Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 958 There has never been such an exciting western

  The group returned to Austin. There is no direct flight to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They need to transfer in Dallas to take a commercial flight. Because there are no big companies here, it is difficult for the business jet leasing business to ensure that an aircraft will be dispatched in time.

   A few hours later, in the departure hall of Dallas Airport, Paula Wagner and Nisita found a VIP lounge for Ronald, and the three of them had a little refreshment there.

   "Ronald, Tom is sorry..."

  Paula handed Ronald a cup of instant coffee. She accompanied Ronald on this trip. What she wanted to do most was to help her biggest client and maintain a relationship with Ronald.

  Actually, not only Tom Cruise, but also Paula, Nisita, Richard, and all other agents on this line of CAA regretted it.

  A big star who can get an Oscar nomination has far more appeal than an Oscar winner plus a big star. There are big stars who have won awards and box office, which will greatly improve the business of related people.

If Tom Cruise can get an Oscar nomination, then whether it is a major commercial film production or a medium-sized production with a particularly good story, he can make the project established by expressing his interest alone. Let the project fail.

   On the set of "Rain Man", Dustin Hoffman performed very smoothly after being enlightened by Ronald's unintentional words.

Of course, this has a lot to do with the fact that he has been with a group of autistic patients for a long time before, but if he wants to say what is the secret of his acting, it is that some autistic patients have a relatively low IQ compared to other people. , is relatively easy to act.

  The part of their low IQ in the eyes of ordinary people is not really low IQ, but the lack of basic skills to get along with people and socialize. Some of them are not only not stupid, but also have IQs that exceed ordinary people. There is a saying in medicine that they are called "scholar syndrome".

   "Rain Man" is such a character in the script. Although he compulsively completes the same actions every day to feel at ease, he can accurately report the number of toothpicks by looking at the toothpicks that are spilled on the table.

  Charlie, played by Tom Cruise, also took advantage of this feature of his brother Yuren, and went to the casino with him to fight everywhere, earning enough working capital for his second-hand car dealership.

"We are all bewildered, and we don't know Dustin's purpose in insisting on changing the original script's real mentally handicapped patients into autistic geniuses. Or you can see at a glance that this revised script brings the performance to the performers. advantage."

"Hey, if you have worked as a director like me and spent enough time in the editing room, you will be very sensitive to some small movements of the actors. They have real feelings for that scene, and they used their memory to perform that scene , you will have an intuition."

  The director is the only audience for the actors performing on the spot, and they watch their performances over and over again in the editing room. Over time, a kind of intuition will be formed, and one can judge at a glance how much effort an actor has used.

  Dustin Hoffman’s method of acting by imitating the prototype of a real person actually has a difficulty that is difficult to overcome. That is the real crowd with low IQ, and it is difficult for normal people to understand their thoughts.

  So if you stick to the original role setting, Hoffman will encounter the problem of not being able to accommodate the size of the performance when acting. In other words, it can be easy to overact and make the audience feel like they don't see it in life, or imagine it.

  However, for this autistic genius patient, the scale of acting is much easier to grasp. When the audience sees Rain Man's fear of social interaction and various stereotyped behaviors in his performance, it is easy to connect with those introverted people in life and magnify their behavior several times, which is Rain Man.

   And Rain Man's talent in mathematics made them feel that such a character is very cute. The script cleverly allows the protagonist to gain extra love from the audience.

  This kind of role, to be honest, is not very difficult to perform, and Tom Cruise is completely capable of it. In fact, he and Dustin Hoffman often switched roles and said each other's lines during rehearsals. After each rehearsal, he would call Paula to express his regret.

  There is a subtlety here that Paula and Cruise didn't notice, that is, Rain Man is no longer the kind of people with low IQ that is considered difficult to play. Everyone has fallen into the misunderstanding passed down from old to old, and only Ronald feels this with his intuition.

"Actually, Tom's looks are not suitable for acting. He is so handsome, and the audience prefers to see him on the screen, acting handsome like a star, rather than being an acting school like Dustin Hoffman." Rona De said something that everyone in the circle recognized.

   "It's a pity that Tom himself is very pursuing acting skills. I can't convince him, and I don't want to persuade him." Paula replied, of course she knew this. But it's a good thing that Cruise has his own pursuits. In addition, it is difficult for successful male stars of this age to persuade them to change their minds.

At this time, the radio began to broadcast the news that they had changed planes and started boarding passengers. Ronald and several agents got into business class together. After stretching his legs, Ronald picked up the blindfold and earplugs, and said to Paula, "I'm a little Tired, need to catch up on sleep on the way to Santa Fe."

   "I'll tell the stewardess," Paula showed a special smile and sat down with her husband.

  The pilot seems to be retired from the navy, and he took off very violently. But after the level flight, it was very stable. Ronald soon fell asleep. The noise from the engine is relatively weak after it reaches the business class. After passing through the sound-proof earmuffs, there is only some residual hum.

  …

"Buzzing..." There was a low background music, and Ronald saw a 2.39:1 widescreen picture, on which a team of Indians with colorful faces, holding spears, bows and arrows, was crossing across the screen.

   There were a total of seven or eight horses in the team, and some people kept running to the front with their horses, only to be overtaken by others. Such a picture only occupies more than half of the widescreen.

  Ronald smiled in his dream. This is the authentic western filming method, which integrates the characters and the vast western grassland. If the normal aspect ratio is 1.85, it is impossible for the middle ground of so many characters to leave the beautiful grassland in the background blank. Not to mention the 4:3 TV-level footage of the Lone Pigeon Town filmed by Diane. The dialogue can only be close-up, and even an over-the-shoulder shot cannot fit the two characters.

"Oh... looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolongearol It was Kevin Costner.

"Has this guy really found an investor? This scene looks real at first glance, with so many horses and so many people, it costs a lot of money to shoot." Ronald couldn't help but sigh, is it true that western movies will become popular again in the future? Is it filmed?

"No, why is the role played by Costner with the Indians?" Ronald suddenly discovered the problem. Traditional western films all have plots of fighting Indian warriors. Whites and Indians seldom fight side by side. That is to say, some Indians naturalized whites and fought against the more brutal Indian tribes.

  The screen changed, and there were women and children coming out to see off the group of soldiers going out. Ronald clearly saw a woman with a white face inside, wearing Indian women's clothes and decorations.

  The camera starts to soar into the sky, and these soldiers, after saying goodbye to their families, appear in the picture from the bottom of the camera, riding horses without saddles, and setting off.

"This shot is beautiful." Ronald sighed in his dream, "but it's also very expensive..." On the grassland, with tall and large cranes installed, and Indian warriors riding barebacked horses, these ensemble performers Training and security costs are scary.

  The deep and majestic soundtrack sounded, and the camera moved to the undulating hillside in the distance, and a gray line gradually emerged from the back of the hill.

   "What is that? It doesn't seem to be the enemy's cavalry?" Ronald carefully distinguished.

  The black and gray lines became more and more clear, and huge and fat animals gradually appeared on the horizon.

   "Rumble rumble..." The hoofbeats of these giant animals began to cover the entire picture. Ronald looked at them, they were bigger than ordinary cows, and their fur was thicker.

As soon as the camera turns, this kind of animal—American bison—runs towards the camera all over the mountains and fields. With the sound of rumbling hoofs, accompanied by bursts of smoke and dust being stepped on by them, there is a wonderful interaction between the human heart and the sound of hooves. It resonates with those Indian hunters who drive bison on horseback from outside the screen.

   "My god, there must be a thousand bison? This shot is really exciting, and it's really **** expensive. How much did it cost to shoot?"

   Costner rode a saddled horse and hunted with a shotgun. The Indians rode barebacked horses without saddles and hunted with bows and arrows. The camera seems to be following them and the herd of bison, moving forward at high speed, giving the audience a feeling of hunting behind the hunter on horseback.

   "It's amazing...I've never seen a Western like it."

   Ronald yelled excitedly, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the concerned eyes of Nisita and Paula.

   "Are you so optimistic about Lone Pigeon Town?" Nisita gave him a glass of water, and the couple also watched the live shooting of Lone Pigeon Town. I didn't expect Ronald to be so optimistic about this western miniseries. Can the big director see something that we can't see?

   "Huh? Ah... It's okay, that movie is a plagiarized Honghe, so it won't be too bad."

   Ronald prevaricated and took a sip of water to calm himself down.

  I don’t know why, but it’s especially easy to dream about movies when I’m flying. The "Dancing with Wolves" that Costner liked looks very magnificent. There has never been such a dynamic, real and immersive hunting shot in the previous westerns.

   It seems that I need to find a novel and study it carefully. If this level of footage can really be shot, it will definitely be a visual spectacle that American audiences have never seen.

  The plane landed in Santa Fe, and Ronald found strangely that he had no symptoms of blocked ears. The temperature here is warm but not hot, and the humidity in the air is low, which makes people feel refreshed.

"Drink more water." Nisita passed another bottle of water, and then gave it to his wife. "Santa Fe is a highland city. The altitude here is 7,200 feet (about 2,000 meters). Drinking more water will help prevent Altitude sickness."

   Several people checked into the hotel, and Ronald and Nisita found Gene Hackman's house here.

   "Ding Dong...", Ronald rang the doorbell.

   "Come in, the door is open, don't let me come out to invite you." Gene Hackman's familiar voice came from the room. Ronald and Nisita exchanged glances, opened the door and walked in.

   Gene Hackman hugged a black-haired beauty and sat on the sofa in the living room. When he saw Ronald, he shook his hand perfunctorily without getting up.

   It was the black-haired beauty who looked at Ronald curiously.

   "I know why you're here. I didn't want to say too much. I already have arrangements for this movie, but Bob (Robert Duvall) specifically called and said that you are a director who understands the needs of actors..."

  Hackman pointed to the sofa and told Ronald to sit down.

   "Who is this lovely lady?" Ronald didn't follow the old actor's instructions, but instead asked the beauty's name, without introducing the lady, Hackman was very rude.

   "Bessie, Bessie Arakawa", the brunette beauty introduced herself. She was the reason why Gene Hackman wanted to divorce his wife of thirty years.

   Arakawa is a classical pianist, but there is no room for further development in Hawaii. He needs to work part-time as a yoga teacher in a fitness center until he meets this Oscar winner.

   "Hello, Bessie," Ronald shook hands with her, and sat down.

   “We haven’t seen it. But my last movie, Burning Mississippi, was directed by Alan Parker, and he didn’t like you very much. He always said that you are a villain who steals other people’s ideas.” Hackman was very outspoken.

  "The fact is quite the opposite. He plagiarized the script I revised. However, the screenwriters union has already made a ruling."

  Ronald has a bottom line in his mind. It turns out that Alan Parker, the "famous" director, has returned to Hollywood to direct movies. It seems that Gene Hackman has heard a lot of bad things about himself from him.

   "Listen, Mr. Hackman. I came to Santa Fe to talk to you about the adaptation of the Hannibal Lecter novel, not to reminisce about our mutual 'friend' Allen".

   "Haha", Gene Hackman seemed satisfied with Ronald's straightforward speaking style, he smiled, "Very well, then let's talk about this adaptation of the novel."

   "Tell me, Ronald, who do you think is suitable for the heroine Clarice?"

   "This...", Ronald didn't expect to talk so deeply when he came up, "I think we can start looking for this after the first version of the script is revised."

  The character image of a novel can be the same as that of an adapted script, or it can be very different, so generally, in a script adapted from a novel, it is hard to say whether experienced readers will recognize the image of the character on the screen.

   "Comeon, the screenwriters union still doesn't know when to stop the strike. Do you want to wait until then to talk to me about casting?

   Comeon, use your intuition, the first one that jumps into your head. I have always believed that movies need to rely on intuition to move forward. "

   Gene Hackman has a big temper, and he obviously doesn't have much room to maneuver around. Ronald didn't know what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd, so he could only search in his mind while thinking about his real purpose for asking the question.

"Well, we need a weak appearance and a strong core. The appearance must be beautiful, making people doubt the professional ability of the female detective Clarice, and the heart must be tense, so that the role of subduing the serial killer in the end will be convincing. force."

   "Son, I didn't come to you for a film analysis class, use your intuition, who are you thinking of now?" Gene Hackman didn't give Ronald time to stop and think.

   "Eh...Michelle Pfeiffer?" The image of Pfeiffer popped up in Ronald's mind. She does have a weak temperament.

   "Good answer, hahaha", Gene Hackman's eyes showed a hint of appreciation, and he was also satisfied with the casting.

   "It seems that we have thought about it together." Ronald caught the change in the other party's expression and smiled.

   "It seems that my old friend Bob still has such a good vision. He is very accurate in seeing directors and knows who is the real director who can make actors realize their potential."

   Gene Hackman patted Arakawa's waist and asked her to get some whiskey for a drink together.

   Several people held poured wine glasses and drank slowly.

   "Now that the screenwriters' union strike is still going on, what are you going to do?" Hackman asked Ronald.

   "I think I can slowly find overseas screenwriters. I have some contacts with the screenwriters in Australia and Canada." Ronald relaxed, and Hackman asked these questions. It seems that he has a tendency to cooperate with himself.

   "Well..." Hackman was noncommittal, this answer...

   "With Michelle Pfeiffer, this cast configuration is very dramatic. Who do you think is better to play Hannibal?" Gene Hackman asked another candidate for the main role.

   "Hmm... Is it still based on intuition?" Ronald asked. In fact, this kind of casting can only be analyzed when there is a script. But Hackman is a bit eccentric, and he holds the copyright of the film adaptation in his hand, let's follow his train of thought.

"I want an authoritative actor with a bit of evil temperament, but also looks very smart and arrogant, um...Jack, Jack Nicholson?" Ronald thought for a while, and felt that Nicholson was more suitable. This kind of role, he and Hackman, plus Pfeffer, is a pretty good configuration.

  Hackman has acting skills, but not popular. Nicholson's acting skills and star appeal are excellent, coupled with a **** actress, as long as the cast list is announced, it must be a good publicity.

  It's Michelle Pfeiffer and herself... Forget it, it's been so long, everyone is professional, so there must be no problem. Besides, it’s not necessary to direct by yourself. If Hackman wants to direct so much, maybe he can find a way to see his director’s ability. It’s not impossible to act as a producer and start supervising on the set.

   "Hey, Jack, he's a good candidate."

  Hackman stopped smiling again, said something indifferent, and then sent Ronald and Nisita out of the house. "Let my agent keep in touch with yours." Hackman pouted at Nisita, then shook hands and said goodbye, and walked in by himself.

"Keep in touch. I really like the sequel of Dragon's Way Kid. You filmed it in Hawaii, right? I saw a lot of familiar scenes." Arakawa also shook hands with Ronald and said goodbye, "You need to know more about Gene's mind , he got the right to adapt this novel, very happy, and told me a lot of his own thoughts."

  Looking at the closed door, Ronald frowned, as if he had done something wrong. He and Nisita looked at each other, and the other shrugged, saying that he hadn't seen through Hackman's thoughts.

  The two returned to the hotel and had a local special dinner with Paula. The food here is deeply influenced by Mexico and the indigenous Indians. Red and green peppers, steamed pasta stuffed with cornmeal vegetables and meat, as well as fried pastries, served with pepper-marinated pork chops, Ronald is full Sweating profusely.

"We have eaten these dishes in Los Angeles, but it is the best experience to eat them in Santa Fe." Paula also had a great time eating. For workaholics, this is a rare holiday.

   "What did you say?" Ronald was stunned and asked Paula.

   "I said I like this dish very much."

   "No, the previous sentence"

   "Rick and I also ate at a restaurant in Los Angeles..."

   "No, the next sentence", Ronald asked again.

   "I want to eat in person, is the best experience?" Paula didn't know what Ronald wanted to ask.

   "That's the sentence, **** it, Gene Hackman is an asshole, he wants to write the screenplay, direct, and play Hannibal himself!"

   Ronald throws the masa on the plate, what Hackman really wants to ask is who will write the screenplay and who will play Hannibal. The old **** made a lot of noise and made out his true thoughts.

   "He plays Hannibal? Can he play it?" Paula wasn't sure Ronald was right. Gene Hackman's face is stupid at first glance, can he play Hannibal with high IQ?

"He can play XX" Ronald swears. People seem to think highly of themselves. Hackman's face has been stereotyped as a person who does things according to the rules. Hannibal, the high-intelligence criminal who controls the minds of those around him, he can't play.

  This is a movie, the audience wants to see close-ups of the face, and it’s not Hackman performing a play on Broadway. Anyway, I can’t see the expression clearly, only body movements and lines.

  (end of this chapter)