Exploiting Hollywood 1980

People like Jim Cameron are very rare in Hollywood. Many directors hide in their comfort zone and shoot those genres that they are already familiar with. Many film critics also have complaints about Hollywood's lack of ambition in commercialization.

There is a subtle comment that says that a director, starting from the second work, is just repeating his debut.

Cameron is a dreamer. He likes to copy his dreams on the big screen so that more people can share his dreams and stories. When filming, he doesn't care whether the existing technology can meet the requirements. Anyway, whether it is model stunts or computer stunts he wants to use now, if there is no such thing on the market, he will find a way to make it.

"This "Abyss" has a high investment. But Jim spent money without counting. Underwater shooting, the progress every day is very slow, and the number of NGs is far more than normal shooting. Especially the underwater camera, the sealing problem from time to time has problems, and it has to be re-shot."

On the business plane back to Los Angeles, Gail complained to Ronald about Cameron's filming overspending.

Gail Hurd is determined to divorce Cameron. Now, it is just because she got the production rights as Mrs. Cameron when the "Abyss" project was launched, so the two will temporarily maintain their marriage before the filming of the film is completed, so that they can have an explanation to the distributor.

Because the filming was seriously overspent and the progress was behind schedule from the beginning, Gail was also under great pressure. If the two divorced now, the support that the film could get from 20th Century Fox might be greatly reduced. After all, Cameron is a film director, and it is rare to find an artist who can objectively and calmly deal with the producer's divorce.

"The important part of this Abyss is the special effects. Now too much money has been spent on underwater shooting, and we are seriously behind schedule in the early stage of computer-generated special effects research. Not to mention the manpower invested, even the configuration of the graphics workstation is insufficient. I have to be a beggar in Fox this time..."

Gail is a producer first. Ronald respects her very much. When there is a big problem in the relationship, he still gives priority to the movie. As a female producer, it is very rare.

"Don't worry, I've purchased some SGI workstations from Industrial Light \u0026 Magic, you can use them first."

Ronald agreed without hesitation to give all the special effects workstations he had bought from Pixar to the computer special effects team of the "Abyss" crew in Los Angeles. Computer special effects need not equipment but talents who dare to try.

If Cameron breaks out some new technical routes for this movie, then I will invest a little in advance.

...

"What do you think of this pair of glasses?"

Meg Ryan, who has decided to play the leading role in "When Harry Met Sally", is choosing the glasses to be used in the play at the Starry Eyes sunglasses store in Burbank, Roshan.

"Very good, I think it fits Sally's temperament." Ronald and art director Jane Muskie exchanged the color temperament of the whole movie, turned around and looked at Meg Ryan's dress, and praised it.

This supporting actress who he used in "Top Gun" seemed to have grown up suddenly after falling in love with Dennis Quaid. From an ordinary girl, she has transformed into a sweet girl with typical American femininity.

"I don't think she is artistic enough. Sally is very picky and pays great attention to the details of her glasses." Meg Ryan continued to choose.

"At least Meg is right on this point," Jane Muskie replied. She was recommended by Ronald to his old partner Polly Pratt. Because Ronald hopes that this romantic love drama will be a warm sketch and as close to life as possible. There is no need for more drama, but to allow the audience to bring it into daily life and think that Sally and Harry are their friends.

"Is that right?" Ronald is very satisfied with Jane Muskie, who used to be the art director of Polly Pratt's ex-husband Bogdanovich's films. Bogdanovich is best at shooting contemporary romantic comedies. This style of color and design is exactly what Ronald's new film needs.

Speaking of Polly Pratt, she is very happy as a producer for Cameron Crowe. Crowe likes to ask the experienced Polly for advice. Polly was also happy to relay to Crowe the various director experiences she had seen around her ex-husband.

Polly and Gail Hurd were similar, both of them were female professional filmmakers who could tolerate their husbands' problems for the sake of their careers. The difference between Gail and Polly was that she was born a generation later and had a lower tolerance for cheating.

"Yes, we need Sally to be a friend of the audience, just like the female classmate in college who was not the most beautiful but no one succeeded in catching up with her." Jane Muskie made an analogy.

"Well, you're right." Although Ronald had only been in college for a few days, he still understood what the other party meant. When we were students, there were always some female classmates who were more naive and learned about love from romance and movies.

Sally has this temperament, always comparing the men in her life with the male protagonists in romantic stories.

"Is there a way to express the feeling that Jane said in the tone?" Ronald turned around and asked the director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld.

"This is not difficult. If you look closer to the TV series, the human eye has been trained enough by color TV in the past few decades. As long as the color tone is close, the audience can have the illusion that this is life."

Ronald found this director of photography from the movie "Grown Up" starring Diane. He liked the tone and feel restored in that movie, which made people watch the live interviews with the TV station. Similarly, it subconsciously gives the audience the illusion that this is something happening around us.

"What do you think of this pair?" Meg Ryan put on another pair of red plastic glasses with a sense of design. It matches her red lips very well. This is the makeup the makeup artist designed for Sally. It should be ordinary but a little sexy, giving her the feeling of a girl who reads fashion magazines every day to learn the latest fashion combinations.

"It's a little too gorgeous. Sally is very beautiful, but she won't take the initiative to show off such an aggressive outfit." Art Director Jian gave advice.

"Yes..." Meg Ryan agreed upon hearing this and put down the glasses again.

"Well..." Ronald looked at all this with a smile. The script for "When Harry Met Sally" has been written by Nora Ephron and Carrie Fisher, down to the scenes. This kind of movie is technically much simpler than "Top Gun" or "Working Girl." Once you find the right people and your own experience, shooting will go quickly.

The only thing Ronald is worried about is the performance ability of the two leading actors. This kind of movie does not have too strong dramatic conflicts. The audience must really like the two protagonists to watch it interestingly. This required a lot of improvisation and chemistry between the characters.

Now Ronald was very happy about the casting. A dream gave him a revelation, and he chose the most suitable candidate in one fell swoop. Meg Ryan is slowly becoming one with her character Sally. She is a gifted and good actor, and after observing the character prototype and screenwriter Nora Ephron several times, she captured Sally's picky and naive character very well.

While Ronald was discussing with the director of photography and art director to finalize the overall style of the film, he was also giving Meg Ryan occasional advice on choosing glasses.

"How about these?" Meg Ryan put on a pair of modernist-style titanium alloy glasses. The minimalist style makes her look like a female professional manager.

"Too plain, Sally will pay more attention to some popular tastes." Ronald shook his head. Sally is not the kind of steadfast woman who is independent, has her own aesthetic point of view, and is not swayed by popular trends. In short, Sally is a woman with more traditional values, not Polly Platt, not even Gale Hurd. She is the kind of woman who cries bitterly at home after receiving the news of her ex-boyfriend's marriage.

It's hard to say which kind of woman is better. Ronald just feels that in the current public perception, women like Sally are more accepted.

"Do you still have them here?" Meg Ryan spent an afternoon trying out all the stock in this optical store with the most styles in Hollywood.

Ronald had already finished discussing the business with the director of photography and art director, but Meg Ryan still hadn't picked out the right glasses.

Although it was Ronald's request to Meg Ryan to imitate screenwriter Nora Ephron, this is inevitably a bit exaggerated. He walked up to the boss and said, "Cheryl, can Meg try this on your face?"

"Oh, of course." Store owner Cheryl Schumann often cooperates with Hollywood, and many film crews come here to choose glasses. Not only does she have more than 600 pairs of eyewear styles in her own store, she also has a small warehouse in her home that collects popular styles from various periods in history. It is simply the eyewear museum of Hollywood.

"Isn't it good?" Ronald took a few steps back, looked at the art director Jane, and asked.

"Very nice, with a metal frame and trim at the corners. It's just right for Sally, a woman who reads in the library and still exudes a hint of fashion."

"This is the one, we both like it." Ronald decided for her.

"This is Roberttroche's classic style. I only have this pair. Meg, it looks really good on you."

The shopkeeper nodded in agreement, and Meg Ryan finally smiled and admired herself in the small mirror on the wall.

"Ronald!"

Ronald, who had started working intensively, was about to go home to rest and threw all the information to his assistant. At this time, a man in a suit and ties hurried over.

"Doug, why are you here?"

It was his friend Douglas Jr., who rarely cared about Ronald's film business, who suddenly appeared on the scene. Ronald was a little doubtful whether he wanted to exercise his shareholder rights, so he came over to look at the company's accounts and inspect the crew.

"I was entrusted by little George to come here to discuss matters with you." Little Doug and Meg Ryan nodded. They no longer had the energy to pursue female stars, so they pulled Ronald aside to whisper.

"What does this mean? Where do I have time to make some campaign ads for him now?"

The two returned to the hotel, and Douglas Jr. made his purpose clear. George Jr. wants to ask Ronald to go back and create another campaign ad for his father, just like his previous biography-style ad, which greatly increased support and helped George Sr. win the primary election. .

It turns out that in the past month, George Sr.'s support rate has continued to decline, and the Donkey Party candidate has gradually widened the gap by more than 10%. Analysts across the political spectrum began to predict George Sr.'s disastrous defeat.

Douglas Jr. also found a survey company and conducted an independent survey to confirm the authenticity of this number. George Sr.'s support rate in the whole country has been declining rapidly, and he still has a considerable advantage only in some die-hard Democratic states in the South.

However, this advantage is useless. California, which has the largest population, and New York are also the states with the largest number of electoral votes. In these states, George Sr.'s votes have been dangerously exceeded by Dukakis by 6%, which is the warning line. If it continues to decline, the election situation may become clear.

"Why is there such a big difference?" Ronald was mentally prepared for George Sr. to fall behind, but as long as he wins in several states with large populations, plus the iron vote states in the South, George Sr. still has a great chance of winning.

"It's still the same old problem. His personal charm is too bad. This is why George Jr. advised his mother Barbara that he hopes you can save his image."

"Ah..."

Ronald sighed. Originally, the campaign advertisement he shot for George Sr. was a carefully crafted image through his service in World War II, his later opening of an oil company, his involvement in politics, and his work in China and the CIA.

However, after George Sr. won the primary nomination, he appeared in the media too many times. The public gradually discovered that this person had no personal charm, spoke in a pretentious manner, and did not understand the lives of the public.

Voters who were spoiled by the current president, Ronald Sr., could not accept such a dull person as the president. He was not as good as Dukakis, at least he spoke in a coherent manner and did not feel good about himself inexplicably.

For example, recently, as a graduate of Yale University, George Sr. was still in a TV interview, mocking Dukakis's "foreign policy views were born in the boutique of Harvard Yard."

Political columnists of the "New York Times" and "Washington Post" began to laugh sharply, "George Sr. seemed to have forgotten that he graduated from Yale?"

Although later, George Sr. still argued that unlike Harvard, the source of Yale's classmates was "very scattered, without a symbol." Compared with Harvard's stereotyped elites, Yale has classmates from all backgrounds, and Yale graduates do not mean that he is from any class.

But how can the public know the subtle differences in Ivy League schools? To them, both schools are full of rich, fancy, pretentious, dangerous intellectuals who will not sit down to dinner in their underwear no matter how hot the weather is.

In short, ordinary voters feel that there is no essential difference between Dukakis, who graduated from Harvard, and George, who graduated from Yale. In this case, we might as well choose the one who looks better.

"What do you think? Is it possible that our investment will fail?" To be honest, Ronald began to worry. He and Doug Jr. have placed a heavy bet on George.

"It's too late to say this now." Douglas Jr. knows the game better than Ronald. They are not those big companies that can bet on both sides. They can only go all the way.

"However, we can't help George's campaign team. They are going to play some evil things now. I came here to discuss with you first. It's best not to get involved. After all, we are not in the election. And it's best to pull George Jr. to our side..."