Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1343 Tom Cruise's acting skills upgrade
"Thank you, Professor Summers. Harvard has agreed to our filming plan, which will take twice as long as the average filming time. They have also opened up their conference room for us to film. This way, those Harvard graduates will be able to see that we are filming on location."

"It's a small matter. Your male protagonist this time is a Harvard graduate, and he is an orphan who received a scholarship and worked to complete his college education. Students with this background are the pride of Harvard. Let everyone know that as long as you are good enough, Harvard will open its doors to you."

At the beginning of "The Trap", Mitch, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has to work here while attending interviews at various law firms. If the film could be shot inside Harvard, it would be a very interesting breakthrough. Most previous films only shot Harvard buildings and then edited them to give the audience an idea.

"By the way, is this student our economics student?" Summers, who now works at the World Bank, still has deep feelings for the economics department where he used to work.

"Ha, no, it's from the law school."

"Daxmn, it's those law school guys again, can't you guys make a story about economics students?"

"Hey, that's not a sweet love story. The protagonist, Mitch, encountered a lot of bad things afterwards and almost lost his life."

"That's more like it, hahaha..."

There is still a lot of contempt among Harvard students, especially for economics and law. Both departments publish well-known professional magazines in the industry, but the law school's library and swimming pool are better than those of other departments, and are not open to other departments. Students are always arrogant...

"Professor Summers seems very happy?" Tom Cruise was sitting next to him, and next to him was Bridget Fonda who played his wife, and then there was a row of actors sitting around a long table, they were going to read the script.

"I didn't tell him all the facts. If he knew that law school students could get an annual salary of $96,000 after graduation and their wives were Bridget Fonda, he would have revoked my permission to film overnight."

"Hahaha……"

All the actors at the table were laughing so hard that they were rolling on the ground.

This movie is about lawyers. Different from the military lawyers in Tom Cruise's previous movie "A Few Good Men", civilian lawyers need to be more proficient in various legal terms and cases, and be more reasonable and logical.

Therefore, actors need to learn to understand the various legal terms that appear in the script, and the jokes that come with them. Because there are a lot of jokes made up of legal terms in the lines, for example, Ronald joked about the oaths that witnesses swore in court...

"Oh, really... I'm starting to like this project..."

The person who was speaking was actor Ed Harris. He didn't like acting in such a purely commercial film, but he couldn't resist Tom Cruise because they were friends. At his insistence, for the sake of pay and friendship, Harris also agreed to join the crew. However, the tradition of reading the script together made him feel that Ronald was a director who was very serious about drama and performance, not a casual commercial film director, which made him unexpectedly happy.

Generally speaking, script reading is not done for every commercial film. Especially for such a big production, many participating stars may not come to the reading for their few scenes, so the performance will lack emotional scale.

Ed Harris had met Ronald on the set of "The Abyss" and knew that Ronald was a good friend of Cameron. At first, he was afraid that he would be a director like Cameron who would torture the actors. Unexpectedly, during the read, the atmosphere was relaxed and they could talk frankly about each other's lines. The atmosphere was more like that of a Broadway or West End stage play director.

Especially Holly Hunter, who didn't have many roles in the play, was invited to participate in the script reading and participated very seriously, which made Harris feel that this movie might become a classic.

"Of course you should think so. Ronald's best thing is to help actors win awards..." Holly Hunter said bluntly that she came to the script because her character was very distinctive.

After chatting for a while, everyone resumed reading.

"Oh, you have to go, my husband is coming back." The lines spoken by Bridget Fonda are a little fun between husband and wife.

"Let him die. Come and see, Pagoda Chinese Food has General Tso's Chicken, Shredded Pork with Fish Flavor, and Shredded Spicy Potatoes, and a bottle of corked wine..." Tom Cruise read out the takeaway menu, all of which were typical Chinese food.

"What's the good news?"

"Do you remember that job in Memphis?"

"Stop, stop..."

Ronald found something wrong and encouraged everyone to interrupt and raise any questions they had. The main purpose was to observe the actors' understanding of the script and whether there were any improvisations. However, this was the first time he interrupted the reading.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me?" Tom Cruise showed a confused expression. This time working with Ronald was completely different from the last time, and his requirements for performance were much higher.

"Hmm..." Ronald did feel that there were big problems with Tom's lines, but he hadn't fully figured out the root of the problem, so he changed the reason.

"No, there's something wrong with the script. Who would buy General Tso's chicken and hot and sour potato shreds to celebrate with their wife? Haven't these people ever had good Chinese food?"

"Eh?" Female stars are very concerned about their figure, they don't eat much Chinese food, so they can't say much. And the male stars don't know much about Chinese food, so they all stared at Ronald, hoping that he would give them some reason.

"These dishes are very common. Mitch got an annual salary that is 20% higher than other students, so of course he had to buy something good to celebrate. So, let's change it to Mushu pork, Sichuan beef, and roast duck, bought from Wang's Restaurant..."

Ronald immediately listed several dishes he often ate. Seeing that everyone was still looking at him in confusion, he smiled and said, "I'll have someone order some. You can try them at noon to see how they taste..."

……

“Mmm… it’s delicious…”

Several male stars enjoyed the meal very much, and the female actors tried a few bites without fear of gaining weight. These dishes are not the common Chinese food, but are suitable for white people's taste, distinctive and not greasy.

"This is the good stuff. The Chinese food we ate before was just... "

Several Jews had memories of eating Chinese food, but Wang Ji was the chef invited from Hong Kong after all, and every vegetable was cooked very deliciously without any residue. Everyone agreed that Ronald was the gourmet master of Chinese food.

"Is there something wrong with my performance?" After finishing his takeaway, Tom Cruise found a time when no one was around to discuss it privately with Ronald.

"It's not a big problem, but could you lower your performance energy a bit?" Ronald told the truth when he saw that Tom Cruise was still as devoted to his acting as he was back then.

"Why?" Cruise raised his eyebrows. This statement surprised him. Whether it is method or non-method, they all focus on mobilizing emotions. If you can't mobilize your own emotions, how can you move your co-stars and the audience?
"Which movies are you satisfied with your performance in?" Ronald did not answer, but instead asked a question.

“The Color of Money, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, and A Few Good Men are all good in my opinion, although I haven’t seen the finished film yet.”

Ronald was convinced that it was just as he had expected. The movies that Tom Cruise was satisfied with were those that he worked with big directors and had heavyweight male stars co-star with.

Although Born on the Fourth of July is mainly a one-man show, it is not a commercial film in the usual sense, and the protagonist does not have the happy ending that commercial film audiences like to watch.

"Any questions?" When Tom Cruise saw Ronald specifically mention these movies, he wondered if the secret of why he didn't get an Oscar nomination was in Ronald's mind?

"In fact, in these movies, you didn't play the leading male role in the absolute sense. There are actually subtle and subtle differences between the performance of the protagonist and the supporting role. And it's impossible for you to play a supporting role anymore..."

"This..." Tom Cruise felt that what Ronald said was exactly his biggest weakness. But he couldn't express what he felt, and he just needed a master's guidance.

"Have you seen Jimi Stewart's "Man and Woman"? His acting is different from John Wayne's. Many people think that Jimi Stewart is one of the top five male actors in Hollywood, but many people also think that he doesn't have much acting skills... You can find some of his movies to watch.

The role of an ordinary person is the most difficult to play. Although not everyone can achieve the status of a Harvard Law School graduate, Mitch has to work to earn money to support his living expenses and meet a bad boss after graduation, which is something that every moviegoer in America will encounter. You have to improve in this aspect..."

Ronald expressed his observation that Tom Cruise has a deliberate tendency to perform, and he doesn't know whether it was instilled in him by a famous director or a habit formed from his own acting experience. Now this movie is not a comic-style high-concept movie like Top Gun, which requires more delicate and layered acting skills.

"What should I do?" Tom Cruise felt that the problem Ronald pointed out was not a solution to achieve a goal for a movie, but a guiding opinion for his entire acting career.

He himself has discovered some problems, but due to his current status, the people around him and the director are not willing to speak out so bluntly.

"Watch some of Stewart's movies, especially those key moments of emotional transformation. His acting is different from that of ordinary people. Think more about it, experiment more, and when you shoot, you will be able to find the feeling..."

Tom Cruise, who felt that he might have a breakthrough in his acting career, excitedly called Paula and asked her to get him all the movies of Jimmy Stewart...

"John, I really like the saturation and tone of the films you shot, such as Witness, Rain Man, and God's Favored Children..."

Ronald turned around and talked about professional matters with the cinematographer John Seale, who he hoped to work with. John Seale was a versatile photographer in Hollywood, and Ronald just needed the kind of photography tone and temperament that a typical drama film needed, so he simply invited the cinematographers of several films he admired to talk.

The two hit it off immediately and talked about the photography of many movies and felt that they had the same feelings. So John Seale became the director of photography for "The Trap".

"Which one do you like better?" John Seale wanted to watch the three movies he liked with Ronald, slowly find the parts Ronald liked, and then try to understand the effect he wanted to achieve.

"I think it's somewhere between Rain Man and The Witness, Harvard's New England-style low-key and yuppie style, and The Witness's more conservative and close relationships among people in the Southern society..."

What Ronald wanted was to show the contrast between Harvard and Memphis, between prosperity and calmness, progress and conservatism, order and lawlessness, by using different photography styles.

"I think I understand some of your meaning. We should still watch those movies you like again."

"Very good. I'll find time to borrow the copy. This afternoon? Not today. I have other things to do. There's a commercial that wants me to direct... If you want to come too, that's fine. How about you take the camera for me? Hahaha..."

……

Daydream set up the scene, a Pepsi vending machine under a billboard on a hot summer day. John Seale immediately understood the effect Ronald wanted, and after giving the photographer some pointers, he immediately gained the respect and recognition of the photography team.

In the grass and dust blown by fill light and fans, Cindy Crawford, wearing a small white vest on her upper body and a pair of ultra-short jeans underneath, got out of a red Ferrari.

Her hair was deliberately messy, as if the beauty had just taken a nap and walked into the vending machine lazily.

In the close-up, the thin hair shines in the sun, as if you can feel the tingling sensation of the golden hair brushing against your face on a hot afternoon. It seems that you can also smell the mixed smell of grass stems and dust in your nose...

"Cut!"

……

"Just as I thought, these denim shorts are really tight..." In the evening, Ronald finished the shooting, and Cindy Crawford came to his room again, deliberately put on the clothes, and hugged Ronald tightly.

The bottom of the denim shorts was very tight, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get in. Ronald just changed direction, and the small vest was pulled out, and a strong perfume mixed with a little hormone entered Ronald's nose.

"Are you only going to shoot for this afternoon?" Cindy Crawford took a shower to wash off the sweat after exercise. The feeling of relaxation after repeated aerobic exercise and anaerobic sprints made her very happy physically and mentally.

"I will only shoot this part. Let others shoot the scenes of the two children, and then we can edit them together when the time comes." Ronald hugged Cindy Crawford, and the fresh smell after bathing was another style.

"I know you want to see me..." Cindy Crawford laughed, "I heard that those two boys are still parents. Will they be disappointed?"

"Of course, even if they are children, as long as they are not blind, they can't ignore your charm... But, those two children are too pitiful, they can't see a supermodel like you..."

"Hahaha..." Cindy Crawford laughed. I'll give them two autographed photos as gifts when the time comes...

The most important thing now is to take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the short-term pleasure. A top model like me is more suitable for a man like Ronald, unlike some stars who are just for show.

(End of this chapter)