Exploiting Hollywood 1980

A glass of sparkling wine with two cubes of sugar was brought to Ronald. It was Olympia Dukakis who played his mother Rose.

Ronald drank it all in one gulp. The sparkling wine helped blood circulation, and the sugar quickly provided energy to the body. After a while, Ronald returned to normal.

"Are you okay?" Dukakis looked at the director and asked with concern. The filming just now was very enjoyable. Did the director spend too much effort on filming? The dinner table scene has always been a difficult action that directors try to avoid, and stars like Cher have different ideas.

"Maybe I haven't eaten. It's already half past two. You should go and eat something. There will be a packed dinner tonight."

Ronald waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.

In Toronto, the crew was unfamiliar with local entertainment facilities, and most of the actors were middle-aged, without the energy of young people to indulge in parties. So after the filming was packed, instead of having a carnival party, it was replaced by a dinner party.

David Watkin was very happy listening to the chamber classical music played in the high-end restaurant, "This is the most interesting packaging event I have ever participated in."

"Hahaha, pass the salad to me." Ronald asked Nicolas Cage on the other side of the table to pass the plate that he couldn't reach.

The staff and actors, like the big Italian family in the movie, gathered around several large dining tables, eating and chatting. Everyone is talking about the experience of filming this movie and predicting what the movie critics will say after it is released.

There are still a bunch of Broadway actors, who often collaborate on Broadway, but after all, movies are a kind of public entertainment, and they also have some expectations after they are released. No matter how famous they are on Broadway, these actors are still not well-known, but the movie is different.

"Olympia, how did you come up with that impromptu idea of ​​flushing the future into the toilet... Hahaha, very similar to what Italians would say."

Vincent Gardenia, who plays his father Cosmo, asked Dukakis some details about the noon scene. Broadway actors usually talk about the day's performance after the show. Film shooting can be so complex. It's rare to see a plate.

"Hahaha, those are the exact words my mother said to me. She is of Greek descent, but older people all say the same thing."

Dukakis has been on and off Broadway for decades and is an actor along with her husband. But she only gained acting skills, and she didn't play a leading role or win any awards. In the few films she has participated in, no film critics noticed her.

When a person reaches middle age,

My children are going to college, so I took this opportunity to earn money for tuition. Her mother was furious and said unpleasant things to her daughter.

Greeks and Italians are similar, with a tradition of large families. Therefore, parents still complain about their children when they are very old. Ronald picked up the wine glass and said, "At a certain age, everyone becomes Italian. To the family! Cheers."

After the dinner party, all the actors and staff went their separate ways the next day.

Only Ronald and director of photography David Watkin were left, still waiting for film in Toronto.

Toronto is one of the film and television drama production centers in Canada. There is a company called Medallion Film Laboratory, which is responsible for the development and printing of the films shot here in "Moonlight".

"Moonlight" is co-produced by MGM, and it is the first major movie after more than a year of chaotic mergers and acquisitions. The project was decided when Weintraub was still in charge, so all technical preparations were the best.

Therefore, the Technicolor printing process with the highest color quality in the industry was used this time.

This color film is the oldest color printing process in Hollywood. It was used very early on in blockbusters like "Gone with the Wind".

By the 1950s, Technicolor had new technological developments, and the degree of color restoration was the best among all color printing processes for restoring real-world colors.

Many of Marilyn Monroe's films were shot with Technicolor, allowing American audiences to appreciate the true style of this sex symbol decades later.

But the disadvantage of this process is that it is very expensive. He would print them separately using the three primary colors, and then color them with colored dyes. Although it can be stored for a long time without the fading problem of ordinary color film, it is generally not suitable for large-scale productions.

The most recent and famous blockbuster that uses Technicolor technology is Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."

The next day, Walter Murch, who was invited by Ronald to serve as his film editor again, came to Toronto, and together with David Watkin and Ronald, went to the Medallion Laboratory to see the developed feature film. Effect.

"You came just in time. The samples during the shooting were all quickly developed using a simple printing process. Like you, I have never seen the full-length effect of the real Technicolor process."

Ronald sat in the screening room, talking to Walter Murch.

"Let me take a look at the effect. I just came from New York. The exterior scenes you shot in New York were developed and printed in the Technicolor New York factory. Although the effects on both sides use the same process parameters, the new and old equipment, potions and dyes are different. The batch size, as well as the level of care of the workers, may cause subtle differences that need to be adjusted during later color mixing.”

"MGM has spent a lot of money. They must make the first movie to be re-produced a big hit. They have dedicated people watching at the photofinishing plant."

“I only trust my own eyes when it comes to crafts that involve people.”

…

Samples of the movie were played one by one on the screen. Walter Murch was very satisfied with the technical level of the Toronto factory.

“Actually, the level of craftsmanship and the experience of the workers here are better than those at the Special Arts factory in New York.

You know, my father is Canadian, and I didn't expect that their technical level is no worse than that of America. "

"The people our crew hires here are also very capable. Another movie I produced, Disney's 'Adventures in Babysitting,' almost had a filming accident because the Toronto cleaning workers were too dedicated."

Ronald told Murch a joke about Chris Columbus playing the role of setting up trash that was picked up by Toronto janitors early in the morning.

"Our new generation of Americans has really lost this serious spirit, if it weren't for Canada's population being too small." Walter Murch shook his head.

Ronald couldn't help laughing. One of the signs of a person getting older is his disdain for the next generation.

The dailies were placed on the last day of filming for the dining table scene. Ten minutes of film, film shot by several cameras at the same time, was shown on the screen.

"This scene has the style of a master."

Walter Murch was full of praise for Ronald's photography.

"It was all arranged by Mr. David Watkin. If it hadn't been for him, I might not have been able to seize the opportunity for this actor to get into shape."

"Yes, you are a very lucky boy." David Watkin was also very satisfied with his filming. "I feel like the God of Movies looked at you at that time. How did you feel at that time?"

"Me? I don't know." Ronald looked at Murch and Watkin looking at him with interest. Both of them have been in the film industry for decades, and they know that this kind of situation is rare.

Ronald then recalled the state at that time, "I felt as if I had entered a zone, a state. It seemed that this part of the movie should have been there, as if I just filmed it."

"Perhaps you were possessed by someone?" David Watkin is a mystic.

"He just concentrated on it and entered a state of autopilot. The human subconscious is very powerful. Sometimes your conscious mind has not thought about it yet, but the subconscious mind has already thought clearly and will take over at the right time. Many artists have similar experiences when it comes to creation. My father is a painter, and I have seen him live like this.

Francis Coppola had moments like this. When he was filming The Godfather, some scenes were like divine intervention. "

Walter Murch came from the hippie era and was familiar with this kind of chicken soup for the soul.

The praise from the two senior experts made Ronald very happy.

Walter Murch returned to Los Angeles with the developed film. In the editing room there, he will first start the work of synchronizing sound and video and making preliminary cuts.

Ronald is on vacation. He has a good impression of Toronto. There are many Chinese immigrants here. Some Cantonese restaurants do very well and are more in line with the taste than those in New York and Los Angeles. In particular, having morning tea in the morning was completely preserved. He ate some Chinese snacks every day and brewed a pot of black tea, which made Ronald linger for a while.

Good times are always short-lived. A few days later, Ronald received a call for help from Chris Columbus, the director of "Adventures in Babysitting".

After Ronald saw some of his arrangements on the first day of shooting, he knew that Columbus's directorial skills could be assured. To reassure him, he said that he would call him if anything happened and he would help solve it. Unexpectedly, Columbus really had something that Disney couldn’t solve, so he called for help.

"What happened?" When he arrived at the set, Ronald found Chris Columbus and asked what specific problems he had encountered that could not be solved and that he needed to step forward.

"I have two things that I can't solve. Time is running out now, so I'm asking you for help because I have no other choice."

Columbus pushed up his glasses. He was not a person who asked for help when he was in trouble. In fact, these two things are beyond his ability, and there are time constraints, so he cannot take his time.

"Just tell me, one by one."

It turned out that there were two interesting scenes in the script of "Adventures in Babysitting," and problems that could not be avoided were encountered during filming.

The first question is about the heroine Chris Parker. After escaping from a gang of car thieves, she learned that her car had been sent to a repair shop.

The youngest girl under the care of Nanny Parker, named Sarah, has always been a loyal fan of the comic "Thor". When she saw Mr. Dawson, the director of the garage, she thought she was the Thor in the comics.

Dawson looked at the little girl and thought she was very imaginative. As long as it cost to repair the tire, he let them drive the car home. But Chris Parker couldn't afford the $50 to repair the car, so he only had 45 yuan.

Sarah gave Dawson the Thor's Nordic helmet she was wearing. Dawson was amused by the little girl thinking that he was the Thor in the comics, and liked her innocence and kindness, so he finally returned the car to them.

This Mr. Dawson, the crew originally invited a Canadian bodybuilding champion and rock singer Jon Mikel Saul to play.

The actor's own name is Thor, which is the same as Thor's real name in the comics, which is a double follow.

But when filming was approaching, Jon Mikel Sol's true colors were revealed when he joined the set. He harassed actresses and female staff members everywhere, and director Chris Columbus had no choice but to fire him.

In this case, there is a lack of a suitable actor to play Thor in this scene.

If the script is revised and a character is replaced who is not the Thor in the comics, then the foreshadowing of the little girl Sara wearing Thor's helmet and holding a toy with Thor's hammer will be in vain.

"This is easy to solve. Can't you just change an actor?" Ronald asked.

"Jon Mikel Sol is a very famous person. He is a double bodybuilder in Canada and America, and he is also the lead singer of the famous rock band 'Rock Warrior Thor'. If you change any actor, there will be no The effect of making the audience smile is lost. It also loses the convenience in marketing.”

Chris Columbus mentioned the difficulty. The scene was about to be filmed, and he needed to find an actor who could have some gimmicks to replace it.

"Ah...who do you have your eye on?" Ronald understood. This was because Columbus had few connections in the industry and could not find a suitable candidate for a while. He still had to continue working as a director. As a producer, he really should help. to solve such problems.

Columbus didn't speak, just stared at Ronald.

"I?"

Ronald didn't expect that Chris Columbus would like him to play Thor.

"You are tall and photogenic. And the audience has seen your cameo, which will be a good talking point. I don't have time to find new actors now, so you are the best person to put out the fire."

Chris Columbus gave his reasons.

"Okay, but I have very little acting experience, so don't expect too much."

"It's okay, there's only one entrance shot and some medium shots."

When Columbus saw that Ronald had agreed to make a cameo, he immediately asked his assistant to finalize the shooting time, and then asked Ronald to do a fitting.

The hairstylist put a blonde wig on Ronald, with his shawl hanging down, which gave him a dashing look despite his six-foot-two-inch height.

Another costumer came over and dressed Ronald in blue-collar workers' jeans, a blue vest, and black leather boots, making him look like a handsome mechanic in a garage.

"Oh, you are really suitable for playing a blue-collar role." The makeup artist put makeup on Ronald and couldn't help but admire Ronald's chest and abdominal muscles.

"What's one more thing?" Ronald waved his hand to the makeup artist to get out of the way, and chatted with Columbus about another problem.

Columbus looked at Ronald's makeup and took a few photos with Polaroid, and was very satisfied.

"One more thing is the Playboy cover photo of the heroine Yin Lisabeth Su."

"Why?"

Ronald thought to himself that he had never heard that Su went to shoot Playboy.

It turns out that this is also a design of the movie plot.

Nanny Chris Parker stumbles into a car thief's lair.

On their table, there was a copy of Playboy magazine, and the cover girl looked very much like Nanny Parker.

The neighbor's eldest son Brad, who had a crush on Chris Parker, secretly took the magazine with him. Later, because of this magazine, the secret was almost exposed.

This cover photo was originally intended for Yin Lisabeth Su to take a fake one. But for the Playboy name to appear, it had to be approved by the man who dressed Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner.

I don’t know what went wrong. Originally, Hefner agreed to transfer the rights to the magazine’s name to the movie for a nominal price, but Playboy later went back on his word. Disney's top executives couldn't find anyone from Hefner for a while.

Columbus knew that Ronald had more names in the industry than he thought, so he asked Ronald to try it. If it didn't work, he would have to remove the Playboy name from the cover of the magazine.

"Little Case, let me ask someone to ask." Ronald felt that with his position in the industry, if he took action on his own, there would be no problem with such a small matter.

…

"Oh, you really look like Thor."

The young actress who plays Thor fan Sarah is named Maya Bruton, and she has crossed paths with Ronald. In the 1985 hit "Back to the Future," she happened to play the sister of Michael J. Fox's character Marty.

Maya Bruton read a lot of "Thor" comics for the role. Ronald's appearance really looks similar to the incarnation of Thor in the comics, Dr. Donald Blake.

"Really? Maya." Young actors are generally very cute, outgoing and good at communicating.

Ronald loved Maya Bruton's innocence.

"You can call me Sarah. I feel like I can perform better if I stay in character on the set." Maya Bruton tilted her head and looked at Ronald, acting like a real actor.

"Okay, Sarah." Ronald had no choice but to follow the wishes of the young actors. If they were in a bad mood and couldn't perform, it would be bad.

"Ronald..." Elizabeth Su, wearing a yellow camel hair coat, exactly what she wore in the movie, said hello to Ronald with a smile.

"Hi, Elizabeth Yin."

Ronald went up to hug her, "When do we start? I'm still a little cold in this."

In January in Toronto, it was still a bit chilly to wear a tank top.

"It'll be ready soon. You and Sue will go over with the kids later." Chris Columbus came up to explain to Ronald.

"Dawson is a blue-collar worker who only cares about money. He is unwilling to give the car to Chris without money. But Sarah is naive and thinks that Dawson is the real God of Thunder. Although Dawson denies it, Sarah thinks It's the superhero who doesn't want to reveal his identity..."

"Hmm... um..." Ronald nodded frequently. Chris Columbus liked to tell the actors the background and psychological state of the characters before rehearsals.

Every director has different working methods. When Ronald comes here, he has to respect the director's arrangements.

"So he is a mechanic who has not received much education, but is straightforward, willing to accompany children, caring, cold-faced, and warm-hearted."

"Okay, just a bit silly and kind-hearted." Ronald summed it up in his mind.

"Okay, A!" Columbus announced the start of filming for this Thor scene.

"Tsk..." A stream of white steam spurted upward from the soles of Ronald's feet. The scene where Thor appears is really like an appearance in a superhero comic. Slowly descending from a platform, there is steam below to enhance the atmosphere.

"Ahem..." Ronald choked and coughed.

"Cut!" Columbus was not satisfied with Ronald's mistake. "Ronald, you have to bear with it. We don't have more time or more budget to make special props."

"Okay, I wasn't paying attention just now. I won't be paying attention this time."

Ronald apologized profusely. He held a car repair tool hammer in one hand, hugged it to his chest, made a holy expression, and then stood on the platform, leaning back slightly to avoid the steam.

"laugh……"

Another wave of steam rose up, and Ronald tried hard to hold it in, maintaining a serious appearance.

The nanny played by Elizabeth Su handed over a handful of cash.

Ronald smiled at Su and counted the money, "There are only 45 yuan here. I believe that you pay the money and deliver the goods. If you don't have 50 dollars, you won't be able to drive this car tonight."

"I'm sorry, a lot happened tonight, and this is all I have." The nanny played by Su was helpless. They escaped from the den of thieves, participated in a blues game, and finally found their car.

"Then I'm sorry too." Ronald dropped the hammer and held it in another hand.

"Are you fighting against the forces of darkness?" Sarah, wearing Thor's toy helmet and holding a plastic Thor's hammer, suddenly stepped forward and asked Ronald's Thor.

"What are you talking about?" Ronald held the tool hammer in his hand and made a confused expression.

"Well, Mr. Dawson, she recognized you as another person." The nanny played by Elizabeth Sue hurried up and took Sarah away. She was a little afraid of Dawson.

"No, I admitted it correctly. He is Thor, the God of Thunder. This is his protective identity."

Sara struggled in the nanny's arms to reveal Dawson's true identity (as she thought).

"Stop messing around, let's go." Sarah's brother, Brad, came up to pull his sister. It would be bad if Dawson was pissed off.

"Don't listen to her nonsense, he also said you are a homo."

"Listen, kid, are you kidding me?" Ronald grabbed actor Keith Coogan, who played Brad, by the collar and lifted him up with one hand.

"No, no, sir, I didn't." Brad denied quickly, pulling his sister back.

A smile appeared on Sarah's face. She felt that Thor should be so powerful. "But, Mr. Thor, aren't you supposed to protect the weak? We really have no money."

"Protecting the weak?" Ronald looked at the Thor helmet Sara was wearing. This little girl really believed in this. It would be bad for her to be disappointed in superheroes at this age.

"Hi", Ronald took out the car key from his jeans and threw it towards Lisa Bai.

"Thank you, Thor!" Sarah was so happy.

Snap, Lisa Bai Yin caught the key, "Sir, can I know your address? I will send you a check for $5..."

"Stop talking nonsense and let's go." Ronald raised his hammer to signal them to leave quickly.

"Cut!" Chris Columbus called out. He looked happy and satisfied with Ronald's performance.

"The acting is very good, very good. Now, let's change the acting method. Ronald, try to be more cold..."

"Uh..." I didn't expect that this director's trick would be used on me.

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :