.

Some even start six months in advance.

Martin was agile, and in this kind of indoor encounter, he combined close combat with gunplay, which had a bit of a gunfight feel to it.

In contrast, Menez's scenes mainly consist of gunfights.

At lunchtime, Martin, Chad, Menez, and Marcus gathered together again.

Marcus brought up the film's subtitle, "Parabellum," and asked, "What does that mean? I remember there was a gun with that name."

Chad said, "This word comes from Latin; to pursue peace, one must prepare for war!"

Menez, who had not received this kind of education, asked, "Isn't preparing for war for the sake of fighting?"

Marcus, who has been to the battlefield, said: "Peace is won through fighting. Without sufficient weaponry, you'll only be beaten, as seen in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Martin took a sip of water and said, "I've heard a saying that I think makes a lot of sense: peace is only within the range of cannons."

Marcus nodded: "That makes a lot of sense. Take the United States, for example. We won't directly use our military against a strong opponent. Even if there is some friction between the two sides, we will back down when necessary."

Chad continued, "You mean that bear?"

"It can't be Iraq," Marcus shrugged.

Bruce interjected, "So, the United States accuses you of having weapons of mass destruction. You better have them; if you don't, that's the real problem."

Menez scratched his head: "Why don't I understand any of what you're saying?"

"Because you don't really care about politics," Martin casually added. "You spend all your free time practicing your verbal skills."

Menezes showed no embarrassment whatsoever: "This skill, like Martin's, is my livelihood in Hollywood!"

Chad then returned to the main point: "The meaning of this subtitle is that if the protagonist, Jonathan, wants to return to peace with the High Table, he first needs to make the High Table hurt."

Martin agreed: "I made changes to the scenes in Morocco; Jonathan will be going on a killing spree there."

Originally, he had considered making a portion of the High Table's power base Jewish.

Jonathan travels to the Middle East in pursuit of peace, but fails to achieve his goal and once again goes on a killing spree.

But he abandoned this idea after only discussing it with Bruce.

Hollywood is known for its freedom in filmmaking, where even the government can play the villain, yet few mainstream movies dare to portray Jews as the main antagonists.

Think of Mel Gibson, who made a few sarcastic remarks in "The Passion of the Christ" and the series of treatment he received afterwards.

The drunk driving incident and the rant against Jews were merely the trigger that escalated the situation.

Because of the series of chain reactions triggered by the Moroccan kidnapping case, Nolan has a deep-seated prejudice against Jews, but in his films, at most, he ignores Jews.

The two sides discussed the topic of movies for a while, and during the discussion, they also mentioned "Lone Survivor," which was adapted from Marcus's personal experience.

The film was a hit in North America, grossing $1.38 million before it left theaters.

Compared to the $4000 million investment, it can be considered a great success.

However, the film received a lukewarm reception in markets outside North America, with overseas box office takings totaling only $3102 million.

But the $1.69 million in global box office revenue is enough to generate substantial profits.

After lunch, the group returned to their respective rest trailers, especially Martin and Menez, who needed to use the lunch break to recover their energy so they could continue filming action scenes in the afternoon.

To conserve his strength and energy, Martin declined Clara's request to come and keep him company.

The action scenes inside the Continental Hotel in New York were so intense that they were very physically demanding during filming.

In the afternoon, Martin and Menez switched to AR-15s and continued their fight against the assassins in full body armor.

Gunshots rang out continuously in the studio.

The production crew was strictly managed, and no accidents occurred with the firearms.

When Martin finished work in the afternoon, he was covered in the smell of gunpowder. He changed his clothes and took a shower, but the smell still lingered.

On his way back to the hotel, he received a call from Taylor Swift.

"Hi, Martin," Taylor said, his voice tinged with weariness. "I heard you're filming in New York?"

Martin said, "I just finished work at the studio and am heading back to the hotel."

Taylor confirmed with the hotel and said, "I'll be passing through there in half an hour. Do you have a few minutes to talk privately?"

Martin glanced at his watch: "No problem, I'll wait for you in the hotel lobby."

"See you in a bit." Taylor hung up the phone.

Martin returned to the hotel, found a quiet spot in the lobby lounge, and sent Taylor a message.

Less than five minutes later, Taylor, accompanied by several assistants, hurriedly entered the hall. Upon seeing Martin, she told her assistants to wait, waved, and walked over.

She pulled out a chair and sat down next to Martin, saying, "I'm having a concert in New York this weekend."

Martin said, "We saw GG, and the reaction was very strong."

"Concerts are exhausting." Taylor's exquisite makeup couldn't hide her mental fatigue: "It's a huge test of physical strength, singing ability, and voice, especially when the concert is halfway through, it has a huge impact on the voice."

Martin, having some suspicion, asked directly, "How do you want me to help you?"

Taylor leaned closer and lowered her voice to the lowest level: "When you go to the concert this weekend, go backstage near the middle and help me soothe my throat."

She pleaded, "Martin, please."

How could I refuse such a good person as Martin?

(End of this chapter)