Chapter 7

Hollywood movie production is like an assembly line, rigorous yet lacking artistic flair.

Every high-budget film is a daunting task that requires scrutiny from various angles, allowing no room for error.

As for artistic flair, what is it exactly?

Most Hollywood movie studios and distribution companies are unclear about what artistic flair truly means.

Ryan and Helen are no exception.

Generally speaking, the two main positions in Hollywood film production are: producers and directors.

"The Blair Witch" had such a low budget that there were no separate producers, directors, or assistant directors. Therefore, Ryan personally took on the roles of producer and director, with an additional position as a screenwriter.

Helen acted as both casting director and production manager, while Heidi served as her assistant, with some additional miscellaneous tasks.

It can be said that almost all the positions in the entire crew, apart from a few necessary ones, were filled by Starry Sky Talent Agency employees.

This was unavoidable. On one hand, it ensured secrecy, and on the other hand, with only a $40,000 budget for the entire crew, expenses had to be minimized.

Apart from daily expenses, the combined salary for the three main actors was less than $3,000. The highest expense for the entire crew was a senior makeup artist, earning $400 a week, and that was only because of Helen's influence.

By the way, this makeup artist was also the only formal employee of the crew.

The remaining positions, such as cinematographers, lighting technicians, production assistants, and prop masters, were all non-existent.

Ryan had planned it out early on. Helen and Heidi could take on the roles of production assistants and prop masters, while he himself could handle the roles of cinematographer and lighting technician to save money however possible.

In his previous life, "The Blair Witch" was shot in this manner.

Meanwhile, Helen contacted a small rental company and managed to rent out recording tapes, Hi-8 cameras, 16mm cameras, and a few other basic filming equipment at a low price.

In just a few days, the crew was fully prepared, and "The Blair Witch" officially began filming.

On March 1, 1994, Ryan started filming his first movie in the United States.

According to the customs of some Hong Kong directors from his previous life, the first thing to do when filming starts is to hold a ceremony to worship the gods.

Fortunately, there are no such rituals in Hollywood. With fewer than ten crew members in total, filming quietly began in a small town near New York.

There were no press conferences, no crowds of fans watching, no cheers. Everything was very quiet.

To be honest, compared to some independent films, this crew was much more rudimentary, almost laughable.

"Well, I admit it's even worse than I imagined."

"No, I should say it's absolutely terrible. I've never seen such a terrible crew."

"It's worse than the script itself."

"Alright, you two, quiet down. Remember, you're both leads, no matter what."

"Darn leads. I even doubt this film will get a single screening."

"If it gets released on videotape, that'll be lucky. I'll definitely buy a few to give away."

The three lead actors murmured to each other.

With minimal investment, a rudimentary crew, a novice director, and three young actors without any acting skills, it looked like a trashy movie in the making.

Looking at the scene before her, Jessica Chastain felt a bit discouraged. Rather than calling it a film crew, it seemed more like a farce.

But none of the three actors were experienced performers, not even considered minor actors. They usually played background extras or corpses, and with Helen, their agent, present, no one dared to complain too much.

Otherwise, Ryan would replace them immediately.

However, just less than a minute after filming started, Ryan encountered some minor problems. He put down the camera in his hand and walked over to the three lead actors.

"I'll say it again, you are all college film students now, not actors, and certainly not on a film set."

"Don't try to show off your poor acting skills in front of me. Remember, I want natural performances from college film students."

The three lead actors looked at each other, puzzled. No need for acting skills?

Damn, is a movie shot like this even watchable?

The most difficult and yet easiest part of "The Blair Witch" was for the three lead actors to perform naturally, without any acting skills. Only in this way would the film appear more authentic.

It would make the media and fans believe that it was a real event, not just a film.

So Ryan didn't need them to put on poor acting in front of the camera.

The success of "The Blair Witch" in his previous life, apart from viral marketing, was also due to the natural performances of the three lead actors.

Cough, or rather, the complete lack of acting skills.

Filming resumed, and the three lead actors easily slipped into their roles, or rather, their unskilled performances.

As Ryan didn't need them to act exceptionally well, as long as their expressions were natural and there were no logical loopholes, filming progressed quickly.

The entire crew's filming budget was only $40,000. After deducting daily expenses, equipment rentals, props, and actors' salaries, there was almost nothing left. There was simply not enough funding to polish every shot repeatedly.

Moreover, the camera in his hand was simply beyond description. The footage shot with a handheld camera was inevitably of poor quality.

During a break in filming, Helen deliberately brought over a bottle of drink and handed it to Ryan. "You can take a break if you need to. If the budget isn't enough, I can lend you some more, or consider it as an investment."

Ryan's filming schedule was packed, with almost no time for rest. Perhaps the crew members wouldn't complain too much, but Helen couldn't ignore it.

"I just hope to catch up with the schedule and aim to release the film before May."

Ryan seemed somewhat indifferent. In his previous life, he often worked around the clock, shooting for 24 hours straight. Compared to that, the current shoot, like the one just now, was quite relaxed.

"Once April passes, the summer blockbuster season will arrive. Let's not even mention how much resources the distribution company will allocate to this film. Just competing with those big productions during the same period is not a good choice."

"On the other hand, March and April are the off-season for the entire North American film market. There are very few big productions released during this time, which is very advantageous for the distribution of the film."

He was very clear on this point. It was much better to dominate the market in March and April than to compete with other big productions in May.

Helen nodded in agreement, fully endorsing his view. "Alright, I'll communicate with the other crew members. But you also need to relax properly."

Ryan nodded in agreement, agreeing to take it easy.

Actually, this was a mistake he made from his previous filming experience. Hollywood film crews were different from the online film crews in his previous life. There were obvious differences between the two, with faster pacing in one and more leisure time needed in the other.

And this crew was as small as it could get. He was both a producer and director, in addition to being an investor. The only agent in the crew was Helen. Otherwise, some trouble might arise.

Afterwards,

 Ryan made some changes to the filming schedule to make it slightly more relaxed.

After a day of filming, less than a third of the original shooting plan had been completed, leaving Ryan somewhat helpless.

At this rate, it would take about a week to finish shooting the entire film.

That was more than half slower than his original plan of three days.

Don't think that three days were too fast. According to the shooting speed of some directors in Hong Kong from his previous life, three days for such a film would be considered slow. Some directors could finish shooting in just one or two days.