Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   "All the props arrived in good condition, we have counted them one by one, twice..."

   "Very well, I have prepared a party for everyone at the Liz, and everyone else has already gone, so hurry up and go too."

   "When Harry Met Sally" finished filming in Chicago and the entire crew moved to New York. When the two met for the first time, after carpooling from Chicago to New York, they still had to experience a series of events including falling in love, breaking up, reuniting, introducing friends for blind dates, and finally getting together.

  Making a movie is like going to war, or a rock band on tour. After a high-intensity work, some outlets are needed. After the decline of Club 54, Ronald contacted the best club in New York, "The Ritz".

   As usual, Ronald made an appearance at the party and then went home. He doesn't like the party-crazy atmosphere and prefers to spend more time with his family after Antonia's reunion.

   "Well, your baked cookies are still so delicious". At the apartment on Fifth Avenue, Aunt Karen and Donna both came to accompany Ronald. Filming was busy, and he didn't have time to go back to Staten Island, so they came to Manhattan.

  Auntie's boyfriend prepared some delicious dishes, and little Douglas also brought red wine to join in the fun. Ronald was exhausted by the filming business, and the small pond that had been dry for a long time slowly recovered in the autumn rain.

   "Auntie, I've been making movies for so long, have you ever thought about appearing in my movie and playing a cameo role? And Donna, and Doug,...you all come if you want."

   "Huh? Can I?" Aunt Karen was surprised. Ronald didn't have such thoughts before, and they tried not to disturb his filming.

   "Yeah, ten or twenty years later, when we watch a movie, it must be very interesting to have the whole family guest-starring in it, right?"

   "But I don't know how to act...hehe...", my aunt is not very keen on acting, but the scene with the whole family in it moved her.

"No need to know, you can do a cameo without speaking lines, I will find a way to give you a close-up shot, so that there will be a few seconds of footage in the movie theater and in the video tape, as a souvenir." Ronald saw his aunt still a little Not confident, "Martin Scorsese also likes to have his parents cameo, the last time I filmed 'Moonlight', there were his parents cameo, and he had a word with the bakery salesperson played by Diane .It was very simple, and it didn't take much effort, and the shot was very good."

   "Are his parents actors? I'm afraid I can't act well."

   "I was a little nervous to get the video tape for you, but the shooting effect is very good." Ronald got up to get the video tape to show them.

   "Boston Harbor is like a big pot of sour soup..." Ronald, who got the video tape back, saw old George's campaign ads being played on TV.

  George Jr. agrees with what Ronald said, attacking the opponent is worse than shouting to the voters on his side. But Barbara prefers the obedient and good son Jeb, and the smear faction headed by Lee Evert supported by him still has the upper hand.

  The Action Committee led by Ronald and Douglas Jr., and dozens of other similar committees, donated large sums of money, and most of them were invested in advertising to discredit Dukakis.

  While the law prohibits direct attacks on other candidates, such advertisements all borrow the name of the Action Committee and speak highly technically.

  For example, the episode being played now is to edit together various scenes of environmental pollution in Boston Harbor, the largest port in Massachusetts, where Dukakis is the governor.

  “As a candidate, Dukakis said he wanted to control environmental pollution, but when he was governor, he was indifferent to the pollution of Boston Harbor, causing environmental experts to call it the largest environmental disaster in New England.

  Now voters in Massachusetts are forced to pay a high cost of up to six billion U.S. dollars to manage this port.

  Don't forget, Dukakis' campaign slogan is to bring what he did in Massachusetts to the people of the country. "

  At the same time, a "No Swimming Here" sign appeared on the TV, and then faded away, giving the audience a little shock. Dukakis said one thing and did another, and managed Boston so badly. What if he still brings this experience to the whole country?

"Is Dukakis really doing so badly? Isn't six billion dollars too exaggerated?" Although Aunt Karen likes the current commander-in-chief, this kind of advertisement portrays Dukakis too badly. The figure of one billion dollars is also beyond the scope of my aunt's comprehension.

   "How did old George come up with such a personal attack advertisement?" Donna was not too satisfied. When she was studying at MIT, Dukakis happened to be the governor. Boston Harbor does have some pollution problems, but that is caused by the municipality not having enough budget to deal with urban sewage and having to discharge it directly into the port. With Dukakis in office, Boston has passed an environmental improvement plan that will be operational within the next five years, by which time the port's water quality will return to normal.

   "And these images were edited on purpose. Swimming is not allowed around the sewage outfall in Boston Harbor, but it's not as dark as it appears on the screen..." Donna knew Boston quite well.

  Ronald and Douglas Jr. looked at each other, and they knew that George Jr. probably lost the battle for favor. His brother Jeb's faction got the right to speak.

   "What do you think, Ronald?" Aunt asked Ronald. She was a little disgusted with this kind of campaign tactics. The incumbent commander-in-chief's campaign advertisements were so stylish, that's the real gentleman.

   "At least the color has been adjusted..." Ronald put down the videotape, winked at Douglas Jr., and the two went to another room to discuss countermeasures.

   "How are your cousin and Diane doing?" Seeing that Ronald was gone, Aunt Karen pulled her daughter over and asked if he planned to get married.

   "I don't know..." Donna was a little distressed, and started this topic. After Ronald finished speaking, it was almost her turn.

   "What about you now? Have any boys asked you out?" Sure enough, Aunt Karen began to tease her daughter.

  …

   "He's the kid who can cry..." Little George on the phone was helpless. His own expressive ability is not strong, and he will make mistakes in more complicated words. Ronald said a very logical reason, but it became not so convincing in his mouth.

   Coupled with the fact that his younger brother Jeb is especially fond of his mother Barbara, his strategy of strengthening communication with Roger Ailes alliance was rejected without any surprise.

  This is not the worst, because Jeb stood up to Lee Evert's smear strategy, and Barbara also rewarded him by letting his wife Columba appear in the next family-themed commercial. Because there are many Latino immigrants in the Deep South, Columba was also allowed to speak Spanish to appear on the scene, holding his child, and saying that George Sr. was a good grandfather.

  This ad was also inspired by the family-themed ad shot by Ronald. George Jr.’s wife, Laura, didn’t get a single shot, and even lost her children to play grandchildren to set off George Sr.’s personal charm.

  Little George not only fell out of favor, but also Laura was wronged, and he was very dissatisfied with Barbara.

"But I don't care. This kind of random advertisement can't achieve the effect. What you told me in Chicago before is too reasonable. Now I just have to wait until the advertisement has no results, and my mother Barbara will change. Deliberate. I know her, she is a tough woman who only cares about the results."

   "Hey...", Ronald put down the phone and let out a long sigh. Little George, a friend, also trusts himself very much. I hope my analysis is correct.

  After the weekend, the crew came to a deli in New York to start filming. When Ronald first arrived in New York, he bought a lot of delicious meat here. Now there is a place for dine-in in the store. When Ronald asked the owner to borrow the restaurant for filming, the owner of Xide immediately said that in addition to dine-in, the restaurant will be closed for two days, and the restaurant will be rented out for free, and the food supply during the filming period will also be included. .

   Aunt Karen put on her own clothes and was put on makeup by the makeup artist. She sat in the direction facing the camera, behind the two protagonists.

   Sitting opposite her was the mother of one of the producers, Rob Reiner. Renner just came back from the "Steel Magnolia" crew for the weekend, and heard about Ronald's idea of ​​wanting a guest star from his relatives, and kept saying yes, his father Carl Renner is a famous comedian, but another entertainment industry in the family Estelle, the member's mother, rarely has the opportunity to appear on camera.

  Reiner and Ronald discussed that their mother, Estelle, would also make a guest appearance. Ronald thought that his aunt had never acted before, and it would be good to have someone familiar with her, so he arranged for Estelle and Aunt Karen to sit opposite each other and act as a pair of old friends having lunch together.

   Estelle is a jazz singer. She is not nervous when facing the audience and the camera, and is very good at communicating with the audience. With just a few words, she made Aunt Karen a friend, chatting and laughing, chatting about the trivial matters of her son's generation, and made Aunt Karen relax.

   Soon, the lighting team and the recording team were ready, and then the scene reporter and the first assistant director came to report that everything was ready. Billy Crystal also went to say hello to the two guest actors. Everything can start shooting when the heroine Meg Ryan is ready.

  But after waiting for another fifteen minutes, Meg Ryan still didn't come out. Ronald knew something was wrong, so he hurriedly went to her trailer with Rob Reiner to ask what the problem was.

   "Michelle and you are in perfect harmony...", Ronald also congratulated Rob Reiner along the way. This time, I went to shoot stills for the Steel Magnolia crew with crew photographer Michelle Singer, and the two started dating as Nora Ephron predicted.

  A pair of good friends of the opposite **** may not be suitable for being a couple, but they know very well what kind of person the other party is suitable for. Rob Reiner and Michelle were both very suitable for each other, and their relationship quickly heated up and became official boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Hahaha...", Rob Reiner looked very happy. After he fell in love, his whole body quickly improved. In the "Steel Magnolia" crew, he just played the role of Ronald before and became several actresses A bridge between actors, and director Herbert Ross. There were no particularly major problems during the shooting process.

   "You know what? I'm starting to agree with you now that this story should have a happy ending. Harry and Sally have to be together..."

   "Hey...", Ronald thought to himself, you have changed your point of view when you have a girlfriend yourself.

   "Boom..." Ronald raised his hand and knocked on the door of Meg Ryan's trailer, "Meg, I'm Ronald, can I do something?"

  The door opened, and Meg Ryan, looking very worried, asked Ronald and Rob to come in, frowning.

   "Ronald, I've thought about it for a long time, it's better not to shoot this scene?"

   "But, is this your idea?" Ronald frowned.

   This paragraph is the one that Ronald dreamed about on the plane. Sally and Harry met for the third time, and both of them had a gap in their relationship. Harry divorced his wife, and Sally's boyfriend broke up with her. Both of them had doubts about their previous views on love, and quickly became friends who talked about everything.

  In a big city like New York, with familiar and unfamiliar friends like Harry and Sally, it is possible to communicate some issues that cannot be communicated with good friends.

  The two quickly talked about the relationship between men and women, and whether women can pretend. Harry is quite conceited about his abilities, but Sally told him in the restaurant that many women will pretend to make their partners feel a sense of accomplishment, not every woman will have a real feeling, which made Harry realize his own blind spot.

  During the previous rehearsal, Meg Ryan felt that the scene was not dramatic enough, and suggested that she could pretend in public in the restaurant. This kind of action is more understandable to the audience than what can be shown in the lines.

   Ronald also thought the idea was good. Ephron changed the script and appreciated it, but when it came time to shoot, Meg Ryan began to worry again.

   "I know, I know, I just feel, I..."

   "Shall I leave for a while so you and Ronald can talk alone?" Rob Reiner offered to keep the conversation private. Actors are very sensitive animals. Only when the director shows a sense of trust that makes them feel safe, they will disclose their privacy without reservation to better complete the performance.

   "What are you worried about? Can you tell me?" Ronald said hello to Reiner. He did not participate in the rehearsal with the actors, and it is indeed not convenient here. Because Ronald felt that Meg Ryan's concerns were not related to acting skills, but to other aspects.

   "OK, OK..." Meg Ryan said why.

   It turned out that she was worried about her boyfriend Dennis Quaid. If this scene was kept, what would her boyfriend Quaid think of the previous experience of the two in bed when he saw that Ryan could pretend to be Climax so freely? How much is true? How much is installed?

   "This...", Ronald didn't expect the problem to be here. As an actor like Dennis Quaid, he hasn't made many good movies, but he has had quite a few female stars. In fact, there is nothing to worry about. If you are as capable as yourself, you don't have to worry about pretending. If you can't do it yourself, then you can't...

   Not Dennis Quaid…

   "Don't worry, Dennis will understand you. He is also an actor and knows what's going on. I know him. I'm afraid he is full of confidence in this regard, and there will be no misunderstanding."

   "Hehe...", Meg Ryan was amused, and this explanation is true. Quaid was already very attractive. Before that, Lee Thompson had a higher position in Hollywood than himself. I heard that his ex-wife also had a higher position than him at the time...

   You shouldn't worry about making the other party lose confidence because of this performance. If you are worried, you should be worried. Meg Ryan immediately "figured it out" and stopped worrying about it.

   "How did you convince her?" Rob Reiner was also curious when he saw that Ronald had explained Meg Ryan in a few words.

   "I told him that real men don't worry about women pretending, and it's useless for fake men to worry."

   "That's, real men like us..." Reiner gave Ronald a thumbs up. His communication skills are really strong, and he deserves to be a big box office director.

  …

   "Action!"

   "Um, ah, um..." Meg Ryan began to perform in a low voice.

   "What's the matter with you? Are you uncomfortable?" Billy Crystal was across the table, as if he didn't find the reason for Sally's abnormality.

   "Ah, ah, ah...", Meg Ryan's voice became louder and louder, she flicked her hair back suddenly, and threw her head back. The extremely large range of motion made her face flush with blood, and she quickly turned red.

   "Tsk...", Ronald looked amazed, this acting is a bit of the shadow of Grotowski's method. The body is the foundation of the performance. To perform a fake Climax performance, it is not enough to rely on imagination and emotional memory alone. It is necessary to make similar movements physiologically and use the body to drive the performance.

   "Ah... ah..." Meg Ryan kept patting the table, "Pa...pa..."

   Now, all the extras on the scene were awakened by the huge movement, and turned their heads to look here.

   "Yes, Yes, oh... oh...", after the last few hard slaps on the table, Meg Ryan finally whispered slowly.

   Ronald looks behind the camera, Aunt Karen and Reiner's mother Estelle, both watch Sally's performance, and the camera captures this stunned expression.

   "Hey, oh...", Meg Ryan, who had received her supernatural powers, picked up a fork and ate some salad with the blush still remaining on her face.

   "Cut!" After Ronald called to stop, there was no sound at all.

   After a long time, Meg Ryan herself let out a giggle.

   "Hahaha...", Reiner's mother Estelle was the first to react, and she also started laughing.

   Then there was Aunt Karen, who was also led to laugh.

   "Hahaha...", Ronald also laughed, this scene is really interesting.

   "Ha...", then Rob Reiner, then the director of photography, and the men on the scene, all laughed a little awkwardly.

   "What's the matter?" Ronald wondered, why didn't the man see the joke? Harry always thought that he could make his ex-wife happy because she could show Climax every time. But Sally's performance let him know that, in fact, women are very good at performing a show when there is no Climax, so as not to disappoint men.

   "Wait a minute..." Ronald understood, all the women at the scene knew this trick, and the men began to doubt whether their partners in life would also...won't their abilities be so strong?

   "This...I shouldn't have this kind of problem... right...", Ronald was also uncertain.

   “We went on to do some reaction shots of the background actors.”

   Ronald didn't have time to think about this, and asked the photographer to point the photographer at Estelle and Aunt Karen.

   "Do you want to give a line? Like our reaction on the scene just now?" Rob Reiner saw something wrong. If Aunt Karen didn't say a word according to the script, this scene lacked a concluding point.

  Billy Crystal stood up and walked in front of Aunt Karen and Estelle, "Can you say this..."

   "Oh, I'm afraid I can't..." Aunt Karen tensed up again.

   "Let me do it..." Estelle laughed again when she heard the lines that Billy Crystal gave them.

   "What did you say?" Ronald asked Crystal.

   "You will know when you come to one, and it won't work if you say it first."

   "Okay..." Ronald knew that Billy Crystal must have thought of a golden line. The PunchLine in this kind of comedy really cannot be rehearsed in advance, and the revealing words will lack power.

   "Action!"

  The camera moves closer to Aunt Karen, then turns slightly to focus on Estelle. A waiter came over to take her order.

   "I want her to order..." Estelle pointed to Meg Ryan's table.

   "Cut! Hahaha..."

   Ronald took the lead, and the audience laughed again. It turned out to be such a sentence.