I don't know if there was something wrong with the dream, or if he had never seen this movie in his previous life. Ronald felt a little uncomfortable, so he had to rely entirely on his screenwriting skills to revise the script of "Dragon Dance".
Through the good relationship between CAA and Paramount, Ronald came up with the idea to refer to the outlines of the previous versions of the script. The original script was obviously pulled by Travolta, RSO Records, Paramount and other parties, and it was not a very smooth story.
.There are many small thoughts from all parties involved.
Travolta hopes to show more of his sexy image, and RSO Records hopes to include more hit songs to once again promote the popularity of the Bee Gees. Their record sales dropped severely due to the Disco Destruction Incident.
Paramount may be most concerned about the quality of the story itself. They want to make the story as attractive as possible, with a reasonable beginning, middle, and end. As long as the story can remain above the standard, many viewers still want to watch John Travo.
Tower dancing.
Not knowing much about Broadway's ecology, Ronald picked up the phone and asked a friend for help.
"Don, this is Ronald, asking you to do me a little favor." He called Don Simpson, the producer of "Flashdance." "Have you finished shooting the scenes in Philadelphia? I want to borrow someone from you.
."
…
"Cynthia, thank you for coming to help me. I will ask you some questions you have encountered in your dance career." Ronald found a cafe and met Cynthia Rhodes (Cynthia Rhodes), who played the club dancer in "Flashdance" (
cynthia rhodes) met to discuss the script.
"Ah? Why? I thought you had a script for me to act in." Cynthia joked.
"I'm writing the script for Travolta's 'Saturday Night Fever' sequel."
"Ah..." Cynthia suddenly exclaimed, "Will there finally be a sequel to this movie? Will Travolta still play Tony Manero?"
"Uh, yes." Ronald didn't expect Cynthia to be so obsessed with this movie. It seems that the original work was indeed deeply rooted in people's hearts.
"It would be great if I could play a role in this movie. We used to imitate the dance steps of Travolta and his partners."
"Aren't you a ballet and jazz dancer?" Ronald asked curiously. "Saturday Night Fever" is about an Italian young man who dances disco in a discotheque.
"Disco was popular at that time. We all danced secretly, but we couldn't let our parents know." Cynthia answered.
"Okay, let me start asking. How did you become a dancer?"
"I have been dancing since I was a child, and I was also a little singer. When I grew up, I naturally tried my luck on Broadway in New York. However, I was not lucky enough to get a role on Broadway.
Then I filmed some commercials and music videos, and acted as an extra in a few movies. Recently, my agent found an opportunity to appear in 'Flashdance.'" Cynthia, dressed in simple clothes, answered with a coffee cup in her arms.
"Can you still sing?"
"As a kid I sang at garden parties in my hometown of Nashville."
Ronald was impressed. Nashville is a major music town in America, where many record companies are based. Although he is a small garden party singer, he should have a certain level to be selected.
"For ordinary dancers, if they want to get onto Broadway, what key people do they need to impress?"
"The main thing is the preliminary selection of casting directors, and then the director of the musical will do a group interview to select candidates for the backup dance line. The protagonists are basically selected from famous dancers. Occasionally, there will be dancers who dance from the backup line. At that time, first
It is my dream to be a backup dancer and then be chosen to play the leading role."
In Broadway musicals, usually the backup dancers will do the dance background after a line, called the backup dance line. Only the protagonist can perform in front of the backup dance line.
"Then why didn't you persist?"
"Well... how should I put it? The career length of female dancers is generally only half that of male dancers. I was already twenty-three years old at the time and didn't have a real opportunity, so I wanted to try the film industry."
"How likely do you think a dancer like Manero, who was the best at the disco, would be cast on Broadway and be cast in a leading role?"
"This is not a type of dance. Disco is more unrestrained and free. Broadway jazz dance requires more basic training and rehearsal. However, if a dance genius like Manero concentrates on learning, it is not impossible. He looks like this
handsome."
"What about before he was selected? What kind of job could Manero possibly do to support his family?"
"His appearance and dancing skills are very popular in discotheques such as Club 54. If he works as a waiter, he can make a lot of money with tips. If he doesn't go to these sensual places, he can work as a dancer in a fitness club.
Coach, you can still live in Manhattan."
…
Ronald asked a lot of questions and kept a big book of all the problems, temptations, and worries that a dancer would encounter in a big city.
"Thank you, Cynthia, that's about it. Paramount will send you a check for the cost of the interview."
"Ronald," Cynthia looked at him with twinkling eyes, "do you think I can play a role in the sequel?"
"I don't know. I'm not the director of this movie, I was just asked to revise the script. I can say hello to Paramount and say good things about you, but I can't guarantee anything?"
"Really?" Cynthia happily hugged Ronald and kissed him on the face, "I'm so happy."
"Don't get too excited, it's just an audition opportunity." Ronald touched his face. Cynthia was blond and cute, and she was a dancer, which quite suited his aesthetic.
First, we slowly weave a lot of dancers’ life materials obtained from interviews with Cynthia into different plots.
The next step is to have several main lines to connect the various plots together. The original script was relatively weak in this aspect, which is why Travolta and Sternwood were dissatisfied.
Without the guidance of dreams, Ronald still resorted to the old method, writing all the plots of Tony Manero on three-inch index cards, and then nailed them to the cork board on the wall, arranging them front to back and left to right.
The advantage of the dream is that it provides the direction of several climactic scenes, which is equivalent to giving the main line of the movie, or one of the main lines. The rest just fill in the blanks.
Now that I have no guidance, I can only rethink on my own and come up with a main line that is logically coherent, emotionally ups and downs, and has various unexpected plots.
The biggest problem arises in Manero's dance career. In the script Ronald received, Manero was written as a dancing genius who aspires to Broadway. But in the original work, he was clearly a grassroots dancer who excelled at disco.
How do you make a smooth transition to a Broadway musical?
Just like Cynthia said, how does a handsome man who can make a lot of money at Club 54 and has no shortage of women find the motivation to give up everything and start dancing on Broadway as a backup dancer?
You have to find a suitable motive for Manero so that he and his girlfriend, who is a backup dancer on Broadway, can go to see a musical on Broadway and fall in love with that kind of dance at first sight?
Ronald feels that what he lacks the most now is time. While he is revising the script of "Dragon Dance", he also has his own "Night of the Comet" that needs revision, financing, and finding suitable actors.
In order not to delay the progress of both parties, he divided his time into chunks based on half an hour as the minimum unit. Then he strictly only did relevant things in each chunk.
It was like this, and I was exhausted. Only a week later, I made preliminary revisions, and then went to the gym to submit the revised script to Travolta.
Travolta is dancing. Now he dances three hours a day and lifts barbells for two hours to regain his figure and dance ability.
"Manero was fascinated by the heroine of the musical. He gave up his job as a bartender and went to a gym to work as a dance instructor. While making money, he recovered and learned the basic skills of jazz dance. Finally, he was impressed by the new musical audition.
After becoming a director, he was selected as a backup dancer.
At the same time, Manero's girlfriend was also selected as a backup dancer. The two of them worked hard to advance in their careers together.
During the rehearsal, the heroine of the musical had a conflict with her boyfriend who did not want her to continue her dance career. Manero comforted and helped the heroine. Manero's girlfriend thought that he was in love with someone else, and finally the two of them fell in love during the dance.
People understand each other's feelings and get back together."
Travolta quickly read the script and said, "Ronald, you are really fast and of high quality. I am very satisfied. What do Paramount and Sternwood think of this?" He said the last sentence to himself.
The agent said it.
"Mr. Sternwood agrees that as long as you are willing to star in Paramount, everything else is easy to negotiate."
"Okay, then we need to find a good director. I really like the kind of Manero who struggles like Rocky that Ronald said last time. We'd better find a director like Rocky movies who is good at
Filming stories about small people’s struggle and success.”
"Do you have any candidates?" the agent asked Travolta.
"Well... help me think about it, anyone? You can also help me think about it, Ronald."
"Since you like Rocky so much, why don't you direct Rocky?" Ronald replied. The script was inherently flawed, and it had to satisfy the interests of several investors. Ronald had no dream references and didn't want to direct.
this movie.
Besides, he was still busy with "Night of the Comet", so he had no intention of recommending himself, so he said casually.
"Ah? That's right? Please help me ask Mr. Stallone if he is interested?" Travolta said excitedly to his agent.
"The director of the first Rocky movie wasn't Stallone, right?" Ronald muttered.
After submitting the script of "Dragon and Phoenix Dance", I am one step closer to the established goal.
Next, we should find the remaining main actors. There are hints in the dreams of several male and female protagonists. Except for the male protagonist's poor acting skills, the other few actors are very enough for a low-cost exploitation film.
Actors who are too expensive cannot be hired themselves.
First look for the heroine Catherine Mary Stuart, the beauty who was tricked by Minahan into filming the heroine of the musical "Apple".
"What script? Is it an ensemble drama like Fast-paced? Am I playing the protagonist?" Catherine Mary Stuart was very interested in the movie directed by Ronald. She had long wanted to make a "Fast-paced" movie.
"Movies like that made a name for themselves.
"One of the protagonists, there are only two valley girl sisters as the protagonists, and you are the one who plays the most important role. In fact, I only came up with the plot after I saw you at Minahan's banquet last time. It is a science fiction movie
A teen movie with zombies added in.”
"It sounds complicated, but I really want to act. When is your schedule?"
"At the beginning of next year, I still have some technical matters to deal with. If everything goes well, it will be around the end of January or the beginning of February. Can your schedule be arranged?"
"Okay, I have a small recurring role in the new season of the soap opera 'Days of Our Lives,' but they are planning to write me off. I will be available after late January next year."
"Okay, I'll call your agent and send him the script."
Then we asked Mary Woronov to play an important role, a female scientist in the doomsday base. She played the old-fashioned headmistress in "Rock and Roll High School" very well. This is someone who has real acting skills, but has been ignored by the mainstream of Hollywood.
actor.
"Mary, I'm Ronald. I'm going to direct a new film. I have a role as a female scientist. Do you want to play it?"
"Ronald?" Voronov didn't realize which Ronald it was.
"Is it Ronald? He is a fast-paced director. He was the temporary director of Rock and Roll High School back then. I just wanted to ask him..." A voice spoke to Mary in a low voice.
"Ronald, I'm glad you can think of me. Can you come to my house to talk in detail? I have something that I can't leave." Mary Woronov put down her hand covering the microphone and said to Ronald.
"Okay, no problem. I'll bring the script." Ronald agreed, just in time to chat with Mary about her views on the script.