Chapter 208: The Team Assembled

Chapter 208: Chapter 208: The Team Assembled

Shelly picked up the kettle and poured a glass of water for himself as well. "You probably don’t realize what kind of weight you carry among actresses in Hollywood now."

The consensus is already clear: you excel at shaping three-dimensional, vivid, and undefined female characters.

From your early youth films to male-dominated works like The Italian Job, the women you write are never hollow vases, nor are they insignificant background figures. They have brains, stances, and strength—something extremely rare in today’s Hollywood."

He paused and added a piece of news that surprised Irene Coppola even more: "To be honest, the producers of the Mission: Impossible series have formally sent an invitation for you to take over directing the third installment.

However, knowing that your focus is entirely on post-production editing and new film projects, I have already politely declined on your behalf."

Shelly’s tone was firm and confident: "You are no longer the newcomer director who only made a name for herself with one work. The entire industry sees your ability, and so does the Oscar committee.

They believe that having you present the Best Actress award is a dual recognition of female creators and female actors. It is a very high honor."

"Regardless, I have already accepted the invitation for you," he announced calmly. "In the coming time, you need to push forward with the post-production editing of Pirates of the Caribbean while finding time to watch all the works of the nominees for this year’s Best Actress. Familiarize yourself with the procedures and the speech to ensure there are no mistakes on the day of the ceremony."

"Usually, the Oscar organizing committee will help prepare the presentation lines, but saying them too stiffly won’t fit your persona, so you will need to put in some effort. As for the rest—PR, styling, and scheduling—leave it all to me."

After hearing this, Irene Coppola sighed silently in her heart, feeling a mix of amusement and frustration.

Directing Mission: Impossible? Which genius came up with that idea?

But she also knew that Shelly was right.

The official Oscar invitation had been accepted. If she were to back out at the last minute, it would be tantamount to offending the entire Hollywood awards system, and she would likely find it impossible to move forward in the industry.

Given the situation, she had no choice.

She could only dive into the heavy post-production editing work while sparing energy to prepare for this Oscar ceremony she never imagined would happen.

Fortunately, for the two core difficulties of post-production—special effects and music—Irene Coppola had already finalized the teams in advance. Otherwise, having just stepped away from the set only to dive into endless coordination and negotiations would be a headache just to think about.

The next morning, Irene Coppola arrived on time at the post-production hall exclusive to the Disney studio.

In the spacious editing room, her old partner Hill was already in place. The screen was covered with the rough cut footage of Pirates of the Caribbean, and storyboards and continuity reports were neatly stacked on the table.

Hill was an editor who had grown up alongside Irene Coppola, starting from their first youth campus film, Legally Blonde. At that time, their professional levels were both average.

Irene Coppola had even less work experience than Hill and did not understand the film industry as deeply as Hill did, so most of the time it was Hill who made editing suggestions.

By the second film, Mean Girls, Irene Coppola’s editing ideas had already made Hill’s eyes light up, and sometimes Hill couldn’t even keep up with Irene Coppola’s pace.

Later, Irene Coppola’s crime action film, The Italian Job, allowed Hill to learn many fresh editing techniques and ideas, further upgrading the tacit understanding between them. Sometimes, before Irene Coppola could even voice her thoughts, Hill could capture her intentions first.

Now, for this unprecedented fantasy pirate adventure film, having worked together for many years, they had formed a tacit understanding that required no words.

Every breakthrough in genre meant a brand-new editing rhythm and narrative logic, yet they only needed a few sentences to precisely grasp each other’s ideas.

The two had not discussed the editing direction for the opening rhythm and key scenes for long when the doors of the production hall were pushed open one after another.

The top special effects team from Industrial Light & Magic and the music team led personally by Hans Zimmer all arrived on time.

Irene Coppola smiled and shook hands with the person in charge of Industrial Light & Magic, Bridges Clive, her tone carrying a hint of ease: "Thank you for keeping your schedule open and waiting so long."

The other party smiled readily: "Mr. George had already greeted us early on, saying that this work of yours would definitely refresh visual standards, and our entire team is looking forward to it."

In fact, the reason Industrial Light & Magic was able to reserve the top production lineup for the whole process was precisely because Irene Coppola had greeted her godfather, George Lucas, in advance. This confidence and resource were the key to her daring to film large-scale special effects scenes.

On the other side, Hans Zimmer and Jerry Bruckheimer walked over side by side. This music master, who was now thriving in Hollywood and was only one step away from reaching legendary status, looked at Irene Coppola with appreciation in his eyes:

"I heard from Jerry long ago that your film is very unique, and I can’t wait to see the final cut."

Irene Coppola nodded slightly: "It is this film’s good fortune to be able to hire you."

Hans Zimmer’s joining was a heavyweight collaboration finalized by Jerry Bruckheimer using his many years of connections, all to ensure that the score for Pirates of the Caribbean would stand at the top of the industry from the very beginning.

In the small post-production hall, the top post-production forces in Hollywood gathered in an instant.

The three core teams of editing, special effects, and music were all present, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on the monitors and the footage.

Irene Coppola stood in the very center, without a hint of timidity, her tone clear and steady: "Since everyone is here, let’s start directly."

An intense post-production battle that would determine the final quality of the film officially began.

Everyone sat around the giant editing screen, and Hill was the first to pull up the rough cut of the first thirty minutes of the film.

The footage was smooth and crisp, from the quiet street scenes of Port Royal to the classic shot of Captain Jack sailing a small boat into the harbor against the light. Every transition was precisely timed to the narrative rhythm.

Irene Coppola tapped the table with her fingertip, cutting straight to the point without any superfluous pleasantries.

"Let’s first unify the most core standards: the fantasy feel must be sufficient, the sense of realism cannot be lost, the rhythm must not drag throughout, and the total length of the film must not exceed 160 minutes."

She looked up at the heads of the editing, special effects, and music teams. "Hill has already set the basic rhythm for the action scenes and dramatic scenes. Next, the three of us must be fully synchronized. We cannot have a situation where the visuals, special effects, and music are all going their own separate ways."

Hill spoke first, his tone steady: "The direction Irene Coppola and I set before is to edit dramatic scenes based on emotion and action scenes based on breathing.

For big scenes like pirate melees and naval battle explosions, we won’t pursue speed for the sake of speed, but rather preserve space for the audience to see the actions clearly. Emotional scenes should not drag, but be handled with restraint to preserve the tension of the characters."

He paused and pulled up the segment where Jack and Will are sword fighting.

"For example, in this scene, I left a three-frame buffer of empty shots, just so that the sword light of the special effects, the splashes of water, and the drum beats of the score could all land at the same time."