Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"All the props arrived intact, and we checked them one by one, twice..."

"Very well, I have prepared a party for everyone at Ritz. Everyone else has already gone, so you should hurry up and go."

"When Harry Met Sally" completed filming in Chicago and the entire cast moved to New York. After the two met for the first time and carpooled from Chicago to New York, they had to go through a series of things like falling in love, breaking up, reuniting, introducing friends on a blind date, and finally getting together.

Making a movie is like going to war, or a rock band on tour. After intense work, you need some channels to vent. Ronald contacted the "Ritz", the best club in New York after the decline of Club 54.

As usual, Ronald showed up at the party and then went home. He doesn't like the crazy atmosphere of parties, and after experiencing Antonia's reunion, he prefers to spend more time with his family.

"Well, your baked cookies are still so delicious." At the Fifth Avenue apartment, Aunt Karen and Donna came to stay with Ronald. The filming was busy and he didn't have time to go back to Staten Island, so they came to Manhattan.

The aunt's boyfriend prepared some delicious dishes, and little Douglas also brought red wine to join in the fun. Ronald's energy was drained by the filming incident, and he thought that the small pond that had been dry for a long time slowly regained its water storage in the autumn rain.

"Auntie, I've been making movies for so long, have you ever thought about appearing in one of my movies and making a cameo? And Donna, and Doug... come if you want."

"Hey? Can I?" Aunt Karen was surprised. Ronald had never had such an idea before, and they tried not to disturb his filming.

"Yeah, ten or twenty years from now, when we watch a movie, there will be scenes with the whole family making cameos. It will be interesting, right?"

"But I can't act... haha...", my aunt was actually not too keen on acting, but the scene with the whole family in it moved her.

"You don't need to know how to do it. You can just make a cameo without speaking your lines. I'll try to give you a close-up shot so that there will be a few seconds of footage in the cinema and on the video tape as a souvenir." Ronald was still a little nervous when he saw his aunt. Not confident, "Martin Scorsese also likes to have his parents make cameos. The last time I filmed "Moonlight", his parents made a cameo, and they said something to the bakery salesman played by Diane. . It’s very simple, it doesn’t take much effort, and the photo is very good.”

"Are his parents actors? I'm afraid I won't be able to act well."

"I was a little nervous when I went to get the videotape for you, but the result was very good.

"Ronald got up and went to get the videotape to show them.

"Boston Harbor is like a big pot of sour soup..." Ronald, who got the videotape back, saw old George's campaign advertisement being played on TV.

George Jr. agreed with what Ronald said. It is better to attack the other party than to speak to his own voters. But Barbara preferred her obedient son Jeb, and the smear faction headed by Lee Ewart, whom he supported, still gained the upper hand.

Much of the large donations made by the action committee headed by Ronald and Douglas Jr., and dozens of others like it, were poured into ads smearing Dukakis.

Although the law prohibits direct attacks on other candidates, the ads used the name of action committees and were highly technical.

For example, the video being played now is a clip of various environmental pollution scenes in Boston Harbor, the largest port in Massachusetts, where Dukakis is the governor.

"As a candidate, Dukakis said he wanted to control environmental pollution, but when he was governor, he did nothing about the pollution in Boston Harbor, causing what environmental experts called the largest environmental disaster in New England.

Now Massachusetts voters are forced to pay a hefty $6 billion to govern the port.

Don’t forget, Dukakis’ campaign slogan is to bring what he did in Massachusetts to people across the country. "

At the same time, a sign "No swimming here" appeared on the TV, and then faded to black, giving the audience a small shock. Dukakis said one thing and did another, and managed Boston so badly. What if he would bring this experience to the whole country?

"Did Dukakis really do such a bad job? Is six billion dollars too exaggerated?" Although Aunt Karen likes the current commander-in-chief, this kind of advertisement portrays Dukakis too poorly. The figure of one billion dollars was beyond the scope of my aunt's understanding.

"Why did old George come up with such a personal attack advertisement?" Donna was not satisfied either. When she was studying at MIT, Dukakis happened to be the governor. Boston Harbor does have some pollution problems, but that is caused by the municipal government not having enough budget to treat urban sewage and having to discharge it directly into the port. Under Dukakis, Boston has passed an environmental improvement plan that will be operational within the next five years, by which time the port's water quality will return to normal.

"And these pictures were edited on purpose. Swimming is not allowed around the sewage outlet in Boston Harbor, but it's not as dark as it looks on the picture..." Donna knew Boston quite well.

Ronald and Douglas Jr. looked at each other, and they knew that George Jr. had probably lost the battle for favor. His brother Jeb's faction gained the say.

"What do you think, Ronald?" her aunt asked Ronald. She was a little disgusted with this kind of campaigning method. The current leader's campaign advertisements were so stylish. He was a true gentleman.

"At least the color has been adjusted..." Ronald put down the video tape, winked at Douglas Jr., and the two went to another room to discuss countermeasures.

"What's going on with your cousin and Diane recently?" Seeing that Ronald was gone, Aunt Karen even pulled her daughter over and asked him if he had any plans to get married.

"I don't know either..." Donna was a little distressed and started this topic. After Ronald finished speaking, it was almost his turn.

"Where are you now? Has any boy asked you on a date?" Sure enough, Aunt Karen began to tease her daughter.

…

"He's the kid who cries..." Little George was helpless on the phone. His own expressive ability is not strong, and he will make mistakes when speaking more complex words. Ronald's very logical reasons became less convincing in his mouth.

Coupled with the fact that his younger brother Jeb is particularly good at pleasing his mother Barbara, his alliance with Roger Ailes’ strategy of strengthening communication was not surprisingly rejected.

And that's not the worst part, Barbara rewarded Jeb for standing up to Lee Ewert's smear tactics by having his wife, Columba, star in the next family-themed commercial. Because there are many Latino immigrants in the Deep South, Columba was also allowed to appear in Spanish speaking Spanish, holding his child and saying that George Sr. was a good grandfather.

This advertisement was also inspired by the family-themed advertisements shot by Ronald. George Jr.'s wife Laura didn't get a single shot, and she even gave up her own children to play the role of grandchildren to set off George Sr.'s personal charm.

Not only did little George fall out of favor, but Laura was also wronged and was very dissatisfied with Barbara.

"But it doesn't matter to me. This kind of random advertising can't achieve the effect. What you told me before in Chicago is so reasonable. Now I just need to wait. When the advertising has no results, my mother Barbara will change idea. I know her, she is a tough woman who only cares about results."

"Hey..." Ronald put down the phone and sighed. Little George, his friend, also trusted him very much. I hope my analysis will not be wrong.

After the weekend, the crew went to a deli in New York to start filming. When Ronald first arrived in New York, he bought a lot of delicious meat here. Now there is a place for dine-in in the store. When Ronald asked the owner to borrow the restaurant for filming, the owner immediately said that in addition to being closed for dine-in for two days, he would rent out the restaurant for free and also cover the food supply for the crew during the filming. .

Aunt Karen put on her own clothes, had her makeup done by the makeup artist, and sat in the direction facing the camera, behind the two protagonists.

Sitting opposite her was the mother of one of the producers, Rob Reiner. Reiner happened to be back from the set of "Steel Magnolias" for the weekend. He heard about Ronald's idea of ​​having his relatives make guest appearances and kept saying yes. His father, Carl Reiner, was a famous comedian, but there was another entertainer in the family. Mother Estelle, a member of the industry, rarely gets the chance to appear.

Reina and Ronald discussed having his mother Estelle also make a cameo. Ronald thought that his aunt had never acted before, so it would be a good thing to have an experienced person to guide her, so he arranged for Estelle and Aunt Karen to sit across from each other and play a pair of old friends having lunch together.

Estelle is a jazz singer who is not nervous when facing the audience or the camera, and is also very good at communicating with the audience. She made Aunt Karen a friend with just a few words, chatting and laughing about trivial matters of her son's generation, and made Aunt Karen relax.

Soon, the lighting team and the sound team were ready, and then the recorder and the first assistant director came to report that everything was ready. Billy Crystal also went to say hello to the two guest actors. Everything was waiting for the heroine Meg Ryan to be ready before filming could begin.

But after waiting for another fifteen minutes, Meg Ryan still didn't come out. Ronald knew something was wrong, and he quickly went to her trailer with Rob Reiner to ask what the problem was.

"Michelle and you hit it off so well..." Ronald also congratulated Rob Reiner along the way. This time I went to shoot stills for the Steel Magnolias crew with crew photographer Michelle Singer, and the two started dating just as Nora Ephron predicted.

A pair of good friends of the opposite sex may not be suitable as a couple, but they know very well what kind of person the other person is suitable for. Rob Reiner and Michelle were very suitable for each other, and their relationship quickly heated up and they became official boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Hahaha..." Rob Reiner looked very happy. After he fell in love, his whole person quickly improved. On the crew of "Steel Mulan", he played the role that Ronald had before and became one of several movie stars. The latter acted as a bridge between actors and director Herbert Ross. No major problems occurred during the filming process.

"You know what? I'm beginning to agree with you now that this story should have a happy ending. Harry and Sally must be together..."

"Hehe..." Ronald thought to himself, you have changed your point of view when you have a girlfriend.

"Dongdong..." Ronald raised his hand and knocked on Meg Ryan's trailer door, "Meg, this is Ronald, is there something wrong?"

The door opened and Meg Ryan looked very worried. She frowned and invited Ronald and Rob in.

"Ronald, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Is it better not to film this scene?"

"But, is this your idea?" Ronald frowned.

This section is the one that Ronald dreamed about on the plane. Sally and Harry met for the third time, and both of them had an emotional gap. Harry and his wife divorced, and Sally's boyfriend also broke up with her. Both of them had doubts about their previous views on love, and quickly became friends who talked about everything.

In a big city like New York, with friends like Harry and Sally who are both familiar and yet unfamiliar, it is possible to discuss issues that cannot be discussed with good friends.

The two soon talked about men and women, and whether women could pretend. Harry was quite arrogant about his abilities, but Sally told him in the restaurant that many women would pretend to make their partners feel accomplished, and not every woman would really feel that way, which made Harry realize that he blind spots.

During the previous rehearsal, Meg Ryan felt that the scene was not dramatic enough, so she suggested that she could pretend in public in the restaurant. This kind of action would be more understandable to the audience than what could be shown in the lines.

Ronald also thought the idea was good, and Ephron changed the script and praised it, but when it came time to shoot, Meg Ryan began to worry again.

"I know, I know, I just think, I..."

"Would you like me to leave for a while and let you and Ronald talk alone?" Rob Reiner offered to keep the conversation private. Actors are very sensitive animals. Only when the director shows a sense of trust that makes them feel safe will they reveal their privacy without reservation to better complete their performances.

"What are you worried about? Can you tell me?" Ronald greeted Laina. He did not participate in the rehearsal with the actors, and it was indeed not convenient here. Because Ronald felt that Meg Ryan's concerns were not about acting, but about other aspects.

"Ok, ok..." Meg Ryan said the reason.

It turned out that she was worried about her boyfriend Dennis Quaid. If this scene was preserved, what would her boyfriend Quaid think about the previous experience of the two of them in bed when he saw Ryan being able to pretend to be climax so freely? How much is true? How much of it is fake?

"This..." Ronald did not expect that the problem lay here. Dennis Quaid, an actor who has not made many good movies, has found several female stars. There is actually nothing to worry about. If you are as capable as yourself, you don't have to worry about pretending. If you're not good enough, there's nothing you can do about it...

Not Dennis Quaid…

"Don't worry, Dennis will understand you. He is also an actor and knows what this is going on. I know him. I'm afraid he is full of confidence in this regard and will not misunderstand."

"Haha..." Meg Ryan was amused, so this was the right explanation. Quaid has a very strong charm. Previously, Leigh Thompson's position in Hollywood was higher than his own. I heard that his ex-wife also had a higher position than him at the time...

You shouldn't worry about making the other party lose their confidence because of this performance. If you want to worry, you should worry too. Meg Ryan immediately "figured it out" and stopped worrying about it.

"How did you convince her?" Rob Reiner was curious when he saw that Ronald had figured out Meg Ryan in just a few words.

"I told him that real men don't worry about women pretending, and it's useless for fake men to worry."

"That's real men like us..." Laina gave Ronald a thumbs up. He has really strong communication skills and is worthy of being a great box office director.

…

"a!"

"Um, ah, um..." Meg Ryan began to perform in a low voice.

"What's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Billy Crystal was across the table, seemingly unaware of the reason for Sally's abnormality.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Meg Ryan's voice became louder and louder, she violently tossed her hair back and tilted her head back. The extremely large range of movements caused her face to become engorged with blood, and she quickly turned red.

"Tsk..." Ronald looked at him in awe, his acting skills were a bit like Grotowski's method. The body is the basis of performance. To perform a climax that is as real as real, imagination and emotional memory alone are not enough. You must make similar movements physiologically and use your body to drive the performance.

"Ah...ah..." Meg Ryan kept slamming the table, "Pah...pah..."

At this time, all the extras on the scene were awakened by the huge movement, and they all turned their heads to look here.

"Yes, yes, oh...oh...", after slamming the table a few times hard, Meg Ryan finally whispered slowly.

Ronald watched from behind the camera. Aunt Karen and Lena's mother Estelle all watched Sally's performance, and the camera captured this stunned expression.

"Hey, oh..." Meg Ryan, who had received her magical powers, picked up a fork and ate some salad with the blush still on her face.

"Cut!" After Ronald called to stop, the scene was quiet and there was no sound at all.

After a long time, it was Meg Ryan herself who giggled.

"Hahaha..." The first person to react was Laina's mother Estelle, who also started laughing.

Then there was Aunt Karen, who was also made to laugh.

"Hahaha..." Ronald also laughed. This scene was really interesting.

"Ha...", then Rob Reiner, then the director of photography, and the men on the scene all laughed a little awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" Ronald asked, wondering why the man didn't see the humor in it? Harry always thought that he could make his ex-wife happy because she could perform climax every time. But Sally's performance let him know that women are actually very good at putting on a show when climate is not available, so as not to disappoint men.

"Wait a minute..." Ronald understood that all the women at the scene knew this trick, and the men began to doubt whether their partners in life...could their abilities not be so strong?

"This...I shouldn't have this kind of problem...right..." Ronald was not sure either.

“We then shot some reaction shots of the background actors.”

Ronald had no time to think about this and asked the photographer to focus on Estelle and Aunt Karen.

"Are we going to give a line? Just like the reaction we had on the scene just now?" Rob Reiner saw something was wrong. If Aunt Karen didn't say a word according to the script, this scene lacked a ending point.

Billy Crystal stood up and walked to Aunt Karen and Estelle, "Can you say this..."

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't..." Aunt Karen became nervous again.

"I'll do it..." Estelle burst out laughing again when she heard the lines Billy Crystal thought of for them.

"What did you say?", Ronald asked Crystal.

"You'll know when you come up with it. It won't work if you say it first."

"Okay..." Ronald knew that Billy Crystal must have thought of a golden phrase. The pune in this kind of comedy really cannot be rehearsed in advance. If the bottom is exposed, it will lack power.

"a!"

The camera moves closer to Aunt Karen, then turns slightly to focus on Estelle. A waiter came over and asked her for her order.

"I want what she ordered..." Estelle pointed to Meg Ryan's table.

"cut! Hahaha..."

Ronald took the lead, and the whole audience laughed again, it turned out to be this sentence.