"415-xxx-xxxx..." Ronald returned to Los Angeles and dialed the ordering number that director Adrian Lyne gave him during the last preview of Flashdance.
"Hey, do you sell them here... Um, wait a minute." Ronald forgot the name of the new editing tape, "Yes, it's called n-vis-o tape?"
"Ah, yes, are you using it for film editing? It's twenty dollars per roll. You send us a check for a deposit, and then we'll send it to you after we finish it, and you pay the balance." A woman's voice said on the phone.
.
"Hey? Don't you have any in stock? I'm in a hurry to use it."
"Sorry, this tape is handmade. If you buy ten rolls, we will also come with a special machine to fix this tape. It is very easy to use. You know this tape is very narrow. Normal editing tape covers about
Eighteen frames of film, ours only has one and a half frames..."
This woman started selling the benefits of "n-vis-o" tape.
"Hey, listen, I bought this thing because I knew it would work, so you don't need to give me any more sales talk. I'm in a hurry to use it. Can you hurry up?"
"If you want to rush it, it's thirty yuan a roll..."
"Okay, okay, give me an address and give me ten volumes first. I'll use them for editing the movie."
Ronald hung up the phone angrily, "It's simply robbery. If it weren't for this editing tape, which allows the work copy to be cut and used directly for test screenings, I wouldn't be immune to such blackmail."
Standing in the editing room facing Ronald was Kathryn Bigelow. She had come to Los Angeles from New York to promote her film "The Loveless" and stopped by to see an old friend.
Poor Bigelow had already shot this debut feature film in 1981, and it was only released on a few occasions, and it never received any attention from the studio.
This time at the Los Angeles International Film Festival, she and her male lead Willem Dafoe tried their luck carrying a heavy copy.
Both of them had made their film debuts, but no one was paying attention to them. Needless to say, Bigelow, Dafoe's scenes in "Heaven's Gate" were all edited out by Fat Boy Cimino, who was the leading actor in this movie.
It has never been released, causing him to be laughed at in front of his friends.
"This kind of editing tape, if I had known about it when I was filming Loveless, I wouldn't have to spend a lot of money to go to the lab to re-attract a response copy based on the editing results. This money could have been used to participate in international films.
If it’s a good one, maybe an international film company will take a fancy to it.”
Kathryn Bigelow was a little disappointed when she heard about the extremely cost-saving editing tape that Ronald ordered.
"Although it's not cheap, it's still much better than attracting a whole movie. If you add in the modifications after the test screening, you can still save a lot of money."
"Sit", Ronald pointed to the sofa and asked the editing assistant to pour two cups of coffee.
"Is this your new movie?" Willem Dafoe asked, pointing to the "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" music video on the monitor?
"This? This is the MV I shot, and I plan to use it as an interlude in the movie. I gave them the director, and they authorized me to use it for free." Ronald simply turned the knob to the play position and let his two friends take a look.
work.
"Well... the rhythm of your MV is very interesting, and it is so dense that it doesn't hinder the audience's understanding." Bigelow found it very interesting.
Ronald spread his hands and said, "There is only more than three minutes, and there is a storyline. This is the only way to do it. After watching too much, I feel that the content is a bit too dense, but there is nothing I can do about it."
Ronald took the coffee and handed it to the two of them, "By the way, do you have anything to ask me for today?"
Bigelow and Dafoe looked at each other and asked, "Our film reels have been lying in the warehouse for two years. I heard that you are also working on independent production projects and do not seek distribution from major studios, so I wanted to ask.
Do you have any way through which we can sell it to theaters?"
"Hey, if I had my way, I wouldn't edit here slowly." Ronald sighed, "Atlantic is also a very small company. All their resources can only guarantee the release of one movie. I am still here.
When their new movie 'Valley Girl' is released, if that movie fails, I will have to find another distributor to sell it.
So I'm also trying to figure out how to participate in film festivals in Europe. Are there any opportunities here?" Ronald asked.
"The chances are not great. Several major film festivals lack participation opportunities. We can only try our luck at small film festivals in Brussels and Spain."
"Hey, we are miserable in making movies. An independent film may not sell for two years. It may take a year or two to go back and forth with five or six vice presidents of a large studio. It is better to make a TV series." Luo
Nader was also full of complaints.
There was no way to meet Ronald, so Kathryn Bigelow could only say goodbye. Not many buyers at the Los Angeles International Film Festival were interested in domestic films. They mainly came to look for foreign films. If there are no domestically produced films,
The only way to get there is to attend this exhibition, which mainly focuses on foreign films. You can imagine the quality.
"By the way, this is the poster of my movie. If you have the chance, please help me introduce some distributors. We are willing to accept any conditions."
Before Katherine Bigelow left, she took out a poster and handed it to Ronald, and then gave him a few business cards. What she wanted now was not to recover the cost of the shooting, but not to let her hard work go to waste. As long as she
If it can be sold and released in theaters, there will always be more opportunities for new films in the future.
Instead of the current situation, if you make a movie but fail to sell it, in fact, in the eyes of the producer, it is worse than if you have never made a movie. If you have never made a movie, it may still be a rough jade. If you make a movie and it cannot be sold, then it is
It is very likely that the level is not good enough.
This is even more true for Willem Dafoe. No one saw him in either movie. When his agent handed over his audition photos, he was too embarrassed to write his resume on the back, otherwise when others opened his mouth, they would ask why the movie was not released.
"Okay, I will." Ronald sent the two of them away and opened the poster. On it, Willem Dafoe was wearing a leather jacket and nothing underneath. He looked evil and handsome.
.
"The poster is pretty good, but I don't know if it will work as a movie."
"Ring ring ring ring..."
Ronald picked up the phone and said, "I'm Ronald."
"Hi, Ronald, I'm Walter, do you want to buy my editing tape?"
"Walter? Hi, Mr. Mersey. What, this editing tape is your business?" Ronald heard that he was his editing master, Oscar nominee for best editing and sound design, Walter Mersey
.
"Yeah, it's a little invention of mine. I heard from my assistant that someone was ordering it, and when I saw the name was you, what? You've made another movie? It's really enviable. My 'Return to Oz' is also
Wallowing in planning hell.”
Walt Mersey was noticed by Disney's president Ron Miller and invited him to participate in Disney's young director program. However, the script he submitted was repeatedly rejected and rewritten by several executives, which was also very painful.
"Walter, if possible, don't try to make an independent film. I have gone through all this and I really feel too painful. I have to do everything by myself. I just discovered that the last movie was fast-paced and how relaxed and happy I was.
.”
Ronald joked a little with the teacher. Although Walter was in pain now, when he got the green light for the project from Ron Miller, he would be like an emperor when making movies. There would be professional people to help with all kinds of things.
, just take pictures yourself.
"I didn't expect you to ask for it. Let's do this. I still have ten rolls of tape at home. I'll send it to you first and you can just pay me the normal price." Walter saw that it was his apprentice who wanted the tape, so of course he gave it to him first.
"Oh, really? That's great. I'll give it to you at the expedited price. After all, it's a movie project and can be offset against expenses. Anyway, it's you who did it, so I'll send you a check for the full amount. Please hurry up
Send it out, I'm waiting to use it."
"No problem, I'll send it to you first. I need to purchase the raw materials and then make it by hand. It's quite troublesome. I'll let you use the inventory first."
"Handmade? The amount of this thing should be very large, right? Why not make it by machine?" Ronald was a little confused.
"I'm an artist and craftsman, so I don't understand those things. Now the supply exceeds the demand anyway. I don't do any advertising, I rely on word-of-mouth promotion. I don't have the money to purchase in large quantities, so everything is customized on demand."
"Is that so? If...forget it, let's talk about it when we have a chance in the future. Thank you Walter."
Ronald originally thought about cooperating with Walter to open a small factory to make tape. But he also thought that this thing is only used in the film industry, not TV production. It seems that there is no need for industrial production, and there are not that many people to make it.
purchase.
After two days, Ronald finally got the new editing tape, which came with a new device to stick the tape.
This kind of tape not only covers only a few frames of film when it is applied, but it feels like there is no feeling when playing it. It also greatly reduces the amount of manual work in editing. At least when the sound and picture are aligned, there is no need to tape several feet of tape.