Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 461 Let them act in their true colors

Weintraub enlisted Chuck Norris Tang Shou Dao, Pat Johnson, as a martial arts instructor and to train actors.

Pat Johnson is slightly bald, with a mustache and hair on his exposed arms, giving him an androgen-fueled look.

After Ronald met him, he told him about the concepts of the two karate schools in his script.One is Chris's preemptive attack, leaving no prisoners, and eliminating the opponent's ability to fight back first.Another type of Miyagi-sensei does not use martial arts to bully others, but only uses it for self-defense.

Pat Johnson raved, empathizing with Ronald's philosophy, "Ronald, I had quite a few students in Hollywood, and you're the first person I've ever met in the film industry who understands the philosophy of martial arts. Listen Say you have also practiced, why don't we try our hands."

"Okay", Ronald started playing with the opponent a few times. The first two times were put on by the opponent at one time, and the third time might have let Ronald win.

Ronald saw that he was stronger than Vidal, and he was not as obsessed with his ideas as Chuck Norris. He was an enlightened martial artist, so he quickly chatted with him about the two genres of action design, how to make the audience feel the same. You can tell the difference by looking at it.

It turned out that Pat Johnson was a belt artist. He was originally a black belt in karate, and he followed Norris just to borrow his fame.

"My idea is that once the disciples of the two schools appear on the screen, the audience should be able to see the obvious difference. The students in the glasses dojo are intimidated by the coach, and they maintain an unnecessary aggressiveness in everything.

Miyagi's Goju-ryu, on the other hand, is kind to others. He can't be seen as a martial arts master at ordinary times, and only shows his edge at critical moments. "

"Then your actors, do they have a foundation in karate or other martial arts?"

"Except for coach Chris who has practiced karate and wrestled with the protagonist's opponent, Johnny, the other actors probably don't have any martial arts training."

"Well, I will carefully design the two training methods, so that they will be separated from each other when they start training, and they will not be able to see each other's training content, so that they can connect with karate with the concepts I instilled in them."

"That's a good way," Pat Johnson's idea, reminding Ronald of Coppola.During the filming of "The Urchin Outside the World", he asked several young people to deliberately prank Diane Lane, so that they could maintain a relationship similar to the characters in the movie in their lives.

"My request is to let them agree with the fighting concept of their characters in the movie script after finishing the training, so that when filming, they are equivalent to acting in their true colors, and the confrontation looks real."

"That's no problem, I need a month, five days a week, and in four weeks they'll be able to make a film."

"I have a friend, Darryl Vidal, who is also a karate coach. Let him cooperate with your teaching. Do you need anything else about action design?" Ronald likes this kind of professional-level talent. I can't beat him, this level of professionalism is reassuring.

"I think you may need some professional stuntmen. Karate is different from other martial arts. If it's boxing, any stuntman can do a couple of gestures. But karate stuntmen, if they're not professional fighters, can't perform well. They The difference from fighting in Europe and America is not small."

"Do you have a team?" Ronald trusted an opponent who could knock him down.

"I don't want to use Chuck's team, he has his own things to do. I recommend a Japanese karate master, Fumio Demura, who has a big dojo in California."

Fumura Demura is a real Dongying native, and he is a [-]th dan in karate.He was one of the first people in America to devote himself to the promotion and teaching of karate.

What's interesting is that he himself has learned the Goju style of Ryukyu and the Ito style of Japan.It happens that he knows both genres written by Ronald.

After meeting with his team, Weintraub was also full of praise.It happened that Demura and Morita Noriyuki, who played the role of Miyagi's master, were both small. By the way, he also signed a stand-in contract, letting him replace Morita to shoot those fighting scenes.

With the action team in place, Ronald began to get Weintraub to sign all the main actors and get them to Los Angeles for training as soon as possible.He himself and art director Cassidy, began scouting in Los Angeles.

"How's this apartment?" art director Cassidy asked Ronald, pointing to a location he found.

"Like the apartment that Daniel's mother had."

This apartment in Venice has three palm trees at the entrance, a dry swimming pool inside, surrounded by three-story low buildings on three sides.

Ronald found it very interesting, a bit like the apartment he lived in when he first came to Los Angeles.The swimming pool in the middle was built by the developer, but due to the high cost of maintenance, the residents are unwilling to share it equally, and some people don’t want to go out without swimming, so it is left there dry and unused.

Daniel's mother, Lucille, found a job as a secretary at a computer company and could afford an apartment with maintenance workers, but not much more expensive.

"Is there a maintenance room?"

The two found the maintenance room of the apartment, which was very small inside.Ronald felt that there was not enough framing.

"Unfortunately, we have to find another maintenance room to shoot. It would be great if there is a big room here. The shots here are very concentrated, and they will be shot in different places, which will cause confusion." Ronald said.

"I've thought about it a long time ago, come and see." The art director Cassidy took him to the back of the first floor.

"Is this the garage?" Ronald saw a large space, which was as big as two apartments, and four cars could be parked side by side.Most of the tenants of this apartment are low-income, so not many can afford a car, so the garage is not big.

"Yes, let the set surround this place on three sides and make it a maintenance room for Mr. Miyagi to work. One side of this place can be used for cameras."

"Very good, Susan, what do you think?" Ronald looked at Susan who followed.

"You all agree, let's settle it."

Then there's the venue for the Cobra Karate Gym.Ronald and art director Cassidy went to the Miracle Mile next to Museum Row in Los Angeles.

Here is the highest population density in Los Angeles, most like a commercial street in New York, with many old buildings on it.There is a shop on the street, and the current owner is going to quit the lease.

Pushing open the door, a large space appeared in front of you.Ronald measured the open space back and forth and thought it was ok.Cassidy reminded him to look outside, which happened to be the street view of the Miracle Mile.

Satisfied, Ronald asked Susan if she agreed, and after getting her approval, the selection of another location was completed.

"When will this place be decorated? Our actors are still waiting for training." Ronald asked Cassidy, the art director.

"I'm afraid it won't be soon, the negotiation with the landlord will take some time, and on top of that, their lease will not expire until two weeks later."

"That's not okay, we have to start karate training as soon as possible."

"I know there is a place." Susan followed them on location for a few days, and admired Ronald's efficient work attitude. She remembered the female star she met when she attended the party.

"This is the dance studio you said Princess Leia opened?" Ronald came to the place introduced by Susan.A large dance classroom with mirrors and handrails for practicing.

"No, it's Carrie Fisher's mother, Debbie Reynolds. She's going to open a dance studio to accept students now."

"That means it hasn't opened yet?" Ronald thought to himself, this is not bad, the rent can be cheaper.He walked around the wall, and these mirrors could be covered with a cloth so as not to interfere with training.There is also a small classroom next to it, which can be used to separate two groups of people for training.

Debbie Reynolds made her debut in musicals, and her debut film is the famous "Singin' in the Rain", where she danced sofas with the king of dancing Gene Kelly.Now she is no longer the beauty of the past, or she has never been that glamorous type.

"Hi Debbie, I've always been a fan of your movies."

"The directors are really young now. When I used to make movies, the directors were all middle-aged." Debbie Reynolds hugged Ronald and kissed him, "Thank you, dear, with this A rent, and I can start advertising for recruits."

Turns out Debbie Reynolds was still waiting for money to run a dance studio.

All the actors have also signed contracts with Weintraub, and the actors with action scenes were all summoned to Los Angeles, ready to start a month of intensive training.

Weintraub's funds began to be spent like water.All actor training time should also be paid according to the minimum wage of the trade union.There are also rents for various venues and equipment, and the cost of filming in Los Angeles is getting higher and higher.

Ronald stuffed Vidal into the training team, reporting progress to himself every day.In the time I had freed up, I began to work on other exterior scenes and the selection of interior scenes.

Action director Pat Johnson really has a knack for it.He immediately saw that Martin Cove had real skills, and he released him to serve as the coach's assistant.

The training was very strict against Cove and his disciples, including William Zebuka, and Yiganxing II.Squats and bench presses every day made these young actors miserable.

Fortunately, there is a lot of karate training content, such as kicking targets and hitting wooden boards every day, which allows teenagers to brag to their friends, so they practice very seriously, which relieves Ronald a lot.

On the other side of the training class, there are only two students and one audience.The trainees are Morita Noriyuki and Ralph Mazio.Their training content is completely different from that of the Cobra class, and they practice all kinds of flexibility and coordination.The audience is Elizabeth Sue, who took a semester off from Harvard to film. She also stays with Ralph Mazio every day to cultivate a tacit understanding.

The idea of ​​the action director Pat Johnson is that since it is a late strike, it is necessary to have more flexibility than the opponent, to avoid the opponent's fists and feet, and then attack from the opponent's weak link from the side.

So two students, one old and one young, were made to cry and howl every day when they did Lajin.However, they were not required to do too much strength training, but listened to Johnson tell the origin story and philosophy of karate.

So the three of them have a good feeling for karate.In their view, karate is a martial art with more philosophy than actual combat training.

"I think it's very interesting. When will you come and see? Both sides are training karate, but the effect is completely different. I think it is very similar to what you want to perform in your script." Vidal called Ronald again at night , to report the training progress.

"Okay, Friday is the last day of training in the first week, I'll go and see the situation."

(End of this chapter)