Exploiting Hollywood 1980

When Harry and Sally met for the third time, they both had emotional crises. They became close friends of the opposite sex, but had no desire to go to bed. Because both parties thought that the other had no intention of being their lover, they got along harmoniously.

Because of the understanding that it is impossible to be together, the two of them can talk about anything, even their sexual fantasies, without having to worry that the other person will not want to associate with them because of talking about such things.

New York in autumn is very beautiful. Meg Ryan wore trousers and a round hat. Her blond hair peeked out from the dark gray hat, looking very elegant.

Ronald sat behind the camera, and the refreshing air, mixed with a hint of organic smell emitted by fallen leaves, penetrated into his lungs. He took a deep breath of air to remember this feeling.

The camera is like a person talking to you, not only the actions of the characters, but also the lines are talking to you. The overall color tone in the shot, the slightly dark gray sky in the background, the bright red fallen leaves on the dirt road in the park in the foreground, and even a fixed scene in the middle shot, with the two protagonists slowly walking towards the camera. Scheduling is all telling a kind of mood that seems to be there but not at all.

Ronald wanted to convey this mixture of vision, taste, hearing, and even the touch of the autumn wind blowing across his cheeks to the audience through the design of the lens.

Using vision and hearing as media allows the audience to trigger their own memories and imagine the smell of autumn.

Movies sometimes do not need to elaborate plot twists, but use this direct method to immerse the audience.

"Cut! Bravo!" After Ronald stopped, he stood up and applauded the two actors. The staff on the scene also applauded, but most of them didn't know what happened. It was just the director who applauded. If he didn't applaud, he would look amateurish.

The camera crew, who know how to manage the scene, just think this shot is very poetic. Other than that, there is nothing better than other directors.

Only director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld glanced at Ronald in surprise. Looking at the entire scene from behind the camera, he vaguely saw something extraordinary.

Some directors who like the beauty of pictures often put too much energy into the pictures. The plot does not match such exquisite pictures. The audience is like looking at some albums of world-famous paintings, which is not beneficial to the story telling and character creation. .

Many times, the pictures are too artistic, which detracts from the film itself. And Ronald worked hard in this inconspicuous scene, skillfully conveying the story and emotions that took a long time to explain clearly in a short time.

Expressed so quietly,

It already has the style of a masterpiece from some of the most tempered directors of the golden era.

After shooting the scene in Central Park, tomorrow we will move to Harry's apartment to shoot. Art director Jane Muskie was looking for a high-end apartment in an upscale neighborhood of Manhattan, which was in line with Harry's status as a political adviser.

"Mr. Li..."

When Ronald returned to his Fifth Avenue apartment, the black doorman greeted him.

"Is there anything happy that happened today? Jerry." Ronald saw him smiling, as if something happy had happened.

The black doorman's name is Jeremiah Washington. He is responsible and polite. The residents called him by his nickname Jerry.

"Yes, Mr. Lee, you are one of the nicest people to me among the residents here. I am willing to share my views with you. Today on TV, Pastor Jesse Jackson rectified the name of us black people. That Willie Horton is not called Willie at all. This is a stereotype that many white people put on us, and it is a kind of racial discrimination."

Jerry is different from ordinary black people. He believes in the principles of the Baptist Church, works very hard, and is kind. But even people like this were unhappy with the ads George Sr. used to attack Dukakis.

Now civil rights activist and pastor Jesse Jackson has finally blasted the ad, calling the Willie Horton ad racist.

"Indeed, that's not good." Ronald got on the elevator, returned to his home, and called little Douglas. "Doug, how are things going now?"

"Little George's situation is not very good. Now Dukakis's approval rate is declining significantly. But we also have a favorable point. The increase or decrease in support in key swing states is not large. The ones that have seen relatively large fluctuations are actually Several Xiangdang Iron States in the Deep South.”

Little George communicated frequently with Little Doug. They and political consultant Roger Ailes all believed that Ronald's previous judgment was not wrong. The states that really determine the outcome of the election are swing states such as New York in the east and California in the west. It is neither New England that is committed to the Donkey Party nor the Deep South that is committed to the Elephant Party. Their support rate determines the next commander-in-chief.

However, in these states, this attack on the black criminal Willie did not cause a reversal in the election.

People there, unlike white people in states like Alabama, know the so-called dog-whistle slang. Just mentioning the shortcomings of black people can prompt a large number of supporting films.

Moreover, voters in New York and California do not particularly blame Dukakis for this vicious security case.

After all, when he was the governor of Massachusetts, companies such as Wangan Computer that were affiliated with MIT and other universities grew, and Massachusetts' economic development was very good. Most of these voters are people who have come from the past. In the past eight years that the current commander-in-chief has been in power, the public security has been much better than that of his predecessor Jimmy. The unemployment rate has dropped significantly. Everyone has a job, and there have been far fewer vicious cases.

However, although their understanding of the general election may be correct, in the midst of the election campaign, George Lao was forced to pull up the support rate from 14% behind at most, and now the gap between the two is only 6%. , Barbara's preference for her youngest son Jeb has reached the extreme.

Little George, Roger Ailes, and even Ronald's group of people could no longer speak much in front of Barbara.

"Fuck, I don't care so much, as long as old George comes to power and helps us extend the tax cut bill for another four years."

…

The next day, the crew came to the character Harry's home. Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the Empire State Building. If Harry were placed in the real world, he would probably be a political consultant like Roger Ailes. You can receive a lot of money by participating in the election of a big shot, and after being elected, there is a lot of revolving door business. Whether you work as a staff member in the government or as a senior executive in a related company, you can make a lot of money.

So Harry can afford to rent such a high-end apartment.

Harry and Sally, holding a roll of carpet together, spread it out on the ground.

"My date sucks..." Meg Ryan begins.

"After he finished eating, he pulled out a piece of my hair, used it as dental floss, and started picking at his teeth on the table. My dates have hit a new low."

"Compared to my date, this is like a dream date." Harry spread his hands and talked about his failed date.

"I asked her what school she went to, Michigan State, and it reminded me of Helen...I immediately started getting anxious and breaking out in a sweat."

"Helen is from Michigan State?"

"No, Northwestern. Both universities are in the Big Ten."

Harry and Sally, both squatting on the ground, talking to each other like two children. At this time, the two of them were the most honest.

"Harry, I think we both need more time (to get over the past emotional pain), and we need more time to sleep with other people." Sally felt that the two of them were in the same boat.

"No, I slept with her," Harry replied. In his view, love and sex are two things that can be separated from each other.

"Did you go to bed with him?" Sally was surprised. Whenever she encountered something she couldn't understand, she would frown her eyebrows together, looking very cute. For her, relationships and going to bed are the same. Going to bed is a natural thing when the relationship reaches a certain stage of intimacy.

"Of course..." Harry was still immersed in his unhappiness about his ex-wife leaving him.

"Oh..." Sally felt that for some men and women, their views on these things are very different.

"Cut!"

Ronald has taken this long shot four or five times, and always makes mistakes in some detail. Fortunately, this one finally met the requirements. As the camera follows Harry as he squats, Sally is still standing. This shows a close-up of Harry's face and Sally's legs.

Then less than a second later, Sally also squatted down, taking a close-up of the two of them squatting like children. The previous ones cannot be used. The main reason is that the interval is not good if it is short or long. It must be the same as the two people's thoughts, and they will be synchronized within half a beat.

Some things can be expressed perfectly without lines or actions, only the language of the lens. The two people were not in sync with each other on these emotional matters, and before they even realized it, they had begun to harmonize with each other's worldview.

"How about this one?" Ronald asked the director of photography, Barry.

"Excellent!" The other party gave him a thumbs up. As a director, Ronald's design of lens language still seems to be a flash of inspiration for many viewers, but experts know that it is a trick that has been refined over time.

"Okay, we'll be here in the morning and transfer to the exhibition hall in the afternoon..." The assistant director began to distribute the afternoon shooting schedule.

"Are you going to the hotel to rest?" Meg Ryan has a good relationship with many people on the crew. She looked at Billy Crystal. Billy always went back to the hotel by himself and did not act with anyone.

"Yes, see you in the afternoon" Billy Crystal smiled. This is his acting method. In order to immerse himself in the world of a newly divorced man, he never gets too close to the crew. Only by maintaining a sense of loneliness can he play Harry well.

In the afternoon, the photography team prepared in the exhibition hall had already set up the camera.

Opposite the large floor-to-ceiling window, Ronald went up and took a look in the viewfinder, a textbook-like distant view.

"Very good, let's walk the route and do one without rehearsing."

This kind of feeling of collision for the first time without rehearsal is still the way to maximize the chance of getting good shots in this kind of romantic film.

Inside the ancient city wall in an exhibition on the left, Harry, played by Billy Crystal, walked out first.

"Cut!"

This kind of silhouette feels very good. Ronald waved the camera to move over quickly. He also wanted to take a mid-range shot of the same scene.

"!"

"I've decided that this is how we're going to talk for the rest of the day. Pepper, pepper..." Crystal began to improvise in a particularly cartoonish voice.

"Is it like this?" Meg Ryan followed from behind and walked into the viewfinder frame.

"No, you have to talk like me, Pepper, Pepper."

"Pepper...hehe..." Meg Ryan thought it was Crystal's technique to relax her, and she also got into trouble with him.

"Waiter, you put too much pepper in my red pepper chicken stew."

"Hahaha... Waiter, you put too much pepper in my red pepper chicken stew." Meg Ryan also started to act nonsense.

"But I can let you take a bite of my pecan pie..." Crystal continued.

"Haha..." Meg Ryan was a little unsure. She turned her head and glanced at Ronald on the right. The film has already started to be rotated. Isn't it bad to waste film to relax like this?

Ronald was very satisfied with Billy Crystal's improvisation. Harry was a very charming man who knew when and what to do to make women relax and get closer. It's just instinctive to him.

Meg Ryan's reaction is also very real. The chemistry between the two is explosive. As long as they continue to improvise, it will definitely be a good shot.

"Don't look at me, keep on... keep on!" Ronald mouthed without making any sound. Meg Ryan looked back this time, ruining the smooth improvisation. Ronald was so anxious that he finally made Meg Ryan understand the meaning of continuing the performance.

"But I can let you take a bite of my pecan pie..." Meg Ryan didn't understand, but she continued following Ronald's prompts.

"Would you like to go to the movies with me?" Harry continued to be funny.

"Would you like..." Sally continued to imitate the other person.

"Don't imitate, answer, will you go to the movies with me tonight?" Harry, as a veteran of flower bushes, has a skill that many women cannot stop.

"Oh...I...", Sally's expression changed.

"What's up, do you have a hot date tonight?"

"Yes, I have an appointment."

"real?"

"Yes, I originally wanted to tell you." Sally walked out of the center of the camera first and walked forward alone for a short distance.

The language of the camera once again clearly tells the audience that the two are not in sync yet, and their lives are still interfered with by other factors, but if the two are destined (the director has a conscience), they will eventually come together again.

"Cut!" Ronald sighed, "I'm afraid I can never take a better picture than this one."

Although Meg Ryan has a scene looking right out of the scene, the other reactions are very sincere, and because of Billy Crystal's improvisational performance, no one knows what he will do next. So Meg Ryan's reactions are very real.

Sure enough, none of the subsequent reshoots had the exciting emotion of missing out between men and women in this one. Ronald had to choose to keep the flawed first one.

Sincerity with flaws is better than mediocrity without flaws.

…

That night, when Ronald returned to his apartment to rest, he met little Doug. After he entered the door, he took Ronald and called Little George together.

At this time, they need more communication and stand closely with little George.

"My mother is getting anxious again, Ronald." Little George was still like a carefree cousin on the phone, speaking to them in a cowboy-like tone.

“The battleground states were not close, and my mother felt the need to try our communications strategy.”

"That's a good thing," Ronald agrees. The campaign is really like the movies, where the polls decide everything. No matter how good Jeb is, facing the possibility that her husband will lose the election, Barbara still has to try the advice of her eldest son's adviser.

"George, have you forgotten what you promised me?" Barbara's loud rebuke suddenly came from the other end of the phone.

"Pop..." It sounded like a glass being thrown to the ground and breaking.

"George, is your mother angry with you?" Little Doug heard something was wrong.

"No, she seems to be angry at my father."

"Barbara, I have...complied with your wishes..."

There continued to be quarrels over there, the voices rising and falling.

"I'll go take a look. When the time comes..."

"You go and do your work first. We'll talk about it then." Ronald and Little Doug looked at each other. What's the big deal?

"Dukakis, you son of a bitch has crossed the line... pick up Senator Kennedy for me..."

"Click", just before little George hung up the phone, Ronald heard one or two words of old George's angry roar.