Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The computer software version of the painting scene has achieved success in small-scale trial production. A one-second shot was produced by the Noel brothers and the painter Shang Shi of Industrial Light and Magic. Ronald and Joel Silver were satisfied, so they wrote another check and let the special effects team continue experimenting.

"My dear, will this kind of shooting mean that we won't have to spend a lot of money on setting up the scenery in the future?" Diane looked at the shot of that second that Ronald showed repeatedly and said on Ronald's shoulder.

She was deeply impressed by the "waste" of the film industry. When filming "Streets of Rage", director Walter Hill did not go to the Chicago subway to shoot scenes. Instead, he built a subway station from scratch in the studio, which took several days. One million U.S. dollars. Because there was light leakage from the roof of the studio for shooting the night scene during the day, a large tent was set up outside the studio.

There was also the last song sung by Diane, which was re-filmed due to copyright issues. The concert set that had just been dismantled was rebuilt, and another million was wasted. No wonder he couldn't get a chance to direct for several years after "Streets of Rage" did not do well at the box office.

In fact, there is no place for stupid people in Hollywood. Experienced producers will not be able to tell whether the budget is well spent. As long as they look at the samples, they will know where the money is spent.

If you waste money and make a film that does well at the box office, then you can tolerate it. If it doesn't do well at the box office, then compared to directors who are more honest with their budgets and also fail at the box office, the latter will obviously get a few extra opportunities.

"Maybe, I hope so, but the current technology can't handle it very well yet. I think it will take several years to develop." Ronald thought for a while, and when such scene-connecting technology matures, he will use it in various ways in the future. The practice of embezzling filming funds through setting up and setting up scenes will also be suppressed by new technologies.

"Honey, I auditioned with Richard Gere today, and director Penny Marshall said our chemistry was good..." Diane turned the topic to the casting of "3000".

"Oh? Is it him?" Ronald remembered this handsome guy. Diane had played a couple with Richard Gere in "The Cotton Club" directed by Coppola.

Ronald looked up at Diane, his eyes full of expectation that he would give her recognition for her acting skills. A newlywed wife still cares about her own evaluation of her career.

"I remember that Director Coppola liked your performance very much. He specifically told me that your performance was outstanding. But your appearance in that movie was not good-looking and you were a bit fat." Ronald touched Diane's small Belly, in order to portray the plump figure of female stars in the 1920s, she made people gain a lot of weight.

"Well, you also said that back then you said that I was fat and looked like I was pregnant..." Diane thought of the past and lightly hit Ronald a few times.

"Yeah", Ronald is actually quite useful, but does he have a good chemistry with Richard Gere? I don't really like it.

"Are you jealous? Hahaha, I actually didn't get along with him on the set, but we seemed to have a better relationship on camera." Diane smiled at Ronald.

The camera is a very magical machine. Some on-screen couples actually have a lot of conflicts and can't get along, but in the camera they are really a perfect match, and the audience loves them to death. Some real couples have no feelings on the screen and look like a pair of passers-by.

For example, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, the stars of "Gone with the Wind" who fascinated a generation of audiences, had many conflicts during filming. Gable even chewed garlic to tease each other before filming the kiss scene.

"I was indeed jealous. I should have listened to Coppola at that time and gave up directing to become an actor, so that I could play a couple with you on the screen." Ronald began to joke with Diane.

"Mr. Li, Mrs. Li, your dinner." The Chinese chef recommended by Ronald's personal accountant brought roast goose, barbecued pork and stir-fried vegetables. This young chef was the chef of the original Chinatown Cantonese restaurant in Los Angeles. He wanted to make more money and open his own restaurant before he agreed to apply for Ronald's job as chef.

He and another Italian chef recommended by Richard made delicious meals that suited the newlyweds' appetite. , and also takes care of the actress’s dietary needs, so she won’t gain weight easily. Ronald, who couldn't make a choice, simply hired them together. Now they prepare meals every day and bring them to the hotel. After the new house is completed, they will have their own living room and kitchen in the big house to use.

…

"My dear, I've packed your luggage for you. Come back early..." Early the next morning, Diane with red cheeks had already packed Ronald's clothes, and a suitcase was lying on the sofa.

"Thank you, honey." Ronald smiled and kissed Diane, and then Diane kissed him back on the cheek. This traditional American family warmth made both of them happy. Especially Diane, whose parents divorced just a few weeks after she was born. She and Ronald are actually similar in that they both long for a peaceful family life.

Today, Diane has to go to the crew to continue auditioning, and Ronald is going to South Dakota. Another problem arose during the filming of "Dances with Wolves". Veteran producer Polly Platt also called for help.

The filming of some hunting scenes encountered protests from animal protection groups, and the local police frequently received reports claiming that the crew was abusing animals. They seemed to know that Ronald was a producer, so they refused to reconcile and insisted on Ronald coming forward to interview them. It seemed that they wanted to use this project to make their organization famous.

Ronald had to go anyway, otherwise the filming would be delayed and the production costs wasted would be astronomical.

Little Bud and bodyguard Dan were already waiting outside the door. They looked at the lipstick marks on Ronald's face and were afraid to laugh. In the end, Bud handed him a tissue and wiped the small mirror on the back seat.

"Yes, this is Ronald's phone number, may I ask your name?" The car arrived at the airport, and Richard was already waiting in the waiting room. Just as everyone was about to get on the plane, they received a call from a woman.

"It's Cindy Crawford...she has something to do with you." Richard reported quietly in Ronald's ear.

"Don't she know I just got married?" Ronald glanced at Richard. Later, when several private parties were held, Crawford declined Ronald's invitation, except for another model, Christie Turing. The meal comes every time. Why is it delivered to your door now?

"I think it's not what you think. She said she wanted to talk to you about your new project."

"Oh", Ronald unexpectedly overestimated his charm and answered the phone, "It's me, Ronald."

"Congratulations on your wedding, Ronald." Cindy Crawford stammered on the phone and congratulated Ronald first.

"Thank you, you are looking for me..."

"I want to confirm with you whether your new wife is going to star in a romantic movie with Richard Gere?"

"Yeah...", Ronald thought to himself, do you still want to compete for the heroine or what? Unfortunately it's too late...

"I have a request. Can...is it better not to choose Richard as the leading actor? If he really has to be the hero, can you allow me to visit the crew often when it's convenient for me?"

"No, why are you here? Is it you and Richard?"

"Yes, he is my boyfriend. We have been dating secretly for a while..." Cindy Crawford puffed up her chest on the other end of the phone. Her charm was very reliable. In order to win over Richard Key, She defeated actress Kim Basinger, singer Elvis Presley’s daughter Priscilla Presley, veteran female star Barbra Streisand, and Colombian female high-ranking actress Dawn Steele to win the status of Paul’s real girlfriend. , fellow models Tina Chow, Laura Bailey...and countless unknown beauties.

But male stars like Richard Gere are like bulls in heat in Hollywood and the modeling industry. She still has to deal with actresses and female models who pounce on them every day when they smell the smell, and Richard Gere It's a headache that their special relationship hasn't been made public yet.

"Oh, come on, as long as it doesn't affect the shooting. I said, you are very interested in your boyfriend?"

"You don't know Richard, every time he shoots a movie, he will fake it with the actress... You know what I mean, I have to go to the set to watch him..." Cindy Crawford thought to herself, not yet You, a good asset, have no intention of developing a special relationship with me, so I have to fall in love with male celebrities and have to constantly fight with those women.

"Damn it, does Richard Gere get into heat every time he's on the set?" Ronald put down the phone and remembered that Diane was going to co-star with him, but felt uncomfortable for a while, "Why are my girlfriends calling me all the time?" Come to me."

"Actually, he may not be the best choice for the male lead..." Richard crossed out Richard Gere's name in his mind, and he could exert some influence on the crew. There are things that Ronald is inconvenient to say or do. As a manager, he has to help...

…

When he arrived at the filming location of "Dances with Wolves" in South Dakota, Ronald first went to discuss it with Polly Platt and took a look at the samples.

"Kevin (Costner) lacks experience, but he is really a director who wants to make good movies. If you look at these scenes, you can see his efforts and the speed of his progress." Polly is quite fond of Costner. Good impression.

She explained to Ronald, pointing to a scene from the beginning of the film shot by Kevin Costner. It was a scene that explained the background of Lieutenant Dunbar (the protagonist who was later named Dances with Wolves by the Dakota Indians).

In the decisive battle of the Civil War, Lieutenant Dunbar thought that he was certain to die, so he relaxed his mind, closed his eyes and rode towards the enemy's position. The opponent's line of infantry concentrated fire and fired, but none of them hit him as he galloped on horseback.

Inspired by this miracle, the Northern Army followed and charged, defeating the Southern Army and winning the victory.

In order to show such a disregard for death and Lieutenant Dunbar's personality, Kevin Costner actually closed his eyes on the horse, and then let the horse carry him galloping. Although the horse is very tame, the risk of shooting like this is still very high.

Ronald watched the end, as the props man yelled at Costner to keep the horses from charging the fence on the Confederate set.

"Be safe..." Ronald knew that actors filming western movies were often good at equestrian skills and could usually control the horses in this situation, but he still had to give a few words of caution.

"What's going on with the animal protection organization?" Ronald still asked the most critical question.

"It seems that someone snitched on us, so these people from the animal protection organization came to South Dakota to target our crew from the beginning." Pratt also frowned when talking about this matter. Usually when filming in such a rural place, the union will If you don’t come here often, how can you provoke these people?

"I will find someone to investigate..." Ronald frowned. There was no problem with the leak last time, and this time he was targeted again. Private detectives really can't find any problems using conventional methods. Do they really need to upgrade to some unconventional methods?

"What are their demands?" Ronald asked again, and he was willing to talk to someone, which showed that the demands were within the scope that could be solved with money.

…

"This is our association's protest letter, which contains our main demands..." People from the Animal Protection Association handed over the copied text when they met with Ronald, Costner, Platt and others.

"Protect wild wolf actors..." The first thing Ronald saw was to protect wolves. The title Dances with Wolves actually refers to the Dakota name of Lieutenant Dunbar, played by Costner, because he was seen by the Sioux people often with a gray wolf with two white front legs (Dunbar named it called two socks) together.

"There were actually two wolves we photographed, one named Buck and one named Teddy. We took good care of them." Costner sighed. This group of people really came to stir things up every day. Holding banners and shouting loudly to protest against the filming. It caused problems with on-site recording.

Moreover, their appeal to protect animals is very popular with women and children. Most people dare not deal with them forcefully, otherwise politicians will support them in order to get votes. If they become national TV news, it will be even more difficult to film.

"But if you take good care of them while filming, you are actually destroying their wolf nature. After the filming is completed, these wolves that are familiar with human feeding are not suitable to return to the wild. This pair of animals is inhumane..."

"Shouldn't it be called the Way of the Beast?" Ronald complained in his mind. He didn't dare to confront him head-on. If his protest was on TV, he would have to stop work, and then the money would be wasted. "What suggestions do you have?"

"We suggest that after filming, let them live in a safe ecological environment built by humans, so that they can maintain their ability to survive in the wild without being hunted by people with ill intentions..."

"Is there such a place?", Ronald asked Richard.

"There is actually a wildlife park in California that can foster such strange animals." Richard quickly added that he had already done his homework.

"Is this okay?" Ronald received the other party's approval, "The next topic..."

"Horses cannot be abused or injured during filming...I noticed that you have a lot of galloping performances, which is a kind of harm to the horses..."

The so-called galloping means riding a bareback horse without a saddle. This is the way the Dakota Sioux were accustomed to riding horses. Indians in classic western movies, especially the bad Indians, such as the Apaches, are often shown in scenes that highlight their ferocity!

"But this is a cultural heritage of the Dakota Sioux... We are trying to show the real way of life of the Indians. They are not the inherently bad guys in traditional Hollywood movies, but have their own way of life and their own Aboriginal civilization with unique culture..."

Ronald also has a way to deal with them. "Dances with Wolves" employs many real descendants of the Dakota Sioux Indians. In the name of protecting their own culture, these people have cordial and friendly conversations with people from animal protection organizations. got up.

"Okay, you can keep the riding shots, but the number of shots per day must be limited. Not putting a saddle on the horse is a kind of destruction to the horse. We need to have representatives on the set to prevent animal cruelty from happening."

In the end, the two sides stopped yelling and discussed a solution. Ronald sighed and agreed. It's just a matter of shooting less scenes every day. Costner's progress is not fast anyway. Fortunately, Platt had experience and had brought in the current deputy chief of the Sioux to argue with them.

"Finally, we prohibit you from filming bison hunts..."

The last request was the most difficult to handle. This group of animal protection groups proposed that real bison hunting scenes should not be filmed.

"Although the American bison is a legally protected animal, our bison provider is a wealthy man who breeds bison to restore the bison population. He has a legal slaughter quota every year. We all follow the law."

Ronald thought that there was no room for concession. In the script, Lieutenant Dunbar was finally accepted by the Indian tribe and truly became a "Dances with Wolves" because he notified the tribe of the arrival of the buffalo herd and together they killed countless people. Bison, as food for the winter.

This is one of the most important shots in the narrative, and it was impossible not to take it. This demand cannot be compromised.

"Slaughter quotas are a barbaric way to take away the power of animal life. This is an evil law. We are working hard to overturn it..."

"But he's still legal now, isn't he?"

Ronald thought to himself that America is a legal society, and it is not illegal for you to break the law.

"But the quota is about killing these bison in a humane way, not the unnecessary inhumane way you are using. Chasing them savagely and then killing them alive after they are too exhausted to escape." , while the bison were still alive, they cut off their livers and ate them alive..."

"Sorry, this is the traditional culture of our Sioux people..."

"This is barbaric... I think many television viewers will be very disappointed with this kind of filming."

"Is there nothing to talk about?" Ronald was furious. How did the details of the script get known to people from these animal protection organizations? Is there a mole in the crew, or is it?

Costner also joined the fray and debated with animal rights advocates. But this is of no use at all. They just insist that this shooting method is too cruel. You can use some fake beef instead of real bison.

However, the most important thing about this shot is that it is done in one go. Through a natural perspective, it reflects the grand hunting scene of the Sioux people and the way the women prepared food for the winter. The Sioux used to portray the Sioux are not the scalping bad guys like the Apaches, but a civilized race like the Americans who have cultural traditions, love their families, and take care of the elderly and children.

Ronald calmed down during everyone's "heated" discussion and thought about what was really important.

He left for now and went to another room to make a call to Cameron.

"Yes, a mechanical device like a bison that can be controlled through electronic circuits, allowing the bison's limbs and head to rotate naturally...

Yes, different equipment can be used for close-ups and medium shots... Um, okay, thank you, how much do you estimate it will cost? How long does it take to be ready and delivered? "

"Stop arguing, shut up..." Ronald came back and yelled, "I decided not to use a real bison to shoot this scene. I will customize a fake mechanical bison from Hollywood and use this model when the time comes. Filming the scene of falling to the ground and dying..."

"But, Ronald," Costner said when he heard that he was going to use a model, he was worried that it wouldn't look real.

"Don't argue. I'm looking for the best special effects model expert. He could make a mechanical device like a human arm in the Terminator a few years ago."

"In addition, we have to shoot the scene of the buffalo herd running..."

"But, Mr. Li, this is also a kind of persecution of wild animals..."

"Shut up, too. The purpose of raising bison is to let them run, otherwise the bison will get sick due to lack of exercise... This is my biggest bottom line, don't stop... OK?"

Finally, the two parties reached an agreement on animal protection. The association sent two observers to the crew, and the crew also provided them with food and permission, because there was really no place to eat in this rural ghost place except for the crew.

"Ronald, thanks to you..." Kevin Costner was finally able to shoot the way he wanted.

"Let me tell you the truth, Kevin. This mechanical model will cost me another three hundred thousand dollars to manufacture, and then it will cost me tens of thousands more to ship it over and find someone to debug and operate it on site, plus these bullshit animal protection organizations , the buffalo herd running, and the galloping shooting, all the animals have to be given enough rest time. This movie is like a fucking black hole in the budget. Every time I think it is almost enough, all kinds of problems will come up. I pay.

It's best not to put me through this again, and my wallet isn't a bottomless pit. "

Costner nodded vigorously and burst into tears for Ronald's support, "This will definitely be an epic movie."

"It'd better be a fucking epic movie that's a blockbuster and doesn't lose money..." Ronald also yelled "God bless you."

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