Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4609 - 3688 Movie Plan (4)

"Hello, Director Columbus." Shiller stepped forward, shook hands with the man in front of him, and said, "I've heard much about you. I believe many people have brought up 'Home Alone' when they first met you, but I still prefer your 'Little Monster' and the comedy 'Christmas Daddy.'"

"Hello, Doctor Shiller. You've been quite the sensation recently." Chris Columbus shook hands with Shiller. Born in 1958, he was now approaching 60, yet showed no signs of aging and looked like a middle-aged man. He had a head of thick brown hair, and when he smiled, his eyes curved, making him look very kind.

Shiller bowed his head and smiled, saying, "I fear I am the least famous among all the actors about to appear in the film. I'm glad to attend today's audition. I think it will be a very novel performance."

Chris's expression was somewhat helpless as he said, "In fact, I've never seen so many Superheroes in one day. I fear that after the audition, I'll have to ask each of them for a signature, or my daughter won't let me off the hook."

"Don't worry, you can also have them follow your daughter on Tiktok, ensuring she becomes a hit at school overnight."

Chris burst into laughter, and the two of them walked towards the dressing room together. The producer was of Asian descent, seemingly a Hong Kong individual working in Hollywood. He stepped forward to shake hands with both of them and then said, "The images of all the actors basically need adjustment. We are currently discussing character image styles with the makeup artists. Two have already been finalized and are in makeup now. You can go over and take a look first."

"Two people already finalized?" Shiller was a bit surprised, not expecting such efficiency. He thought today was just about eating, drinking, and getting to know colleagues.

This morning, Strange called him, saying that with Eddie's introduction, he had rented a studio in Manhattan, New York to complete the preliminary preparation for the film, including actor auditions, shooting pilots, script adjustments, logistics arrangements, etc., and informed him that the great director Chris Columbus had arrived in New York.

Shiller came today mainly to see Chris. Besides the classic 'Home Alone,' he was also the producer of the famous Marvel movie 'Fantastic Four.' This movie was quite a hit back then and could be considered many people's introduction to Superheroes, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the producer.

Many people who don't know much about the filmmaking process might not realize that the Boss of the crew is not actually the director, but the producer.

The director is only responsible for the artistic work, such as how to arrange a certain scene, how to shoot a certain shot, what posture the actor should use to express certain emotions, etc.

Meanwhile, the producer is responsible for everything else, including script coordination, preliminary preparation, choosing actors and cinematographers, preparing equipment and location setups, budget calculations, promotional audits, etc. It can be said that a good movie must have a good producer, otherwise, even if the director's artistic skills are high, it cannot be executed fully.

The producer Strange found this time was evidently very professional, as the pace of the preliminary preparation work was far faster than they had imagined. Shiller hadn't even reacted before the producer led him to shake hands one by one with the costume designer, makeup artist, supervisor, logistics personnel, photographer, and associate director.

"Doctor Shiller, could you please come over here?" The costume designer was a blonde and vibrant woman who waved him over and said, "Please try this academic robe. We hope to distinguish the school doctor's character design from an ordinary professor, wishing you to present a more relaxed and amiable appearance. A loose and comfortable academic robe is a good choice. Come this way; here is the changing room..."

Shiller walked over. There were two rows of clothes racks here, with boxes and mirrors nearby. Inside was a small room labeled "fitting room," but it was just a name written on white paper, obviously set up temporarily.

The costume designer tidied the sleeves of the clothes while saying, "My philosophy is, the more uniform a role like teachers and students has, the more individual styling characteristics they should have. This is achieved through small details in clothing. Do you have any personal style details that differ from the norm in your daily life?"

"Uh, I'm not very knowledgeable." Shiller admitted honestly, "I usually wear a doctor's uniform, just a white coat, in my sanatorium."

"What about when you go out? I mean in your personal life. What kind of material do you choose for your coat?"

"Woolen trench coat? I generally choose light gray or brown and wear ordinary suit pants and leather shoes." Shiller tried his best to describe, saying, "My personal style doesn't have much character, does it help at all?"

"It's too early to say." The costume designer smiled and said, "How about the tops then, would you choose to wear a shirt and vest?"

"No, that would be a bit too formal. In fall and winter, I prefer wearing sweaters or cashmere, and in summer, just ordinary short sleeves."

"Not much into sportswear?"

"No, I don't exercise often." Shiller shrugged and said, "Moreover, some reflective strips and patterns on sportswear are not to my liking; they're a bit too eye-catching for me."

"I see." The costume designer took out a few outfits from the side and said, "The wardrobe design for the school doctor role is similar to your personal dressing concept. Most of the clothes are made of soft, skin-friendly knitted materials, and the coat is an English-style academic robe. However, we made some alterations in the tailoring to distinguish it from other professors. Your academic robe sleeves will be shorter, allowing the snug inner lining sleeves to show for a more streamlined image and also more convenient for you to work."

Shiller took the clothes from her hands and had a look. The upper body was a white shirt paired with a sweater, and the lower half was pants similar to dress pants in cut but less stiff, being more loose and soft.

The academic gown outside - also known as a bachelor's gown - is quite different from the common ones in American universities. It lacks the iconic V-neck and cape, consisting instead of a black long robe with wide sleeves and a pleated design at the shoulders.

Shiller went to put on the clothes. The size was quite suitable, but Shiller rarely wore such formal attire and found both the long hem and wide sleeves to be cumbersome, making him feel like a giant bat as he walked.

"Absolutely perfect!" the costume designer exclaimed, "Oh, by the way, your glasses. Could you take them off for me to see?"

Shiller took off his glasses, and the costume designer gasped again, saying, "Your eye color is really special. Forgive my bluntness, but this look would be great for a villainous role."

"That's why I never take off my glasses," Shiller said with a smile.

"Ah, I suddenly have some inspiration," the costume designer clapped her hands, saying, "How about trying this?"

She picked up a monocle from the props table beside her and handed it to Shiller. The costume designer explained, "Originally, we wanted to portray the school doctor character as approachable and amiable through the costume. However, after seeing your look, we realized we might be able to shape him into a more mysterious character, hard to fathom."

"What does this have to do with a monocle?" Shiller asked as he fitted the monocle into his eye socket, looping the chain around his ear.

"Through the uncovered eye, the audience can notice your distinctive eye color. Gray has always been a symbol of chaos and mysticism, and your gaze... I mean no offense, doesn't look as friendly as it appears, possessing a compelling sense of conflicting duality. I believe this will add charm to the character. What do you think?"

Shiller walked over to the mirror and looked at himself, discovering that this appearance was indeed different from the usual vibe he presented. Mainly, after taking off the glasses, his gaze couldn't be concealed.

Shiller has always faced this problem, that without using glasses to obscure his gaze, those gray pupils would seem too indifferent and cold, making him appear overly distant and devoid of any friendliness, instead exuding a strong sense of oppression.

But whether as a professor or a doctor, being too oppressive is not good. So Shiller always chose to wear glasses to obscure his eyes, even though he wasn't nearsighted, he would make the lenses as thick as possible to blur his gaze through light refraction.

When he removes the glasses, he doesn't need to do anything, just sitting there can easily make people associate him with something fearful. In short, he doesn't look like a good person.

Now, with the monocle, one eye is obscured under the lens, making the gaze unclear, paired with a friendly expression, he looks like an ordinary person. Yet, the other exposed eye tells a completely opposite story, making the whole person look full of contradictions, shrouded in some unknown mystery.

The costume designer was clearly very satisfied, pulling the producer over to murmur for a while. The producer then pulled the director over to murmur for a while, and before long, the screenwriter also came by. The four of them huddled together, murmuring, and occasionally glancing toward Shiller.

Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, Shiller knew it was definitely nothing good. He wore glasses precisely to prevent this!

Unexpectedly, after a while, Chris came over and said, "Doctor Shiller, you must have seen the previous script overview, right?"

"Yes, the script is well-written, I think it will be very popular," Shiller nodded and said with a smile.

No one expected that maintaining this look, once Shiller smiled, Chris visibly froze for a moment, then pulled the screenwriter to the side to discuss something.

"Ah yes, we have a very talented screenwriter," Chris said, "but I think there's room for discussion regarding the character's screen time. Don't you find Doctor Elderidge's role somewhat lacking?"

"Lacking? I don't think so," Shiller recalled the script. The school doctor he played had two important scenes: the first was when a girl in the protagonist group got injured and was sent to the school hospital, where Doctor Elderidge healed her wound and, at the urging of the protagonist group, helped cover up the cause of her injury; while the other was when he helped mix a potion to identify the vampire.

Even though he only appeared twice, he actually had a lot of screen time, mostly interacting with the protagonist. The lines were plentiful but relatively natural, making them easy to act, requiring only Shiller's genuine demeanor, the same approach he used with teenagers at the sanatorium.

Shiller was quite satisfied with this arrangement since he wasn't a professional actor. Spending months memorizing lines and practicing acting would be impossible; a cameo was just about right.

However, apparently, director Chris was not too satisfied, or rather, he was satisfied initially, but after seeing Shiller's look, he suddenly became a bit dissatisfied.