This strange sound seemed a bit like a horse with lung problems screaming, but it was much more unpleasant than any horse neigh Duke had ever heard, its frequency reaching what seemed like the human ear's limit of tolerance, causing an intense feeling of nausea, as if a strange monster from Earth had suddenly appeared, shrieking with a broken voice.
Duke was slightly better, merely furrowing his brow tightly, while Ivanka Trump couldn't bear it at all and had her hands pressed tightly to her ears.
"Oh my God," she complained, "What is this sound? It's driving me crazy!"
Ivanka Trump looked at Duke, hoping they could quickly leave this farm.
However, unlike Ivanka Trump, Duke, although frowning, became intrigued by the sound.
Yes, the sound was extremely unpleasant, and Duke couldn't even think of the right words to describe it. It seemed like a sound that shouldn't exist in the human world, something like it came from hell…
But, when something is rare to a certain extent, it has value.
When the sound erupted again, Duke had already considered its worth, specifically its value for The Lord of the Rings crew!
"Ivy, call sound engineer David Farmer," Duke made his decision immediately. "Tell him to come here as soon as possible."
After saying this, he didn't look at Ivanka, who was taking out her phone, but instead turned around, keenly interested in looking toward the farm.
This sound was the perfect choice!
The reason Duke urgently called the sound engineer was because this sound was a perfect match for the shriek of the flying beast ridden by the Ringwraiths.
Middle-earth was full of strange creatures that made completely different sounds, which was why Duke had sent Anna Prince and David Farmer to the North Island Zoo to record sounds. After post-processing, many of Middle-earth's creatures had found appropriate sound matches.
For example, the call of the orcs in Moria was actually the cry of a kangaroo at night. The deep echo in the mines was made by combining the calls of a walrus, tiger, and horse, recorded in underground tunnels to create the echo effect.
Even the sound when Pip encounters a skeleton and its skull falls off was created by David Farmer knocking a rusty bucket in an underground tunnel…
The shriek of the flying beast ridden by the Ringwraiths had yet to be found, and now, hearing this sound, Duke thought it might be viable.
As the sound blared once more, Duke looked to Ivanka and said, "David Farmer and a production assistant have arrived."
About ten minutes later, David Farmer and a production assistant drove over in a hurry.
David Farmer had just jumped out of the off-road vehicle and hadn't had time to greet Duke before the hideous sound came again. But unlike Duke and Ivanka, who furrowed their brows, David Farmer, as a professional, listened attentively, his face slowly filled with delight.
"Duke, it's perfect!" David Farmer rushed over in a few steps. "This is the sound we've been looking for!"
"This is why I called you," Duke nodded at him, then said, "You guys find the source of this sound and secure it as soon as possible."
The rest of the work was left to David Farmer and the production assistant, and Duke casually walked back along the path.
The moon climbed high into the sky, and the camp, formed by trailers, had a few small campfires burning. The quiet slowly returned, and Duke sat in his trailer, listening to Ivanka Trump recount the events of the evening.
"David has already negotiated with the farm owner," Ivanka said, holding a glass of water. "They agreed to lease the sound source to the crew for a week."
With Christmas approaching, Duke adjusted the shooting schedule while listening to Ivanka's words. She deliberately changed her tone to a girlish one. "Do you know what animal made that sound?"
"What animal?" Duke wasn't too curious.
Ivanka didn't give an answer immediately. "Why don't you guess?"
"It can't be the hellhound, right?" Duke casually threw out an answer.
"If it is," Ivanka looked at Duke, "Would you still use it?"
"As long as it works for us," Duke didn't look up, continuing his work. "Don't say it's a hellhound; even if Hades himself shows up, I'd be happy to discuss a collaboration."
Ivanka playfully made a face. "It's a donkey."
"A donkey?" Duke raised his head.
Ivanka shrugged. "Yes, a very ordinary donkey. The farm owner said it's the most horrible-sounding donkey he's ever seen."
Duke tapped his fingers lightly on the table and thought for a moment. "Ivy, tell John to send a cameraman with David Farmer to film this. It's great behind-the-scenes material."
The DVD sales for many movies were gradually surpassing VHS, and over the next decade, DVDs would become another major revenue stream for Hollywood, especially with deluxe editions, which were great money-making tools. Director's cuts, extended editions, and behind-the-scenes footage were the main draws for movie fans to buy DVDs.
Since they chose The Lord of the Rings, Duke, of course, wanted to maximize the profits.
The film's promotion was handled by Warner Brothers, but Duke's most important job was to ensure the production went smoothly.
As the days passed, the shooting of the crew proceeded according to schedule. Due to thorough preparation, although the shooting wasn't going faster than planned, it was still going quite smoothly. Any problems that arose were quickly solved in meetings where Duke gathered everyone for brainstorming.
"Cut!"
Duke shouted for a break and looked toward the horse-drawn carriage being towed by a machine. "Ian, Elijah, you can rest now. It's time for the stunt doubles."
Although Gandalf's driving in the Shire wasn't fast, controlling the carriage was a skilled task. Ian McKellen simply couldn't do it, so the crew used a circus-like method, with only the top layer of the carriage showing in close-ups, while wide shots of the carriage being driven were done by a professional coachman.
It was simple to use a stunt double for this scene. As long as they pulled Gandalf's wizard hat down, even with close-ups, it wouldn't be noticeable.
The crew moved on and returned to the place where the carriage had first appeared. Elijah Wood's dwarf stand-in took his place again, sitting beside Ian McKellen in the carriage. The cameras only needed wide-angle shots, as they had already filmed the effects and dialogue scenes.
Even so, this short shot was filmed twice as Duke requested.
"That's it for the morning."
The scene was completed, and Duke announced a break. "We'll resume after lunch."
He left the director's monitor, just about to take a sip of water when Ian McKellen suddenly came over.
"Duke, I wanted to ask when the Christmas holiday starts," he said, holding up his pointy wizard hat, looking like Gandalf in a conversation. "I haven't been home in a long time."
Elijah Wood also came over. "I wanted to ask, is the crew organizing any Christmas activities? If not, I'll just find a place to vacation."
"We have five days off for Christmas."
Since the crew had been shooting on the weekends, Duke and Charles Rowen had already decided to give everyone a long break. "Before we finish the Shire scenes, we'll have a celebration."
Before Christmas arrived, the crew would finish filming all the Shire scenes.
In reality, the main event left was one last scene: Bilbo Baggins' birthday party.
While chatting with Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen, Duke walked toward the catering truck. Passing near the Bag End set, he deliberately stepped inside to take a look. The construction of the set was nearly complete. Once all the Hobbit food and actors arrived, they would begin filming.
After checking it out briefly, Duke casually walked over to the catering truck, where Ivanka Trump had already arranged lunch for him, with all his favorite foods.
Sitting across from Ivanka, Duke took a sip of juice, grabbed his tray and utensils, and began to enjoy his lunch.
Ivanka, as usual, only had fruit pudding and vegetable salad for lunch. After eating a few bites, she put down her utensils and started telling Duke about the calls she received that morning.
"Tina called. Your director's share of Critical Emergency, which is $16.5 million, has been processed," she said, flipping through her work journal. "Warner Brothers wants you to check in on The Matrix after the new year…"
"They still don't have full confidence in Zack," Duke muttered.
This was actually normal. While Zack Snyder had recommendations, he didn't have independent success experience, so Warner Brothers wanted him to truly supervise the next two movies despite being credited as a producer.
Suddenly, Duke remembered something else. "Has Critical Emergency been pulled from theaters globally?"
"Yes, the film has finished its screenings after being pulled from Saipan."
Having worked together for so long, Ivanka knew exactly what Duke cared about. She immediately said, "The final global box office is $221.13 million."
"Not bad," Duke nodded.
While he had dreamed of the film making a huge profit like Independence Day or The Matrix, Duke kept his head clear. It was hard to achieve that level of success with a small production and realistic subject matter.
"One more important call," Ivanka continued. "Leah called. She and Miss Johnson will visit the set before Christmas. If the crew is resting for Christmas, they'll stay here to celebrate."
.....
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