Van Gogh Reborn! - Chapter 93
Director Christine Nolan did not take his hands off his upcoming film ‘Year One’ even after the completion of post-production.
He watched the film several times a day and worked hard on editing.
Meanwhile, the date promised to Ko Hun approached.
Nolan, who was heading to Los Angeles from Berlin, where he visited for music work, sighed at the news from prop manager Emily Lever.
– They say they can’t rent out the original.
Christine Nolan sighed as he rubbed his nose.
“Okay, keep the casting on schedule and keep reporting.”
– Yes.
Christine Nolan, who finished the phone call, slightly turned his head.
He buried his back in the chair and was lost in agony.
The setting of the movie ‘The Strange Castle’ was the hideout of the legendary thief Arsene Lupin.
Lupin’s gallery includes four works by Peter Paul Rubens, [The Marriage of the Virgin], Andrea del Sarto’s [Portrait of Lucrezia del Fede], Titan’s [Salome], William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s [The Virgin with Angels], works of Carpaccio, Rembrandt, and Velázquez.
Even Leonardo da Vinci’s [Mona Lisa] was also introduced in the story.
The process of casting the work was not smooth because the author of the original novel Maurice LeBlanc wrote down all the masterpieces that he could think of in his day.
If it was made as a movie by some other person, they would have used a fake copy.
But it was out of the question for perfectionist Christine Nolan.
For the completeness of the movie, he has actually filmed a scene in his movie, by creating a set for corridors that could rotate 360 degrees to represent the scenes of the hotel corridors moving around.
In order to express the rainy scene realistically, he covered the sky with a blackout screen, and then water was sprayed.
Even a single strand of hair or even a drop of water had to get his permission to get captured on the camera.
The same was true for his next project ‘The Strange Castle’.
The production team attempted to hire the artworks from art galleries, museums, and galleries that owned them.
However, despite quite a long preparation, they were unable to persuade the museum, who were concerned about the damage to the work.
Nolan soothed his headache by pressing down on his temples.
Art director Nathan spoke to Nolan.
“Shouldn’t we at least get a copy? I don’t know about other works, but I don’t think the Louvre Museum will lend you [Mona Lisa].”
“I know.”
Nolan swept his face.
He was a person who was willing to take on challenges even if there was a small possibility, but he was not a person who recklessly jumped into impossible things.
Above all, the production cost of the film was significantly different just by increasing the production period by one day.
Nolan opened his eyes wide.
“No copy.”
Art director Nathan Evans sighed deeply at the director’s determination.
“What works can compare to [Mona Lisa]? As of the early 20th century.”
“Hmm. [Salvator Mundi]?”
Nolan turned his wrist and urged him to continue.
“It’s Da Vinci’s work. Was it 2017? It was sold for $450 million.”
Christine Nolan raised his eyebrows.
He couldn’t believe the amount of money that could be used to make two or three blockbusters.
However, it means that it is a masterpiece that is recognized for its value, and the ripple effect of the name Leonardo da Vinci could not be ignored.
There was no reason not to try to recruit.
“Where is it?”
“The Louvre Museum.”
Christine Nolan rubbed his forehead.
There was no time to argue about meaningless negotiations with the Louvre, which did not suggest any room for negotiation.
“Anything else?”
“Hmm. There’s a piece that comes to mind right away, but it won’t be easy.”
“Anything’s fine. It might not be a good idea now, but I need as many opinions as I can.”
“[Girl with a Pearl Earring]. It’s called the Dutch Mona Lisa.”
It was a familiar title.
It was also produced as a novel and film of the same name, so he didn’t dig deep into the painting, but Nolan, who was having a hobby to some extent, remembered seeing a [Girl with a pearl earring].
He opened his cell phone.
When he searched for [Girl with a Pearl Earring], he could see that it was owned by the Mauritz-Hawis Museum of Art.
Nolan sent a message to prop manager Emily Lever, adding items to offer.
Art director Nathan Evans, who was watching the situation, spoke carefully.
“If the painting is not available.”
Nolan looked up.
“Why don’t you go to production?”
“Go on.”
“There are a lot of talented artists. How about Commissioning them to make a work in pre-modernist style.”
Christine Nolan shook his head.
Nathan Evans’ opinion was reasonable, but the intrinsic meaning of the famous painting was important.
“That’s not the point. It’s much more effective to show a perfect picture [Mona Lisa], rather than showing a hundred paintings that are better drawn.”
“That’s right.”
[Mona Lisa] would not have had much weight in the movie.
It might be exposed in 10 frames.
The film had to end a story in a short time based on a carefully crafted script.
Unless it was a very special case, an Artwork could not be shown for a long time.
Therefore, Nathan Evans suggested a different opinion because Nolan needed a masterpiece like [Mona Lisa], which could explain how great Arsene Lupin was, even though it would appear in the movie for less than a second.
“Then it would be better to aim for a private collector than a museum. Just by appearing in our movie, they can put a premium on that picture.”
Nolan nodded.
Many collectors regarded paintings as investment objects and hoped that the value of their works would increase.
Any work introduced in Christine Nolan’s film was sufficient to create a higher price.
It wasn’t a very pleasant way, but if you can get a work like that, Nolan was fine with it.
It was something he could endure.
“We should consider that, too.”
Nolan once again sent instructions to prop manager Emily Lever.
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
I arrived in Los Angeles where we had promised to meet with Nolan.
Even though it is one country, I have no idea how wide the U.S. is because I spent more than four hours on a plane.
Nolan sent someone to the airport so I could travel to the accommodation comfortably.
As the time difference changed again in a week, I was tired and quickly fell asleep.
The next day, I visited Nolan with grandpa and Uncle Bang.
I wondered where the world’s best film director would work, but it was a place where there were several small buildings in an area that was slightly larger than my school.
There are huge trucks for unknown purposes and there are even armors like the ones that were used in the Middle Ages.
Everything I see is amazing, so my eyes are pleasant.
“Huh. It’s spectacular,”
Grandpa also admired it.
“Do you need all that when you make a movie?”
“It’s about making another world. They have no choice but to work hard.”
My heart beats when I hear that they will create another world.
Beyond expressing it with paints, brushes, and canvases, it is said that such objects are made by themselves and even a village is created to be captured on camera.
It’s surprising how great the culture of cinema is.
The guide knocked and opened the door.
Christine Nolan showed his face from a pile of papers on his desk.
“Welcome.”
The dark circle around his eyes shows he’s very tired.
I don’t know, but I think he’s busy with work related to movies.
“Hello,”
I shook hands with Nolan and sat face to face.
“Did your music work go well?”
When I saw him last time, I heard he was going to Berlin to work on the song.
“It’s a great song. Do you know Franz Peter?”
I shook my head.
“Oh, the Berlin Philharmonic.”
Uncle Bang seems to know.
Probably a composer of a band called the Berlin Philharmonic.
Director Christine Nolan smiled and nodded.
“He was a talented and hard-working friend, and the result came out well,”
Nolan nodded satisfactorily.
“I saw the articles about the Biennale. It seems like you had another fight with Henry Marceau.”
Nolan laughed and brought up the story of the signing event.
A reporter wrote an article about me training Henry Marceau.
Thanks to that, the act of sincerely trying to help him became something that bothered Henry Marceau.
“There was a misunderstanding.”
Come to think of it, I couldn’t even thank him properly.
I can’t tell what I want to say because he picks a fight every time he sees me.
I think I’ll have to thank him next time.
[Sunflower], [Guest], and [Frost Wheat Field] could be displayed at the Whitney Biennale because of him.
“Your new work was great, too. It was really impressive”
Actually, I think there’s still a long way to go, but I’m satisfied that I’ve done my best, at least for now.
“Next time, I’ll draw something even better.”
I took out the sketchbook I prepared from my bag.
“I did a sketch.”
Nolan took a serious look at the sketch.
To work with him, I have to prove that I can do concept art.
The reason why I prepared sketches in advance is so that I have to talk a lot with and understand each other since it is a job that expresses the world of another person, unlike the painting I have done so far, which expresses my world.
“This carriage here has its spokes slightly inward?”
“Yes.”
As I recall, most of the wheels during that time were slightly recessed.
I don’t know if it’s to strengthen durability or simply to look cool, but it was in that form at least until just before I died.
Nolan looked at two more pages and said,
“There’s a wide variety of wagons.”
“Although it’s trendy, most of them are hansom cab, landau, and bloom type wagons.”
Landau wagons with folding overhead flaps were in vogue in the early 19th century.
Then, like a car now, it was covered on all sides and Bloom wagons with windows came out, and it gradually withered.
Because it was so expensive, Landau was still in use rather than Bloom or the Hansom Cab that came out afterward.
The background of the era of ‘ The Strange Castle’ is in the early 20th century, so even those who could buy a car would not have abandoned the carriage.
In addition, most of them could not afford a car, so the wagon should have probably been the main means of transportation.
Nolan nodded.
“It’s very nice. The wagon is especially detailed. There’s a lot of data on the exterior, but we had less about inside. Did you research and draw it separately?”
“Yes, I didn’t know what you wanted, so I prepared as many as I could find. Remaining, I imagined it.”
Nolan put down the sketchbook.
Agonized with his index finger between the eyebrows and raised his head after a while.
“It’s much better than I expected. We were able to discover things that we didn’t think of. I think the carriage could be used when making blueprints.”
“Do you make your own wagons?”
” Yeah, since we can only find them in museums now.”
How wide should the field of knowledge a film director need?
Knowledge of art, music, and screenplays seems to be essential for making a single film.
There may be experts in each field, but as grandpa said, it sounds like he is really trying to create another world.
After thinking for a while, Nolan looked me in the eye and asked.
“Do you want to make a movie together?”
