“The pepper steak tastes good, but it’s a bit pricey,” Ryan muttered quietly as he ate his pepper steak.
Sofia Coppola, eating her vegetable salad in small bites, glanced at Ryan’s steak and said, “That’s the cheapest steak available, unless you want to try even lower-grade beef.”
In the U.S., beef is graded into eight levels, with the commercial grade being the cheapest available. The three grades below it are mostly used for processed foods.
“Cheaper steak isn’t all that bad,” Ryan said seriously, putting a small piece of steak into his mouth. “Compared to the crew’s expenses, I’d rather opt for cheaper steak.”
He had indeed eaten cheaper beef before, even those used for processed foods, and found that it didn’t taste much different from top-grade beef, especially when cooked in a hotpot.
In his previous life across the Pacific, high-grade beef was available but exorbitantly expensive, making more ordinary beef a more practical choice.
The memory of growing up on a farm, with access to top-quality beef, still lingered. Now, Ryan found himself missing the taste of hotpot more than steak.
Back to the main topic, the morning’s shooting wasn’t exactly smooth; it was more of a struggle. “Saw” was a gory horror film, requiring a lot of work from the makeup artists. The current situation showed that the highly-paid makeup artist wasn’t quite meeting Ryan’s standards. Fortunately, the artist was dedicated enough that Ryan would rather pay a penalty than replace him.
Like any director shooting a new genre for the first time, Ryan faced some challenges. After the crew finished their meal, the makeup artist finally completed the job, and the actors resumed their positions. The artist didn’t eat immediately but waited until this scene was done before taking a break.
Ryan looked at the actor lying on the ground as a background prop, satisfied with the improvements made. With the crew ready, filming resumed.
The shoot went well overall, but there was a noticeable gap in acting skills between Nicolas Cage and Edward Norton. Despite being prepared for this, Ryan couldn’t help but feel disappointed, missing the potential for a dramatic face-off in acting.
Even in his prime, Edward Norton couldn’t match Cage. Next year, “Leaving Las Vegas,” a low-budget film, would earn Cage an Oscar for Best Actor.
Despite Norton’s inexperience, Ryan didn’t stop filming. The film’s appeal lay in its gore, fear, and suspense, not in stellar acting. The original “Saw” cast wasn’t renowned for their acting, yet the movie was a massive box office success.
For a gore-centric horror film, acting wasn’t the main focus. “Tone it down a bit; he’s just a newbie,” Ryan advised.
“Got it,” Cage nodded understandingly. New actors often made mistakes.
Norton felt embarrassed but relieved that he wasn’t expected to perform at Cage’s level. New crew, new actors, and everything required time to adapt. Fortunately, “Saw” was a low-budget horror film where acting quality could be more forgiving. At this pace, the film could wrap up in fifteen days.
Forget the notion that movies take months or years to shoot—that’s for big-budget blockbusters. Whether it’s Hong Kong films, Hollywood, or elsewhere, low-budget films prioritize speed. It’s a financial necessity: small productions can’t afford to drag on.
After finishing the basement scenes, the crew didn’t switch locations but swapped out props to shoot some supporting roles, aiming to capture as many shots as possible before nightfall. There were also night scenes to shoot. While the May weather in Los Angeles was warm, with daytime highs around 20°C, the warehouse remained damp and chilly. The cast had to wear light clothing suitable for summer, and without central heating, they were uncomfortable. Ryan had to shift some scenes to daylight to prevent the actors from getting sick and delaying the shoot.
By midnight, after a simple supper, the crew got a few hours’ rest before resuming early the next morning. In Hollywood, overtime work is compensated, unlike in Hong Kong cinema, where overtime pay is unheard of.
After the actors retired for the night, Ryan stayed behind to review the day’s footage to identify any issues that might need reshooting. Every successful director pays meticulous attention to detail. Discovering mistakes post-shooting is costly and logistically challenging, especially for a low-budget film like “Saw.” Actors might be unavailable for reshoots as they move on to other projects, making reshoots problematic.
“Hey, Ryan, it’s late. You can review the footage tomorrow,” Monica Bellucci said, offering him a steaming cup of coffee.
Ryan accepted the coffee, thanking her. “You should be the one resting,” he replied.
Despite not being in the day’s shooting schedule, Bellucci stayed with the crew, closely observing the lead actors or rehearsing her lines in a corner.
“I want to get a feel for the filming atmosphere to avoid mistakes tomorrow,” she admitted. Bellucci, nearing thirty, was transitioning from modeling to acting, determined to establish herself in Hollywood.
This film was her ticket, and with Helen’s hint that “Saw” might become a horror series, Bellucci was motivated to secure her role in potential sequels as Jigsaw’s apprentice.
“Then you need to rest well. I don’t want to see you with dark circles tomorrow,” Ryan said, stretching and escorting Bellucci out before returning to the camera.
“I thought you’d leave with her,” Sofia Coppola remarked, a hint of surprise in her voice.
Ryan shrugged, signaling he had no romantic interest in Bellucci. Despite the common Hollywood trope of directors getting involved with actresses, he wasn’t interested.
Over the next two days, the final details for filming locations and post-production companies were ironed out, completing the preparations. The “Saw” film crew was finally ready to begin.