In addition to the chemistry between Elisabeth Shue and Ralph Mazio, which Mazio secretly practices as a soccer player, the chemistry between the other characters is very good, and good casting makes the rehearsals go smoothly.
Very smooth.
Ronald deliberately did not let Ralph Mazio reveal his football level in advance, so that during the official filming, Elizabeth Su would suddenly find out, and he could use this surprise to stimulate a chemical reaction between the two.
As for several action actors, they are in surprisingly good condition. Martin Kove convinced Chad McQueen and others with his cold words. And William Zebka, in the biography of the character he wrote,
After learning kung fu, I really worshiped Chris, played by Martin Kove, as if he were a false father.
Weintraub still visited the set from time to time. On this day, he also found an associate producer for Ronald, Charles Okun.
Charles Okun is an old man who is nearly 60 years old and has been working on various Hollywood film crews since the 1970s. He is a veteran specially recruited by Weintraub, hoping that he can use his experience to deal with on-site problems.
Ronald knew that Weintraub was not worried about his youth, so he specially arranged for an experienced one. He also showed respect for Okun.
Charles Okun didn't talk much. He often found a chair next to the scene and watched carefully all day long.
In a blink of an eye, it was almost the end of the rehearsal... Noriyuki Morita also came to see Ronald that day. He had his own opinions on some details in the script.
"I think Master Miyagi is a philosophical person, so when Daniel first went to the repairman's office to find him, he should not be sorting out the repair tools, but should be doing something philosophical."
"Oh, what did you think of?" Ronald always had an open attitude towards the actors' ideas, letting them express them directly, and finally weighing them before deciding whether to adopt them.
"I wanted him to trim the board inside."
"Onboard?" Ronald had watched many old war movies and knew that "onboard" was a slogan shouted by Japanese soldiers when they charged. It was actually a variant of the Chinese "Long Live".
"Bonzai, not onboard." Noriyuki Morita took out a small bonsai, "How about asking Miyagi to prune the bonsai? This way you can tell a truth and let both the audience and Daniel know it right away.
, He is not a simple repairman."
Ronald thought it was good, "Okay, you tell the prop and I'll ask him to find some bonsai."
"As well as Daniel's competition uniform, karate dojos and schools have their own logos. For example, Chris's cobra dojo has the head of a cobra. The Goju-ryu represented by Miyagi and Danny also has to have a logo.
, what do you think about using this bonsai?"
"Bonsai", Ronald wanted to say that he could use Taichi diagram, but he also thought about the character of Miyagi. He didn't care about fame. He just used his own hobbies and made a logo that suited him.
character.
"Okay, just put a potted plant as a sign. Go talk to the costume and say I agree."
"No, my wife can help sew this logo. Her sewing skills are first-rate. She can also make a headband for Daniel."
"Is it also the symbol of a bonsai?" Ronald knew that karate headbands usually have the logo of the dojo sewn on them.
"The pattern of the potted plant is too small to see clearly, so I plan to put the Japanese symbol, cherry blossoms." Noriyuki Morita smiled happily.
"Sakura?" Ronald nodded. Cherry blossoms are a very good symbol, and people can tell at a glance.
Noriyuki Morita also discussed with him what Japanese children's songs should be sung when Miyagi was drunk and remembered his wife and children who died in the concentration camp. He was a second-generation immigrant and had heard his parents sing a lot when he was a child.
Having such an actor with similar experiences and characters saved Ronald a lot of things in the Japanese culture that he was unfamiliar with.
"Boom...boom..."
On the other side, several students from the Cobra Dojo began to practice action scenes. Pat Johnson was responsible for the action part, which was fine-tuned according to the characteristics of several people.
When a few people were practicing, it was not a Star Wars move where two people wield a lightsaber and slash at one place, which looked fake at first glance. Instead, one person greeted the other person's vitals, and the other person waited in the middle in advance.
To crack.
In this way, whether you are a layman or an expert, it still looks like the same thing. But each action needs to be specially designed and then practiced repeatedly to prevent accidents.
"Except for the part where they crossed the barbed wire to beat up Daniel on Halloween night, everything else was well practiced. That part of the scene was difficult to shoot. Do we have to find time to shoot it again and again?" Pat Johnson met Ronald
After watching the part I rehearsed and expressing my satisfaction, I gave my own thoughts.
"Fumio Demura and his disciples haven't joined the group yet. Let's wait and see when they come. Jumping from such a high barbed wire fence and completing a series of actions. I don't know if Mr. Demura can complete it or wait until he comes."
We'll watch it later, since it only lasts less than ten seconds," Ronald replied.
"Okay, you are the boss." Pat Johnson agreed upon seeing this.
On the last day of rehearsal, Ronald asked Susan to find several Honda XL600R motorcycles, just like his own.
He asked three second-generation stars, Chad McQueen, Ron Thomas, and Rob Garrison, together with William Zebka, to ride on a windy motorcycle and try to drive a section of it on an outdoor dirt road.
"Boom...boom..." Several young people started their motorcycles and rode around excitedly.
"You don't have a motorcycle license, do you?" Ronald looked at their riding posture, like a girl riding a motorcycle for the first time, and felt very angry. But when choosing them, Weintraub ensured that
These second generation celebrities are all motorcycle experts.
"Hey, Debbie?" Ronald quickly called Debbie Evans, the stunt woman who had worked with him in "Night of the Comet" and the champion of the mixed gender category of the CBS Motorcycle Stunt Grand Prix, to come to the rescue.
Gu Lan
"These four little bastards don't know how to ride a motorcycle and are here to cause trouble for the protagonists who are riding bicycles on the road. You can teach them." Ronald introduced the four students to Debbie who came on the motorcycle and deliberately flattered them in front of them.
The sound comes alive.
"Hey, hot girl, are you going to 'teach' me how to ride a motorcycle?" Chad McQueen, the most arrogant of the four, couldn't help but jumped out.
"Boy, let's make a bet. I will make an action and you will follow suit. If you can do it, I will leave. If you can't do it, then... humph... just obey me."
Debbie Evans has seen countless men look down on her.
"Boom...boom..." Debbie started the motorcycle, then let go of her hands, stood on the motorcycle, and let the motorcycle drive on its own.
"Uh..." The four boys were completely speechless, but they immediately became very excited. With such a master as their teacher, they could show off their driving skills in front of their peers in the future.
"Daniel-san, take a few steps and let me see." Noriyuki Morita brought the sewn gi and put it on for Ralph Mazzio. Then he looked back and forth and admired his wife's skills.
"It's really good." Ronald saw the potted plant pattern on the chest of Ralph's gi and the cherry blossoms on his headband, which looked a bit Japanese.
"Have you thought of your children's song yet?"
"I thought of it." Noriyuki Morita began to sing a children's song in Japanese, whirling quietly. Although Ronald couldn't understand it and Morita's voice wasn't very accurate, everyone at the scene felt the sadness.
arrive.
"Bah bang bang..." It was Susan who clapped beside her.
"What do you think? What's your name?" Ronald asked everyone and Morita.
"It's called backstreet life." Morita bowed to everyone and showed his skills as a comedian.
"Very good, Ronald San." Deputy producer Charles Okun also echoed everyone's applause, taking the initiative to praise Ronald for the first time.
"Actually, it should be Li Sang. Sang means Mr., which is used to show respect. You added it after my name, which is a kind of ridicule. Just like in the movie, Miyagi calls Daniel and calls him Daniel.
Sang, he is actually mocking him for thinking he is experienced despite his young age."
Ronald was a little disgusted with the invisible Okun, and saw that he called himself the mocking Ronald Sand, so he mentioned the origin of Daniel Sand's name in the script.
"My question, I'm still a bitch, that's a good way to call me." Charles Okun's smile was a little asymmetrical, as if he was joking about his seniors looking at the newcomers.
Ronald didn't take it seriously and turned around and told stuntwoman Debbie Evans, "You train them hard these days and the whole weekend. By next Monday I will see a few like Hell's Angels."
rider.
"Leave it to me." Debbie turned to the four teenagers riding on the motorcycle and said, "Follow me, and you will do whatever I do."
"Boom...boom..." A group of people hit the accelerator a few times with their hands, and drove away shouting amidst the noise and exhaust gas.
In the evening, Weintraub chatted with Ronald and several other creatives at his Beverly Hills mansion about arrangements after rehearsals.
"I will take Ralph Marzio and Randy Heller, who plays his mother, to New Jersey, Arizona, and New Jersey to shoot scenes. I will shoot the two of them from New Jersey, driving all the way, and moving to Los Angeles."
"Travel across the continent, huh?" Susan Akins asked happily. This is the dream of every American youth.
"It was very hard. I drove here from New York right after I graduated from high school. I had to drive for forty-eight hours, and I had to account for fuel consumption and accommodation." Ronald recalled that he drove all the way through New Jersey, Nevada, and Arizona.
Memories of Los Angeles.
"So this time the filming mainly focused on the starting point of New Jersey, Daniel's home, Princeton, and then several famous scenic spots in Arizona, such as big rocks, giving the audience an obvious geographical change."
"Very good, you go with the photography team and bring more people. When you come back next week, the boys will be trained on their motorcycles, and we can officially start shooting."
Susan Aikins writes down all the personnel arrangements, and she keeps everything organized.
Ronald took the ticket and check and went to the airport tomorrow to meet up with the troops and fly to New York Airport. Over there, Ronald also arranged for Eddie to prepare a RV for the filming in New Jersey.
As soon as Ronald left, Weintraub immediately asked associate producer Charles Okun, "How was it? What do you think of Ronald's performance?"
"I think he is an imaginative director, but he has shortcomings in the selection of actors and acting guidance. And he has little experience in shooting big Hollywood projects. I think he is very likely to encounter difficulties in directing 'The Dragon King'."
into difficulty."
"Okay, that's it. I will go to the set to see it myself next week." Weintraub looked at Susan who came back and raised her hand to stop Charles Okun's evaluation.
Upon seeing this, Okun also said goodbye and left.
"How could he say that about Ronald? In my opinion, Ronald is a very serious, responsible and experienced director. I have learned a lot from him." Susan Akins informed Tomorrow after calling
Several actors who set out heard a few words when they came back.
Weintraub stopped Susan's retort, "I believe you, dear, Ronald gave me the feeling that he knows exactly what he is talking about. But there must be a backup plan when doing business. I will go there in person after the filming starts."
By watching it on the set, we will know if he is a qualified director."
"Well, I just don't think Okun and his partners are much better than Ronald. They haven't made many movies. The total box office is not as high as Ronald's." Susan sat down gently on Wen