The next morning, Ronald came out of the mansion Diane rented, stretched out, and walked to the large yard at the door to bask in the sun. The house faced a small lake in the town, and there was a small lake at the end of the yard.

A small pier and trestle. This kind of house design makes people feel very comfortable. The landlord even went to stay with relatives, leaving privacy and safety to the actresses who participated in the show.

They are all famous movie stars, singers, and entertainment reporters. There are always some who are particularly persistent and will sneak into small towns to take secret photos.

Fortunately, with the help of screenwriter Harlin, the several houses rented are the ancestral properties of wealthy people. Suitable yards and trees can block the telephoto lens from taking candid photos.

"Good morning……"

Say hello to Ronald, it’s Diane’s neighbors, Shirley MacLean and Dolly Parton. They also occupy the best houses one on the left and the other on the right. They see Ronald from Diane’s door.

When he came out, everyone greeted him as usual.

"Good morning, ladies. How are you staying? If you have any requests, please ask me directly." Ronald greeted the two of them. Both of them were wearing bikinis and sunbathing by the river.

.

"It's very good. It's very comfortable here, but paparazzi still come from time to time. Fortunately, they were chased away by your people. But we don't dare to go too far. After all, it is difficult to detect the telephoto lenses of today's cameras.

"Dolly Parton is very grateful to Ronald for giving her the opportunity to act in a movie. She is a singer and can only play roles similar to her own experiences.

"I said, if we all take off our clothes and sunbathe, will there be any problem? Ronald?" Shirley MacLean is a very direct person. Her vague moans last night reached her while walking the dog.

Her ears really made her curious, so she teased him a little bit.

"No problem, it will just cause traffic jams on the lake..."

"Hahaha..." Dolly and Shirley laughed wildly (especially Dolly Parton, who is famous for her figure). Ronald was very nice and handsome. Say a few words to him.

Such words make people feel happy.

"What are you laughing at?" Diane yawned and walked out.

"Pfft, hahaha..." Shirley MacLean started to laugh again. She was unable to sleep well because of the noise last night. This laugh made everyone laugh, and Ronald picked up the coffee in the thermos cup.

, got a glass for Diane.

"Ah, it's so sweet. The two of them are as sweet as molasses, like two vines tightly attached to each other, and they can't bear to be separated." The two middle-aged actresses started to make noises, which made Diane embarrassed to pick up the coffee cup and drink it.

Come to think of it, although it is instant coffee, it tastes really good.

…

"If Nora was still here, she would never come to visit the crew when I was starting the filming. This is the most important part of filming a movie. All actors need this day to be suitable for the director..."

A brief opening ceremony was held in the morning. Director Herbert Ross was still talking about the bad things about his fiancée. This old man is really hypocritical. After his wife passed away, he planned to marry a new socialite wife in less than a year.

He also compared his new fiancée with his first wife and listed one, two or three ways in which she was inferior to Nora.

"Coffee...", Ronald waved his hand, and the assistant brought good coffee from the crew's coffee machine. After arriving at the crew, Ronald and Diane confirmed with several actors that director Herbert Ross

I was under a lot of mental pressure and my attitude towards the actors was very bad during rehearsals.

In order to alleviate the hormonal imbalance of the old man who was about to get married, Ronald put the coffee machine used by his assistants on the set so that Herbert could drink his favorite freshly brewed coffee at any time.

A large glass of American food blocked Herbert's mouth, and he directed the first scene to the actors. This was a scene in which Julia Roberts played the protagonist Shelby, and Sally Field played the mother, and Olympia played his best friend.

·Duka Keith, in a scene where Dolly Parton plays the proprietress of a hair salon, and Diane plays a hairdressing assistant, doing wedding hairstyles for three women.

This is the first time Shelby appears, and it also introduces the background of the story that Shelby, who is about to get married, has severe diabetes. The scenes between the several women are very tight. Everyone rehearsed in the previous two weeks and trained on the southern accent.

It’s time to see the real chapter.

Herbert Ross came from the theater stage, and his directorial philosophy is to shoot difficult scenes from the beginning. Only in this way can the actors be convinced of the director's scheduling and guidance. If there is an actor who is not good enough, there will be time to replace him. Although the filming

Movies don't really change angles, but this habit has remained.

"I want the camera to be here, give them a medium shot, and then start to pan the camera while backing up, to this position, and finally give them a main shot to explain the environment and characters."

Herbert Ross had his own views on photography. He did not use the usual Hollywood method of starting with the main shot and moving to a medium shot or even a close-up. He did the opposite. He started by introducing the two main characters, and then gradually

Introduce other characters into the camera, slowly zoom out, and let the audience see the complete scene.

Ronald nodded. In fact, this technique is not used too much in Hollywood. Herbert Ross has obviously made full preparations and is very rigorous in every move. With such a director, he can rest assured.

He left the shooting scene to pick up a Coca-Cola marketing director. This place is not far from Coca-Cola's headquarters in Atlanta. Ronald took the initiative to contact them and obtained more than one million US dollars in sponsorship.

In this drama, there are a lot of Coca-Cola appearances in the wedding and subsequent airport party scenes. However, there are no close-ups of the protagonist with Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola is not an important prop, so the price of product placement is not too expensive. This is still them

The results of the bidding process with PepsiCo.

"In today's scene, you will see glass bottles of Coke in the refrigerator and on the table. There will be more shots in the wedding scene later." Ronald explained to the visitor.

"We are honored to work with you again, Director Li. In fact, we have selection criteria for this kind of product placement. As long as it is a work produced or directed by you, we will be happy to invest. The most important thing is, don't let Pepsi

Appear in the movie."

Coke executives smiled and said that there is now some consensus among Coke executives that the decision to acquire Columbia has not brought any synergy to the group. Instead of spending a lot of money on Columbia Pictures every year, it is better to sell it and spend money on these projects.

For directors with guaranteed box office success, product placement is effective.

"I don't know, Ronald, do you usually drink Coca-Cola or Pepsi?"

"Ah, hahaha... I think Coca-Cola is a product that represents the spirit of America. So I am honored to be able to appear in the movie. As for my daily life, I mainly drink Coca-Cola. Only in KFC, I will drink Pepsi

.”

"Hahaha..." The executive understood the meaning. In America, McDonald's and Coca-Cola are partners, while KFC is Pepsi.

"Actually, I am more optimistic about your business, and I have also invested in some Coca-Cola stocks."

Ronald smiled and took the other party to watch the filming, "When the time comes, we will stand behind the camera and don't make any noise, so as not to affect the filming... The director is the biggest on the set, and I, as the producer, can only stand behind and watch.

No matter how big a star is, he still has to listen to the director on set..."

"Action!"

After more than half an hour, Herbert finally adjusted his position, and he began to officially shoot the first indoor shot of "Steel Magnolias".

"What's the main color for your wedding?" Dolly Parton dressed up as a hairdresser and styled blonde Julia Roberts' hair.

"It's rose red and light red..." When Julia Roberts said this in a southern accent, her whole mouth opened wide, and the joy of a bride-to-be seemed to overflow from deep in her heart.

"This girl's acting skills are average, but her affinity is really strange." Ronald touched his chin to evaluate.

Julia Roberts has not practiced her performance enough. In many places, she does not have the sense of layering and rhythm that should be expressed. But that kind of joy from the heart, many actors with professional training cannot perform it.

This is talent. Her natural acting will make the audience enjoy watching it. Who would argue with a little girl who is about to become a bride that her mood is wrong when talking to her mother?

"It's pink, pink." Sally Field's acting skills are much more restrained. She was also a very talented actress when she was young, and as she got older, she became more and more proficient. She openly blamed her mother, but actually showed it off.

The status is captured very accurately.

Sally Field also had her hair tied with many plastic rolls, waiting for a big wave later. The hairstylist assistant who did her hair was played by Diane.

Looking at Diane's skillful gestures, Ronald couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth. This is Sally Field's successor, who has both spirituality, acting skills, and hard work. She took the hairpin from Sally Field's head

Take it off and then put it on your clothes naturally, which is the most natural action of a hairstylist.

This action was performed more professionally than the hair-washing girl played by Michelle Pfeiffer in "Married to the Mob."

"Cut! Cut!"

Just when Ronald was admiring Diane's acting skills, Herbert Ross was dissatisfied and stopped filming.

"I told you many times during rehearsals. It's true that Shelby is an independent woman, but she won't be fierce with her mother like this. This is the South, the South, don't treat your Yankees

Bring in the pie."

"It doesn't seem that serious, right?" Ronald thought, maybe southern women are less direct, but Shelby is the daughter of a wealthy family, and sometimes it's not impossible to act like a girl from a big city in the north.

.

Julia Roberts was so cruel that she almost shed tears, and there were tears in her two big eyes.

"Sorry, director, let me do it again." She quickly gathered her emotions and prepared to shoot again.

"Director, she didn't mean it...don't be mean to her..." Dolly Parton likes everyone to be happy by nature, and can't stand such things, so she comes to smooth things over.

"And you, Dolly. You play the female owner of a hair salon, not a country singer. This is a service industry, not a star. You are the one who pleases the customers, not the customers who please you..."

The character I played has done hair for Shelby's mother for many years, and they are more like good friends." The Dolly Parton singer got angry and directly "discussed" with Herbert Ross, "Humph...

How about you show me how to please customers?"

"Sometimes, when encountering difficulties on the set, the actors will have some 'professional discussions' on acting with the director." Ronald quickly exchanged a few perfunctory words with Coca-Cola executives, accompanied him out with his assistant, and took a car to the airport.

.It’s not good for sponsors to see this kind of quarrel on set.

"As I said, let's do it again. You all must act according to the script, don't add your own scenes, don't change the lines in the script... don't change a single punctuation mark..."

Ronald came back just in time to see Herbert Ross finish directing the actress and start filming the second part.

"Action!"

Now Julia Roberts did exactly what the director asked for. The strong appeal brought by her talent was gone.

Ronald frowned, and every word was in line with the lines. Is it so important? Besides, being able to express such true feelings is a very rare talent. If I were to film it, I would definitely use the one Roberts just used.

Forget it, forget it, I'm not directing. Besides, I can make up for it in the editing room later.

Ronald was about to continue reading when suddenly Herbert Ross stopped again.

"Cut!"
To be continued...