Seeing the other party nod solemnly, Duke observed the camera positions once more before returning behind the director’s camera.

“Other than being a bit younger, you still look very much like a director.”

Hearing this monotone, nasal comment, Duke turned to glance at Sophia Coppola, who was standing nearby holding the clapperboard, but said nothing.

The adjustments were quickly completed, and at Duke’s signal, an assistant director called out, “Action!”

Throwing away all distractions, Duke focused his attention, watching the footage captured by the camera. In the shot, the security guard soon walked up to Dennis, ready to check his maintenance order, and then the camera focused on his right hand hidden behind the maintenance order...

“What’s this?”

Duke immediately frowned and called out, “Cut!”

He strode over to Dennis Hopper, took the maintenance order from him, and saw that the white paper was covered in messy letters—perhaps even God couldn’t make sense of what was written.

“Props!” Duke’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was exceptionally clear. “What I want is a forged maintenance order, not this!”

He gestured at the paper to the head of the props department, who hurried over. Without waiting for any explanation, Duke said directly, “You have ten minutes to fix this!”

There was no emotion in Duke’s words, just a strictly businesslike tone.

This team was not his team now, nor would it be in the future. Their relationship was purely professional—whoever made a mistake in their work would be held responsible.

Sitting back in his seat, Duke rubbed his forehead. The first time he called “cut” could be blamed on his lack of experience, but this time it was the props team’s carelessness...

“Would you like something to drink?”

The temporary assistant assigned to him by the crew suddenly asked, “Coffee or black tea?”

“Not for now.” Duke shook his head, then looked curiously to the side. “Sophia, why did you join the crew?”

“I need to make money—enough to let me live in Europe for a while.”

Sophia Coppola didn’t hide anything and answered directly, “After filming ‘Alien 3’ ended, I called Uncle Lucas, so I came here. Don’t forget, I worked as a temporary assistant for David Fincher, so I have some experience.”

“You’re going to Europe?” Duke thought for a moment, but drew a blank—he only knew a bit about Sophia Coppola’s experiences after 2000.

“My mom helped me get in touch with Karl Lagerfeld.”

The young girl showed a look of longing. “Chanel will have a few internship positions next year, and Karl Lagerfeld has already promised to reserve one for me.”

From Sophia Coppola, you could see Chanel’s allure for women. Perhaps her going to Europe was also related to the criticism she received from film critics for her performance in “The Godfather Part III.”

Duke certainly wouldn’t bring up that topic—he wouldn’t expose a woman’s wounds in front of her.

Filming soon resumed. In less than ten minutes, the props team produced another maintenance order. Whether or not these people had doubts about Duke, their professionalism was still there. Getting paid to do the job is the most basic principle in Hollywood. If they couldn’t even manage that, they wouldn’t have their current qualifications and status.

However, filming was still not going smoothly. From set design to camera positions, there were constant adjustments. The crew needed time to get in sync, and Duke’s lack of experience was another factor. It took a full two and a half hours for Duke to finish shooting the very first shot since starting the camera.

Even though Duke had worked hard for a long time in this life and had some experience from his previous one, he wasn’t an all-powerful genius. He made mistakes, could slip up, and needed to adjust his own rhythm to match the crew.

All of this takes time.

Duke needed to get in sync with every department in the crew, and also with the actors. The long morning shoot left the older Dennis Hopper exhausted, and he voiced a few minor complaints through his assistant.

“Dennis Hopper’s assistant mentioned a few things to me.”

During a break between scenes, Sophia Coppola promptly relayed to Duke, “He said that Mr. Hopper has been working too much lately and isn’t in great health. He hopes that the upcoming shots meant for crew adjustment can be given to other actors.”

“I made another rookie mistake.”

Muttering softly, Duke waved at the curious Sophia Coppola, indicating that he understood.

It was a simple issue, but Duke had overlooked it. As a rookie director, using a somewhat famous actor to help the crew get in sync was bound to cause dissatisfaction.

Hollywood is full of actors with all sorts of quirks. If you’re a superstar director, any problem during filming isn’t really a problem. But for a director like him, you have to be careful in many ways. A veteran like Dennis Hopper was already being quite reserved—if he ran into someone with a bad temper and a bit of fame, getting the cold shoulder wouldn’t be out of the question.

On a crew overshadowed by the pursuit of fame and fortune, harmony is never guaranteed—unless the person in charge of the set can keep everyone else’s head down.