In the following period, Duke deliberately took Christopher Nolan to see the light boxes and other equipment, and also had some exchanges with him. After all, Christopher Nolan was about to direct a film into which Warner Bros. had invested heavily, and the film's success or failure was directly tied to his own interests.
Following Duke to the back of the director's monitor, Christopher Nolan looked at the animated segment playing on the monitor screen and asked, "I heard Jamie Johnson mention that you've done a lot of shooting visual previews?"
"A lot of visual previews, but there's still a lot of flexibility on set," Duke pointed at his own head. "If something new pops up here, and I ask the special effects team to do something outside of the shot, they must be able to react in time."
Looking at the special effects staff, Duke continued, "If I want a certain place to change the speed and time, then they must achieve it as soon as possible. So, besides doing the previews well in advance, we also need room for flexibility. But of course, there are places where there's no room to maneuver…"
"Where exactly?" Christopher Nolan asked.
"For example, the actors," Duke said, "That's when I go talk with Scarlett Johansson and George Clooney, especially during indoor scenes. It happens quite often." Duke gestured with his hands, "We usually say something like, 'At the end of this shot, we need you to place your hand here, exactly at this spot, no deviation.' Then the two of them know what to do, and they place their hands in that exact spot at the exact right moment. They've always cooperated very well."
And not just that after every shot, from Duke as the director to John Schwartzman and Tim Webber, and then to Scarlett Johansson and George Clooney, they would all sit down together to discuss the shot to strive for perfection.
Over the next three days, Christopher Nolan continued coming to the set. Duke didn't say much more. Although Nolan wasn't well known in the mainstream film circle, he wasn't some rookie either. He was full of talent what he lacked was only experience with commercial film production.
From mid-August to early September, Duke led the crew through a very busy shooting schedule. Time was indeed extremely tight. Aside from taking a two-day break after the long shots were completed, the crew had no holidays throughout the rest of the month's filming.
Fortunately, the crew didn't have to run all over the place. All scenes were shot within the soundstages of Warner Bros Studios. And as George Clooney completed his scenes and left, only Scarlett Johansson remained as the sole actor in the crew.
"Houston, Houston... This is the space mission specialist, do you copy?"
Inside the space capsule set, Scarlett Johansson kept calling into the communicator. The camera lens panned past her surroundings one by one buttons labeled in Chinese and small decorations like a ping-pong ball and a panda were captured in turn.
As Scarlett kept calling, a reply suddenly came through the capsule. The voice was a bit stiff this Chinese response came from Duke himself. During the recording, it was processed with special treatment.
"Cut!"
Duke called out, then stood up and said to Scarlett, "Your emotions aren't there yet!"
This shot had already been NG'd many times. It was where Scarlett needed to fully showcase her acting, and Duke had already explained everything during the early prep phase. He now let the crew rest for fifteen minutes, giving Scarlett time to find the right feeling.
If she still couldn't get into the right state, Duke planned to lock her alone in the soundstage to simulate the kind of loneliness one feels floating alone in space.
In the shots filmed so far, Duke could see that Scarlett Johansson's performance was no worse than Sandra Bullock's.
Sandra Bullock had never been known for her acting skills in Hollywood, but her performance in Gravity was definitely the peak of her acting career far surpassing her Oscar-winning role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side.
In fact, Sandra Bullock's win for Best Actress in The Blind Side was considered by many to be one of the top five "weakest wins" in Oscar history. Just like Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock's win for that little gold man was less about recognition for her acting or her role, and more about acknowledgment from the Academy for her years of effort and industry standing.
As is well known, winning an Oscar acting award requires more than just a role and acting ability.
When the Academy had just rewarded Sandra Bullock with Best Actress, she turned around and gave a performance far more outstanding than the one that won her the award. But the Academy couldn't just hand her another Oscar.
Sandra Bullock was thus destined to become one of the weakest Best Actress winners in Oscar history.
In the past ten-plus years, Oscar Best Actor and Actress winners were always the result of a combination of multiple factors. An actor wanting to win an Oscar award had to have exposure many Academy voters were people like Duke, typical examples of "voting with their feet." If they weren't familiar with the actor, even a public relations campaign wouldn't be very effective.
Gravity's marketing deliberately highlighted Scarlett Johansson. According to Duke's instructions, Warner Bros. and Panny Kallis developed a very comprehensive promotional plan.
It was already September. Duke's shooting was gradually nearing its end, and North America's new awards season was about to kick off. The Hollywood Reporter also conducted a special interview with Scarlett.
Due to the tight shooting schedule, the interview was arranged during a break in filming. Though Duke was busy with production, he still went over to take a look. After all, whether the film could achieve his goals, Scarlett Johansson's performance in Gravity was only the foundation self-promotion was also an indispensable tool.
However, Duke only stood on the sidelines and listened. He had no intention of getting involved.
From the script to project approval to Scarlett signing the actor contract, the entire process for this film was very simple. But in front of the media, it couldn't be presented that way. Just like with a story, the more twists and turns, the more attention it draws.
In Hollywood, for people of Duke and Scarlett Johansson's status, interviews were all meticulously designed. From the questions to the answers, their publicists probably revised them dozens of times and had to communicate extensively with the media outlet.
From another angle, there was very little in such interviews that could be considered trustworthy.
For instance, when The Hollywood Reporter asked, "Some have said the script of Gravity is quite special, especially in that it's hard to imagine how a director could film it. Did it leave that kind of strong impression on you as well?"
"Actually, what attracted me wasn't the script, but the story concept itself. To me, this script felt like a great book intensely visual and emotionally overwhelming. I couldn't imagine how Duke was going to shoot it at all…"
What Scarlett said couldn't have been farther from the truth it was half an ocean away. "Besides, at the time I didn't want to take this role at all, so I didn't care much. Later, when I chatted with Duke, I directly turned him down, but he told me in a subtle way why he wanted to write this story so badly. He said it came from a very personal and real experience. It's about someone's rebirth, about a person who, in despair, giving up, no longer willing to struggle on, is suddenly pulled back by life itself."
"When he was describing it to me, I was like, wow!" Scarlett made an exaggerated expression, as if it had all been true. "All the imagery was already forming in my head…"
She shrugged again. "On the technical side, I had no idea how he would pull it off, but his words were so beautiful and magical. I know Duke very well he's both calm and completely passionate. I realized it was one of the most important opportunities of my life. I couldn't say no to it."
The Hollywood Reporter followed up, "So when you agreed to take the role, it meant you unconditionally handed yourself over to Duke Rosenberg's direction? No matter what strange filming techniques he used, you were willing to try them?"
"Because Duke's methods were so unique, he couldn't explain much of the technical side to me."
After stating a truth, Scarlett immediately returned to spouting nonsense according to Panny Kallis's pre-prepared script. "The original plan was to film inside a NASA space shuttle, which could simulate weightlessness for a few seconds by rapidly ascending and then descending. Most movies of this type were filmed this way. The moment I thought about being flung around like that, I felt it was crazy and pretty scary but I still accepted that method."
She smiled at the reporter and said, "As the shooting date approached, the crew said they had invented a device to simulate me 'flying.' That's when I realized I had to start physical training, because apparently that device required my body to be as flexible as a gymnast's. The physical training was tough, but absolutely necessary. I met with a female trainer who used to be a dancer and knew how to control her body."
The reporter asked again, "Did you and Duke Rosenberg often talk about this character?"
"What Duke and I talked about most was who this woman I was playing actually is how to help the audience get to know her, which lines were necessary and which weren't. All those little details. This is a story told through visuals. The actors didn't need too much dialogue. Whenever I had trouble understanding, I asked him to tell me how we could get to the core of this story, what he wanted the audience to see, and how he planned to tell the story through visual language."
After saying all that in one go, Scarlett Johansson took a sip of water and continued, "A lot of actors don't understand the meaning of dialogue they always think the clearer their speech, the better their performance. But this film follows a completely different pattern. The actor is just a small presence in a grand, special theme."
Finally, Scarlett emphasized, "My trust in Duke was built on his complete faith in my instincts and interests as an actress. It was a truly magical collaboration."