Actor in Hollywood

"Elephant" is wrapped.

Everything happened so fast. It seemed like just yesterday they had entered the set to prepare for filming, and in a blink of an eye, they heard the director announce the end of all filming for the movie.

This feeling is accurate.

In fact, the filming period for "Elephant" was only a mere five days; even if you add the time Anson and Gus spent experiencing and researching the school beforehand, the entire production cycle was less than ten days at most.

Quick and decisive.

Five days.

In the "Spider-Man" crew, it's unimaginable. They might not even have time to set up a scene, and "Elephant" would already be wrapped.

Although they knew that independent films were concise and the entire working mode was completely different, after experiencing it firsthand, they couldn't help but marvel.

Undoubtedly, this was Anson's fastest shoot so far.

Moreover, this film itself was quite special. Gus tried to capture those ordinary daily routines, and the filming work seemed no different from real life. The short five days were barely different from his previous school life, and the days with and without filming were vastly different.

So when Gus announced the wrap, it didn't feel real at all.

"It's over."

"Kids, it's all over."

Gus used a megaphone to make the announcement, ensuring the entire campus could hear it.

The last scene, the last shot, was still typical Gus.

Harris carried the camera, quietly wandering and lurking in the school corridor like a deep-sea submarine, moving along the corridor, classrooms, and activity rooms.

No close-ups. No medium shots. No pauses.

Silently surveying the entire space.

Of course, it wasn't just any space, but a space after a massacre, with no survivors, corpses scattered everywhere, and blood splattered all over.

There were no close-ups because Gus didn't intend to highlight any main character; all students were treated equally.

The entire journey was a panoramic display, presenting vastly different scenes from the same calm perspective. The contrast could be felt without the need for words.

For two-thirds of the film, the scenes were full of vitality, but now they fell into a deathly silence. Everything came to an abrupt end without warning, simply and crudely pressing the pause button. The film's theme was abundantly clear.

The impact naturally occurred.

However, Gus himself hadn't yet confirmed whether he would end the film with this long take.

In terms of echoing the beginning and end, such a shot aptly concluded the film. The criticism and accusations could be expressed without words. But Gus's hesitation lay precisely here:

Should he really present the criticism and accusations so bluntly?

Wouldn't that seem superfluous? Or would being too direct make it seem clumsy, as if he was afraid the audience wouldn't understand the message conveyed in the film, so he needed to emphasize it again with a long take at the end?

Just like Gus's evaluation of Anson's performance.

It was correct, indeed correct, from any angle of analysis. But by returning to the traditional Hollywood narrative套路, even if it wasn't the genre film routine but the unique routine of Sundance independent films, would it excessively destroy his original natural conception?

Perhaps the film should have a cleaner and crisper ending, without the director repeating what was already said in the film through camera language.

Gus needed to calm down and think.

But thinking was one thing, and shooting was another.

They could shoot it now and decide whether to use it during post-editing. After all, if they shot it, they could freely decide whether to use it, but if they didn't have the raw material, it would be too late to reshoot later.

So, the entire crew mobilized. Everyone who had participated in the film's shooting in the past five days was called upon to complete the most magnificent scene in the entire film.

The students "fell" into pools of blood one by one according to the plot, and the entire campus fell into silence. The vibrancy was thus devoured by the haze.

The desolation of death and emptiness conveyed in the long take was more powerful than any words, any music, any performance.

But at the same time, the shooting was not difficult at all because the actors didn't need to act. It was entirely controlled by the director. This was a shot to showcase the director's ability, which meant the actors could relax and immerse themselves in the filming.

Until Gus finished shooting and announced the film was wrapped.

The students sat up from the pools of blood with various expressions.

There was excitement, confusion, thrill, loss, joy, and reluctance.

No one was an exception, exchanging puzzled looks with each other.

Obviously, from any perspective, filming a movie shouldn't be like this. It was completely different from what they had imagined, to the point that even after the shooting ended, they were still unsure:

Did we really make a movie?

This scene made Anson's smile widen slightly, and he couldn't help but turn to look at Gus.

Anson was a survivor. He left the school with Eric's warning and escaped the disaster. Naturally, the last scene had nothing to do with him.

"Director, how is it? Do you have a feeling now?"

Gus shook his head slightly. "No, still not sure."

It was no secret in the crew that Gus had been hesitant about whether to shoot the last scene until the last moment.

Gus paused for a moment, then turned to look at Anson. An idea popped up. "What do you think?"

Anson didn't hide his surprise. "Me? Director, are you sure?"

Gus chuckled. "No, I'm not sure, but I still decided to hear it."

The advantage of a small and focused independent crew was its smooth operation and agility, but the disadvantage was that everything relied on Gus. When Gus hit a creative bottleneck, there was no one to discuss with, and he had to think on his own.

As Gus said, he wasn't sure if discussing with Anson was the right choice. As an actor, Anson had shown outstanding ability in the short five days of filming. But filmmaking wasn't just about acting. The director and the actor were two completely different positions. Gus still didn't trust Anson enough to initiate such a conversation.

But he had nothing to lose, right?

Anson looked at Gus's smile, clutched his chest, and let out a wail as if injured. But then, Anson continued along the topic.

"I don't think this segment is necessary."

Gus was waiting for the next part.

However, there was none.

Gus looked at Anson with a bewildered expression.

Anson spread his hands. "I'm just expressing an opinion, an intuition, an inspiration. That's my view."

After a beat, Gus realized that Anson was getting revenge.

But, revenge?

Gus was slightly taken aback, and before he knew it, a smile had crept onto his face.

This should be the difference between Anson and River Phoenix.

Such confidence and flamboyance couldn't be seen in River. Behind his fragility and sadness hid a touch of tenacity and stubbornness, which was a good thing. Moreover, Anson's flamboyance wasn't annoying at all.

Then, without pausing, Anson continued.

"Director, the title of this film, 'Elephant,' why is it called that?"

A unique entry point brought different thoughts.