Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is a device for monitoring diving conditions. There is an annunciator on the diving equipment. If you encounter trouble, just press it and an alarm will be received here. I will ask the assistant director to watch here, and there will also be a diving instructor. Standing on site and diving with me was underwater photographer Al Giddings.

You see, this is very safe. All of us in the crew can dive to the deepest level. Why don’t you try it? I remember when you were filming Top Gun you weren't so timid. "

The next morning, Ronald watched the crew start to get busy with diving, and Cameron still invited him to go diving together. This is a hobby he has had since he was a child. Cameron likes to dive alone without any sound. He wants to share this feeling with his good friends.

"No, I am born with physical discomfort for diving..." Ronald waved his hands desperately. Cameron and underwater photographer Giddings began wearing rubber wetsuits. The smell of bleach and rubber gave Ronald a disgusting thought.

The large containment vessel of the nuclear power plant contains a total of 7.5 million tons of water, which has not been replaced for many days. The nearby sheep often come here to drink water and graze, and sometimes the filth is discharged into the artificial lake.

In order to prevent infection caused by long-term underwater shooting, the crew had to add a large amount of bleach every day, which would make people's eyes uncomfortable. Ronald noticed that both Cameron's and the underwater photographer's hair was a little faded from the bleach.

Cameron noticed Ronald's nausea. Some people are not naturally suitable for diving. He shrugged. His friend Ronald could no longer share that mysterious and quiet feeling with him.

"Then you stay here for a while. I'm going to verify the reliability of the underwater camera. It will take an hour to shoot. There are many interesting props here. You will like it. Then we will watch the video tape together and I will teach you about diving. Filming stuff.”

Ronald nodded, "Then I'll wait for you here, and you, Mr. Giddings. I'm very interested in underwater photography. In an hour, I'm going to listen to your advice."

Underwater photography, especially deep-diving photography like Cameron's, has many of his unique skills in mechanics and photography, making it a rare opportunity.

Giddings said nothing and pointed to his ear.

"The sequelae of the diving accident. He liked to use a diving bell to dive in shallow seas. One day, the diving bell had an accident. The sudden change in pressure made his ears almost deaf."

"Oh?" Ronald was a little scared again. He would rather fly into the sky than go into the sea.

"When we float up, we have to be very careful and let the pressure change slowly.

Otherwise there will be a lot of trouble... So we can't come back in one hour, and it will take half an hour to float up. "

Ronald nodded to show he understood. Cameron smiled, made a gesture with Giddings, and the two walked toward the artificial lake together.

"By the way," Cameron walked halfway and turned back to Ronald and said, "Gail is coming today, you can talk to her..."

Ronald was speechless. The two couples had a purely working relationship. Gale Hurd as the producer and Cameron as the director worked very well together, but that's where it ended.

"Mr. Li, would you like to take a look at this thing? It's very interesting."

The assistant director who stayed on the shore and was responsible for watching the alarm device came over and interrupted Ronald's nostalgic thoughts. He took a small bottle with a water-like liquid in it.

"What is this?" Ronald felt it must be some interesting prop.

"Oxyfluorocarbon liquid", the assistant director came up to present the treasure. This is future technology. People can use it to breathe while diving.

"Oh?" Ronald didn't believe it. How could a person breathe with this kind of liquid without air? This is not the same as fish.

"We have done a lot of experiments." Anticipating that Ronald would not believe it, the assistant director immediately snapped his fingers and asked the assistant to deliver a cage.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..." There was a little white mouse in the cage.

"Look..." The assistant director caught the mouse, held it with both hands, and threw it into the bottle of so-called oxyfluorocarbon liquid.

"Squeak...squeak...", the white mouse made a few calls, and then began to struggle violently. Ronald could see that it was in pain due to lack of oxygen. Finally, the air in its lungs was exhausted, and then it turned over and lay down. At the bottom of the bottle, motionless.

"God..." Ronald felt that the assistant director must have mistaken the liquid. Although it was a white mouse, he died in pain like this and he still couldn't bear to watch it again.

The assistant director wanted to make a good impression in front of him, but in fact, this kind of trick may be amazing to outsiders. As a director, Ronald's requirement for the assistant director is to solve all kinds of troublesome problems on the crew, rather than recreating them himself. come out.

If some animal protection organization saw this, it would definitely cause a stir. Hollywood directors don't like filming scenes with animals, and these organizations must have contributed to a large part of the reason. If they follow their requirements exactly and have a pet or a horse, they will often be treated better by the crew than the actors.

"Look, look, it's about to come alive." The assistant director unknowingly held the bottle in front of Ronald's eyes.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..." To Ronald's expectation, the little white mouse actually came to life. As if in the air, he slowly resumed his activities.

"I...what kind of magic is this?" Ronald's eyes almost jumped out of his head. This is indeed future technology.

"This is a new invention of oxygen-containing fluorocarbon compounds. It is very special and has extremely high oxygen solubility. Therefore, it can store and transport large amounts of oxygen. It is the invention of Dr. Keirstra and Dr. Bennett of Duke University. invention."

A man in a white coat saw Ronald's surprised look and came over to explain to him.

This is the emergency doctor on the crew. This oxyfluorocarbon fluid has been used in exploratory research in some hospitals. Some patients with severe lung disease have used this oxyfluorocarbon solution to re-breathe oxygen into their lungs. .

"Can this thing really allow humans to breathe?" Ronald was surprised.

"Yes, but we haven't found a way to allow him to re-absorb oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. It's only in the experimental stage now." The emergency doctor has some understanding of this pioneering technology.

"In the movie, the plot of the male protagonist Ed Harris, this oxyfluorocarbon liquid is at a key point in the plot. In order to save his ex-wife, a diving expert, he is willing to give up his chance of survival. Later, he meets high-level creatures We rely on this liquid to maintain the oxygen supply."

"You'd better watch the siren..." Ronald felt bad. The star of this plot is Cameron's expression that he wants Gale back.

The couple were like-minded people traveling together, and they once had a deep love. This relationship was particularly tormenting for Cameron. Especially now that I can still meet Gale, but it’s just a professional relationship. He just told himself that Gale would come, with an obviously complicated expression.

"Huh?" Ronald thought of something. Did Cameron have a subtext for him to communicate with Gale? He is a common friend of the two of them, and they have been together since they were young. Maybe Cameron wants to know what Gail really thinks. Is there still a chance to save it?

Ronald looked at the director's seat, and there was a photo frame on which he took a photo of the two of them when he was at New World Pictures.

"Hey..." Ronald sighed.

"Ronald, what a surprise to see you here."

After a while, Gale Hurd came.

She hugged Ronald happily. Several recent movies made by Ronald are all centered on women, which makes Hurd very happy. With more stories like this, the next generation of young people in America will use the images of women in these movies as moral role models. , men will also feel that dealing with women in this way and respecting their personal choices is the correct way to communicate with women.

Gale chatted with Ronald happily for a long time. Ronald took the opportunity to bring up the topic and pointed to the photo on the table, "So, you and Jim now?"

"Purely a working relationship... nothing else..." Gale replied decisively. She followed Ronald's eyes and saw the group photo. Without saying a word, she threw the photo frame on the table with a snap. .

"Ms. Hurd, would you like to take a look at this thing? It's very interesting." The assistant director seemed like an immature child and came over to show off to Gale.

"Who brought this in?" Ronald was dissatisfied, but Gale had a pleasant chat with him. He couldn't talk, so he stood up and walked outside, "I'll go find a cup of coffee and then go Check out the artificial lake."

Ronald turned and walked out the door. The sunlight outside the door shone in, leaving a shadow on the table. The assistant director performed even harder, "Look, look, he's coming to life soon."

While dancing, he accidentally touched one of the alarm sockets, which led to the speaker. The warning light on the side is also connected to the pager.

Suddenly, the warning light began to flash faintly. It was hidden in the sunlight and no one noticed it.

"Didi... Didi..."

At the bottom of the artificial lake, there was a problem with Cameron's diving equipment, and there was a problem with the throttle valve of the oxygen tank. He put the respirator in his mouth and inhaled hard, but there was no response.

"Al..." Cameron made a loud sound, but Al Giddings, the diving photographer in front, couldn't hear what was happening here because he was deaf.

"What the hell..." Cameron tried his best to send out a signal for help, but there was no response. There were no first responders at the lake, and the crew's diving instructor came to the rescue.

He had to take off his respirator, free his hands, and swim upward as hard as he could.

"It's really unlucky. I just talked about the diving disease to Ronald. I didn't expect that I would have to surface quickly. If I'm unlucky, nitrogen will cause trouble in the blood vessels. It can damage the muscles in the least, or cause blood clots in the heart and brain in the worst case. There is a problem with the blood vessels in the body.

Soon, the rapid ascent caused Cameron's ears to start buzzing, and his whole head began to hurt, accompanied by huge tinnitus.

Bang... The lifeguard who was a part-time diving instructor on the shore noticed a huge splash emerging from the bottom of the water. He immediately threw a respirator into the water, jumped into the water himself, and dived. Something must have happened. He immediately saw that Cameron was not wearing a helmet and a respirator. Something must have gone wrong.

"Pfft..." Cameron grabbed the respirator thrown by the lifeguard and took a breath, only to find that it was not oxygen but water. Now the only air in his mouth was exhausted again, and Cameron choked several times. His hands were waving wildly.

"Don't be afraid, I'm right here, you're safe." The other person thought that Cameron was having an underwater scene and had symptoms of a panic disorder. Rapidly rising at this time would cause a big problem, so I went over to catch him and held him down with all my strength.

"Damn..." Cameron's mouth was full of water. He didn't have the strength or ability to say that he didn't have a panic attack that he might encounter during deep diving, but that his respirator was broken.

The more he struggled, the closer the opponent's hoop was, the two people's movements under the water became larger and larger, and the movement on the water surface gradually became more intense.

"Jim! Jim!, are you okay?" Ronald, who had just come over, noticed the problem on the water surface and shouted loudly. Isn't something wrong?

"Ro..." Cameron was not far from the water, and he felt Ronald's call. Suddenly, I didn't know where the strength came from, and punched the lifeguard, hitting him in the chin. Then he used the last bit of his strength to leap upward.

"Jim!" Ronald saw that Cameron had floated up and could no longer move his hands. He was so frightened that he ran forward, took off his sneakers, and jumped into the artificial lake that was converted into a nuclear power plant containment vessel.

"Jim, I've got you, hold on." Ronald dragged the unconscious Cameron and swam toward the shore. Just when they heard Ronald's cry, some staff came over and pulled them ashore together.

"Go to the doctor quickly." Ronald put Cameron on the shore and tried his breathing and heartbeat. Fortunately, he just fainted. However, he surfaced so quickly that Ronald was also worried about the diving disease he had mentioned.

Soon, the doctor from the production crew came over and there were no major problems in the initial examination. As long as you rest for a while and observe, if there are no blood clots or other conditions, the person will be fine.

Cameron had woken up by this time, and he remembered that it was Ronald who finally pulled him ashore. Although he was speechless, Ronald's eyes understood. When a person is in life or death, the thing he holds onto may be the most precious thing to him. Maybe at that time, Cameron saw what Gail looked like.

"I'm going to find Gale."

"I'm going, I'm going," someone hurriedly informed producer Gale.

By the time he found Gale, Cameron had been carried to the director's chair by the lake, half lying down, covered with a blanket, looking pitiful.

"What did the doctor say?" Gale Hurd asked Ronald next to him instead of talking to Cameron.

"It needs to be observed for a day. If there is no problem, there will be no problem." The doctor interrupted to answer.

Gale's eyes turned back to Cameron, his eyes complex. This man was talented, but he also had all the common problems of men. He gave him the opportunity to shoot The Terminator back then, but now when there are problems in their relationship, he and the female director...

"Huh..." Ronald saw this and breathed a sigh of relief. This situation was very similar to the replay of the time when he and Gale went to Italy to save Cameron... Wasn't that how they got connected back then?

"As a director, can you still continue filming?"

A cold word came out of Gale's mouth.

"As a producer, you can rest assured that I will be able to continue working tomorrow." Cameron finished his words one by one. He spent a lot of effort, then closed his eyes and had no more energy. Speak.

"That's not necessary..." Ronald looked at Gale's back with mixed emotions.

Just like the 7.5 million gallons of water in this artificial lake, every drop is not as heavy as the tears that the two people who parted ways tried to hold back.

Ronald didn't know what to say, and he had nothing to say.

Cameron rested for half a day, began to recover in the evening, and returned to work the next morning.

The first thing he did was fire the assistant director who neglected his duties and ignored his own distress signal, and the instructor who was negligent and failed to protect the diving equipment. If it were another person, it would be a big deal.

Then he quickly invited the best diving instructor in Los Angeles to give all the actors a week of intensive diving training before filming started.

Cameron himself chatted with Ronald about the special effects production of this movie.

"So what you're saying is that you're not sure about the computer special effects this time?" Ronald heard Cameron's story and felt that his old friend was really taking a risk.

"There is no way. People from Industrial Light and Magic have already done two experiments, both of which failed. What they used to deal with was either solid targets like TIE Fighters, or particles like lightning and fire. This method of liquid deformation, We still need to gradually experiment.”

In the story of "The Abyss", those high-level creatures on the seabed finally used seawater to simulate the appearance of humans, and communicated with a professional diving expert played by Ed Harris.

"Aren't you afraid that they won't be able to do it in the end?"

"This is a risk that is difficult to avoid, but I am confident. This is just an engineering problem. No one has done it before. Now that I am here, more directors will design special effects like this in the future."