Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Navy Captain Pete Pettigrew is a tall and lanky man who has just retired from the Navy and is listed in the reserves.

This time Ronald applied to the Navy to serve as a technical advisor to the crew, essentially serving as a communication bridge between the crew and the Navy.

Pettigrew wore a navy jacket and a top gun flight school hat and was very talkative. Ronald asked him if he had actually shot down a MiG-21 during the Vietnam War. He just smiled and said nothing, saying that practicing his flying skills was more important than anything else.

In response to some modifications to the script that Ronald received from the Navy. Pettigrew was quick to offer his “personal advice.”

Some of the censorship opinions are actually unreasonable. They are just an instinctive and conditioned objection within the slow-moving bureaucracy to any part of the script that may cause them to be "responsible".

For example, early models of the F-14 are prone to stalling and horizontal spiral problems when attacking at large angles. In fact, the improved model of the F-14 after it was equipped with the Navy has been greatly improved.

Not to mention that exposing this early problem will not lead to leaks. Even if the Alliance sees the plot of this movie and makes corresponding tactical preparations, they will be surprised by the reaction of the American Navy after the improved equipment.

However, there are other issues that touch on the military's first regulations, such as falling in love with active duty soldiers and violating traffic rules. Pettigrew hopes that the crew can make changes on these issues.

Otherwise, Pettigrew, who had been a squadron leader and flight school instructor, could not imagine how much more difficult it would be to manage the recruits if they all adopted the attitude shown in the movie.

In addition, "Jaguar" flight vertigo is a problem that every fighter pilot will encounter. Although the probability is very small, the Navy has no good solution after it occurs. Pettigrew expressed the hope that the crew would not place too much emphasis on this disease, for fear that the pilots would be overly worried after seeing the movie, which would instead induce vertigo under certain circumstances.

Seeing that Pettigrew was very sincere, he could also tell the real reason for the navy's opposition. Ronald and the two producers agreed with him and asked the two screenwriters to continue revising according to his ideas.

Ronald and both producers thanked him.

Pettigrew just said very humbly, "I was just invited by the Navy to put forward some opinions that they are not comfortable to say. In fact, my task is to ensure that some plots related to fighter flight are correct. I don't want this movie to be accurate." The movie was made into a musical by you.

"

"Ahem..." Ronald was a little embarrassed. It turned out that in the eyes of elite navy pilots, the movies he shot were typical Hollywood movies that were far from the truth. It seems to be far away from the real world for the sake of drama.

After temporarily obtaining the true intentions of the navy, surprisingly, the two screenwriters were very dissatisfied with the modifications.

Their trouble is that without the two typical plots of speeding and falling in love with a female officer, the character creation of the protagonist "Lone Ranger" will be incomplete. From a young boy who only knew how to be brave and fierce at the beginning, to finally becoming a flight school instructor with a mature personality, the personal transformation of "The Lone Ranger" is not convincing.

Ronald actually agreed with them to a certain extent, but film is an art of compromise and the opinions of all parties need to be respected. Ronald ignored the screenwriter's dissatisfaction and handed over this troublesome problem to Don Simpson to solve.

Ronald went to a dinner hosted by Roger Coleman. This is his usual practice. For directors who have come out of the new world, after their first successful movie is released, he will solemnly entertain them and put forward his expectations.

Cameron and Gale had arrived at the Greek restaurant in advance, and they took Coleman's banquet very seriously.

Ronald stepped forward to congratulate them. "The Terminator" unexpectedly topped the box office for its second week. This not only surprised Hollywood, but also the Chicago film critic duo, Sisko and Ebert, specially reviewed Cameron's debut film on the TV show.

The two specifically mentioned the explosion scenes that "Terminator" inherited from film noir and were already very popular. Said a lot of good things. But he also pointed out that "Terminator" took advantage of the schedule. When new movies are released, their streak of box office championships may be about to end.

"Gale, Jim, Ronnie." Roger Coleman and his wife Julie also arrived at the restaurant. They found a quieter corner and started eating.

"Among the last batch of directors to come out of the new world, you two satisfy me the most." Roger Corman considered Cameron and Ronald to be directors who inherited his own exploitative filmmaking spirit.

"But Jim and Ronald are obviously making movies with a cost of 6 to 8 million, so why are they still making exploitation films?" As a producer, Gale didn't quite understand Coleman's evaluation. .

Coleman made a point, "Whether it is an exploitation film or not, does not depend on whether it is a low-cost production, but whether the money you spend is on the screen for the audience to see."

"Those action scenes shot by Ronald and the explosions made by Cameron, when the audience sees it, it's the kind of production that knows where your money is going."

"Hahaha", Gale was very happy and toasted to celebrate.

Ronald laughed too. Gale may have thought that Roger Corman was particularly fond of Cameron's films, so he praised them by saying that they made "New World".

But Ronald knew in his heart that Roger Coleman's statement made sense. What the audience can see is nothing more than the elements of explosions, movements, dances, or fighter jets fighting each other, rather than the superb acting skills of any actor.

This type of film that enhances certain characteristics of the film is, in the final analysis, the spirit of the exploitation film, exploitatively using all the elements that are popular, all for the purpose of entertaining the audience, rather than the self-entertainment of the actors and theater directors.

As for critics, how other directors and actors evaluate their own films is secondary. The students taught by Roger Corman all have box office as their first goal. They want to recoup their investment by selling well first. Think about other things.

After several people finished dinner, they were waiting at the door of the restaurant for the doorman to bring the car.

Ronald was attracted by the program playing on the TV hanging on the wall by the door. Today happens to be the second TV debate between the President of the United States and Mondale, the candidate of the Donkey Party.

The moderator asked the question that all the viewers who had watched the first debate wanted to ask the commander-in-chief, "Sir, you are already the oldest commander-in-chief in history. I remember that Commander-in-Chief Kennedy was in charge of the Cuban Missile Crisis. At that time, you could only sleep two or three hours a day. Do you have any doubts in your mind whether you would have enough energy to handle it if you encountered a similar crisis?"

"Oh, let's see how he answers." Gale looked at the TV screen with great concern. Cameron also raised his head and stared at the commander-in-chief in the TV lens.

"Not worried at all."

The commander-in-chief easily negated the doubts of the host and all the audience with his non-stick demeanor. He has this magic power that makes people believe that what he says is sincere.

"I would also like to state here," the leader continued in a relaxed tone, "I will not use age as an issue in this election campaign, and I will not exploitatively use age as an issue in the election campaign for political purposes. .”

The camera panned the former deputy commander and candidate of the Donkey Party, Mondale, with a serious expression. The commander-in-chief has a tendency to accuse the Donkey Party of using age to make immoral attacks.

"I will not deliberately exploit my opponent's youth and inexperience to attack him."

"Hahahahaha..." Everyone in the restaurant laughed.

Mondale, the Donkey Party candidate in the camera, couldn't help but be amused.

This revolving door attack was a hundred times more effective than Ronald's words. The commander-in-chief was a natural joke teller. Mondale's smile also officially declared that any suspense in the re-election campaign was over on the spot.

"Mr. Host, if there is still time, I would like to say a few more words." The commander continued to stab his opponent, "Cicero of ancient Rome said that if the old people do not point out and correct the mistakes of the young people, then There is no successful country.”

"Hahaha... The Commander is indeed an actor who came out of Hollywood. His ability to tell jokes is really top-notch." Gale did not forget to mention the Commander's years as an actor.

"Hmm...", when everyone was laughing, only Ronald saw the look in the commander's eyes as he picked up the water cup and drank water, the sharp look in the eyes of an experienced old hunter after he shot the vital part of his prey. "Plus his killer instinct."

Ronald added silently in his mind.

"The jokes are not afraid of getting old, and the plot is not afraid of being stale. As long as it is released at the moment that the audience is expecting, it will achieve good results."

"The two screenwriters resigned." Don Simpson found Ronald again the next day and informed him of the latest revision progress of the script.

"What? Why?" Ronald was puzzled.

"They feel that their labor has not been respected, and they feel that our agreement with the Navy's opinions is really nonsense. This kind of movie is like a two-hour large-scale music video, with all fragmented stories and it is impossible to succeed. So they no longer serve as As a screenwriter, of course according to the rules of the Writers Guild, their names must be written on the script.”

Jerry Bruckheimer was on hand to explain why.

"Without these two butchers, wouldn't we be able to eat steak?" Ronald waved his hand indifferently.

"Why, can you take action yourself?" Don Simpson asked quickly. This is the best solution.

"I feel like it doesn't matter whether I write or not. This is a high-concept movie, a fighter version of a classic western. Who the hell is still looking for profound meaning of life and superb acting skills in John Wayne's movies? What? We already have Tom Cruise. As long as the aerial combat is exciting and the love between him and the heroine is heart-warming, I think there will be no problem."

Ronald expressed his thoughts after chatting with Coleman and watching the presidential debate yesterday, "Even if it's a big music video, I can make it exciting for the audience."

"Hahaha, I just like how heroic you are." Don Simpson was very happy. Ronald had similar ideas to him. In fact, the story of this kind of high-concept commercial film should be as simple as possible. The key is that the director makes people feel comfortable visually.

"What's more, the story is simple and the jokes are old. As long as you grasp the key rhythm, it can be convincing." There is still something unsaid in Ronald's heart. Even a second-rate Hollywood actor like the commander can perform effectively in a debate. , there is no reason why you can’t do it yourself.

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