Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 597 Unspoken rules of stars

  The crew quickly built a changing room scene with a public bathroom using wood in the Miramar base, which originally had no public bathroom. There are two halls, large and small, connected by a false door in the middle.

The    big one is the scene of the lounge at the door of the bathroom. This is where the pilots change their clothes and organize their appearance in front of the full-length mirror.

  The smaller one is narrower and longer, with metal locker boxes on both sides and long wooden stools in the middle.

   One side of the two halls is decorated like the real thing, and the other side is open with nothing for the camera crew to set up huge lenses and lighting equipment. The base staff who visited behind the cordon were wondering why the bathroom was only half.

  Today's first scene is the first verbal confrontation between the two top pilots, Lone Ranger and Iceman.

   Instructor "Joker" is experienced in dogfights and ends the fight in five minutes, humiliating "Hollywood" and his radar officer "Wolfman" on the radio.

   But the Joker also suffered two defeats today. Iceman defeated the instructor "Joker" according to the tactics in the flight manual.

  "Lone Ranger" used a dangerous but effective strategy. When being followed by the clown, he suddenly pulled up, slowed down and landed behind the clown's plane, locking the clown with a missile.

  Hollywood and Werewolf lie on the bench in the middle and laugh at themselves, here Iceman and Radar Officer Slider come over and inadvertently reveal that they beat the Instructor Joker.

  The werewolf pointed to the Lone Ranger and the Silly Goose on the other side, "They won too."

   "No, this is not the news we got, they fouled and ran below the required height." Iceman scornfully denied his score to the Lone Ranger.

   "The height is specified, it's like farting", the Lone Ranger said a foul language, "If you win, you will win, we locked the clown."

   "Cut!"

   "Kimer, you didn't go to the specified point and came out of the camera." Ronald called out to Fang Kimmer. This was the third time he made a mistake today.

   "My question, sorry, I'm not used to entering the camera from this side."

  Fon Kilmer chewed gum, but still held his chin up, explaining to Ronald.

   "Let's rest for a quarter of an hour."

  Ronald saw that everyone was a little tired at the scene. Fang Kilmer's "mistake" was not an unintentional mistake. He had to pause first and then find a way.

   "Director, the better half of Kilmer's face is on the left side. He is used to playing on the right side. You let him enter the shot from the left side of the frame, which is not very conducive to his performance..."

   Seeing everyone disperse to rest, Val Kilmer's manager walked quickly to Ronald and said something Kimmer was inconvenient to say.

   "You don't need to say more, I know it."

  Things are very simple, this is the unspoken rule of star filming.

  Fong Kilmer wanted a little more close-up to take care of his more handsome half of his face. But Tom Cruise, whose salary is higher than him and whose coffee status is also higher than him, has a better-looking half of his face on the same side.

   Of course, Ronald took care of Tom's interests first. Knowing that Fang Kilmer, who was not good-looking in the mirror, played small tricks and made various small situations, he just didn't want to photograph half of his uglier half of his face.

"Kimer is tired. The beer party ended late last night with everyone. I will go and cheer him up, as long as you give him some convenience..." The manager gave Ronald a hint, as long as he can take care of him Fang Kimmer's needs, at least the two people's appearance time and the camera are equal, Kimmer can fully cooperate.

"Ronald, I don't need to say more, Tom has always been very cooperative with your workplace. Not to mention your personal relationship, he is still the first card of the crew, and his name appears on the subtitles after the title. His shots are better looking, which makes perfect sense."

   Paula Wagner also came over and talked about their personal relationship.

   "I know it."

   It is impossible to say who is right or who is wrong. The key problem facing Ronald now is to make the two stars cooperate and continue to shoot.

  Fang Kilmer is very slick, so it is impossible for the producer to treat him with all kinds of unexpected reasons to slack off. Failed to make his mind, looking at today, don't think about any progress.

   On Tom Cruise's side, he has always been dedicated to his work, and it is impossible for Ronald to let him give up the protagonist position and give a supporting role better treatment. Moreover, even if he made such a request, with Cruise's status now, I am afraid it will be his turn to "make a mistake".

   "At times like this, I miss Don very much," Bruckheimer said beside him. Don Simpson was hot and outspoken. With him on the set at such a time, he must have scolded Fang Kimer in the face.

   "Yeah", Ronald knew that Bruckheimer wanted to play a "good cop", and it would be inappropriate to appear on his own. After all, the director's position still needs to cooperate with the actors.

   At such a time, there is one less "bad cop".

   "How about, let me try?" Bruckheimer scratched his scalp, ready to go on himself.

   "I still have a way, try again." Ronald stopped him, pretending not to be like it, but it didn't work.

  …

   "You set up the camera here", Ronald took out the storyboard he had drawn, and started to cross out the position of the camera that was originally arranged on the side of the stool. Then, on the opposite side of the Iceman's locker box, a cross was redrawn.

   "This way, you take a close-up shot of his face and get him to look back from the locker box, and your camera just captures the better half of his face."

   "And we do the same with the Lone Ranger?" Kimball took the pencil and edited it on the next frame of the storyboard.

   "Yes, to show dialogue, you don't have to shoot the main shot to explain the spatial relationship between the two."

  Ronald deleted the standard Hollywood method of "one main and two over the shoulder shots" on the screen, and then painted several consecutive close-up pictures.

   "As long as we make sure that the close-up shots of the two of them keep the axis of their eyes in order, and the audience can feel the logical relationship between the two of them, there should be no difficulty."

   "It's really yours, how did you come up with it? I've only heard one old photographer say this method, and it was used in Hollywood in the golden age."

   "This is not to shoot the main shot, to prevent the studio boss from editing the story indiscriminately, the anti-interference shooting method invented by the directors of the year, Walter Murch taught me."

  Ronald smiled. In the golden age of Hollywood, studios pursued speed rather than artistic standards. They often used irrelevant people to edit the director's negatives. It was not uncommon for the finished film to be completely different from the original intention.

  Some directors at that time invented this method of not taking the main shot and only taking close-up dialogues. Without the main shot, the audience cannot see the logical relationship between the characters in the dialogue, and the editing must be cut strictly according to the director's design, and there is no room for re-creation to change the ending of the tragedy into a happy reunion.

"That's why I didn't use live radio at that time, and I changed the lines during the later dubbing." Kimball is knowledgeable, "I didn't expect that you could use it to prevent celebrities from stealing the scene. Your method may become popular in the future. Not sure."

   "Action!"

   With the new shot ready, Ronald called start.

   "You two are really cowboys!"

  The Iceman, played by Fang Kilmer, turned around and scolded the pair after hearing the swear words from the Lone Ranger.

  Ronald looked from behind the camera, Fang Kimer's better half of his face looked handsome towards the camera, while the other half looked a bit fierce, like a badass.

   No wonder he cares so much about his own face mirror.

   "Cut!"

  "Print this one", Ronald asked Val Kilmer to move on to the next one.

   "What's wrong with you, Kazansky?" Tom Cruise said off-camera to Kilmer.

"That's because you're everyone's problem, Lone Ranger, you make everyone else feel insecure." Val Kilmer looked at the camera alone, his chin raised, chewing gum while speaking, very domineering, and then his teeth were It snapped in the air and made a clicking sound, like a big cat trying to eat people.

   "Cut!"

   This line is full of gunpowder flavor, and Fang Kilmer has a bit of a pun. It is not only the Iceman's complaint about the Lone Ranger, but also Fang Kilmer's complaint about Tom Cruise.

The good thing about   's use of close-ups to express the dialogue is that this Iceman's annoying face will definitely resonate with the audience. As long as the Lone Ranger can respond, the audience will definitely applaud.

The bad thing about    is that Iceman played very well. He looked at Tom Cruise, which was a big challenge for Tom.

  Tom stared at Fang Kilmer, frowning slightly, like a falcon, staring at its prey.

   "Isn't there going to be a big conflict?" Ronald had a bad feeling in his heart.

  The actors are very sensitive to the camera. The performance of Val Kilmer just now is impressive, and Tom Cruise will not feel it. He must have a design to overpower Fang Kilmer.

   "Ronald, I want to use an over-the-shoulder shot, you can make me look less in the shot..." Cruise stroked Ronald's chin height as he rested and waited for relighting.

"Are you sure?" Ronald knew that this was a close-up, and if the shoulder shot was used, Cruise's face, and the back of Val Kilmer's shoulders would be in the shot, and his height gap would be revealed. .

   "I need him to be in the camera." Tom Cruise's eyes were firm.

   "You see?" Ronald asked DP Kimball.

   "It doesn't matter, I can take a little overhead shot. There is a lack of reference in the close-up shots, and the audience will feel that their height difference is very small." Kimball's various tips emerge one after another.

   "Thank you, Kimball" Cruise thanked the director of photography and gave Paula a look.

   "You're ready to talk to me," Ronald nodded to Tom Cruise.

   "Action!"

  The camera passes behind Val Kilmer's shoulders, framing the good-looking half of Tom Cruise's face.

   The shot is slightly downward, so that the two seem to be only about an inch apart in height.

   "What's wrong with you? Kazansky?" Tom Cruise gritted his teeth.

   "I don't like you, you make everyone feel insecure," Val Kilmer repeated the conversation.

"That's right," Tom Cruise improvised, patted Fang Kilmer's shoulder, as if to help him flick the dust, and gave a sinister smile, "I...very...dangerous! "As if another big cat was teasing its prey.

   "Cut!"

  Tom Cruise's lines also have a double meaning. If you want to steal the scene, you have to prepare for the competition. The next step is not just the competition in acting. I am very "dangerous".

  Ronald was very satisfied with this rivalry scene. The two were at each other's throats. In the camera, they were like two high school students vying for a beautiful girl, and like two little roosters patrolling their hens.

   "Okay, okay", Ronald said to the two stars who were still kicking each other after calling a stop. We have to clear the scene and shoot the shirtless scene later, so you go to rest first.

   "Humph!" Fang Kilmer turned and entered the dressing room.

   "I invite everyone to the bar for a drink in the evening, and I shipped craft beer from Los Angeles." Tom Cruise extended an invitation to everyone.

   "Yeah!" All the supporting characters cheered.

   "Now to clear the scene, please leave the filming site for irrelevant personnel."

In the large hall where the scene was set, the assistant director called three times in a row, and many female technicians from the crew, female officers and soldiers from the lively Miramar base, and the barmaid, etc., all turned their heads three times at a time. , reluctantly and slowly left the locker room venue.

   "Isn't there a legend of Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer taking a bath? Why hasn't it come out yet?"

   "Director, clear."

   "Hmm." Ronald stood up slowly, "The camera crew is ready."

  The follower was also a woman. She happily picked up the tape measure, walked to the row of benches in the dressing room, and put a cross mark on it with tape. She happily waited for the protagonists to come out of the dressing room.

   "Action!"

  In addition to photography, recording and lighting, only Ronald and the heroine McGillis, who specially watched the men's "mass bathing" performance.

   "Lone Ranger, you are flying well today, until you are shot down by me, never, never leave your wingman." The Joker player came in and gave Tom Cruise a lesson.

  Lone Ranger played by Tom Cruise was very angry with himself. In order to shoot down the instructor "Viper", he left the wingman pilot "Hollywood" and radar operator "Wolfman" without permission, and was finally shot down by the ambush instructor "Joker".

  The camera was pushed out on the fixed track, drew an arc, and captured the panorama.

  After the camera reached the end point, Ronald silently pointed to the door leading to the bathroom, and Val Kilmer walked out from inside, wearing only a towel around his waist.

  Fang Kilmer has a sturdy upper body naked, his muscles are exploding and good-looking, and a dog tag with the pilot's name registered on his chest is swaying on his chest muscles.

   "Lone Ranger, it's not your flying skills, it's your attitude. The enemy is dangerous, and your attitude makes you a wingman, even more dangerous than the enemy."

  The camera continued to turn to capture the figure of the lone ranger.

  Tom Cruise brushed his hair, with a few drops of sweat dripping from it. He was also shirtless, stepped on the stool with one foot, and the white bath towel tied around his waist was stretched to the limit.

  “Cut!”

   Ronald looked at McGillis next to him. Female audiences should like this shot.

McGillis took an ice cream and licked it, "This is what you learned in that men's magazine?" He gave him a look at his girlfriend, as if to say, you are such a Ronald, no wonder last time Not in a hurry.

   "Hey hey..." Ronald hurriedly announced that he would continue filming. This woman really could speak with her eyes.

  The shooting was completed on the same day, and the costume assistant started to use the laundry box to collect the bath towels of the actors one by one.

   "Are you going to the bar with us? Today is a good beer that I specially delivered." Tom Cruise walked up to McGillis and invited.

  This woman is the only beautiful actress on the crew now. The actors all have a male instinct and want to date McGillis.

   "Okay, let me taste it." McGillis glanced at Ronald and accepted the invitation.

   "Let's Go", Val Kilmer wins the camera, but loses to Tom Cruise on the pick-up, he goes out the door with the manager.

   "Have you noticed that either Kilmer drinks beer with the guys or Cruise drinks beer with the guys, but they never drink beer together." DP Kimball came over to report to Ronald and found out.

   Immediately, he packed up his equipment and went to the bar with the photography team.

   "It's good to maintain a moderate level of competitiveness", Ronald was very satisfied with the footage shot today, "As long as you master it well, it's fine."

   (end of this chapter)