Chapter 50: Whose Mobile Phone

"Hans, here is some footage I shot."

Gesturing to the other side of the room, Duke continued, "Let's watch a segment of the opening sequence first..." Sofia walked over to the television at the front of the reception room, slid a Videotape into the VCR, and turned on the screen.

This wasn't put together by Duke or Mike Dawson; it was the result of Sofia practicing after developing some of the negatives. Although she had merely spliced the footage together roughly—it couldn't even be considered a rough cut—it still reflected Duke's vision for the film, making it perfect for today's scoring meeting.

The footage had no sound, but that didn't stop Hans Zimmer from watching intently from his seat. First, several soldiers appeared carrying a coffin, followed by an officer sitting and smoking. The imagery cut continuously between the officer and the soldiers, interspersed with a few shots of explosions.

Even without any embellishment, Hans Zimmer still gleaned information from the visuals. The officer seemed poised to take extraordinary action, carrying a tragic, heroic weight. Furthermore, every shot was extremely brief, cutting relentlessly; the finished film would undoubtedly set a fast pace.

The opening sequence lasted only a few minutes. After it finished, Hans Zimmer didn't know exactly what would happen next, but he could feel the direction it was taking.

Right now, Hans Zimmer was just one of many top-tier Hollywood composers, yet to achieve his future status as a master. Duke replayed the sequence and laid out his requirements for the score.

Film scoring wasn't just about composing music. It had to complement the film's core themes, match the mood of the scenes, and reflect the director's vision. Every classic score was born from extensive communication between the director, the composer, and the rest of the crew.

"The film needs scores with two different tones."

After a brief exchange, Duke cut straight to the point. "The first is to accompany heavy scenes like the opening we just saw. It needs to be deep, resonant, and tragic. It should sound slow, desolate, yet steady, ideally allowing the audience to feel the characters' profound emotions."

Hans Zimmer nodded and had his assistant note down Duke's requests one by one.

"Then there's the music for the combat and car chase scenes," Duke continued. "I need fast-paced, highly dynamic tracks. They should be intense, thrilling, and even piercing..."

When it came to music, Duke was a complete layman. He could only state his demands and let the composer create the score. The original soundtrack had been a classic, but unfortunately, he remembered too little of it and lacked the professional vocabulary to articulate it. Besides, composers had different ideas at every stage of their careers, so it was better to leave it all to Hans Zimmer.

"Director Rosenberg..." Hans Zimmer said after reviewing his assistant's notes. "I'd like to shadow the crew for a while to gain a deeper understanding of the project. And, of course, the final score can only be locked in after you finish the edit."

"No problem." Duke turned to look at Sofia. "If you need anything, you can coordinate with Sofia."

Hans Zimmer and his team were the first to leave the reception room. Duke shifted his gaze to the other side, where the representatives from Warner Records sat. According to Duke's agreement with Warner Brothers, Warner Records would handle the film's theme song, and they had brought the singer with them.

She was a young woman of about twenty-five, her long brown hair cascading over her shoulders. She wore tight denim and had prominent, sharply defined facial features. Even sitting silently on the sofa, she radiated a distinct wildness.

"She's a new artist Warner Records is pushing heavily next year."

Robin Grande, having seen Hans Zimmer out, returned to the room. As he passed Duke, he whispered, "Warner clearly wants to use the film to build hype for her upcoming album release."

Warner knew how to play the game; if Duke wasn't satisfied, they wouldn't force the issue.

"Miss Twain."

In truth, Duke didn't care about the theme song. In this film, a song would only play over the end credits. Even if the track was poorly received, it wouldn't impact the movie. Conversely, if it became a massive hit, it might bring a slight boost to the box office.

"What genre of music do you specialize in?" Duke asked, returning to his seat.

"Country music."

She raised a hand to brush back her hair, a seemingly ordinary gesture that carried a unique charm. "You can call me Shania or Regina."

If this had been a few years in the future, Duke would have been thrilled to have Shania Twain sing the theme song. Right now, unfortunately, he could only consider it better than nothing.

In many respects, Duke still had to rely on Warner's massive backing. Since they wanted to use the film to promote a new artist, he wasn't going to stand in their way. After asking a few routine questions, he handed the matter off to Robin Grande, the production manager.

The score and theme song wouldn't be finalized until the film reached post-production; this was merely early preparation. After setting out his requirements, Duke shifted his focus back to the shoot.

After a long, five-day wait, the Screen Actors Guild concluded their investigation. They determined that The Rock's set had adequate safety measures and that the stuntman's injury was purely an accident. Once the production negotiated a compensation agreement with the injured man, the temporarily suspended crew was finally cleared to resume filming.

The injured stuntman walked away with a hefty compensation package of nearly $130,000, but Duke immediately dismissed him from the crew and placed him on Warner Brothers' blacklist.

While The Rock was able to restart, the end of the suspension for Interview with the Vampire was nowhere in sight. The Child Protection Association was far more troublesome to deal with than the Screen Actors Guild.

Five days wasn't long in the grand scheme of things, but it had thoroughly derailed Duke's shooting schedule, worsening the anxiety he already felt under the mounting pressure. Over those five days, he had worked with Sofia and Zack Snyder to rework the schedule, hoping to claw back the lost time in the upcoming shoots.

Once filming resumed, Hans Zimmer and Shania Twain both showed up on set, clearly wanting to learn more about The Rock and the people they would be working with.

But the five-day shutdown had disrupted more than just Duke's rhythm; it had broken the momentum of the actors and crew. Problems with the camera, lighting, acting, and props cropped up endlessly. The anxiety seemed contagious. In their first three days back, the production only managed to complete one day's worth of scheduled work.

All of this compounded Duke's stress. Whenever someone made a mistake, the anger in his chest threatened to erupt; a few times, he barely managed to suppress it.

"Cut!"

Duke's suppressed, angry voice rang out across the soundstage once more. He strode over to Nicholas Cage and Christopher Lee, jumping straight into the pool of water where they stood. He paced back and forth, ignoring his soaked pants and shoes, and shouted, "Nicolas, Christopher, is the water too cold? Can you not stand still?"

Nicholas Cage and Christopher Lee smartly maintained their silence.

Duke's voice rose even higher. "If you can't handle it, tell me right now! I'll bring in stunt doubles! Stop wasting time!"

With that, Duke climbed out of the pool, kicked off his waterlogged shoes, and walked barefoot back behind the monitors. "All departments, prepare for another take!" he yelled.

"Your manners!"

Sofia had barely whispered the reminder before she caught Duke's glare, promptly snapping her mouth shut.

In truth, no one on the crew knew better than she did that Duke had been stockpiling rage ever since the production was suspended. She had no desire to become his target.

"John, adjust the camera positions," Duke's slightly hoarse voice rang out. "Take the Steadicam into the water for the shot. Move Camera Two to a thirty-degree angle over Nicolas's back left shoulder. You have ten minutes to prepare!"

While Duke roared at the crew, blasting them like a hairdryer, Sofia quietly stepped aside and fetched a pair of slippers from the rest area.

"Do all film directors have such terrible tempers?"

A woman's voice came from the side. Sofia turned and saw Shania Twain, the singer, on her second visit to the set. Shrugging, Sofia told her, "Even the best-tempered person would turn into a powder keg sitting in that chair."

The singer pouted slightly but said nothing more. Sofia carried the slippers back to the monitors and tossed them to Duke.

"Thanks!" Duke nodded at her and slipped them on.

Taking two deep breaths, Duke temporarily pushed down the anger brought on by his anxiety, stress, and setbacks. None of it would help the shoot. He raised his megaphone. "Scene seventy-eight, take twelve. Action!"

The crew, having gradually developed a mutual understanding, sprang into action. The lighting, color, set, props, and performances passed through the camera lenses and appeared on Duke's monitors in near perfection. He gave a slight nod; the crew's form was clearly improving.

In the set doubling as the underground tunnels of Alcatraz Island, Nicholas Cage had already raised his pistol, aiming it at John Mason, who was trying to back away.

The boom mic slowly descended from above. Silence reigned across the entire soundstage.

"You want to do this the hard way? Fine! FBI! Freeze, asshole!"

'Cage's form seems to have returned as well...'

Just as Duke was thinking this, the ringtone of a Mobile Phone suddenly sounded from behind him. The noise wasn't loud, but it shattered the tranquility of the soundstage, carrying into every corner.

John Schwartzman, operating the Steadicam, froze.

Nicholas Cage and Christopher Lee stopped acting simultaneously, helpless smiles appearing on their faces.

Sofia Coppola instinctively wanted to block her ears. Was the volcano about to erupt?

Duke slowly turned his head, looking toward the source of the ringtone.

"Whose Mobile Phone is that?"