In fact, Adriaan shouldn't have attended the premiere of "War of the Worlds." The male lead of the movie was Tom Cruise. Even though it had been more than half a month since he returned to the hotel with Nicole in Cannes, and his subsequent speech against European filmmakers had diverted most people's attention, there were still people who were paying attention to this.
After all, the matter between him, Nicole, and Cruise had been a hot topic. Rumors about Adriaan hooking up with Nicole because of his directing of "Wideout, Warning" had never stopped, and were still circulating on the Internet from time to time. If he appeared on the red carpet at the premiere of Cruise's movie, or even met Cruise, it would inevitably cause a huge stir in the media, and the scandal that had cooled down before would also return to the public's attention, which was definitely not a good thing.
Of course, with Tom Cruise's attitude towards Adriaan, if he were to meet him on the red carpet, there must be something wrong with his brain. There were only two situations that could make him do this. Either he showed goodwill to Adriaan and used the current situation to gain some positive attention, or he used this method to make things difficult for Adriaan and Nicole. Of course, with Cruise's character and wisdom, he wouldn't use the former even if he thought of it, and as for the latter … he simply couldn't think of it.
Therefore, Adriaan attended the premiere of "War of the Worlds" in a very low-key manner. His main purpose was to test the reaction of Hollywood's Jews to "The Pianist" through Spielberg. Although it was more convenient to go through Weinstein, Spielberg, who had directed "Schindler's List", was undoubtedly the most suitable, and the earlier he prepared, the better. After all, he had other goals. Anyway, as long as he didn't appear on the red carpet and didn't meet Cruise, it would be fine.
In fact, this goal was basically achieved. Even if the two of them were a little unclear, the meaning was still relatively clear. Adriaan also took the opportunity to say that the production of "The Pianist" was influenced by Spielberg. This was very important. If he wanted to achieve his goal, it was necessary to get the support of the Jewish group. In any case, the Jewish group in Hollywood accounted for a lot of money.
In a sense, he was playing a game between several parties, so as long as there were benefits, he should fight for it. Of course, the degree had to be well controlled. As long as he could control it properly, the tightrope was still very stable.
To be honest, Adriaan really didn't want to direct "The Pianist" himself. Although he was the one who got someone to find Spielman and re-release "City of the Dead", he was just waiting for the right price to sell a favor to Polanski or the Jewish group. That was why when Polanski came looking for someone to buy the adaptation rights, Adriaan almost agreed. But after some careful consideration, he revised his plan and pushed it to a higher peak. Only then did he include it in the list, which led to the current situation.
So, for the time being, it was time to start the movie. After chatting with Spielberg and greeting a few acquaintances, Adriaan was ready to leave. He came here secretly and didn't have many people to guide him. Naturally, there was no need for him to go to the theater to watch the screening of "War of the Worlds". Cruise definitely didn't want to see him before the movie started or ended.
However, when he was about to leave through the side door, a little girl's voice stopped him. "Mr. Kewell."
"Hannah?" He turned around and saw Dakota Fanning running up to him, panting.
"I'm really sorry … Mr. Kewell." The little girl stopped and smiled. "I hope I didn't disturb you."
"Oh, of course not. I was just about to leave. Also, call me Adriaan or Eide." Adriaan looked at her curiously. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"No, nothing," Dakota quickly explained. "I just wanted to … thank you."
"Thank you?" Adriaan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes!" The little girl nodded and showed a cute but shy smile. "I know, you've always taken care of me and recommended me a lot of outstanding roles. I'm very grateful, very grateful, so … so I've always wanted to thank you in person, Kewell … Eide. Originally, I wanted to find a chance in the future, but when I heard Mr. Spielberg say that you were here, I couldn't hold it in … so I came looking for you … I didn't see you, so I guessed that you didn't want too many people to know, so I came looking for you. I didn't … mean to disturb you … "
She stuttered a little, and her little face was red. Her eyes moved around as if she was shy and didn't dare to look at him, which made her look especially cute.
Adriaan raised an eyebrow imperceptibly, and then put on a gentle smile. "It's nothing. You're a girl with a lot of potential. It's only right for me to recommend you. You don't have to come and thank me."
"No!" The little girl's tone became firm. "Maybe Eide doesn't think it's necessary, but I know that without Eide's guidance, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to get the honor I have today …"
As she said that, she seemed to muster up her courage and looked at him with her big blue eyes. "Can you still guide me in the future?"
Raising an eyebrow imperceptibly again, Adriaan suddenly bent down and moved in front of her. He reached out and rubbed her blonde hair. "Of course, as I said, you're a girl with a lot of potential."
"Thank you." Dakota smiled brightly, stood on his tiptoes, and gave him a peck on the cheek as fast as lightning, then quickly ran away.
Another little vixen, huh? Looking at her back, Adriaan snorted in his heart as he slowly stood up. No, not only that, she was even younger than the little vixen at that time. Tsk tsk, who could escape the temptation of fame and fortune? Especially a precocious girl. Was it lucky or unlucky to have such a precocious child?
This question was immediately thrown to the back of his mind. No matter what Dakota was hinting at, she was too young now. Therefore, even though the waves had not yet subsided, and the two sides of the Atlantic were still arguing, many people still paid attention to Adriaan. The promotion for "The Pianist" continued, and he quickly immersed himself in the filming of the new movie "Out of Control."
"This is a very simple scene. You just need to walk from here to there. There's no need for any extra body language. But this is also a complicated scene. The focus of the camera will be on your face, and you need to express at least two or more emotions, "Adriaan explained to Natalie in the huge studio.
"There's no clear rule?" Natalie pursed her lips and said.
"No." Adriaan nodded. "It's up to you to decide what kind of emotion you want to express. Although it can be done through montage in post-production, I still hope that you can complete it."
After saying that, he began to call the lighting engineer and the prop master to get ready. When everyone was in position, he signaled for filming to begin.
There were not many scenes in "Out of Control". The most important scenes were at home and in the company, and there were a few outdoor scenes. Therefore, 80% of the content could be completed in the studio. As for the remaining 20%, there were too many suitable locations outside the studio. Even if they were not suitable, as long as Adriaan was willing to invest, the curtains would be pulled down, and the background would be moved in during post-production.
Therefore, even though the movie was currently receiving a lot of attention because of the hot schedule, and Adriaan had been completely in front of the screen because of what happened in Cannes, it was still very easy to block people's attention from his new work. At least, it was easier than "The Pianist" — at least before the full release of "The Pianist", it was best to keep the news that the miracle director was shooting a new movie a secret.
Of course, the reason for this was mainly due to the relatively simple storyline of the script. This script could be considered as a semi-original work by Adriaan. It mainly described a deformed family. Because the single mother raised her daughter alone, she had a perverted control over her daughter.
Since the daughter was young, everything in her life had been taken care of by her mother. Therefore, she could only accept it passively and did not have her own opinions of her own. This situation changed when a new supervisor was transferred to the company where her daughter worked. The new supervisor was a playboy. For some reason, his relatively rustic daughter entered his eyes, so the supervisor tried to seduce her.
The daughter, who had no opinions of her own, did not know what to do. However, at this time, the company was promoting a group of people, and she was very lucky to be one of them. Therefore, she had no choice but to deal with the supervisor while the daughter's only friend gave her advice. Originally, everything was going well. Although she had to pretend to be friendly with the supervisor, the daughter's long-sealed heart slowly began to open up. Until one day, she accidentally saw her only friend talking intimately with the supervisor. Then, suspicion gradually began to grow in her heart, and she slowly began to be suspicious.
In addition, at home, her mother was still strict with her. She almost never listened to what she said in her heart. She only asked her to follow her mother's instructions and fight for a promotion. The conflict between mother and daughter also began to faintly sharpen.
With all these intertwined, the daughter, who was already very sensitive, seriously lacked a sense of security. However, the daughter, who was usually suppressed by her mother, began to become a little neurotic. Especially when she found out that her only friend was also on the list of people who might be promoted, this neurosis became even stronger. In the end, under all kinds of torment, she began to hallucinate, as if someone was trying to harm her. Her originally orderly life was completely messed up. In the end, it finally exploded. Everything was out of control, and everyone was hurt.
The plot was a little familiar, right? It was similar to a certain ballet movie. In fact, when Adriaan wrote the script, he did borrow some things from that ballet movie, but he borrowed more from other movies. Putting aside the way of expression, similar plots could be found everywhere in American movies. For example, this kind of mother strictly controlling her daughter, and the daughter rebelling because of a series of things, finally causing a catastrophe. The earliest plot could be traced back to the 1970s' Carrie the Witch.
The key was still in the way of expression. For example, the superpower in Carrie the Witch, or the ballet in the ballet movie. As long as the way of expression could resonate with the audience, even the most melodramatic plot would only be icing on the cake. For example, using the way of ballet to express the changes in the female lead's state of mind was indeed very innovative.
However, Adriaan did not even think about it carefully before throwing this idea far away. A long time ago, he had said that among all the dance movies, ballet was the most difficult to film. In other words, it was the most difficult for the protagonist to personally take part in a dance. For ordinary dances, as long as they practiced for a certain amount of time, the actors would basically be able to dance decently. Then, after some editing, the effect would appear.
However, ballet was different. Ballet was very demanding on the body, so most ballet dancers started training from a young age. Those who were not qualified would be eliminated early. Coupled with the exquisite techniques and delicate movements that needed to show various kinds of tension, it was not something that an inexperienced actor could make up for with half a year or even a year of training.
Of course, there was also the montage. Excellent post-editing could always get the desired effect, making it impossible to tell whether the person dancing in front of the camera was an actor or a stunt double, especially now that CG technology was advancing by leaps and bounds. As early as "Gladiator", the technology of changing heads had already been used, let alone now.
However, there was another problem. Although it was convenient, one should not forget what Adriaan's goal was! Generally speaking, for a movie like this that involved dancing, unless the protagonist could personally perform 80% to 90% of the movements, the academy would not consider it. Audrey Hepburn did not even get a nomination in the end because most of her singing and dancing in "My Fair Lady" were done by a stunt double.
Perhaps Adriaan could use various methods, such as shooting more scenes of her dancing, then claiming that most of the scenes in the editing were her, and he could also let the entire crew testify for her. Moreover, the possibility of success was very high if it was done at other times. However, this was not an ordinary time. God knew how many pairs of eyes in Hollywood were staring at Adriaan. Once the other party found a flaw, it might affect the whole plan, even if he had a backup plan.
Not affecting the plan was the bottom line. Besides, the more he was in such a situation, the more he had to win fair and square. He could not give others a reason to criticize him. Based on his final plan for Natalie, the previous method seemed to be more in line with the interests of the company.
Adriaan also believed that with his current ability, it would definitely not be difficult for him to direct such a movie. Anyway, all he needed to do was to show off Natalie's acting skills, and the whole movie would serve this purpose. In fact, the script was set up to show these melodramatic plots through acting skills!
That was why Adriaan repeatedly stressed that Natalie had to break through her acting skills herself. Therefore, earlier on, he brought her to meet other teenagers who had been troubled by the same problem, hoping to inspire her.
However, it was still a difficult shoot. The first scene took a whole day to NG, and by the time it was over, everyone was exhausted. After doing the same thing dozens of times, even a man made of steel would inevitably feel tired.
"We'll continue tomorrow." Adriaan announced with a frown. Then, he sat in the director's chair and closed his eyes to think for a few minutes. He got up, walked to Natalie, and whispered a few words in her ear. Then, he returned to his office here.
Because AC Media acquired Universal Pictures, Universal Studios naturally became its property. Therefore, he set up his office at the foot of the mountain, far away from the famous 5171, which was located on the tour route of the studio, so that it would not be disturbed by tourists from all over the world.
"Come in," Adriaan, who was resting with his eyes closed, immediately called out after hearing the knock on the door.
Natalie, who had already tidied up, walked in and sat in front of the desk silently.
"Do you know what your problem is?" Adriaan opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Trying too many emotions?" Natalie asked in an uncertain tone.
"Of course not." Adriaan waved his hand fiercely. "What are you worried about? What are you hesitating about? I can clearly feel that there were several times when you just needed to break through a little more, and you could achieve the desired effect perfectly. But every time, you always choose to retreat at the last point. "
He stood up, put his hands on the desk, leaned forward, and looked at her sternly. "Tell me, Nada, what are you hesitating about?!"
"… Nothing." Natalie pursed her lips and said after a long while.
"Nothing?" Adriaan sneered. "Worried about failure? Worried that I won't let you go? Worried about being exposed? Worried about falling from the clouds? "
Natalie turned her head to the side without saying a word. Seeing that her ears were red because of shame and anger, he knew that what he said was true. Adriaan didn't speak again. He just looked at her coldly. After a long time, he walked out from behind the desk and went straight to the side of the door to lock it.
Realizing what he wanted to do, Natalie hurriedly stood up. Before she could say anything, Adriaan grabbed her wrist and turned her over. Then, he pressed her down on the desk.
"You're hurting me." Natalie cried out in pain.
But Adriaan didn't have the slightest intention of showing mercy. He reached out to untie her belt and then pulled down her trousers.
"Stop! Stop right now! Or else I'll … "Natalie cried out in shame and anger. But what answered her was a sharp pain. It was like stuffing sausage between two slices of bread without putting jam on it. She couldn't help but scream.
"You still remember! What did I say to you?! She was angry! She was unwilling! She wanted to get rid of the control over herself! She wanted to decide her own life! But! She was confused! She was afraid! She was hesitant! Because she had never tried before! She didn't have the courage to try! She looked strong, but she was actually weak! She looked smart, but she was actually stupid! She thought she got rid of everything! In fact, she didn't get anything! Right! That's right! That's how you feel now! That's how your body reacts! That's it! Remember it for me! Do you hear me, Natalie! Remember it for me! If you can't do it, I'll do it to you once a day! Do you understand! "
The man's roar echoed in the room, accompanied by the girl's sorrowful sobs.
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