Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"If I say, she's not suitable to sing the jazz that we black people invented." Spike pointed to the problem of music style. "She should sing the pop music of your white singer Karen Carpenter."

"Yes, Helen's vocal range is a little narrower, which is actually suitable for Carpenter's songs." Dixon, the photographer, also said, "She sings black songs with a wide range, but she actually needs to mobilize her body to sing so that she can sing with strength in the high-pitched area. , but in that case, Helen's body will be tense, not relaxed enough, and her true colors will not come out."

Ronald thought for a while, and it seemed like this was the case, "Well, next time I ask her to sing Carpenter's song, you record it quietly during Helen's rehearsal, I always think she did it on purpose."

"Helen, can you sing Carpenter's song?" Ronald walked to the piano and asked Helen, who had returned to the piano bench after a break, across the piano.

"Of course, she's my favorite singer."

"You sing a song of hers and find the feeling."

"Okay, which one do you want to hear?" Helen was clearly a huge Karen Carpenter fan.

"Sing the song your heart wants to sing right now," Ronald said.

"Why do birds suddenly appear

whenever you are nearby?

like me, they long for

Close to you

Why do stars fall from the sky

whenever you walk by?

like me, they long for

Close to you"

Helen hits the piano and sings an old Karen Carpenter song "close to you." She has a higher register, starting an octave higher than Carpenter's, but still sounds just as good.

The photographer Dickinson gave Ronald a wink, signaling that the rehearsal had been recorded.

"Okay, very good, just sing with that feeling. Don't lean in the direction of jazz."

"Recording? Camera?!"

...

This time the effect is much better than before.

After Ronald sent Helen and Darcy out of the gates of Lincoln Center and let Darcy drive her home. Ronald quickly ran into the shooting site, "Dickinson, Dickinson, let me see, how was that Carpenter song recorded?"

The photographer Dickinson called up the playback. Ronald took a closer look. The black and white images were of low resolution and flickering, but Helen's body posture was indeed relaxed in the image. She sang her favorite song. Emotions are also expressed more abundantly and naturally.

"Just use this song? Tomorrow I'll make up for the slogan Helen said to the camera."

"It's jazz on the script, of course you can get them to change it." Spike Lee knows some of Helen's background, her father is a national television station's third most powerful executive.

"The copyright of Karen Carpenter's songs is not cheap, right?" Ronald thought about the copyright of the cover again.

Spike and Dickinson stared at each other, unaware of the cost of citing song rights in movies or commercials.

Ronald, who consciously asked the wrong person, waved his hand and simply didn't think about these questions. Show Gerrard the jazz and carpenter versions when they're done and let them worry about that.

...

"Because chewels taste better!" Helen received the new chewing gum that Spike handed her, "woke up" from the frozen pose, and said the slogan.

The next day's shooting was still stumbling. Helen Slater always had a tendency to perform deliberately. Ronald was still the old way. He let Dickinson take pictures secretly during rehearsal. Helen performed more naturally during rehearsal.

Ronald began to truly understand the troubles of the director, the unpredictable effect of the actor's performance, and the fact that a real person can't press a button like a machine, and there is an expected feedback.

No wonder when Cameron was on the set of "High School of Rock\

,"Always rushing to watch the director beside him how he tunes, inspires, and corrects the performance of the actors. He had long identified the biggest challenge of directing, and consciously stepped up his learning.

After filming was complete, Ronald pulled Spike Lee back and asked him to go back and cut out two versions of Helen playing, one for jazz and one for Carpenter's "Close to You." For consideration by Helen's father and Darcy Maguire.

As for Ronald, today it was his turn to be the flower caregiver, sending Helen to the party at Ingrid Bergman's daughter Pia. Today her father Gerald will come too.

"We have to go to cbs to pick up Ms. Bergman's daughter." Helen said to Ronald in the co-pilot, after pulling her seat belt.

"Which one?" Ronald didn't want to make the same mistake last time.

"Hahaha." Helen also recalled the funny story that when he was at Pia's house last time, she didn't know Isabella was Bergman's daughter, but said she could play Bergman's daughter.

"It's Isabella." Helen replied, "Not in the Blackstone Building of the cbs headquarters, let's go to Mulberry Street."

"Didn't Isabella work at cbs with her sister?" Ronald turned to Little Italy.

"No, she's on a small Italian TV station, as a female anchor for a funny news show."

"Funny, news, how are these two words connected?"

"Hahaha, I find you can always find humor in life, Ronald." Helen laughed again.

"It may also be that your laughter is low." Ronald whispered.

"They're a small TV station, the main subscribers are the residents of Little Italy, and the show is a rerun of the cbs weekly news in Italian, and then some Italian jokes are interspersed."

"Do you understand Italian?" Ronald looked around at the destination Parker Building.

Mulberry Street (ulberry) means mulberry tree, and the whole street is named after a mulberry tree at a five-fork intersection. This is the junction of Little Italy and Chinatown. On one side, Italians are talking loudly (arguing) with five fingers together and palms up.

On the other side is an uncle playing Tai Chi in Chinatown leisurely. Wearing a uniform Mulan costume, the aunt danced with two folding fans in her hands.

"I don't know, I listened to Isabella. But every time I come here, I am amazed at the cultural diversity and inclusiveness of New York." Helen also likes this contrasting picture.

"Yeah, maybe make a movie to reflect that."

Ronald parked the car, and the two walked into the dilapidated Parker Building. They walked up two floors of stairs. The unit facing them was a yellow wooden door with a sign "Italiana" on it - Italy broadcast and TV station.

Helen knocked on the door.

"Oh, that's the focal point, or branch, of Radio Italy in America." Isabella had just finished airing "l\u0026039;altra donica," which means "another Sunday." She answered Ronald's question why the humble studio had such a big name.

Italy's economic development is not as good as America's, and the state-run institutions have less funding and are relatively poor. This Italian radio and television station is based in the community TV station of Little Italy in Manhattan, New York. In themselves they are a station of the cbs broadcast network.

"Oh, Isabella..." An Italian man with a very back hairline came out of the studio and quickly said a string of Italian to Isabella.

Ronald and Helen looked at each other and couldn't understand.

"Roberto, these are my two young friends, Ronaldo and Helen," Isabella slowed down and introduced in English, "this is another Sunday co-host of my show, Robe To."

"Welcome to italiana," Roberto had mastered the phrase, and then began to stutter in English again. This is what he himself asked Isabella to supervise, he needs to learn English, while establishing a foothold in the American film and television industry.

"Isabella, you have to apologize to, your husband, on my behalf." Roberto jumped on the table and made a gunshot gesture, "mine, movie, by, Vatican, against, showing, Italy, the release, is gone."

"Roberto, very disappointed." He compensated for the lack of English ability with rich body language. Roberto shows how his heart was injured after he was shot and fell to the ground.

"Your husband, can't be a big star in Italy. The Pope, destroyed the dream of Roberto, Isabella, Isabella's husband," Roberto got up and made a gesture of protest, "Luo Beto, struggle; Italy, government, surrender."

"Roberto, disappointed, Italy, no money" Roberto gestured to count the money.

"Hollywood, don't like it, Roberto, don't speak English."

"The movie, it's not, it's showing in Italy," Roberto pretended to be sitting down to watch the movie again, "Hollywood, it's not, it's showing in Amelica."

Then Roberto put his hands together in a five-fingered, palm-up gesture, "Roberto, it wasn't on purpose, Isabella, forgive me, Roberto."

Isabella was also amused by his comedy talent, "Okay, my husband didn't blame you either. When you were looking for him, his movie was on pause, and the cameo was free time."

"Really? Roberto, feel, glad." Roberto made a comical salute, then strode forward, "Hollywood, don't like it, Roberto. Roberto, back, Italy. "

"Oh, Roberto, are you really going back to Italy? I'll miss you a lot. I'm happiest when I'm playing funny news with you."

Isabella hugged him goodbye, got into the car, and went to the party with Ronald and Helen at her sister Pia's house. This time it was on a smaller scale and focused on family members and close friends.

"Roberto Benigni is a very talented comedian and my husband admired him so much that he agreed to have a cameo role in Roberto's film in between filming. Too bad the film offended the Vatican, It was banned in Italy, and the distributor refused to release it in America because of the contract."

"He's not recognized by Hollywood and is going back to Italy," Isabella said. "My husband admires him and thinks he's a rare comedian who should stay in America."

"Is your husband a film director? His new film is about to be shot? What's it called?" Ronald listened to Isabella talking about her husband's film several times, and couldn't help but become interested. It's good to be able to ask a real director about the actor's performance.

Isabella showed a smile that couldn't help but smile again, "He is also Italian, and he will be here today, will you ask him when the time comes?"