Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 769 Small characters can also be brilliant
Chapter 769 Small characters can also be brilliant
Although Ronald has decided to move the indoor scenes to Toronto, Canada for filming, some scenes with indoor and outdoor handover still have to be filmed in New York.
There will be a technical difficulty if the indoor and outdoor scenes are shot separately in New York and shot in a Toronto studio, and finally synthesized on the editing table.That is indoor and outdoor light, with different color temperatures.
In this way, on different types of films, different color styles will be presented. For an outdoor lens, the balanced color temperature under natural light and the balanced color temperature under artificial lighting indoors can be clearly seen with the naked eye.
In order to make the edited shots, the audience does not feel abrupt, and the later stage has to do very complicated color correction, especially since the gap between natural light and artificial lighting is too large, it will still make the audience feel jumpy in the end, as if they are in another movie. .
This kind of feeling is a situation that any film director should try to avoid, because this kind of beating will make the audience detach from the daydream that the movie has finally woven, and the audience will have a feeling that this is a movie. Ideas will drop the movie-watching experience a few notches.
So, willing to look at the annoying old-fashioned face of the union representative, Ronald went to the bakery on the corner of 502 Henry Street in Brooklyn, which was rented in advance, and began to shoot the first difficult scene.
Martin Scorsese's parents, Charles and Katherine Scorsese, donned Italian-style coats and waited to put on makeup inside the small bakery's frontage.
The two of them had also worked as actors before, but their main occupation was to open a dry cleaner in Manhattan's Little Italy.Father Charles ironed clothes and mother Catherine trimmed trouser hems, raising Martin Scorsese, America's leading director.
The pair also made cameos in their son's films, and in "Taxi Driver," a picture of the two together was included in a newspaper story as the parents of Jodie Foster's character.Father Charles also played a named character in "Raging Bull."
But the couple, as a couple, have not actually appeared in the movie.
Ronald saw that they were a little nervous, but he didn't care.Anyway, two small characters, not in the focus of the audience's attention, mainly used to lead Loretta, played by Cher, to the story of Cammarelli's bakery owned by Johnny's brother.
"Wonderful!" Ronald saw the outfits of the two, Charles was wearing a top hat, and Catherine was wearing a down jacket with a fur collar. Where did it come from?"
"Ah, hahaha..." Mrs. Scorsese, who was more outgoing, was amused by Ronald and laughed.
"At that time, the camera will give you a close-up close-up, and then the girl who plays the role of the bakery clerk will hand you bread, Mrs. Scorsese will take it, and she will say goodbye to you, and you will go to the bakery as usual. Just buy bread, just ignore this big guy."
Ronald took a close-up shot of the guy stuck inside the counter. This is a big guy, and amateur actors will inevitably be a little nervous.
"Just call me Catherine. Marty asked me to be the heroine when he was shooting a short film before. I know what to do." Mrs. Scorsese was very satisfied, and this time they both had close-ups.This son's friend is really good, it is much more important than the role he gave to his parents!
"Action!"
After finishing the lighting, Ronald called to start.
"Thank you, Mrs. Forgadge. Here's your bread. See you tomorrow."
Catherine Scorsese took the bread, facing the huge close-up, she was still unavoidably nervous, her throat was a little itchy, and her voice became smaller, "Goodbye!"
Charles Scorsese was even more nervous and couldn't help making a swallowing movement. He turned his head and went out first, and then Catherine took the bread and went out behind him.
"Ring, ringing..." The bell on the door recalled that Cher's Loretta, still wearing the boring dark gray coat and black leather boots, passed the Scorseses and walked in.
Xueer walked to the front of the counter and entered the close-up range.Ronald looked at the monitor and nodded to the director of photography David Watkin, there is no need to stop.
"Is Ronnie Cammarelli there?"
"He's in the barn, why are you looking for him?"
asked the clerk behind the counter, with a hint of hostility in his tone.
"I have something to talk to him." The Loretta played by Cher is of course much more sophisticated than the little girl's shop assistant. She knows where this hostility comes from. Yes, she hasn't met her, but her fiancé, Johnny, hasn't seen her for several years. My younger brother Ronnie was more curious.
A messy-haired saleswoman came out from behind the counter and walked around Loretta.
From the point of view of body shape, she is a very typical little girl of Italian origin. She walks a bit stiffly. She wears a floral coat on the upper body, a white shirt inside, a long green skirt on the lower body, and woolen gray stockings on her feet. A pair of heavy platform shoes.
At first glance, she looks like a young girl who has just begun to fall in love. She is not very good at dressing herself up, but her youth is invincible.
The clerk walked to the door, turned his head to Loretta, and signaled her to follow him to the bakery across the street, to meet Ronnie Cammarelli who was baking bread there.
"Cut!"
Ronald is very satisfied with the rivalry between the two.
After consulting with David Watkin, this one was saved for printing.
"How am I doing?"
The female shop assistant ran over, opened her big eyes at Ronald, and asked the director's opinion coquettishly.Change the dull look just now.
"Very good, Perfect!" Ronald smiled and patted the actress's head.
She was obviously Diane Lane, and she came to play the role of this female shop assistant in the past two days.
Ronald did not hesitate to praise, but Diane's acting skills still exceeded his expectations.After putting on makeup, Diane not only looks like an Italian girl, but her walking figure is obviously well-designed, full of life details.
The culture when she acted in front of Xue'er clearly has the kind of anger that this girl knows in her heart at having a woman come to find her crush.
But when she heard that the other party was looking for Ronnie for something, she quickly performed the duties of a shop assistant without making her own claims.It's very similar to the kind of good girl who works in the store of relatives, friends and elders.
It can be said that this performance is beyond the acting skills required by a small supporting role in a guest role.Diane treated the role seriously and made serious preparations, which made Ronald very emotional.
If Coppola hadn't delayed her three movies in a row, now that Diane has this kind of acting skills, looks, and fans accumulated in the past, she must be a leading actress in big productions.
"This role is a bit small for you, but because this is a middle-aged love story, so..."
Ronald admired Diane's performance.With her acting skills, playing a small role can greatly enhance the intoxicating weight of the movie itself.
Just like what Roger Coleman’s protégé, Jonathan Demme, said, the whole movie is one. If any small role can be found with the audience’s favorite actors, then the overall grade of the movie can be raised. a level.
Although it is not intentional to use high-quality actors to play low-quality supporting roles, the actual effect is that in this "Moonlight Sultry", any supporting role has the acting skills of playing the leading role in other movies.
"Don't say that, I'm already very happy. This role is very enjoyable to play."
"It's hard for you to wear such an ugly dress." Ronald helped her straighten her collar, signaling that he would continue.
"Oh", Diane didn't chat with Ronald anymore, and ran aside to wait for the next shot.Her eyes were always on Ronald.
"Brother Ronnie is still interesting." Diane was actually quite happy.
This small role is not a simple cameo.And it's not a vase-like role, but a role with content.Although the makeup did not highlight his beauty, nor did he wear beautiful clothes, but the simple three scenes will leave a very deep impression on the audience.
It can be said that among all the small characters in this movie, this character is the most impressive to the audience.I have acted in several not-so-good movies, and if there is such a movie that fully utilizes my acting skills, maybe some film critic can recognize me and mention me?
The next scene was an exterior shot on the side of the road.
Diane plays Chris, who reluctantly takes a woman (Loretta) to meet her crush, Ronnie.
Out of the store, she strode ahead because she didn't want to talk to Loretta.Such an awkward state of mind made her walking posture stiff, as if she wanted to escape the unmistakable reality that Ronnie, who had a crush on her, knew other women.
Loretta, played by Xue Er, followed behind. The two turned a corner, reached another road at the corner intersection, and walked into the baking room through the entrance of a basement.
"Cut! Very good, very good! Let's have another one."
For a little more protection, Ronald called the second one.In fact, from the perspective of performance, there is no need for this.This kind of play that is performed immediately without careful rehearsal is the most emotional.
Standing far behind the camera, Ronald could smell Diane's reluctance.
Soon it was time for lunch, and the representative of the actors' union came to point to his watch and signaled to Ronald to stop filming, so as to guarantee the right to eat for all the actors and staff of the crew.
Ronald didn't want to argue with him anymore, he pulled down his New York Yankees baseball cap, sat on the director's chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Diane brought him a hamburger and a can of Coke, and pushed him.Ronald woke up, picked up his hamburger and Coke, made a toast with Diane, and ate it.
"Cheers!" Diane laughed, and really came up to touch Ronald with a Coke can, and then took two sips.
"Oh, it's impolite to disturb someone's sleep, fair lady."
Next to it is DP David Watkin, who actually sleeps in a chair.
"Sorry we woke you up," Ronald apologized to the humorous Watkin.When they collaborated on a Saab commercial in Sweden, and when Walter Murch collaborated with him on "Return to Oz" in Britain, Ronald knew that this man had a lot of personality and liked classical music more than film photography. old man's habits.
When he was on the set, he especially liked to sleep in every stitch.This is also because Watkin's level is too high. Many lighting setups can be made immediately after just a glance, and the lighting team can meet the requirements immediately after they are produced.
Of course, this is also because of David Watkin's special habit of thinking. He always likes to simplify things rather than complicate them.
For example, for an indoor lighting, he likes to simplify it to a single light source to achieve the effect, rather than a complex multi-light source system.Hollywood's lighting method of stacking beds and houses, the lens is deflected by [-] degrees, and the lighting needs to be re-set to maintain consistency.And his single light source lighting method, no matter how to move the camera indoors, there is no need to re-set the scene.
Diane looked at Watkin, then at Ronald, very puzzled. "Mr. Watkin, do you always sleep when you are on the set?" Coppola's crew, when he and the cameraman knew Steve Baron worked together, they would like to discuss the light in every interval of shooting. and camera movement.
"Of course, what else is there to do on the set that will keep you from getting more tired? Only sleep!"
"Hahaha..." Diane laughed out loud at him.
"Mr. Watkin is a very philosophical person. The dot matrix light source he invented, also called Wendy's lamp, allows us to re-set the light without walking five meters when shooting night scenes, saving many anxious directors. "
Ronald explained Watkin's philosophy to Diane, and not all directors of photography can fall asleep on the set.
"By the way, Ronald. When I communicated with Murch before the shooting, he said that now his editing tape is being taken care of by your factory. You also invented and manufactured a lamp yourself?"
Hearing Ronald talking about his beloved invention, the Wendy lamp, David Watkin stopped dozing off and came over to ask Ronald.
"Ah, that's not an ordinary lamp. It simulates the effect of lightning. Compared with the electrical short-circuit method commonly used in Hollywood, the brightness is much higher. The reproduction on film is very good, and some Broadway stages are also used." Rona De looked at Watkin and replied.
"Then what, my Wendy lamp is also handmade now, can you cooperate with me, just like the model you cooperated with Murch?"
"Of course, if you want, you can use the patent as a share, and then we will work together to sell your Wendy lamp to all Hollywood crews that need to shoot night scenes. Wouldn't it be great?"
Seeing that there was an extra small business, Ronald also came to the spirit, discussed with Watkin, and then finalized the cooperation.Then they called their own people separately and asked them to discuss the details.
"It seems that I can go to see more operas and listen to more symphonies in the future. I can also start with the recording of Rachmaninoff's First Concerto played by Rubinstein."
David Watkin had talked with Walter Murch a lot about "Moonlight Sultry" before. He was surprised to find that Murch, who had failed as a director and was not in a good financial situation, showed it to him. In the family portrait, several children are wearing good public high school uniforms.
After chatting with him, I realized that I used my invention to partner with Ronald, and made some money with dividends. After repaying some loans, I can change schools for my children.
Watkin trusts Murch, who is also a technical expert, but he is not like Murch, who has taught Ronald. Today, he just took the opportunity to express his idea of partnership. Ronald hit it off.
I don't know why this little invention can be sold for a good profit.
Ronald is also very happy, he has another good product, and it is facing the same market, marketing and channels can share costs.
Lightning lights, editing tape, scenery tape, and Wendy lights, what these products have in common is that users don't pay for them themselves, but buy them for work.
For them, being able to save themselves a little bit of work can make up a lot of reasons to make the studio pay.And the studio doesn't care about these little money. As long as the things are good, they can speed up the efficiency and prevent accidents. The cost saved by one day of filming is dozens of times the price of these devices.
The staff changed shifts and came back one after another, preparing to shoot the scene in the basement baking room.
Diane also boarded the public trailer, preparing for the afternoon scene.Before she got in the car, she looked at Ronald again. This man is actually very kind and will bring good luck to those around him.Many people have become richer with him.No wonder he's popular in Hollywood.
"Action!"
After two hours, the lighting team set up the lights, and David Watkin made an OK gesture to Ronald.
"Action!"
"Ronnie, Ronnie"
Chris, the clerk played by Diane, pushed open the door of the baking room.
The camera gradually recedes, seeing more of the environment of the barn.This is a rather rough place. There are a lot of baguettes in the oven on the wall. This is an oven specially made by the bakery for shooting.
"Someone is looking for Ronnie." Chris, played by Diane, let Loretta into the baking room, and stood by the door, frowning, wanting to see what Loretta and her crush Ronnie are. relation.
Although it was late autumn, the people inside were all wearing undershirts and sweating.Makeup was sprinkled on them, creating a sweaty effect.
On the other side, Nicolas Cage was wearing a small vest, with a large part of his thick chest hair exposed, and his messy hair standing upright. It looked like a huge volcano bursting with hormones.
"Are you here instead of my brother Johnny?" He looked at Loretta coldly.
In the shot, Loretta, played by Cher, walks towards the camera from the doorway, while Chris behind her is still standing there, uneasy.
David Watkin here uses the hyperfocal technique that Orson Welles introduced to Hollywood to create a deep-focus effect.
In the current aesthetic trend of movies, in many scenes, when the focal length converges on the characters close to the lens, the shallow focal length lens will put the background characters and environment behind them out of focus and blur them.
But in this scene, Watkin is a bit anti-trend, using the deep focus effect that was popular when black and white sound films first appeared in the 30s. The background characters in the distance, like the nearby characters, are in focus and remain clear.
The change in Loretta's expression when talking with Ronnie, and the expression of the shop assistant Chris after hearing their conversation, were all captured without error.
Although Ronald was on the small monitor, he couldn't see the expressions of the two of them clearly.But when the film is developed, processed into copies, and projected on the big screen, the faces of the two actors, Cher and Diane, will become the focus of the audience's attention.
Therefore, Watkin also deliberately let the two actors stand on the same axis, with only a little staggered angle, so that when the big screen is presented, the audience does not have to keep going back and forth between the faces of the two actors, just stare at the two actors. Looking at a part of the screen, you can see the different moods of the two characters.
In this kind of movie that wins by the plot and the performance of the actors, this kind of narrative technique is very important. The deliberate design and arrangement, as well as the cooperation and execution of master characters during shooting, can present the audience with an effortless, Understand the effect of what the director wants to say.
"Yes", Loretta got closer and closer, talking to the character Ronnie behind the camera.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to marry Johnny, so I want to invite you to the wedding..."
"So, you're going to marry my brother Johnny? I'm dead, my brother Johnny took my life."
"Excuse me?..." Loretta, played by Cher, showed an inexplicable expression in the camera.I invited my fiancé's younger brother to the wedding, why did he say something about life...
"I don't understand what you're talking about?" Loretta didn't understand, but deep down, she seemed to understand a little bit about Ronnie's primitive impulse and desire, which was destroyed by Johnny.
"Johnny is getting married, and now he has the meaning of his life. I haven't, and he has taken it away."
"I'm not here to piss you off..." Loretta wanted to explain, she was temporarily separated from the radiation of Ronnie's exuberant vitality and regained her senses, she just came to find her fiancé. The talking brother went to the wedding only.
"What is life!" Nicolas Cage suddenly raised the volume, "What is life!"
"They all say that bread is life, but I'm making bread, bread, bread every day in this extremely hot little house..."
Cage took out the baguettes viciously from the oven and threw them into the basket.
"I'm sweating stinky here every day, shoveling this stinky dough in and out with a shovel, where is my life?
You want me to go to your wedding with my brother?snort?sweetheart?Where is my wedding then? "
"Chrissy, give me the biggest bread knife on the wall, I can't beat it..."
Chris, played by Diane, stood there, almost moved to tears by Ronnie.How could such a man not have a woman to love him?
"No, Ronnie, I won't give it to you," Diane yelled from there, speaking with a newly acquired Italian accent.
"Give me the knife, Chrissy...I want my own..."
"Maybe, I should come at another time." Xue'er stared blankly, she didn't know whether Ronnie was telling the truth or just fooling around.
"No, I want you to watch here." Nicolas Cage said fiercely to Cher, "Do you understand me?"
"Yeah," Cher shook her head.
"It's not anyone's fault, it just happened." Nicolas Cage took off the glove on his left hand, which contained a wooden prosthetic hand.
"I got engaged five years ago and my brother Johnny came to visit. He asked me to buy some bread. I got distracted talking to him and the bread cutter sliced my hand off.
It's fun, right?My fiancée left me because she found out I was crippled. "
"This is the misfortune between you and Johnny? But it's not Johnny's fault? It's not anyone's fault, it's just bad luck." Loretta, played by Cher, heard the two brothers' hearts for the first time Knot.
"I don't care!" Nicholas Cage exploded suddenly, knocking down the iron bucket of flour in front of him.
"I've got no hands! I don't have a wife! Johnny has his hands! Johnny has his wife! You think I'll just settle with him and go to his wedding?"
Loretta was shocked. In her life, there had never been such a man with such strong primitive instincts.She was not worried that the other party would hurt herself at all, but expressed sympathy for his misfortune.
"It's just a matter of time, when a man opens his eyes in the morning and kisses his dreams goodbye."
Nicolas Cage put away his temper, as if the anger just now consumed too much energy.He spoke softly to Loretta, as if speaking to himself.
Everyone in the baking room was shocked by this huge contrast.A man like Ronnie, after giving up his dream due to an accidental disability, became a person who shovels dough every day in the bakery. It is really a great tragedy in life.
The camera pointed at several people, and several reaction shots came.
Xue'er had no expression on her shocked face, but the surging impulse in her heart almost broke through the boundaries of reason.Like Ronnie, she gave up her dream because she was said to be a broom star.
Chrissy's eyes were red, and she tried her best not to shed tears.The man I have a crush on is indeed a man with big dreams, so pitiful.
A tear finally broke through the barrier of the eye socket, and flowed out from Di'an's left eye.
The tears accumulated all her strength, so that they instantly broke through the barriers of her cheekbones, lips, and chin, and fell to the ground.
"I love him, but I never tell him because he can't love anyone anymore after losing his fiancée and a hand."
"Cut!"
"Crack, crack, crack..." After waiting for a few seconds, everyone, led by Ronald, began to applaud for this wonderful performance.
All the actors are perfect, it's a perfect show.
Not only the performances of the two protagonists are in place, but even the small role played by Diane is also very good. When the male and female protagonists meet for the first time, they suddenly connect with each other, as if they have been lovers for many years. This is a very abnormal and incomprehensible plot , It was highlighted from the perspective of a bystander.
Ronnie Camarelli is a man with a lot of dreams. He lost his fiancée and dreams because of his disability, so he can only work in the bakery business handed down by his family.
And Loretta once had a dream, which was suppressed for a long time because of social pressure and prejudice against widows.
On one particular occasion, the monologue in which Ronnie broke out to speak his mind struck a chord.
Especially Nicolas Cage, who imitated the performance method of the early German expressionist film "Metropolis", and asked hoarsely at the wooden prosthetic hand, "I have no hands, I have no wife!"
If it weren't for Cage, a particularly explosive actor, the effect of the performance would be much worse.Such unreasonable characters and plots must be driven by reasons beyond common sense.This kind of explosive power is exactly what is needed at this moment when the audience needs to be shocked.
And this kind of crazy role must have a certain degree of certainty.After Cage broke out, his energy was exhausted immediately, and he turned to whispering, so that the audience would be shocked and become someone who could understand the reason for Ronnie's sudden madness.
This kind of balance between madness and normality is indeed not something that ordinary actors can play freely.If Cage hadn't been influenced by his uncle Coppola and watched "Metropolis" every day to comprehend his acting skills, he wouldn't be able to do so seamlessly.
Seeing David Watkin make another OK gesture to Ronald.Several actors calmed down and began to hug and congratulate each other.
Ronald also heaved a sigh of relief. The second most difficult scene to shoot finally passed under the explosive acting skills of several actors.
Ronald picked up a baguette and broke it apart. The freshly baked baguette was very crispy and delicious.Ronald also broke off a small piece and handed it to Diane, and thoughtfully took out a handkerchief to let her wipe her eyes.
"I didn't expect that your explosive power is so good." Ronald repeatedly said that this kind of supporting role is actually more difficult to play than the leading role.
After all, the protagonist has a natural foreshadowing and the opponent's reaction stimulation.
This kind of supporting role has no background story in the front, and no reaction from the opponent in the back, it all depends on one's own imagination.And you have to be able to perform at a high level.Diane's performance is no different from those old Broadway dramas.
"Hee hee, I've been doing off-Broadway 'La Mama' experimental troupe since I was 4 years old, and even starred with Meryl Streep."
"It turns out that you are also an old drama player, the young one." Ronald laughed loudly and rubbed Diane's hair.
Diane finished her role and went home to reunite with her father Burt.
Next, the crew filmed several exterior scenes at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and in a Catholic church.
Because of her one-night stand with her fiancé's younger brother, Loretta came to the church to confess. The godfather "severely" criticized Loretta and punished her to read two "Rosaries" to atone for her sins.His mother in the church helped him cover up his one-night stand with Ronnie by not coming home for the night.To Loretta's surprise, her mother found out that her father, Cosmo, was having an affair.
Afterwards Loretta and Ronnie go on a date and go to the opera house to see an opera.In the opera house, I found out that my father and his lover were also watching the opera "La Bohème", and the two father and daughter tacitly agreed.Cosmo complained to his daughter that you are engaged, but his daughter retorted, "You are married."
When filming these scenes, Ronald was also very happy.The screenwriter Stanley Shanley's writing skills are really strong, with a few strokes, the characteristics of the Italians are vividly written.
This movie will be a very different movie from other movies about Italian life.There are no gangsters and singing and dancing, but it can also make people know at a glance. Let's talk about Italian stories.
Soon, the exterior filming in New York was over.
The trade union representatives are really strict. During the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, the crew is not allowed to work overtime in New York.
Ronald had no choice but to disband the crew one day in advance. Everyone went back to spend the holidays, and flew to Toronto in the New Year to film in a place without a union.
(End of this chapter)
Although Ronald has decided to move the indoor scenes to Toronto, Canada for filming, some scenes with indoor and outdoor handover still have to be filmed in New York.
There will be a technical difficulty if the indoor and outdoor scenes are shot separately in New York and shot in a Toronto studio, and finally synthesized on the editing table.That is indoor and outdoor light, with different color temperatures.
In this way, on different types of films, different color styles will be presented. For an outdoor lens, the balanced color temperature under natural light and the balanced color temperature under artificial lighting indoors can be clearly seen with the naked eye.
In order to make the edited shots, the audience does not feel abrupt, and the later stage has to do very complicated color correction, especially since the gap between natural light and artificial lighting is too large, it will still make the audience feel jumpy in the end, as if they are in another movie. .
This kind of feeling is a situation that any film director should try to avoid, because this kind of beating will make the audience detach from the daydream that the movie has finally woven, and the audience will have a feeling that this is a movie. Ideas will drop the movie-watching experience a few notches.
So, willing to look at the annoying old-fashioned face of the union representative, Ronald went to the bakery on the corner of 502 Henry Street in Brooklyn, which was rented in advance, and began to shoot the first difficult scene.
Martin Scorsese's parents, Charles and Katherine Scorsese, donned Italian-style coats and waited to put on makeup inside the small bakery's frontage.
The two of them had also worked as actors before, but their main occupation was to open a dry cleaner in Manhattan's Little Italy.Father Charles ironed clothes and mother Catherine trimmed trouser hems, raising Martin Scorsese, America's leading director.
The pair also made cameos in their son's films, and in "Taxi Driver," a picture of the two together was included in a newspaper story as the parents of Jodie Foster's character.Father Charles also played a named character in "Raging Bull."
But the couple, as a couple, have not actually appeared in the movie.
Ronald saw that they were a little nervous, but he didn't care.Anyway, two small characters, not in the focus of the audience's attention, mainly used to lead Loretta, played by Cher, to the story of Cammarelli's bakery owned by Johnny's brother.
"Wonderful!" Ronald saw the outfits of the two, Charles was wearing a top hat, and Catherine was wearing a down jacket with a fur collar. Where did it come from?"
"Ah, hahaha..." Mrs. Scorsese, who was more outgoing, was amused by Ronald and laughed.
"At that time, the camera will give you a close-up close-up, and then the girl who plays the role of the bakery clerk will hand you bread, Mrs. Scorsese will take it, and she will say goodbye to you, and you will go to the bakery as usual. Just buy bread, just ignore this big guy."
Ronald took a close-up shot of the guy stuck inside the counter. This is a big guy, and amateur actors will inevitably be a little nervous.
"Just call me Catherine. Marty asked me to be the heroine when he was shooting a short film before. I know what to do." Mrs. Scorsese was very satisfied, and this time they both had close-ups.This son's friend is really good, it is much more important than the role he gave to his parents!
"Action!"
After finishing the lighting, Ronald called to start.
"Thank you, Mrs. Forgadge. Here's your bread. See you tomorrow."
Catherine Scorsese took the bread, facing the huge close-up, she was still unavoidably nervous, her throat was a little itchy, and her voice became smaller, "Goodbye!"
Charles Scorsese was even more nervous and couldn't help making a swallowing movement. He turned his head and went out first, and then Catherine took the bread and went out behind him.
"Ring, ringing..." The bell on the door recalled that Cher's Loretta, still wearing the boring dark gray coat and black leather boots, passed the Scorseses and walked in.
Xueer walked to the front of the counter and entered the close-up range.Ronald looked at the monitor and nodded to the director of photography David Watkin, there is no need to stop.
"Is Ronnie Cammarelli there?"
"He's in the barn, why are you looking for him?"
asked the clerk behind the counter, with a hint of hostility in his tone.
"I have something to talk to him." The Loretta played by Cher is of course much more sophisticated than the little girl's shop assistant. She knows where this hostility comes from. Yes, she hasn't met her, but her fiancé, Johnny, hasn't seen her for several years. My younger brother Ronnie was more curious.
A messy-haired saleswoman came out from behind the counter and walked around Loretta.
From the point of view of body shape, she is a very typical little girl of Italian origin. She walks a bit stiffly. She wears a floral coat on the upper body, a white shirt inside, a long green skirt on the lower body, and woolen gray stockings on her feet. A pair of heavy platform shoes.
At first glance, she looks like a young girl who has just begun to fall in love. She is not very good at dressing herself up, but her youth is invincible.
The clerk walked to the door, turned his head to Loretta, and signaled her to follow him to the bakery across the street, to meet Ronnie Cammarelli who was baking bread there.
"Cut!"
Ronald is very satisfied with the rivalry between the two.
After consulting with David Watkin, this one was saved for printing.
"How am I doing?"
The female shop assistant ran over, opened her big eyes at Ronald, and asked the director's opinion coquettishly.Change the dull look just now.
"Very good, Perfect!" Ronald smiled and patted the actress's head.
She was obviously Diane Lane, and she came to play the role of this female shop assistant in the past two days.
Ronald did not hesitate to praise, but Diane's acting skills still exceeded his expectations.After putting on makeup, Diane not only looks like an Italian girl, but her walking figure is obviously well-designed, full of life details.
The culture when she acted in front of Xue'er clearly has the kind of anger that this girl knows in her heart at having a woman come to find her crush.
But when she heard that the other party was looking for Ronnie for something, she quickly performed the duties of a shop assistant without making her own claims.It's very similar to the kind of good girl who works in the store of relatives, friends and elders.
It can be said that this performance is beyond the acting skills required by a small supporting role in a guest role.Diane treated the role seriously and made serious preparations, which made Ronald very emotional.
If Coppola hadn't delayed her three movies in a row, now that Diane has this kind of acting skills, looks, and fans accumulated in the past, she must be a leading actress in big productions.
"This role is a bit small for you, but because this is a middle-aged love story, so..."
Ronald admired Diane's performance.With her acting skills, playing a small role can greatly enhance the intoxicating weight of the movie itself.
Just like what Roger Coleman’s protégé, Jonathan Demme, said, the whole movie is one. If any small role can be found with the audience’s favorite actors, then the overall grade of the movie can be raised. a level.
Although it is not intentional to use high-quality actors to play low-quality supporting roles, the actual effect is that in this "Moonlight Sultry", any supporting role has the acting skills of playing the leading role in other movies.
"Don't say that, I'm already very happy. This role is very enjoyable to play."
"It's hard for you to wear such an ugly dress." Ronald helped her straighten her collar, signaling that he would continue.
"Oh", Diane didn't chat with Ronald anymore, and ran aside to wait for the next shot.Her eyes were always on Ronald.
"Brother Ronnie is still interesting." Diane was actually quite happy.
This small role is not a simple cameo.And it's not a vase-like role, but a role with content.Although the makeup did not highlight his beauty, nor did he wear beautiful clothes, but the simple three scenes will leave a very deep impression on the audience.
It can be said that among all the small characters in this movie, this character is the most impressive to the audience.I have acted in several not-so-good movies, and if there is such a movie that fully utilizes my acting skills, maybe some film critic can recognize me and mention me?
The next scene was an exterior shot on the side of the road.
Diane plays Chris, who reluctantly takes a woman (Loretta) to meet her crush, Ronnie.
Out of the store, she strode ahead because she didn't want to talk to Loretta.Such an awkward state of mind made her walking posture stiff, as if she wanted to escape the unmistakable reality that Ronnie, who had a crush on her, knew other women.
Loretta, played by Xue Er, followed behind. The two turned a corner, reached another road at the corner intersection, and walked into the baking room through the entrance of a basement.
"Cut! Very good, very good! Let's have another one."
For a little more protection, Ronald called the second one.In fact, from the perspective of performance, there is no need for this.This kind of play that is performed immediately without careful rehearsal is the most emotional.
Standing far behind the camera, Ronald could smell Diane's reluctance.
Soon it was time for lunch, and the representative of the actors' union came to point to his watch and signaled to Ronald to stop filming, so as to guarantee the right to eat for all the actors and staff of the crew.
Ronald didn't want to argue with him anymore, he pulled down his New York Yankees baseball cap, sat on the director's chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Diane brought him a hamburger and a can of Coke, and pushed him.Ronald woke up, picked up his hamburger and Coke, made a toast with Diane, and ate it.
"Cheers!" Diane laughed, and really came up to touch Ronald with a Coke can, and then took two sips.
"Oh, it's impolite to disturb someone's sleep, fair lady."
Next to it is DP David Watkin, who actually sleeps in a chair.
"Sorry we woke you up," Ronald apologized to the humorous Watkin.When they collaborated on a Saab commercial in Sweden, and when Walter Murch collaborated with him on "Return to Oz" in Britain, Ronald knew that this man had a lot of personality and liked classical music more than film photography. old man's habits.
When he was on the set, he especially liked to sleep in every stitch.This is also because Watkin's level is too high. Many lighting setups can be made immediately after just a glance, and the lighting team can meet the requirements immediately after they are produced.
Of course, this is also because of David Watkin's special habit of thinking. He always likes to simplify things rather than complicate them.
For example, for an indoor lighting, he likes to simplify it to a single light source to achieve the effect, rather than a complex multi-light source system.Hollywood's lighting method of stacking beds and houses, the lens is deflected by [-] degrees, and the lighting needs to be re-set to maintain consistency.And his single light source lighting method, no matter how to move the camera indoors, there is no need to re-set the scene.
Diane looked at Watkin, then at Ronald, very puzzled. "Mr. Watkin, do you always sleep when you are on the set?" Coppola's crew, when he and the cameraman knew Steve Baron worked together, they would like to discuss the light in every interval of shooting. and camera movement.
"Of course, what else is there to do on the set that will keep you from getting more tired? Only sleep!"
"Hahaha..." Diane laughed out loud at him.
"Mr. Watkin is a very philosophical person. The dot matrix light source he invented, also called Wendy's lamp, allows us to re-set the light without walking five meters when shooting night scenes, saving many anxious directors. "
Ronald explained Watkin's philosophy to Diane, and not all directors of photography can fall asleep on the set.
"By the way, Ronald. When I communicated with Murch before the shooting, he said that now his editing tape is being taken care of by your factory. You also invented and manufactured a lamp yourself?"
Hearing Ronald talking about his beloved invention, the Wendy lamp, David Watkin stopped dozing off and came over to ask Ronald.
"Ah, that's not an ordinary lamp. It simulates the effect of lightning. Compared with the electrical short-circuit method commonly used in Hollywood, the brightness is much higher. The reproduction on film is very good, and some Broadway stages are also used." Rona De looked at Watkin and replied.
"Then what, my Wendy lamp is also handmade now, can you cooperate with me, just like the model you cooperated with Murch?"
"Of course, if you want, you can use the patent as a share, and then we will work together to sell your Wendy lamp to all Hollywood crews that need to shoot night scenes. Wouldn't it be great?"
Seeing that there was an extra small business, Ronald also came to the spirit, discussed with Watkin, and then finalized the cooperation.Then they called their own people separately and asked them to discuss the details.
"It seems that I can go to see more operas and listen to more symphonies in the future. I can also start with the recording of Rachmaninoff's First Concerto played by Rubinstein."
David Watkin had talked with Walter Murch a lot about "Moonlight Sultry" before. He was surprised to find that Murch, who had failed as a director and was not in a good financial situation, showed it to him. In the family portrait, several children are wearing good public high school uniforms.
After chatting with him, I realized that I used my invention to partner with Ronald, and made some money with dividends. After repaying some loans, I can change schools for my children.
Watkin trusts Murch, who is also a technical expert, but he is not like Murch, who has taught Ronald. Today, he just took the opportunity to express his idea of partnership. Ronald hit it off.
I don't know why this little invention can be sold for a good profit.
Ronald is also very happy, he has another good product, and it is facing the same market, marketing and channels can share costs.
Lightning lights, editing tape, scenery tape, and Wendy lights, what these products have in common is that users don't pay for them themselves, but buy them for work.
For them, being able to save themselves a little bit of work can make up a lot of reasons to make the studio pay.And the studio doesn't care about these little money. As long as the things are good, they can speed up the efficiency and prevent accidents. The cost saved by one day of filming is dozens of times the price of these devices.
The staff changed shifts and came back one after another, preparing to shoot the scene in the basement baking room.
Diane also boarded the public trailer, preparing for the afternoon scene.Before she got in the car, she looked at Ronald again. This man is actually very kind and will bring good luck to those around him.Many people have become richer with him.No wonder he's popular in Hollywood.
"Action!"
After two hours, the lighting team set up the lights, and David Watkin made an OK gesture to Ronald.
"Action!"
"Ronnie, Ronnie"
Chris, the clerk played by Diane, pushed open the door of the baking room.
The camera gradually recedes, seeing more of the environment of the barn.This is a rather rough place. There are a lot of baguettes in the oven on the wall. This is an oven specially made by the bakery for shooting.
"Someone is looking for Ronnie." Chris, played by Diane, let Loretta into the baking room, and stood by the door, frowning, wanting to see what Loretta and her crush Ronnie are. relation.
Although it was late autumn, the people inside were all wearing undershirts and sweating.Makeup was sprinkled on them, creating a sweaty effect.
On the other side, Nicolas Cage was wearing a small vest, with a large part of his thick chest hair exposed, and his messy hair standing upright. It looked like a huge volcano bursting with hormones.
"Are you here instead of my brother Johnny?" He looked at Loretta coldly.
In the shot, Loretta, played by Cher, walks towards the camera from the doorway, while Chris behind her is still standing there, uneasy.
David Watkin here uses the hyperfocal technique that Orson Welles introduced to Hollywood to create a deep-focus effect.
In the current aesthetic trend of movies, in many scenes, when the focal length converges on the characters close to the lens, the shallow focal length lens will put the background characters and environment behind them out of focus and blur them.
But in this scene, Watkin is a bit anti-trend, using the deep focus effect that was popular when black and white sound films first appeared in the 30s. The background characters in the distance, like the nearby characters, are in focus and remain clear.
The change in Loretta's expression when talking with Ronnie, and the expression of the shop assistant Chris after hearing their conversation, were all captured without error.
Although Ronald was on the small monitor, he couldn't see the expressions of the two of them clearly.But when the film is developed, processed into copies, and projected on the big screen, the faces of the two actors, Cher and Diane, will become the focus of the audience's attention.
Therefore, Watkin also deliberately let the two actors stand on the same axis, with only a little staggered angle, so that when the big screen is presented, the audience does not have to keep going back and forth between the faces of the two actors, just stare at the two actors. Looking at a part of the screen, you can see the different moods of the two characters.
In this kind of movie that wins by the plot and the performance of the actors, this kind of narrative technique is very important. The deliberate design and arrangement, as well as the cooperation and execution of master characters during shooting, can present the audience with an effortless, Understand the effect of what the director wants to say.
"Yes", Loretta got closer and closer, talking to the character Ronnie behind the camera.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to marry Johnny, so I want to invite you to the wedding..."
"So, you're going to marry my brother Johnny? I'm dead, my brother Johnny took my life."
"Excuse me?..." Loretta, played by Cher, showed an inexplicable expression in the camera.I invited my fiancé's younger brother to the wedding, why did he say something about life...
"I don't understand what you're talking about?" Loretta didn't understand, but deep down, she seemed to understand a little bit about Ronnie's primitive impulse and desire, which was destroyed by Johnny.
"Johnny is getting married, and now he has the meaning of his life. I haven't, and he has taken it away."
"I'm not here to piss you off..." Loretta wanted to explain, she was temporarily separated from the radiation of Ronnie's exuberant vitality and regained her senses, she just came to find her fiancé. The talking brother went to the wedding only.
"What is life!" Nicolas Cage suddenly raised the volume, "What is life!"
"They all say that bread is life, but I'm making bread, bread, bread every day in this extremely hot little house..."
Cage took out the baguettes viciously from the oven and threw them into the basket.
"I'm sweating stinky here every day, shoveling this stinky dough in and out with a shovel, where is my life?
You want me to go to your wedding with my brother?snort?sweetheart?Where is my wedding then? "
"Chrissy, give me the biggest bread knife on the wall, I can't beat it..."
Chris, played by Diane, stood there, almost moved to tears by Ronnie.How could such a man not have a woman to love him?
"No, Ronnie, I won't give it to you," Diane yelled from there, speaking with a newly acquired Italian accent.
"Give me the knife, Chrissy...I want my own..."
"Maybe, I should come at another time." Xue'er stared blankly, she didn't know whether Ronnie was telling the truth or just fooling around.
"No, I want you to watch here." Nicolas Cage said fiercely to Cher, "Do you understand me?"
"Yeah," Cher shook her head.
"It's not anyone's fault, it just happened." Nicolas Cage took off the glove on his left hand, which contained a wooden prosthetic hand.
"I got engaged five years ago and my brother Johnny came to visit. He asked me to buy some bread. I got distracted talking to him and the bread cutter sliced my hand off.
It's fun, right?My fiancée left me because she found out I was crippled. "
"This is the misfortune between you and Johnny? But it's not Johnny's fault? It's not anyone's fault, it's just bad luck." Loretta, played by Cher, heard the two brothers' hearts for the first time Knot.
"I don't care!" Nicholas Cage exploded suddenly, knocking down the iron bucket of flour in front of him.
"I've got no hands! I don't have a wife! Johnny has his hands! Johnny has his wife! You think I'll just settle with him and go to his wedding?"
Loretta was shocked. In her life, there had never been such a man with such strong primitive instincts.She was not worried that the other party would hurt herself at all, but expressed sympathy for his misfortune.
"It's just a matter of time, when a man opens his eyes in the morning and kisses his dreams goodbye."
Nicolas Cage put away his temper, as if the anger just now consumed too much energy.He spoke softly to Loretta, as if speaking to himself.
Everyone in the baking room was shocked by this huge contrast.A man like Ronnie, after giving up his dream due to an accidental disability, became a person who shovels dough every day in the bakery. It is really a great tragedy in life.
The camera pointed at several people, and several reaction shots came.
Xue'er had no expression on her shocked face, but the surging impulse in her heart almost broke through the boundaries of reason.Like Ronnie, she gave up her dream because she was said to be a broom star.
Chrissy's eyes were red, and she tried her best not to shed tears.The man I have a crush on is indeed a man with big dreams, so pitiful.
A tear finally broke through the barrier of the eye socket, and flowed out from Di'an's left eye.
The tears accumulated all her strength, so that they instantly broke through the barriers of her cheekbones, lips, and chin, and fell to the ground.
"I love him, but I never tell him because he can't love anyone anymore after losing his fiancée and a hand."
"Cut!"
"Crack, crack, crack..." After waiting for a few seconds, everyone, led by Ronald, began to applaud for this wonderful performance.
All the actors are perfect, it's a perfect show.
Not only the performances of the two protagonists are in place, but even the small role played by Diane is also very good. When the male and female protagonists meet for the first time, they suddenly connect with each other, as if they have been lovers for many years. This is a very abnormal and incomprehensible plot , It was highlighted from the perspective of a bystander.
Ronnie Camarelli is a man with a lot of dreams. He lost his fiancée and dreams because of his disability, so he can only work in the bakery business handed down by his family.
And Loretta once had a dream, which was suppressed for a long time because of social pressure and prejudice against widows.
On one particular occasion, the monologue in which Ronnie broke out to speak his mind struck a chord.
Especially Nicolas Cage, who imitated the performance method of the early German expressionist film "Metropolis", and asked hoarsely at the wooden prosthetic hand, "I have no hands, I have no wife!"
If it weren't for Cage, a particularly explosive actor, the effect of the performance would be much worse.Such unreasonable characters and plots must be driven by reasons beyond common sense.This kind of explosive power is exactly what is needed at this moment when the audience needs to be shocked.
And this kind of crazy role must have a certain degree of certainty.After Cage broke out, his energy was exhausted immediately, and he turned to whispering, so that the audience would be shocked and become someone who could understand the reason for Ronnie's sudden madness.
This kind of balance between madness and normality is indeed not something that ordinary actors can play freely.If Cage hadn't been influenced by his uncle Coppola and watched "Metropolis" every day to comprehend his acting skills, he wouldn't be able to do so seamlessly.
Seeing David Watkin make another OK gesture to Ronald.Several actors calmed down and began to hug and congratulate each other.
Ronald also heaved a sigh of relief. The second most difficult scene to shoot finally passed under the explosive acting skills of several actors.
Ronald picked up a baguette and broke it apart. The freshly baked baguette was very crispy and delicious.Ronald also broke off a small piece and handed it to Diane, and thoughtfully took out a handkerchief to let her wipe her eyes.
"I didn't expect that your explosive power is so good." Ronald repeatedly said that this kind of supporting role is actually more difficult to play than the leading role.
After all, the protagonist has a natural foreshadowing and the opponent's reaction stimulation.
This kind of supporting role has no background story in the front, and no reaction from the opponent in the back, it all depends on one's own imagination.And you have to be able to perform at a high level.Diane's performance is no different from those old Broadway dramas.
"Hee hee, I've been doing off-Broadway 'La Mama' experimental troupe since I was 4 years old, and even starred with Meryl Streep."
"It turns out that you are also an old drama player, the young one." Ronald laughed loudly and rubbed Diane's hair.
Diane finished her role and went home to reunite with her father Burt.
Next, the crew filmed several exterior scenes at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and in a Catholic church.
Because of her one-night stand with her fiancé's younger brother, Loretta came to the church to confess. The godfather "severely" criticized Loretta and punished her to read two "Rosaries" to atone for her sins.His mother in the church helped him cover up his one-night stand with Ronnie by not coming home for the night.To Loretta's surprise, her mother found out that her father, Cosmo, was having an affair.
Afterwards Loretta and Ronnie go on a date and go to the opera house to see an opera.In the opera house, I found out that my father and his lover were also watching the opera "La Bohème", and the two father and daughter tacitly agreed.Cosmo complained to his daughter that you are engaged, but his daughter retorted, "You are married."
When filming these scenes, Ronald was also very happy.The screenwriter Stanley Shanley's writing skills are really strong, with a few strokes, the characteristics of the Italians are vividly written.
This movie will be a very different movie from other movies about Italian life.There are no gangsters and singing and dancing, but it can also make people know at a glance. Let's talk about Italian stories.
Soon, the exterior filming in New York was over.
The trade union representatives are really strict. During the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, the crew is not allowed to work overtime in New York.
Ronald had no choice but to disband the crew one day in advance. Everyone went back to spend the holidays, and flew to Toronto in the New Year to film in a place without a union.
(End of this chapter)
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