Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 1018 Octopus tail biting and in-camera editing

   "Cut! I didn't match the rhythm, let's do it again..."

  Ronald was still thankful that his casting had a natural advantage. Actors can usually enter the state in the first line. Unexpectedly, the next day, the shooting entered a stalemate.

  After Harry and Sally went to bed, they had different perceptions of this matter. Sally is a traditional value. She thinks that going to bed is something that happens naturally after the relationship reaches a certain level. Love and love are inseparable. Harry and her went round and round, and finally became a couple, because both parties naturally developed affection and love because of their understanding.

  Harry is the opposite. He thinks love and love are two different things and can be separated completely. Sally's smile as if she had found her home scared him, making him want to escape as soon as possible.

  The next morning, Sally woke up and found that Harry was already getting dressed, and hurriedly left Sally's house on the pretext of going home to take a shower. Both of them discovered their dislocation, and in desperation, they had to call their best friends of the same sex—Mary and Jess, who were married.

   I have had the experience of shooting phone calls before because of problems caused by out-of-sync. Ronald installed three sets in the studio.

   In the middle of the studio was a queen bed, a perfect replica of the bedroom in Jess and Mary's house. Bruno Kirby, who played Jess, and Carrie Fisher, who played Mary, lay in bed in their pajamas.

   On the left side of the studio, there is a replica of Sally's room. Lying in bed, Meg Ryan called Mary for help, desperate to figure out what was going on.

   On the right, there is a public phone. As soon as Harry left Sally's house, he called his best friend Jess. He was also very confused and needed help from his friends.

  The three scenes are actually very close to each other, but there are three cameras shooting them separately, and they appear to be three completely unrelated places in the lens.

  The recording of the three scenes is a set of equipment used. Four telephones (Mary and Jess each have a number on their respective bedside tables, which is a common telephone line arrangement in working women's homes), all of which have invited props and are really connected, giving the actors a real performance experience .

  Because the recordings of the three scenes were recorded together, this kind of shooting is actually equivalent to three groups of people recording together in the recording studio.

  Just like the song that MJ and the stars sang, their voices are all received by the radio equipment, but each can hear other people's voices, and the coordination is like a live performance.

  In the script, the phone call scene takes up three and a half pages. But there is only one long shot (actually three cameras, but synchronized in time). This made shooting very difficult.

  Because the special tacit rhythm of that kind of romantic drama is required, editing cannot be used. There is no dramatic plot, and all the details must be made to fit together like a mortise and tenon, and there is no error in 0.1 second.

  So the introduction of any editing will make this scene easier for the audience to play. For the box office and viewing experience of the movie, Ronald decided to challenge the difficulty.

   "Cut! Cut!...Kelly, it's too early for you to say this, Bruno has to say this first."

   "Sorry, my fault..."

  In this article, Carrie Fisher's lines took half a beat. Both Harry and Sally felt someone else's voice on the phone, so they asked if the other half of Mary and Jess was also answering their friend's call.

   This is when Jess will lie, it's Jane Fonda from the workout tape. Mary would lie and say it was NBC morning TV host Bryant Gumbel.

   These two sentences are all expressions of quick wit. In the early morning, Mary and Jess made up the name of a person who was likely to make a voice of the opposite **** at this time in order not to make their good friend sad.

  The audience should smile knowingly when they see this. Therefore, the words of the two cannot be overlapped. It must be a rhythm in which one person has just finished speaking and the other catches up.

   "Here we go again..."

   "Cut! Cut! Bruno, you missed it this time."

   Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal are both facing the camera alone, and their dialogue is also very convenient to solve without any difficulty. Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher are troublesome, and they can't miss the rhythm.

  Ronald spent a lot of time explaining to them the rhythm that was just about to violate the other party's speaking space, but happened not to step on it. The two actors are relatively difficult to understand, and this kind of handling of lines is rarely seen in Western dramas.

  Ronald himself can't demonstrate this kind of lines that can only be performed by two people. Kobe and Fisher just memorized Ronald's ideas by rote, so they often made mistakes.

   "Everyone take a break...", Ronald has already taken 20 shots, and none of the four actors can finish it smoothly.

  In the filming of this film, this is the first time that such difficulties have arisen. Regardless of Ronald, the four actors are also very irritable, which increases the difficulty of filming.

  Ronald had to call a stop and asked the assistants to bring hot coffee and sweets to appease the restlessness of the actors and staff who were exhausted.

  The crux of the problem is to demonstrate to several actors the effect Ronald wants to achieve. Otherwise they are groping in the dark and it will only get worse.

   "Like some duet bands, their voices will complement each other..." Ronald took out the biscuits he had collected and gave them to the leading actors.

   "It's like harmony, right?" Carrie Fisher's boyfriend, Paul Simon, is a member of Simon and Garfunkel. This band has sung many classic movie episodes...

"It's not harmony, it's mutual...how can I explain it to you?" Ronald couldn't speak, so he simply drew a picture on the paper, using short lines to represent the rhythm of the two talking, and the front and back of each short line. , and the short lines of talking to each other have a very short overlap. "

   "Understood..." Everyone nodded to express their understanding.

   "Action!" The break was over, and Ronald's Aunt's cookies were all eaten. He ordered the filming to continue.

   "Cut! Cut! There are too many overlapping parts, and the audience will not be able to hear clearly." Just after more than ten seconds of shooting, Ronald stopped again.

  Western operas, musicals, and dramas rarely have this method of handling lines (at least Ronald is not clear). The actor said that he understood, but in fact, he still had a big problem with the rhythm.

   After shooting intermittently for a day, by the time of dinner, Ronald had already taken thirty-five pieces, but the result was still not satisfactory.

  The director of photography beside    had already proposed it, and it was simply resolved in the editing room. But it was rejected by Ronald.

  This is already the third act of the movie. After this scene, Harry and Sally have inevitably discovered that they are not in tune with each other. They have no room for compromise, and the plot has entered a fast lane with no fork in the road.

   Either the two of them broke up completely, and they didn't even have friends. Either accept each other and be together forever. When the audience is watching, the experience is like stepping on the accelerator to speed up. Once the scene is over, they will go to the top speed at 120 steps and go all the way to the end.

  So the rhythm of such a play is very important, allowing the audience to subconsciously accept this accelerated arrangement. If editing destroys this rhythm, the audience will fall into a state of being out of the play from the scene to the end. Ronald felt from experience that this was a key point and would not compromise.

  Back home, Ronald dug out various video tapes and records, trying to find a suitable demonstration. The filming method of this scene actually has a name, which is called in-camera editing.

   That is to say, the rhythm of talking and hanging up the phone can only be shaped by repeated comparisons before and after in the editing room.

  But Ronald is equal to scheduling the speaking speed and pause of the actors, so as to get a natural editing effect in a long shot. The performance of the actors naturally forms an editing effect. Therefore, this shooting method is also called editing without editing.

  After searching over and over for a long time, Ronald couldn't find a suitable demonstration. Just as he was dozing off with the tapes and records on his stomach, the phone rang.

   "Ronald, I didn't bother you, did I? I'm tired of reading the script in the office, can I go to your crew for an internship." It was AngLee's call. That is Ronald, he can say his request.

   "Of course, you can come tomorrow, just to be my assistant director." Ronald felt that the other party could take the initiative, which is very good, "By the way, in your Chinese art, do you have such lines of chasing each other..."

   "Yes, we often have this kind of treatment in our Peking opera." AngLee happened to be a graduate of Huagang Art School, and his classmates sometimes performed singing parts. He knew the unique performance method of this Peking opera—fish biting tail.

  …

   "You and I are married thousands of miles away, so if you have anything to do with your confidant, you just say it clearly."

   "Xiao Tianzuo put Tianmen and the two countries at war, and my mother came to Beifan with food and grass."

Early the next morning, Ronald was in the studio and played the Peking Opera video "Silang Visits His Mother" that AngLee had obtained overnight for several leading actors. The lines are in line with Ronald's requirement of stepping on each other's lines a little, but without affecting the understanding of the audience.

  Although the actors do not understand Chinese at all, their performance methods are common, and they quickly understood the rhythm and size required by Ronald.

  It's like two ornamental goldfish, chasing each other and biting each other's tail, shaking and biting, but not completely biting. It is a dynamic balance.

   "Do you want to come over for breakfast?" Fisher and Kobe finally completed their lines perfectly.

   "No, I don't really want to go", Christo also successfully completed the last line.

   "No, I feel bad..." Meg Ryan's line was also successfully completed.

  Boom...Boom...Boom...Boom...

  The four calls to hang up the phone were also very rhythmic, and Ronald smiled.

   "Oh...God..." Carrie Fisher was emotionally exhausted with Harry and Sally.

   "I..." Bruno Kirby suddenly couldn't remember his lines, he got stuck.

   "Shxt...", Ronald cursed in his heart as he looked at the shot that was about to be completed. "It's 'good thing we don't have to go through this again', idiot…"

   "Sorry, sorry, I forgot the words..." Bruno Kirby also got up from the bed and apologized to the actors.

   "It's okay, we'll come again"

  …

  Finally, when the fifty-first shot was taken, the four actors finally completed this difficult performance.

   "Huh... this print, everyone is on vacation today..." Ronald saw that everyone was exhausted and had no extra energy to shoot the rest of the shots.

   "It's really difficult to make a movie..." AngLee sighed beside him. It was his first time to come to the scene of a Hollywood commercial film, and he almost collapsed when he saw that an experienced director like Ronald could shoot fifty-one shots.

"It's just not going well. A few days ago we had a relationship..." Ronald patted him on the shoulder, "Your videotape of Shiro visiting his mother helped a lot. Why didn't you show it to me before?" Such wonderful art?"

   "Hi... This play was not allowed to be performed a few years ago. I am looking for the mainland version. I heard that they have not been allowed to perform for a long time..."

   "Oh...", Ronald probably watched some arias, and knew that this was because he missed his mother. The general broke through the defense line and ran to the enemy camp to visit his mother's story.

  …

   After resting overnight, the subsequent shooting started smoothly again.

The crew filmed a lot of Harry's scenes. At the wedding of Mary and Jess, he realized the harm he had done to Sally. He called Sally every day, apologized, gave gifts, and did everything. , the other party just didn't want to talk to him.

  The practice of leaving in the morning with an excuse after going to bed is too classic. Sally felt that she had seen through Harry and didn't want to get hurt again.

  Finally, on New Year's Eve, Mary took Sally to the New Year's party again, and everyone watched the live broadcast of the New Year's countdown in Times Square in the ballroom.

  Harry was walking alone on the street, and when he saw the reunion of everyone, a very deep feeling suddenly emerged in his heart. He rushed to the street to hail a taxi, but no one would stop.

  Finally, Harry couldn't bear the feeling of not being able to be with Sally, so he rushed to the place where the New Year's party was held.

   "When I think of no one kissing me in the New Year, I can't stand it anymore, so I'll go back first."

  Sally has a terrible date and she doesn't want to be here until New Years when everyone is kissing and hugging. It was Harry here last year, kissing her like a friend, like a consolation prize.

   "Come on, Sally, please stay. It's only ten minutes until the new year. If there is no one, I'll kiss you." Jess played by Bruno Kirby felt that Sally was very sad.

  Mary stopped her husband, she knew that if Sally stayed and looked at the couple, she would be even more sad.

   "Cut!" Ronald really recovered the high efficiency of shooting. This made AngLee feel that his skills are amazing, and he will never be able to catch up.

   "The last scene, how are you preparing?" Ronald asked Billy Crystal.

  The other party made an OK gesture, which he had been planning for a long time.

   "Action!"

  Harry ran to the door of the hall, just in time to see Sally who was about to leave.

   "I love you, Sally."

   "How do you plan to reply to you?" Sally didn't want to talk to him.

   "You love me too, how about it?"

   "Harry, this won't work. You can't just show up in front of me like this and tell you you love me to make me forget everything."

   Meg Ryan's eyes were foggy, and her voice began to tremble. The audience will definitely fall in love with this kind of Sally. She is sincere in her feelings, unwilling to let things go, and expects that the other party will also be sincere to herself.

   "Then what do you want to do?", Billy Crystal also played very well, a man finally able to face his inner feelings. He has been in love with this girl, but he didn't know it...

   "I don't know, but it's definitely not the case...", Sally turned to leave, she didn't want to cry in front of Harry.

   "How about this?" Harry was anxious, and grabbed Sally.

   "Nine...eight...seven...six..." The people around started counting down.

"I love how you can catch a cold when it's seventy-one degrees outside, I love how it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich, I love the wrinkles on your nose when you think I'm an idiot, I love being with you I can still smell your perfume after a day, I love that you are the last person I talk to before I go to sleep..."

   Billy Crystal's lines are urgent and fast, very enjoyable.

   Meg Ryan's reaction was also great. Sally was surprised by Harry's confession. I didn't expect Harry to remember a series of details of the two getting along so clearly. There was mist in her eyes again.

   "I say this, not because I am lonely, nor because today is New Year's Eve, but because if a person has figured out that he will spend the rest of his life with another person, then he must hope that the rest of his life will come as soon as possible..."

   Meg Ryan has a happy smile on her face, she is enjoying such a romantic confession, isn't this the kind of confession she has been looking forward to? sweet and tender...

   Then her expression changed again, "Look, you are always like this, every time you say something like this, I can't hate you...I...I hate you..."

  Harry looked at Sally affectionately...

   "I hate you..." Sally's sentence was much softer than the previous sentence, and her eyes turned to happiness.

   "I really hate you..." A teardrop fell from Meg Ryan's face.

"I hate you…"

   Billy Crystal's expression was full of sweetness, and suddenly, the two kissed together.

  The camera began to zoom out slowly. When the New Year came, countless fireworks fell from the ceiling, and everyone in the camera was dancing happily.

  Finally, in the center of the picture is a pair of happy kissing couples, Harry and Sally.

   "Cut!"

   Ronald raised his hands and applauded loudly.

  Everyone starts clapping. Everyone felt very warm in this scene, and it was well shot.

   What's more, the main part of the film has already been shot.

   "There is a party at night, and we will care about the weather forecast next.", Ronald finally said to the two protagonists.

  The main shooting scene, and the plot of Harry and Sally spending Christmas in the heavy snow. It depends on the day to eat.

  (end of this chapter)