Chapter 571: The Kidney Phone Concept

"A smartphone?"

Turning the Apple concept phone over in his hands, Duke leaned back in his chair and looked across at Steve Jobs. "Is this Apple's next-generation flagship product?"

Steve Jobs nodded. Perhaps because he and Duke now had deeper mutual financial interests, his merchant instincts kicked in. His attitude was much better than before, and he offered a rare smile.

"How does it feel?" he asked.

"Pretty good." Duke placed it on the table between them. "I'm sure this will sweep the world."

"Inevitably," Steve Jobs said, brimming with his usual confidence.

Although he had never used it before, Duke was certain this was basically the First-Generation iPhone. Judging by Jobs's tone, however, the phone was still in the experimental phase, far from hitting the market.

Of course, even if this phone launched, Duke would rather stick with his custom Nokia. While this smartphone gathered all the most advanced technology currently available, it still fell far short of any knockoff smartphone he had seen in his previous life.

According to Steve Jobs, the First-Generation iPhone only supported AT&T's 2G network. Not only was it prone to packet loss and dropped connections, but its network speed crawled like a turtle—a torment on par with the old days of dial-up.

"Duke, you're excellent at sci-fi movies, and you're always full of imaginative ideas," Jobs suddenly said. "What else do you think we can improve on this phone?"

Seeing that Jobs rarely asked for advice, Duke frowned in thought. He racked his memory for quite a while before speaking.

"Steve, I think you should absolutely put the App Store on this smartphone."

The App Store was an integral component, acting as a service platform for many Apple devices. It allowed users to browse and download applications developed specifically for Apple. Users could acquire both paid and free apps—including games, calendars, translation tools, photo galleries, and various practical utilities—downloading them directly to their terminals.

Jobs's eyes immediately lit up. Still, he kept his excitement in check and pressed on.

"Is there anything else?"

"This concept model can't really change its background; it only has the system's default black." Duke rarely had the chance to show off in front of Jobs. Plus, he was a major shareholder in Apple—the better the Kidney Phone sold in the future, the more profit he stood to make. "The system also lacks a copy-and-paste function, and it can't sync wirelessly with a computer. There's no navigation, the camera resolution is too low, and it can't record video directly..."

Jobs nodded along as Duke spoke.

"I really didn't expect this, Duke. To think you have such a deep understanding of mobile phones. What you've pointed out are indeed the shortcomings of the concept model, and the technology we need to improve in the future."

"In the future?" Duke looked faintly surprised.

"Of course, in the future," Steve Jobs said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "My plan is to release a new model every so often, updating specific features each time. For example, we could add the App Store to the second generation, enhance the entertainment features on the third, completely overhaul the camera on the fourth..."

He spread his hands. "Only through continuous functional improvements will users keep paying for Apple products. Releasing everything at once is absolutely not in Apple's best interests."

Hearing this, Duke gave a firm nod. Steve Jobs was a true businessman through and through—an absolute role model worth learning from.

When it was time to leave, Duke had originally wanted to take a concept phone with him. Even if he didn't use it himself, it would make a nice toy for Scarlett Johansson. Steve Jobs, however, flatly refused.

Duke didn't mind. After all, it was still in the developmental stage; secrecy was mandatory.

Still marveling at Steve Jobs's merchant instincts, Duke returned to Los Angeles from San Francisco and plunged straight back into the intense filming schedule. During the few days he had been away, the crew hadn't stopped working. Production had carried on as usual, with Anna Printz temporarily taking over Duke's position to control the shooting pace.

Even after Duke returned, she continued to lead a second unit. This dual-track filming guaranteed the crew's progress, leaving ample time for complex post-production work.

On the soundstage, Robert Downey Jr., wearing a Motion Capture suit, jumped off a three-foot platform and landed heavily on a black mat. Watching it unfold on the monitor, Duke frowned deeply.

"Robert..." he called out toward the camera. "Take it from the top."

Robert Downey Jr. nodded and stepped back onto the platform. Waiting until the clapper loader called action, he jumped again, landing with both feet squarely on the mat.

This time, Duke didn't look at the monitor. He kept his eyes fixed on Robert Downey Jr. Seeing the way his feet hit the ground, Duke finally spotted the problem.

"Jimmy, Robert." Duke raised a hand, waving the leading man and the action choreographer over. "Let's have a quick huddle."

Jimmy Carter, who was handling the action choreography, realized Duke wasn't satisfied with the setup. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Don't you think Robert's landing looks too ordinary?" Duke pointed at Robert Downey Jr. "Jimmy, Iron Man is just hopping onto the ground. It has no character at all."

Robert Downey Jr. scratched his head, deliberately putting on a smug tone. "I think Duke makes perfect sense. This kind of entrance completely fails to show off my devastatingly cool and handsome side."

"Robert..." Jimmy Carter pointed a finger at him. Probably used to being exasperated by the actor's antics, he simply ignored him and turned to Duke. "Give me a hint. I'm good at designing to your specifications, but conceptual stuff gives me a headache."

"Every superhero has their own distinctive entrance." Duke thought for a moment before continuing. "In Iron Man, once Tony Stark suits up, he almost always appears in flight. Jimmy, the main thing you need to do is differentiate Iron Man's flying style from other superheroes. The audience's first reaction can't be—that's Superman or Peter Pan."

These conceptual elements had always been Duke's territory. He explained, "Iron Man doesn't have superpowers; he's just wrapped in a heavy, bulletproof piece of high-tech hardware. Superman takes off fast but likes to land slowly, whereas Iron Man takes off slowly because his suit is heavy. But when he lands, he comes down fast, accompanied by a heavy thud."

Over the years, Jimmy Carter had accumulated a wealth of experience. Hearing Duke put it that way, he immediately thought of a solution.

"For ordinary landings, Iron Man can still decelerate slowly. But when he drops onto a battlefield, he needs to plummet from the sky like a thunderbolt. That's going to generate massive impact force, so Tony Stark has to land on one knee to absorb the shock. And a pose like that is plenty cool."

Robert Downey Jr. instantly agreed.

"Great idea."

With that said, both he and Jimmy Carter looked at Duke. The two of them knew perfectly well that the only person who could make the final decision was Duke.

"It really sets Iron Man apart from all the traditional heroes that have come before. That's an excellent thing for us."

With the issue resolved, Duke temporarily shifted the shooting schedule to other scenes to give Jimmy Carter and Robert Downey Jr. enough time to practice. It might have seemed like an insignificant motion, but achieving the perfect on-camera effect required massive repetition.

Of course, this only solved part of the problem. Other issues remained.

For example, Iron Man was grounded in reality, so his movements needed to be natural. That wasn't just a matter of filming; it also had to be addressed through post-production visual effects.

Industrial Light and Magic worked closely with Weta Studio. Following Duke's demands, and embracing the challenge of producing massive amounts of CG, they were frantically creating countless keyframe animations for the film—along with a fair share of straight-line forward Motion Capture sequences—even as the live-action shoot continued.

Just as Duke had pointed out, any superhero capable of succeeding on the silver screen possessed defining characteristics—signature poses that etched themselves into the audience's memory. Superman, for instance, stood with his chest puffed out and his fists planted on his hips, his cape billowing in the wind.

But the style Duke established for Iron Man felt far more organic. Although he wanted the armored hero to possess incredible speed, he refused to let the audience be distracted by artificial, comic-book physics. Instead, he sought to weave distinct poses directly into the flow of the action to heighten the visual impact.

One scene had already finished filming and received its preliminary visual effects: Iron Monger flew back to attack Iron Man, only for Iron Man to grab his arms and blast into the air on his rocket thrusters.

This action sequence was far more powerful than having him stand in place and strike a pose. Another critical moment occurred when they were in the sky and Iron Man nimbly raised a fist to counterattack Iron Monger. In that exact frame, the armored hero was positioned perfectly in the dead center of the shot.

With the problems in Iron Man's action choreography ironed out, the shooting pace steadily accelerated. By Christmas, Duke had wrapped up all the action sequences, leaving only a few fragmented shots. After spending the Christmas holidays in New York with his mother and Scarlett Johansson, he threw himself straight back into work.

The sooner filming wrapped, the more time there would be for post-production. According to their schedule, the movie absolutely had to hit theaters during next year's Summer Season.

The remaining shots mostly consisted of Tony Stark running his mouth, along with a few comedic scenes.

Just like actors, directors had their own weak points. Duke had never been great at shooting comedy, but Robert Downey Jr. was an absolute expert in the field. Spurred on by him, several of the actors began to improvise on set, and Duke was more than happy to sift through the footage to find the perfect takes.

Take one particular scene between Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams, for example.

Rachel's character, Pepper Potts, was complaining about flying all over the country to buy luxury mansions for Tony Stark.

"After you buy the next estate, I can put your name on the front gates. We'll call it Potts Manor."

Hearing that line, Rachel McAdams had a flash of inspiration.

"Better put it on the deed instead," she fired back.

During the final stretch of filming, the crew enjoyed a rare, joyous atmosphere. Once the New Year passed and 2006 arrived, principal photography for Iron Man was officially complete.