Chapter 85 Something went wrong during the filming of Rain Man
"If there's anything about you that's particularly like a director from the Golden Age of Hollywood, it's that you already have the final image in mind when you're shooting." Walter Murch joked to Ronald in the editing room, and then added
He said, "This also makes the editing work seem less challenging."
Ronald chuckled and understood what he meant. In the early years of Hollywood, movies were a business that competed for time, and quality was not the most important thing. Therefore, the bosses of many large studios would ask editors to edit the film shot by the director.
Recreate.
Often the director comes home from get off work on Friday night, and on Monday morning, the movie has been edited into a completely different look and is about to be released.
This has also allowed many directors with artistic pursuits to develop a skill. That is to edit in advance during shooting, so that there is not even a foot of extra film.
Many times, they don't take a panoramic main shot to explain the relationship between the background and the characters, and they don't take an extra half second of unnecessary shots. When it's time to change the editing, they call it quits, and they don't take a few extra seconds for insurance.
In this way, the studio cannot "re-create" and can only edit the film according to their original intention.
After the collapse of the big studio system, the new generation of Hollywood directors generally have the power to make complete edits of movies. At least until the first edited version is previewed, producers will not use scissors on the movie.
Therefore, most directors in the new era do not have a mental preview of what the movie will look like before shooting. They prefer to regard shooting as a part of creation, and then assemble the complete story in the editing room.
This kind of editing work is much more creative than an "old-fashioned" director like Ronald. It's no wonder that Murch prefers the challenging shooting method. For such a movie, the editor actually contributes more to the creation.
No smaller than the director.
"Well... I am a low-budget photographer, so I like to make plans in advance and then shoot according to the plan." Ronald chuckled, trying to fool him into relying on dreams.
"The next step is fine-tuning and detailed work on the soundtrack. You can still work with me here if you have confidence in me and have other work..." Walter Murch was already busy with Ronald
Lu Lu got a feel for the time arrangement and took the initiative to complete the most time-consuming and detailed adjustments on his own.
"I happen to have something to do. You taught me all my editing... If there is anything you want me to confirm, let's call."
What Ronald was talking about was a trip to Palm Springs.
Tom Cruise found him through Paula. His new film "Rain Man" has already begun filming, but two weeks after filming started, it encountered great difficulties. Tom intentionally proposed to change the director and let Ronald take over.
This "Rain Man" was also ill-fated. It was invested by two independent producers whom Ronald knew, Guber and Peterson. The one who took over the distribution contract was MGM, which did not have much distribution business.
.The production company is linked to United Artists, which has been acquired by MGM and now only has one brand left.
As you can imagine, none of these entities have the ambition to promote a big project with an Oscar winner and a popular star. The real driving force behind this project is actually the president of CAA, Michael Ovitz.
Ovitz's wishful thinking was very good. Dustin Hoffman is a client of CAA, and the market is asking for a salary of 6 million, but this price is now in jeopardy.
This is because last year, in order to repay the female director Elaine May (Elaine May) who made his debut, Dustin Hoffman and another Hollywood movie king, the big star Warren Beatty, attracted 50 million
Investment to help Elaine May return to Hollywood as director.
The two movie stars not only played the leading male roles, but also cast the female star Isabella Adjani to play the female lead. The movie was shot in Morocco, and Elaine May wrote and directed a film by two lyricists.
A movie about the Cold War espionage war called "Ishtar".
Unfortunately, just like those movie stars who have just won awards, the excessive ambition made the movie unbearable. The new movie released last year only received more than 10 million at the box office, losing all their investment, and also costing Elaine May, whom the two wanted to help.
, completely lost the opportunity to shoot big productions in Hollywood.
So it calls for another movie to rehabilitate Dustin Hoffman, and Rain Man is a great project.
On the other hand, Tom Cruise's appeal in commercial films is getting stronger and stronger, but he himself does not want to be a star, but wants to be an actor. In order to satisfy his preferences, Ovitz also inserted him into this "Rain"
"People" project, playing one of the leading roles.
Finally, the two male protagonists have both acting skills and fame, and the autism story that has never been filmed is a powerful tool to attract famous directors.
Ovitz has approached many directors to promote this project, including all the top directors in Hollywood. If they are interested, it will be a good opportunity for them to experience CAA's meticulous service spirit and powerful operations.
With his ability, he might be able to sign under CAA.
Famous directors are the scarcest resources in Hollywood. Ovitz was first spotted by Ovitz, and it was Barry Levinson who took over the project. But the big star Dustin Hoffman wanted to spend some time with autistic patients to learn from them.
behavior.
Filming was delayed for a year. Levinson dropped out of the project to shoot "Good Morning, Vietnam."
The second director to take over was Spielberg. Ovitz had been coveting this number one Hollywood director for a long time, and spent a lot of money to hire him this time. Spielberg even did a lot of preparation work and drew the
Part of the footage was released.
But as time went by, he found that Hoffman was difficult to work with, and George Lucas called him back to film the new Raiders of the Lost Ark, so he withdrew and instead recommended his good friend Sydney Pollack.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Sydney Pollack has directed Oscar-winning films such as "My Fair Lady" and "Out of Africa" and is among the top three directors in Hollywood in recent years.
After taking over the project for a period of time, he also felt that film shooting was too difficult and that Hoffman's demands were too high. In addition, the production company he founded was busy with business, so he gave up directing a few weeks before the Writers Guild went on strike.
A strike was imminent, and if there was no director to take over, the filming would be affected if the script was not submitted. In an emergency, Ovitz began to recruit Barry Levinson, who was the first to take over, to take over.
But what is very interesting is that during the several times directors changed hands during this period, Ovitz never approached Ronald, who was already a client of CAA.
It was just a few recommendations from Tom Cruise. But after Ronald proposed changing the starring role and letting Cruise play the mentally retarded one of the brothers, Ovitz stopped mentioning it.
As luck would have it, a few weeks after filming started, it once again reached a deadlock. Dustin Hoffman felt that his performance was like a Horseshxt, and refused to continue filming until he found the feeling. This made the entire crew stop.
, director Barry Levinson was embarrassed and resigned.
At this time, Tom Cruise thought of Ronald again and once again strongly recommended him to direct him. Ovitz was at his wits end and in desperation, he had to go through Niceta and ask Ronald for a vacation.
He went to Palm Springs to talk.
…
"Hi, Ronald, it's great that you're here." Tom Cruise, wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, personally picked up Ronald in the parking lot. As soon as the car stopped, he came up and opened the door, revealing
With a charming smile, he hugged Ronald tightly.
"I brought my aunt's cookies for you to try. They didn't put butter and sugar, but also put some vegetables. They were baked especially for you." Ronald handed over a pair of cookies, which Aunt Karen makes every Christmas.
And received a cake from Cruise on Thanksgiving Day in return.
"Ha, Aunt Karen remembered that I have to work out and not eat too many sweets. She was so kind to me." Cruise happily accepted it and handed it to Paula beside him. The group of people changed into two large cars and headed towards
Drive to the hot spring hotel you booked.
"Rain Man" is a big production, and Barry Levinson decided to film the scenes one by one in chronological order according to the order of the plot. This is a road movie with a simple plot, relying entirely on the true feelings between the actors to impress the audience.
In addition, the budget was sufficient, so the director decided to use this filming method that could best ensure the performance effect.
The initial plot was shot in a nursing home in Palm Springs. Charlie Babbitt, a rich man played by Tom Cruise, met his autistic brother Raymond for the first time.
But for these uncomplicated scenes, Dustin Hoffman spent two weeks without even a single usable shot. Now it's equivalent to a strike-like stoppage of filming.
"So, what's going on? Why can't Dustin continue filming?" Ronald saw that there were no outsiders in the room, only Cruise, Paula, and Niceta, who were deeply bound by their interests, so he asked
Asked the trouble directly.
"Dustin feels that he doesn't act like an autistic person. Every time after filming, it's very painful to watch the dailies the next day. If he doesn't meet his requirements, he won't continue..." Paula replied, she is very dedicated.
, he left the child at home with a nanny while he continued to accompany Cruise.
"So how does he adjust it? It's impossible to find the feeling after two weeks of shooting, right?" Ronald was also surprised, how could he not have a satisfactory shot in two weeks?
"He spent a long time studying with autistic patients in advance, but his performance in the demo film was still not very similar to that of real patients. Dustin is considering suspending filming and going back to work with more autistic patients.
Let’s live for a few more months.
"Pfft...cough..." Ronald drank the black tea and choked when he heard this paragraph. How could he play like this? If the shooting plan is stopped like this, the loss will be huge. The monetary loss is not bad, Tom
·Where can a popular star like Cruise adjust his schedule?
"Yes, Tom has already agreed with Oliver Stone to go to the Philippines to shoot a new film about the Vietnam War in the second half of the year." Paula was also very anxious. She most wanted Ronald to take over, and it would be best if Dustin
·Hoffman was in control. He had a good way of dealing with Harrison Ford before, and word spread among Hollywood agents that he managed to seduce Han Solo with delicious food.
"What do you think?" Ronald asked Tom Cruise.
"Dustin is a very dedicated director. He said that as long as he finds a shot that he can barely satisfy, he can continue shooting, but so far there is no one. I think we have to give him more patience..."
"Hmph... If you don't act like it, then go back and live and study with autistic patients..." Ronald is really not interested in an actor like him. So if he wants to play a murderer, is it still... After all, he
I just can’t act.
"What do you think? Ovitz wants to ask you to talk alone tonight..." Niceta asked next to him, what kind of charter Ronald himself was.
After all, Tom Cruise is a young actor, and he has no experience standing on the other side of the camera to see things. Ronald has been filming all the way and has long been suspicious of the acting skills of certain actors who are legendary in the industry.
The Oscars prefer certain types of roles. Dustin Hoffman's imagination is actually very average, and he can only play roles for which he has experience.
"I still say that, Tom should play the mentally retarded one of the brothers, if you want to win an award." Ronald said with a smile.
"Dustin and I often switch roles in the trailer to read lines. In fact, I think the role of Raymond is not as difficult as expected..." Tom Cruise replied.
It seems that he was a little moved and regretted that he didn't listen to himself at that time. To win the prize, you have to use all the advantages and act as a fool. In fact, you can get more recognition from your peers and the audience than acting as an ordinary person.
Actors recognized by Hollywood as having top acting skills, such as Jimmy Stewart, James Cagney, and Henry Fonda, are all powerful actors who can play very ordinary roles. But John Wayne can only play fixed characters.
The actor who plays the role is generally considered to have second-rate acting skills.
Everyone was silent and began to seriously consider this possibility for the first time. Replacing the trouble was also a solution to the trouble.
…
In the evening, Michael Ovitz flew to Palm Springs and specially invited Ronald to a dinner. He also needed to have a chat and feel out the director who was not his first choice for the Rain Man project.
"I just came back from New York, and the crew is really not easy to worry about. But this also shows that Dustin is dedicated and has high standards for himself. The movie will definitely be a masterpiece. It's just that it encountered temporary difficulties."
This style of speech was not quite right. After hearing this, Ronald understood that Ovitz still wanted to keep Dustin Hoffman's starring role. As for whether to change the director, it depends on whether Barry Levinson
Able to control the male lead.
"I am a good friend of Tom. This time I came to visit and also met the new mayor Sonny Bono. I have some small-scale films that I hope can be screened at his first Palm Springs Film Festival next year."
Since Ovitz did not invite Ronald politely, some airs were still needed.
"We need Dustin very much. His acting skills are very profound. We hope to find a way to get him back to feeling..."
Ovitz heard that the conversation was wrong and changed his tone. After all, Dustin Hoffman was one of his own, and he had to take care of his needs first.
"I am an outsider. My interest in this movie is just to see it successfully released on the screen. So I would like to ask a hypothetical question. Can we do some technical discussions?" Ronald met Ovi.
Ci didn't speak clearly, so he raised a question that no one wanted to talk about.
"Please tell me..." Ovitz looked at Ronald. This young screenwriter who he brought to meet Jane Fonda was now a big director who could not speak directly and had to worry about the other person's emotions.
"If in the golden age of Hollywood, there was such a big production, and a leading actor was still unable to get into the state, and there was no one available after a week of shooting, then the studio boss at the time, such as Samuel Goldwyn, would reasonably
What will the action be?"
Ronald's meaning is very simple. Since Dustin Hoffman can't play the role, then replace him. There are too many actors in Hollywood who can play the role. If he is cast, it will be over.
"This is a historical question, right?" Ovitz laughed.
"Of course...a discussion of the old Hollywood system." Ronald knew that Ovitz was not comfortable speaking ill of his clients.
"If it were back then, in the era of big studios, then the film would have either stopped filming or been replaced... But in Hollywood now, you also know, Ronald, that our financing and distribution depend to a large extent.
star.
If we hadn't found such a big star with a salary of 6 million as a guarantee, there would be questions about whether the entire project would be established."
Ronald frowned slightly. Isn't it enough to have Tom Cruise in this movie? Cruise, a beautiful blond boy, plays a mentally retarded person. What a gimmick. Female fans across the United States are still crying and clamoring to see it.
Their lovely Tom?
"I understand. Look at it this way, Dustin has to figure it out on his own." Ronald said that he was just giving an opinion. You can do whatever you want. Unless Cruise changes to the protagonist, he will not go here.
It's troublesome. This script looks very difficult to film at first glance. It doesn't have the structure of a three-act play. It all depends on the strength of the director and the leading actors to keep the audience interested in watching it.
"I want to take a look at the sample pictures tomorrow. Can you come with me? I know you are now an expert in coaching the acting skills of big stars. Fox and Harrison himself are full of praise for you."
There was no result from the conversation, except that he agreed to watch the samples the next day. Ronald returned to the hotel and took a bath in the hot springs as a vacation.
"Ronald...are you there?" Tom Cruise called, hoping to chat with Ronald again.
"Come on..." Ronald got dressed, and Cruise had no idea.
"I still hope you can come. Barry's level is good, but he has trouble dealing with Dustin. His temperament cannot suppress Dustin. Sometimes, I think what the crew needs is a confident person like you.
, so that Dustin can listen to his advice.”
Ronald looked at Tom Cruise without speaking for a long time. Cruise's idea is still a bit naive. Does winning the Oscar winner rely on acting? If you make a movie with an actor and a famous director, can your acting skills improve? Follow them step by step.
By following the plan, can you finally get the awards and evaluations you want?
"How much did you get paid for this movie?" Ronald asked suddenly.
"Three million, what's the matter? Paula doesn't want to tell you? In fact, she doesn't need to keep it a secret from you..." Tom Cruise smiled with white teeth. Ronald is his benefactor and the director
, there is no need to keep it a secret from him.
"Do you know how much Dustin's salary is?" Ronald made a six sign, and then continued quickly, making Tom Cruise unable to react, "Ovitz said that this movie needs to rely on Dustin
Only when the movie star's reputation is bad can he get investment and distribution... Do you believe it? I think he is Bullshxt..."
"Then why are they?" Tom Cruise was very disappointed. The value of Americans is measured by their bids. He didn't expect that his salary was half of Dustin's. There was no need for Ronald to lie to him, and
It was Ovitz who said it. There is a high probability that this number is true.
I have also heard about his previous salary prices, but Dustin's previous movie "The Streets" suffered a heavy loss, so it will be lower this time, right? He always feels that this time he brought his fame into the crew, even if it is better than Das
Ting is low, and it shouldn't be much lower.
If the script is good and he is expected to win awards, and he lowers his salary to act, then should Hoffman also lower his salary or keep it at the past six million? What does this mean?
"I'll tell you why..." Ronald took a piece of letterhead from the table, tore off a piece of paper, put it on the table, and wrote down several names with a pencil.
Michael Ovitz, Barry Levinson, Sidney Pollack, Dustin Hoffman, Guber, etc...
"No way?" Tom Cruise thought of a possibility.
"That's it. You and I are in the second tier in terms of CAA's priorities."
Ronald crumpled the letter into a ball and went to the bathroom to flush it away.
"I'm going to talk to Paula. This is wrong..." Tom Cruise walked out with a serious expression on his face. He went to Paula to talk to him. His enthusiasm was rewarded with second-class treatment? This