Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1350 Everyone Loves Tom Cruise

"Action!"

What appeared in the camera was a pair of black high-heeled shoes with gold inlays, which felt very cheap. The owner of the shoes had stockings on her legs and a cheap brown dress on top. She was dancing and twisting her hips to the music.

"Cut!"

"Holly, that's wonderful..."

Seeing that the director of photography was satisfied, Ronald smiled and congratulated the owner of the tacky outfit, actress Holly Hunter.

Because of Ronald's way of handling the details of the actors' performances on the set, Holly Hunter was very happy to meet such an actor-friendly director. The previous film shot in New Zealand required a lot of inner emotions in the performance, which was very torturous for the actors. This time in Ronald's project, playing the role of the smoking secretary was a special rest and comfort.

"Not bad, is it?" Holly Hunter, wearing a Marilyn Monroe-style blonde wig, put down her cigarette and asked Ronald in a Southern accent that was required for the role in the movie.

"That's not bad, I have no complaints about the actors, you could have used a body double..."

Ronald personally handed her a cup of coffee. The male protagonist Mitch felt something was wrong and asked a private detective to investigate the lawyers in the law firm who had accidents to see if there was any hidden secret. Holly Hunter played the secretary of the private detective.

This secretary named Tammy will have a relatively important role with the protagonists later. Her cheap, low-imitation Monroe image forms a huge contrast with her daring to take risks and strong action later on, which is very impressive. This is the effect Ronald deliberately wanted to create.

Just as Ronald told Tom Cruise, such a supporting role requires very exposed and explosive acting skills, because you only appear on the screen for a short time, and if you want the audience to remember you, you have to act like this.

"Oh, that's not a problem. I think showing off sexiness is a natural impulse of human beings. It's the scene that humans like to watch the most. As a visual art, how can a movie be without such scenes?"

Holly Hunter didn't care about this kind of thing. She just wanted to play an interesting role. So she didn't sign any stand-in clauses with the crew like other stars. Anyway, she decided to do it herself for these few provocative shots.

"Okay, let's move the camera and take a medium shot later..." Ronald clapped his hands twice, and the filming entered a very harmonious fast lane. The excellent crew had done a good job in preparation, allowing the actors to perform happily.

Tom Cruise seemed to have suddenly come to his senses. He used to express overly strong emotions in his performances, such as his eyes full of fighting spirit, or his cadenced tone, as if he wanted to twist the shoulders of the actress he was filming opposite to him and shake her violently...

All these disappeared during the filming of "Sugar Coated Trap". The soothing and normal performance not only made the sample film look very good, but also made the supporting actresses, such as Bridget Fonda and Holly Hunter, perform exceptionally well.

Bridget is an actress who debuted not long ago, and Holly Hunter is an acting star spotted by many directors who value acting skills, but when facing Tom Cruise, both of them had a natural feeling. Both of them acted without any trace of acting, and they praised Cruise's performance, saying that his reaction made them feel very comfortable, which was quite a strange thing.

After rearranging the scene, Ronald started filming again.

"Have you ever tried putting this thing in a mug but forgot to add water?" Holly Hunter's secretary asked Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise, behind her, still following the beat of the music while posing and holding a Thermowell and pouring water into the mug, while taking a puff of a cigarette with her other hand.

"No..." Tom Cruise showed an impatient look. His character had been waiting outside the private detective's office for a long time. This secretary was not in tune with the truth and he was not sure what weird things he was doing.

"Do you know what happened?" Secretary Tammy asked a question that she thought was very interesting.

"I don't know..." Mitch had begun to doubt whether it was a wise choice to meet his cellmate, the so-called private investigator, based on the recommendation of his brother who was serving a sentence in prison. The secretary seemed a little mentally retarded...

But Tom Cruise did not show such emotion outwardly. He just had an anxious look on his face and frowned slightly. Most people would not have any conflicts with unreliable secretaries when they encounter them.

"Eddie (the private detective's name) has been waiting for you ever since he received the call about your coming..." Holly Hunter continued to twist her hips slowly and vigorously. The posture of showing off cheap sexiness while saying nothing was really unforgettable.

Her grasp of this kind of performance can be said to be just right. If you are not a veteran fan of her, when you see this low-imitation Monroe on the screen, you will definitely not remember that this is another role played by Holly Hunter, such as the sexy and slightly neurotic policewoman in Raising Arizona.

"Ring... Tammy!"

Gary Busey, who played Eddie in the inner room, called out to his secretary with a voice as hard and loud as a hammer hitting a chopping board, which came out from the inner room.

"Mr. Romac can see you now..." Holly Hunter said slowly, still twisting her hips and waiting for the water in the mug to boil.

"Cut!"

It's really strange, because acting opposite Tom Cruise, it seems like all the supporting actors perform at a higher level than normal.

Could it be that the few times he had given Tom Cruise such a powerful effect? ​​Ronald was not a very narcissistic person, but he couldn't help but feel a little complacent.

"Okay, let's take a break and rearrange the lights. Let's take close-ups and close-ups of Tom..."

The posture of Holly Hunter and Tom Cruise in this conversation is rather strange. There is no over-the-shoulder camera angle like in Hollywood.

Secretary Tammy was facing away from Mitch, using a hot water heater to make conversation while boiling water. Mitch was leaning against the wall, not looking at Tammy, passively dealing with the boring conversation. He was thinking about what he should say to Detective Eddie when he saw him...

Because the two people are not talking face to face, there is no room for Hollywood-style over-the-shoulder shots. If you insist on shooting like this, you have to modify the script and the background of the characters. And when the two people are talking, it is easy to cause off-axis, which makes the audience look a little confused. Where are the two people relative to each other?
Such dialogue scenes have always been a test of the director's camera skills and his ability to design editing in advance.

Fortunately, Ronald is a fan of Kurosawa Akira. After meeting the old man several times, he has collected all the copies of his movies. When he is free, he watches early black-and-white films such as Seven Samurai and Stray Dog, and later color films such as Kagemusha and Ran at home.

Japanese films represented by Akira Kurosawa do not have the Hollywood standard of quick over-the-shoulder shots. They and old Chinese films have very unique ways of dealing with character dialogues. Eastern filmmakers often use close-ups and close-ups to express dialogue scenes.

So, Ronald copied it decisively in this place.

The camera took a close-up shot of Tom Cruise's face, and Holly Hunter was on the side of the camera, talking to Cruise and assisting him in his entry and performance.

The previous conversation happened again, but this time the camera was facing Tom Cruise, capturing his face.

"Cut!"

Ronald shook his head and laughed. This time, Holly Hunter didn't have a camera filming her, and her performance was even better than last time. Especially the feeling of being able to enjoy herself in any situation, and her performance was very natural.

So, everyone says Tom is a good actor, and the reason is that he solved the case. It's because everyone looks at his invincible handsome face, and they are in a good mood, so they just let it go.

……

One day later, Ronald woke up in the morning and saw the developed sample film. In that conversation, Tom Cruise's close-up lasted for dozens of seconds.

With a moderate chin, chic eyebrows, deep eye sockets, and a mouth that brightens people's mood at a glance, she is indeed a female killer on the screen.

"How is it, is there some progress..."

Ronald looked at Paula Wagner beside him. Ever since she became the general manager of CW Productions, she has paid close attention to Tom Cruise's performance on screen. It doesn't matter if Tom's acting is not particularly outstanding, the important thing is that the close-up must be beautiful...

"Ronald, I don't know how to thank you..."

Paula let out a long sigh. Improving acting skills is very important to Tom Cruise's screen status. It's not about how many awards he can win, but such improvement in acting skills can broaden his acting range.

Moreover, Ronald, like a Zen master, enlightened Cruise with a word, and also filmed him very beautifully. The angles he found were very precise, showing the advantages of his eyes, ears, chin, etc., while avoiding the flawed nose.

"Just remember to ask Shirley Lansing to keep her promise and get me the script."

"Don't worry, if she doesn't help you with this, you won't get Tom..."

Tom Cruise's close-ups from the front and side are very sculptural, and the good angles conceal some of the weaknesses on his nose.

Which woman would not forgive such a man?

Denzel Washington said he wanted to talk to Ronald, and Ronald told him that helping the disadvantaged is helping yourself. All disadvantaged groups support each other.

As for whether or not we can gain equal status, that depends on the strength of the alliances and the upper echelons.

……

Two weeks of filming passed quickly, and Ronald returned to Los Angeles with many of the main creators for vacation. One of the benefits of being a famous director is that you can get this privilege.

An excellent team and a group of actors with superb acting skills make the creative process free from many low-level mistakes, so directors and actors can also spend the weekend reuniting with their families.

Ronald also enjoyed some family time with Diane and little Roger, relaxing his tense nerves.

But he is a busy man after all, and Jonathan Demme still came to him in the evening to talk about "The Philadelphia Story".

"Denzel Washington is the most suitable candidate for the defense lawyer. Can you meet him?"

"Why, you can't persuade him?" Ronald was a little surprised. For such a big production, it's not bad for you, an Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor. We quote according to the market price.

"He said it's not about the money, it's about the black people..."

……

"Black people are oppressed in Hollywood, there is no doubt about that..." Sure enough, when Denzel Washington arrived, the first thing he talked about was the equal rights of black people in Hollywood.

His argument is similar to Eddie Murphy's, there are relatively few roles for black people, and many of them are insignificant supporting roles under the Hollywood ethnic quota system. Even if the boss of the protagonist is a black person, they still tend to be arranged as roles that are inferior to the protagonist in terms of intelligence and charm.

Of course, his position is not as radical as Eddie Murphy's. He would boycott the Oscars unless they gave awards to black people every year. He just hoped that Ronald could use his influence to influence black films in Hollywood.

Ronald also wants Denzel Washington to be responsible for attracting the controversy that "Philadelphia Story" may cause. It is not just a question of a role. Denzel, who has some status, is indeed the most suitable candidate as Demme said, but he considers not acting but business and avoiding controversy.

So he made his position clear: "You know, I have always treated black actors fairly. My Breakdance was one of the first mainstream films to promote black dance and music, and there were no perfunctory roles for black people in every movie..."

“Yes, that’s why I want to meet you and have a chat. We black people need to have our own stars in Hollywood, not those gags…”

"Well, interesting..." Ronald heard it, it seems that Denzel Washington doesn't like the actors headed by Eddie Murphy. Their performances, to some extent, are just to make themselves look ugly, turning many black stereotypes into comedy plots, and then trying to make white audiences laugh on the screen.

Of course, sometimes, this kind of irony can also promote mutual understanding between blacks and whites. It is not necessarily a negative effect.

"Actually, I think there aren't too few black stars in Hollywood..."

"Huh?" Denzel Washington frowned.

"It's just that the quality is not good enough..."

"Oh?"

Ronald listed all the black stars in Hollywood history. The first black person to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel, who played the maid in Gone with the Wind. Her action of breaking racial discrimination was very precious in that era of racial segregation.

But the first person to break the racial barrier was Sidney Poitier, the first black actor in Hollywood history, who played a black man in love with a white woman in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner".

Many of his fans are white, and he may have surpassed the symbol of the black race and received widespread praise.

Ronald is talking about this kind of high-quality big star who can break racial prejudice and stereotypes. The characters they play are all widely respected black people, and one of them can be better than ten black comedians.

"Is that so?" Denzel Washington showed a black-like cunning look on his face.

"Of course, we will promote you as a star on the same level as the male lead in The Philadelphia Story." Ronald understood that all the black people were fake, and what he wanted was his own star status.

However, this is also a good thing. With the help of this substitution, people feel that it is a court showdown between Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. There is no harm in this. When the inevitable controversy arises after the movie is released, he can also help block half of the ammunition. He cannot just take advantage without paying a price.

"I believe you, but supporting black people in Hollywood requires action..."

"How can I help you...I mean the advancement of black people in Hollywood?"

"Can you add some black characters to the movies you direct? We really need some non-Eddie Murphy-like stars..."

"Well, in the movie I'm directing right now, there's a character who seduces Tom Cruise on the beach..."

"I will send the most beautiful black girl..." Denzel Washington was happy. Could Eddie Murphy still come up with such an opportunity? This was Tom Cruise, the American handsome guy that everyone loved. The best Eddie Murphy could do was to find a heroine for himself.

"Come for an audition..." Ronald smiled. He was just giving him a fair chance to compete.

　I drank some wine last night, so I wrote it a little off topic. I have corrected it.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)