"Why did Dances with Wolves get this nickname?" Ronald was in a bad mood.
Hollywood is most afraid of being nicknamed. Sometimes, a thing that is not important at first may become a nickname that will follow you for the rest of your life.
Look at Michael Cimino, who filmed "Heaven's Gate". His career has been blamed for bringing down the United Artists Pictures founded by Chaplin. How can anyone dare to ask him to shoot a big-budget movie in the future?
You can only make a living by working as a script doctor for people, or by making small-budget movies for tycoon investors who want to make a splash in Hollywood. Even if you have the title of Oscar Best Director to protect you, it is of no use.
Now, as luck would have it, Orion is really facing a financial crisis. If his "Valmont" can't turn over the money, the financial crisis will happen next year.
If "Dances with Wolves" is really labeled as Kevin's film, it might coincide with the crisis of Orion. People will not carefully investigate which director's movie it is.
Spent Orion's money and only found a scapegoat to blame.
And “Kevin’s Gate” is a homophone for “Heaven’s Gate”, so doesn’t it come in handy?
Both are big investments, and both are the last films before something goes wrong for a production company that has long supported artists' creations. Isn't this a coincidence? By then this nickname will definitely spread like wildfire.
Ronald felt a little irritated. This kind of thing must not happen in "Dances with Wolves", otherwise it would definitely ruin the reputation of Daydream Pictures.
"We have to go to Kevin's place and hang out with the two crews of Silence of the Lambs..." Ronald finally reached a consensus with Mike Medavoy to make more preparations to prevent such a once-in-a-decade servant.
The street fell on its own head.
Rumors will definitely spread the fastest, and the most important thing now is to go to the set to calm people's minds.
Diane was reluctant to leave, but Ronald was going to deal with serious matters. She helped pack the suitcase and stuffed black tea and a thermos cup inside. Ronald took Diane's temperature in his arms and went up.
Got the plane.
…
"Let's take a look at the progress of the filming..." Ronald and Mike Medavoy appeared together in the nature reserve in South Dakota. After arriving at the crew, they discovered that they were filming the migration of bison herds and the Sioux Indians.
Shot of man hunting.
"Ah, you are here, are you going to see Kevin? Or should you wait for him at the base camp first?" Rachel Talalay was waiting for Ronald and Ronald at the crew's camp.
"Where are they? What progress did they make today?" Ronald picked up the shooting schedule on the table and looked at it.
"Hua Hua Hua..." Ronald flipped through the schedule and found only one page of today's shooting schedule. "Where are the others? Is this schedule incomplete?"
"Are they all here?" Rachel Talalay came over and took the schedule handed over by Ronald and turned it over, "That's right, it's the complete schedule..."
"Are you sure?" Ronald looked at Rachel Talalay with disbelief. She was specially sent by himself to keep an eye on the filming progress of the crew. This is the work performance you gave.
?
Ronald clenched his fingers into a fist and then let go. He quickly took out the thermos cup filled with black tea and took a sip, "Keep calm!"
But Mike Medavoy, who took over the progress chart and browsed it next to him, was not so calm. He was nearly 50 years old and had high blood pressure. He was suddenly stimulated and his vision went dark and he sat on the chair.
"Are you okay?" Ronald looked at Mike Medavoy's pale face and stepped forward to ask.
"I always get airsick when flying, and sometimes the onset is delayed..." Medavoy knew that he must not reveal anything at this time, so he hurriedly explained. Then he took out a small box from his chest pocket and opened it.
He poured out a pill and swallowed it raw.
The main culprit that caused the two of them to be excited was the shooting schedule. On today's schedule, surprisingly, there was only one shooting schedule.
Mike Medavoy also had a producer on the set, also a woman, who went to the set with Costner. Talalay waited at the camp for Ronald to arrive.
Medavoy took pills and felt better. He asked Talalay to pour him a glass of hot water to dissolve the nutritional supplements he took every day. He took this opportunity to close the door with Ronald.
Come and talk.
"In the days of Heaven's Gate, Michael Cimino got the female producer..."
Halfway through his words, Ronald already understood what he meant. He also experienced the Heaven's Gate scandal back then. Michael Cimino talked with the heroine Isabelle Huppert and the female producer every morning.
The three of them slept together, and when they woke up in the morning, they got themselves high first, and then went to the scene to decide to shoot.
Because the producer was obsessed with him, the whole crew was derailed. He could shoot a close-up shot of a supporting character cracking a whip for three days. It was a waste of time and film on insignificant parts.
money.
He also complained that the streets of the small town where the props were set were too narrow, so he demolished all the wooden houses in the set and rebuilt them, which cost the crew a lot of money.
At that time, he was also a newly promoted executive of United Artists Pictures. In order to achieve results, he lacked production experience. Another executive wanted to resign and leave, so he didn't pay much attention to this kind of thing.
The two chatted for a while, and both felt that they were too similar. The nickname "Kevin's Gate" seemed not to be groundless.
"We have to go to the filming site to see the real situation..." Mike Medavoy thanked Talalay and took out a plastic bag. After tearing it open, he dissolved the powder inside with hot water and took it.
Go on, "This is a nutritional supplement specially prepared by me. It is very good for my body."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "I guess this shot must be quite difficult, right? Otherwise, why only shoot one shot every day?" Ronald also calmed down, he still believed in Talalay
of.
"A herd of bison is different from an ordinary herd. Once it starts running, it is difficult to stop. It often takes a professional bison herdsman to drive back slowly after covering a distance of more than ten miles."
"Oh, that's right. It sounds like it's more difficult to shoot than shooting a train." Ronald heard this and felt that it was understandable. Although one shot a day was still a bit outrageous. But it was not Simi.
It would be better to be lawless like that.
"Costner is a new director. His artistic taste is very good, so his requirements are higher. This shot of the buffalo herd galloping was probably shot this week, and the speed will be increased next."
The three of them took a pickup truck and headed into the wilderness of the nature reserve where the crew was located. Talalay explained to them the reason for the slow shooting.
It's not that Talalay is not in a hurry and doesn't think of ways to speed up the progress, but some of the scenes in this movie are indeed very difficult to shoot.
Roger Corman is the most powerful master of shooting train scenes. Martin Scorsese's first feature film "Boxcar Bertha" was shot under the guidance of Corman.
I was fully prepared and spent a week focusing on shooting all the car-picking scenes.
Like the herd of bison, the train also moves together and has to travel a long way. It is a difficult subject to shoot at most one or two shots in a morning.
After all, the train is still a predictable object. After receiving the signal, the train driver can immediately brake and then reverse. However, there are hundreds of bison herds, and there is no fixed head cow to listen to the command. Once they start running, they have to
Wait until they are willing to stop before rushing back. And not too fast.
This herd of bison was raised by a wealthy man in order to revive the natural ecological group of the American bison. This species has actually been declared extinct in the wild. If you are too impatient to shoot, the bison will run too much and they will quickly lose weight.
May cause death.
This rich man definitely doesn't want the crew to overuse it, so he has to take care of the precious wild animals and take his time.
"Ronald, you're here just in time..." Kevin Costner has just finished today's shooting. Under the setting sun, a herd of bison is jogging on the ground. The professional cattle herders behind are nervously surrounding them.
He was holding on, fearing that he might accidentally arouse their violence.
"I heard that it was difficult to shoot?"
"Yes, we can only take one shot of this kind of shot a day, which is very troublesome. Fortunately, we will shoot this part soon..." Costner was riding a horse. He also rode a bareback horse like an Indian today, controlling
Very skilled.
As for Costner, he was very unambiguous about the film and did all the shots himself. Ronald looked at the situation on the crew and found that Costner could give or take orders. This is because he did not use a stunt double and rode such a risky vehicle by himself.
It doesn't matter if the horse has a bare back.
Many people at the scene were his old partners in making Western films with him. They all admired Costner's ruthlessness. Western films are not romance films about romance. The director and starring actor who can ride a bareback horse and leads by example,
These people were quite convinced.
Ronald walked around the set with him and found that he was not messing around like Michael Cimino. The execution and morale of the entire crew showed that Costner still did a lot of work.
of.
Moreover, the Western film genre has actually gradually come to an end. After Costner made his debut, he made several Western films and sports films, all of which were movies with big scenes. He learned the scheduling skills from watching the work of those directors.
It's still very strong. Moreover, Costner is a generous person and has accumulated a lot of connections on the crew. It can be said that probably half of the remaining Western talents are concentrated on the crew of Dances with Wolves.
Apart from anything else, this kind of scene where multiple riders chase bison together is not something that ordinary people can handle.
After watching the scene, Ronald and Mike Medavoy watched the samples again in the evening. Although the shooting progress was slow, the pictures were very good. Kevin Costner has enough taste in what is good, but
How to take these tasteful pictures, he needs more time and film to slowly polish.
…
Who knows, Ronald and Mike Medavoy, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, were very annoyed by Costner's words when he came to their door that night.
"The crew can still continue filming until next week, and we still need some funds to complete this masterpiece."
"No, why do you want money again?" Talalay was also caught off guard by the sudden attack, "I've seen the budget sheet, there won't be any big problems after the filming."
"Hey, you know, I also do it for the art of film." Costner's meaning is very clear, I am all fake. In this inaccessible South Dakota nature reserve, in addition to the crew of the film, there are only some people invited to do it.
Extras of real Indians.
This is not Hollywood. There are staff in various organizations. A producer can really exercise her power. But here, most of the crew are Costner people, and those Indians are also very interested in the film.
The plot is good, no one will tell Talalay the real situation.
Here she is, somewhat deceived without realizing it.
Kevin Costner's trick has been used by many people in Hollywood. He just coaxes and deceives, and starts filming first. According to his own quality requirements, it is obvious that the current budget cannot finish the filming, but he will start filming first.
When you run out of money, you ask the producer for more. Anyway, the quality of this part of the film is very good, so you can't just stop filming, right? That way the upfront investment will be in vain. If you want to finish filming and release the film to recoup the cost, just
I have to grit my teeth and invest more. I would rather dilute my investment shares and finish the movie.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Of course, there are also some directors who get lost at the end of the game. The quality of the finished film is not very good, or it is not recognized by the producer, and in the end they have to go blind.
There are also films that are shot in one go and released in a running time.
Mike Medavoy is particularly aware of this situation. He is famous for dealing with these artists at United Artists and Orion, and he knows that most of the artists are also gangsters. He has also expected Costner's method.
Just as Ronald looked at each other, Mike Medavoy asked the question, "How much do you want?" He had hidden a preliminary budget of 3 million to 5 million.
"I still need ten million..."
"Hey..." Ronald laughed, but he was holding back a big smile.
He looked at Costner seriously and pointed at his mouth, "Look at the shape of my mouth, Kevin..."
no way……!"
"Hey, come on, Ronald, you saw my sample and you liked it very much, right? You can't let such a masterpiece not meet the audience. Western films in history, starting from John Ford, are
It is the most important film genre in Hollywood, but there are few positive depictions of Indian tribes. In those western films, the Indians are either scalpers or robbers who steal women...
This is the first movie that objectively and positively depicts Indians. You can't do this to him..."
"You can't do this to me, Kevin. I gave you a lot of privileges to make your dream come true. This is your first time as a director, so I gave you the privilege of sequential shooting. I also let you use Indian languages.
Make film language. I went to South Dakota to shoot the bison herd migration and the Indian tribe hunting scenes. I gave you so much trust. Is this how you repay me?
Ten million, ten million I could make three westerns!"
Ronald became more and more angry as he spoke. He pointed at Costner's chest and tapped him several times. Then he walked forward step by step, forcing Costner to retreat.
At this time, negotiations rely on the temperament of a gangster to see who can frighten whom.
"Don't be like this, don't be like this, let's talk about it if you have something to say...let's sit down and talk slowly..." Mike Medavoy and Talalay came up and pretended to pull away.
Costner was forced to his side of the sofa and was at a disadvantage in terms of momentum.
"I can pay part of it out of my own pocket..." He stated his bottom line.
"How much more can you pay?" Ronald laughed. Costner didn't have any particularly profitable works. In order to make this movie, he invested all of his three million US dollars in salary as an investment share. He also invested it through Michael
·Double's relationship, he found a distribution channel in Europe, and then used the film's distribution income in Europe as collateral to get a loan from Credit Lyonnais, plus Ronald and Orion each contributed a part, and finally the filming was completed.
of funds.
"I can use the down payment as an investment..."
"You can get it, how much will it cost?" Ronald smiled and patted Costner on the shoulder. This guy doesn't have much money now, so when it comes to money, he is suppressed by his own momentum.
"I will discuss with Mr. Mike Medavoy and we can stop filming."
"Ronald!" Costner was shocked. Do you really want to let it go?
"Unless you find new investment, and you have to pay the price..."
Costner was asked to go out first, and the two men quickly exchanged opinions. Since the film had already been established as a project company, Mike McDavoy was happy to see Ronald increase his share of the investment.
However, Kevin’s Gate’s reputation must also be scrupulous, and it cannot repeat the situation where “Heaven’s Gate” was stared at and criticized wildly in the media after its additional investment.
Finally, the two discussed a way for Ronald to find a distributor in East Asia, package the box office revenue here, and then turn it into an advance payment from the distributor, which would be used as an additional budget for the crew.
However, no one except Costner and a few other core personnel told this matter. When publicizing it to the outside world, they still insisted on a production cost of 18 million. Anyway, this part of the money can be regarded as overseas advance receipts and listed as financial expenses.
time to change a subject.
The two discussed it, and Ronald made several calls to Sony's office in New York, finally finalizing the arrangement for additional investment.
"Come in..." Costner was put into the room again.
"We can give you additional investment..."
"Yes!"
"Don't be too happy too early, we have conditions..."
"Please tell me..."
"The additional part must be supervised by Ms. Talalay, and all expenditures require her signature..."
Ronald and Mike Medavoy have discussed regulatory measures. In short, the situation of being deceived like before cannot happen again.
"Thank you, thank you!" Kevin Costner was a little worried about whether filming would really stop.
"In addition..." Ronald glanced at Costner, who immediately stopped celebrating, then looked at Ronald, eagerly waiting for the conditions he said.
"This is the last payment. If you can't finish it on time and on budget, we will not only deduct all your salary, but also deduct your money based on the delay and budget."
"Okay, I promise..." Costner was really desperate to make this movie, and he agreed to such harsh conditions.
"Don't let us down, Kevin." Ronald used all the measures that United Artists used to deal with Michael Cimino. If the quality and quantity are maintained, Costner can still get a bonus. If the film still doesn't work well,
Then you deserve to lose money.
"I won't..." With sweat on his back, Costner left the office and went to the group of Western brothers.
"How is it?" Everyone came up to ask.
"What are you still doing here? Let's start work immediately!"
"Oh..." The staff members were confident and immediately dispersed to prepare for filming.