Several military off-road vehicles came driving from a distance, kicking up clouds of white sand. After the cars stopped, Duke pushed open the car door, and a wave of heat hit him in the face. The sun in the sky scorched the earth like a fireball. The air was stifling, the ground was scorching hot, and even stepping on the nearly white grains of sand made his feet feel burned. Colonel Daniel Fries got down from the front vehicle, walked to Duke’s side, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, pointed into the distance with his right hand, and said, "It’s right here. With this spot as the center, an area within a thirty-five-mile radius is temporarily designated for the crew’s filming." "No missiles will come flying over, right?" The one speaking was John Schwartzman. He raised his hand to block the blazing sunlight falling from the sky and said, "The desert is kind of white, a bit different from the Middle East, but it’s not a big problem. We can adjust through lighting and camera work." Looking at the vast white desert, Duke made the final decision. "The scenes set in the Middle East will be filmed here. I suppose none of you really want to go to the Middle East, right?" Just like his mother had mentioned several times, Duke had no interest in going to Israel. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a choice—he simply wouldn’t go to the Middle East unless he had to. The Middle Eastern scenes could completely be built and filmed at the White Sands Missile Range, although the nearly white desert here still differed somewhat from the real Middle East. The White Sands Missile Test Range sits on the border of New Mexico and Texas. As the name suggests, it is a desert national park as white as snow. However, according to Colonel Daniel Fries, the desert where the missile test range is located isn’t pure white—it’s about fifty miles from the truly white desert. Many of the explosion scenes in the plan were to be filmed at the White Sands Missile Range. The crew’s ability to enter such a military zone was entirely due to support from the Pentagon. To create a positive and heroic image of the U.S. military, the Pentagon not only provided the shooting locations but also allowed the crew to film from the air alongside roaring fighter jets. The group walked for a while along a makeshift road in the desert. Duke saw a group of buildings, about a few dozen houses, but clearly long unattended—somewhat dilapidated, with collapsed walls in some places. "Colonel," Duke pointed toward that area and asked Colonel Daniel Friss beside him, "what’s that place?" "An abandoned old barracks. It was originally intended as a target for missiles but was never used." Probably guessing what Duke had in mind, he added, "If it’s useful for filming, feel free to use it." Dıscover more novels at 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒·𝗇𝗲𝘁 Hearing this, Duke waved to the back. Art director Hannah Serena walked over, wearing a large face mask. He pointed toward the spot and said to her, "Is it convenient to use them for set building and filming?" After observing for a few minutes, Hannah Serena said, "Yes. It should save some workload." Then the group returned to the cars, checked out a few other locations, and then drove out of the White Sands Missile Range. Leaving New Mexico, Duke didn’t return to Los Angeles right away. Instead, accompanied by Colonel Daniel Fries, along with Hannah Serena and John Schwartzman, he went to Edwards Air Force Base, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas for location scouting. In Las Vegas, Duke was received by City Hall. The mayor of Las Vegas directly stated that if Las Vegas became one of the main filming locations for Transformers, City Hall would do its utmost to cooperate with the crew. Things like closing streets for filming wouldn’t be a problem at all. With this kind of support secured, Duke also decided to place the final battle scenes in Las Vegas. It seemed that destroying half of Las Vegas would be quite a fun idea. Returning to Los Angeles, Duke first met with Larry Page and Sergey Brin from Google. The two parties officially signed the stock swap agreement. With the shares Duke held, combined with those acquired from other small shareholders earlier, Google successfully became the largest shareholder of Instant Share, with voting shares close to fifty percent. When the next shareholder meeting of Instant Share convened, it would mark the beginning of a major management overhaul. Duke wouldn’t have done it if there were no benefits. After signing the stock swap agreement, he became the largest shareholder in Google. However, the number of voting A-shares in his hands was still less than what Larry Page and Sergey Brin held combined. The two would never allow him to threaten their control of Google. That said, Duke had no intention of interfering with Google’s operations. He knew he was a complete outsider in the IT industry. Just like he wouldn’t be dumb enough to boss Steve Jobs around, he wasn’t bored enough to meddle in Google’s business. The signing of this agreement was a win-win situation for both Duke and Google but for Donald Trump and the Trump Organization behind him, it was nothing short of a heavy blow. But Duke didn’t care much. Ivanka Trump, after all, was just an ex-girlfriend. As for what she and Donald Trump thought, Duke didn’t care either he still had plenty of work to do. Hasbro had dispatched a design team from their headquarters in Rhode Island. Based on Duke’s requests, they once again completed concept designs for the Autobots and Decepticons. This time, Duke was satisfied. After several modifications, the blueprints were sent to Industrial Light & Magic. ILM’s modeling studio would create Transformers models in various scales according to the designs. In addition, with the designs for the Transformers completed, another ILM VFX team set up a special effects studio at Warner Bros. Studios to begin CGI modeling for the film. All of this work required an enormous amount of time there was no room for shortcuts. CGI special effects are, bluntly put, built from time and money. Those five-cent-looking effects were due to one reason only: not enough money was spent on them. According to Duke’s requirements, Transformers would feature the best visual effects available today. Forget the CGI—just the model making alone was demanding. Optimus Prime’s model required nearly 12,000 parts, a massive undertaking in terms of time and labor. This was also related to another one of Duke’s requirements: all the robots in the film wouldn’t have bulky, clumsy designs. Like elite soldiers in the human military, both Decepticons and Autobots would have naturally sleek aesthetics. During their transformations on the big screen, every single part of their bodies would move simultaneously. This design concept would also be extended to Hasbro’s related merchandise. Hasbro had already laid out plans some of the highest-priced toys would include special parts that, once triggered, would allow Optimus Prime and Megatron to automatically transform. Of course, such toys wouldn’t come cheap. However, as long as the film generates enough hype, there will surely be a large number of fans willing to pay for it. Duke spent the entire month of August in a flurry of activity. Preparing a film like Transformers is far more complicated than those independent movies, and there is absolutely no room for carelessness. Even a minor oversight in pre-production might become a serious problem during filming. Although specific tasks such as creating schedules and shot logs no longer require Duke’s personal involvement Hannah Selina’s assistant team is more than capable of handling them Duke still needs to review every aspect of the studio’s work. Even in areas he cannot personally oversee, they must be checked by Tina Fey, who is serving as production manager. "Strictly speaking, you’re the one in charge of the crew." After reviewing a storyboard sketch, Duke looked up and glanced at Tina Fey, who was sitting at another table, and said, "How does the work feel?" "It’s okay, quite similar to what I’ve done before." Back when Charles Roven was still around, he mainly assisted Duke, so this isn’t too difficult for Tina Fey. "It’s just a lot busier than before. Many negotiations involving locations, props, equipment, and finances require me to handle them personally." The funds are controlled by a third-party guarantor. In the past, when Duke needed funds, it was always Charles Roven who handled it. Now, of course, it’s Tina Fey’s responsibility. Third-party guarantors are a common system in Hollywood. They effectively curb the inevitable financial temptations among many in a film crew. Every director in Hollywood works under this system, and Duke is no exception. In some ways, Duke is also a proponent of this system. All films previously invested in by Duke’s studio have used third-party guarantors. Even when he worked with Tom Cruise and Warner Bros., Duke was never foolish enough to hand over control of the funds directly to them or the crew. A mature industry must have a corresponding system to serve as a safeguard. "Warner Bros.’ second installment of fifty million dollars has already been deposited." Tina Fey looked at a financial statement and said, "We need to make an advance payment to Industrial Light & Magic and the IMAX Corporation." Duke waved his hand, "That’s something you and the financial director should worry about. No need to tell me." After The Dark Knight created an IMAX craze, IMAX now had enough leverage. When Duke decided to film Transformers, they no longer offered their cameras for free now the crew has to pay the relevant rental fees. That’s perfectly normal there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Business transactions are ultimately business transactions. And now that IMAX technology has clearly demonstrated its advantages, it’s inevitable that many companies and films will follow suit. With only a handful of IMAX cameras available worldwide, they’ve naturally become highly sought-after commodities. After relaxing briefly, Duke flipped open the folder again and continued reviewing the storyboard sketches. On the other side, Tina Fey was also concentrating on her work. After opening a few document envelopes, she walked over to Duke with one in hand. "The first round of auditions for the three main characters." Tina Fey placed the envelope in front of Duke. "Anna just delivered this."