Vol 2 Chapter 359: Crooked Neck Tree

"Honey, you don't look like Sauron at all now."
In the manor at the foot of Mount Victoria, hiding in the well-organized woods, Cate Blanchett seemed a little dissatisfied, "I have waited for this moment for a long time, and I did special makeup before I came..."
She was blonde and white, like Queen Galadriel had come to Wellington.
In contrast, Duke is just a casual summer dress.
"Sorry, Kate." Duke came over, hugged Blanchett from behind, and the two leaned against the benches tightly. "I tried Sauron's attire. It was too heavy. I put on those Things, how can I communicate with you in depth?"
With that, Duke lowered his head and kissed her white ear beads.
Both Duke and Blanchett are extremely relaxed and unrestrained in the woods. It seems that one is really the master of this golden forest, and the other is the most powerful existence in the middle-earth.
Since a few days ago, Duke has asked the housekeeping company to organize this wood specifically to make it more in line with the atmosphere of Lothlorien, and gave Tina Fei and the few servants in the manor a holiday this morning. , Turning this place completely into an independent world where he and Cate Blanchett can act recklessly.
"Stop, Sauron!"
No ≡±, loss is one of Australia’s best acting actresses. Cate Blanchett quickly entered the state. She broke free of Duke’s hands, turned to face him, and slowly moved back. Said, "This is the Golden Forest, not your territory, Mordor!"
She had a tight face, "You have no strength here, I will expel you again like in Gorgordo."
"What do you use to drive me out?" Duke drew closer to her step by step, "mydy!"
"I..." Blanchett's voice changed suddenly, "Don't come over. Celeborn is nearby."
"Really? Maybe Celeborn will enjoy the next scene he sees."
While talking, Duke was less than a foot away from Queen Galadriel, Blanchett took a step back, leaning back against a big tree, "I warn you, Sauron. I will drive you out. ."
"Let's use your means, mydy." Duke stopped, his eyes looked up and down meaningfully at her, "I want to see how you drive me out."
"I will conquer you!"
Blanchett’s voice was full of power, and the face belonging to Queen Galadriel became tighter. "You will see the strongest side of the Noldor Elves."
After speaking, Blanchett suddenly stretched out a hand and pulled the white silk satin skirt up. Smooth hands, slender legs...showed out in front of Duke one by one.
"Surrender, Sauron." Blanchett's skirt reached his waist.
"Mydy, although I really want to surrender in front of your beautiful body."
Taking a step forward, Duke pressed Queen Galadriel on the generous tree, "But I think the offspring of the Noldor Elves are more fulfilling."
"Kelepen won't let you go!"
Cate Blanchett writhed and resisted, and Duke simply grabbed her hands. I pressed it above my head...
The strongest pair of men and women in the Middle-earth world once again embarked on close-to-hand combat. It seems to be in this beautiful woods to truly determine whose combat effectiveness is stronger.
From the beginning to the present, the purpose of Duke and Cate Blanchett is very simple, just because of the attraction of hormones to come together, the pursuit of the simplest pleasure and excitement, the two never talk about other things. After entering their respective roles, they always fight and fight at the fastest speed.
Ang Lee once said that the core of Western society and culture is sex. Duke has been deeply influenced by Western society over the past two decades. Cate Blanchett is also a typical Western woman who can let go. The physical fit of the two parties far exceeds the spiritual level.
Perhaps it is precisely this kind of relationship driven by the most primitive sex. Duke’s sense of Cate Blanchett is far better than that of others. To a certain extent, it can be compared with the two of his best. Naomi Watts compared to Charlize Theron.
So, when Cate Blanchett left Wellington and returned to Los Angeles, Duke simply let his private jet take her back.
Queen Galadriel took away not only the conquest of Sauron, but also the souvenirs prepared by the crew for the actors.
Others may believe that Duke's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy can create brilliance, but only Duke himself knows that this series may become the most glorious moment in many actors' lives.
For example, Elijah Wood, his baby face has become synonymous with Frodo Baggins.
Sending away Cate Blanchett, Duke led the crew to leave Wellington and arrived in Blenheim, a small town not too far away, preparing to film the Hobbit scene. The design and construction of Hobbiton began two years ago. Built just near the town.
In order to create a real Shire, Duke asked landscaping experts to plant a variety of trees, flowers, and vegetables in front of the pre-set scene a year before the film began, and even built auxiliary landscapes such as small bridges and flowing water. New Zealand in January has also entered the hotter season of the year. The various plants planted before have become lush and the scenery captured from the lens is like a fantasy.
However, there are disadvantages.
Duke circled the Shire and Hobbitton, and was generally satisfied. The only dissatisfaction was the scenery near Bilbo Baggins' bag bottom hole.
When the location was selected, Duke personally determined the construction site of the bag-bottom hole, because the upper part of this place, as described in the original book, has a rather old crooked neck tree. Perhaps this tree is too much. It is old and has passed the most vigorous stage. Even in the December season, the hanging leaves still seem a little sparse.
"Bill."
Stopping at the bottom of the bag, Duke looked at the tree above and said to the head of the props group, "There are too few leaves, which will affect the shooting effect."
Bill stood here thinking for a while, and quickly gave a solution, "We can use fake leaves and hang fake leaves on the branches."
Subsequently, Bill hired relevant technicians to perform calculations, and the result was an amazing workload.
This crooked-neck tree is too old and a little slanted. The props crew needs to fix it with steel cables and supports before they can start working on the lifting platform, remove the withered leaves, and connect the fake leaves to Duke’s wish. It is estimated that about 250,000 pieces of artificial leaves are needed to achieve the desired effect, and it takes about a week for ten people to complete.
In addition to these, the crew rented an abandoned slaughterhouse plant near the town, built the interior of the bag bottom hole, and built two bag bottom holes at the same time.
One is built according to the height of a hobbit, and the other is built according to the height of a real person. All props are also divided into two sets.
Those scenes where there is no frontal close-up of Bilbo or Frodo, but with Gandalf, will be shot by the dwarf stand-in and Ian McLean in the former.
The hobbit's solitary scene is performed in the latter by actors such as Elijah Wood.
And Gandalf with Bilbo or Frodo, with frontal close-up shots, is undoubtedly the most difficult to shoot.
However, technical issues have never been a problem for Hollywood directors like Duke. Using props and special shooting can easily achieve the desired effect of the film.
For example, in the bottom of the bag, Frodo Baggins, who is about four feet tall, wants to set off the gigantic wizard Gandalf, who is seven feet tall. Duke will make the Hobbit actor kneel and perform and speak lines.
Sometimes, he will use "forced perspective" to achieve this, which is to place Ian McLean in the foreground close to the camera and step on a higher platform, and Ilya Wood is on the ground in the background. Let the audience produce the corresponding visual illusion.
In order to make the "forced perspective" more realistic, Weta Studio also specially researched and issued a set of systems for Duke, including a pulley, a platform, and computer software. When controlling the movement of the camera's platform, the computer will use the pre-simulated data, Control the platform on which the actors are moved to keep the visual ratio of 7 feet Gandalf to 4 feet Hobbit.
The role of Hobbiton is extremely important. This is the true beginning of the trilogy. If it fails to attract the audience, it will definitely have a bad influence on the trend of the whole film.
A good start is the beginning of a movie's success. This is no exaggeration.
The epic war scene will be completed by the coalition of elves and humans in the opening prelude. Fierce battles are not likely to occur here in Hobbiton. The beautiful scenery and the fantastic pastoral scenery of the Shire are undoubtedly the creation of characters. , An extremely important part of the film.
For Charles's landscape scenes, Duke took the trouble to shoot, not only repeated shooting at the same angle, but also constantly changing the position of the camera. His good wide-angle lens at sunrise and sunset was shot countless times.
Of course, Duke has never rejected computer cgi technology. After shooting these shots, cgi will be used for proper modification in the later stage, so that the effect on the big screen will be better.
Regardless of the era, it is inevitable that advanced technology will eliminate backward technology. The elimination of film technology by digital technology is also the general trend of the film industry.
Not to mention other things, digital technology alone is relatively cheap and much cheaper, and it will be promoted by major production companies and the North American theater alliance.
After ten days of shooting for Blenheim, the props team completed the work of shaping the big tree above the bottom of the bag. If a film wants to be successful, every detail cannot be ignored. Ten people hang 25 The crooked neck tree with tens of thousands of leaves will never appear many times in the movie, but Duke still uses the strictest attitude to demand himself and the entire crew.
He is not a perfectionist like James Cameron, but he will not relax the requirements of the crew. (To be continued...)