Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The "Fast-paced Richmond High" movie is officially in the works. Universal Pictures has scheduled this youth film to be released next year, after the summer season of 1982, around late July.

There is no exact release time, this is because the schedule of small productions depends on the situation of large productions.

For big productions with big-name stars, next year's schedule will be set at the Film Fair held in Las Vegas every April. Buyers from major producers and theater chains will find a suitable arrangement there so that the major productions of major studios do not collide in time.

Small productions like "Fast-paced Richmond High" will squeeze in between big productions and flexibly adjust their schedules based on their box office performance.

Because the schedule is not very certain, the studio will leave enough time for production work.

Pushing back three months, that is, early April next year, the studio will hope to complete the final editing and small-scale test screening of the entire film at this time point. Based on the results of the test screening, some final fine-tuning will be made, and then Make feature copies and rent them to theaters.

On this basis, push forward another three months, that is, before the Christmas holiday of 1981. The movie must be packed and shut down at this time.

Allocate three months to complete the initial and final cuts of the film, and wait for the film studio executives to find audiences for internal test screenings before deciding whether to make major changes to the finished film. This is the so-called final cut right.

The next two months are the filming and production time.

In 1980, the average production cost of the eight major film companies was US$8 million. A small production costing US$3 million is considered a very shabby configuration. You are burning money every day during the shooting, so it is impossible to prolong the shooting cycle for a long time, so you can take your time.

But the 90-minute length determines that even if you use Roger Corman-style shooting methods, it is impossible to save a lot of time. Therefore, the "fast-paced" shooting time was set at 8 weeks.

Excluding the Christmas and New Year holidays, that means that the crew will start filming in mid-October this year at the latest.

In September before this, all actors and technical teams must be in place. Including but not limited to camera crew, sound crew, lighting crew, makeup, costumes, and hairstyling. The crew has officially entered the operational stage.

In the next few months, Ronald, as the director, will work with the producers to identify candidates for key positions. Photography director, art director. These two key people must work with the director to determine the image tone and setting style of the entire film.

After identifying key candidates,

The director will also work with them to scout locations for the film to find the locations needed for the plot. Determine the shooting location, cost, and if the budget is not enough, modify the script-related scenes.

During this period, another main task of the director was to audition the main actors together with the producer, and there were a lot of main actors in this film.

In short, during this period, Universal also thoughtfully provided more margin, allowing the "fast-paced" production office to be established earlier.

All in all, a "small production" takes almost a year to prepare from the release date. This does not include the previous script creation and repeated revisions, waiting for the studio executives to agree to green light the project.

Of course, these are just schedules on paper. In actual operation, many things can be accommodated, and problems need to be handled flexibly. Small productions don't get much attention from studio executives, and directors still have a lot of decision-making power.

Before Ronald started working, Universal would set up a production office in a row of bungalows next to Universal Studios. There were more than a dozen empty offices here, waiting for new crews to move in and farewell to old crews. leave.

Ronald went to see it, and he was assigned to an office in the back, next to the bathroom. There were two desks facing each other in the large room, belonging to Ronald and the executive producer. On the other side is the accountant's desk.

During the preparatory stage, the "Fast Pace" crew only had these three people in the office. There is no secretary, so you have to get tea and coffee yourself.

The executive producer who handles the day-to-day stuff isn't in place yet, and the accountant hasn't arrived yet. After Ronald familiarized himself with the environment in advance, he flew back to New York because there was still an important matter waiting for him to deal with there, which was to take a leave of absence from school.

Aunt Karen was not very happy. Ronald was a first-generation college student in her family, and her sisters and brothers-in-law were all looking forward to Ronald's success. Now I am taking a break from my second grade in the middle of school to shoot a movie.

There is no guarantee for the future. Regardless of whether the movie is successful or not, Ronald may not be able to obtain a bachelor's degree.

She talked to Ronald seriously, "Ronnie, it is your parents' wish to send you to college..."

"I know, so I'm just going through the formalities of suspending my studies. I can come back and continue when I'm free in the future."

"Have you ever thought about your future? If your directing career doesn't go well and you want to come back and find a decent job, a college degree is indispensable."

"With my abilities, I can find an editing job in the film industry. You don't have to worry. If not, there is a leg warmer factory where you can make money. As for academic qualifications, Donna can definitely get into the Ivy League."

"But it's a little weird for you as a man to run a business of women's dance supplies."

"Don't worry, my video will definitely be a hit."

After persuading his aunt, Ronald drove to New York University and went to the office building to complete the suspension of study procedures.

Then he turned around and went to the home of Scorsese, the teacher he had made an appointment with beforehand.

Isabella prepared black tea for him. Scorsese is half-lying on the couch with a blanket covering his legs.

Although he did not win the Oscar for Best Director, "Raging Bull" was well received by film critics, allowing him to once again gain the trust of the studio, and a new film is in preparation.

"Ronald, you are very good. Among the several students I have taught, you may be the first to independently direct a film. A youth film? Very good. It is best for the first film to have some overlap with my own life. part."

"Thank you." Ronald drank black tea and saw Isabella going to the kitchen to bring meatballs to them.

"Marty, what is the theme of your new film this time?"

"Ahem, I hope to make a movie about Jesus Christ, with Robert De Niro playing Christ himself." Scorsese coughed twice and replied, "I haven't been in good health recently, and so has De Niro. Not interested in playing him, we might turn to comedy."

"It has always been Marty's wish to make a movie about Jesus' last moments." Isabella simply heated up the meatballs in the kitchen and brought them out to Ronald and Marty.

"Thank you, Isabella." Scorsese's wife actually has a good image and is suitable for movies or commercials. However, she has always played the role of a housewife and occasionally appeared on television.

"How is your mother, Ms. Bergman?" Ronald asked.

"She is recuperating in London and has not been in good health since the surgery."

After Ronald finished eating the meatballs and stood up to leave, Scorsese stopped him, "Ahem, I have another gift for you, Isabella, hand me the box."

"What is this?" Ronald was curious.

"open to take a look."

Ronald took it apart and saw that it was a small director's viewfinder.

"I used this when I was filming Once Upon a Time, and I gave it to you. It can help you see the viewfinder range of movie lenses with different focal lengths when scouting. It has no depth of field but is light enough and suitable for running around."

"Thank you, Marty." Ronald hung the viewfinder around his neck and said goodbye and went home.

Donna at home had already returned from school. When we met, she asked Ronald to accuse him, "Why don't you use the Kangmaoda computer that Diane and I gave you? I saw it when my aunt and I went to clean the room in your apartment two days ago. "

"It's not that I don't use it, but that tape drive takes a long time to start up and save every time. It's not convenient for me to take it to the print shop, so I brought a typewriter with me when I went to Los Angeles last time."

"I knew it, here it is." Donna took out another box, "It's more convenient to use this one."

Ronald took a look and saw that it was a machine larger than a Walkman. There was a long gap on it for who knew what it was for.

"This is called a floppy drive. This is a floppy disk. It is very convenient to use this to start the typing software Wordstar." Donna handed him a few more floppy disks.

Just like the name, the 5-inch floppy disk is really soft. Ronald took it and inserted it into the floppy drive and put it down.

"Okay, that's much more convenient. I'll take it with you this time."

"This time, Diane and I bought it for you too."

"Oh, thank her for me." Ronald put away the floppy drive, "Where is she now? I haven't seen her come home since Oscar."

"She has joined a new cast again. This time it seems to be a racing movie, starring with singer Kenny Rogers."

Ronald nodded. For an actor, the time to participate in a movie is very short. There is no need to participate in the early preparations and post-editing. The total rehearsal and shooting time usually takes 2-3 months, so they can participate in many more movies every year than directors.

If they can get enough film offers.

"Has her last movie about punk girls been edited? When will it be released?" Ronald asked.

"I heard that there was a problem with the editing, and the director couldn't edit the complete 90-minute video. Diane called several times to ask, and every time she said it was almost ready."

"Oh, that's really unfortunate." Ronald knew this kind of thing. Inexperienced novice directors sometimes shoot movies without considering editing. They just follow their own interests and shoot more scenes that they like. If you are interested, take a photo. Sometimes there is not enough material when editing, and it often gets stuck like this.

Either reshoot, or rework the script and cut the existing material into a 90-minute film. "

Although I have editing skills and a few scenes from my dreams as reference, I still can’t be careless and take every day’s shooting seriously.

If you accidentally make such a low-level mistake, it will really make you laugh to death. If you lose the trust of the studio, it will be difficult for you to be a director in the future.

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