Chapter 365: Falling into the Water

Starting in mid-February, Duke and Anna Printz wrapped up their respective location shoots. Back on the soundstages at Wellington Studio, they collaborated with the technical staff from Weta Studio to shoot a massive number of CGI composite scenes. At one point, Duke even temporarily handed the primary directing duties over to Anna Printz so he could focus entirely on several purely CGI-composed scenes for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Naturally, this arrangement only lasted a few short days. Duke wasn't about to step away from the main production for long.

As time went on and the shoot progressed, the crew's actual pace pulled far ahead of Duke's original schedule. By this point, Duke thoroughly understood his own strengths as a director: he could effortlessly capture and utilize a film's commercial elements. Although fast-paced, large-scale movie production was far more complicated than making independent films, he found it easy to control the big picture.

Conversely, it was the slow-paced scenes—the ones purely driven by emotion and focused on portraying a character's conflicting internal states—that he found exceptionally difficult to grasp.

In other words, Duke's personality leaned toward realism, while the films he excelled at making leaned toward innocence.

For him, the benefits of this contradiction far outweighed the drawbacks. A grounded understanding of the real world helped him avoid impractical fantasies; if he had naively treated Hollywood as some pure, untainted sanctuary, he probably would have been played to death without ever knowing how it happened.

On the other hand, film themes leaning toward innocence secured the broadest possible audience. A niche film that blew up worldwide with incredible audience and critical acclaim, no matter how well it was marketed, could never match the commercial success of a true blockbuster.

The Lord of the Rings novels enjoyed a massive audience in the West. As long as the film didn't get bogged down in baffling artsy pretension, it was guaranteed to be a mainstream hit. Though the movie touched upon the darker sides of human nature, to a certain extent, it was more like a fairy tale.

Making a fairy tale drip with artsy vibes was a surefire way to bomb at the box office. Therefore, during his discussions with Weta Studio, Duke repeatedly demanded they amp up the visual effects and action sequences.

Although post-production for The Fellowship of the Ring wouldn't begin until the second half of the year, Duke's plans called for the film to use a world-record-breaking 1,600 or so visual effects shots!

As for whether certain industry professionals would jump out to bash him for turning such an epic into a CGI animated movie, Duke couldn't care less. Given the trajectory of the film industry, purely CGI live-action films were an inevitable future.

The advancement of technology couldn't be halted just because a few people stood up and shouted. Those who clung to the old ways would ultimately be eliminated.

For the remainder of February, the crew stayed confined to the soundstages. Like Cate Blanchett, several actors with short but weighty roles reached the end of their scenes, meaning it was time for them to leave the production.

After more than a year of working together, final partings were inevitable.

In front of the blue screen on the soundstage, Gerard Butler, playing Boromir, lay among a pile of leaves. Three black Orc arrows protruded from his body, and he seemed to be on the verge of death.

Standing behind the director's monitor, Duke found himself nodding slowly, clearly satisfied with the state of both actors.

Viggo Mortensen's acting wasn't top-tier, but it was quite outstanding. Moreover, his grasp on Aragorn was incredibly accurate. In the scenes they had already filmed, he had practically transformed into King Elessar.

By comparison, Gerard Butler was undoubtedly much weaker. This heavily built actor really wasn't known for his acting chops. However, his hard work was obvious to everyone, and at this moment, he was performing well above his usual level.

Every movie had to have its climax, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy was no exception. The battle that split the fellowship was undeniably the climax of the first installment, and Boromir's death was the crowning stroke of that sequence.

Ever since he was invited to Rivendell, Boromir had served as a core pillar of the fellowship through the early stages of the journey, rescuing the hobbits from Orcs on several occasions. But Gondor sat on the absolute front lines against Mordor. Protecting his country and the White City had always been Boromir's obsession. Coupled with the inherent human nature penned by Tolkien, he ultimately failed to resist the temptation of the ring, wanting to claim it for himself to fight off the mighty Mordor.

His greed was detestable, yet his dreams and repentance were profoundly moving. He had once told Aragorn that he wanted to return to Gondor with him, to hear the Silver Horn blow, and to watch the banner of the Sacred White Tree fluttering in the skies over the White City.

Boromir's wishes were never fulfilled, but the film—unlike the novel—would grant him a hero's affirmation.

Gerard Butler held the hilt of his sword against his chest, seeming to muster every last ounce of his remaining strength and conviction as he spoke to Viggo Mortensen, who was leaning over him. "I would have followed you, my brother, my captain, my king..."

"Be at peace, son of Gondor."

Aragorn's line was undeniably the best epitaph for Boromir. Viggo Mortensen closed Gerard Butler's eyes, bowed his head, and pressed a king's kiss to his forehead...

Behind them, Orlando Bloom stood holding his short bow, glancing sideways at the two men. To anyone out of the loop, a quick glance would make the scene look brimming with homoerotic tension.

"Cut!" Duke called out, halting the take, then added, "Viggo, Gerry, well done, but you'll have to do it one more time."

This was one of the most emotionally stirring scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring. Although the two actors had performed brilliantly, Duke's standards always demanded perfection.

They shot it three more times before Duke finally called it a pass. The completion of this scene meant Boromir had finished his journey on the Middle-earth Continent, and Gerard Butler would be bidding farewell to the crew.

In front of the camera, Viggo Mortensen pulled Gerard Butler up from the pile of leaves. Butler nodded to him and strode toward Duke's position. One of John Schwartzman's camera assistants immediately readied the Steadicam, the lens tracking closely on Butler's tall, robust figure.

Since he didn't need to shoot anything else, Gerard Butler simply pulled the three long arrows out of his costume, tossed them aside, and walked up to the already-standing Duke, giving him a forceful hug.

"Thank you, Duke."

Duke had played a crucial role in transforming him from an unknown actor into a highly watched newcomer, and Gerard Butler was incredibly grateful.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of this magical journey," he said.

"You've made great progress, Gerry," Duke replied.

Slapping him hard on the back, Duke pulled away from Gerard Butler. "Keep working hard. We'll have opportunities to collaborate again in the future."

The film rights to that graphic novel were held by Warner Brothers, and the director was his deputy of many years. Naturally, Duke wasn't going to pass him up.

Taking another step back, Duke glanced over his shoulder and gave a signal. Someone immediately brought over a Silver Horn of Gondor and handed it to Gerard Butler. Just like when they saw off Queen Galadriel, this was a tradition in the crew—whenever a main cast member departed, Duke would gift them a prop used by their character as a memento.

For Gerard Butler, it was Boromir's horn.

Gerard Butler took it, handed it off to his assistant for the moment, and began hugging the rest of the crew goodbye one by one. He put on a great show of reluctance to part, making it seem as if the entire production was radiating with sibling-like affection. But the camera lens steadily tracking him served as a stark reminder to everyone that this was nothing more than a routine Hollywood performance.

The footage captured here would play a certain role during the film's early promotional campaigns and the later DVD marketing push.

The parting was brief. Gerard Butler's farewell to the crew didn't drum up too much sorrow, and the production continued running normally. However, as the heavily concentrated scenes were largely finished, the remaining shots grew increasingly fragmented. Once they entered March, Duke would often be shooting Isengard's Uruk-hai in one take, and in the very next shot, he'd have to pivot to Mount Doom to watch Andy Serkis bite off Elijah Wood's finger.

Correspondingly, the crew's shooting pace also slowed down.

Duke had originally drawn up a fifteen-month shooting schedule. Yet even with their current slowdown, he was confident they would wrap up all filming in around fourteen months.

This was partly because he had absorbed the experience of his predecessors, but it was also inseparable from the crew's extensive pre-production preparations.

During gaps in filming, Duke also made two trips to Australia. Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions were in the midst of intense pre-production. Since the two sequels were being shot back-to-back, the workload, while not quite on par with The Lord of the Rings, was still massive and complicated. There was absolutely no chance they would start shooting in the first half of the year.

Zack Snyder had been by Duke's side for nearly a decade, consistently serving as his first deputy. He had gained more than enough experience. From the look of things, there weren't many issues with the pre-production process.

He also knew perfectly well that he was no longer a veteran assistant director, but a rookie director. Certain powers were beyond his reach, and he fully understood the wisdom of knowing when to stop.

Like most directors and producers, Zack Snyder had conflicts with the producer representing Warner Brothers, but he kept them strictly within controllable, work-related bounds.

At the same time, Duke also received a cut of Mission: Impossible 2 delivered by a special courier sent by Tom Cruise. Cruise even carved out time to fly down to Wellington personally to watch the rough cut with Duke.

It was quite clear that through the continuous evolution of their relationship, Tom Cruise had come to place immense trust in Duke's cinematic eye.

Tom Cruise even went so far as to say, "If you aren't satisfied, I can veto the rough cut John Woo put together and hand it over to you or Mike Dawson to re-edit!"

Duke didn't take him up on that. The word-of-mouth for Mission: Impossible 2 might end up slightly weaker than Mission: Impossible 1, but White Dove Wu had still done a fairly good job. As long as the marketing and distribution didn't botch it, the film's box office should surpass its predecessor.

Of course, this was the sequel to a massive blockbuster. If the box office failed to match the original, White Dove Wu wouldn't have to wait another few years; he could just pack his bags and go home after the film released this year.

After seeing Tom Cruise off, Tina Fey brought over the latest updates regarding the stock market from North America!