Echoes of Hollywood

In the first few days of filming, everything went more smoothly than Murphy had anticipated. Robert Downey Jr.'s outstanding state was impressive, and just as a bad mood can be contagious, a lead actor's good state can inspire the entire cast. The crew exhibited an efficiency reminiscent of Spielberg's sets, completing all the scenes involving Jordan Belfort's speeches in less than a week.

Then the female lead joined the filming.

Murphy's requirement for the female lead was straightforward: to be as seductive as possible. When signing the actress's contract, it was explicitly stated that there would be frontal nudity scenes.

As long as the relevant contracts are signed, nudity has never been an issue for Hollywood actresses.

Dakota Johnson, who stood out in auditions to secure the female lead, didn't seem to mind this aspect at all. Her contract didn't even stipulate closed-set filming.

Her passionate scenes with Robert Downey Jr. were shot with such dedication that it impressed many in the crew.

For many passionate scenes, Hollywood usually uses body doubles. However, Murphy had previously stated that all explicit scenes required the actors themselves, including Robert Downey Jr. and Jonah Hill.

"This woman has some ideas," Robert Downey Jr. said after a passionate scene, draped in a bathrobe. "And she's daring."

Murphy shrugged, not putting much stock in Downey's words, and casually replied, "That's a good quality for an actor."

He glanced at Dakota Johnson, who had just put on her clothes. Perhaps her background in the industry made her understand the importance of seizing opportunities.

Dakota Johnson wasn't an obscure actress; she had been recommended to the crew. She had appeared in "Crazy in Alabama" directed by Antonio Banderas at the age of ten. Her mother was the former Hollywood star Melanie Griffith, her father was Don Johnson, and her stepfather was Antonio Banderas.

Compared to other newcomers, Dakota Johnson undoubtedly had a better background.

While it's often said that all men are created equal, realists like Murphy know that people are born into different circumstances. The advantage of one's background is often enormous. The strong recommendation from CAA and Bill Rosithis was also a key reason why Murphy ultimately chose Dakota Johnson.

The next scene soon began filming. It was a scene where Naomi teases Jordan Belfort. Both Robert Downey Jr. and Dakota Johnson were fully engaged. With just one take, Murphy called it a wrap.

Seeing the passionate scene between Robert Downey Jr.'s domineering CEO and Dakota Johnson's beautiful girlfriend, Murphy suddenly thought of something.

He waved his hand to Gal Gadot, who was discussing something with someone.

"Anything up?" Gal Gadot quickly asked.

Murphy nodded and asked, "I remember you've read 'Twilight'?"

Such movies and novels are always a favorite among women, and Gal Gadot was no exception.

"Yes, at first I thought it was okay," Gal Gadot said, thinking Murphy might be interested in the series. "But after reading more, it became a bit tiresome. Girls under twenty should like it more. I think it's a great fan movie."

"Find someone to check it out," Murphy said, recalling but unable to remember the original novel's name. "Collect all the fan fiction related to 'Twilight' on the internet, especially those featuring Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen as the main characters."

"Alright," Gal Gadot nodded and then suddenly asked, "Including those with explicit content?"

Murphy nodded without hesitation, "Yes, especially the S&M types."

Gal Gadot glared at Murphy, "What are you up to?"

"I want to learn something," Murphy suddenly lowered his voice. "See if we can use any of it."

"Well…" Gal Gadot bit her lip, seemingly intrigued. "We'll talk about it later then. We're working now."

Murphy suppressed a laugh and said seriously, "Alright, we'll discuss it slowly when we get back."

After ten days of shooting at the warehouse set in Venice, Murphy led the crew to shoot in various exterior locations and sets nearby. As more actors joined and the scenes diversified, filming became less smooth.

Especially since the crew would shoot in different environments, times, and lighting conditions, including night scenes, which posed challenges.

Therefore, Murphy decided to mix various filming techniques: using Super 35mm film for daytime scenes and digital cameras for night scenes, green screen shots, and experimental shutter speed footage.

The film's protagonist, Jordan Belfort, indulged in alcohol, drugs, sex, and various thrills, showing the ups and downs of his life.

To depict his extremely dazed state after drug use, Murphy decided to use Alexa's shutter settings to create highly stylized visuals. He didn't want the depiction to be too obvious or contrived, aiming instead to give the audience a subtle sense of confusion.

Murphy shot at 360-degree shutter angles at twelve frames per second, printing each frame twice. This method introduced some distortion and motion blur to the footage, making it feel loose, like Jordan Belfort's deteriorating mind.

At Murphy's request, the crew mainly used different lenses, lighting styles, and color schemes to represent different stages of the story, guided by Jordan Belfort's mental state. They alternated between Super 35mm film and digital camera lenses to achieve varying degrees of depth of field, angles, and clarity.

During this process, cinematographer Philippe Lachel suggested adding occasional environmental haze and using negative film to enhance the contrast in Belfort's mental state.

The footage already captured, particularly the early part of Jordan Belfort's story, was soft and slightly hazy, indicating he hadn't yet discovered himself and still felt confused and awed by Wall Street.

Murphy used very shallow depth of field and subtle lens distortion to depict the first stage of Jordan Belfort's career.

Next were the scenes of Jordan Belfort before starting his own business, at his first job in a brokerage firm. Murphy primarily used green and gold lighting here, reminiscent of "old world wealth."

The color scheme was inspired by a photo provided by David Roby, showing a stock trading company from the 1980s.

"This stock company eventually went bankrupt, and Jordan Belfort found himself unemployed,"

On set, Murphy explained to Helena Espora, responsible for set design, "He eventually worked as a regular employee at an investment center. He hated this job. I only allowed light through the large window on one side of the room to make the office feel like a cave, a place that plunged him into darkness."

To designate different looks for various times and places in Jordan Belfort's story, Murphy also created certain looks to evoke the character's emotional or mental state. For example, to highlight Belfort's continuous drug use, Murphy established a "hypnotic feel," with the camera close and intimate with Robert Downey Jr. when the character was dazedly speaking.

After finishing the Los Angeles area shoots, Murphy took the crew to New York. Since the Rhode Island yacht club didn't meet filming requirements, they built a green screen-surrounded yacht scene at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn.

Filming here required creating a realistic, dark, and stormy daylight exterior, so Murphy decided to shoot at night for better lighting control. The model yacht was built on a heavily tilting gimbal, requiring track operators to secure Philippe Lachel and his camera assistant to keep them upright during filming.

This was challenging for the cinematographer.

But that's the nature of filmmaking; there are always difficulties to overcome. If you want a smooth sail, don't choose this industry.

Although green screen filming was much easier than shooting on a real yacht, there were still many challenges to resolve. Murphy needed David Roby's team to create soft environmental light, and the effects team used large buckets and water cannons to send water to the set's bridge to simulate the waves eventually sinking the yacht. The camera crew used underwater lenses to shoot from the far end of the bridge, making the water genuinely pour towards the camera.

For other yacht scenes, Helena Espora's art department built a replica of the yacht's upper deck at Kaufman Astoria Studios.

There, on the yacht's deck and surrounding all the actors and crew, a roughly 50-foot-high, 80-foot-wide semicircular green screen was set up. It was mounted on a dedicated track, allowing the team to slide it to fit the shot without adding green supplementary lighting elsewhere on set.

Outside the filming range, per Murphy's request, the crew also erected a massive white curtain behind the camera to create soft backlighting.

Overall, filming progressed smoothly. Even when faced with difficult problems, Murphy would collaborate with the entire team to resolve them. Good teamwork is always crucial in producing a successful film. Making a movie requires recognizing the talents of those around you and understanding that a director can never complete a film alone.

Filmmaking is a team sport.

As filming progressed, 20th Century Fox didn't slack off on publicity. With social media being very active during this era, many of the main crew members kept updating their social media accounts according to the plan.

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