Looking at the script in his hand, Shiller let out a long sigh. Chris unexpectedly got straight to the point: "Doctor Shiller, I think you might have schizophrenia... I an, dissociative sothing disorder. And you should be able to control this ability of yours, right?"
"Not entirely right." Shiller said, "We are not independent personalities, just different personality traits."
"Oh? Care to elaborate?"
"We are the sa person, with the sa mories, basically the sa abilities. It's just that one personality trait is more prominent."
"So, which trait of yours is more prominent?"
"Greed."
"What about yesterday? I an, the one who nailed it in one take during the shoot."
"My personality is divided into a normal side and a morbid side, the one yesterday was the morbid side. The morbid side is not as clearly divided. Yesterday, it might have been Manipulation, he's better at acting."
"That's really interesting," Chris remarked, "No wonder you can be friends with so many superheroes. You're just as quirky as they are."
"I'm much quirkier than them," Shiller smiled and said. Actually, he felt quite strange now because he had a string of superhero friends, but not one had asked him so directly, so maybe they still didn't quite understand what he was all about.
"Alright, I think this setup is very interesting. It can help us create a very unique and multi-dinsional character. Would you be willing to cooperate with us?"
"I just want to know what's going on. Is phisto the behind-the-scenes manipulator? Then why does the first part talk about vampires?"
"In the background story setting, phisto has always wanted to invade Earth. However, because of the Magical Defense Network, he has never succeeded. So he made a deal with Cain, the ancestor of the Blood Clan, who can freely enter and exit Earth..."
Chris began to explain the specific background story to Shiller, which was not written in anyone's script, mainly to avoid spoilers. But it seed he trusted Shiller's discretion, so he didn't hide it any longer.
The plot was almost what Shiller had imagined. After all, this was a school-thed movie, and in the end, it definitely couldn't rush into Hell to kill phisto, that would be a bit too much. So all kinds of struggles remained on the level of deputies.
And in the magic world set by the director and screenwriter, the most dangerous and powerful character is the black magician. And the final villain of this series of movies is a black magician nad Saphire.
In the setting, he is evil, powerful, cunning, cruel, and malicious, having stirred up one wave after another of bloody rain in the magic realm. But many years ago, he was defeated and sealed by the newly inherited Supre Magician. Yet he never gave up his goal of conquering the magic realm.
Years ago, he made a pact with the king of hell, phisto, and the two of them started a war. Unfortunately, it failed, but he beca a terrifying Demon King that people spoke of in fear.
So the basic story is quite similar to that of Voldemort, but without the blood curse and Savior the, he was simply defeated and sealed by the Supre Magician, and now he's broken out again.
As for Shiller's character setting, it wasn't that Saphire controlled Shiller's body, nor that they cooperated, but that Saphire wanted to successfully infiltrate Ilvermorny, defeat his old rival, so he created a body for himself. However, fearing that he couldn't fool the Supre Magician, he crafted a kind school doctor personality for himself.
In other words, the black magician is the original body, and the school doctor personality is crafted. Shiller is Saphire.
Shiller thought the plot would be that the school doctor, who had always helped the protagonist team and was their most trusted ally, suddenly transford into the terrifying big devil, followed by the protagonists using their wit to defeat the demon king and achieve victory.
Chris told him that was too cliché; audiences were tired of such plot twists. So he wanted to make a twist of the twist.
It turned out the good personality in the school doctor's body that Shiller played was the true Supre Magician. Years ago, to completely defeat and seal the powerful black magician Saphire, the Supre Magician chose to let his soul leave his body and enter Saphire's body to battle him. Eventually, he successfully turned Saphire's body into his own prison, while he beca the prison guard watching over the prisoner.
And the Supre Magician outside was a puppet created by phisto, who took advantage of the situation to control the soul-less body of the Supre Magician.
Under his managent, Ilvermorny had nurous loopholes: vampire invasion in the first year, New York Temple was attacked in the second year, problems with the Magic Defense Network in the third year, and the fiery dragon out of control in the fourth year...
The school doctor returned to Ilvermorny to defeat this impostor and foil phisto's conspiracy once again. But after entering the school, he discovered that Saphire sealed within him was gradually losing control. So, in addition to facing the king of hell phisto's conspiracy, the most evil black magician is also about to return...
After reading the entire script, Shiller couldn't help but sigh: "The director and screenwriter really know how to spin a yarn."
This is the advantage of creating purely from imagination without understanding magic. Which real magician would think that the Supre Magician has to undergo soul evasion to enter the body of an Earthly Black Magician just to barely seal them? And then without even sealing them properly, they escape?
Anyone who has witnessed The Ancient One thrashing phisto would never imagine such a scenario in their lifeti.
However, Shiller had another question. Over the phone, he asked Chris: "So was Elderidge's cold and impatient deanor during the house sorting ceremony because Saphire controlled his body?"
"No," Chris said, "Elderidge was pretending because he knew Saphire was very dangerous. And as he's gradually losing control, he had to act very irritable to keep the little wizards away from him. And he succeeded."
"Oh, I see, there's another twist. It turns out that the Supre Magician who has been nice to them all along is a fraud, but inside the seemingly cold and crazy Elderidge hides the real Supre Magician."
"Exactly. And we'll use so shots to show that although Elderidge acts very cold, he's actually secretly helping the little wizards. We'll blur Elderidge's actions with so ambiguous scenes, making the protagonist and the audience unable to discern whether he's helping or harming the protagonist. That way, when the suspense is finally revealed, the audience will be surprised."
Shiller nodded, thinking of that scene in the Quidditch match where Snape was chanting a spell. That's a typical way to blur the view—Snape chanting, Harry falling. It looks like it's Snape's doing. But when the truth is revealed, people will realize that he wasn't causing harm but was actually saving soone. This can be considered a classic rhetoric trick in storytelling.
"Moreover, it's not entirely an act," Chris said, "The Supre Magician found himself gradually being eroded by Saphire. He's starting to lose emotions, becoming as indifferent as an evil Black Magician. He knows that if he's assimilated by Saphire, he will beco stronger. So in the end..."
Chris didn't finish, but Shiller already understood. After all, movies still need to create so tear-jerking monts, and the sacrifice of the real Supre Magician is quite a good plot.
But the biggest problem now is, he can't act it out, Shiller thought. He's not a professional actor, and the character is too complex. The performance probably won't be very smooth.
"It's okay," Chris said, "How about this, you tell all your personality traits, or simply let them co out and talk to . I'll get the gist of what kind of people they are. When the ti cos, I'll tell you which one to switch to, and with the help of post-production editing, we'll surely make you look like an Oscar-winning actor."
Shiller was impressed. Chris Columbus could definitely be regarded as a typical example of "how bold can humans be for the sake of art."
While Stark is still dodging issues, refusing to talk at Hydra 1, Hydra 2, Chris has already begun preparing to use the differences between personality traits for filming.
But then, who could be more suitable than Shiller to play such a complex character? Others rely on acting to portray multiple personalities, while Shiller relies primarily on life experience.
The key is, the audience doesn't know he indeed has many personality traits. They would assu that a psychiatrist's mind is surely healthy, so his acting skills must be simply extraordinary!
Shiller was relieved, now he didn't have to worry about getting criticized for his acting skills. This is the first ti a magician has made a movie. Even if it turns out average, the novelty alone will surely make it a hit. He definitely doesn't want to leave a dark spot in movie history.
However, Shiller actually had his doubts. He mainly wondered if Chris could really grasp the differences between his various personality traits well and use those differences to shape the character? It seems like sothing beyond what normal people can do.
But soon Shiller realized his worries were sowhat unnecessary. In art, there really is a fine line between genius and madness. Chris was very enthusiastic in the director's lounge, eting several of Shiller's personality traits and having quite pleasant chats with them.
He even wrote a profile for each personality. After Shiller read them, he found them quite accurate. If he had studied psychology back then... well, the world would have lost a great director today.
It was clear that Chris is a complete pragmatist. He doesn't care about how such a peculiar state occurred, whether there's danger, or if it's a taboo topic that shouldn't be touched upon. He's all about using everything available for the sake of art. Essentially, he's a bit like Greed.
The first film in the series mainly introduces the worldview and showcases the protagonist's character. There aren't particularly many main plotlines involved, mainly dealing with vampires, with just a little foreshadowing of phisto.
After the initial adjustnts, the entire shooting process beca very fast. Because with various props and special effects, there's no need for concern. As long as it can be described, magicians can achieve it.
The young actors also got better at their roles, becoming more familiar and close with each other, aligning better with the the of the first film, which improved the overall presentation.
The film shoot was quickly completed. It was initially planned to take about nine months, but in fact, the shooting finished in four months. Post-production took less than a month, and even including promotional work, it was less than half a year before the movie was ready for release.
Before hitting theaters, there was a premiere, inviting insiders and various film critics to watch the movie first and give their reviews, allowing them to promote on social dia and adjust the marketing strategy based on their feedback.
This ti, the premiere not only invited professionals from the film industry but also Strange and Shiller's friends—the entire Avengers were there.
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