"I don't quite understand this part of the shot. Why did Harrison Ford suddenly stop here?" Walter Murch pointed to a shot on the monitor in the editing room. Harrison Ford turned over on the bed.
The body suddenly stopped.
"Oh, that was the request of his manager, no exposure." Ronald remembered, and during the filming, he took several photos of himself in order to turn around just right.
"I either cut to the front where he realizes that he is about to reveal his point, or cut to other close-ups and close-ups... Let's go to close-ups, Harrison's reaction is too slow, and the audience will think it's weird if I cut here."
"you're right……"
Back in the editing room, Ronald and Murch began to compete with the film again. This time, Ronald's filming had different shooting methods, and the characters in each shot also had different meanings.
Sex is a bit of a challenge for Murch, and Ronald is getting better and better at it now.
At noon, the two of them had a light meal and went out to bask in the sun for a while. Murch kept looking at Ronald next to him, making him feel a little embarrassed.
"What?" Ronald asked Murch.
"I'm thinking that maybe you should spend less time on the company and focus more on picking scripts, shooting, and editing. You know, you remind me of Howard Hawks, a director from the golden age of Hollywood.
"
"The company has just started shooting, and I need to keep an eye on the first few movies." Ronald listened. It was Murch who was a little dissatisfied that he spent too much time and energy on those B-level movies, which affected his creation.
Howard Hawks, mentioned by Walter Murch, is a very magical director. He is not limited to any genre. He has made western films, romance films, gangster films... and even aerial combat films, and they have been touched by his great hand.
In the future, genre films will undergo a paradigm innovation, adding innovative elements or structures.
Each genre can be filmed at the top level, and it will open up some new possibilities for latecomers and revitalize genre films. The movie "Lone Dove" in which Diane has already got the role is a plagiarism of "Red River". In fact,
It was taken by Hawkes.
After it was released, the great Western film director John Ford was so shocked that he dropped his pipe. He didn't expect that Western films could be made like this, and he didn't expect that his frequent co-star John Wayne had acting skills. Later, he asked Wayne to film it again.
He made many new western films, establishing Wayne as the number one star of western films.
"Howard Hawks is the idol of many directors. I don't think I can shoot his works. Now is not the era of big studios."
"I just don't understand. You have the qualifications to choose scripts, and there are many stars and actors who want to work with you. Directors have a creative cycle. If you don't hurry up and shoot during the prime time, you may regret it later."
"Hey, Walter, you don't know how difficult it was for us to be directors for the first time, and how many hardships we had to overcome before we got the opportunity. It's many times more difficult for directors now than when we entered the industry seven or eight years ago."
Ronald knew that he chose the script entirely based on his dreams, and it was not because of his superior strength or vision. He told Walter another reason, that he wanted to invest some time in daydreaming of low-cost movies.
"My assistant when I was filming Dirty Dancing, Emil Adolino, was actually very good. He could help me a lot on the set, arranging dance scenes. Later, he also directed many commercials and MVs. But he was more
Being shy, I never got the chance to direct a feature film.
I called him several times to vouch for his quality, but I couldn't convince the producers to hire him. When we entered the industry, if a big director recognized us, we would usually get some opportunities."
Ronald and Murch both encountered trust issues in their debut films, but as soon as Spielberg and Lucas talked, they were able to remove the obstacles and let them finish the film. But today's Hollywood is dominated by the rising star salaries.
, and the impact of high investment costs caused by the Wall Street stock market crash, more and more studios find it difficult to trust inexperienced directors. They only want to invest in directors who have created box office success.
The low-cost movies headed by Roger Corman have gradually lost the drive-in theater market on which they depended. More and more vacant land in suburban areas have been turned into high-end communities or department stores and shopping malls by real estate developers.
If Daydream's video tape distribution business can be stable, then it can gather a group of talented screenwriters, directors and other talents. If you think small, you can make money for your company, if you think big, you can bring fresh blood to Hollywood, and in the future, you will also benefit yourself.
Cultivate connections.
"That's a good idea..." Murch nodded in agreement. Hollywood is an industry that relies on human output. Giving people opportunities is always a good thing with good reputation. "Your video tape business has become a big one. I can also go to you."
Let’s give a lecture there.”
Ronald now felt that he was really doing something very meaningful. Although the original intention was to make money for himself... The investment in Hollywood is too big now and the risks are very high. Although small productions such as video tapes cannot make big money
, but fortunately, the steady flow is equivalent to finding a small base for your own business.
The early 1980s was a window of opportunity for talented young people to enter the industry and become film directors. At that time, there were many small production opportunities worth two to three million dollars. Ronald felt that he was really lucky.
Ang Lee, a Chinese whom I met in college, has never found an opportunity to enter the industry and is still a director with a blank resume. After Ronald contacted him, the two had a long phone call and talked about their experiences after their separation.
After Ang Lee graduated from New York University, he was noticed by William Morris Agency for his graduate work and signed a contract to become a director. At first, he filmed some commercials and MVs, and then revised some works as a screenwriter, but he has always been
I haven't found a suitable movie script to direct myself.
He missed the window of opportunity and wasted six years. If his wife, Dr. Lin, hadn't been studying for a PhD at university and working in biology to support the family, Ang Lee would have had to bid farewell to his Hollywood dream.
Coupled with the birth of her eldest son, Ang Lee devoted more time to her family. As a man, Ang Lee once wanted to change his career to work in a computer company, but Dr. Lin told him not to change his dream. She fell in love with the film director Ang Lee.
, not Ang Lee, a computer company salesman.
Fortunately, this time Samuel Goldwyn Jr. was very satisfied with his script work and took a fancy to an English script he had been promoting over the years. Ang Lee will soon be able to direct a real Hollywood production.
Ang Lee actually didn't like writing scripts. In order to become a director, he had to write a few English scripts and find someone to polish them.
The script that Goldwyn liked was called "Neon", which tells the story of a prostitute on the run.
This pleased Little Goldwyn, whose father liked to make such dark stories very much. He also asked Julia Roberts, the most temperamental of the three heroines in the previous modern Cinderella (Mystic Pizza), to continue her role.
Be the star of a new movie.
It is expected that after the strike is over, Ang Lee can realize his dream of directing.
Back in the editing room, Murch continued to torture Ronald about his thoughts on each shot during the filming. The two used a kind of non-verbal communication. They first took turns to watch the film on the editing machine, and then each cut where they thought they should.
Mark the places with a marker.
If the two people's marks coincide, then they can achieve an agreement. If they are inconsistent, they will have to cut twice to let the other party understand their ideas.
But when this movie was being filmed, Harrison Ford had much less room for performance than the two heroines because of the restrictions he placed on the role of Jack in the script. Many times, Murch had to ask Ronald what he was doing.
what's going on.
"Harrison may not be happy after seeing the samples. In this movie, he is just a male vase." Walter Murch watched a conversation between Catherine and Tess at Catherine's house, each with their own ulterior motives.
After the play, I said this to Ronald. Harrison Ford's performance was really far behind.
"This is his rule. I have told him a long time ago." Ronald chuckled.
"You did it on purpose, right?" Murch pushed up his glasses. When Harrison was filming "Apocalypse Now", he was very willing to cooperate with Coppola. Now that his salary is getting higher and higher, his pursuit of acting skills has become dull.
.
"Nothing... This is the prerequisite for his willingness to star, that is, his character cannot be adapted in any way, and it must conform to the image of a star from the beginning." Ronald denied quickly.
"Editors have editors' rules. Everything that happens in the editing room stays in the editing room." Murch saw that Ronald's words were insincere, and he was clearly taking advantage of Harrison Ford and his marketing skills.
"Working Girl" is, after all, a drama in which women play a central role.
"Do I want to say two rosaries?" Ronald felt like he was a penitent Catholic in the editing room, and Walter Murch was his pastor. After doing bad things, if you confess to him, you will be punished.
The movie gods forgive.
"Hi, Ronald, Walter..."
Emile Adolino, who had worked with Murch before, came over from the editing room next door and showed Ronald the Brooke Shields commercial.
This unlucky man, similar to Ang Lee, has never gotten a chance. The directorship opportunity that Ronald promised him has become elusive due to the current writers' strike.
Fortunately, Adolino's mentality was not bad, and he filmed many commercials for Ronald's Daydream, so his income was not a problem.
Just as Murch and I finished cutting a large roll of film, Ronald inserted the videotape into the machine and relaxed by watching the Sony Walkman commercial made by Brooke Shields.
"Dang, dang..." Brooke was wearing an outfit that looked very similar to the one in the Columbia Studios title sequence, which is America's symbol, the Statue of Liberty.
The white skirt, revealing one shoulder and charming long legs, danced to the fierce drumbeats. Her hands were wearing gloves with the American stars and stripes pattern, and she kept opening and closing them.
The lights on the background are flying behind her, cooperating with the dance, and coupled with the rapid jump cuts in the close-ups, the music and lights have become part of the dance, and together they convey Brooke's charming charm.
Ronald turned his head to look at Emile Adolino in surprise. Through training in commercials and music videos, he had a good control over the coordination of sound, images, lighting, etc.
Moreover, the makeup and stage design were carefully designed, and large earrings and hairstyle were used to modify Brooke's slightly wider chin. The lighting in the close-up also used the shadow of the hair to do magic to the face shape, as if Brooke was once again
Back to what he looked like when he was sixteen years old.
Ronald looked at Murch, and he also gave a two thumbs up, indicating that this paragraph was very good.
"Very good, just submit it to Sony." Ronald nodded to Emil. Because there was insufficient script reserve, there was no suitable movie for him yet. When the strike was over, he would give him a chance to make his debut.
"What, Fox gave me an editing guide today..." Walter Murch and Ronald continued editing the next day. At the beginning, Murch took a piece of paper and handed it to Ronald.
"Out of respect for the union, we require all directors to comply with the following regulations when it comes to editing..."
Ronald looked at it, and it seemed that the Writers Guild and the Producers Union were fighting for other unions, and it had spread to all the studios.
The employer and employee refused to give in to each other. The screenwriter would rather have no money to eat, but he must fight for his own power. Ronald and several celebrity friends talked on the phone, and they were unwilling to offend the screenwriter at this time.
If you gain a bad reputation among screenwriters, others will deliberately write plots that do not fit your image when writing scripts in the future, which will have an impact on your star status.
Of course, they would not come out to stand up for the screenwriters for no reason. They just followed the crowd. Under the instigation of some caring people, they donated money to the Screenwriters Guild so that they could get some minimum wages during the strike.
Another major battlefield is the various other labor unions that belong to Hollywood. All unions, including the artistic actors union, casting directors, and technical photographers, sets, and props, all unions jointly put pressure on the studios, hoping that
They allow adequate subtitle time and size in prominent locations.
"All creative staff and department directors must not appear in the title sequence for less than 1.5 seconds, and the font size must not be smaller than XX size..."
"Such a specific rule? Why did the Producers Alliance compromise so much?" Ronald saw that there were such specific rules and began to scold the Producers Alliance for compromising.
"You won't agree. If you do it this way, your opening shot will be ruined..." Murch must have come first in art. When he was editing "Apocalypse Now", the title did not appear for a long time in the opening scene.
Coppola didn't bow to these rules at that time.
Of course, Ronald knew that if the opening shot of himself desperately shooting an aerial shot, accompanied by Carly Simon's wonderful Wall Street Rhapsody, were inserted with rows of large-font subtitles, the carefully designed opening effect would be reduced by at least three points.
of two.
However, Coppola made Apocalypse Now with his own money, while 20th Century Fox took the lead in working on Working Girl. I can't have the final say like him.
Ronald and Murch quickly found the film and projected it on the screen, watching the first two minutes of footage over and over again.
"Can we place the subtitles in a position that does not affect the overall layout of the screen? Everything else meets the requirements, but make them appear on the screen at the farthest point from the focus of the eye."
He remembered the attention magic that Murch taught him. Editing is to focus the audience's attention on the position you want them to look at, so that they will not pay attention to the places outside the focus.
Murch used this trick before, so that no one could spot the gangster scenes in the movie.
"Hey, this is a solution, but it's best not to put subtitles." Murch said it was feasible. The audience would ignore the subtitles after reading it twice, but it fully complies with the regulations.
"This is a critical moment for the strike. Being too tough may cause trouble. Let's cut two versions to cope with the inspection. Then when we make the copy, we can change it to a version without subtitles." Ronald thought for a while and said.
"Okay, you are the director, I will write down specific requirements and let the lab produce two copies." Murch wrote down Ronald's request.
The movie will be released before the end of the year to meet the nomination requirements for next year's Oscars, and the summer production period will have to pass. The strike should be over by then, right?