Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 373 Final cut right

"'The Godfather' is only two hours and 55 minutes, and 'The Urchin' is only one hour and 55 minutes. I don't think there is any problem. If you cut it further, the classic scenes in Hinton's novels will inevitably be cut. .

Those viewers are going to be disappointed, how am I going to meet the middle school kids who write me letters?I promised to watch the premiere of the movie with them. "

Francis Coppola is agitated in his office at CAA's Nisita, constantly using gestures to reinforce his expression.

Nisita sat aside, nodding in agreement with Coppola's complaint.He watched Coppola finish the espresso in his glass, take a bottle of pomace grappa from the cabinet, and pour a glass into the empty coffee cup.

"Drink some real coffee, Francis." Nicita poured Coppola, also of Italian descent, a glass of Italian-style spirits.In this way, adding grappa to the finished espresso glass is also an authentic Italian way of drinking.

"Rick," Ronald pushed the door in from the outside, "Oh, Mr. Coppola is here, hello."

Ronald nodded to them, "I didn't know Francis was with you, I'll come back later."

"No, Ronald, you come, you come."

Coppola called Ronald in, "Listen too, the current producer has no courage. There is no longer a producer who can support artists like the former Paramount's Albert Rudy people..."

"What happened?" Ronald sat down and asked Nisita.He came to meet Nisita today.The first cut of Paramount's "Lightning Dance" has been completed, and Don Simpson invited him and Nisita to see the first cut version.

"Warner Bros. insisted on cutting 'Urchin' to 10 minutes," Nisita replied.

"But this is a drama, right? If it's cut short, will the audience feel incoherent?" Ronald looked at Coppola and asked.

"That's an artist's instinct, Ronald, and you're right. I made this film because a group of junior high school students in Fresno, California, voted on who would be the best to adapt the novel. I Defeated George and got an overwhelming vote.

A joint letter from more than 100 of their children asked me to direct "The Urchin of the World", and I read Hinton's novel "The Urchin of the World", and this movie came into being.

Now that my film is finished, and Warner Bros. is going to cut it into nine 10 minutes, how sad must the students be?Many classic scenes in the novel are not in the final version of the movie, I obviously filmed it..."

"This is a low-concept drama with no stars. Mr. Coppola, just like your 'Godfather', the plot is the root of the audience's satisfaction. Why cut it short?"

Ronald was a little surprised that Warner Bros. would edit Coppola's films. Who gave them the confidence that someone would do better than Coppola?

"I think this movie is like a teenage version of The Godfather. The main character is the youngest of three brothers. Mazi's big brother is hot-tempered and impulsive like Sonny in The Godfather, while Johnny is gentler, like Fredo. Mazi and Johnny go into exile after killing a member of a rival gang, which is about the same as Michael Corleone.

If any of the key plots in the finished film are deleted, audiences who have never read the novel will feel that the plot is fragmented and incomprehensible. "

Ronald complained very much for Coppola.One of America's greatest directors, coupled with the performances of many talented young actors, made this film, and it is really uncomfortable to be cut short at will.

"You have to be careful, Ronald. Those studio executives, after 'Heaven's Gate', have become more and more cunning, and have more and more control over the director's creative work. You will gradually encounter these things later on. Yes. Watch out for their little tricks."

Another glass of grappa, and Coppola got up to say goodbye.

"Why, even Coppola, the director who filmed 'The Godfather', doesn't have the right to final cut?" Ronald asked Nisita after Coppola left.

"The right to final cut is a very complicated contract. Specifically, Mr. Coppola has the right to cut the film, but Warner Bros. has the right to decide the length of the final film. They set the total length of the film as Nine and 10 minutes, so Francis also had to do major surgery on the plot."

"Why? Isn't the length of this movie all scheduled in advance?"

"It's not the Supreme Court's decision. Now all the studios are adopting a conservative strategy. The length of nine 10 minutes can be arranged in the prime time after get off work, so as to ensure the number of screenings of the movie. .

Moreover, the current economy is not booming, and the annual unemployment rate exceeds 8%. Warner Bros. does not want to take the risk of cutting a feature film and raising the minimum ticket price. "

"Is this ruling going to have such a big impact on Hollywood?" Ronald felt that everyone in the film industry he met recently was discussing this issue.

"Everyone is complaining, and they are all looking for familiar congressmen to try to ban this matter through legislative channels. At least let the Dongying people install anti-piracy technology on the video recorders, otherwise we will all have to go back to filming TV dramas."

"By the way, Mr. Coppola came to you? Can you CAA help him restore the length of the movie?"

"That's impossible. In the contract, Warner Bros. has the right to decide the total duration, and we can't help it. He came to pick up new movies, you know, his 'Diorama' company..."

Ronald nodded to express his understanding. Coppola's company's financial situation is still very troublesome, and he is waiting for the two consecutive filmings of "Urchin" and "Betta Fish" to save his life.

"Let's go to Paramount. Don Simpson invited you to go this time. He is going to upgrade your title of associate producer and sign the title of co-producer." Nisita said.

Don Simpson was very satisfied with Ronald's help with the filming in Pittsburgh. This time he took the initiative to invite them to watch the sample, and said that he would upgrade Ronald to the producer level.This co-producer (Co-Producer) is generally only available to those who have made significant contributions to the shooting.

"By the way, when will your comet night start shooting? If you need help, I can help you except that the agent cannot participate in the film investment."

"Thank you, Rick, I'm waiting for the new CEO of New World to take office now, and I'll talk about the production in two days. My movie may be New World's first after Roger Coleman sold the company. Producer."

"Hahaha, Roger is a lucky man. Now Hollywood calls him Lucky Roger. He sold the company at a good price before the verdict came out."

The two went to Paramount's viewing room. The edited sample was still a working copy, and it had not been finalized.So what Ronald saw was the working copy used for editing, with tape covering each editing port, so that each shot had to be stuck when switching during the screening.

I am not a professional director or editor. When I see this kind of editing, I will always play, so this trial screening is only open to insiders.

Only when the producer finally confirms the copy, will the negatives be edited in the order of editing, and then a version of the copy will be printed out with the negatives, which is called a response copy.This copy has no tape to cause the cut, and it can be shown to the audience for a trial screening.

If the audience has any feedback, they can also disassemble the working copy and re-cut it, and then publish a response copy.Generally, the test screening and re-cutting of a large studio can be repeated for two to three rounds until it is released.

"Why is the clip at the clip so short? I can't even notice it if I don't pay attention."

Although the internal test screening of "Lightning Dance" is a working copy, the clipping gap is very short. Ronald estimates that it is only about five or six frames, which is shorter than the [-]-frame clipping tape on the normal working copy. A lot, and the fleeting pause is not much different from the response copy.

Director Adrian Lane replied, "We used a new type of editing tape, which has a small range of application, but the effect of the application is similar to that of the original 3M tape, but it is a bit expensive, and a roll costs twenty dollars.

But now the working copy can be shown to the audience for trial screening, which is much cheaper than the cost of reprinting.So I bought a batch after seeing it at a friend. "

"Oh, what brand is this tape called?"

"N-vis-O, if you want, I'll ask the assistant to give you the phone, they are all handmade, just call them in advance to order."

At the end of Paramount's opening credits, the morning in Pittsburgh appeared on the screen, and the busy urban scene was well rendered. The theme song "What's This Feeling" written and sung by Irene Cara is very suitable for Alex to ride to work in Pittsburgh in the morning the course of struggle.

Ronald stopped talking and concentrated on watching the movie.

The movie was two hours and three ten minutes long, and Ronald enjoyed it very much.Alex, a welding worker, is self-reliant and has experienced a tortuous love triangle with her boss Nick and his ex-wife.And the story of good friend Sunny who gave up on herself because her boyfriend left and her skating career failed.Finally, he was admitted to the ballet school in Pittsburgh, his dream came true, and finally reunited with his boyfriend Nick.

The most powerful thing about Adrian Ryan is not the plot, but the scenes of seduction.Jennifer Beals started watching TV at home, wearing a T-shirt with a cut neckline and revealing shoulders, very sexy.

And in the restaurant, in front of her boyfriend Nick's ex-wife, she took off her jacket and wore only a backless dress, and she ran stockings along Nick's legs and said "I'm going to take your brain... out " line, angered his ex-wife away.

Ronald only felt that a memory was awakened, and he couldn't help crossing his legs, making the pants less uncomfortable.

Coupled with the seductive dance in the bar, Ronald felt that this movie does not need a plot, but only keeps these seductive scenes, which can also attract word of mouth from many audiences.

The most wonderful thing is the dance shot of Alex, wearing leg warmers the whole time, and there are several close-up shots. Isn’t this a free placement advertisement?
Ronald felt elated.

"How about it? Did you see your signature at the end? Co-producer." Don Simpson, a thick-faced producer with a thick face, came over and said with his arms around Ronald's shoulders.

"Don, why didn't I see Marlene Jahan's name?" Ronald was a little serious. He read all the subtitles, but he didn't find Jahan who was acting as a dance stand-in for Jennifer Beals.

Even the break-dancing master "Crazy Legs" who danced the floor dance for the protagonist Jennifer Beers has signed it.On the contrary, Jahan, who performed most of the moves, did not.

"Did you find out? This is Mr. Eisner's request. He thinks that Bills will become popular because of this movie. In order not to let the audience's image of this beautiful-faced and successful actress collapse, we decided not to sign it. No publicity, no press releases, Bills has dance doubles."

"This? Then you have to make up for Marlene Jahan, right? Besides, this movie is not all about dancing and sexy scenes, Alex and his boss Nick's love story, Alex's own dance career struggles, and supporting roles. The love story is also very touching. I don't think the audience will think that Jennifer Beals is not good."

"This way," Don Simpson pulled Ronald aside, "Mr. Eisner meant to cut the movie down to nine 10 minutes, and cut all those plots out, leaving only the simplest plot framework, It does not affect the audience's understanding. Those sexy dances must be preserved."

"Oh, poor Adrian. Is this going to be a high-concept movie edit? A hottie, a welder by day, and a goofy dancer by night, isn't it?"

"Hahaha, you are very smart. Mr. Eisner will summon Adrian Ryan soon. You know, the Supreme Court's decision is about to come out, and we are very disadvantaged. Everything must be done first."

"Oh no..." director Adrian Lane let out a scream as he got the bad news from Jerry Bruckheimer that Eisner insisted on cutting the film short.

(End of this chapter)