The filming process went smoother than imagined, with hardly any tricky issues encountered.
The actors were also in good form; although they might need to take some serious acting classes after this film, napoleon dynamite was never a work with strict demands on acting—after all, it's a comedy, and making the audience laugh is enough.
"The first impression Napoleon gave everyone was 'tired'; he always looked perpetually sleepy, with an indescribable weirdness in his every move." This was the crew's initial impression of the character Napoleon.
On set, the two leads, Pedro Pascal and Ed Helms, displayed extremely high professionalism; they quickly found the feel for their characters and immersed themselves wholeheartedly.
The other actors also performed exceptionally well.
As a result, the already fast-paced filming schedule accelerated like a rocket.
However, there's no such thing as perfection in this world; there are always some areas that need repeated refinement.
"Cut! This scene will be a reshoot, ten-minute break!"
After four consecutive takes failed, Kazir finally called a halt; his gaze fell on the actress who was always having problems.
At this moment, the lights in the ballroom came on, and the music abruptly stopped.
They were filming the prom scene, specifically the part where Deb and Napoleon dance.
Reese was drenched in sweat, her face as pale as paper; she knew in her heart that these failed takes were all due to her own mistakes.
With a feeling of guilt, she slowly walked up to Kazir, head bowed, her voice trembling slightly: "I'm sorry, Director, I accidentally looked at the camera."
Kazir looked at her and said in a calm yet serious tone: "Reese, in the first take you forgot your lines, in the second take you stepped on Ed's foot, in the third take you said the wrong line, and in the fourth take you looked at the camera again."
Reese's head drooped even lower, and her eyes gradually reddened; she said in a tearful voice: "I'm sorry..."
Kazir, however, suddenly smiled, and instead comforted Reese: "No need to apologize, everyone makes mistakes. Even big stars like Nicolas Cage and Tom Hanks can't be perfect every time. Don't be so hard on yourself, relax."
As he spoke, he gently patted Reese's shoulder and patiently guided her: "Come, do as I do... inhale... exhale. Again, inhale... exhale."
Reese took a few deep breaths, and her mood slowly calmed down.
She had expected the director to be furious, as she had made four consecutive mistakes, but she didn't expect him to not only not be angry but also to comfort her so patiently; she couldn't help but show a grateful smile.
"That's right, smile. Go touch up your makeup, relax. Remember, don't put too much pressure on yourself; no one in this world is perfect," Kazir said gently.
"Thank you, Director!" Reese said gratefully, then, holding up her prom dress, she ran off lightly.
Kazir watched her retreating figure, thinking to himself: "...A roll of 35mm Kodak film costs about 80 dollars and can shoot 4 minutes and 30 seconds of content. Reese's few mistakes have already wasted three rolls of film, and honestly, I'm pretty annoyed. But what's the use of getting angry? If she panics, she won't be able to film well later, so it's better to handle it calmly."
Reese was still young, with limited psychological endurance, and couldn't handle harsh criticism; if he really made her cry, the atmosphere of the entire crew would become awkward and uncomfortable.
"Please, Reese Witherspoon, pull yourself together, don't mess it up again!" Kazir gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger.
Ten minutes later, filming resumed.
This time, Reese finally didn't make any more mistakes.
"Cut! Reese, that was good this time. But it can be even better, let's do one more take," Kazir said.
The clapperboard clapped shut again, and filming continued.
The background music was very soft, just enough for the audience to hear Napoleon and Deb's conversation clearly.
Kazir stared intently at the monitor, his eyes not daring to leave the screen for a moment, until he saw a satisfactory shot, then he nodded contentedly: "Cut! That's a pass, next scene!"
Just for this three-minute scene, the crew decorated the ballroom to look exactly like a real prom, with all the decorations and lighting meticulously arranged.
But after filming, all these decorations had to be dismantled, and this one scene alone cost nearly five thousand dollars.
Making movies has never been a cheap endeavor.
Even though the total budget for napoleon dynamite was only five hundred thousand, there were places where money couldn't be saved, and every penny that needed to be spent had to be spent.
Once everything was ready here, the crew immediately moved to the next filming location.
"If all goes well, we might wrap up tomorrow," Reiner chatted with Kazir while carefully checking his camera.
"Tell me about it, we've been here for almost a month," Kazir said with emotion.
"Honestly, I'm starting to miss Los Angeles," Reiner said.
"Me too." They exchanged a smile.
The next scene was the hallway scene, which was the first meeting between Napoleon and Pedro.
"Pedro Pascal's acting is really good. To make this film more captivating for the audience, I need them to refine their lines, especially the punchlines; they must be precise and make the audience laugh as soon as they hear them," Kazir thought to himself.
"Alright, adjust the camera angle. Reiner, a little more light, yes, just like that," Kazir directed methodically.
Kazir nodded to the script supervisor, who understood, held up the board to block the lens, loudly called out "Lights, camera, action," and then clapped the board shut, officially starting the filming.
Everything went smoothly, and everyone in the crew could clearly feel that Kazir's directing skills had greatly improved.
After only a year of not working together, he had matured a lot, and his mindset was incredibly stable, able to calmly handle all sorts of unexpected situations.
"Today! It's finally today!"
The wrap-up day finally arrived, with only one last scene left.
This scene was left to be filmed last because it was the most troublesome to prepare.
The crew specifically found a group of extras and signed agreements with them.
These extras didn't have many lines; their main role was to be the audience, watching Napoleon dance.
"Everything's ready!" A staff member shouted.
Kazir gave the order: "Filming begins!"
The music started, and Ed Helms, who had already practiced his dance moves to perfection, immediately got into character and began dancing to the rhythm of the music.
His curly bob bounced happily with his movements, and his hips swayed rhythmically with the beat; his dance moves were quite impressive.
"It seems he put in a lot of effort," Kazir thought, nodding in praise as he watched Ed's performance.
After dancing for a while, Kazir called a halt: "Ten-minute break."
He walked up to a sweating Ed, a satisfied smile on his face: "Ed, you'll dance again in a bit. I want to cut together the most outstanding parts from both segments to give the audience the most spectacular performance."
"No problem, Director."
Ed replied with a smile, apparently his efforts had not been in vain, and the director had noticed them.