Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Gloria, you're always running away now

To chase someone, you have to catch him somehow

I think you need to slow down before you start bragging

I think you're heading for a breakdown, so be careful not to show it."

In a Pittsburgh ice rink, Laura Branigan’s hit song “Gloria” was playing. The song is so popular that it is now ranked No. 2 on the charts, behind Lionel Richie's new song "Truly."

Sunny Johnson plays Alex's friend Jenny, who is participating in a figure skating competition in Pittsburgh, trying to advance to a higher level of competition.

A spotlight shines down from the ceiling, illuminating Sonny Johnson as she slides on the ice.

"Swipe...swipe..." The friction between the skates and the ice of the rink made a pleasant sound, "swipe..." After a double jump, Sunny's skating double landed steadily.

"cut!"

"Ronald, they're here." Producer Don Simpson walked into the ice rink and called Ronald out during a break in filming.

"Experts in break dancing have arrived. They are the New York dance group 'Rock Steady Crew', a break dancing group in the Bronx. I heard that there is a white crew who will dance their dance. I want to see it. "

"Hahaha, they are the professionals."

Ronald walked out of the ice rink, and there were three skinny dancers standing in the open space in front of him.

“Crazy legs, prince ken swift, frosty freeze.”

Don Simpson introduces the "nicknames" of three dancers. The first two were Latino whites, and the latter was black. It was difficult for him to remember such tricky and weird nicknames so clearly.

Ronald greeted them. Sure enough, they were dancing boys from the Bronx. They were dressed like the boys he saw break dancing on the street when he went to see Little Bud, the son of his uncle's comrade-in-arms. ,

Just as unruly.

"I heard you can dance our dance?"

"Yeah, I learned it from my black brothers, they used to dance in the Bronx, New York." Ronald said and did a few "window cleaning", "pulling the rope", and "moonwalk".

"Oh yeah, baby." When the three dancers saw that Ronald could also break dance, they became more excited and began to do more professional dance steps.

The three of them started chatting with Ronald. The recognition of white friends in the Bronx is so simple. As long as you show respect for their culture, they will recognize you.

"Hey, are you Hollywood finally going to put our dance and music on the screen?" The three were headed by a white Latino named "Crazy Legs".

"At least from here on, you will have a showcase of dancing in the street, and then the heroine will see your dance, learn from it, and finally incorporate break dance moves into the ballet and get admitted to the Pittsburgh Ballet Academy."

"Oh, that's not bad."

"Crazy Legs" expressed approval. American dance is still traditionally based on ballet from the European continent, plus its own developed jazz dance. Street dances such as break dancing are not considered elegant.

Although the New York Times interviewed the Manhattan branch of the "Rock Steady Crew" dance group led by "Crazy Legs", few mainstream Americans know their reputation.

The three dancers were introduced to the choreographer and Ronald was retained to come up with ideas with them.

In addition to the choreography of the three of them dancing on the street, the heroine Alex also needs to incorporate the break dance steps into the ballet-style dance, and the style must be unified and not separated. .

Their own street dance is very simple, and all three of them are masters. They mainly show two major categories of break dance:

“Lockin’ (robot dance)” means that the joints of the whole body are locked and different parts dance individually. The dance feels like a robot.

“Breakin’ (floor dance)” involves making various rotations on the smooth ground with the back, hands, etc. as the center of the circle. Or put your hands and feet on the ground respectively and do gymnastics pommel horse movements.

Alex's final audition dance moves were a bit troublesome. In the end, the choreographer and they choreographed a dance that started with basic ballet moves and gradually incorporated more and more break dance elements.

First there are some classic ballet spins and jumps, and then suddenly the rhythm changes, with the singing of "What a wonderful feeling", from the soothing guava love song rhythm of the main song, through a long-span jump, to the intense chorus of the chorus. , similar to a disco rhythm.

It ends with a breakdancing floor dance, ending with a "helicopter" spin on the back.

"marvelous!"

In the evening, director Adrian Lyne and producer Don Simpson watched the choreography and applauded loudly.

The novel dance and clever choreography made Adrian Lane very excited.

"Ronald, we must film this final climax scene. I have chosen the filming location, which is in the research institute of Carnegie Mellon University. There is a room there with four large floor-to-ceiling windows. We Shooting when the sun rises in the morning, the sunlight shining in through the floor-to-ceiling windows will become very beautiful..."

"Adrian, have you ever thought about it? Jennifer Beals doesn't have any dancing ability, and this was shot in daylight, and it would be difficult for her dance double, Marlene, to keep her eyes open. You can't just give her medium and long shots without any Aren’t you going to explain?”

Ronald raised a practical question. If the dance movements do not include any shots of the actors' faces, the audience will always look at the panoramic shot, and they will not be able to integrate into it. If close-ups of Jennifer Beals are interspersed with dance shots, the audience will feel that the jump back and forth is awkward.

"What do you think?" Adrian Lane asked Ronald again. This time he really didn't think about it well.

"I think we can use a fast-paced dance choreography to have Alex take a close-up shot in front of the four judges during the final break dance part. Keep Ma Lin's face facing the camera for a short time, so the audience won't actually have time to distinguish. Is the actress Jennifer Beals?

The previous ballet movements were mainly shot in medium shots, so that Ma Lin's face could not be seen through. "

"In addition, the referee's chair can be replaced with a high-backed seat, and the camera seats are arranged behind the chair and follow Ma Lin on the slide track from left to right.

When shooting close-up shots like this, every time Ma Lin reaches out to the referee to make an action, the camera will be blocked by the back of the high chair, covering up the most vulnerable areas. "

Ronald studied the filming and editing in dreams many times, and finally cracked the method for him to continuously shoot the dance without getting involved.

Adrian gestured a few times where the referee was sitting, "Very good, you're right. Ronald, it's up to you to help me design this dance scene."

"ah……"

Unexpectedly, he got a job for himself. Ronald quickly invited the choreographer, "Crazy Legs" and other three break dancing experts, as well as Ma Lin, who worked as a dance stand-in for Jennifer Beals, and they worked together to help Adri. Director Ann Lane performs their action choreography.

Ma Lin put on the same black fluffy wig as Jennifer Beals, put on a black ballet suit, put on black leg warmers on her feet, and danced from beginning to end to the music of "What a Wonderful Feeling" Again.

Director Ryan was behind the referee's position, watching Ma Lin's dance through the director's viewfinder.

"Well, this big jump with a change of rhythm doesn't have enough height and distance in the air." Director Ryan criticized it. "And the last floor dance move, it doesn't spin fast enough. Not only is it not strong enough, but it may also cause trouble."

"Director, I am a ballet and jazz dancer, and that jumping movement is already my limit. And this rotating 'helicopter', I need to practice."

"I don't have time to practice for you. The weather forecast is sunny the day after tomorrow, and we have to shoot."

Adrian Lane looked over and asked him what to do.

"Then we have to use other stuntmen to do those two actions instead of Ma Lin." Ronald replied.

Sometimes on the screen, the audience thinks it is a dance performed by one person, but during filming, it may be danced by two or three people. Finally, they are spliced ​​together through editing so that the audience cannot see the flaws.

Ronald sometimes feels that the director's job is like a magician, misleading the audience's attention to other places, and then quickly stuffing a rabbit into the top hat.

"That jumping movement may require a gymnast to complete, and you have to find a high-level one." Ronald looked at producer Don Simpson.

"Okay, let's find the winner of the NCAA College Gymnastics Championship."

"As for the 'helicopter'", Ronald looked at the three performers of the rock steady crew, "or the crazy legs, how about you? Only your height and Bills near."

Breakdancing actors are generally short in height. Two of the three are small. Only the height of "Crazy Legs" is almost the same as that of Beers. Moreover, the dancers are thin and wear ballet clothes and leg warmers. It's hard to tell if he's pretending to be a girl.

"Don't let me play a girl." Crazy Legs protested the strongest!

"I'll give you an extra salary as a backup dancer, and let all three of you appear in the closing credits." Don Simpson revealed the most tempting condition for them.

"Crazy Legs" was persuaded by his companions and signed a contract as a stand-in.

Two days later in the morning, the four actors put on the same black leg warmers and black ballet tights and started filming the final dance scene of the movie.

First up was Jennifer Beals, who filmed some scenes talking to the judges.

Then there was her dance double, Marlene Jahan, who performed most of Beals's dance moves.

The third one is the four individual gymnastics champions of the NCAA National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships and all-around champion Sharon Shapiro. She completed a high and graceful jump instead of Biles.

Sharon Shapiro swept all the women's gymnastics championships today, and she is also a strong contender for a spot on the American delegation at the Los Angeles Olympics the following year.

"shxt! That's impossible, you want me to shave my legs?"

"Crazy legs (crazy legs)" shouted loudly in the dressing room. The makeup artist wanted to shave the hair on his legs so that he could pretend to be a girl and dance the "helicopter" spin.

"Don't be like this, you signed the contract. Besides, the hair on your legs will grow back if you shave it." Don Simpson half threatened and half persuaded him to shave his legs.

"You can shave your legs," Crazy Legs discussed with the two group members for a long time before agreeing, "But it's impossible to shave your beard. I also want to shoot a PBS documentary and a documentary film. I'll shave off my beard and grow it." This will take at least half a year.”

"Then... keep a beard?" Ronald stepped forward and looked at his mustache. It was indeed difficult to grow it.

"The helicopter action is a fast spinning action with his back on the ground. If the camera is suitable, the audience will not be able to see his beard. And who will inexplicably pay attention to whether Alex has a beard? At that time, the audience's attention is on this Spin action like never before seen. ”

He shaved off his "crazy legs", put on a black curly wig, and then made a floor dance move, transitioning to landing on his back, gathering his hands and feet, and spinning faster and faster..."

"cut!"

The director stopped and said, "Very good, this one will be printed."

"Have you seen the beard?" One day later, when watching the samples, Director Ryan asked Ronald gently.

"I searched carefully, but there shouldn't be one." Ronald stared at the daily sample on the screen several times, and indeed he didn't find the stuntman's beard.

"That's it, we don't need to reshoot." Director Ryan was very satisfied and patted Ronald on the shoulder.

"Okay, Adrian. Everything is on track here, and it's time for me to go back to Los Angeles with producers Don and Jerry."

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