Chapter 335: Personal Worst Opening Box Office

The wasteland within a fifty-mile radius of Mount Ruapehu became a sprawling battlefield as the production jumped between locations. The massive cavalry sequences had finally begun filming. The mounts were boarded and trained under a joint agreement between The Lord of the Rings Studio and three Wellington ranches. Because the production had to pay a daily fee for as long as the contract remained active, prioritizing the horse-heavy scenes also made financial sense.

Originally, Peter Jackson hadn't possessed much capital of his own, and New Line Pictures had offered him relatively limited support. He'd been forced to keep the budget of each installment under $100 million, making him a model of frugality throughout the filming of the trilogy.

Duke's current resources were worlds apart from Jackson's, but given the sheer scale of The Lord of the Rings and his own trademark directing style, the $350 million total budget still required meticulous planning.

The horses were a massive expense. By front-loading the cavalry sequences, they could drastically cap the number of mounts needed for the remainder of the shoot and save the production a fortune.

Naturally, in stark contrast to the final cinematic illusion, even the sequences requiring the most mounts—such as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the mustering of the Rohan army—actually utilized only around a hundred live horses. The rest would be multiplied in post-production using CGI.

Furthermore, galloping horses kicked up massive clouds of dust. Using that dust or atmospheric fog to obscure the finer details of CGI models was the golden rule for saving on rendering costs.

Compared to Gandalf's relatively breezy scenes, these two massive cavalry sequences took nearly ten days to complete. Animals were an incredibly uncontrollable factor on set; even though the horses had undergone extensive training, bringing nearly a hundred of them together in one place produced a volume of manure and urine that practically drove the crew mad.

The stench of manure drifting on the wind was absolutely miserable.

Then there was the cavalry formation itself. No matter how perfectly they aligned beforehand, the moment the horses broke into a run, the resulting chaos always looked disastrous through the camera lens.

Ultimately, Duke simply abandoned the practical shot, opting to handle it entirely with CGI in post-production.

Location shooting made up only a fraction of this magnificent battle sequence. They would shoot additional footage on soundstages later, compositing it all together with CGI during post-production.

Nearly every massive battle scene was constructed this way: combining remote location shoots and multi-stage capture with post-production compositing.

The clash between the Rohan Cavalry and Isengard's Warg Riders had just wrapped. "Dead" and injured horses littered the ground. Rohan soldiers were finishing off the surviving Orcs, while some actors brandished prop swords and drove them into wolf-shaped rigs wrapped in green screen.

John Schwartzman's two assistants, operating Steadicams, moved along their designated paths to capture various shots of the carnage. Watching the monitor feed, Duke's mind automatically filled in the gaps with his envisioned final sequence.

None of the dynamic Warg Rider shots were actually filmed here. Those required Motion Capture back in the studio, and the subjects of the Motion Capture were, naturally, human.

From the live actors' reference footage, to the human Motion Capture, to the raw animation, and finally to the CGI composite—this battle sequence had to pass through four complex stages before it was complete.

"Cut!"

After Duke called the cut, the actors playing the Orcs immediately stepped aside for touch-ups. The wilderness location couldn't support Motion Capture, so the Orcs relied entirely on practical makeup. They all wore custom-made silicone headpieces that took over eight hours to apply, yet they often only filmed a handful of shots a day.

Shooting for this setup was complete. The crew was about to change locations, and a swarm of staff busied themselves clearing the horse corpses off the battlefield.

Naturally, the crew wasn't hauling real dead horses—if they were, the Animal Protection Organization reps would have fought Duke to the death. The production wouldn't let a single horse get hurt. The mounts that had "heroically sacrificed" themselves on the field were actually wooden sculptures, carved realistically enough to pass for the real thing.

The crew shifted five hundred feet to the west, preparing to shoot Legolas looking effortlessly cool.

"Orlando's wig!"

Walking to the center of the set, Duke noticed that Orlando Bloom's wig was slightly askew.

"Redo his makeup!" he called out.

Several makeup artists hurried over to remove Bloom's wig and reseat it properly. Duke stood by, giving the completely bald actor a few notes.

"Stand on the highest rock, imagine Warg Riders charging at you from the opposite side, and draw your bow with the coolest, most handsome, and most confident posture you can muster!" Duke instructed.

Nearby, Sean Davis—already in full makeup and leaning on his dwarf battleaxe—overheard. He deliberately teased, "Orlando, your character wasn't very prominent in the original books. Duke specifically added scenes for Legolas to highlight your image. Don't let the director down."

Taking advantage of the brief pause while his wig was being secured, Orlando Bloom turned and shot Sean Davis a "zip it" gesture.

Period makeup was far more tedious than modern styling. It took nearly an hour and a half for Orlando Bloom to transition from a bald man into the enchanting Elf Prince, Legolas Greenleaf.

"Scene forty-two, take one!"

At Duke's signal, the clapper loader placed the clapperboard in front of the main camera lens.

"Action!"

Before the three cameras, Orlando Bloom stood tall atop a protruding rock, gazing into the distance. John Schwartzman deliberately framed a close-up of his elven eyes. Bloom then drew an arrow, nocked it, and pulled back the bowstring. In terms of posture alone, his striking form was utterly flawless. Yet, just out of the camera's sightline, the arrow fluttered limply to the ground a mere twenty feet away.

On the perimeter of the set, Ivanka Trump stood with several security guards concealed in the shadows, keeping a close eye on the two Animal Protection Organization representatives. She used to think that animal lovers were wonderful, caring people. But after a week of dealing with these reps, she realized just how terrifying these zealots could be.

Yesterday, while filming the Rohan Cavalry forming up to meet Isengard's Warg Riders, Gimli and Legolas's stunt doubles had suddenly been thrown from their horses. These reps had broken through the crew's barricade like lunatics and rushed the set. They hadn't spared a single glance for the two injured actors; they only wanted to check on the horses. One of them, entirely fixated on the animals, had even stepped right on Legolas's stunt double while walking past...

After that, Ivanka understood just how vital her seemingly inconspicuous job was to the production. These fanatics were absolutely the number one threat to the shoot.

Even the most rabid, annoying paparazzi who had tracked their scent all the way out to this remote location had an unspoken understanding not to interrupt filming. But these people simply didn't see humans—only animals existed in their eyes.

Starting yesterday, Ivanka had changed her approach. No longer passively trying to reason with them, she simply requisitioned a few burly security guards from Duke, assigning them specifically to handle those two.

"Orlando is so handsome!"

A nearby whisper broke Ivanka's train of thought. It was Elijah Wood and Billy Boyd. Over her days on set, Ivanka had grown familiar with the main cast and crew; these two were easily the most lively actors of the bunch.

"Yeah, too handsome!" Billy Boyd shook his head. "So handsome it's ridiculous."

"I'm actually jealous!"

"Why don't we get any scenes that look that cool?"

Billy Boyd seemed to notice Ivanka looking over and turned his head to ask, "Evie, what do you think?"

"He's alright, I guess," Ivanka replied casually.

Elijah Wood suddenly winked at her. "Who do you think is more handsome? Duke or Orlando?"

"They aren't really the same type, are they?" Ivanka shrugged, avoiding a direct answer. "You can't really compare them."

Billy Boyd and Elijah Wood huddled together and muttered for a moment. Then Billy Boyd—who possessed the face of a boy but the age of an older man—said, "I think Duke should do a cameo. Preferably as an Orc that gets shot to death by Legolas."

Ivanka stayed quiet, clearly wanting no part in this.

"I think having Duke play an elf would work, too," Elijah Wood suggested. "Like Haldir. He hasn't been cast yet, right? He could compete with Orlando to see who's more handsome."

"That kind of role is too ordinary." Billy Boyd disagreed. "I think a Cave Troll is the best. The one that stabs you in the Mines of Moria would be perfect."

"That's a great idea!"

Elijah Wood agreed, and both he and Billy Boyd turned to look at Ivanka Trump.

"This has nothing to do with me," Ivanka said, immediately washing her hands of the matter.

"Hey, Evie, don't be like that, okay?"

Billy Boyd dragged Elijah Wood over to her and lowered his voice. "We're heading out to shoot the snow mountain scenes soon. We'll take you skiing."

"Have you seen the concept art for the Cave Troll?"

Seeing Ivanka nod, Elijah Wood hurriedly pressed on, "Don't you think it'd be hilarious if Duke played a Cave Troll? You could come with us to suggest it. He really values your opinion..."

Hearing this, Ivanka rolled her eyes. 'As if I have the right to give him suggestions.'

Still, it did seem like it would be pretty funny.

After three more days of shooting on the wasteland, the scenes at this location began to wrap up. The production's three newly leased helicopters arrived on schedule. Duke personally boarded one with John Schwartzman to capture a few necessary aerial shots. Then, the crew departed the Mount Ruapehu area and returned to Wellington, aiming to take advantage of the New Zealand winter to shoot their snow sequences.

It was around this time that the members of the Fellowship of the Ring, along with his temporary assistant, Ivanka Trump, came looking for him.

"You guys think it would be funny for me to play a Cave Troll?" Duke asked, looking at the group of troublemakers who loved nothing more than stirring up chaos.

Beyond this immediate bunch, God only knew what logic they had used to convince Tina Fey and Charles Roven—even those two fully endorsed the suggestion.