Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4613 - 3692 Movie Project (8)

Later, Shiller returned to New York. Following that, he received the audition script from the film crew while having dinner.

Shiller rarely saw himself on camera. He hardly ever watched videos of himself filmed by others, and videos he made himself never featured him. So, he was quite curious about what he looked like on screen sometimes.

But obviously, movie cameras and short video cameras are completely different. Most people appear very average under the lens of short videos, and even many actors look quite different when filming short videos compared to movies. On one hand, the atmosphere is different, and on the other, the lens distortion from the two different types of cameras varies.

Shiller was astonished at how completely different he looked in the movie camera.

He kind of understood why Chris wanted the trio of protagonists to misunderstand him. You couldn't blame the kids for being biased; his aura under the film camera was exceptionally unique.

During the audition, the infirmary scene was set up in the studio. Shiller thought it looked quite ordinary at the time, but in reality, the lighting used during filming was meticulously adjusted and designed, and lighting has a significant impact on a person's appearance.

The three children were quite young and still had baby fat on their faces, and their performance details weren't as refined as adults. So, to highlight their expressions, the lighting was primarily designed to sculpt facial features. This was perfect for the kids, making their features appear very three-dimensional and their expressions and demeanor very vivid, which could immerse the audience more deeply.

But for adults, especially for Shiller, such lighting made his features too sharp. The folds on his face were almost at their extreme, and the shadows under his brow ridge covered his entire eyes. From a low angle, his gray pupils looked even deeper, and his emotions more obscure. Under this intensification, the monocle lens couldn't conceal anything, and he exuded a neurotic kind of coldness.

Even standing still was fine, but when he moved and started to speak his lines, he had an indescribable eeriness.

After all, when facing the three very small children, Shiller's tone was exceedingly gentle when delivering his lines. However, it was precisely this soft tone that exacerbated the conflicting aura he carried, making people shiver with discomfort.

Especially in one shot, filmed from behind the three little wizards, mimicking their point of view.

The children were naturally short, and from their angle, they could fully see Shiller's eyes under his brow ridge. When those gray eyes glanced over, even the cameraman seemed stunned, taking several seconds to remember to tilt the camera downward.

"This is evil editing! Pure evil editing!" Shiller messaged in the film crew group chat, followed by a chain of angry red-faced emojis.

"What's the matter?" Wanda replied, "Is there a problem with your test shot, Doctor? Mine turned out quite well."

After speaking, she sent a video file. Shiller clicked to watch, and quite coincidentally, Wanda had a solo scene also set in the school infirmary, where the female lead was injured and Wanda, as a professor, came to visit her.

In Wanda's audition footage, she genuinely appeared kind and gentle, exuding a soft and intellectual aura. Her long, glossy red hair made her look like a goddess from myth. When she embraced the female lead, it was like a painting of the Madonna's arrival.

Shiller was instantly speechless. It seemed to indeed be his own problem.

Everyone seemed to have only received their own audition footage. Strange also uploaded his. Despite the crudely set up principal's office scene, it could still fully demonstrate his wisdom and authority. The crew praised them all, complimenting their great looks and acting skills.

Others also gradually shared their footage, and the group chat became lively. Then Chris, almost as if fearing the world wouldn't be chaotic enough, tagged Shiller in the group to share his audition footage, too.

Shiller was a thousand times reluctant, but since everyone else shared, and the crew encouraged him, he had no choice but to share the video file.

The group chat went silent for a full three minutes.

However, the director and writer's creative team chat seemed to be scrolling as fast as five messages per second.

"Rewrite the script," Strange tagged the director, saying, "Perhaps our Doctor Shiller should be the final antagonist."

"We're considering it," Chris replied. "But the writer and I mutually believe Doctor Shiller's image suits long-term development. Just as a one-movie villain seems a bit wasteful; it might be better to lay the groundwork in the first film and leave enough suspense, revealing it in the final few installments..."

The group discussed enthusiastically, and Shiller could only sigh, turning off his phone, lamenting his impending public opinion fate.

Although he already gained some fame on short video platforms, his popularity was actually due to the superhero fame. As someone perceived by the audience as an ordinary person among a group of superheroes, his image was still relatively positive. Many netizens even saw themselves in him, and jokes made were light-hearted and harmless.

But judging by his image in this film, it seemed his public opinion rating would plummet. Shiller was already considering deleting his short video platform account.

After resting overnight, the next day, the producer was supposed to gather everyone in Massachusetts. The actors would check into the hotel, adjust their states, and memorize lines; the staff prepared for the final filming preparations.

However, when Shiller's plane arrived and the shuttle was almost at the hotel entrance, the producer suddenly notified them not to go to the filming location.

It drizzled a bit this morning. Shiller stood by the hotel floor-to-ceiling window waiting for news. He initially thought the delay was weather-related, but it had been over two hours since the rain stopped, and there was no notice to resume work. Shiller instinctively felt something was off.

It wasn't that he was extraordinarily eager for the shoot, but this related to the subsequent magical school plan, so it was best if nothing went wrong.

After waiting and waiting, Shiller decided to call Strange at the shoot location. He was shocked to hear the bad news over the phone:

"Early this morning, around 6 o'clock, a group of environmentalists suddenly showed up near the castle to protest. The producer couldn't negotiate with them, and the local police were ineffective, so filming has been temporarily delayed."

"Environmental activists? Didn't you show them the geological surveys and energy analysis results?"

"Do you think they can understand that?"

"Oh, I see. You're referring to those least concerned about the environment, right?"

"Exactly. The producer told me they might have been sent by that senator."

"But Congress has basically compromised already, why is he still opposing it? Is he after money?"

"I'm afraid so. About half an hour ago, the producer received a call from a local entertainment company in Massachusetts, called... I forgot, anyway, it's a small company. They said they want to invest in the movie and get a share of the box office profits."

"Investment is fine." Shiller said.

"The problem is the investment ratio is unreasonable." Strange said somewhat helplessly, "They want to spend a little money and take most of the profits. And they want to place people in the movie, seemingly the senator's niece, a little-known star."

Strange sighed and continued, "If we don't agree to their exorbitant demands, they'll continue to harass us with environmental issues and claim they'll expose us for polluting the local nature reserve."

"Sounds like a very mature industry chain."

"Yes, quite mature. Not just movie companies, even Harvard and MIT in Massachusetts have been troubled by them. Those professors specializing in environmental analysis and geology can't handle them. Our producer is trying hard to negotiate, but I don't see much hope."

"Your top priority now is to keep an eye on the mages, especially the Little Wizard," Shiller emphasized, "If they can't resist and take action against those activists, it'll cause a big mess."

Strange took a sharp breath, hurriedly hung up the phone. Shiller heard a commotion on the other side but couldn't figure out exactly what was happening. After hanging up, he felt a bit uneasy. Since the rain had stopped, Shiller flew over using the gray mist.

When he arrived, he found the place in chaos. A crowd was gathered at the castle gates, two ambulances were parked by the roadside, and faint sounds of argument could be heard.

Shiller's heart kept sinking, so much so that when he walked over and saw a redhead lying on a stretcher, he was a bit dumbfounded.

Wait, why is Wanda lying here? Did Eternity call in???

Strange, standing nearby, gave him a look, and the two of them circled to the other side of the castle. Strange lowered his voice and said, "Later, you take a video with your phone and post it on your account."

"What's really going on?" Shiller asked.

"Why are we here?"

"Filming?"

Strange clapped his hands and said, "Exactly! Good actors started acting even before the cameras rolled!"

Just as he finished speaking, a car screeched to a halt by the roadside, and JARVIS ran hurriedly toward them. Shortly after, several other cars also parked nearby, and people got out carrying cameras and surrounded Wanda tightly.

Shiller faintly heard Wanda's voice:

"I really... I really can't believe it... just because I'm a Mutant... this is so terrible... I miss my two children dearly right now..."

Then Shiller learned from Strange what had just happened.

In short, while Shiller was worrying about changes at the hotel, Wanda was so concerned that she drove straight to the scene to check it out.

When Wanda arrived, for some reason, those activists insisted on charging into the castle with a group of mages blocking the gate. The mages didn't dare to use magic on them, and the situation was precarious.

Wanda rushed over and shouted everyone back. But those people seemed to be sure the mages wouldn't take action and were causing a scene outside, hurling all sorts of insults.

Could Wanda's temper tolerate that? Miss Witch was so angry her eyes were spitting fire. Fortunately, Strange held her back, or everyone there might have ended up meeting Chaos.

At this time, the director and producer, who had retreated from the front lines, found the two of them. They devised a plan, which was to fake an incident.

Wanda and JARVIS's couple account was running very well, and she had gained a loyal following of Mutant and Mutant-sympathizing fans, enough to be considered a top influencer. If Wanda got hurt, with the spread by Wanda's fans, the focus would no longer be on environmental issues but would certainly be diverted to Mutant discrimination.

So, Wanda deliberately took a few steps forward, and amidst the pushing and shoving, the Scarlet Witch took a theatrical fall, pulling the other side right into her strong suit, ready to knock them down with her wealth of experience.