Francis Coppola's Zoetrope Studio is located on Carney Street in North Beach, San Francisco, in the famous Sentinel Building. This building was completed in 1907 and was one of the first high-rise buildings in San Francisco.
.The green exterior wall is very bright.
Ronald entered the building. Most of the building was rented by the peep show company, and there was also a large studio. Ronald found Walter Mersey on the upper floor and was about to start his apprenticeship.
Learn editing techniques under the guidance of Merzi.
Walter Mersey is remixing the movie "Popeye." This is a co-production between Paramount and Disney. The two companies continue to jointly produce the film after the success of the live-action version of "Popeye Popeye."
Two live-action animated stories.
Merzy was sitting in front of the mixing desk, with several tapes on it. When he saw Ronald coming over, he smiled like an old friend and motioned for Ronald to wait.
The so-called remixing is to remix the live recording, post-production dubbing, soundtrack, and other multi-track audio tapes in the mixing room, adjust the loudness of each track, eliminate the noise of the live recording, and add
The sense of place and other work are done, and finally the various sounds, dialogues, and soundtracks we hear in the cinema are formed.
Walter Mersey is one of the few experts who can not only edit film, but also edit sound. At the 52nd Academy Awards held in the first half of the year, he was nominated for Best Editing and won the Oscar for Best Sound Effects.
prize.
Obviously, after winning the award, orders for his voice editing began to pour in. This "Dragon Slayer" was also requested to be directed by him by name.
"I'm busy making sound effects for this fire-breathing dragon. You can wait here and I'll come back to you later," Walter Mersey said.
Ronald nodded and walked out of the door. During this time, Francis Coppola was not in San Francisco but working in New York. He roped in his younger brother George Lucas and vouched for their idol, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.
The movie "Kagemusha" invested by 20th Century Fox was a hit at the box office in Japan, grossing 2.3 billion yen.
The Japanese began to recall the honors that the "Emperor of Movies" had brought them, and began to report on the American people's admiration for him.
Coppola was also invited to be interviewed, and he was optimistic about the box office performance of Akira Kurosawa's historical blockbuster "Kagemusha" when it was released in America. His Peep Show Company also participated in a small part of the distribution work. Coppola wanted to make this Japanese film a
Peep Show's foray into the film distribution market.
Soon Walter Mersey walked out of the mixing room and found Ronald. "Welcome, I'm busy doing the sound effects for the fire-breathing dragon. You're here to help me organize 'Apocalypse Now.'
Original film work.”
It turned out that Coppola decided to put all the films shot in Apocalypse Now into the desert for storage. He felt that this film was a treasure of mankind, and the humidity and temperature were perfect in the desert. He found a cave and stored all the films.
Stored inside, I hope that people fifty years from now can also see this masterpiece.
"You have to help me look at the pile of working films and find out the parts that don't belong to Apocalypse Now. At that time, we discarded too much original material in the warehouse. It was mixed with the waste film from the past years."
As Walter Mersey spoke, he took Ronald to a warehouse downstairs, which was full of reels of film.
"This is where the Apocalypse Now films are. Starting from the third column and going all the way to the eleventh column, there is a pile in the corner with a lot of Apocalypse Now films in it. Your job is to use this editing table to edit each film.
Go through the film and check it with the label.
When we were editing, the time was too tight and we didn't have time to sort it out carefully. Now Coppola wants to store him in the desert, and we have to check it. You just happened to be here..."
After teaching Ronald how to use a horizontal editing machine made in West Germany, Walter Mersey went back to work on "Slay the Dragon".
Ronald took out his notebook, tore off a piece of paper, folded them into two little figures, and placed them in front of the small monitor of a horizontal editing machine made in West Germany. The proportions made it look like two little figures were watching a movie.
Then he picked up a reel of film, disassembled the box, installed the roller, and pressed a button to project the film onto the screen with a strong light.
After working for several hours, Ronald cleaned up some footage from other early Peep Show films. Others were original footage from "Apocalypse Now," many of which were not cut into the final film.
For example, in the episode Ronald is watching now, the protagonist, Colonel Willard, is played by another actor, not Martin Sheen in the finished film. His eyes are smaller than Martin Sheen, and he has a tough temperament.
Nader watched it for a long time and felt that it did not match the overall atmosphere of the film.
"This is Harvey Carter. After a few weeks of filming, Coppola replaced him with Martin Sheen." Walter Mersey came over and asked Ronald to go to dinner with him. "Do you think his decision was right?"
"I have watched Apocalypse Now several times. This is a story in which the protagonist leads you to explore the truth of the world. On film, the audience may not be able to relate to the tough-guy Harvey Cartel because his eyes are small.
Martin Sheen is very suitable. He is feminine and has big and charming eyes, so the audience can easily sympathize with him." Ronald felt that Walter wanted to remind him, so he boldly expressed his opinion.
Martin Sheen is a handsome guy with a bit of a creamy temperament. In the M&O co-production "Cassandra Bridge" a few years ago, he also played a soft-bodied little boy and the late beauty Eva Gardner.
Playing the opposite role, Ronald was deeply impressed.
"Your opinion is very good, that's what Francis told me at the time." Walter saw Ronald standing over the film, with one hand on the stop button, and knew that he was using the opportunity of watching the film to practice editing skills.
Nodding with satisfaction.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "It's good that you still remember the techniques I taught you. I have always believed that you need to stand while editing."
"But I haven't found the feeling yet, and I don't know if I have really found the editing point."
Ronald remembered that Mersey said that if you find the rhythm and temperament of the movie, you can accurately stop at the 24th of a second every time you press the stop button. But he tried several times and still did it.
Less than.
"I still have a trick for this kind of character shots. I'll teach you later."
The two of them went to the Peep Show Cafe next to the entrance of the Sentinel Building. Walter motioned to the waiter for two peep show sets and ate with Ronald.
"You've been working all morning, how do you feel?"
"I was writing the script in the previous period, and now I am standing in front of the editing machine. It feels like it is in two different dimensions and needs to be adjusted. But after putting the film on the editing machine, it feels like it will come right away."
"Your idea is right. In fact, a movie actually goes through several creative processes from the idea to the final release.
The screenwriter wrote him into a script, which was his first creation.
The director decomposes the script and draws the shots, which is the second creation.
The actor's performance was created for the third time.
The director of photography decides which lens to use and which scenes to shoot. This is the fourth creation.
Editing is the fifth creation and the last chance you have to correct the mistakes of the film."
Ronald picked up the Italian espresso and drank it in one gulp.
"So how should we control the quality of the film after so many creations?"
"This is a good question. Every time the main creative staff create a movie, they have different ideas. Generally speaking, the director is the only one who will start from the script and follow it all the way to the editing. He is also the only role that can fully control the movie.
.
The director will know more than anyone else about what the final film will look like. He is the one who makes various decisions and is artistically responsible. But it is not that easy. There are many difficulties to overcome.
In fact, I have never directed a feature film. You will know when you become a director in the future."
Ronald nodded and started talking about lighter topics.
"I heard Roger Corman say that you were a college classmate of George Lucas?"
"Yes, we were studying film courses together at the University of Southern California. There was an internship position at Warner Bros., and in the last round of interviews, he and I were the only two left." Walter Mersey was aroused by Ronald's question.
remember.
"We both felt that each other was the only competitor, so we agreed that no matter who got the position, we would give the other a hand.
In the end, he got the position and met Francis Coppola on the set. I later applied for a job and joined Coppola's company, starting as a sound engineer and then starting to edit film."
"So George Lucas owes you one more time?"
"Haha, that's right.
"Walter, can you also be a director?"
Walter Mersey also finished his coffee, "The opportunity to direct is not easy to come by. After I became an editor, editing and sound work will come to you constantly. In this way, you will be involved in editing and sound work one after another.
Design work.
I'm planning to break this cycle and start directing.
But my children are still young, and my wife Angie and I are considering waiting until they are a little older before we start pursuing my dream of directing."
After lunch, the two returned to their respective places and continued working.
Ronald felt that he had arrived in a strange place and started a strange job, but unexpectedly he was very used to it and did not feel any discomfort. Maybe he would like to be in the editing room and watch the film he directed gradually take shape.
"Pa", Ronald pressed the stop button again, but it was still a few steps behind the previous one.
Ronald walked around in the warehouse, took out the thermos cup he had prepared in advance, and took a sip of black tea. Compared to coffee, he was still used to the slow refreshing effect of tea. Coffee was like a loan shark, giving you a moment of refreshment.
After a few hours, interest will be added to pay it back. However, the refreshing effect of black tea does not have this drawback.
"Who is this person? He looks very much like the protagonist Martin Sheen." Ronald started another exercise, pressed the play button, and looked at a young man on the monitor. Except for a little hunchback, he looked very good.