Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 915

"You don't have to apply for New York City Hall approval for this shot?" Director of Photography Michael Ballhouse asked Ronald.The first official shooting scene of the whole film is the interior scene of the Staten Island ferry immediately following the aerial shot.

Starting from the torch of the Statue of Liberty, it shows the atmosphere of the center of the universe in Manhattan in a panoramic manner, and then switches from the New Jerusalem-style metropolis to the dilapidated, dirty, and backward ferry, showing the poor blue-collar secretary who works on Wall Street. Life.

The famous American director Orson Welles said that long shots are a sign that distinguishes adults from children.After almost all directors become famous, if they want to prove their artistic value, they must show off their skills and take a long shot at the beginning, which is like a director's coming-of-age ceremony.

Hitchcock used the "spiritual rope" to show off his skills. Except for the black screen for a few seconds after each roll of film was shot, the rest were all shot in one shot.The announcement of that film also featured Hitchcock's technological breakthrough as a major selling point.

Orson Welles himself opened with "Gone with the Era" for 3 minutes, distributed in three blocks, with cars and walks, as many as more than 50 long shots of group performances announced, Hitchcock's indoor play long shots are not No matter what, the one who dares to take outdoor long shots is the technical inventor.

In the opening scene of "Empire of the Sun", Spielberg used a ship to cross the coffin on the Huangpu River and smashed open the coffin on the Huangpu River. The long-shot metaphor of the impact of modernization on ancient civilizations proved that he can make epic films.

Long shots are not entirely a show of skill. The opening of the movie should quickly immerse the audience in the dream brought to them by the director.The long shot with music always makes people feel the atmosphere inexplicably.Therefore, it has become the first choice of many directors for opening scenes.

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

But as we all know, Ronald does not have any technical cleanliness.It's not necessarily a long shot that runs through from the beginning.The last scene of the aerial photography was to fly from a high altitude to the same height as the ferry, then zoom in with a zoom lens, and finally freeze on the glass window of the yellow ferry boat on Staten Island.

So Ronald opted for the later edited cutaway, where Tess and Sheen are on the ferry discussing how to celebrate Tess' 30th birthday.

To shoot the effect of the daily ferry, let the New York audience know that this is a real New York story. Ronald did not report to the city hall, rented the ferry, and then found hundreds of extra performers to solve it.

Instead, he directly brought in the camera crew, and let the two actors, Melanie Griffiths and Joan Cusack, put on leather jackets and coats, painted exaggerated makeup of the secretary, and mixed in like a real Wall Street secretary. On the ferry, I found two seats near the porthole and sat down.

Such sneak 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 photography team to shoot with handheld photography.

With a microphone attached to the camera, the cameraman walked quickly from the side of the cabin, carrying a heavy machine.If it were in other places, it would definitely attract a crowd of onlookers.But this is New York where the American citizens are the most arrogant. They talk on their own, and not many people pay attention to the movements made by these people.

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

Ronald gestures to Joan Cusack, who plays Sheen.Joan Cusack turned her head and looked at Tess played by Melanie Griffiths, singing softly:

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

The sound was not loud, and it happened to be picked up by the microphone hanging on the camera. It was also picked up by the voice of the person next to him, and various noises.

Joan Cusack, on the other side, is a real secretary, with her hairstyle similar to that of the two actors, combed high and fixed with setting water, and two very large earrings dangling with her turned head.

Ronald smiled when he saw it. He couldn't tell the difference between the well-designed costumes, makeup and hairstyle of the crew, and the real secretary.This indicates that the careful preparations for the filming of this film were very successful.

What Xin held in her hand was a very small paper cup cake with three small candles on it. According to the script, today is Tess’s 30th birthday. She is too busy with work and can only be at work with her good friends. Celebrate on the road.

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

"Huh..." Melanie Griffiths blew out the candle.

"Have you made your wish?" said Joan Cusack.Xin felt that it was too crude to celebrate like this. After all, it was a round number of 30 years old.

"Yes..." Melanie replied, and Tess looked in the other direction.Most secretaries would be married at this age, and she had ambitions.Melanie's face was facing the sun, and the light shone through her withered blond hair, casting a nice atmosphere on her face.

"Cut!" Ronald was very satisfied with this shot. It seemed that he made the right decision not to rehearse.

Both actors are very experienced, and they have this tacit understanding with each other.And when they come up, they shoot regardless of 21, [-], and the surrounding New Yorkers, before their attention is attracted, finish the matter quickly.

The director of photography, Michael Ballhouse, raised his hand to indicate that the picture was OK, and Ronald asked them to put away the equipment and prepare to withdraw.

"Are you making a movie?" The people around were awakened by the cut, and the female secretary sitting next to Joan Cusack asked Ronald, "Is it a Hollywood production? Or something like an advertisement?"

For a while, the eyes of many people around were focused on this place.Although New Yorkers are not surprised by this kind of thing, if it is a Hollywood production, there may be some stars hiding nearby, waiting to come out and shoot when the time comes.

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

"Drip...drip..." Just as the ferry started to sound its whistle, it was only a few minutes before we arrived at the hotel in Lower Manhattan.

After docking, a group of people quickly joined the second group who were taking shots of the "America Legion" ferry docking at the pier, got in a Toyota van, and drove towards the World Trade Center.

"NYU student assignments...lol, I'm dying of laughter," Melanie Griffiths and Joan Cusack, both removing their make-up in the car, said of how quickly Ronald answered the passenger , and almost shook them both.

"Thank God, I haven't lost the craft I learned at Roger Coleman." Ronald also congratulated Michael Ballhouse.

……

The crew officially entered the World Trade Center. After the stock market crash, many companies closed down, and there were not as many people in the lobby as expected.Ronald had no choice but to have the Screen Actors Union call in dozens of extras in the afternoon to film the scene of Tess entering the World Trade Center at work.

The camera is assumed to be on the second-floor balcony of the World Trade Center.Telephoto on Tess and Sheen as they walk 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 necks and heads of Tess and Xin. In the picture, dozens of people performed as a group, and he photographed the momentum of thousands of troops vying for work.

Both Griffith's and Cusack's heads, bouncing up and down as they walked, were caught on camera as if they were the only ones out of the flock.

There is no way to record this scene on the spot, and post-dubbing must 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, and declined the invitation to have lunch together.

"What are you doing in speech class? You speak very well." Joan Cusack, who plays Xin, imitated the accent at a very high level, and simulated the blue-collar accent of Brooklyn vividly.The open accent has replaced the closed accent in a large number, and it sounds like a poor man's temperament.

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

"No, I still have a lecture on emerging markets in the afternoon." The accent of Melanie Griffiths, who plays Tess, has also been adjusted by a pronunciation coach. Her Brooklyn accent is much weaker, but some Traces can still be heard in the words, the image of a woman who is working hard from the position of secretary and trying to integrate into a higher circle, can give the audience a foundation from the lines.

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

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

"What surprise party?" It's not a surprise to say it.

"Stop pulling..."

"Well, I'm supposed to take you out for a drink after get off work and be home at seven. They're all here."

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

The two friends, began to bump each other's shoulders, a game of affection only for little girls.

Ronald was very happy, and it was clearly Melanie Griffiths improvising.Joan Cusack also reacted immediately and bumped back.The two hugged each other happily on the road.

This kind of behavior is only seen by girls who grew up in low-level poor communities. Girls from rich families are generally forbidden by their mothers to make a scene, which is not elegant.

As expected, they were talented actors. Ronald deliberately prevented them from rehearsing, so that the first performance was a natural, undesigned reaction.For such talented, well-trained, and film-making experienced actors, it is best to give them a little space.

"Cut!"

Although there was no recording at the same time, the mouth shapes of the two were recorded into the film by the telephoto lens, and the director of photography said to Ronald that it was perfect.The focus follower has withstood the test and turned the focus wave wheel quickly without any false focus.

The next thing to shoot is the scene where Tess and Xin walk out the gate into the lobby of a skyscraper to squeeze the elevator.

Because of the laying of guide rails, there is no way to take sneak shots.In terms of the World Trade Center property, preparations have been made in advance.The most serious wave of rent withdrawals caused by the recent stock market crash is not the twin towers, but the No. [-] building behind.

So this shot was shot in the lobby of Building No. [-].

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

The characters Tess and Sheen walk through the gate, and the camera starts to push up the rails.The relative movement speed of the two sides is faster than real walking, which makes 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 needs to prepare for the next day's shooting, and then send the film to be developed, and he will be able to see the printed samples at noon tomorrow.

He and the crew are still waiting in place, and the actors are ready to leave.

"Director, we're going to the bar tonight, are you coming?" Melanie Griffith played very well today, she came over and boldly asked Ronald if he wanted to go to Happy together.

"Go ahead, don't go too far." Ronald had no objection to who would finish the filming, and the actors relaxed a little.

"Then, bye..." Melanie hurriedly changed her clothes, went out and got into the car of the Hollywood investment banker. It seemed that they had really started dating.

"Ronald..."

Ronald didn't go to the bar, in fact, there was another reason, and that was to meet and chat with the "Hairspray" crew.

This ultra-low-budget movie with very low investment was released in the United States two weeks ago.The distribution department of Daydream is very strong, and it has been linked to more than 200 theaters since the painting was launched.

Unexpectedly, this dance film under the banner of the comedy version of "Dirty Dancing" was unexpectedly loved by the audience.The box office exceeded 100 million in the first weekend, and the cost has been recovered by the second week.

Ronald was very happy to hear Michelle Cannold's report, which shows that their strategy of focusing on low-cost genre films is off the ground, and the first film has achieved great success.

The main creative staff of the crew, director John Waters, Ricky Lake who played the fat girl, Drag Queen who played her mother, Divine, and Cher's ex-husband who was just elected as the mayor of Palm Springs and has not yet taken office, Sonny Bono, come to New York for publicity.

This time the box office was strong, and the whole crew began to arrange road shows in big cities across the country.Ronald invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and added some central and eastern cities.

The box office of the second week was even higher than that of the first week. When Ronald was happy, he changed the hotel where the film crew stayed to the most expensive and luxurious St. Regis 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 a lot of invitations." It was the heroine Ricky Lake who spoke.She would have been in "Hairspray" and wasn't the prettiest actress either.But the unexpected explosion of the movie box office made Hollywood feel that this little chubby girl has a bright future.

"When you lose weight, don't lose weight too fast. Ask your agent to plan it out. Many actresses in Hollywood lost a lot of good roles because they lost weight too fast." Ronald looked at Ricky Lake. I have lost a lot of weight, and I am already the same as the chubby girl in the movie.

"I know, thank you."

"If you ask me, there's nothing wrong with being fat. There are too many thin people in Hollywood, but we are the only fat girls..." Divine, the Drag Queen, is still very straightforward, and his weight is more than twice that of Ricky Lake. The fat one can barely sit down.

But he is already in his 40s, and Ricky Lake is only in his twenties this year, and he is at the age of Amy, so how could he walk in Hollywood with the image of a fat girl?

However, the friendship between the mother and daughter in the movie has continued in life, and the two are very happy to fight and fight.

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 rose and he successfully defeated the former mayor.

He was ready to take office after finishing the film promotion. In order to fulfill his promise to voters, Bono decided to start with his own expertise and hold a Palm Springs Film Festival.Learn how Robert Redford got that Sundance Film Festival to attract independent films.

Ronald reminded him that there are not many independent films in Hollywood, and Robert Redford’s film festival has been running for several years, and it cannot be compared in terms of popularity. It is necessary to find a suitable selling point in order to hold the Palm Springs Film Festival. Then drive Bono's own catering business, and Palm Springs' tourism and economy.

"I thought about it. Palm Springs can't compete head-on with Sundance. I plan to invite independent films from other countries to participate in the exhibition. There are many independent filmmakers from Europe and Asia. Enter 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 Ocean and send some films from there, Xiangjiang, Dongying, and other places to participate in the exhibition.

"Ahahaha... Divine let out a burst of laughter over there." It turned out that his agent called him again. Because of the screenwriter strike, many TV stations in New York stopped their TV dramas, so they could only rerun or find some guests. Go on a talk show.

The finale of the second season of the Fox TV series "Married with Children" was also interrupted by the strike. It had to take out the old script of the first season and find some newest celebrities to participate.

Anyway, this sitcom has a lot of canned laughs in the audience, as long as Divine used his live improv skills in the past, came here a few times, and fooled the last episode.Who makes him the "female" actor who is talked about the most by the media and brings unexpected surprises?

Ronald went up to him and hugged him, then congratulated him on his success.This "Hairspray", like "Dirty Dancing", also brought good luck to the main creator.All the actors have got more opportunities because of a movie that uses small things to fight big.

Ronald is very happy about this kind of thing, anyway, the big studio system has collapsed.It is impossible for a movie produced by Ronald to tie up these original crews and make five similar movies of him.It's better to get together and get together and let these people go out to make money.

Anyway, in Hollywood, no one knows all the secrets of success. If they are not popular by then, they will come back to make sequels, which is the correct way for a small production company to survive.

Besides, isn't there a weapon called a video tape now?A movie that returns at the box office is equivalent to being able to make a profit on video tape.And "Hairspray", a film that has gained a certain momentum in the media, is equivalent to a video tape that will be sold after it is released, a very good advertisement.Ronald was happy to see all these main creatives get a chance.

When they are interviewed, they will also be asked by the media what they think of the movie "Hairspray". It's all free advertising.

(End of this chapter)