American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 43 Isabella is an Angel

The shooting process for road movies is different from other types of films.

In non-road films, the filming of a project does not follow the script.

Taking HP as an example:

In "The Philosopher's Stone," the scenes of the children entering and leaving Hogwarts were filmed together.

Filming multiple scenes in one location simultaneously can save money.

But road movies are different—

In road movies, each scene typically corresponds to only one scene.

In this situation, if the production team wants to be efficient and save money, the best approach is to simply film according to the storyline.

Therefore……

Isabella won't have to stay in Livingston jail any longer!
After turning on the camera, Columbus first filmed an interior solo shot of Hopkins—

Grandpa drinks alone in this gloomy world, and the loneliness he feels while leaning back in his recliner is called longing.

It's a way to wish for good luck and for everything to go smoothly.

The crew then moved directly to the rural setting that set designer and art director Michael Ford had chosen for the main family.

That is Edensor, located in Derbyshire.

Since Edensall is part of the Cavendish family, the Dukes of Devonshire, the old London Union Jack prioritizes historical heritage. The village's maintenance standard has always been to repair what can be repaired and restore what needs to be restored. Therefore, upon stepping into this place, Isabella instantly felt as if she had entered a fairy tale kingdom.

Various stone buildings stand on the lush green grass.

This includes Swiss-style houses that emphasize minimalism;

There are also Gothic villas from Italy;
It features Tudor-style attics that symbolized the rise of the new nobility and bourgeoisie during the reign of Henry VII;

There are also Norman-style castles that represented armed forces a thousand years ago...

But the most eye-catching feature is the town's main building, St. Peter's Church.

Originally built in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 15th century, it is the burial place of successive Dukes of Devonshire and their families. In addition, an American is buried here, who is the sister of the imaginative Melancholy.

Because she married William Cavendish, the eldest son of the tenth Duke.

The Melanchos family were also British immigrants.

In the words of an ancient Eastern saying, it is even a 'human genealogy, in German'.

(Edensall, with a church in the middle)
(Rural street scene)
"Wow—this place is so beautiful—"

After getting off the bus and wandering around for a couple of minutes, Isabella felt as if she had already retired.

A sudden sense of relief made her look at her mother—

"Mom, what do you think about us buying a manor in a similar place someday?"

"Beautiful mountains and clear waters, birds singing and flowers blooming—living in a place like this... oh~ it couldn't be more comfortable!"

Isabella admits that she has her eye on Rowling's estate.

After staying there for two days, she fell in love with the beauty of being isolated from the world and immersed in nature.

Vivian glanced at her sideways and said, "I have no problem with it, but Warner probably has something to say about it."

"If you bought a manor and moved in... Wow~ you might not want to go to work anymore."

"Because that's just who I am."

"Hahaha~" Isabella laughed heartily.

Catherine, who was gazing at the green hills from the side, was also overjoyed.

Who wouldn't love a life of leisure and relaxation?

Everyone has a tendency to be lazy; how many people are truly willing to run from the bottom of their hearts?

Isn't our persistence often just because we have no other choice?
Amidst laughter and conversation, the family settled into the accommodation arranged beforehand by the film crew. It was a guesthouse converted from a local house, a kind of rural inn. The conditions certainly couldn't compare to Livingston, but since they were only staying there for a few days, it didn't matter.

After handing over the task of moving the luggage to her assistant and taking a short rest, Isabella officially started work at noon after lunch.

After makeup and dressing, her look on "The Voice of China" was very simple. Since she came from an ordinary family, a simple makeup look was enough. Her hairstyle was the ponytail that all girls know, with her thick hair tied back with a fuchsia hair tie. She wore a light yellow dress with a hem that reached her legs and a pair of country shoes.

Turn around in front of the mirror...

Wow!
The youthful energy that greets you is overwhelming.

Excellent modeling is a real advantage!

"Oh, Isa, you're so beautiful."

The makeup artist who followed HP to "The Voice" expressed her heartfelt admiration.

"Thank you."

Isabella accepted the compliment with a smile.

After finishing her makeup and hair, Isabella went to find Columbus.

Today's first scene is hers, and the filming location is St. Peter's Church.

The story is about the church choir having another lesson. Because Isabella loves music, she secretly sneaks into the church to listen in. Perhaps she's too engrossed, because she laughs out loud when the teacher scolds her "classmate." This immediately exposes her, and she has to escape the church and go home, enduring the teacher's "cursing."

Yes, the script for "The Voice" has been slightly revised again.

Originally, Isabella wanted to introduce the story from her father's perspective, but during the reading, everyone said that "The Voice" is Isabella's movie, and she should be the first to appear. So everyone put the plot showing Isabella's love for music at the beginning. Well... actually, it was just a simple replacement.

Then, by doing this, Isabella becomes the key to unlocking the family conflict, and the fact that she can write songs can be immediately revealed to the audience. Because after escaping from the church and returning home, she finds her family arguing. Not wanting to get involved, she slips back to her room through the back door, puts on old headphones, uses old cassette tapes, and immerses herself in her musical world. With the press of play, Columbus will immediately transition to another scene—

The scene will then shift to Dad's workplace.

Perhaps it's because they're in sync? Dad is listening to the same music as Isabella.

He will return to his broken home in a good mood.

Then, the trivialities of life shattered all the beauty.

"Honey, I think filming this movie should be easy for you, right?"

"I guess I don't need to give you acting instructions anymore?"

"You wrote the whole story."

While the lighting was being set up and the cameramen were finding their positions, Columbus was also reviewing the script with Isabella, discussing the scenes they were about to shoot. In his opinion, these scenes were a piece of cake for Isabella, but the truth was...

“Yeah~” The little girl nodded and said, “When filming this movie, I need to remember that Lily Zeller is a bright and sunny little angel. I need to approach the storyline and portray her with that mindset…”

The main character in "The Voice" is named Lily Zeller, a little girl with a sunny disposition who is unafraid of wind and rain.

When faced with insults from the clergy… this isn't about vilifying the church; when the church choir traditionally doesn't accept girls, Lily Zeller's repeated eavesdropping inevitably provokes the clergy's displeasure. At this point, using derogatory terms to say the protagonist has defiled the sacred church is quite necessary… And the protagonist remains unfazed by these insults; when she can laugh in the face of all slander, the film's character instantly becomes clear.

Since facing the sun is the core emotion throughout the film, Columbus saw Isabella's emphasis as a sign that she had a brain. Well, Columbus remembered that last year, when Isabella first acted, she didn't even have a brain!

As he nodded happily, the crew turned on the lights and set up the camera. This prompted Columbus to signal the script supervisor to begin work. With the sound of the clapperboard, Isabella, who had taken her position, got into character.

The church, which has stood for a century, is resplendent in gold.

Every brick and tile here exudes the aura of history.

On the east side, by the window, a girl in a pale yellow dress was leaning against the door, her eyes greedily peering inside. Not far from her, the children in the church choir were having their lesson.

She wanted to fit in.

But that's just wishful thinking.

Because she and the child inside are from two different worlds.

The children in the church were innocent, pure, and full of childlike wonder.

And what about her outside the door?
The east window of St. Peter's Basilica features stained glass windows.

The Gospel of God is engraved on it.

When the golden sunlight shines through it and into the room.

The figure that landed in front of it was naturally bathed in a rainbow of light.

This is the art of light and shadow.

(The East Window of St. Peter's, not a complete view; the whole structure is very large and very long, with sections above and below.)

"Okay! Cut!"

The scene depicting the thirst for knowledge lasted only a few seconds, so it was filmed very quickly. As Columbus yelled "Cut!", Isabella straightened up, wanting to hear his feedback, and then…

“Isa, your movements are fine, your emotions are fine, but there’s something wrong with your eyes.”

“Your eyes reveal greed, which I can interpret as your yearning for music. It’s fine to use that look when filming regular scenes, but when the protagonist’s heart is filled with sunshine, greed cannot be shown.”

"Because greed and sunshine cannot coexist."

"Not to mention, you're currently learning music with the Lord's permission."

Yes, the east window was chosen for the photoshoot because God is believed to reside there.

Learning music under his watchful eye is called a divine permission.

What it actually means to the outside world is 'being under God's protection'.

Hollywood likes to raise questions, so they referenced the conflict between the traditional church and women when writing scripts. But Hollywood never solves problems, so the protagonist's journey to pursue his dreams is shrouded in the gospel of God by Columbus.

To put it simply, this is called reaping traffic without taking responsibility.

It's all a trick~
Because film cameras and digital cameras were different back then, and they didn't have a playback function, Isabella didn't know exactly how she had performed without the help of a tape recorder. She could only make adjustments little by little based on Columbus's descriptions.

I tried twice.

The footage that came out is much better.

It has reached the standard for usability.

but……

Columbus stated that it was still far from perfect. That's a realistic assessment.

However, Columbus didn't care about this. Anyone who has made movies knows that visuals can't be perfected. There's no best, only better. Being overly critical is just making things difficult for yourself.

But Isabella wanted to improve it further.

So she turned to her deep blue, the old jazz musician who had been standing on set since the filming started.

The old gentleman was actually the most knowledgeable actor in the entire crew, and he was also a special assistant that Maggie Smith specially invited to protect Isabella. The reason he didn't say anything earlier was because he knew the industry rules. After the film officially started shooting, Columbus was the boss of the crew, and he had the right to speak up, but people who climbed up from the bottom are all tactful.

Therefore, once the filming met the standards for theatrical release, he stopped speaking.

But what if Isabella herself has a request?

Then the above can be considered separately.

He generously shared his thoughts on Isabella's performance, and then... another one...

After the reshoot, Isabella, who was peering into the music from inside, suddenly adjusted her posture slightly.

He tilted his head slightly up, his gaze upward, and looked up at the teaching materials inside with a slightly upward gaze.

The overall composition resembles a balance scale.

The house full of knowledge is on the left side of the scale.

Perhaps it is sacred? It is relatively light and relatively high.

The girl, yearning for knowledge, is on the right side of the scale.

Because she is worldly, she is both heavy and lowly.

When this scene appeared, Columbus immediately shouted—

"Cut—Good~~~"

"Oh—this adjustment is indeed quite good, it has a bit of a pilgrimage feel to it, but not too strong."

"The overall picture still reflects a thirst for knowledge."

This positive review made Isabella beam with joy!
This is what she wants!
All she wanted to hear Columbus shout "Good!"

(# ^. ^ #)
While enjoying the joy, she also thanked the director and the old jazz.

Columbus smiled and nodded.

He understood what Isabella meant; she was thanking him for giving her another chance to film. But this didn't matter to Columbus. If he didn't really like girls, why would he have taken on this project?

So, Isabella herself wanted to make a better film?

Well, one more route is one more route.

The old gentleman waved his hand.

He understood Isabella's meaning; it was gratitude for his teachings. Like Columbus, he didn't care about such things.

Isn't it only right to help the sister who changed her fate take care of her granddaughter?
Furthermore, he didn't feel that he had taught Isabella anything. In his eyes, Isabella was already good at acting, but she hadn't systematically learned various techniques. For example, the head tilt she just made was a fine-tuning of a technique similar to Kubrick's gaze.

Kubrick's gaze refers to the act of tilting the actor's head slightly downwards and staring directly into the camera when filming a 'fierce' look. To put it simply, it means the actor tucks in their chin and rolls their eyes at the camera. The drier, more uncomfortable, and more irritable your eyes are after doing this, the better the eerie feeling will be.

Uh……

It's purely self-torture to benefit others.

Moreover, this modular performance only has technique, not emotion.

If you let an amateur practice a few times, they can imitate it too.

Therefore, as long as Isabella has taken acting classes, she could have made the fine-tuning herself. But, as Maggie Smith said, children shouldn't learn techniques when they have talent, and they shouldn't torture themselves for no reason.

Since his sister said so, he won't teach those nonsensical things anymore.

His greatest desire was to let Isabella act based on her feelings. Of course, it would be best if she could perform smoothly, because that kind of performance is the most natural. But what if she felt it but was still a little lacking in technique?

Then he can just push it a little without damaging the spiritual energy.

And after he stared intently...

Well, even if he doesn't keep a close eye on things, the filming of "The Voice of China" won't encounter too many problems.

Because the script was written by Isabella directly in front of herself, and the core of the story was controlled by Gorbachev directly in front of Hermione Granger, when Isabella was Lily Zeller, and Lily Zeller was Isabella...

"call--"

A whooshing sound passed by.

A pale yellow phantom passed through the church doors and rushed into the dazzling world.

Despite the priest's curses behind her, the girl still smiled in the camera's view.

This laugh conveyed the joy of escaping capture.

It's more like the excitement of gaining knowledge.

And when that agile figure, like a little deer, crashed into the golden world bathed in holy light...

Her playful face, as she turned to look back, radiated beauty and youth.

as well as……

"Omitted"

The little girl made a face at the old and frail priest who couldn't keep up with her.

"Cut! Good!"

Off-camera, Columbus clapped, "Okay~ Isha~ You acted wonderfully~"

"Oh no, you're naturally mischievous~"

"..."

Isabella curled her lips.

"Chris, if you can't speak properly, then don't speak at all."

Nobody thinks you're mute.

She rolled her eyes at Columbus.

His unhappy expression made everyone around him laugh and shake their heads.

Everyone understood what the girl meant. Columbus said that she acted well, so why did he have to add that she was mischievous to begin with?
Doesn't she have any shame?
but……

“Oh, Isa, I think Chris is right, you are indeed quite a handful.”

John Hill, standing in front of the camera, added insult to injury.

The cinematographer for "The Voice of China" is the same one who worked on "The Sorcerer's Stone"—they're both from the same industry.

His emphasis only made the little girl more unhappy. She puffed out her cheeks and went to rest!

Their adorable appearance brought joy to everyone~
Yes, everyone knows it's a joke, and they also know that Isabella has a good temper and is easygoing.

Tsk——

She really is an angel girl~
The film crew started work at 1 p.m.

A little after three o'clock, everyone finished the scene in the church.

Next, everyone moved to the pre-rented villa, which was the protagonist's home. After filming the scene where the protagonist, Lily Zeller, sneaks home, Isabella was able to go home. Since she was a minor, she only filmed for four hours a day.

However, the other crew members won't get a break; they'll be working full hours. As for how they'll work...
That's just like HP, where the kids take the pictures first and then the adults take them!
The entire family of five—grandfather, father, mother, sister, and uncle—all made an appearance…

"Hey~ what's she doing here too?"

Although Isabella was dead, she didn't go back to the hotel immediately, but stayed to see how the filming went.

Then she noticed that there was a person with a bob haircut in the crew.

Isabella's question prompted Catherine, the fake executive producer on set, to glance over. Upon recognizing that her sister was referring to Margot Robbie, she immediately said, "She's here to observe."

"Observe?"

Isabella didn't understand.

"Correct."

Catherine nodded and said, "This is Barnason's arrangement..."

Since the most economical way to shoot a road movie is to follow the plot, Margot Robbie's appearances during filming will definitely be in the latter half. According to Hollywood's usual practice, she could join the crew at the right time, but after all, she has no acting training, and as the final boss, her role is quite important.

Therefore, the show's head of operations, executive producer Barnason, decided to have her accompany the crew and assigned her an acting coach.

This was to avoid the crew getting stuck on her set because she wasn't in the right state of mind when it was her turn.

"Oh, I see?"

Since Harley Quinn's appearance was part of the producer's plan, Isabella stopped worrying about it.

He turned around and continued to observe everyone's performance.

Christian Bale's performance was quite good. His eyes were vacant, his body slumped, and he looked so unsteady that he seemed to fall over with the slightest breeze. He looked like a neurotic person whose brain had been ruined by studying too much.
Keira Knightley's performance was also superb. Before embracing the sun, the older sister in the script was the epitome of "keep away," and Keira Knightley herself looked down on commercial films, only wanting to act in stage plays. So, when she put on a long face, the feeling that the whole world owed her something came out.
Anthony Hopkins' portrayal was so effortless; he raised the bottle, tilted his head back and drank straight down, his face flushed, his lips twitched slightly, and added a bit of rambling—the eccentric old man vibe was so palpable that it practically overflowed from the set.
Jude Law and his wife Sadie Frost were playing themselves. Jude Law put on his playboy act, exuding an air of confidence that he was the most handsome man in the room. Sadie Frost, on the other hand, glared at him with an attitude of "I know you've been cheating," which completely erased all of Jude Law's brilliance.

The scene, unfolding like a flowing scroll painting, pleased Isabella greatly.

This is her movie.

She hopes everything will be great.

However, even so, she still felt that the most outstanding people in the entire crew were not these people.

Instead, he hid to the side, eyeing the bob-haired man with greedy eyes.

Although she didn't say anything, Isabella could tell that this guy wanted to absorb more knowledge.

If I had to describe it...

At this moment, Isabella could even sense a yearning for fame emanating from her.

(End of this chapter)