Ronald took the script of "Grease" and, under the illumination of the bedside lamp, marked the right margins of some passages that were obviously lyrics.
"Grease" is adapted from a Broadway musical. There are large sections of the script that copy the singing sections of the musical. The lines in these sections are two lines of lyrics and one section, and then another two lines of lyrics are given by another character.
This amounts to artificially lengthening the script, making the rule of thumb for a finished film script of about one minute per page no longer accurate.
Then there are some dance sections without any description, only the word "dancing" is written. The specific how to dance and how long to dance are generally based on the original version of the Broadway musical.
Such a dance scene contains a lot of missing information. The word "dance" can be a dance of a few seconds or a dance of a few minutes. This is equivalent to shortening the length of the script.
The two offset each other, and the final length of the 121-page script is 110 minutes. In other words, the singing section accounts for a very high percentage of the entire script. Ronald counted, and singing can account for 40% of the lines in the entire film.
.
Well, except for some changes in lyrics due to the change of the heroine's nationality, and the addition of a few minor supporting roles that were not in the original musical, the original screenwriter Bronte Woodard actually only made some settings for the musical
, changed it into a real movie scene. And the work of changing the expression method of the musical into audio-visual language.
This conclusion was quite unexpected by Ronald.
"Son of Grease" is like writing a musical script from scratch, and Ronald can't compose music or lyrics...
Well, Ronald copied the lyrics for two interludes from the movie in his dreams. But in the 110-minute musical, the singing section of about 45 minutes was not inspired by the dreams. He had to work closely with the songwriters to write it.
This script is great.
Ronald has no experience at all. Should he write the lyrics and music first and then match the plot? Or should he write the plot first and leave some holes for the songwriters to fill in?
Ronald didn't sleep well after thinking about it all night. When Richard came to pick him up the next day, he also found that Ronald was in low spirits.
"What's wrong with you? Didn't you sleep well last night? Do you need to change rooms?"
"No, I read the Grease script you gave me in the middle of the night and found a big problem." Ronald told Richard what he found. "The original work is very difficult to adapt, and the sequel is definitely not mine.
It can be written by one person, and I kind of regret agreeing to producer Sternwood."
Richard lowered his head and thought for a while, "We should go as planned to meet with the original choreographer, Ms. Patricia Birch, to understand the situation first. Then we will discuss it with Mr. Niceta. I think since Mr. Sternwood succeeded
Having produced so many movies, he will definitely consider it."
"Sternwood doesn't think so much. He just wants to make his signed singer Andy Gibb famous and make his album a big hit through the movie." Choreographer Patricia Birch said to the visiting singer
Ronald said.
"The same was true for the original movie back then. Let me tell you, Grease was originally a Chicago story. In order to promote the heroine Olivia Newton-John, Streetwood strongly intervened in the script creation, and finally had to change the background of the heroine.
, and became an exchange student from Britain."
Patricia Burch is a lean woman approaching fifty years old. She was the choreographer of the original Broadway musical "Grease" and has a deep affection for the original version. In her opinion, the changes made for the film version
They are all deviant heresies.
It turned out that she was not very friendly to Ronald, and felt that it was a completely irresponsible choice for a movie screenwriter to write "Son of Grease" from scratch. But after learning that Ronald was the author of two episodes of "Famous"
Afterwards, the lyricist obviously changed his attitude.
"I entered the industry in the late 1950s, and I knew some behind-the-scenes stories of classic musicals and dance films from my seniors. Before the 1950s, Hollywood had a large studio system.
Whether they are screenwriters, choreographers, or composers and lyrics, they are all employed by major studios and receive salary and bonuses. This way, everyone can work together every day to write the script of the musical.
In Hollywood today, all types of work are freelancers. Everyone is a group of professionals for each movie, joining the team at different times during the filming of the movie.
The screenwriter, lyricist, choreographer and composer simply do not have a tacit understanding of long-term cooperation, and it is impossible for them to work together for several months to complete the singing and dancing aspects of the musical.
Therefore, after the disintegration of the Hollywood studio system, musicals, which require the highest degree of cooperation from behind-the-scenes creative staff, were one of the first genres to die out."
Taking the black tea from Patricia Birch, Ronald thanked him and took a sip, "Then how did the grease become so perfect in the first place? Ms. Birch, you even won the Broadway Tony Award for Best Choreography.
dance."
"Because we are a stage play," Patricia Birch showed a nostalgic look, "You have never participated in the production of a stage play, have you, Ronald?"
"No."
"Stage plays and movies are two completely different arts. 'Grease' was not performed on Broadway at the beginning. We performed many performances in Chicago, and each performance could be adjusted based on the audience's response. The structure of the play was inappropriate, the lyrics were inappropriate, and
Imperfections, flaws, etc.”
"Then Off-Broadway in New York, it continued to improve. Then it went to Off-Broadway, and finally the audience and the reviews took over, and boom! We went to Broadway."
"But the movie only has one chance, and it cannot be adjusted based on the audience's feedback during filming. After editing and the test screening, if the audience's response is not good, there is no chance to make major changes. At most, we can only make some small reshoots and
Modify." Ronald continued.
Patricia Burch glanced at Ronald with admiration, "Yes. That's why I prefer working on Broadway. It's an art form without immediate feedback. It's too difficult."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Ronald heard this and understood. The creation method of musicals is very different from other types of movies. Unless you can
Make "Grease" into a musical first and polish it on Broadway for a year or two, otherwise it will be nearly impossible to make a movie that can compete with the original work.
"When you were filming 'Grease,' did you just copy the Broadway song and dance sequences?" Ronald asked.
"It's basically a copy, with some subtle differences," said Patricia Birch.
"For example, in the selection of actors, John Travolta participated in the Broadway version of 'Grease', but he could only play a supporting role because his dancing was not good enough. The leading role in the Broadway version could not play the leading role in the movie version.
Because he is not handsome enough. After all, the grammar of movie shots is different from that of stage plays."
Ronald nodded, he understood this difference in priorities in casting. On the Broadway stage, what the audience sees is the actor's body and dance. But in movies, close-ups can be used to explain the actor's appearance.
"When we were filming the original movie, we were looking for dancing elites, and many of the supporting actors could dance better than the two protagonists. I still remember a girl from New York who lied about her age before participating in the group dance in the background.
I saw that she danced really well, and I persuaded the director to give her a lot of scenes. But later she did not continue to work hard in Hollywood, but went back to continue her ballet studies. Otherwise, with her quality... Hey, there are no more singing and dancing in Hollywood.
The play allowed her to express herself."
Ronald's recording hand paused for a moment. He had heard this story once before.
"You mean Antonia Franceschi?"
"Yes, how do you know her? Is she okay now?"
"She later participated in the filming of 'Famous' and played one of the leading roles. However, she still did not enter Hollywood and now works for the New York City Ballet."
"You?" Patricia Birch saw the tenderness in Ronald's eyes.
"Yes, once..."
"That's what ballet girls are like. If you want to start a family, you have to give up your career like me." Patricia Birch patted Ronald's hand to comfort him.
"Tell me, Ms. Birch. If I want to start writing a script from scratch, what aspects should I pay attention to? Should I write the plot first and leave a few holes for the singing and dancing sequences, or should I wait until you have mature singing and dancing sequences?
, and then write the plot around these paragraphs?"
Ronald put the past back into the depths of his memory.
Although "Grease" faced unexpected difficulties, it still had to work hard to do what it had promised. Ronald asked Patricia Burch for advice on how to write scripts for musicals.
"Mature musicals have their own rhythm and structure. Generally speaking, there will be a song and dance at the beginning of the plot to set the tone of the film, and then when the plot enters the second act, the character development needs a song and dance to help him complete it.
, as well as the reversal in the third act and the final climax..."
Patricia Birch was quite satisfied with Ronald's humility in asking for advice, and handed over several large fixed sections of the musical to Ronald, "These places need to be reserved in the script in advance, and other small sections of songs and dances,
It’s mainly an emotional boost, and you can wait until the script is generally completed before adding more.”
Ronald was jotting down the choreographer's suggestions quickly, frowning from time to time. Starting from the creation of the script, musicals are different from other movie types and have their own genre.
No wonder that after the disbandment of the big studio system, several successful musicals and movies, such as "West Side Story," "Grease," and "My Fair Lady," were all adapted from successful Broadway plays.
And those big-budget musicals that have hit the streets, such as "New York, New York" by Ronald Scorsese, are all original stories that the director admired the ancient musical form and went his own way.
This self-contained working method, which is slowly honed in interaction with the audience in advance, is very similar to comedy. Comedians and comedy directors need to prepare for several years before they can accumulate enough knowledge and polish it in live performances.
jokes, and only then can a successful film be produced.
And unlike ordinary movies that can use classic scenes, comedy jokes and song and dance scenes in musicals are one-time use. After they are used this time, they cannot be repeated in the next movie.
No wonder producer Stan Wood wanted to hire comedy director Jerry Zucker. It seems that there are indeed similarities between the two.
"It seems like I'm going to have to use my brain this time." Ronald couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Patricia Birch looked at Ronald who was a little troubled and couldn't help but said, "Actually, there are tricks. As long as you can do either of these two things, it won't be a big problem for 'Son of Grease' to maintain a qualified sequel.
If you can do both, it will definitely be popular."