Exploiting Hollywood 1980

【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

Ronald and Norio Ohga chatted about the art of opera for a while, and Ohga said that he even wanted to sponsor Franco Zeffirelli to make more opera films, even if the box office was not good.

Ronald promised to tell Zeffirelli in Italy that he was also a director in the opera industry and had deep connections. He would be very happy if someone was willing to provide financial support.

Seeing that Norio Ohga's tone of voice had a particularly excited energy, Ronald knew that the other party had already thought of a way to deal with the Columbia acquisition project. So he also said goodbye. It was already a luxury for such a president of a multinational company to take time to chat with him.

Before leaving, Ronald suddenly remembered something... If he didn't explain it clearly, the Japanese character might cause misunderstanding.

"Mr. Dahe, if you are so honest with me, aren't you afraid that I will buy a few shares of Sony stock on the stock market after learning the news?"

Norio Ohga was stunned, then smiled, "Ronald-san is indeed a master who is familiar with Japanese culture." In Japanese culture, it is indeed rude to mobilize funds to take advantage, but Ronald said it directly like this. Respect for yourself, Sony, and the country behind you.

He waved his hand, saying that he didn't mind Ronald taking this opportunity to make some money, and regarded it as a reward for Ronald.

"Hahaha, I won't take advantage of you like this." Ronald also laughed, "Actually, I bought some Sony stocks a month ago. Of course, that's because I'm optimistic about your business."

"Hahaha, you are indeed a rare sun-knowing person..." Norio Ohga was even more satisfied with Ronald's statement.

…

The breeze was blowing on the ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan, and the winter wind was a bit cold on the face. Ann Ross, the costume designer of the crew, poked her head out of the cabin and shrank her neck from the cold. On the deck were director Ronald, director of photography Michael Ballhaus, and editing director Walter Murch, discussing the framing. The three men were wearing thick leather jackets, and there were streaks of white air when they exhaled.

Ann Rose hurried back and chatted with her friend Polly Platt, who was the art director in the warmer cabin, "How is this Ronald? Is he easy to work with?"

"He is a director who respects professionals very much, unlike some people who like to decide everything by themselves. He also respects women." Polly Pratt pulled Ann. Although it was the New Year's holiday, there were still many people in the cabin. The secretary who rarely goes to work on Wall Street wears running shoes and puffs away one after another.

"So I needed a big aerial shot, and then seamlessly connect it to the cabin. I wanted to play a little trick at the beginning and get a long shot, so that I can grab the audience's attention and explain where the story takes place."

The three of them, Ronald, walked back to the cabin from the deck. He was explaining his shot ideas to the director of photography and editor.

"Of course, this can be done. The last shot needs to be shot close to the cabin, and then interspersed with a black screen, and then transferred to the shot inside the cabin, so that the audience will not notice the editing point." Walter Murch pointed with his finger He drew a frame and told Luo his ideas.

This method of using a black screen to connect long shots was invented by Hitchcock. His "Rope" is a so-called one-shot movie. The whole film looks like there is only one long shot, like a drama.

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

But with the technology at the time, a box of film could only capture more than nine minutes of length, so the so-called one shot to the end was actually false. A nine-minute long shot was designed, and then a black screen was used to connect it. But the audience didn't understand it at the time. It was quite refreshing to watch this kind of movie for the first time.

"You want to take Manhattan's landmarks,

At the opening of the Statue of Liberty, it’s hard to find such aerial pilots and photographers. You have to find the most professional ones. "The director of photography, Michael Ballhaus, is a German. He pointed to the sky in thickly accented English and told Ronald about his design.

The helicopter first circled the Statue of Liberty a few times, and then took a bird's-eye view of the ferry. When the sun is right in the morning, the Manhattan sea surface will reflect very beautiful golden ripples. Then it swooped down from a high altitude and followed the ferry for tracking shots...

"This design is very good. I hired the most professional NYPD to assist with the aerial photography, which is from Tom Cruise's new movie "Chicken"

You don’t have to worry about their technical level as aerial photographers. Ronald reassured Ballhaus and asked Fox to apply to New York City Hall for filming assistance in advance.

"Ann, what do you think?" Ronald finished chatting with the camera crew and looked back at the two female generals.

"Well, there are two options, either prepare a Hollywood version of these working girl costumes like Jane Fonda shot in "9 to 5", or you can follow the tradition of New York movies and just shoot these most authentic costumes . "

Ann Rose is very familiar with costumes. Although she was surprised by the secretary wearing running shoes to work on the ferry, seeing the costumes of so many female characters in the script made her excited and accepted the challenge.

Generally speaking, starting from the golden age of Hollywood, movies will upgrade the costumes of real-life characters. Make the costumes a level above their real-life counterparts.

For example, in this "Working Girl", the secretary Tess is an ordinary blue-collar working-class person. She wears very unique clothes. She doesn't pay attention to colors and fabrics, but she still has a unique style.

If it were Jane Fonda's career woman movie "9 to 5" a few years ago, it would be upgraded to the clothing of ordinary college graduates and white-collar workers. It is not expensive, but it conforms to the dress code of white-collar women, with conservative color matching and attention to fabrics.

"No, no, I don't need to be taller. I need clothes that are generally consistent with the real situation." Ronald felt that there was a plot about Tess's transformation in the script, and the audience must understand her cross-class character from a perceptual perspective. Different identities wear different clothes.

"Theresa, when you were working as a secretary, where did you usually buy clothes?" Ronald looked back at his old friend Theresa Kate, the shareholder of the leg warmers, who had come to teach actors how to be Wall Street secretaries.

"In fact, the largest number of employees on Wall Street are secretaries. In the basements of large office buildings, there are usually clothing stores for secretaries. We don't have time to shop, and we can't afford the boutiques on Fifth Avenue, so we usually settle there." Theresa Kate replied to Ronald.

"If you want to buy, you can go to Building 7 of the World Trade Center. The clothing store on the ground floor there is the largest. We usually go there to buy. There are many styles and cheap prices." A few people dressed like secretaries came to interrupt. They asked Ronald, "Are you going to make a movie? Have secretaries roles like us?"

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

"Commercial, we are filming a commercial, a clothing commercial." Ronald fooled them with nonsense. If they knew it was a Harrison Ford movie, they might attract onlookers again.

"Shall we go to the boutique on Fifth Avenue to buy Sigourney's clothes?" Ann Rose wrote down Ronald's request to restore the authenticity and not to make it higher or lower.

"You make up your mind, I want a woman who was born on Long Island, went to prep school, often skis in Europe, graduated from an Ivy League, and wants to hook up with a Wall Street investor. You look for clothes based on that." Ronald described. A little background on Catherine.

After landing on the shore, Little Bud, who was already waiting, drove a van and pulled several key people who were preparing the movie to Wall Street and began to inspect the scene.

"Well, that's not appropriate." Polly Platt took a few Polaroid photos in several high-rise offices. After viewing them, she was dissatisfied with the color tone.

In the first half of Working Girl , Tess works in a secretarial office area with partitions in the middle of the floor, while her white-collar boss works in a separate office by the window on the periphery, where celebrities have better conditions. So the first half of the movie has a bit of a bluish-gray quality.

In short, it is necessary to show the feeling of a blue-collar worker on the assembly line. "Have you ever seen the opening of Peach Blossom Apartments, where Jack Lemmon is in the big office of the insurance company? It feels like small parts on a big machine. These office buildings It’s not industrial enough or despairing enough.”

"So where is the right place?" Ronald turned to Theresa Kate and asked Theresa Kate. She had worked as a secretary on Wall Street for more than ten years and must be familiar with this kind of thing.

"I've never seen a peach apartment, but if you're looking for the feeling of an assembly line, I think there's no place more suitable than the World Trade Center. In that place, waiting for the elevator at noon is like jumping out of a trench to charge, and entering and exiting the lobby feels like the Normandy landing. Soldier."

"Hehehe, it's the World Trade Center." Everyone was amused by Theresa Kate's metaphor.

Everyone walked to Building 1 of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. There were not many visitors in the lobby. Looking up and looking around, Ronald made eye contact with everyone. This place is really nice.

The twin towers of the World Trade Center are barrel-shaped structures, with the information desk and elevator room in the middle of the lobby. It is surrounded by "return"-shaped supports of steel structures, and the outside is wrapped in gray cement. The glass curtain wall is covered by cement walls on the ceiling and floor of each floor.

Although the sun is at its best near noon, most of the light is blocked by the walls. In addition, the color inside is monotonous, with gray cement and brown marble, giving people a depressing feeling.

"This is where Tess should work." Polly Platt was satisfied, took out the Polaroid and started taking notes.

"Ting..." The elevator in the middle rang, and two of them arrived at the bottom at the same time.

"Shall we go take a look?" Ronald invited the team to take a look in the elevator. The last scene where Tess turned defeat into victory was filmed at the entrance of the elevator.

"Oh...oh..." Ronald, who was tall and tall, walked over first, but was bumped by the flow of people rushing out of the elevator. Those employees who look like secretaries rush very quickly.

"This is really like a fucking war..." Ronald really believed Theresa Kate's metaphor. The public elevators are mainly used by secretaries and low-level white-collar workers. They have just arrived at meal time and have only one hour at noon. They have to squeeze into the elevator and rush to Chinatown a few blocks away to have some cheap lunch. I have to run back so I can squeeze into the elevator to go back to the office.

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

After finally squeezing into the elevator, several people from the crew looked up and down inside the elevator. The World Trade Center was built in 1973. The elevators were still old-fashioned and not as big as today. Everyone felt very crowded in the elevators.

After roughly understanding the situation at the World Trade Center, Ronald agreed to shoot here. The upper floors are mainly offices of financial companies. Not two months after the stock market crash, many companies have begun to go bankrupt and evacuate. You can also borrow cheaper offices for shooting.

In short, the impact of the stock market crash on the World Trade Center Towers is still there. The crew caught the cheapest rent when filming, and it is estimated that they can save a lot of money by then.

We all went to the Window of the World restaurant on the 107th floor of the North Tower for lunch. Then they split into two groups, director of photography Ballhaus and editing director Murch, and continued to look for suitable scenes in other World Trade Center buildings.

Ronald and the two heroines went to Fifth Avenue together to find white-collar clothing for the two heroines Catherine and Tess.

This is the most popular shopping mall with tourists. Clothing, jewelry, shoes, and all kinds of high-end women's clothing are all available.

Ann Rose found a boutique that was not the most expensive or high-end on the road that intersected with Fifth Avenue. She gave instructions to the manager, "Look for more of this little red coat and this swirly patterned skirt." Come with stylish clothes."

Ronald looked at the store. The clothes were not very outstanding. "Are they a little cheaper?" he asked Polly.

"No, no, Ronald, you don't understand. Catherine's family is well off, but she is a white-collar worker after all, not a socialite. She can't wear custom-made clothes every day when she goes to work. Such a classy professional woman wears clothes from this store. We sell this kind of ready-to-wear." Polly explained to Ronald that custom-made fashion was not something that professional women could wear on a daily basis.

"Oh..." Ronald touched his chin. His understanding of women's clothing was still not deep enough.

Unlike customized fashion, most professional women still wear ready-made clothes in general business occasions. They are completely different styles from the Hollywood women that Ronald is familiar with.

Working girls are more low-key and conservative. The fashion trend starts from haute couture and then gradually spreads to haute couture. Business situations also need to be a little more conservative.

"I suggest you go to the ready-to-wear fashion shows of CK, Billss, Ralph Lauren and other brands. The clothes there are what this movie needs. If you like anything, just tell me." Ann Rose Picked out some clothes and showed them to Ronald.

"Why do you want me to see it? I believe in your vision." Luo

Nader looked at An's clothes and shoes and thought they looked pretty good.

"This is a commercial film after all, Ronald. The beauty of women's clothing must be judged by men. Your feeling is more accurate, after all, half of the audience is male, hahaha" Ann Ross smiled.

"That's it." Ronald also laughed. No wonder there are many scenes in Hollywood where the heroine changes her clothes and shows them to the hero. Women should look after those who please themselves.

…

"Give me a few copies of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and other basics." Ronald asked the stall owner to find fashion magazines from recent months at a newsstand next to his apartment. .

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

"Okay, would you like some copies of Playboy, Penthouse?" The shopkeeper smiled like a man, and handed him the ones Ronald named. Then he opened the second layer of magazines on the stall and showed it to Ronald.

"I want to see more people wearing clothes..." Ronald laughed. He really just wanted to see clothes.

"Clothes? Ha, you understand women..." The shop owner pointed at Ronald a few times with his fingers. These young elites wearing leather jackets don't just want their female companions to have good figures. They now like to have temperament. Yes, those who have their own profession.

"Here you go, Sports Illustrated. There's a swimsuit show on it." The store owner took out a few books from the other side and quickly handed them to Ronald.

"Thanks". Ronald handed over the banknotes, put a roll of magazines, Sports Illustrated inside, and a Forbes outside for cover, and went upstairs.

Aha...

Ronald, who ordered takeout, opened a bottle of Coke and read a fashion magazine. There were a lot of professional attire in fashion magazines, and Ronald also saw catwalk photos of model Cindy Crawford, an old acquaintance.

He picked up the phone and called his agent.

"Richard, are there any fashion shows in New York recently? Business-style ones. Find me some better tickets."

"Do you want to see Cindy and Christy? I'll check." Richard understood that Ronald wanted to see "old friends."

"They happen to have a few ready-to-wear shows in New York. They are not high-end couture shows and are of a relatively low grade. It happens that there are not many gossip reporters going there. If you want them, I will ask them to send the tickets to your apartment."

"Um..." Ronald thought that I didn't mean to see them specifically, but then he thought about it, good clothes must be worn on beautiful women to look good, just to see the effect.

"Okay, if you have any in the past two days, find two for me."