Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1344 Sudden accident

"Is it that Jimi Stewart's performance is closer to ordinary people? The character of Mitch is also an ordinary person..."

Tom Cruise arrived at the filming set early the next day, with an expression on his face like a student who had spent the entire night writing a report and was waiting for the teacher to correct it.

"I think you're on the right track..." Ronald thought to himself, it seems that Cruise has some talent... He figured it out on his own after just a few suggestions from me.

"I don't need 24 hours. I've figured it out now. I don't want a law firm in Chicago, Los Angeles, or Washington. I want a law firm like this one in the South with a family atmosphere..." Tom Cruise used Jimmy Stewart's unique slow, slightly lilting country accent that he had just learned.

"Ah... no no no... don't learn Stewart's accent." Ronald touched his forehead and was so anxious about Tom Cruise that he broke out in a sweat. If he learned like this, he would be doomed.

"no?"

"I think you should watch Cary Grant's movies. He once said a famous saying, everyone wants to be Cary Grant, including Cary Grant who also wants to be Cary Grant... But your direction is right. The feeling of performance is very important..."

Ronald found it difficult to describe in words the state of Mitchell, the poor student he wanted to portray. Although it was also a courtroom drama, unlike the prosecutor with a strong sense of justice in "A Few Good Men", Mitchell was closer to an ordinary person. He also had greed and lust. However, in the end, his love for his wife, his intelligence to get into Harvard, and the legal knowledge he learned at Harvard saved him and allowed him to return to normal life.

There is a huge gap in people's cognition. Ronald himself is not an actor, so he can only find some benchmarks from the outside to give Tom Cruise hints, hoping that he can find that feeling himself.

"Okay, Good! Paula, Paula, can you help me find some more Cary Grant videotapes? Thank you, thank you, I feel like I'm almost finding that feeling..." Tom Cruise was like a student who had received affirmation from his teacher. He listened to the recording of the script lines that Paula had read to him with full of passion.

"The temperament of this advertisement is exactly what I want you to achieve in the sugar-coated trap." Ronald then watched the Pepsi advertising film with director of photography John Seale.

Although movie films can only convey a certain feeling to the audience through the combination of color, tone, and sound, this advertisement under the guidance of Ronald seems to have magic, and has the ability to trigger the audience's sense of touch, smell, and taste.

The image of long blond hair brushing across the face can trigger the sense of touch in the audience's life experience. In the hot summer, the heat waves on the grass carry grass seeds and dust, and the moisture in the air seems to be evaporated. The sweat is taken away by the heat as soon as it comes out, and becomes an itchy sweat stain that remains on the skin...

The whole person felt like they were craving a glass of carbonated drink. As soon as they saw the automatic beverage vending machine, it seemed that the audience immediately had a refreshing, sweet taste that went from their noses to their mouths.

The idea of ​​Cindy Crawford reaching into her ultra-short shorts pocket to take out a coin also occurred in the minds of all the audience. In such a hot summer and dry weather, without a cup of Pepsi, it is simply desperate.

Then there was the feeling of Crawford pulling the tab and gulping down the drink. That lazy movement, that ardent desire, cleverly transferred some of the most powerful human desires into the desire for a glass of Pepsi.

Of course, the scene at the end where the two little boys ignored a super beauty like Crawford and only cared about admiring the new Pepsi cans also made the audience laugh.

People's feelings are actually connected. The charm of film art is to use vision and hearing to mobilize the audience's memory, so that certain emotions in their lives can be stimulated and mobilized and integrated into the story and emotions of the protagonist.

This is one of the reasons why film art can inspire empathy among people on a large scale. As the first mass media of visual images, the change in human emotional patterns caused by film is one of the most important phenomena in the 20th century.

In addition to commercial film capitals like Hollywood, those who make films, including art films mainly from the United States, and propaganda films mainly from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, have all discovered the magic of film.

Therefore, how to recreate the audience's memory in the image becomes the most important decision that the director and director of photography need to make before shooting.

"I understand what you mean. You want a contrast. The cold colors and low-saturation buildings of New England create alienation between people caused by the commercial society. The warm colors and high-saturation characters of the southern city create a strong contrast with the warm family atmosphere to make Mitch's behavior reasonable."

John Seale is a photographer who often works with famous directors. He understood Ronald's meaning. A Harvard graduate should not give up job offers from law firms in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington to work for a small law firm with only 40 lawyers in Memphis, even if it is for a salary of $96,000 a year, a low-interest mortgage loan, and a Mercedes-Benz as a means of transportation.

In the first few minutes of the movie, the audience has no time to understand and digest Mitch's background story. They have to be convinced why a graduate of Harvard Law School would go to work in a very small law firm. This kind of direct communication in the image can make them immediately understand why an orphan would identify with such family values.

"Yes, I want the audience to feel that this is the beginning of a warm family film, like the male version of the movie Steel Magnolias. After the law firm colleague's 'diving accident' at the beginning of the second act, all the weird feelings accumulated by the audience will suddenly burst out. It turns out that the law firm investigated Mitch's background and found that he had no relatives and needed to repay a loan, etc., all in order to better control him.

"In that case, it would be better to add some low-saturation and blue-gray concrete exterior colors to the building shots in Memphis..." John Seale gave him advice.

"Very good, then we can go to scout the location together..." Ronald understood what the other party meant. That kind of family warmth mixed with some cold and dark tones, just like in a beautiful Mozart concert, adding a few bars of Rachmaninoff here and there from time to time, creating that disharmony and causing the audience to feel subconsciously uneasy.

Jonathan Demme used this trick a lot in "The Silence of the Lambs". The magnificent classical music soundtrack, coupled with disturbing pictures, the contradiction will make the audience's goose bumps stand up.

"I have to find a pianist to compose music..." Inspired by John Seale's words, Ronald thought that the film should use piano as the main soundtrack, so that the sense of uneasiness in the shots can be amplified by music. As an art of combining sound and picture, film can deepen the audience's emotions by stimulating different senses.

"Tom, I think Ronald said that because he thinks you look like Cary Grant, a heartthrob. Jimmy Stewart is handsome, but not as handsome as you." When Holly Hunter was reading the script, she heard that Cruise wanted to watch a Cary Grant movie, so she curiously asked her why.

After learning about Ronald's request, she also gave some advice.

"I don't think so. You might be a natural performer like Cary Grant. When Gary was still acting in movies, I heard people say that he was a star who broke all the rules. The audience could accept the roles that other stars couldn't play..." Robert Duvall has seen Cruise's star appeal, and he doesn't think much of Cruise's pursuit of acting skills. It's not like he is already bald and won't get any film contracts without acting skills.

"Bridget..." Holly Hunter looked at Bridget Fonda. She came from an acting family. Her grandfather Henry Fonda was a good friend of Jimmy Stewart. Could there be some family tradition?

"I don't know. I don't have much contact with my grandfather..."

"Okay, thank you everyone, please give me some time to think it over..." Tom Cruise didn't like people discussing his acting skills. He waved his hand to stop everyone from giving suggestions. It's better for him to go home and think about this kind of thing slowly.

"That's all for today. Have a nice weekend, and don't forget to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics..."

The crew is made up of top experts in the industry, and they work very efficiently, trying to keep it within working hours so that everyone has time to reunite with their families. Since Ronald started a family, he also tries to shoot in China, and does not consider the high cost at all.

"Bye..." Everyone said goodbye to Ronald and left.

"Ronald, is that right?" Tom Cruise came to talk to Ronald privately about the acting method he wanted to achieve himself.

"Relax, I have to go back to be with Diane and little Roger. We'll talk more after the weekend..." Ronald knew that Tom Cruise, like himself, was obsessed with the Oscar awards themselves, so he hoped that this desire would remain stronger and last longer.

Stars like Tom Cruise, who earn tens of millions of dollars for their films, must arouse his desire to break through themselves if they want him to take his acting to the next level. Otherwise, with his current box office appeal, he can still make a lot of money with his current performances.

"You've made Tom really embarrassed..." Paula Wagner came over and said to Ronald. She had rarely seen Cruise so anxious to make a breakthrough since he became famous for his role in Top Gun.

"Confucius once said that if a student has not thought about something over and over again and is almost about to understand it, there is no need to enlighten him..." Ronald quoted the wise man's words and dismissed Paula.

Don't let this bother me and Diane over the weekend... Ronald put the gift in his pocket, it was a custom-made Cartier diamond and platinum brooch...

"Well, Ronnie, why are you giving me jewelry again? Today is not an anniversary." Diane took out the brooch, placed it in front of her chest and compared it. She felt happy but a little confused.

"My dear Diane, because you are beautiful, pretty, take good care of me, and give me a warm home, aren't these reasons enough?"

"Oh..." Diane was immediately captured by the sweet words. She leaned on Ronald's shoulder and was kissed by him. "Say more, Ronald, say more..."

"I love you, Diane..." Ronald was at a loss for words, so he grabbed Diane's waist and carried her into the bedroom.

……

"Bud, Dan, Aunt Wang, come and watch. The opening ceremony of the Olympics is held every four years."

Ronald had just gotten up at noon the next day. Sufficient exercise and rest had restored his energy.

The family sat in front of the TV and watched the opening ceremony. A disabled athlete shot a rocket at the torch, which was very impressive.

"Oh my god, I thought he didn't cum..."

The arrow went in the wrong direction, but fortunately it curved back and fell above the torch. The torch was lit up all of a sudden, marking another grand event.

"I'm watching TV on the second floor, come up here and chat." Richard brought various reports and came to talk with Ronald about the Hollywood news of the week as usual. He didn't find him in the study, it turned out that he was watching TV upstairs.

Today is the first day of the basketball game. In this Olympics, America sent a team composed of NBA stars. This is also the first time that the Olympics has accepted professional athletes to participate.

Ronald, like millions of American male viewers, was attracted to watch the live broadcast. This team may be the most powerful basketball team in the history of the earth. The NBA All-Star Game is divided into two teams, the East and the West. This brings the most powerful stars together in one team. No wonder the media calls them the Dream Team.

"My goodness, isn't this adults bullying minors?" After a few minutes, the Angola team was beaten by the Dream Team, and these star players started to perform fast break dunks.

Ronald found it boring, so he and Richard watched the news. These days, Elizabeth Taylor has started another charity event for XX disease, this time donating to the UCLA research center.

Ronald gave a check as usual. These activities were good for his image as a good person. After Taylor learned the news, she called to express her gratitude. She was about to go to Capitol Hill in Washington to testify, trying to influence the ideas of the congressmen and ensure federal funding from the legislative level.

"Oh, am I remembering it wrong? Didn't Magic Johnson also have it? How come he's playing better now than before he retired?"

Ronald suddenly realized that the guard of the Dream Team on TV was Magic Johnson. Why was he playing again? Was he misdiagnosed?

"It's not a misdiagnosis. Other basketball players protested. This is also to show the public that it will not affect their normal lives..."

“Oh, I thought he was fake. I’ve seen those who are sick, and they all become very thin…” The supermodel and Mr Chow Chinese restaurant owner’s ex-wife Zhou Tianna both died after a few months.

The more I look at Magic Johnson, the less he looks like a patient. He looks lively and energetic.

"Ring, ring, ring..." Just as he was talking about this, the phone rang.

"Ronald, something happened to Emil..." The caller was Michel Cannold who was daydreaming.

"What happened? Was there something wrong with his documentary about the New York Ballet or his musical?" Ronald thought to himself, these two films were Emil's work for a break, with his ability, nothing should go wrong, right?
"No, something happened to Emil. He fainted while editing a documentary and preparing for a new movie. His partner took him to the hospital, and they diagnosed him... that he didn't have much time left..."

"Oh no……"

Ronald was startled and the teacup fell to the ground with a clatter.

　I'd better write a little bit and write more tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)