Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is the sample photo taken?"

Ronald sat in the screening room, watching Dustin Hoffman's performance on the screen, and turned around and asked.

"Yeah...", director Barry Levinson replied a little awkwardly. It is not such a pleasant thing for a director to have another director watch the samples he shot. But Dustin Hoffman was on the verge of quitting, so he had to endure it.

"Why does he think the performance is not good? In my opinion, there is no problem? Of course, I am an outsider and do not know the specific details of the script, so I still have to ask you for advice. Did I not understand something? What is special about this performance? Request? 」

There were only two people in the screening room, Ronald and Barry Levinson. This was specially arranged by Ronald. The director needs authority in the crew. He just comes to see for himself, but he cannot let the real director feel that he has the idea of ​​replacing him. So Ronald didn't even let Ovitz in, saying it was just a mutual communication between the directors.

"This is a shot of Rain Man (Dustin Hoffman's character) recalling that when he was a child, he put his younger brother Charlie (Tom Cruise's character) in the bathtub to take a bath and burned little Charlie till he turned red. He said no Knows how to act out that feeling of embarrassment and anger at one’s own incompetence.”

When Barry Levinson listened to Ronald's speech, it was still a technical discussion, and he was vaguely speaking on the director's side. He put down a little worry and began to discuss with Ronald.

This problem is actually a major issue in film performance. Lan

Unlike a theater performance where you can find an audience to watch the rehearsal and modify your performance based on their reactions, when filming a film, it is impossible to have an audience to give you feedback.

The first time the audience sees your performance is when you shoot the entire film, then edit and score it. At this time, if an actor finds that something went wrong in his performance, or is not good enough, it will be difficult for him to have a chance to retake it.

Therefore, after filming, actors struggle with whether they performed well or not, which has become a problem for those actors who have become famous. Many actors have absolutely no idea what their performance is like.

Some people who have seen the movie shooting scene but did not participate in the creation will ask, can't you see the samples every day? Actors can use the looks in the sample films as a reference for their own acting, right?

Even if you don't consider the cost of reshooting after the samples are developed, this kind of feedback is very inaccurate.

The reason why Broadway allows actors to improve their acting skills is because performing on stage provides real-time feedback from the audience.

The people who watched the sample films were directors, producers, actors themselves, and other people in the industry. There is a big difference between the creator's perspective and the audience's perspective. In addition, the human brain has the beautification function, which will always instinctively beautify their own screen performances. Many people will overestimate their own performance on the screen. . Lan

Another obstacle is that the samples are all fragments without any secondary creation by the editor. It is difficult to evaluate the quality of this performance from the perspective of the entire movie. It may be very good to watch this episode alone, but the flaws in the plot are too much. Or conversely, the originally dull performance was exceptionally brilliant when placed in the right place. ….

Therefore, the only person on the set who can fully grasp the quality of the actor's performance is the director who knows the entire script and clearly understands how much effort the actors should put in each place.

What Ronald meant was that he couldn't see anything wrong with it, so he asked Barry Levinson if the plot required the performance here to be particularly strong, or to hold back and wait.

"Yu Ren burned his younger brother until he was red all over. This made their father decide to send away his eldest son. He was afraid that his younger son would have an accident because of his intellectual problems. This was also the reason why the father felt guilty, so he sent his eldest son away. The inheritance was left to Rainman, a son who owed a lot, but Charlie was left with two classic cars. This is a conflicting story. "

Director Barry Levinson talked a lot about the background of this scene, but Ronald never figured out what was wrong with Dustin Hoffman's performance here.

This is just a scene of memories, Mr. Movie King! The audience understands the past history and then has an understanding of the characters' actions.

To gain a deeper understanding, that’s all. What else can you make? Make the audience cry?

"I said, Director Levinson, this is the first time we have met, but I am not afraid of exposing my shallowness. I don't see any problem with the performance here? Why is it still not working after more than two weeks of filming? Is it Dustin? Are you a bit overly sensitive here and are you demanding too much about the performance?"

Ronald couldn't help it. He felt that telling the truth was the most helpful way to solve the current problem. There's no way Barry Levinson would have conveyed that to Dustin Hoffman anyway.

Barry Levinson showed a smile that said, "You're absolutely right, I think so too." But that's not what he said, "Dustin is a very sensitive actor, how should I put it? Especially at this time, he needs some external affirmation, so that he can have confidence in his performance."

As he spoke, he briefly explained the origin of Dustin Hoffman's heartache.

The problem still lies with last year's Dustin Hoffman movie "Ishtar," which flopped at the box office.

Originally, Dustin Hoffman took on this project to repay a debt of gratitude. To help herself get nominated for Best Actor, Elaine May made many important script rewrites and added many important scenes from a female perspective.

But after filming started, he, Warren Beatty, and director Elaine May all had their own ideas. They believed that the performance they understood was good, and they argued over the performance on the set.

Coupled with the heroine Isabella Adjani, who happened to be Warren Beatty's girlfriend at the time. She kept asking for more of her role on the set, which caused a big conflict between Elaine May and Warren Beatty, and Elaine May almost resigned. Lan

The dispute between the three parties continued into the editing room. The two major stars and director Elaine May each hired an editor, and they were at war in the editing room every day. Everyone kept their own set of plans for the finished film.

The results of such multi-headed leadership can be imagined. Distributor Columbia has discovered during test screenings that the film is destined to lose money, and the distribution department wants to reduce its marketing budget. But Columbia's executives were afraid of offending the two movie stars, and their company would not have a share in future big projects. So instead of reducing it, the marketing budget was increased. ….

With a total production + distribution budget of nearly 60 million US dollars, the result was only a little over 10 million US dollars at the box office. For a time, Hollywood imitated the "Heaven's Gate" of the year and began to call the movie "Beatty and Hoffman's Gate" ”.

Now Dustin Hoffman is depressed. It's very embarrassing to be called a nickname, especially one associated with a box office disaster. Not only will he lose face, but he may also lose the favor of major productions in the next few years.

When actors face failure, the reason is usually not found in their interference in the filming. For example, this time it was mainly three big bosses fighting for the right to speak. Maybe according to someone's idea, the filming would not be so bad. But if all three people listen to it, it will be the worst result altogether.

Most of the actors have not participated in the entire production of the movie, so Dustin Hoffman looked for the reason himself: If his performance on the screen is not good, there must be something wrong with his acting skills, so the new film "Rain Man" must improve on his acting skills. You have to do your best in every detail, otherwise you will be abandoned by Hollywood!

This kind of sensitivity and paranoia brought from failed projects, coupled with the lack of appropriate feedback channels, made Dustin Hoffman obsessed. It took more than two weeks to shoot one scene. He always suspected that he still couldn't do it this time and had to find that feeling. Lan

"I heard that you made Harrison Ford very obedient. How did you do it?" Barry Levinson actually doesn't work with actors who have already achieved star status many times. He also heard that Harrison Ford was raped by a young man. After complaining about Ronald's obedience on the set, he still couldn't stop asking for advice.

Ronald thought for a moment and said something. "Maybe the key is not whether he shot well or not, but to make them feel that they shot well." He knew that Harrison Ford was difficult to handle, so he made a lot of advance preparations on the set and asked art director Polly Platt Let’s praise Harrison Ford’s performance. In short

Also well managed.

"Daxit, you're right." Barry Levinson knew that he had a problem with Hoffman's expectation management. But before the cooperation, who knew he was such an awkward person?

"Barry, Barry...I'm done, I'm done,..."

While Ronald and Barry Levinson were watching and discussing the film in the screening room, an actor shorter than Tom Cruise and with a typical Jewish nose walked in. It's none other than the very awkward Dustin Hoffman.

"Dustin, this is Ronald Lee. He came to visit Tom on the set. I invited him to take a look at the samples and think about any solutions. I hope you don't mind..." Barry Levinson in front of big stars Still very humble. He knows exactly who is the biggest star in the "Rain Man" project.

"Ronald, I'm so glad you're here. I've wanted to meet you for a long time." Dustin Hoffman came up and hugged Ronald, saying some grandiose and kind words. Lan

"Oh... you are watching this scene, burn him, burn him! Burn them all, I'm hopeless, it's over, these samples are like shit, just pick one from a high school drama club Even middle school students can perform better than me."

"Don't say that, your acting is not bad. It's just because you have high requirements that I feel like this. You just need to take a good rest for two days, and you will be fine by then..." Barry Levinson is already used to Das Dinh Hoffman behaves like a coquettish woman. ….

Of these two, one was used to complaining about himself, and the other was used to hearing the other's self-blaming. Only Ronald next to him felt too embarrassed. Can you two talk about this kind of internal matter in the crew in front of me, an outsider?

I don’t know what Ovitz said to Dustin Hoffman last night, but he was extra sensitive today.

"That's not the case. You all don't tell me the truth. My performance sucked. It sucked..." As he spoke, he covered his face with his hands, as if he was sad for his sudden performance.

"Then what...I..." Ronald felt that he must be embarrassed and asked to leave.

"You think so too, don't you? Ronald, although it's the first time I've met you today, you are an expert. If you say so, I will definitely not be able to do it anymore. I will not be able to do it anymore..." Hoffman started to talk nonsense. Lan

"No...I didn't say anything...Don't rely on me..." Ronald felt that some actors were more terrifying than mental patients when they got into trouble.

"I can't act. This is the highlight of the whole play...it's the foundation of the whole play. The audience must be convinced of me here before they can be convinced of the entire movie plot...

But I can't act it out. I can't act out this most embarrassing, escaping, and helpless feeling... This is my problem..."

Dustin Hoffman seemed to have been hit hard. He suddenly raised his head and said to director Barry Levinson:

"Barry, go find Richard Dreyfuss, go find Jack Nicholson, go find someone, Barry, because this is the worst job of my life. I can't act."

"No, no, you just need to break away from the performance. You need to rest for two days." Barry Levinson jumped. Unexpectedly, Dustin Hoffman was under pressure and couldn't stand it anymore, so he really asked. Resignation. He glanced at Ronald and asked for help, asking him to help me quickly.

"Mr. Hoffman..." Ronald had a new understanding of the fragility of this kind of star. He also felt that his decision to reject the director was extremely correct. If he met such a star, he would collapse. Lan

"Call me Dustin, Ronald, what do you think I should do?" Dustin Hoffman suddenly reached out and grabbed Ronald. He was like a drowning man when he saw Ronald's eyes. , think maybe this director can find some way to save himself?

"I..." Ronald was grabbed by his sleeve and had no way to break free, so he had to sit down. I thought, how do I know this? You, a movie star, can’t understand?

"I just thought, are you too nervous? Let's have a drink?" Ronald thought to himself about drinking some strong wine to calm down before talking.

"Drinking, meditating, doing push-ups, I've tried them all

No one can express the feeling of embarrassment, escape and helplessness. " Dustin Hoffman was a little disappointed. He likes to have a drink first when shooting difficult scenes, and Ronald's trick didn't work.

"What I mean is, you relax first... don't think about it..." Ronald felt amused.

"What should I do? I have thought of many ways, but my life may be too smooth. I can no longer remember the embarrassment I felt when I couldn't find a job.…

I tried everything and had Barry talk about his embarrassing moments, and I needed to feel the emotion. But it’s useless, we are all winners, and the embarrassment we face is nothing compared to Rain Man. Lan

Those with autism have extraordinary emotional sensibilities, but they cannot express them. I promised those autistic patients to act out their lives, but I failed..."

Dustin Hoffman rambled a lot, and then looked at Ronald. He remembered that it was said that Ronald was born in a low-level job. He was still young enough and had not been contaminated by Hollywood. Maybe he could tell his story. What was that embarrassing and helpless moment like?

"Ronald, you are a genius. I want to ask you for help. Can you help me? Tell me about the most embarrassing, helpless, and evasive moment in your life?"

Looking at Dustin Hoffman's slightly crazy eyes, there are rumors in the industry that when filming "The Kramers", Hoffman couldn't find the feeling, so he had to use the "Method" method. Really Smashing a glass against the wall caused the shards of glass to bounce back and hit the heroine Meryl Streep in the face, almost disfiguring her.

This person really wouldn't be able to act without such crazy support!

When Diane debuted, she collaborated with Britain's drama prince, Laurence Olivier. Oliver also collaborated with Dustin Hoffman on a film about a man who runs a long-distance marathon. In order to express the feeling of exhaustion in the role, Hoffman himself ran a long distance without resting or eating.

I almost went into shock during the final filming, and the effect was not good. Laurence Olivier asked him why he did this. Lan

Hoffman said that he wanted to experience the character's emotions at that time. Laurence Olivier laughed and said to him, "Why don't you try acting?"

Every actor has his or her own acting style. With Dustin Hoffman's acting style, it's no wonder he doesn't play a murderer.

"Can you tell me? When was the most embarrassing time in your life, the most escaping time, the most helpless time..."

Ronald retracted his memories of various comments about the actor's acting skills, while Dustin Hoffman in front of him was still pleading.

"Ahem..."

Ronald cleared his throat and glanced at Barry Levinson beside him.

"The most embarrassing moment, the moment I want to escape the most, I think, is right now..." Lan

"Pfft..." Barry Levinson immediately suppressed his laughter, and his face turned red. Ronald, this guy, is very sharp with his words.

I've had enough of Hoffman's awkwardness, and it's good to have someone point out his problems in this way.

Dustin Hoffman stared at Ronald and said nothing for a long time.

He didn't seem to understand Ronald's sarcasm, and just looked at Ronald with wide eyes, as if he had said something extraordinary.

"I see!"

Hoffman suddenly shouted, "I understand! Let's go to the scene and take some shots later, Barry."

"Come on, I think I may have found the feeling...Ronald, you are such a genius!" Dustin Hoffman kissed Ronald hard on the face, and then urged the director to take a real shot. Lan….

"What do you understand?" Ronald touched the area on his face where he was kissed.

…

"Ronald, what did you say to Dustin?" In the evening, Ovitz sat at the screening with Ronald, Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and others Hall, look at the samples that were urgently developed and printed.

Dustin Hoffman looks at himself on the screen and tells how Rain Man almost killed his brother Cha

He was very excited about the past, "That's it, that's it, I think I've found the feeling..."

"I think we need to make the stars feel that they are on the right path." Ronald replied in a low voice. He couldn't tell the big difference between this scene and the previous ones.

"It was Ronald who woke me up, so I used the embarrassment, helplessness, and wanting to escape emotions that I couldn't capture in this scene over the past two weeks and used them in this scene, and the effect was really good." Dustin Hoffman was very happy and revealed the answer himself.

"That's it?" When Tom Cruise saw that the filming crisis was over and that Hoffman had stopped making noises about quitting, he came over to have a chat with Ronald. Lan

"That's it, so things like acting, especially acting in movies, are often a matter of feeling. You have to trust the director's judgment. If it's a good director." Ronald told Tom Cruise about the situation at the time One thing to say.

"It seems that Ovitz still treats his own people differently." Tom Cruise vented to Paula about the unequal pay. Paula advised him to calm down. After this movie, Cruise's influence gradually grew. In the future, stars with box office appeal will not be paid less than acting stars like Dustin Hoffman.

But Ovitz was more tolerant towards his own people like Dustin Hoffman, and even after more than two weeks of trouble, he didn't really lose confidence in him.

"Ronald, are you going to New York? I'm going too. Where shall we meet then?" Michael Ovitz was very happy that the crew's crisis was resolved and came over to talk to Ronald.

"I'm going over. The movie I invested in is about to be released. Are you going to New York too? We may not be able to meet at the same time."

"Then arrange the time. After all, we are our own people..."

"I'll let Niceta arrange it." Ronald was good at showing off, but as a member of his own family, I have never enjoyed the kind of treatment you gave to Hoffman. Lan

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