On the first day of filming "Flashdance", Ronald arrived early.
He was intoxicated by the beauty of the shots in the dream and wanted to come early to see how director Adrian Lyne could realize various dream-like scenes.
According to the shooting schedule today, we will shoot the dancing session inside the bar.
Some junior directors like to shoot a simple scene at the beginning to allow the crew to easily get into the mood. Other senior directors like to shoot a difficult scene at the beginning that tests artistic accomplishment and teamwork to set the standards for future work of the crew.
Adrian Lyne is right in the middle between the two. He chose a scene that showed his ability, but did not challenge the crew's cooperative ability that had not yet been fully developed.
As a British man, coupled with America's photography director, art director, and a full American team, he needs to show some real skills to convince everyone.
I arrived half an hour before the meeting time, and there was no one there yet. I could only see the second assistant director, who had to arrive earlier than everyone else, checking the list.
"Well, well..." A young female voice hummed softly.
Ronald looked around and saw that it was Jennifer Beals' dance stand-in, Marlene. She was humming a French song, and Ronald didn't understand the meaning of the lyrics. He just thought that Marlene sang very easily. She was wearing dancing shoes, with her ankles
Wearing leg warmers and slowly warming up.
"Ma Lin, you're here so early?" Ronald greeted her, "It will take a long time to set up the lighting, so you can take a rest first."
"It doesn't matter, I originally had morning classes at this time." Seeing that it was Ronald, Marlene quickly brought a man over to say hello, "This is my husband, Peter, Peter Tram. He is also a dancer.
, came to Pittsburgh to accompany me this time, and also served as a dancer in the crew."
Ronald said hello to the Chinese couple. As a resident extra, they can get the minimum weekly salary and free housing. The couple has a relatively small income. But compared to the real heroine,
The stand-in is nothing but a signature in the end credits.
When it was time to officially start, director Adrian Lyne was discussing lighting with the director of photography. Jennifer Beals, the protagonist of today's shooting, came to show off her face and then went to put on makeup.
Ronald carefully observed Director Lane's lighting ideas. There was a small stage, with a white background behind it, and uniform white light. There were two small blue light bulbs above, and the front edge of the stage was aimed at the audience.
There are also two red neon lights.
Generally speaking, this is a brighter ambient light. When the actor stands on the stage, the red neon light will render the environment a little warmer and make the audience feel comfortable, while the small blue light bulb will give the actor's face a warm glow.
A bit of cold color complements Jennifer Beals's sparkling makeup on her face, adding a cool feeling.
"Quiet here." Adrian Lane gave the order.
The sound engineer indicated that there was still some noise.
"The scene is quiet..."
“Quiet here!”
Ryan shouted several times, but there was still a bit of noise, so the sound engineer signaled no.
"Shut the fuck up!" Ronald saw the on-site staff and the onlookers and some people whispering, so he took the electric horn and shouted loudly.
Ronald returned the electric horn to director Ryan, thinking that this crew was really out of tune.
"recording?"
"opened."
"camera?"
"full speed."
"Hit the board!"
"The first scene of Lightning Dance, the first scene, the first line!"
Ronald's yelling had some effect, and the scene was very quiet.
"action!"
The sound department played dance music, the smoke from the camera crew began to fill the air, and the stage was soon enveloped in light smoke.
Jennifer Beals is wearing a men's jacket and pants, which are obviously one size larger than hers, but look a bit naughty.
The camera took a close-up of her face, and Beers turned around to show her sexy figure to the camera.
"cut!"
Adrian Lane immediately called it a day.
"Jennifer, relax..."
Jennifer Beals had only filmed some supporting roles before, with close-ups of faces and slaps on the face, which made her a little nervous.
"Let's do it again...the scene is quiet."
"cut, cut..."
"Imagine, here is your boyfriend, giving him a look that will drive him crazy."
"cut!"
"Jennifer, I need an expression that makes men crazy..."
"cut!"
"Jennifer, please relax. Let's do it again. Remember to sit on the chair and then turn back with strength."
"Cut! Make up! Her makeup is ruined."
"cut! Who's coughing?"
"Cut! This time it's good, this print."
Adrian Lane's scheduling was rigorous and effective. Ronald watched for a while, and the camera crew was already in the zone.
Seeing that there were no new lighting methods, he walked outside to take a rest.
This smoking method of shooting made him a little uncomfortable, and he almost coughed just now, but luckily it didn't cause a pause in the shooting.
"Ahem..."
"Ronald, what's wrong with you?"
Ronald looked up and saw producer Don Simpson. He was approaching with a man in a suit and ties.
"I was smoked...Mr. Guber?" Ronald discovered that the man behind him was Peter Guber, the president of PolyGram Pictures. Ronald had seen this person when casting for "Endless Love"
CEO.
"Ronald, long time no see." Gubel hugged him affectionately, "You did a great job."
"Thank you. Why did you come to Pittsburgh today?"
"We, PolyGram Pictures, are one of the producers of Flashdance." Guber replied.
It turns out that the movie Flashdance was first sold to PolyGram Pictures, and then moved around many places before finally being sold to Paramount.
Seeing the questioning look from Don Simpson, Ronald immediately said, "Everything is great at Director Ryan's place."
"Okay, let's go take a look at the scene." Don Simpson invited Peter Gubel inside.
After a while, they came out, probably also covered in smoke.
"That's it. When you return to Los Angeles, we will talk to Paramount." Guber and Ronald nodded and left.
"Ronald, you did a good job. Polygram Pictures may buy part of the distribution rights. Guber is quite satisfied." After a while, Don Simpson came back to find Ronald, and the two entered the filming location again.
.
“Can distribution rights be sold separately like production rights?”
"Yeah, just like a stake." Don Simpson obviously didn't want to talk about it much, "How was the shooting today?"
"Adrian did a good job, but Jennifer Beals is a newcomer, so the number of lines is a bit more, which is still within the normal range."
Ronald just said that the number of pictures was still within the normal range, and then the next shooting started to become abnormal.
Most of the dance scenes were done by stunt double Ma Lin, and Jennifer Beals only had a few unavoidable frontal shots that required her to appear.
One of the shots shows Beers wearing sexy red lingerie and doing a dance move of running in place. This is one of the few dance moves she can complete.
"cut!"
"cut!"
"cut!"
Beers was a little tired after being fucked several times in a row. She had to run in place a few times, then nod, run a few more times, nod again, and finally shake her head left and right to let the water droplets on her wet hair fly out to the left and right.
At the same time, she must ensure that she maintains a seductive expression on her face while doing these actions.
After all, he is not a professional dancer. Either his movements are not strong enough or he does them wrong. Sometimes he barely dances to meet the requirements, and his expressions are not seductive enough.
Jennifer Beals is not only a novice dancer, but also a novice actor. As a result, she often loses focus on acting and dancing.
Because there is not enough rehearsal, Biles' dance moves and performance status need to be found from scratch, and it is inevitable that he cannot allocate his attention reasonably.
The third time, the fourth time, the fifth time...
Seeing that Beers' emotions were completely exhausted, she just mechanically repeated the dance movements.
In the first three items, Biers was quite emotional and could make very seductive expressions, but by the eighth and ninth times, he couldn't do it at all.
"Should we take a break?" Ronald took the opportunity to quietly ask director Ryan during the tenth session.
"No, let her think of it as rehearsal. Beers' dance moves are still very unfamiliar."
Ronald glanced at Don Simpson, who had no objection to this extremely wasteful shooting technique.
"Okay, anyway, you directors and producers have no objections. The budget of seven to eight million doesn't matter this waste." Ronald thought to himself, if this bit of film is given to him, all the shots for today may be shot.
.
"cut!"
The eleventh time, Beers' expression was still the same blank.
"cut!"
By the twelfth time, Beers's emotions were completely gone, but her dance moves had become more and more proficient, and she basically wouldn't make any mistakes.
"cut!"
The fifteenth time...
"Huh!"
Ronald suddenly discovered that after Jennifer Beals had been emotionally drained for a long time, in Article 15, her emotions suddenly returned.
It's like a fountain that has dried up for a long time. After repeated repetitions, a gurgling clear stream begins to emerge again.
The sixteenth time...
Bierce's seductive mood actually returned, as if it was the first time he made this expression, so natural.
The seventeenth time...
"Cut! Very good. Be careful not to make any more mistakes in the recording."
This time there was a problem with the technician lifting the recording pole, which was too close to the actors.
The eighteenth time...
"Cut!" Before it started, Director Lane stopped it and motioned to spray some more water on Beals' hair.
Twenty-one times...
Jennifer Beals started to jump up, nodding, nodding... shaking her hair left and right, and the shiny water droplets exploded in the left and right directions.
"cut!"
After confirming with the director of photography, Ryan finally said, "Develop this!"
"Oh..." Jennifer Beals was so tired that she collapsed on the ground. Ronald quickly waved his assistant to bring her a dry towel, water, and energy bars.
The rest of the shoot went relatively smoothly.
Dance stuntman Malin Jahan is a professional dancer. Her movements are very skillful and her artistic expression is first-rate.
In addition, as a stand-in, the shots facing her are medium shots and long shots, or her back is shot on the stage facing the audience, so there are basically no requirements for performance.
Basically it can be summarized as, use a camera to aim at the stage and start shooting, and then let Ma Lin start dancing.
"After doing this many times, the actor was suddenly able to perform natural emotions again. I wonder if Ryan did it intentionally?" On the way back to the hotel, Ronald was still thinking about what happened during the filming. "Fortunately, it didn't happen."
Guber saw it twenty times, otherwise he would have re-evaluated the cost of filming."
Nowadays, movies often cost tens of millions to produce and millions to distribute. It seems that sharing risks with peers is a common practice in the industry.
"Sneeze, sneeze..." Ronald sneezed several times as he walked into the hotel. The air pollution in Pittsburgh was serious, and it was rare to see blue sky and white clouds. Ronald's nose may be a little allergic to air pollution.
Turning on the TV, Ronald turned up the volume, then got into the bathroom to take a shower.
"Welcome to the Phil Donahue Show, my guest today is Lily Chen." The TV is showing a TV show from Ohio. Phil Donahue is a local talk show host. His show last year
Start playing in national syndication.
His talk show always talks about some big issues, such as world peace, disarmament negotiations, and many ugly social phenomena in America. Some viewers like to watch his show content.
"Sneeze, sneeze..." Ronald started to sneeze again. He walked to the sink in front of the mirror and started blowing his nose.