Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Don't you need to apply for approval from New York City Hall for this shot?" Director of Photography Michael Ballhaus asked Ronald. The first formally shot scene in the film is the interior of the Staten Island Ferry, which is shot right after the aerial shot.

Starting from the torch of the Statue of Liberty, the atmosphere of Manhattan, the center of the universe, is shown in a panoramic view, and then from the high-end metropolis of the New Jerusalem, it switches to the shabby, dirty, and backward ferry, showing the life of the poor blue-collar secretary working on Wall Street.

Orson Welles, a famous American director, said that long shots are the mark that distinguishes adults from children. After almost all directors become famous, in order to prove their artistic value, they must show off their skills with a long shot at the beginning, as if it is the director's coming-of-age ceremony.

Hitchcock showed off his skills with the "Rope of Souls". Except for the few seconds of black screen after each roll of film was shot, the rest was shot in one shot. The publicity of that movie also used Hitchcock's technical breakthrough as the main selling point.

Orson Welles himself used a three-minute opening of "Touch of Evil" with a long shot of more than 50 extras in three blocks, with cars, people walking, and more than 50 groups to announce that Hitchcock's indoor long shots are nothing, and those who dare to shoot outdoor long shots are technical inventors.

In the opening of "Empire of the Sun", Spielberg used a ship to cross and crash the coffin on the Huangpu River, a long shot metaphorically about the impact of modernization on ancient civilization, proving that he can shoot epic films.

Long shots are not entirely a show of skill. The opening of the movie should quickly immerse the audience in the dream that the director brought them. Long shots with music always make people feel that atmosphere inexplicably. So it has become the first choice for many directors to open the scene.

This coming-of-age ceremony is now Ronald's turn.

But as we all know, Ronald does not have any technical cleanliness. It is not a long shot that must be run through from the beginning. The last picture of the aerial shot is to fly from high altitude to about the same height as the ferry, then zoom in with a zoom lens, and finally freeze on the glass window of the yellow ferry on Staten Island.

So Ronald chose the connecting shot that was edited later, in which Tess and Sin discussed how to celebrate Tess's 30th birthday on the ferry.

In order to shoot the effect of a daily ferry, so that New York audiences can see that this is a real New York story, Ronald did not report to City Hall, rent a ferry, and then find hundreds of extras to solve the problem.

Instead, he directly brought a crew and asked Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack to wear leather jackets and coats, put on exaggerated secretary makeup, and sneak into the ferry like a real Wall Street secretary, and find two seats near the porthole to sit down.

Only such candid shots can restore the temperament of New York, which is different from any other city.

Ignoring the teasing of the director of photography, Ronald quickly found the angle of the sun, and then asked the camera crew to shoot with handheld photography.

There was a microphone hanging on the camera, and the photographer carried the heavy machine and walked quickly from the side of the cabin. If this happened in other places, it would definitely attract a crowd of onlookers. But this is New York, where American citizens are the most arrogant. They talk to themselves, and not many people pay attention to the noise made by these people.

Very good, only one citizen leaning against the aisle looked at the camera twice.

Ronald made a hand signal to Joan Cusack, who played Sheen. Joan Cusack turned her head and looked at Tess played by Melanie Griffith, singing softly:

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."

The sound was not loud, and it was just picked up by the microphone hanging on the camera, along with the voices of people talking next to her and various noises.

On the other side of Joan Cusack was a real secretary. Her hairstyle was similar to that of the two actors, combed high and fixed with hairspray. Two very large earrings swayed as she turned her head.

Ronald smiled at the sight, and he himself could hardly tell the difference between the carefully designed costumes and makeup and hairstyle of the crew and that of the real secretary. This indicates that the careful preparation for the filming of this movie was very successful.

In Xin's hand, there was a small paper cupcake with three small candles on it. The script set that today was Tess's 30th birthday. She was too busy at work, so she could only celebrate with her good friends on the way to work.

The real secretary next to her looked at Melanie with curiosity in her eyes. While chewing gum, she leaned over and looked over, perhaps wondering if she should sing together.

"Huh..." Melanie Griffith blew out the candles.

"Did you make a wish?" Joan Cusack said. Xin felt that it was too simple to celebrate like this, after all, it was a 30-year-old birthday.

"Yes..." Melanie replied, and Tess looked in another direction. Most secretaries would get married at this age, but she still had ambitions. Melanie's face was facing the sun, and the light shone through her dry golden hair, creating a good atmosphere on her face.

"Cut!" Ronald was very satisfied with this shot. It seemed that his decision to go straight to the stage without rehearsal was right.

Both actors were very experienced and they had this tacit understanding with each other. He started shooting without thinking twice, and before the New Yorkers around him could pay attention, he finished the job in a flash.

Director of photography Michael Ballhaus raised his hand to indicate that the picture was OK, and Ronald asked them to put away the equipment and prepare to leave.

"Are you shooting a movie?" The people around were awakened by the sound of "Cut". The female secretary sitting next to Joan Cusack asked Ronald, "Is it a Hollywood production? Or an advertisement?"

For a moment, many people's eyes were focused here. Although New Yorkers are not surprised by such things, if it is a Hollywood production, there may be some stars hiding nearby, waiting to come out to shoot.

"No, I'm a student at New York University, and we are here to shoot homework." Ronald denied immediately.

"Beep... Beep..." Just then, the ferry began to sound the whistle, and there were still a few minutes to reach the hotel in downtown Manhattan.

After docking, the group quickly joined the second group who were shooting the docking of the "American Legion" ferry at the pier, got on the Toyota van, and drove towards the World Trade Center.

"Student homework at New York University...Hahaha, I laughed to death." Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack were removing their makeup in the car. When they talked about Ronald's speed in answering the passenger, they almost shook them.

"Thank God, I haven't lost the skills I learned from Roger Corman." Ronald also congratulated Michael Ballhaus.

...

The crew officially moved into the World Trade Center. After the stock market crash, many companies closed down, and there were not as many people in the lobby as originally expected. Ronald had no choice but to ask the Screen Actors Guild to call in dozens of extras in the afternoon to shoot the scene of Tess entering the World Trade Center to go to work.

The camera was assumed to be on the second-floor balcony of the World Trade Center. The telephoto lens was facing Tess and Sheen who were walking among a large group of extras.

The longer the focal length of the lens, the smaller the field of view. The director of photography fixed the lens on the neck and head of Tess and Sheen. The dozens of extras in the picture were photographed by him as if thousands of troops were scrambling to go to work.

The heads of Griffith and Cusack were recorded by the camera as they moved up and down as they walked, as if they were the two mavericks in the flock.

This shot could not be recorded on the spot, and post-dubbing had to be used, but the two actors still spoke their lines meticulously.

"No lunch, I have to take a public speaking class." Tess said to her good friend Xin, rejecting the invitation to lunch together.

"Why do you want to take a public speaking class? You speak very well." Joan Cusack, who plays Xin, has a very high level of accent imitation, and imitates the blue-collar accent of Brooklyn very vividly. Open vowels replace closed vowels in large numbers, which sounds like a poor temperament.

"Then I'll pick you up at five in the evening, and we'll go to Staten Island together." Xin continued to work hard.

"No, I have a lecture on emerging markets in the afternoon." Melanie Griffith, who plays Tess, has also been trained by a pronunciation coach. Her Brooklyn accent is much weaker, but traces can still be heard in some words. The image of a woman who strives to move up from a secretary position and tries to integrate into a higher-level circle can be given to the audience from the lines.

"Oh my God, today is your birthday, can't emerging markets wait?" Xin was a little nervous.

"When is my birthday surprise party?" Tess knew what her friend meant, so she simply pointed it out.

"What surprise party?" It's not a surprise if you say it out loud.

"Stop it..."

"Okay, I should take you out for a drink after get off work, and then go home at seven o'clock. They are all here."

"Okay, I'll leave early and be home at seven fifteen. OK?"

The two friends started bumping shoulders with each other, a game that only little girls play to show affection.

Ronald was very happy. This was obviously an improvisation by Melanie Griffith. Joan Cusack also reacted immediately and bumped back. The two hugged each other on the road with laughter.

This is a move that only girls who grew up in poor communities at the bottom of the society would do. Girls from wealthy families are usually forbidden by their mothers to make a scene, which is not elegant.

They are indeed talented actors. Ronald deliberately did not let them rehearse, so that the first performance would be natural and undesigned. For such talented, well-trained, and experienced actors, it is best to give them some space.

"Cut!"

Although there was no simultaneous recording, the lip movements of the two were recorded on film by the telephoto lens. The director of photography said that Ronald was very perfect. The focus puller withstood the test and rotated the focus wheel very quickly without any out-of-focus.

The next shot to be shot was the shot of Tess and Xin walking outside the gate into the lobby of the skyscraper to squeeze into the elevator.

Because the guide rails had to be laid, there was no way to secretly shoot. The World Trade Center property had been prepared in advance. The most serious wave of rent withdrawal caused by the recent stock market crash was not the twin towers, but Building No. 7 behind.

So this shot was shot in the lobby of Building No. 7.

The prepared extras, dressed in office clothes, began to file in through a row of transparent glass doors. The camera was shot from the side at a 45-degree angle.

Tess and Xin walked into the gate, and the camera began to push up along the guide rails. The relative movement speed of the two sides was faster than real walking, making this shot look very fast. It seemed that there were really thousands of people rushing in.

In short, everything went well, and the first day of shooting was successfully completed.

After announcing the end, Ronald still had to prepare for the next day's shooting and then send the film for printing. The printed samples would be available at noon tomorrow.

He and the crew were still waiting where they were, and the actors were already getting ready to leave.

"Director, we are going to the bar tonight, will you come?" Melanie Griffiths played very well today. She came over and boldly asked Ronald if he wanted to go to Happy together.

"You guys go ahead, don't overdo it." Ronald didn't object to whoever finished filming, and the actor relaxed a little.

"Then, bye..." Melanie quickly changed her clothes and went out to get into the Hollywood investment banker's car. It seemed that the two of them had really started dating.

"Ronald..."

There is actually another reason why Ronald doesn't go to the bar, and that is to meet and chat with the "Hairspray" crew.

This ultra-low-cost movie with very low investment was released in the United States two weeks ago. The distribution department of Daydream is very powerful, and it has contacted more than 200 theaters to release the film since its release.

Unexpectedly, this dance film, which is branded as a comedy version of "Dirty Dancing", was unexpectedly loved by the audience. The first weekend box office exceeded 1 million, and the cost had been recovered by the second week.

Ronald was very happy to hear Michelle Cannold's report, which showed that their strategy of focusing on small-budget genre films was off to a good start, and the first film achieved great success.

The main creative staff of the crew include director John Waters, Ricky Lake who plays the role of Fat Girl, Drag Queen who plays her mother, Dive, and Cher's ex-husband, Sonny, who has just been elected as the mayor of Palm Springs and has not yet taken office. ·Bono, all came to New York to promote.

This time the box office was so strong that the whole crew started to arrange road shows in big cities across the country. Ronald invested hundreds of thousands more dollars, adding more games in central and eastern cities.

The box office in the second week was even higher than that in the first week. When Ronald was happy, he changed the hotel where the cast and crew were staying to the St. Regis Hotel, the most expensive and luxurious hotel in Manhattan.

Several people came to the World Trade Center, met Ronald, and went to the St. Regis Hotel for dinner.

"Director, thank you, my agent has received many offers." The one who spoke was the heroine Ricky Lake. She was not the prettiest actress in "Hairspray". However, the movie's unexpected box office explosion made Hollywood feel that this little chubby girl had unlimited future.

"When you lose weight, don't lose weight too quickly. Let your agent plan it carefully. Many actresses in Hollywood lost many good roles because they lost weight too fast." Ronald looked at Ricky. Laike has lost a lot of weight and looks completely different from the chubby girl in the movie.

"I know, thank you."

"If you ask me, what's wrong with being fat? There are too many skinny people in Hollywood, but there are only a few of us fat girls..." Dive, the Drag Queen, is still very straightforward in his words, and his weight is twice that of Ricky Lake. There are so many, so fat that I can hardly sit down.

But he is already in his forties, and Ricky Lake is only twenty this year. He is at the age where he loves beauty. How could he just walk around Hollywood with the image of a fat girl?

However, the friendship between mother and daughter in the movie continued into life, and the two had a lot of fun playing around.

Ronald chatted with Sonny Bono.

Bono's luck has improved since he acted in Ronald's movie. During the election, because he happened to appear on David Letterman's talk show with his ex-wife Cher, his popularity suddenly increased and he successfully defeated the former mayor.

After he finished promoting the movie, he was ready to take office. In order to fulfill his promise to voters, Bono decided to start a Palm Springs Film Festival based on his own expertise. Let’s learn from Robert Redford’s creation of the Sundance Film Festival, which specifically attracts entries from independently produced films.

Ronald reminded him that there were not many independent films in Hollywood. Robert Redford's film festival had been held for several years and was not comparable in terms of popularity. He had to find a suitable selling point to hold the Palm Springs Film Festival. up, and then drive Bono's own restaurant business, and Palm Springs' tourism and economy.

"I have thought about it. Palm Springs cannot compete head-on with Sundance. I plan to invite independent films from other countries to compete and participate in the exhibition. There are many independent filmmakers from Europe and Asia who make B-level films and want to Entering the American Market.”

Ronald was very interested in Sonny Bono's idea. He and Bono agreed that for the first film festival next year, they would contact the other side of the Pacific and send some films from there, Hong Kong, Japan, and other places to participate in the exhibition.

"Ah ha ha ha... Dive burst out laughing over there." It turned out that his agent called him again. Due to the writers' strike, many TV series in New York have stopped, and they can only rerun or find some guests. Go on a talk show.

The finale of the second season of the Fox TV series "Married... with" was also disrupted by the strike. It had no choice but to take out the old script from the first season and find some latest celebrities to participate.

Anyway, this sitcom has a lot of audience members on site to create canned laughter. All it takes is Dive to use his ability to improvise on the spot and make a few random moves to get the last episode over. Who makes her the "female" actor who is talked about the most by the media now and who brings unexpected surprises?

Ronald stepped forward and hugged him, then congratulated him on his success. This "Hairspray," like "Dirty Dancing," also brought good luck to its creators. All the actors got more opportunities because of a small-scale movie.

Ronald was very happy about this kind of thing. Anyway, the big studio system has collapsed. Ronald's movies cannot tie up the original crew to make five more similar movies. It is better to part ways amicably and let these people go out to make money.

In Hollywood, no one knows all the secrets of success. If they are not popular at that time, they can come back to make sequels. This is the right way for small production companies to survive.

Besides, don't we have the weapon of videotapes now? Movies that make a profit at the box office can make a profit on videotapes. And movies like "Hairspray" that have created a certain momentum in the media are equivalent to a very good advertisement for videotapes that will be sold after the release. Ronald is happy to see all these creative staff get the opportunity.

When they are interviewed, they will also be asked by the media about their views on the movie "Hairspray". It is all free advertising.