Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Exploiting Hollywood 1980 Text Volume Chapter 86 As long as you are not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed

Ronald sat in the screening room, watching Dustin Hoffman's performance on the screen, and turned around and asked.

, director Barry Levinson’s somewhat embarrassing answer. It is not a happy thing for a director to have another director watch the samples he shot. But Dustin Hoffman was on the verge of quitting, so he had to endure it.

There were only two people in the screening room, Ronald and Barry Levinson. This was specially arranged by Ronald. The director needs authority in the crew. He just comes to see for himself, but he cannot let the real director feel that he has the idea of ​​replacing him. So Ronald didn't even let Ovitz in, saying that this was just a mutual communication between the directors.

When Barry Levinson listened to Ronald's speech, it was still a technical discussion, and he was vaguely speaking on the director's side. He put down a little worry and began to discuss with Ronald.

This problem is actually a major issue in film performance. Lan

Unlike a theater performance where you can find an audience to watch the rehearsal and modify your performance based on their reactions, when filming a film, it is impossible to have an audience to give you feedback.

The first time the audience sees your performance is after you have shot the entire film, edited it and scored it. At this time, if an actor discovers that something went wrong in his performance, or is not good enough, it will be difficult for him to have a chance to retake it.

Therefore, after filming, actors struggle with whether they performed well or not, which has become a problem for those actors who have become famous. Many actors have absolutely no idea what their performance is like.

Some people who have seen the movie shooting scene but did not participate in the creation will ask, can't you see the samples every day? Actors can use the looks in the sample films as a reference for their own acting, right?

Even if you don't consider the cost of reshooting after the samples are developed, this kind of feedback is very inaccurate.

The reason why Broadway allows actors to improve their acting skills is because performing on stage provides real-time feedback from the audience.

The people who watched the sample films were directors, producers, actors themselves, and other people in the industry. There is a big difference between the creator's perspective and the audience's perspective. In addition, the human brain has the beautification function, which will always instinctively beautify their own screen performances. Many people will overestimate their own performance on the screen. . Lan

Another obstacle is that the samples are all fragments without any secondary creation by the editor. It is difficult to evaluate the quality of this performance from the perspective of the entire movie.

It may be very good to watch this episode alone, but the flaws in the plot are too much. Or conversely, the originally dull performance was exceptionally brilliant when placed in the right place. ….

Therefore, the only person on the set who can fully grasp the quality of the actor's performance is the director who knows the entire script and clearly understands how much effort the actors should put in each place.

What Ronald meant was that he couldn't see anything wrong with it, so he asked Barry Levinson if the plot required the performance here to be particularly strong, or to hold back and wait for the following scenes to inspire the audience. resonance.

Director Barry Levinson talked a lot about the background of this scene, but Ronald never figured out what was wrong with Dustin Hoffman's performance here.

This is just a scene of memories, Mr. Movie King! The audience understands the past history and then has an understanding of the characters’ actions.

To gain a deeper understanding, that’s all. What else can you make? Make the audience cry?

Lan

Ronald couldn't help it. He felt that telling the truth was the most helpful way to solve the current problem. There's no way Barry Levinson would have conveyed that to Dustin Hoffman anyway.

Barry Levinson smiled. But that's not what he said,

As he spoke, he briefly explained the origin of Dustin Hoffman's heartache.

The problem remains with last year's Dustin Hoffman movie, which bombed at the box office.

Originally, Dustin Hoffman took on this project to repay a debt of gratitude. To help herself get the Best Actor nomination, Elaine May made many important script rewrites and added many important scenes from a female perspective.

But after filming started, he, Warren Beatty, and director Elaine May all had their own ideas. They believed that the performance they understood was good, and they argued over the performance on the set.

Coupled with the heroine Isabella Adjani, who happened to be Warren Beatty's girlfriend at the time. She kept asking for more of her role on the set, which caused a big conflict between Elaine May and Warren Beatty, and Elaine May almost resigned. Lan

The dispute between the three parties continued into the editing room. The two major stars and director Elaine May each hired an editor, and they were at war in the editing room every day. Everyone kept their own set of plans for the finished film.

The results of such multi-headed leadership can be imagined. Distributor Columbia has discovered during test screenings that the film is destined to lose money, and the distribution department wants to reduce its marketing budget. But Columbia's executives were afraid of offending the two movie stars, and their company would not have a share in future big projects. So instead of reducing it, the marketing budget was increased. ….

With a total production + distribution budget of nearly 60 million US dollars, the result was only a box office of just over 10 million US dollars. For a time, Hollywood imitated what it had done back then and began to call this movie "The Movie."

Now Dustin Hoffman is depressed. It's very embarrassing to be called a nickname, especially one associated with a box office disaster. Not only will he lose face, but he may also lose the favor of major productions in the next few years.

When actors face failure, the reason is usually not found in their interference in the filming. For example, this time it was mainly three big bosses fighting for the right to speak. Maybe according to someone's idea, the filming would not be so bad. But if all three people listen to it, it will be the worst result altogether.

Most of the actors have not participated in the entire production of the movie, so Dustin Hoffman looked for the reason from himself: If the performance on the screen is not good, there must be something wrong with his acting skills, so in the new film, he must pay attention to his acting skills. You have to do your best in every detail, otherwise you will be abandoned by Hollywood!

This sensitivity and paranoia brought from failed projects, coupled with the lack of appropriate feedback channels, made Dustin Hoffman stunned. It took more than two weeks to shoot one scene. He always suspected that he wouldn't be able to do it this time, and he had to find that feeling. Lan

Barry Levinson actually doesn't work many times with actors who have already achieved star status. He also heard about Harrison Ford being submissive to him on the set by young Ronald. After complaining about it, he still couldn't help it. Please ask for advice.

Ronald thought for a moment and said something. He knew that Harrison Ford was difficult to work with, so he made a lot of preparations on the set and asked production director Polly Platt to praise Harrison Ford's performance. In short

Also well managed.

, Barry Levinson knew he had a problem with Hoffman's expectation management. But before the cooperation, who knew he was such an awkward person?

While Ronald and Barry Levinson were watching the film and discussing it in the screening room, an actor shorter than Tom Cruise and with a typical Jewish nose walked in. It's none other than the very awkward Dustin Hoffman.

Barry Levinson is still very humble in front of big stars. He knows exactly who the biggest names in the program are.

Dustin Hoffman came up and hugged Ronald and said some grandiose nice things. Lan

Barry Levinson is used to Dustin Hoffman's compulsive, womanizing behavior. ….

Of these two, one was used to complaining about himself, and the other was used to hearing the other's self-blaming. Only Ronald next to him felt too embarrassed. Can you two talk about this kind of internal matter in the crew in front of me, an outsider?

I don’t know what Ovitz said to Dustin Hoffman last night. He is particularly sensitive today.

, as he said that he covered his face with his hands, as if he was sad for his sudden performance.

Ronald felt that he must be very embarrassed and asked to leave.

Hoffman started gibbering. Lan

Ronald feels that some actors are more terrifying than mental patients when they get into trouble.

"I can't act. This is the highlight of the whole play...it's the foundation of the whole play. The audience must be convinced of me here before they can be convinced of the entire movie plot...

But I can't act it out. I can't act out this most embarrassing, escaping, and helpless feeling... This is my problem..."

Dustin Hoffman seemed to have been hit hard. He suddenly raised his head and said to director Barry Levinson:

, Barry Levinson was taken aback, but he didn't expect Dustin Hoffman to be under pressure and couldn't stand it anymore, so he really asked to resign. He glanced at Ronald and asked for help, asking him to come and help me.

Ronald had a new understanding of the fragility of this kind of star. He also felt that his decision to reject the director was extremely correct. If he encountered such a star, he would collapse. Lan

Dustin Hoffman suddenly reached out and grabbed Ronald. He was like a drowning man now. Seeing Ronald's eyes, he thought maybe the director would have some way to save himself?

Ronald was grabbed by his sleeve and had no way to break free, so he had to sit down. I thought, how do I know this? You, a movie star, can’t understand?

Ronald thought about drinking some strong wine to calm down before talking.

"Drinking, meditating, doing push-ups, I've tried them all

No one can express the feeling of embarrassment, escape and helplessness. " Dustin Hoffman was a little disappointed. He likes to have a drink first when shooting difficult scenes, and Ronald's trick didn't work.

Ronald was amused.

"What should I do? I have thought of many ways, but my life may be too smooth. I can no longer remember the embarrassment I felt when I couldn't find a job.…

I tried everything and had Barry talk about his embarrassing moments, and I needed to feel the emotion. But it’s useless, we are all winners, and the embarrassment we face is nothing compared to Rain Man. Lan

Those with autism have extraordinary emotional sensibilities, but they cannot express them. I promised those autistic patients to act out their lives, but I failed..."

Dustin Hoffman rambled a lot, and then looked at Ronald. He remembered that it was said that Ronald was born in a low-level job. He was still young enough and had not been contaminated by Hollywood. Maybe he could tell his story. What was that embarrassing and helpless moment like?

Looking at Dustin Hoffman's slightly crazy eyes, there are rumors in the industry that when filming that year, Hoffman couldn't find the feeling, so he had to use the method of actually smashing a glass against the wall. The shards of glass bounced back and hit the heroine Meryl Streep in the face, almost disfiguring her.

This person really wouldn't be able to act without such crazy support!

When Diane debuted, she collaborated with Britain's drama prince, Laurence Olivier. Oliver also collaborated with Dustin Hoffman on a film about a man who runs a long-distance marathon. In order to express the feeling of exhaustion in the role, Hoffman himself ran a long distance without resting or eating.

I almost went into shock during the final filming, and the effect was not good. Laurence Olivier asked him why he did this. Lan

Hoffman said that he wanted to experience the character's emotions at that time. Laurence Olivier laughed and said to him:

Every actor has his own acting style. With Dustin Hoffman's acting style, no wonder he doesn't play a murderer.

Ronald retracted his memories of various comments about the actor's acting skills, while Dustin Hoffman in front of him was still pleading.

Ronald cleared his throat and glanced at Barry Levinson beside him.

Lan

Barry Levinson immediately suppressed his laughter and his face turned red. Ronald, this guy, is very sharp with his words.

I've had enough of Hoffman's awkwardness, and it's good to have someone point out his problems in this way.

Dustin Hoffman stared at Ronald and said nothing for a long time.

He didn't seem to understand Ronald's sarcasm, and just looked at Ronald with wide eyes, as if he had said something extraordinary.

Hoffman suddenly shouted,

Dustin Hoffman kissed Ronald hard on the cheek and then urged the director to do a real shot. Lan….

Ronald touched the area on his face where he had been kissed.

…

In the evening, Ovitz sat in the screening room with Ronald, Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and others, watching the urgently developed samples.

Dustin Hoffman looks at himself on the screen and tells how Rain Man almost killed his brother Cha

I was very excited about the past events.

Ronald replied in a low voice that he couldn't tell the big difference between this scene and the previous ones.

Dustin Hoffman was very happy and revealed the answer himself.

When Tom Cruise saw that the filming crisis had been resolved and that Hoffman was no longer making trouble to quit, he came over to have a chat with Ronald. Lan

Ronald told Tom Cruise about the situation.

Tom Cruise vented to Paula about the pay gap. Paula advised him to calm down. After this movie, Cruise's influence gradually grew. In the future, stars with box office appeal will not be paid less than acting stars like Dustin Hoffman.

But Ovitz was more tolerant towards his own people like Dustin Hoffman, and even after more than two weeks of trouble, he didn't really lose confidence in him.

Michael Ovitz was happy that the crew's crisis was over and came over to talk to Ronald.

Ronald is good at showing off, but as a member of your own family, I have never enjoyed the kind of treatment you gave to Hoffman. Lan

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