After two weeks of rest, Ronald entered the editing room and started editing "The Dragon King Part 2".
For the first time, Ronald felt that he lacked the strong creative desire when editing.
In the previous films, including the first one of Long Wei Boy, he was eager to slowly cut out the final film from the prototypes.
Sitting in front of the editing machine, Ronald sometimes felt like an ancient Greek sculptor, looking at the final film, slowly arranging and combining it according to the appearance in his mind from a lot of film and recording, and finally
Become a work of art.
But in this sequel, Ronald is having trouble mustering up the full creative desire, as if he is just completing a job, no longer carving with a carving knife, but like a plaster worker, following the first part
Make a mold, put the plaster in it, wait for it to take shape, break the mold and pull out a statue that can't be called art, but can be sold at a good price.
Ronald, who had never felt this way before, called the editing master Walter Murch and asked him to come and take a look at the scene.
Walter Murch had completed the production of MJ's "Captain Io" 3D short film and was exploring the stereo soundtrack for this new type of 3D film. When he heard Ronald's call, he immediately came over to see his apprentice.
After spending two hours watching several original films, Murch smiled and said to Ronald, "No problem. What you shot is a very typical Hollywood commercial movie. You are just a little tired of the aesthetics."
"What?" Ronald didn't understand what Murch meant.
"The director will accumulate a lot of experience if he shoots many films of the same type. In this type of film, where should the pace be slowed down and where should the pace be speeded up? You already have a deep understanding of all narrative, shot scheduling, and editing skills.
understanding.
In this way, when you edit, you won't feel as excited as you did when you faced many challenges for the first time.
There is a famous saying in our industry that directors and editors always get bored before the audience gets bored."
"Then what should I do?" Ronald took a sip of wolfberry black tea and felt a little like this.
"Either you seek changes in genre films, or you let others edit your films." Murch shrugged, obviously there was no good solution.
Ronald had no choice but to continue in the editing room, taking his time to make editing decisions one by one.
After looking at the movie from a more objective perspective, Ronald began to find fault with the actors' acting skills.
Like him, a director with aesthetic fatigue, the performances of Ralph Mazio and Noriyuki Morita also tend to fall into stereotypes.
This is not intentional, but a problem caused by the script.
The actual core of "Longwei Boy Part 2" has not changed much from the first part. He is still a boy who is not favored by others. With the help of a master, he defeats powerful enemies and finally wins the beauty.
story.
Because it is the second part, the audience needs an extra story. Therefore, the plot is also increased in all aspects. Sharper conflicts, more powerful enemies, more romantic stories, more budgets, more novel locations...
The two leading actors somewhat stuck to the characters established in the first film and acted automatically.
Fortunately, there is newcomer Tomita Tam Ling, who is starring in this series for the first time. Therefore, Tomita's performance is still full of the unique aura of a newcomer who is acting in a movie for the first time.
Judging from the love scenes alone, the second part is more beautiful than the original, and the chemistry between the two actors is better.
The clip continued to move closer, and one weekend, Ronald unexpectedly received a call from an old friend, inviting him to come to his home for a reunion.
"Kevin!" Ronald walked into a small house outside Los Angeles.
"Ronald, welcome!"
Kevin Costner let him into his new home, casually took out a Budweiser can from the refrigerator, and threw it to Ronald.
Kevin Costner is also famous, but he seems a bit unfazed. He called Ronald to get together, and the two simply drank beer, and they were as familiar as two old high school classmates.
Costner played a small leading role in "Night of the Comet" and attracted some attention. However, the film's box office success only allowed him to get some new script offers, and it did not become a big hit.
On the contrary, it was the just-released "Silvarado Showdown" that made him suddenly famous and gave him money to live in a new house.
"The Great Battle of Silverado" is a traditional western film. Today, when western films are declining, there are still many fans of western films among the top executives of the seven major Hollywood studios.
The success of this movie made these old die-hards begin to dream of bringing Western films to mainstream theaters again.
"Congratulations!" Ronald took a sip of Budweiser, picked up the pizza and beef jerky on the table, and started chewing. While watching the baseball game on TV, he chatted with Costner.
"This is what Director Kasdan still remembers and owes to me. I am very lucky."
The main reason why Costner was able to play one of the four male leads in "Silvarado" was that director Lawrence Kasdan wanted to return a favor.
In "The Big Chill" a few years ago, Kevin Costner played the college student who died at the beginning, but in the final film, director Kasdan deleted all his scenes.
At that time, at the home of Meg Tilly, who played his girlfriend, other actors were still laughing at Costner because he didn't have the high-end cashmere scarf given by the crew.
Lawrence Kasdan always remembered this incident, and after accepting the role of "Silvador", he specifically cast Costner to play the leading role as a favor to him.
The Battle of Silverado is a western movie, and no one has been willing to make a western movie for a long time. This is a somewhat retro western movie, and the unexpected box office is okay, coupled with the manipulation of film critics and major studios
, gave him high praise.
So for a while, Costner also became a small star in Western genre films, earning a lot of salary and renting a house by himself. He also remembered that it was Ronald who gave him his first role, and the first one was
Invite him over for a beer.
"How is the box office?" Ronald asked Costner. This man, who was born as a carpenter, has a certain quality that makes people get along without pressure.
"It's not bad. The producer said that it can stay in theaters for about three months, and the box office won't be too high. However, this kind of western movie has a fixed audience of moviegoers. I heard that the TV broadcast rights are selling well, and it will be released soon at the end of the year.
We need to release the videotape."
"How much are you going to sell it for?"
"Ninety-nine dollars and nine, right?"
"It's still too expensive." Ronald shook his head and took a sip of beer.
Most movie tapes now sell for close to one hundred dollars. Most American families cannot afford them. Their more common choice is to rent one from the recently emerging video rental stores.
Watch at home.
The price is only one to five yuan per day.
"Cindy, give us some more fried chicken wings."
Costner said to his wife in the room.
"Okay, I'll come after I put Annie to sleep."
Costner and his wife Cindy are a sweet couple who have been in love since high school. They have a very good relationship and just gave birth to a daughter, Annie, last year.
Kevin Costner took over Ronald's movie "Night of the Comet". With basic living expenses, Cindy became a housewife at home.
Soon, Cindy put on an apron and went to the kitchen to make snacks for her husband and friends. She was a beautiful black-haired girl.
"Here you go, Ronald, try it."
Cindy respected Ronald very much. This man brought hope and the first big money to her little family.
"Oh, it's very delicious. Kevin is such a lucky guy."
"Yes, I'm so lucky."
Costner and Cindy kissed. Then they continued to watch the Baseball World Series with Ronald. This year's finalists were the Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals.
"Bang!" left fielder Lonnie Smith hit a hit.
"Did you know? Lonnie just transferred from the Cardinals to the Royals this year. This is the first time in the history of the World Series that such a situation has happened to a finalist."
"Oh, then he is very motivated." Ronald and Costner toasted. The other person knew the history of baseball very well, and it was very interesting for Ronald to have such an knowledgeable person introduce him.
"Kevin, have you eaten?" Ronald saw a slovenly man walking out of the study.
"Michael, there's pizza on the table, you can take it." Costner pointed at Ronald and the remaining pizza he had eaten.
"Thank you", the sloppy Michael picked up the cold pizza and put it in his mouth.
"Don't you have some hot tea or something?" Ronald asked seeing that he was having a hard time eating.
"There's hot coffee in there." Costner pointed to the kitchen.
"Thank you, I'll be fine soon."
After Michael finished his pizza, he took something that looked like a script and walked out.
"Who is he?" Ronald asked.
"They are my friends. You know, when I was down and out, I had a large number of friends, screenwriters, makeup artists, and actors. We all hung out together. I landed ashore one step ahead of them. Now if these friends encounter difficulties, I let them stay.
at my place."
Kevin Costner is great with old friends.
"You have to talk to Michael, don't throw food everywhere and attract cockroaches." Cindy cleared out a dozen piles of snacks and instant packaged cakes from the study.
"I will tell him that Michael was very good to me before, but he just lacked opportunities."
Costner went to argue with his wife, and finally let Michael continue to live at home.
"Is his script really good?" Ronald asked.
"No, but I can't drive him away." Costner smiled and shook his head. This friend always writes whimsical things, and the rhythm is wrong.
I could only give him a place to live. After a few months, he felt hopeless and would naturally return to his hometown.