"China Film Group is very grateful to you,"
During a break on set, Tina Fey walked over to Duke and said, "They believe these ideas could help the development of Chinese cinema, but at this stage, it’s not suitable to be made into a film."
Hearing this, Duke was not surprised. He merely nodded to Tina Fey and returned to his work.
Time had already reached December. The crew at Warner Studios had only the "New York Defense" scenes left. Here, Duke followed John Schwartzman’s suggestion—filming aerial shots focusing on each member of the Avengers.
This posed a challenge for the entire crew. Duke was fully aware of the effect he wanted—showing the Avengers working together—but the difficulty lay in how to implement this idea so that the heroes were interconnected rather than shot separately. Moreover, each character’s combat skills differed—some could fly, some could move vast distances instantly, and some could only act within a limited range in a single shot.
Achieving the desired effect required the full cooperation of all departments on set.
Filming quickly commenced. Mark Ruffalo, equipped with motion-capture sensors, and Tom Hiddleston, dressed as Loki, appeared in front of the cameras on time. The shooting set had been arranged to resemble the top floor of Stark Tower.
All departments were ready. Duke signaled the script supervisor.
"Scene 396, shot 126,"
The script supervisor placed the slate in front of the main camera, "Action!" Follow current novels on novｅlfire.net
Surrounding the set were devices specifically for motion-capture filming. Mark Ruffalo performed a Hulk-like ground-smashing motion, running toward Tom Hiddleston.
"Enough!" Tom Hiddleston, with a touch of madness, expressed Loki’s mindset perfectly through his body movements, "Who do you think you are? I am a god! You green brute, you ant, you’ll never humiliate me..."
Before he could finish, Tom Hiddleston fell to the ground himself.
Filming continued, but all cameras focused on Mark Ruffalo. The fallen Tom Hiddleston quietly exited the set according to the planned choreography.
In front of the camera, Mark Ruffalo was enraged. He swung his right hand, repeatedly making slamming motions against the floor, glancing at his empty hand before walking toward the window.
As he walked, he muttered to the empty floor, "Never seen such a pathetic god."
After Duke called cut, the shot was successfully completed. Like other scenes, much of this scene’s effect would rely on post-production.
Although Industrial Light & Magic created numerous digital doubles, characters, and alien creatures for Duke’s crew, the most striking visual effects were for Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk.
In the first film, most Hulk scenes were performed solely by Mark Ruffalo because the VFX team could not simultaneously capture his body movements and facial expressions. Mark Ruffalo had to act them separately—a painful process, requiring him to remain still after physical scenes to perform facial actions.
For this film, Industrial Light & Magic successfully developed a hybrid head-and-body motion technique. Mark Ruffalo, as before, could finally interact with other actors on set as Hulk.
Compared with the digital doubles used in previous Hulk films, the technology ILM applied here was far superior.
Ang Lee’s 2003 Hulk failed to convincingly portray Hulk’s immense strength, size, agility, wild anger, and performance. Audiences criticized the character’s believability.
Among all film and TV versions of Hulk, Mark Ruffalo was the first actor to play both the transformed Hulk and the gentle Bruce Banner.
In 2003’s Hulk, Ang Lee personally directed the motion capture for Hulk, but the results were mediocre at best.
In the completed VFX shots, ILM showcased the most successful Hulk ever, with spectacular action sequences and humor intact.
To achieve this, ILM used advanced motion-capture and new facial animation systems. They created a digital model based on Mark Ruffalo’s facial structure, refined it in specialized VFX software, and preserved the actor’s facial features.
Making Hulk green was not easy.
One issue ILM faced was that Hulk had to interact with other characters. The team first desaturated him to gray so he would not look out of place, then recolored him green to enhance realism.
Without this step, he would appear jarring and distorted.
To further enhance skin realism, the VFX team scanned Mark Ruffalo’s skin to make molds.
Mark Ruffalo cooperated fully, patiently enduring various procedures. For example, ILM scanned his mouth, gums, and teeth, and conducted a full 3D head scan to capture excellent geometry and textures.
After rearranging the set and filming a shot of Tom Hiddleston lying on the floor, all Avengers appeared on set.
With each department prepared, Duke gave the order to resume filming, and the crew sprang into action once more.
Tom Hiddleston crawled out of the floor’s depression, struggling to stand, while the main camera captured close-ups of his hands and facial expressions.
Seemingly noticing something, Tom Hiddleston looked back. The Avengers stood there, glaring at him, Clint Barton’s arrows aimed in his direction.
Facing these so-called "ant" freaks he had mocked earlier, Tom Hiddleston showed no fear, instead saying, "If you don’t mind, I’d like a drink first!"
"Cut!" Duke shouted, then called out loudly to the set, "Tom, your expression isn’t right. Do it again in fifteen minutes."
This was the last shot in Warner Studios’ soundstage. The afternoon had just begun, giving Duke enough time to finish this scene before leading the crew to New York for the final outdoor shots.
Most of the New York scenes in the film were digitally created. ILM’s VFX team had just finished Transformers 3 earlier this year, and the digital Chicago effects were excellent, allowing helicopters to freely hover over streets. New York, however, was different. Duke required that the helicopters not fly lower than 500 feet above the buildings, so ILM had to reconstruct the city to complete many shots navigating around the structures.
Then there was the forest battle involving Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America. Originally, Duke planned to shoot in a forest park in New Mexico, but an environmental organization targeted his crew, insisting that no tree or plant could be damaged during filming—a clearly impossible demand.
Duke knew how troublesome these extreme activists could be, so he simply filmed these scenes in a massive soundstage at Hughes Aircraft, using green screens to build the forest environment.
Although this approach increased costs slightly, it avoided a lot of unnecessary trouble.
No Hollywood crew wants to deal with organizations like animal or environmental protection groups, as it leads to endless headaches.
Every year, Hollywood produces hundreds of films, with many mainstream blockbusters costing over a hundred million dollars. While Duke’s crew was filming, other companies’ crews were also shooting simultaneously.
From California, traveling south through the Panama Canal, you reach South America—a land full of boundless energy, especially Rio de Janeiro, a world-famous city and one of Hollywood’s favorite locations for exterior shots.
Many crews have shot there.
For example, Fast & Furious 6, already in its final filming stages, was completing its last scenes in Rio.
The crew had closed off several streets in Rio to film intense car chase sequences. As the film’s actual investor and producer, David Ellison stood atop a nearby building, watching the speeding cars on the streets through binoculars.
He had invested massive sums in this film. From pre-production to now, over two years had passed, with every detail carefully weighed and considered, making it one of the most meticulously produced films in Hollywood.
But David Ellison knew that alone wasn’t enough. If a well-made film guaranteed a blockbuster, Hollywood would see countless hits every year.
Moreover, the competition Fast & Furious 6 faced was extremely strong.
To achieve a feat like "slaying the dragon," thorough preparation was essential, and David Ellison understood this perfectly.
As such, his binoculars frequently searched for Vin Diesel.
Standing beside him was David Ellison’s assistant, one of the people he trusted most. The assistant’s viewfinder was also fixed on the bald figure on set.
With no one else around, the assistant quietly said, "I’ve found the right person."
"Wait a little longer, be patient," David Ellison lowered his binoculars. "Wait until all filming is complete and the marketing campaign is fully underway—then make your move!"
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