The bright sunlight shines on the streets of Burbank, making people dizzy. Perhaps the weather is a bit abnormal this year. The Greater Los Angeles area, which has entered late autumn, is drier and hotter than in previous years. Since August, the air that has not rained much seems to burn when it is sucked into the lungs, and the feeling of heat spreads all over the body, making people unable to stop the fire.

Holding a sign that protested the movie version of "The Lord of the Rings", Brad Miller faced the blazing sunshine, hoping that the media reporters on the opposite side could take pictures of them several times so as to expand the momentum of protest to all "The Lord of the Rings" fans in the United States.

As an unwavering supporter of the novel, Brad Miller has organized a large number of people with like-minded book friends since the filming of the film, and went to the New Zealand studio to protest. However, except for the film's director Duke Rosenberg, who said a few casual words that would satisfy the fans of the Lord of the Rings, never responded to their protests.

This feeling of being ignored made Brad Miller even more annoyed than worrying that the other party would destroy the nearly perfect masterpiece in his heart. Duke Rosenberg obviously didn't care about the opinions of their hardcore fans of the novel!

He has made some successful movies, but being able to successfully make other movies may not necessarily make "The Lord of the Rings"!

In particular, the post-production of "The Lord of the Rings" has been going on for more than two months since the filming started to be made by the crew. How many farces did this crew make? Angel Elf Show? The actors say goodbye ceremony? And there are those gifts given out? What did they regard "The Lord of the Rings" as? A casually hyped promotional show?

"The Lord of the Rings" should be deep, restrained, and low-key, rather than so ostentatious.

"Hurry up! Pull up our protest slogans!"

Under the bright sunlight, the book fans protesting around seemed weak. Seeing a reporter looking at this side, Brad Miller quickly reminded his companions.

Compared to the book fans standing at the door of Warner set where the sun shines, the reporter hides in a cool place. Although the protest slogans and signs are extremely eye-catching, the camera in his hands has no intention of moving.

If you watch too much protest, there will be no newness, this is true for journalists and even more so for media audiences.

Looking at the book fans opposite each other who would pull a bunch of people standing at the door of the set to protest, even as a reporter from World News Weekly, Kevin was not interested in filming. He started running this line in August, and the other party would appear every now and then, which was really no new.

There will be no news to capture. Kevin thought boredly. If he really wanted to protest, burning Warner set together with the director and film inside would be the real protest.

In that way, he will have exciting news to write.

Thinking of the news, Kevin couldn't help but look at the set. He hoped that the press officer of the Lord of the Rings Studio could reveal some news, or other aspects.

Even Duke Rosenberg's gossip news is good.

Since paparazzi photographed him on vacation with the Victoria's Secret Angel in August, the famous director seemed to have turned into a workaholic like in the past, basically maintaining the two-point line between the Duke Manor and the Warner Studios every day, and there is no news to hype.

In fact, Kevin is very clear that every successful director has a workaholic side, and there is no success in this world that can be achieved without hard work. Not to mention directors who require a lot of effort and energy. Even entertainment journalists like them, if they don’t actively search for it, there will be no big news on their heads.

A black Bentley turned over from the intersection, Kevin picked up his camera and flocked to the other reporters. Although he could only take pictures at the front and rear of the car, he was unwilling to fall behind. After all, Duke Rosenberg's value is many times more than those protesting book fans.

Through the filmed window, you can vaguely see the flash lights on outside. Duke had no intention of parking, so he drove into the parking lot and transferred to an electric car. He soon arrived at the Lord of the Rings Studio in the office area.

From mid-August to now, the post-production of "The Lord of the Rings" has been around for more than two months, but the film has too many special effects shots, and the post-production is quite cumbersome. Just for "The Rings Expedition", Duke listed a six-year schedule, and Duke couldn't wait until the first part was released before starting the post-production of the second part.

Although there are indeed some orders in the later stages of the trilogy, and the work of "The Ring Protection Expedition" is ahead of "The Twin Towers" and "Return of the King", the special effects production of the last two plots has also begun to a little bit.

For example, the flying beast of the tree Hu and the Ring Ling, Vita Studio has already completed the modeling work, especially the former, and there is a group that specializes in rendering.

"Hi Mike, how is it going?"

Walking into the editing room, Duke saw Mike Dawson just finished checking a shot and walked over and asked, "Has the clip of Aragon leading the Hobbit to the top of the Storm?"

"It's finished."

Mike Dawson pressed the playback button to play a paragraph that had just been cut, "But it's a bit long."

Looking at the scene played on the screen, Duke frowned slightly. He did not use parallel montage now, but the scene of Aragon leading four Habits away from the Leap Horse Hotel and entering the wilderness was a bit long.

"Mike, cut this section."

Duke pressed the pause button. This was the scene of Aragon hunting and singing about a certain elf who married humans after the group camped. "They were cut out, and there were shots of them rushing on the way. Only two panoramic shots of No. 45 and No. 71 were retained, and the rest were cut out."

“Is it a little short?”

As an editor, Mike Dawson must read the original book, "This is a long journey in the book."

After hearing Mike Dawson's reminder, Duke thought for a moment and said, "Cut it off, we have spent enough shots and video time on Hobbiton. The journey in the book is too long, and we can't do this, otherwise the pace of the video will be too slow."

Even if you subtract some of the optional shots as much as possible, Duke still feels that the pace is a little slower when the finished part is completed. Fortunately, the suspense of the pursuit of the Lord of the Rings and the Ring Spirit has always existed. The most dull scenes of Hobbiton also have picturesque scenery to enjoy, which is sure to attract the audience to continue watching.

In addition, Duke also prepared a big show at the beginning of the film, and the time saved later was to start the battle.

After spending most of the busy day, I completed today's main editing plan and handed over the remaining fragmented shots to several assistants. Duke and Mike Dawson left the editing room together and walked into the gi special effects room opposite, which was specially set up for Vita Studio. Richard Taylor, the head of Vita Studio, nodded to the two and continued to be busy with his work.

Duke didn't bother him and walked straight to Mary Victoria, who was in charge of "The Ring Expedition". She led a group, currently specializing in the scenes of the human and elves coalition that began with the beginning of the trilogy, fighting the Demo Army.

Since this part is all shot by blue screens, the special effects engineers need to cut off the background of each frame, then replace it with the scene of the Land of Mordor, and at the same time modify the effect of the war. In addition to real-life pictures taken with the camera, they also need to add a scene of a long-range battlefield made by gi.

Richard Taylor came over for some time, and saw that the special effects work had come to an end. Looking at the finished effect screen played on the screen, he said confidently, "The opening battle of "Gladiator" released this year was heatedly discussed by many people, but compared with this paragraph, their war was simply a group of minors making trouble."

The people sitting nearby nodded and agreed with Richard Taylor's words.

Although Duke didn't say anything, he also agreed with his point of view. Not to mention the difference between the two films, it was just a war scene. This opening war that he deliberately strengthened was completely destroyed by the war scene of any cold weapon movie in film history.

Of course, this is just the beginning and will not be particularly long. Its function is to attract the audience to watch.

The real big-scene war scene must be placed in the ending work of the trilogy "Return of the King". Although each of the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" has a climax scene, it will not vent the climax at once. The most sensational scene will naturally be kept until the end.

"Mary." Duke asked the team leader, "How long will it take to complete this opening scene?"

"Three to four weeks." Mary Victoria gave a very conservative answer.

Duke thought about Warner Bros.'s promotional plan and said, "In early December, I'm going to see the opening scene."

"No problem." Mary Victoria responded directly, "I promise it can be done."

According to Warner Bros.'s promotional plan, "The Rings Expedition" will inevitably appear in the Super Bowl midfield advertising time, with only thirty seconds of advertisement. It is too short for any movie, especially an epic masterpiece like "The Lord of the Rings". If you want the audience to remember, you must leave an extremely deep impression on them in a short period of time.

As usual, Duke's choice is very simple, using the most eye-stimulating things to arouse the audience's interest.

The commercials he prepared, except for a small number of Lord of the Rings and Frodo's shots, will be given to the epic battle at the beginning!

After soaking in mainstream commercial films for so many years, and with past experience, Duke is very clear about what most viewers like to see the most.

The post-production of the film is not slow or fast. Since gi special effects cannot save time, the actual progress is slightly slower than Duke's plan, but it is not much slower. "The Rings Expedition" will definitely be completed before the start of next summer.

Throughout November, Duke was busy with the late stages of "The Rings Expedition", until December began, when he was about to go to New York to participate in the board of Marvel Comics, and witness the instant sharing website Ivanka had just launched.

These are also his two important investments that are related to the future. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!