Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 173
Francis Coppola's Zoetrope Studio is located on Kearney Street in San Francisco's North Beach, in the famous Sentinel Building.Completed in 1907, the building was one of the first tall buildings in San Francisco.The green exterior walls are very bright.

Ronald entered the building, most of which was leased by the diorama company, and there was also a large studio.Ronald found Walter Murch on the upper floors, ready to start his apprenticeship, learning editing techniques under Merch's tutelage.

Walter Murch is working on a remix of the movie "Dragon Slayer".This is a film co-produced by Paramount and Disney. After the success of the co-produced live-action version of "Popeye", the two companies continue to jointly produce the second live-action animation story.

Merch was sitting in front of the mixing desk with several tapes on it. When he saw Ronald coming, he smiled like an old friend and motioned Ronald to wait a moment.

The so-called re-mixing is to re-record the tapes of live radio, post-dubbing, soundtrack, etc. in the mixing room, adjust the loudness of each track, eliminate the noise of live radio, and add sound to the soundtrack. The sense of presence and so on works, and finally forms the various sounds, dialogues, and soundtracks that we hear in the movie theater.

Walter Murch is one of the few masters who can not only do film editing, but also sound editing.At the 52nd Academy Awards in the first half of the year, he was nominated for Best Editing and won an Oscar for Best Sound Effects.

Obviously, after winning the award, orders for his sound editing began to pour in.This "Dragon Slayer" was also named and asked him to do it.

"I'm busy making sound effects for this fire-breathing dragon, you can wait here, and I'll come back to you later." Walter Murch said.

Ronald nodded and walked out the door by himself.Francis Coppola was not in San Francisco during this time, but was working in New York.He recruited his little brother George Lucas to guarantee their idol Dongying director Akira Kurosawa. The film "Kage Warrior" invested by Twentieth Century Fox was a big hit at the box office in Dongying, earning 23 billion yen.

People in Dongying began to recall the honor brought to them by this "movie emperor", and began to report the adoration of the American people for him.

Coppola was also invited to be interviewed, and he is optimistic about the box office of Kurosawa's historical blockbuster "Kagebusha" in America.His diorama company was also involved in a small distribution effort.Coppola wanted to use this Japanese film as a test of Diorama's entry into the film distribution market.

Soon Walter Murch came out of the mixing room and found Ronald. "You're welcome. I'm busy making sound effects for the fire-breathing dragon right now. You're here to help me sort out the original film of 'Apocalypse Now'."

It turned out that Coppola decided to put all the film of Apocalypse Now in the desert for storage.He thinks this movie is a treasure of mankind, and the humidity and temperature are very suitable in the desert.He found a cave and stored all the negatives in it, hoping that people 50 years later could see this masterpiece.

"You'll have to help me look through the stack of working footage and find out what doesn't belong to Apocalypse Now, when we discarded too much original material in the warehouse. It's mixed with the old film over the years."

Walter Mercy, speaking, took Ronald to a warehouse downstairs, which was filled with reels of film.

"This is where the films of Apocalypse Now are located. From the third column to column No.11, there is another pile in the corner, and there are a lot of Apocalypse Now in it. Your job is to use this editing table to put every Roll the film over and check it against the label.

When we edited it, we were too tight to put it all together, and now that Coppola wants to store him in the desert, we have to go through it.It just so happens that you are here..."

Taught Ronald to use a horizontal editing machine made in West Germany, and Walter Murch went back to work on "Dragon Slayer" by himself.

Ronald took out his notebook, tore off a piece of paper, folded it into two small figures, and placed it in front of the small monitor of a horizontal editing machine made in West Germany. The proportion seemed to be that two small figures were watching a movie.

Then he picked up a reel of film, unpacked the box, installed the rollers, and at the push of a button, a bright light projected the film onto the screen.

After hours of work, Ronald cleared out footage from other early Diorama films.The rest are original footage of "Apocalypse Now," many of which were not cut into the final film.

For example, Ronald is watching this passage now, and the protagonist Colonel Willard is starring another actor, not Martin Sheen in the finished film.His eyes are smaller than Martin Sheen's, and he has a tough temperament. After watching it for a long time, Ronald always felt that he did not match the overall atmosphere of the film.

"It's Harvey Carter, Coppola replaced Martin Sheen after a few weeks of filming." Walter Murch came over and asked Ronald to join him for dinner. "Do you think he made the right decision?"

"I've watched Apocalypse Now several times. It's a story where the main character leads you to explore the truth of the world. On the film, this tough Harvey Cartel may not be able to be substituted by the audience. His eyes are very small.

And Martin Sheen is very suitable. He is feminine, with big and charming eyes, so the audience can easily empathize with him. Ronald felt that Walter wanted to mention him, so he boldly expressed his point of view.

Martin Sheen is a handsome guy with a bit of a creamy temperament. In the film "Cassandra Bridge" co-produced by Mio a few years ago, he also played a creamy boy who eats soft food, and the late beauty Eva Gardner Acting opposite.Ronald was impressed.

"Your opinion is very good, that's what Francis told me at the time." Walter saw Ronald standing over the film with one hand on the stop button, knowing that he was using the opportunity of watching the film to practice editing skills, Nodding in satisfaction.

"It's good that you remember the technique I taught you. I've always been a believer in editing standing up"

"But I haven't found the feeling yet, I don't know if I really found the editing point."

Ronald remembered that Murzi said that if the rhythm and temperament of the movie were found correctly, every time the stop button was pressed, it could stop exactly at the 24th of a second.But he tried several times, but still couldn't do it.

"For this kind of character shots, I still have a trick, and I will teach you later."

The two went to the Diorama Cafe next to the entrance of the Sentinel Building together. Walter signaled to the waiter for two diorama sets, and ate with Ronald.

"How do you feel after working all morning?"

"I was writing the script for the previous period, and now I am standing in front of the editing machine. It feels like two different dimensions that need to be adjusted. But after putting the film on the editing machine, it feels like it will come right away."

"Your idea is right. In fact, a film has gone through several creative processes from the time it was conceived to when it was finally released.

The screenwriter wrote him as a script, which is the first creation.

The director breaks down the script and draws it into mirrors, which is the second creation.

The performance of the actors is the third creation.

The director of photography decides which lens to use and which images to shoot is the fourth creation.

And editing is the fifth and last chance you have to correct the mistakes of the film. "

Ronald picked up the Italian espresso and drank it down.

"So with so many creations, how should we control the quality of the movie?"

"This is a good question. Every time the main creative staff creates a different movie in their minds. Generally speaking, the director is the only one who will start from the script and follow through to the editing. He is also the only one who can fully control the role. .

The director knows more than anyone else what the final film will look like, and he's the one who makes the decisions and is artistically responsible.It's not that easy though, there are a lot of hurdles to overcome.

In fact, I have never directed a feature film.You will know when you become a director in the future. "

Ronald nodded and started talking about something light.

"I heard from Roger Coleman that you are George Lucas' college classmate?"

"Yes, we studied film courses at the University of Southern California together. At that time, Warner Bros. had an internship position. In the last round of interviews, it was only me and him." Walter Murch was aroused by Ronald's question. remember.

"We both felt we were the only contenders, so it was agreed that whoever got the job would give the other a hand.

In the end he got that position, and he met Francisco Coppola on the set, and I also applied for a job in Coppola's company, starting as a sound engineer, and then began to do film editing. "

"So George Lucas owes you one more time?"

"Haha, that's right.

"Walter, will you also be a director?"

Walter Murch also finished his coffee, "Opportunities for directors are not easy to come by. After I became an editor, there will be constant editing and sound jobs coming to you. In this way, you will be caught in one after another. design work.

I'm planning to break out of this cycle and start directing.

But my kids are still young, and my wife Angie and I are considering waiting until they are a little older before pursuing my dream of being a director. "

After lunch, the two returned to their respective places and continued to work.

Ronald felt that he was in a strange place and started a strange job, but unexpectedly he got used to it without any discomfort. Maybe he would also like to be in the editing room and watch the film he directed gradually take shape.

"Crack", Ronald pressed the stop button again, which was still a few frames behind the previous one.

Ronald paced around the warehouse, took out the thermos cup he had prepared in advance, and took a sip of black tea.Compared with coffee, he is still used to the slow refreshing effect of tea. Coffee is like a usury, refreshing you for an hour or two, and then you have to pay it back with interest.The refreshing effect of black tea does not have this disadvantage.

"Who is this person? He looks very similar to the protagonist Martin Sheen." Ronald started another practice, pressed the play button, and looked at a young man on the monitor. A younger version of Martin Sheen.

(End of this chapter)