Chapter 117

Xu Can could finally conduct his filming low-key.

"Cut! Luo Bote, your acting is still too obvious; you're pushing a bit too hard."

In the Marvel Studios soundstage, Xu Can and the Iron Man crew have already been filming for some time.

He never expected at first that Marvel actually had its own soundstage.

Unfortunately, he had always been collaborating with others before, so he couldn't use it himself, which turned out to be a boon for Xu Can.

Downey has completely stopped taking drugs, and his complexion has improved significantly recently.

But his performance still feels strange, quite unnatural.

"Sorry, Xu. I haven't acted in so long, I can't find my acting groove."

Downey was also very apologetic; during the scene with Pepper just now, his acting was quite stiff, leaving Pepper completely at a loss.

The actress playing Pepper is still the original Gwyneth Paltrow.

Xu Can thought it over and over, deciding not to change the original casting, otherwise it might cause an unpredictable butterfly effect.

Except for Colonel Luo Di, Xu Can directly brought in Terrence Howard from Iron Man 2, choosing not to use Terrence Howard from Iron Man 1.

Although Terrence Howard hadn't starred in many blockbusters, he successfully won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2004 through Crash.

With the buff from the little golden man, Terrence Howard's salary reached 4.5 million US dollars.

(bdfi) Even the combined salaries of the Iron Man leads aren't as high as his; the cost-performance ratio is really not high.

Moreover, Don Cheadle performed very well as Colonel Luo Di in the subsequent installments, his serious roasting becoming the audience's voice, quite entertaining.

Everyone else's acting was quite professional; only the most important protagonist, Downey, had a hiccup.

"Five minutes break, Luo Bote, find your state properly."

"No problem, by the way, Xu..." Downey suddenly turned around halfway, "Does the crew have cheeseburgers? I want a burger."

"Vanessa, have someone buy him a burger."

Xu Can felt a bit of a headache; Downey had already caused him quite a bit of trouble over and over.

Privately, crew members had complained about him being an "asshole"; yes, he really is a bastard.

However, Downey often joked around and usually treated everyone to coffee on his own initiative, so the crew didn't truly hate this bastard.

"I see."

Combining some behind-the-scenes gossip he had seen in his past life with Downey's personal situation, Xu Can suddenly had an epiphany!

The original Iron Man director and screenwriter, Jon Favreau, could not direct this film due to scheduling conflicts.

To meet the deadline and control the film's quality, Xu Can could only personally serve as the director.

This was his first time independently directing a film,

Compared to co-directing before, the problems and challenges encountered this time rose a level!

So much so that during the initial filming period, the movie's progress was delayed quite a bit.

Until just now, a flash of inspiration suddenly pierced his brain!

As if awakening and fusing a character, awakening god-level acting skills,

In an instant, he gained a clear understanding of actor handling, camera language, on-set scheduling control, and various other aspects!

Previously, as a director, he was lost in the fog; now Xu Can has already ascended a dimension, looking down from above, where every detail is clear at a glance!

Just like Mikasa in Attack on Titan instantly awakening, able to fully control her body,

From this moment on, Xu Can has completely mastered all the abilities possessed by a director!

God-level Director, Awakened!

"Luo Bote, try completely forgetting about acting, forgetting the character setting. You are Stark; Tony Stark is you."

"What?"

"You can add your own reactions based on the original lines; improvising and changing lines is fine."

"Really? Xu, wouldn't this be a bit excessive?"

"If it's not excessive, then it's not Tony Stark. Just like that; I'll cover everything."

Downey instinctively felt something was wrong, but Xu Can was not only the director but also the producer and chairman of the company.

It's his freedom to invest a hundred million and burn it for fun.

In that case, Downey simply completely unsealed himself.

"Take 4, Scene 3, Take 7!"

"Action!"

In the underground garage, Tony Stark was tinkering with a stylish vintage car.

Pepper Gwyn came forward to report on work.

"Why do you always rush me away?"

"Your plane should have taken off an hour and a half ago..."

"Interestingly, this is my plane; the takeoff time should be decided by me."

"Tony, there are a few more things that need your decision; we really need to rush to catch the plane afterwards."

"I was thinking, if I haven't even arrived yet and the plane is about to take off, what's the point of buying a private jet?"

"Why do you always want to rush me away? Do you have plans?"

"Indeed, I have plans."

"I don't like you having plans..."

The camera moved with Downey's blocking, without any cuts.

Xu Can did not call "Cut," and the camera continued to run.

In this nearly one-minute shot, Robert Downey Jr.'s performance successfully portrayed an arrogant, conceited billionaire playboy.

Seeing this, the other members on set could not help but feel surprised.

Xu Can had only chatted with Robert a few times; was the change really so great?

"Cut!"

Xu Can's voice finally rang out; Gwyneth and Tang Ni looked at Xu Can with some unease.

They had already shot this take many times, and they worried about another NG.

"It's a wrap! Very good, let's move to the next one!"

Robert Downey Jr. finally breathed a sigh of relief and gradually found the feel of Iron Man.

In the following performances, under Xu Can's guidance, the filming progress was quite smooth!

The actors' states seemed to have all improved; their coordination was tacit and their performances vivid, making Xu Can exclaim that it was just right.

"Why does it feel like, after awakening the God-level Director state, everyone else's performance has improved so much?"

Xu Can pondered that something was a bit off.

Could it be some kind of aura buff? Boosting the entire crew's acting skills?

Xu Can temporarily could not figure it out and did not delve deeper. He immediately started filming the next scene, racing against time!

"How is it? Does wearing the armor not work?"

"Not very well; the movements are quite difficult, far from achieving the effects required by the storyboard."

At the Marvel Studios soundstage, Xu Can's production team encountered a problem.

They had originally planned to arrange a real suit of armor for Robert Downey Jr. to ensure the film's texture felt authentic.

But when Robert Downey Jr. put on the Iron Man armor, his movement was quite restricted, completely unable to maneuver and dodge as in the movie.

Moreover, the armor was heavy; he could not support wearing it on his whole body for too long.

Later, they reduced the weight piece by piece, but the filming still could not achieve the desired effect; the plan to wear the actual armor was temporarily abandoned, and they could only seek help from digital special effects.

The actor wore motion-capture equipment on his whole body, and computer special effects were used to attach the virtual armor to the character.

If they did not want to break the audience's immersion and did not want the special effects to be too inferior, they had to find an experienced top-tier special effects team to produce them.

Currently, the strongest special effects studio in Hollywood is "Industrial Light & Magic," founded by George Lucas, which is world-famous.

Others include the "Lord of the Rings" team Weta Digital, the "Avatar" team Digital Domain, and the animation producers Pixar and DreamWorks.

Behind these special effects teams sit big directors and big capital, and they already have primary service clients.

Their external quotes are usually not cheap.

For Industrial Light & Magic to produce a 7–15 second shot, the minimum is 120,000 US dollars, and the maximum is 300,000 US dollars.