Volume 1: A sound on Wall Street, Xinxiang City is busy copying books Chapter 256 Actor
Subtitle of this chapter: Yuan Bole, a man with a keen eye
The director of "Twelve", Miss Lillian Gish, refused to give in no matter what. And Mr. Victor Fleming volunteered to be the cinematographer of the film on the spot. As for the actors, all the people in the film and television industry brought by the big star were booked.
Who says foreigners don’t care about connections? They are also good at networking, and they can assign these twelve roles to their relatives and friends in minutes.
In the following days, the newly minted female director found a place to rehearse with the actors day and night, and also worked with her "Niao" to refine the script. Meanwhile, photographer Mr. Fleming and his assistant went to Edison Laboratory to familiarize themselves with the sound film shooting equipment.
In just five days, everything was ready and the film officially started shooting.
In fact, this was completely beyond Master Yuan's expectations. He had no intention of shooting a sound film in the short term. Because there was not even a sound film theater open to the public in America. According to his original plan, he would rehearse a stage play first, and then find an opportunity to make a movie after he became famous.
But Miss Gish couldn't wait any longer. She not only acted as the director but also took on all the production costs as an independent producer, without even considering whether the film could be released after it was made.
Fortunately, this film, which fully complies with the Three Unities, has almost no exterior scenes. It only takes a few workers to build an indoor scene. The cost of costumes and props is even less. The actors in this kind of fashion drama can wear their own clothes. In addition to furniture and stationery, there are no props that need to be purchased that cost a lot of money.
In addition, her Chinese lover was very kind to her and tried his best to help Miss Gish save a lot of money. Yuan Yanshu asked Mr. Louis Baker to mediate and rented the equipment in Edison's laboratory and the large warehouse almost for free under the banner of experiment. Of course, film and other things still had to be paid, but they were all at cost price.
In this way, a large part of the shooting costs can be saved.
As for the actors invited, they didn’t cost much. Performing artists are performing artists after all, not traffic stars a hundred years later. They really have artistic pursuits.
The actors were already in awe just by looking at the names of the screenwriters. They knew without even reading the content that this script was a rare classic and a major event in the literary and artistic circles. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them to be able to participate. Several of them even expressed their willingness to participate in the filming for free. With them taking the lead, the other actors were too embarrassed to talk about their remuneration.
So in the end, Yuan Yanshu estimated that he could make the film with only four or five thousand dollars. In this case, he did not dissuade Miss Gish, and he also understood why his "lover lady" was so impatient.
What does it matter if there is no place to show the film "12"? It is definitely worthwhile to spend such a small amount of money to get the title of the world's first true sound film. It will definitely go down in history.
In addition, before filming this movie, Miss Gish was just a movie star with a reputation not much better than that of a prostitute, but after filming this movie, she suddenly became a great director of art films. These two identities are completely incomparable.
Besides money, who among us doesn't have something higher to pursue?
"Madam director, Mr. Fleming asks you if you want to shoot this scene again." At this time, a little script supervisor with a pencil behind his ear came over and asked.
Director Gish still lacked a little confidence, so she naturally asked the screenwriter next to her for advice: "Neo, what do you think?"
"Um……"
In fact, Yuan Yanshu, the time traveler, really looked down on the acting skills of these actors. Although their lines were fluent and their movements were very accurate, the traces of stage play performances on them were too obvious. In contrast to the young and handsome emojis of later generations, their expressions were too many and too exaggerated.
Especially the actor who played the main role, Juror No. 6, who he wrote himself, was a popular actor on Broadway. But our Master Yuan always felt that this guy did not grasp the essence of the role, and it was useless to talk to him about the play several times.
In fact, the prototype of this playboy is Master Yuan himself. So in his mind, Juror No. 6 should be like him, looking serious on the outside but cynical on the inside. The reason why he jumped out to preside over "justice" is mostly because he couldn't bear it. Instead of radiating a sense of justice from every pore like this guy, he is closer to Henry Fonda in the American version.
This feeling was not deep enough during rehearsal, but when it came to the actual shooting, our Master Yuan felt that something was even more wrong.
But he was not going to be too picky. After all, it was 1920 and one couldn't expect too much from actors of that era. It would be fine as long as they could get by.
"Um?!"
When Yuan Yan was about to say "approved" he accidentally saw the young stage manager who had a somewhat immature face but looked very familiar to him.
He couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, who are you?"
"Mr. Yuan, I'm here to help."
"I know. I wanted to know your name."
"Oh, my name is Humphrey Bogart."
"Humphrey Bogart?"
"Yes, Mr. Yuan."
Oh, no wonder he looks so familiar, he is the leading actor in “Casablanca”!!!
Yes, this famous movie star is also a New Yorker. He was born in New York, USA on December 25, 1899, and is now 21 years old. In July 1918, after graduating from high school, Bogart joined the US Navy. Although he received military training during his service, he never actually carried out a mission. After retiring in 1920, he entered a New York theater as a handyman..
Therefore, Master Yuan’s inherent aura of a time traveler made him appear here.
"clatter!"
Yuan Yan looked the future superstar up and down carefully, and suddenly snapped her fingers and said to Miss Gish, "Lillian, what do you think of him?"
The latter looked at Mr. Bogart, who was also confused, and said: "I see... well, this young man is quite handsome."
Our Master Yuan shook his head and said, "No, no, no, don't just look at his face, you have to look at his temperament. Isn't it..."