Chapter 411 Do you know what is the most important thing about being a director?
Cindy is full of the spirited, free and casual middle-class style of a small-town girl in Yinlinuyin. This is the first time Ronald has experienced the beautiful girl who grew up in the Midwest.
This reminded him of Chris Columbus' directorial debut, "Adventures in Nanny," which is about to start filming. That night, he fought against enemies such as a flat tire, a car theft ring, and a heartless boyfriend, while still maintaining an optimistic spirit.
The protagonist, nanny Chris Parker.
If this kind of character were placed in other big cities, the audience would probably feel a little wrong.
Only in the suburbs of Chicago, an important city in the middle of the country, would a white girl there be able to do such a thing, and it would be absolutely normal.
Knowing that Central girls like to fulfill their promises immediately, Ronald hung up the phone to David Letterman early the next morning.
Laitman was still having breakfast and was about to go on vacation. After being caught by Ronald, he heard that a beautiful model wanted to be on the show. He was so happy that he agreed on the spot.
Different from other talk show schedules, Letterman's Late Night Show is later than Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. Most of the viewers of this kind of late night talk show are single men.
Therefore, having beautiful models and actors on the show, Laitman telling some sideline jokes, and guests cooperating, or acting embarrassed, or boldly counterattacking, are all good ways to increase the ratings.
"Okay, his name is Cindy Crawford, and he once received an outstanding scholarship from college. He is not one of those mindless sex bombs."
"nailed it?"
Seeing that Ronald was so impressive, Cindy Crawford fulfilled her promise on the spot. She was so happy that she walked the man's show twice in her pajamas, and then sat on Ronald's lap and danced for a while.
Promises to others must be fulfilled immediately. Cindy showed the style of a middle-aged girl again. She felt Ronald had a reaction, so she immediately pulled Ronald up and came twice more early in the morning.
An hour later, Ronald returned home to Staten Island and happened to see Donna eating cakes and drinking milk for breakfast. Ronald smelled the aroma of cakes and went over to take one and put it in his mouth.
"Well, it's delicious. Is this from Tom? He remembers to give me a cake every Christmas."
"Yes, I told my classmates that I had cakes sent by Tom Cruise, but they didn't believe it." Donna wrinkled her nose, then followed the smell of perfume and looked at Ronald's side, "Your perfume smells like this
It's very good, it seems to be new. Go and wash it quickly, my mother is coming soon."
"Ah, hahaha..." Ronald exclaimed and hurried upstairs to take a shower. After hanging out with Cindy several times, he couldn't smell the smell of perfume on his body.
By the time Ronald came down from the shower, Donna was already watching the morning news with Aunt Karen.
"The commander-in-chief is no longer Teflon. In the past month, affected by the "Persian Gate" scandal, his approval rating has dropped from 67% to 46%. According to political commentator Men Jinjin
Le Dao's scandals have never been able to adhere to the characteristics of a great leader, and this time it has failed.
The investigative committee personally appointed by the Commander-in-Chief and chaired by former Senator John Tower will summon the Commander-in-Chief to go to Congress to explain the situation. Whether the Lebanese hostages were released was because of the private sale to Persia of advanced technologies including Dow anti-tank missiles.
Weapons, in exchange for Persian influence on relevant parties in Lebanon.
Also subpoenaed were CIA Director William Casey, Defense Secretary Casper Weinberg, National Security Assistant Robert McFarland, and Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams."
Ronald took a few more pieces of Tom Cruise's cake and grabbed a glass of orange juice to drink. He found that his aunt and Donna were focused on the TV news and did not ask him about last night's events.
"What happened? Why does it seem that the cabinet of the current commander-in-chief has been held accountable?" Ronald asked aloud. He has been busy filming in the past few weeks and doesn't know much about the news.
"Don't you know? A Lebanese magazine revealed last month that the reason why we were able to take back the hostages captured in the Lebanese Embassy was because we secretly sold advanced weapons to our enemy Persia.
Now everyone is calling this incident ‘Persian Gate’, comparing it to the previous ‘Watergate’ incident.”
Donna was a college student and was naturally more concerned about these political events. She told Ronald the ins and outs of what she had learned from reading magazines in the past few weeks.
It turns out that America's military-industrial community secretly sold high-tech weapons to the enemies of the United States. On the one hand, it was used to exchange for hostages in Lebanon. On the other hand, the proceeds from the sale of arms were used to fund the Conrad rebel government in Nicaragua, Central America.
Armed, want to overthrow the existing government there that supports the Soviet Union.
"No wonder I approached George Jr. to take advantage of the Lebanese hostage release hot spot, and promoted a wave of requests for 'Top Gun', but he refused. It turns out that there are so many inside stories, and now it has been revealed by the media. The Commander-in-Chief
Wouldn't he be impeached just like the Watergate incident before?"
Ronald thought of the incident a few months ago. Little George was indeed born into a political family. If he got involved in such a thing, he would be in trouble now. Wouldn't a reporter find him for an interview? This kind of thing
They definitely won't let it go.
"Wait a minute..." Ronald suddenly thought, "How could little George know the inside story? Could it be that the deputy commander also..."
While stroking his beard and thinking about something, Ronald heard another report on the news about the Supreme Commander and others testifying before the Tower Commission.
"When answering the question, 'Have you authorized the sale of advanced weapons to Persia in exchange for the release of hostages, and funding of the Nicaraguan anti-government Conrad armed forces?'" he first admitted, and then contradicted himself by saying that he did not remember.
Already.
It is hard for us to believe this statement. Even if he really did not know about this secret transaction, he clearly failed to control his national security affairs assistant and CIA director and failed to fulfill the leadership responsibilities that a general should have...
…
Deputy Commander George denied any involvement in the plan. He only found out after seeing news reports that the weapons middleman, Saudi businessman Khashoggi, was selling weapons to enemies of the United States.
He said that he was deprived of the right to know and that he did not suggest to the commander-in-chief to support or oppose the plan. He said that he was not an 'insider'..."
"Haha, an Elephant Party politician who has served as CIA director for four years says that he is not an insider of the military-industrial complex?" Donna pointed out the ridiculousness in the deputy commander's testimony keenly.
Aunt Karen shook her head. She had long given up on the hypocrisy of such professional politicians, but when she saw what she loved, the commander-in-chief who declared war on the obsolescence of the bureaucracy and vowed to make America great again was also involved in this.
Despite such a disgraceful thing, I am still very disappointed.
"I saw that his expression seemed confused when he answered the questions, as if he didn't know where he was or what question he was answering. Maybe he was telling the truth when he said he couldn't remember? The people below didn't report to him."
After thinking for a while, my aunt found some reasons and said a few good words for the commander-in-chief whom she supported.
"Humph, you're just pretending to be stupid. That's what politicians are like." Donna said reluctantly.
"Maybe I really don't remember?" Ronald remembered that when he went to the White House and Camp David, the commander-in-chief seemed to forget things sometimes. He had seen him several times before, and the last time the commander-in-chief saw him,
But he seemed not to recognize himself, and was reminded by First Lady Nancy.
"As you get older, you still forget things easily. After all, the commander-in-chief is already over seventy, and he had surgery last year." Ronald comforted his aunt.
…
"Persian Gate" continued to be discussed in the media, and the Congress controlled by the Donkey Party began to use this big scandal to launch attacks on the general.
For many years, the leader has been using the method of mobilizing voters to write letters to members of Congress to force them to pass the economic reforms he led. This time, the side effects finally came back.
Regardless of whether you are a member of the House of Representatives or a senator, when the general election comes, if you don’t say a few words that you support the general leadership or support the economics of the general leadership, you will not be able to pass the election.
There are also some challengers who dress themselves up as fans of the commander-in-chief and tell voters that as long as they are elected, they will vote for the commander-in-chief in Congress, posing a considerable challenge to those members of the establishment faction.
Love reading books
This time it was finally the MPs' turn to attack the commander-in-chief.
Don’t you claim that the government cannot solve problems and that the government itself is the problem? It seems that after you have been the leader for several years, you have been assimilated by the government. Do you also need to be solved?
However, this tactic of seizing on the problems of the commander-in-chief has obviously had some counterproductive effects. Since the commander-in-chief was elected, regardless of other things, the economy has indeed developed very well. For the sake of the increase in income, the people of America have actually done some things.
It can also be treated as invisible.
Now those donkey gangsters who made the economy a mess want to use this kind of bullshit to attack the commander-in-chief who led them to make money again. For a time, the approval rating of the commander-in-chief, old Ronald, actually increased again.
However, Director Ronald Jr. no longer cares about these things. He only made a phone call to George Jr. and said that the filming of "Adventures in Nanny" will soon start in Toronto, Canada. The third phase of his Screen Fund has given a lot of money.
Support, Ronald called him specifically to express his gratitude.
Ronald was actually borrowing something from the movie to talk about the Persian Gate.
What he really wants to thank is the deputy commander's family. It's interesting that they simply told Ronald not to use the idea of releasing the hostages to promote "Top Gun". Otherwise, he would be involved in a political struggle, even if he was caught by reporters asking some sensitive questions.
problems, and it’s easy to make mistakes.
Little George also knew what Ronald really meant, saying that everything had been "taken care of".
He also hopes that the first investment of the third phase of the fund will be successful, and Ronald will have to go to the crew to see the situation and give him feedback so that he can continue to build momentum for the next phase of raising funds from Wall Street bankers.
After two days of vacation, Ronald went to Toronto, Canada in advance.
Most of the crew of "Moonlight" is still on vacation, MGM's top management is in chaos, and the middle management below is also in a state of herding sheep. Coupled with the union's regulations, Ronald can't rely on himself alone.
Unable to get everyone together, we had to wait until after the New Year to resume filming.
Coincidentally, in addition to his own "Moonlight" crew, Chris Columbus, who is serving as a director for the first time, also started shooting his new film "Adventures in Babysitting" in Toronto.
Ronald happened to take advantage of the time difference to visit the set of "Adventures in Nanny" and fulfill his duties as a producer.
The crew of "Adventures in Babysitting" handled everything very well and was well prepared for everything. After the Christmas holiday, everyone had gathered in Toronto and was ready to start filming. Disney under Michael Eisner's rule was strictly prohibited.
, the efficiency is very high, and there are indeed signs of ZTE.
In the suburbs of Toronto, the architectural styles of houses and outdoor preparations are not much different from those in America.
On the first day of shooting, director Chris Columbus chose an outdoor scene, a very simple shot.
Ronald, as a producer, also came to the crew to watch. Obviously Columbus was well prepared. The shot he used to open the scene was not difficult. For a young man who took on the director's role for the first time, it was such a simple and easy way.
Difficult, it is a good choice.
People who become directors for the first time often have two mentalities in mind.
One is that I feel unsure and don’t know if what I’m directing is good, so I hope there’s an experienced person sitting next to me who can give me guidance when things go wrong.
The other kind of mentality is just the opposite. I have made a lot of preparations to become a director and have considered all the details of the shooting. If a strong producer with directing experience comes at this time, he will reject all his ideas.
This is very embarrassing.
There is no absolute right or wrong in art. Individuals have their own opinions. If the producer does not respect the director enough, it will have a huge blow to the new director's confidence and prestige in the crew.
These two ideas are often intertwined. Sometimes the idea of hoping for the producer to come prevails, and sometimes I feel that it is better not to come.
All the producers and directors who came to inspect the production had very complicated emotions.
Ronald smiled at Chris Columbus who was wearing glasses. He knew that Chris Columbus was the kind of director who made a lot of preparations.
Agent Richard reported to himself. He prepared all the shots and made in-depth preparations for the sets and locations.
In fact, Ronald's confidence in Columbus may be stronger than his own.
"Director, director, something happened."
The stage manager ran over quickly and interrupted Chris Columbus, who was looking at Ronald a little awkwardly and didn't know how to communicate.
"What's wrong? Speak slowly." At this time, Chris Columbus calmed down and asked the stage manager to explain the situation clearly.
It turns out that "Adventures in Nanny" was filmed in the suburbs of Chicago in the Midwest. Chicago is Illinois, where the old manufacturing base is located, and the companies here have been completely shrunk by competition from Japanese companies.
Corporate profits are not good, so tax revenue is also shrinking. In some areas of Chicago, it has reached the point where funds for basic public facilities such as buses, garbage disposal, and tap water are stretched.
So the first scene we will shoot today is of the nanny Chris Parker, played by Lisabeth Sue, leading the children on a street full of uncollected garbage.
The production's set and props team prepared overnight and spread some garbage cans, black garbage bags, and some prop garbage all over the entire street where the garbage cans are located.
But Toronto is not Chicago. The city's sanitation department has a very healthy budget. So at four o'clock in the morning before the crew arrived, sanitation workers cleared away all the garbage that the set crew had made a mess last night.
Now, on the exterior location, there is a very clean and tidy road.
Chris Columbus was a little dumbfounded. He touched his head and didn't know what to do. He turned back to look at Ronald.
At this time, he definitely supported the producer on the scene.
"You are the director, you can handle it yourself." Ronald put his hand back and showed an attitude that this is your movie and I don't care.
Chris Columbus laughed instead. He encountered a problem on the first shot and was a little too nervous.
This was not a difficult task, so Columbus found the scenery and props, mobilized the crew's assistants, found a lot of black garbage bags, placed them on the street, and rearranged the mess.
"a!"
Columbus entered the state quickly. He commanded a team of dozens of people and began to coordinate.
"Cut! Very good, let's do another one." Chris Columbus chatted with the director of photography for a few words about the camera position, and then announced that the shooting would continue.
"How did I do?"
Soon after half an hour of filming, the first scene was completed, and Chris Columbus came over to ask Ronald about his performance.
Now he felt confident again and hoped that Ronald would not interfere with his smooth shooting.
"You did a great job, I can't think of anything to say." Ronald shook hands with him enthusiastically. Although he has not shot film since graduating from Columbus University, today's situation shows that he is still a dreamer.
people.
Chris Columbus showed a shy smile. He has a bit of an academic style. He doesn't rely on shouting on the set, but he can still convince everyone. He relies on his familiarity with the film business and sufficient preparation in advance.
.
"I only have one place to teach you, Chris." Ronald was very satisfied when he saw Columbus's confidence.
"What is it?" Columbus asked.
Ronald took him to the side, asked his assistant for a chair, opened it for Chris Columbus and put it on the ground. Then he looked at the name on the back of the chair.
Director Columbus's name is prominently listed, which is bigger than the chairs of the two leading actors next to him.
"Roger Corman once taught me that the most important thing to do as a director is to prepare a chair and sit down when you have time."
Ronald pulled Columbus over and gently pressed him on the chair, "Really, being a director is really tiring. Without a chair, I will soon be too tired to talk."
Then Ronald said to Columbus, "You already have all the abilities to be a director, I understand. So I won't hinder you here. If there is anything you can't solve, call me again."
Then Ronald turned around and shouted to the actors and staff, "This is Mr. Director's chair. No one of you is allowed to grab it."
"Hahaha……"
Everyone laughed and looked at Columbus more convinced than before.