Chapter 336: Editing method of cutting feet to fit shoes
In the past two days, Ronald's main business has become a proud father. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Roger Corman and his wife, Cameron, Tom Cruise and others
, all came to congratulate Ronald on the birth of his eldest son.
Aunt Karen decided to stay here for a few weeks to help Ronald. The aunt highly recognized the experience of the domestic helper Wang Ma, saying that white people also had this tradition of family grandmothers passing on the experience of raising children, but now most children
The tradition of forming small families has largely disappeared on the east and west coasts.
However, Diane felt that the Chinese custom of staying indoors for a month after giving birth and not getting out of bed was very unscientific. She had already started walking and doing yoga a few days after giving birth.
"Aha, Jonathan... come and see my son Roger... Kurosawa Akira said he is very photogenic..."
On this day, Jonathan Demme was in the Bahamas, completing the final shots of "The Silence of the Lambs" with Anthony Hopkins, and brought the entire film to Los Angeles for development.
"Aha, she's just as cute as Romona when she was born..." Demi's eldest daughter is just over two years old, not very good at talking, easily angry, and very curious.
The two fathers exchanged their parenting experiences and then started talking about the Silence of the Lambs project.
"How is the situation at Orion?" Jonathan Demi was very satisfied with the project he had just completed. However, as soon as he arrived in Los Angeles, he heard his agent talk about the recent rumors circulating in the industry that Orion's boss, John Kluge, had been affected.
It's enough that Orion keeps losing money, it's time to sell the company.
"There are no problems for the time being. This matter has not been announced yet. Please don't spread it... Recently they signed a big contract, 175 million..."
Ronald quietly told Jonathan Demme about a big deal that Orion had reached with Sony during this time.
Before Mike Medavoy resigned, he secured the last big deal for his old club. After repeated bargaining, the deal was finally concluded. Columbia Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony, signed an agreement with Orion Pictures to pay Orion Pictures US$175 million.
Buy out the rights to the movies and TV shows they distribute overseas.
With this income, Orion, which had not had a single hit movie for two consecutive years and had lost all money, finally began to turn the numbers on its financial statements into black.
However, there are still many twists and turns in this matter. Columbia CEO Peter Guber really wants to turn this matter into his first important political achievement in Columbia. His dispute with Jon Peters and Warner Bros.
, making him less popular in the new company.
The legal dispute ended after Sony paid a considerable price to exchange many of its television stations, film assets, and studios in Burbank with Warner Bros. for a complete studio complex in the suburbs.
However, the Wall Street Journal reported in an interview that Sony may have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the long run (estimates range from 300 million to 1 billion, depending on the attitude of those analysts towards Sony). Guber desperately needs a good business to make the company
Shut up the gossips inside.
Although Jon Peters had a very bad attitude towards Ronald and tried his best to persuade him that this was not a good business. But apart from Ronald's people and the olive branch extended by former Orion president Mike Medavoy, Columbia Pictures did not
What project can achieve results of this magnitude immediately?
In the end, Mike Medavoy went to TriStar Pictures to manage film production and distribution, assisting Frank Price. This allowed Guber to quickly agree to the asking price insisted on by Orion's boss, the richest man Kluge.
"So, the distribution of your movie and Costner's Dances with Wolves can proceed normally.
In fact, there is an additional insurance cushion. Samsung Pictures will coordinate overseas distribution, so the financial pressure on Orion's distribution work will be much less. As long as we focus on building a reputation in the domestic market, we don't have to worry about overseas distribution."
"That's very reassuring..." Jonathan Demi was still not reassured, but he shouldn't be too harsh on Ronald. After all, without Ronald's strong support, this movie would have been
Much inferior.
"Actually, Orion has returned to the path they relied on for success in the past, and the wrong blockbuster strategy has been abandoned..." Ronald told Demi the last bit of Orion's internal information he knew through Mike Medavoy.
.
When the financial market relaxed, Orion also joined the blockbuster competition. Like Cannon, they began to play the game of big stars, big production, and big investment. They gave up the medium-sized production that they relied on in the past and relied on the artistic team's
It is a common practice to work together to win the box office.
But after boss Kluge defeated the acquisition war launched by Viacom's Redstone and topped the rich list, he began to pay special attention to the reputation of his business investment. He no longer had any support for his large investment in Orion.
, so as not to bear the reputation of being taken advantage of and destroy the wise image of the richest man.
After two consecutive years of large-scale production failures, Orion returned to its original medium-sized route, and rediscovered Dennis Hopper, the director of "Easy Rider" who fired the first shot of the New Hollywood movement, and gave him the role of "Miami" in the TV series "Miami".
Don Johnson, the actor of "The Storm" fame and husband of Melanie Griffith, and the hope of a Jewish actress, the young Jennifer Connelly, filmed a "Hot Spot"
In addition, there are two medium-sized productions of "Fate" starring two very promising actors, Sean Penn and Ed Harris. In this way, in terms of cash, this year's Orion will be the best in three years.
The most relaxed one ever.
As long as these two movies don't become big flops, the release of "Dances with Wolves" and "Silence of the Lambs" will not be hindered.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Don't worry, Jonathan, if it doesn't work out, I'll have my back. Mike Medavoy and I have already left a clause in the contract. If Orion cannot be released,
I will get the distribution rights, don’t worry..."
"I still hope that there will be no problems with Orion. We will handle the distribution ourselves. After all,..."
"I hope so... I'm very confident." Ronald also knew that without the release schedule that Orion had negotiated in advance at the Western Film Exhibition in Las Vegas, the movie would still be greatly affected.
But the richest man Kluge has already made money through the Colombian contract, and his business reputation has been preserved. As long as he is willing, his pockets are bottomless...
After seeing off Jonathan Demme, Ronald sighed and called Kevin Costner again.
Unlike Demi, who has very high artistic standards and doesn't need to worry about the later stages of the film, Kevin Costner's first time as a director, not only did he have a lot of beginner's problems during filming, but there were also a lot of problems in the later stages.
trouble.
The length of the film that Ronald and he had set was 180 minutes, but after Costner cut the five-hour version, the progress was slow and he didn't know how to edit it.
Costner fell into a common trap among novice directors, thinking that this or that would be good and not willing to cut out any scene that had been shot with so much painstaking effort.
Editor Neil Travis kept in close contact with Ronald, and he also called Ronald and asked him to go over and give Costner some advice.
After making an appointment, Ronald came to Orion's editing room in Burbank.
"Kevin, I heard that your editing progress is slow. Let me take a look. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Oh, Ronald, it's great that you're here. I'm stuck in a strange circle now. I don't dare to cut any scene, for fear that if I cut it wrong, it will affect the overall situation..."
It was much better than expected. Costner still realized that he had a problem and did not reject Ronald's opinion.
"Tell me, why can't this be cut?" Ronald saw a long shot playing on the editing machine. The pictures were filled with woods on high mountains, which were very beautiful.
If Ronald were to edit, he might keep this section for a few seconds to give the audience a very favorite visual image, and then cut the rest because he could no longer give the audience extra stimulation. However, he did not express any opinions rashly.
, but to listen to the director’s opinion first.
"This is Dunbar and "Kickbird" riding through a beautiful forest in the Grand Teton Mountains, only to find that the area is full of dead trees and animal carcasses left by white trappers..."
Costner pointed to the monitor. The two small dots on the screen were Dunbar, played by himself, and the Indian Kicking Bird on horseback. They didn't look particularly eye-catching in the long shot.
Ronald fast forwarded a section and found that the rhythm of the entire movie was completely different from the commercial films he was good at...The length of the lens was about twice as long as the current lenses in Hollywood, and it even felt like the 1950s.
The rhythm of the movie.
But these pictures are a kind of nature rarely seen in recent movies. At a glance, they can give rise to an empty and wild mood, which is very unique.
"Oh, God, this movie is really unique..." Ronald fast forwarded many times and found that he couldn't cut it either.
"Yeah, yeah, look here." Costner found another scene on the editing machine, which was a bison hunting scene. There were two bison in it. Under the lighting conditions of the magic time of the sunset, they seemed to be happening with the camera.
some special chemical reactions.
The Indians wanted to hunt bison, but they did not waste it, but only took what they needed for life. After shooting the bison, they would pray for them and thank them for dedicating food to themselves.
This is similar to the scene just now. The white colonists killed a bunch of animals in the woods, but only took the most valuable fur parts and wasted the other parts of the animals in nature, forming a distinct situation.
Compared.
The problem is that in order to achieve this feeling of empathy for the audience, to spontaneously identify with the Dakota Indians' philosophy of harmonious coexistence with nature, and to be disgusted with the cruelty and waste of white industrialization, these lengthy scenes are necessary.
Less.
In other words, the inherent rhythm of this movie is slow and lyrical, rather than dramatic and fast.
Ronald also fell into deep thought. To achieve such a feeling of empathy from the audience, three hours is really not enough...
If you give him a longer time, there is no doubt that no movie theater will be willing to give it a lot of screens. But if it is edited like an ordinary Hollywood movie, it is better to keep the original editing rhythm, or even only retain half of the plot.
Random cutting is touching.
"Huh?" Ronald figured out something.
When he was studying with Walter Murch, Murch once taught him that in addition to the usual editing method of editing according to the rhythm and direction of the material itself, there is another editing method that can be tried.
"Well, I have a way here, you can try it..."
With that said, Ronald put on the first editing tape, then turned the big dial to the fast forward position.
"Zi..." The motor drove the editing tape forward rapidly, and at the ten-minute mark, Ronald clicked to the pause position.
"Here, the opening ten minutes. If there is a small climax that makes the audience fully immersed, what do you think is here?"
"Well...it's the scene of Lieutenant Dunbar rushing into the enemy's position in order to win the war..." Costner saw a close-up of a cavalryman on the monitor, which was exactly the scene where Dunbar, played by himself, rushed into the battle.
"Well, write it down..."
Ronald pressed fast forward again and advanced to twenty minutes, "What is this?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The picture shows a common caravan in the Western era. This is after Lieutenant Dunbar got the most remote border outpost and gave him the order to advance.
Found the only coachman who would go there, and set off on the road to the western frontier.
"Well, this is good, it's just a turning point in the plot..."
"Zi..." He fast forwarded to thirty minutes, "What is this?"
The picture shows Dunbar carrying a bucket and fetching water from a lake. He sees the skeleton of a deer in the lake and discovers that it is full of dangerous scenes.
"This point is the scene that prepares Lieutenant Dunbar for entering the most dangerous outpost infested by Indians..." Costner thought he had found Ronald's idea and took the initiative to write it down in his notebook.
"This doesn't work, keep going, Zhi...zhi...hey, what is this?" Ronald fast forwarded and found a shot of three Indian warriors with their faces painted in red and white patterns.
.
"These were savage Comanche warriors who killed the coachman so that no one would know where Lieutenant Dunbar was..." Costner answered.
"Well, the thirty-minute mark is right here. You need to cut out the middle shot so that this point falls on this scene..."
"Okay, I'll write it down." Costner also understood that since the method of starting from a rough cut of five hours and then slowly editing down, it was like cooking spaghetti, slowly reducing the sauce.
The slow cooking method won't work.
Then just do it the other way around and start from scratch. First decide on a few time points needed for the movie, and then fast forward there to see if there is a logical connection between the shots.
If it works, then find a way to make up for that period of time with the film in the middle. If it doesn't work, then keep going until you find a shot that matches the current time point, and then cut off the middle shot to match the time.
In other words, normal editing is like a tailor custom-making clothes for someone, measuring the size, and then slowly making the shape. After trying it on a few times, adjusting the details, and finally a very appropriate suit.
But the current rhythm of movies is different, just like a person with strange proportions of limbs and torso, and a different length than ordinary people making clothes. If we use this tailor-made method, the tailor has no experience, and the efficiency is too high.
Low.
Ronald simply brought over a piece of ready-made clothing, and then cut off the weirdo's hands and feet according to this model, forcing him to wear normal clothes. It didn't matter whether the exciting part was cut off or not.
"That's it. It seems that you have mastered the method. I will give you another month. Then we will take the three-hour version for a test screening..."
Ronald demonstrated several scenes and then handed the editing back to Costner and the editor.
"Aren't you going to continue? I feel that with you here, our efficiency is much higher..." Editor Neil Travis felt that with Ronald's authority, Costner would be easier to talk to.
"I have to go back to spend time with my wife and son..." Ronald chuckled, how could he go home and enjoy a happy family life with you rough old men?