Chapter 53: Award Invitation

As the black RV approached Mason Street, a temporary roadblock forced it to a halt. George Lucas pushed the door open and stepped out. Standing at the edge of the crowd, he looked ahead, seeing cameras suspended from towering crane arms and hearing the roar of car engines mixed with the screech of tires skidding across the pavement.

He called his assistant over to exchange a few words with the crew members maintaining order, then easily entered the set. At a staff member's reminder, he stepped onto a raised platform to avoid any cars that might veer out of control.

"Uncle Lucas..."

Hearing the faintly nasal voice, George Lucas nodded. He raised his voice to ensure his words would reach her over the constant noise of the set.

"Sofia, is the shoot going smoothly?" he asked.

"Much smoother than the dialogue scenes in the studio." Sofia Coppola leaned in close to his ear. Pointing toward Duke, who was personally operating a camera in the distance, she said, "Speeding cars, collisions, explosions—maybe those are difficult for other people, but for the crazy Director Rosenberg, they're what he loves and excels at shooting the most."

Just as Sofia spoke, an ear-piercing crash rang out ahead. The black Hummer H1 smashed down a prop utility pole. Several cars rigged on catapults were launched high into the air, violently colliding with the sedans rushing up from behind. Shattered glass and debris flew in all directions like fallen leaves caught in a gale, some fragments landing not far from where they stood.

"Are you going over to see him?"

The crew had entered a brief rest period and were shifting to a nearby intersection. Sofia asked Lucas, "There's another collision scene coming up next."

"I'll watch from the perimeter first," Lucas said, following the crew toward the next intersection. "Let's not disturb Duke for now."

Keeping his distance from the intersection serving as the temporary set, Lucas gradually focused his gaze on Duke at its center. He could see that Duke was completely engrossed and highly excited.

The temporary set was as chaotic and disorganized as a battlefield. Everyone was working away with meticulous care, making it feel as if an earth-shattering explosion could erupt at any second. Cameras were scattered everywhere; George Lucas even felt that many of them were completely unnecessary.

He then recalled the set of Speed. Though Lucas hadn't visited often, he had seen Duke shoot action sequences, and the situation had been nearly identical. Back then, he had also thought the on-site setups were pointless. But when he saw the final footage, he suddenly understood—Duke knew exactly what every single camera was for. In truth, he had already spliced the scenes together in his mind.

The scene appeared chaotic and disorganized, yet it was clearly under Duke's control. Lucas watched for a while and saw a tram, a Hummer H1, and a Ferrari Sports Car towed onto the set. The pyrotechnics team he had recommended was currently rigging explosives onto a tram model.

"Never resting until heaven and earth are overturned!"

For some reason, Lucas recalled the evaluations some critics had given Speed.

Frankly speaking, after the final cut of Speed was finished, although he had high hopes for it, he had never expected it to achieve such outstanding results. For a first feature film to gross over 100 million dollars at the North America box office—even Steven Spielberg, whom he had heavily promoted back in the day, had not achieved that, and he was widely recognized as a cinematic genius.

Thinking about it now, his full-force push to get Lucasfilm to greenlight the Speed project had basically been snatching up a massive bargain. Not only did Leah and Duke owe him a favor, but he had also easily walked away with over 10 million dollars in profit. It was the first time in over twenty years he had stumbled upon such a good deal.

Perhaps luck played a part, but in Lucas's eyes, the success of Speed wasn't simply due to Duke Rosenberg's good luck, despite what some claimed. After all, what successful film wasn't built on its director's blood and sweat? The young man's hard work and intense focus were traits he hadn't seen in young people in years.

Had it been any other young director, it would be difficult for such immense success not to go straight to their head. Hollywood was the most temptation-filled place in the world. If someone couldn't maintain their focus on their career, they were bound to fade into nothing more than a shooting star flashing across the Hollywood sky.

To possess true talent, to know exactly what you wanted, and to be willing to work tirelessly for it—young people like that were far too rare these days!

"Let's go over and take a look," Lucas said to Sofia.

The two gradually approached the set, and the most distinct sound was Duke's booming voice. "John, mount the camera on the Hummer! You have twenty minutes."

Turning his head, Duke spotted George Lucas. He didn't walk over to greet him, merely smiling before continuing to busy himself with his work. The upcoming sequence was a massive chain collision, leaving no room for carelessness.

"Christy..." Walking over to the sound department, he called the supervisor over. "I want live sound. Place the recording equipment on the Ferrari and the tram. I don't want any sweetening—I want the most authentic, most ear-piercing sound of grinding metal and collisions!"

"Martin, come here, come here!" Duke called the stuntman over. "Don't drive too fast. Give yourself enough time to bail out safely. Watch your safety!"

The stuntman, clad in a thick protective suit, gave Duke a thumbs-up.

Finally, Duke returned to the camera crew and instructed John Schwartzman, "Camera one will shoot parallel at a horizontal one hundred and eighty degrees. Airborne camera two, shift to a sixty-degree angle to capture the details; the main target is the Ferrari. Camera three, shoot from a thirty-degree low angle pointing upward. I want to see the undercarriage of the tram the exact instant it gets blown away."

"John, we don't have a second chance at this!" he added at the end.

John Schwartzman gave Duke a solemn nod.

Though the temporary set looked chaotic, everything was firmly within Duke's control. Seeing that the setup was proceeding almost exactly as expected, he returned behind the camera he operated personally. He adjusted the aperture and angle, preparing to shoot with a wide-angle lens.

"The next time I go to San Francisco City Hall to discuss filming matters," Robin Grande said, suddenly walking over, "I'm definitely going to be an unwelcome figure."

"Don't worry about it, Robin." Duke didn't even look up as he continued tuning his camera. "Joss William is an expert in explosives. They've meticulously calculated everything. The blast will be contained within a reasonable radius, and it won't damage the road or any nearby buildings."

As time passed, the heads of the various departments steadily reported their status back to Duke. Preparations were finally complete.

"Uncle Lucas..."

Not far from Duke, Sofia handed George Lucas a pair of earplugs. "You'll feel better with these. That vandal is about to make a lot of noise."

On the other side, Duke gripped his megaphone and shouted, "Pyrotechnics?"

"Ready!"

"Cameras?"

"Ready!"

"Stunts..."

Finally, he shouted, "Action!"

Rigged with explosives, the tram model and the scrapped SUVs parked nearby erupted simultaneously with a deafening boom. Plumes of fiery light surged upward. The tram car was launched high into the air like a leaf caught in a hurricane. Tumbling, it plummeted toward the intersection. After slamming onto the road, two black steel cables pulled it along. Aided by the downward slope of the street, it screeched with a horrific grinding noise as it barreled straight into the Ferrari Sports Car parked at the intersection.

"Screech..."

"Crunch..."

The brand-new Ferrari Sports Car was completely crushed under the tram model, instantly reducing it to a pile of scrap iron!

"Perfect!"

Behind his camera, Duke slowly stood up, raised his arm, and pumped his fist forcefully.

The set fell silent, followed by the sound of numerous people letting out sighs of relief. They were nowhere near as exhilarated as Duke. Some faces still seemed to carry expressions bordering on nervous breakdowns. Over the recent period, the constant barrage of crashes, noise, and explosions had tormented them to the brink of madness!

"Robin..." Duke said to the production manager beside him. "I'll leave the rest of the cleanup to you."

With that, he raised his megaphone and shouted, "Next location!"

The crew was in prime condition right now, and Duke had no intention of wasting the rhythm they had fought so hard to establish. Naturally, he wanted to knock out a few more takes.

"Good job, Duke."

As the crew prepared to shift locations again, George Lucas walked over. "Your directing techniques are getting more and more polished."

"Thank you!"

Standing before a true, top-tier super director, Duke didn't have the capital to be arrogant. "I still have a lot to learn."

"I look forward to seeing another masterpiece like Speed."

Hearing Lucas's words, Duke also displayed absolute confidence. "George, I promise, you'll definitely see it."

After a few more words, George Lucas took his leave. Duke knew the man was incredibly busy, so he didn't try to make him stay. He simply had his assistant escort Lucas off the temporary set in his stead.

"Something the matter?" Duke asked. Sofia had remained standing beside him without leaving.

"Charles Roven just gave me a call." Pulling out a notebook, Sofia flipped through it as she spoke. "Warner hopes you'll attend the MTV Movie Awards."

"MTV?" Duke paused, somewhat surprised. Sofia explained, "The MTV Movie Awards. It's an annual movie award established by the MTV network last year. Though it's a new award, it holds a certain degree of influence among audiences. Unlike the Oscar and other school faction awards, it doesn't judge films based on the opinions of a panel. Instead, it relies entirely on the votes of ordinary moviegoers to determine the winners—or at least, that's what their marketing claims."

"Did I get nominated?" Duke asked.

"Speed actually received quite a few nominations," Sofia Coppola replied. "Best Movie, Best Male Performance, Best Female Performance, Most Desirable Male, Most Desirable Female, Best Kiss, Best Action Sequence, and Best On-Screen Duo—eight nominations in total."

"Having me attend—Warner wants to use it for promotion, right?" Duke immediately thought of the movie they were currently filming.

"Exactly," Sofia nodded. "The media outlets under Viacom and Time Warner are hyping this award up with everything they have. They want to build it into a film award with world-class influence, and the audience-voted format ensures it won't be lacking in attention."

"Oh, and a quick reminder." A monotonous, nasal tone crept into Sofia's voice. "Warner suggests you bring a female date."