Under the bright and glaring sunlight, the streets of Burbank were so blinding that it almost gave people a headache. Perhaps it was due to the unusual weather this year, as the greater Los Angeles area, already deep into autumn, was much drier and hotter than usual. Since August, the air had barely seen any rain, and breathing it felt as if it could catch fire, spreading a scorching heat through the body that made people feel irritable.
Brad Miller, holding a sign protesting against The Lord of the Rings movie adaptation, shielded himself from the intense sunlight, hoping that the journalists across from him would take a few more pictures of their protest group to amplify their message to all the Lord of the Rings fans in America.
As a staunch supporter of the novel, Brad Miller had organized large groups of like-minded book fans to protest at the New Zealand film set as soon as the film began production. However, the film's director, Duke Rosenberg, had only mentioned a few words during interviews that might please the Lord of the Rings fans but had never directly addressed their protests.
What irritated Brad Miller more than the fear that the film might ruin the near-perfect masterpiece in his mind was the fact that they had been ignored. Duke Rosenberg clearly didn't care about the opinions of this group of die-hard book fans!
He had made a few successful films, but just because he had succeeded in other movies didn't mean he could successfully adapt The Lord of the Rings!
Especially considering that the filming of The Lord of the Rings had been ongoing for over two months, and how many scandals had the production team caused? The "angel elf show"? The "actor farewell ceremony"? The gifts they handed out? What did they think The Lord of the Rings was? A casual promotional stunt?
The Lord of the Rings should be profound, introverted, and understated, not so flashy.
"Come on! Raise up our protest signs!"
Under the bright sunlight, the surrounding protesters appeared lethargic. Seeing some journalists glancing their way, Brad Miller hurriedly reminded his companions.
Compared to the fans standing at the door of the Warner lot under the direct sunlight, the journalists were hiding in the shade. Although the protest signs were quite eye-catching, their cameras hadn't budged.
After so many protests, it wasn't fresh to them, and even less so to their audience.
Kevin, a reporter for World News Weekly, had been covering this story since August, and the protesters had appeared at the lot every few days. It had become mundane.
There was no real news to cover. Kevin thought idly that if they truly wanted to protest, they should burn down the Warner lot, along with the director and the films. Now that would be real protest.
Speaking of news, Kevin looked toward the lot, hoping that maybe the PR department for The Lord of the Rings or someone related would leak a piece of information.
Even a tabloid piece about Duke Rosenberg would be something.
Since August, when paparazzi had caught him vacationing with a Victoria's Secret angel, the famous director had reverted to his old workaholic ways. He spent almost every day traveling between Duke Manor and Warner Studios. No new news had surfaced since.
A black Bentley turned the corner, and Kevin picked up his camera, quickly snapping pictures along with the other reporters. Although they could only shoot the car's front and rear in a chaotic mess, they couldn't afford to fall behind. After all, Duke Rosenberg's value far outweighed the protesting book fans.
Through the tinted windows of the car, Kevin could barely make out the flashes of light. Duke didn't stop, driving straight into the parking lot. He switched to an electric cart and quickly entered the Lord of the Rings studio in the office area.
Since mid-August, post-production for The Lord of the Rings had been underway for more than two months, but the film's special effects were so numerous and intricate that post-production had become quite tedious. For The Fellowship of the Ring, Duke had created a work schedule lasting six months. He also couldn't wait until the first movie's box office results were in before beginning work on the second.
Though the post-production of the trilogy had an order, with The Fellowship of the Ring needing to finish first, special effects for the other two films had already begun.
For example, modeling for the Ents and the Nazgûl's flying beasts had long been completed at Weta Workshop, with one team specifically dedicated to rendering.
"Hey, Mike, how's it going?" Duke walked into the editing room and saw Mike Dawson reviewing a shot. "Has the scene where Aragorn leads the hobbits to Weathertop been cut?"
"Yep, it's done," Mike Dawson pressed the replay button to show the scene.
"Though, it's a bit long," he added.
Watching the scene on screen, Duke frowned slightly. The sequence wasn't using parallel montage yet; it just showed Aragorn and four hobbits leaving Bree and heading into the wilderness, which seemed a bit drawn out.
"Mike, cut this part," Duke pressed pause on the video. "We already spent enough time in the Shire, we can't afford to make the journey too long, or else the film's pace will slow down too much."
Even with some scenes cut, Duke still felt the pacing was slightly off. Fortunately, the suspense from the chase between the Fellowship and the Ringwraiths would keep the audience hooked, and even the dullest scenes in the Shire had picturesque landscapes to enjoy, which would likely hold the audience's attention.
Duke had also planned a big scene at the film's start, and any time saved from trimming would be used to enhance the opening battle.
After a busy day, having completed the main editing tasks, Duke passed the remaining footage to his assistants. He and Mike Dawson left the editing room and walked into the CGI room dedicated to The Lord of the Rings.
Richard Taylor, the head of Weta Workshop, nodded at them as they entered but continued working.
Not wanting to disturb him, Duke headed straight for Mary Victoria, who was overseeing a team focused on rendering the opening battle between the human and elven armies and the forces of Mordor.
Since this portion of the film had been shot entirely on blue screens, the special effects team needed to key out every frame's background and replace it with scenes from Mordor, as well as enhance the visual effects for the battle. Apart from the live-action footage of actors, CGI would be used for the distant battlefield.
"Mary," Duke asked, walking over to the head of the team. "How much longer until the opening battle scene is done?"
"Three to four weeks," Mary Victoria gave a conservative estimate.
Duke thought for a moment about Warner Brothers' promotional schedule and said, "I want to see the finished opening scene by early December."
"No problem," Mary Victoria responded confidently. "I'll make sure it's done."
According to Warner Brothers' marketing plan, The Fellowship of the Ring would appear during the Super Bowl halftime commercials. At just thirty seconds, this would be a very brief advertisement, but for a movie like The Lord of the Rings, that time had to leave a lasting impression on the audience.
As usual, Duke had a simple plan: use the most eye-catching material to grab viewers' attention.
The trailer would feature mostly the opening battle, with only a few moments of the Ring and Frodo, making sure the ad left a profound impact on the audience in those precious seconds.
After working on The Fellowship of the Ring post-production for most of November, Duke would head to New York in December to attend a board meeting with Marvel Comics and witness Ivanka's new instant-sharing website launch.
This was also crucial for his future investments.