Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 376 The most important thing about special effects is realism

"Boy, John, that's it. The difference between me and those Hollywood producers is that I'm only interested in making movies, not golf, tennis, sea fishing, look at my size. , it's not like playing tennis, hahaha."

  Meinahan sent an old husband and a young wife out of the office and was seeing Ronald coming out of the elevator.

   "Hi Ronald, let me introduce you, this is Bo Derek, this is her husband John, this is Ronald."

   "Bo, long time no see." Ronald greeted the **** actress and her husband 30 years older, watched them walk out of the office, and said, "Meinahan, do you have time to chat?"

   "I'm negotiating with their husband and wife to invest in a new movie directed by John and starring Bo. Guess what's the name? It's called 'Bolero', ahahahaha..."

  Ronald knew in seconds that Bo Derek played a young girl in the hit movie "Perfect", and when he went to bed with the male protagonist, he would play "Bolero" to add to the fun. This is a well-known stalk, and taking it directly as the title of a new film is considered to be her own popularity.

   "I'm looking for you, Minahan. My new film has changed the domestic distributor, and we need to re-sign an overseas distribution agreement. Change from New World to Atlantic, and other terms remain the same."

   Ronald saw that Minahan's secretary brought out a large box for him, as if he was going to go out, and quickly made his intentions.

"I agree in principle, Ronald. I've never had any doubts about your directing ability and aesthetics. I'm going to catch a plane soon. Brooke Shields is filming in the Negev desert in Israel. I have to watch it. What do you have? Talk to Yoram if you ask."

   said that, Minahan took the box handed over by the secretary and started to leave.

   "But the new contract needs your signature." Ronald tried to make Minahan wait.

   "Let Joram sign, he can imitate my signature, it doesn't matter, our brothers are a family. I won't tell you more, I have to catch a plane, Bo and John wasted a lot of my time."

  Meinahan patted Ronald on the shoulder and walked into the elevator, "Don't forget, when I get back, you can go to Cannes with me and help me choose some good movies. Goodbye!"

   "Yoram, this is my new contract. It's the same as the original one, but the publisher has changed from New World to Atlantic." Ronald had no choice but to talk to Minahan's cousin, Yoram.

"What's up, Ronald? Don't you like New World? Minahan was once an assistant to New World's boss, Mr. Roger Coleman. He's a nice guy to get along with. Why switch publishers?" Yoram More carefully, I picked up the contract and looked at it.

   "Didn't you read the paper? Coleman sold New World to three lawyers, and their new CEO had a problem with my 'Night of the Comet', so I found a distribution company that would appreciate and respect my creativity."

   Ronald thought, the two brothers are closed enough. I'm afraid it's not that the two of you don't play golf or tennis, it's that the other producers in Hollywood are ignoring these two Israeli brothers. I don't even know the news about the sale of New World and Remy being the CEO.

"Oh, okay. We're working on the sequel to the Ninja movie, and the Chuck Bronson Raptors sequel." Yoram signed the contract in Minahan's name and handed it to Rhona De, "My accountant will write you a check."

Ronald thanked Yoram. Although these two brothers are not very accepted by the mainstream of Hollywood, the efficiency of filming is indeed very high. Several films have gone from preparation to shooting very fast. Maybe it is really like what they said. People only care about movies, not those vanity names in Vanity Fair.

   One major event was settled, and Ronald began to worry about another.

Nicolas Cage, already determined not to star in "Night of the Comet", was cast alongside Sean Penn for the new film "Love's Call" before joining Aaron Parker's post-Famous Ambition as "Birdman".

   His own "Night of the Comet" schedule was pushed back by the Atlantic Ocean, but Cage was very lucky, and the two films were connected at the back, and Alan Parker was famous for his slow work and meticulous work. If I have to wait for him, I am afraid I will not be free until the second half of the year.

   Ronald and Cage's manager, Limato, discuss whether they can cross between "Night of the Comet" and "Call of Love". Was flatly rejected by Limato. From Cage's point of view, he just received a film contract from a big studio, and what he needs is to cooperate with the director's full commitment.

   Ronald also thought about looking for the actor in the dream, but in the dream his acting skills were not very good, so it was not necessary for him to act. Second, the actor has obvious Latino features.

   Ronald felt that it would be better to find a mainstream white actor, who would gain greater recognition from the audience.

   He went to Nisita's office and put forward his request, "Please find a typical American male lead who is cheap and handsome in CAA's contracted male lead, preferably with certain acting skills and has acted in theater movies."

"Oh oh, this is an impossible triangle, Ronald." Nisita looked at the basic requirements written by Ronald, "If you look smart and have acting skills, you won't be cheap. If you're cheap, if you look good, you won't have acting skills. Yes. If the acting is cheap, then it looks average."

   "I also made a request. If you see who is suitable, you can lower the requirements appropriately in terms of appearance. After all, this is a low-budget movie, and I pay attention to shooting fast. If the acting is not good, there will be problems with the progress of the shooting."

   "Okay, I'll get the word out, Ronald Lee needs a male lead."

Nisita memorized Ronald's specific requirements, then wrote a memo, called the secretary through the intercom, sent it to the conference room, and posted it on the large whiteboard on the wall, so that other agents in the company would have suitable candidates. Nisita will be notified.

"This is my role list. You can also help me to see it. If CAA's contracted actors are interested, they will give priority to selection." Ronald handed over another supporting role form, which has the role's name, introduction, and appearances. At the bottom are several copies of the script for Nisita to give to the actors to watch.

   "No problem, leave it to me." Nisita raised her hand to open the drawer and handed Ronald an envelope.

"This is a show ticket sent by singer Michael Jackson. He said thank you for the breakdance professional you introduced. He has practiced a new dance program. At the Motown Records 25th anniversary party, he will First jump."

   "March 25th", Ronald looked at the date written on the envelope, opened the envelope and shook it a bit, and two admission tickets fell out, as well as a handwritten note:

   "Dear Ronald, thank you for the inspiration, the way Crazy Legs dance is so inspiring. Hope you can come to the show, MJ."

   "Is he red now?" Ronald asked.

   "Not bad, the radio is pushing his new song. Motown has a lot of famous singers, and Diana Ross will be there too."

   Ronald left CAA and drove to Cameron and Gale's residence. The next step was to revise the script to see if there was a way to cut the budget and still produce the original effect.

  Jim was painting a model, and there was a small metal model on the table that he shaped and placed on the table.

   "This is the Terminator?" Ronald picked up the model and looked at it, two red eyes, on the metal head, looked very evil.

   "Yes, this is what I dreamed about in Italy." Cameron showed Ronald a sketch. The Terminator will have several models, some for panoramas, some for medium shots, and a hand and a head for close-ups.

"Jim, let me ask you, is there any way to make the audience feel the cataclysm without showing the comet hitting the earth?" Ronald asked Cameron as he put down the model and asked a few questions. Questions that keep thinking about.

   "In this way, if you want to express the comet hitting the earth, it is actually difficult to fully find this feeling." Cameron took a piece of paper, drew an exploding mushroom cloud, and then drew a circle around it.

   "The point of this devastating explosion making the audience feel real is to make this shock wave felt by the audience." Cameron pointed to the circle and talked eloquently.

"Some fire, smoke, and debris are not difficult to achieve, but this shock wave is difficult to simulate with model special effects. The air is quickly pushed out by the airflow, scraping buildings, human bodies, and destroying in an instant. I feel this That's what makes the explosion feel real."

   "How much does this cost?" Ronald felt tricky and couldn't simulate it cheaply, so he had to pay real money.

Cameron shrugged, "I've also experimented recently, and I just want to understand this truth. It's difficult to reproduce this shock wave with miniature models, and those miniature houses are too light to show the reinforced concrete destroyed by the shock wave. A sense of authenticity."

   "Then what do you do? I remember there was a big bang in the Terminator too."

"Only do not shoot shock waves, small explosions do not need the feeling of shock waves, the large explosion on the truck, I want to replace it with a small model, and then shoot the parts of the blasting truck, falling from the sky, so that the audience can feel the power of the explosion with editing. ." Cameron giggled.

   "But the comet hit the earth, it can't be like this, it only blows up a car, the power is too small, the audience will not believe it."

   "Otherwise, you should change the way of expression. Comets don't have to hit the earth to kill people. You can let out a death light and kill people." Cameron also felt that there was no good way.

   "Hmm..." Ronald was also thinking about this method. There was no big explosion in the dream, but after the comet came, everyone turned into red ashes the next day. Only those who hid in basements or metal-clad rooms survived.

  The money has to be used in the most critical places at a small cost. If such an explosion is not done well, the audience may have better not do it after watching the play.

   "Don't explode, use dead light. Will the audience get bored?"

   "In fact, if the explosion can't make the audience feel real, then it is better to use the dead light, at least they can accept this logic." Cameron said.

   "How should Death Light behave?" Ronald muttered to himself.

   "You might as well look at my storyboard", Cameron handed over a drawing with a few lines on it to outline lightning, and a vortex next to it, with a naked man walking out of it.

   "Lightning?"

   "Yes, there is a strong light that illuminates the background rhythmically, so that the audience will feel a very strong light change, which is also a visual experience."

   "How is this kind of lightning shot in general?" Ronald asked.

   "I haven't studied this, and it's usually the responsibility of an electrician. You can ask someone to ask."

   (end of this chapter)