Over the next two days, this group of trainees arrived at The Dark Knight film crew, where they studied for two days before returning to China.
Just as everyone was marveling at the preparation workspaces of The Dark Knight, a familiar face spotted Guo Fan.
"Old Guo? Old Guo, is that really you?"
"Old Li? You guys came to The Dark Knight crew as well?" Seeing fellow Chinese trainees, Guo Fan was quite happy.
"Yeah, we've been visiting for the past few days! How did you end up here?" Old Li asked curiously.
There was a Chinese person on The Dark Knight crew and a well-known one at that—Guo Fan, so the trainees were very curious and gathered around him to ask questions.
Guo Fan smiled and said, "I'm here to learn. I came ahead of time and am serving as an assistant director here."
Everyone instantly remembered that Guo Fan seemed to be Gilbert's student, so someone asked, "Did Director Gilbert ask you to come?"
"Yes," Guo Fan didn't hide it.
"Wow!" Voices of envy rose all around.
Just look at the difference.
We're muddleheadedly taking a cursory look, not really seeing anything, and they even hide things from us and won't let us see. Meanwhile, Guo Fan is directly learning alongside his teacher, participating in the production of a Hollywood film from start to finish.
Back then, Ning Hao was just a runner on The Lord of the Rings, and now he's incredibly successful. Huang Xiaoming and Chen Kun merely played orcs in The Lord of the Rings, yet they managed to brand themselves as international superstars.
As for Guo Fan, he's something else entirely. He's genuinely working on a major Hollywood production, apprenticed to Gilbert—his future prospects are limitless!
Alongside the envy, some people inevitably felt a bit of jealousy, fantasizing about replacing Guo Fan.
Unfortunately, this batch of trainees had barely even seen Gilbert a few times, let alone had the chance to speak with him.
Gilbert didn't pay much attention to these sent-over trainees. Expecting them to learn Hollywood filmmaking in just one week was impossible.
And they wouldn't be able to learn it anyway. When Guo Fan chatted privately with Gilbert, he said that Chinese-language cinema wouldn't be able to reach Hollywood's current level even in ten years.
This wasn't because there was a gap in creative ability, but because there was a gap in the overall quality of personnel.
To put it simply, if Gilbert were a Chinese-language film director and were still as powerful as he is now, he still wouldn't be able to shoot The Dark Knight.
The reason was simple: large-scale Hollywood productions have never been something that a single director or just a few core members can complete. There are far too many elements involved.
Without a reliable and stable team, even someone as strong as Gilbert—even if you gathered Spielberg, James Cameron, and George Lucas together—wouldn't be able to maintain stable film output.
Not to mention that Gilbert produces films at a pace of almost one per year.
Films that are produced in a few months or even a few weeks and then released usually can only be found in the independent film scene; the San Fernando Valley works too.
But independent films often take years, even decades, to secure investment, which is very common.
Because Hollywood has abundant talent, along with stable team styles and structures, Gilbert can use a mature team to continuously produce new films.
Guo Fan wrote a sentence in his notebook: Industrialized processes are the core, technology is the guide, but talent is the foundation.
His understanding was very profound, which was why he reached that conclusion. It was an idealistic analysis based on reality, not despair.
Being able to see the gap actually meant there was hope—at least, that's what Guo Fan believed.
This batch of Chinese trainees soon returned home. During that one week, apart from experiencing the shock of Hollywood film production and saying "awesome," they didn't really learn anything else.
After all, with such a superficial, rushed approach, what could they really learn?
However, the news that Guo Fan was following his teacher Gilbert to study still spread. Directing, as a behind-the-scenes profession, didn't receive much attention these days.
If some star were participating in The Dark Knight, the news would already be everywhere. But for a director, the level of attention was low, and in the end it was only reported within industry circles.
Meanwhile, back in China, Guo Fan's partner Liu Ji instantly became highly sought after. He discovered that many agents had begun bringing all kinds of beautiful girls around him, though he still held firmly to his bottom line.
Liu Ji understood that all of this was the result Guo Fan had brought.
Without him, those agents and celebrity artists—who usually acted so high and mighty—wouldn't even glance at him properly.
Once Guo Fan returned, their company would become a new force in the entertainment industry. And he, Liu Ji, would become the next Zhang Weiping—no, he would be even more powerful than Zhang Weiping.
Wasn't Zhang Weiping's greatest asset just Director Zhang, the so-called "National Master"? Guo Fan would be even more formidable than Director Zhang in the future.
After a long preparation period, finally, in mid-October, The Dark Knight began filming in Chicago. Once again, the Chicago city government provided strong support, even offering filming locations for free.
The city government also promised that there would be no repeat of the previous Chicago heist incident. The Chicago police were even busier; besides their regular work, they also temporarily acted as extras, continuing to play police officers in Gotham City.
Gilbert prioritized and concentrated on filming the Joker's scenes first. Heath Ledger was in excellent form, and Gilbert didn't want to waste such a good state.
At the same time, he wanted to finish Heath Ledger's scenes early, so Ledger could wrap up and rest, getting out of the Joker's mindset.
As mentioned before, Heath Ledger's death in the previous life actually had little to do with the Joker role and was mostly due to an overdose.
Finishing early allowed Heath Ledger to receive treatment sooner.
However, the first scene shot by the crew wasn't Heath Ledger's—it was Nicholas Cage and Jennifer Connelly's scene.
This scene was filmed in a Chicago courtroom and was a trial scene. It introduced Harvey Dent's character and also showcased his personality.
Jennifer Connelly was just a decorative element, wearing a form-fitting skirt, black stockings, and professional attire to look good. The focus of the scene was entirely on Nicholas Cage, and he did not disappoint.
Perhaps it was due to thorough preparation, or maybe his former Oscar-winning talent hadn't faded, but Nicholas Cage performed in a rare top state right from the start.
During filming, however, a minor accident occurred. When Nicholas Cage grabbed the gun to chamber it, it jammed twice and failed.
Gilbert didn't call a halt. He knew well about Nicholas Cage's dual nature of unpredictability, and with his rare good form, it certainly couldn't be wasted.
Once that moment passed, Nicholas Cage took responsibility: "Sorry, my fault. I haven't mastered it yet."
Gilbert didn't mind: "It's fine. Let's continue shooting."
On the next take, everything went smoothly. Nicholas Cage, after all, had experience with action scenes. He punched the suspect down, grabbed the gun, and successfully chambered it.
"Made of carbon fiber, .28 caliber, Chinese-made."
Facing the camera, Nicholas Cage said, "Mr. Manilo, if you want to take out a public official, I recommend using American-made."
..
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