Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The computer software version of the painting scene has achieved a small-scale trial success. A one-second shot was produced by the Noel brothers and painter Shang Shan of Industrial Light and Magic. Ronald and Joel Silver were very satisfied. They wrote another check and asked the special effects team to continue the experiment.

"Honey, with this kind of shooting, will we not have to spend a lot of money on the scene in the future?" Diane looked at the one-second shot that Ronald played repeatedly and said on Ronald's shoulder.

She was deeply impressed by the "waste" in the film industry. When filming "Raging Fire", director Walter Hill did not go to the Chicago subway to shoot, but built a subway station from scratch in the studio, which cost several million dollars. Because the roof of the studio leaked light when shooting the night scene during the day, a large tent was built outside the studio.

And the last song sung by Diane was re-shot due to copyright issues. The concert set that had just been dismantled was rebuilt again, wasting another million. No wonder he didn't get a chance to direct for several years after the box office of "Raging Fire".

In fact, stupid people can't survive in Hollywood. An experienced producer can tell whether the budget is spent in the right place. As long as he watches the sample film, he will know where the money is spent.

If you waste money and the box office is good, it is tolerable. If the box office is not good, then compared with those directors who are more honest with the budget and also fail at the box office, the latter will obviously get more extra opportunities.

"Maybe, I hope so, but the current technology cannot handle it well. I think it will take several years to develop." Ronald thought about it. When such scenery technology matures, all kinds of behaviors of embezzling filming funds by setting up scenery and setting will be suppressed by new technology.

"Dear, I auditioned with Richard Gere today. Director Penny Marshall said that our chemistry is good..." Diane turned the topic to the casting of "3000".

"Oh? Is it him?" Ronald remembered this handsome guy. Diane had played a couple with Richard Gere in "The Cotton Club" directed by Coppola before.

Ronald looked up at Diane, his eyes full of expectations that he would give her affirmation of her acting skills. The newlywed wife still cares about his evaluation of her career.

"I remember that Director Coppola really likes your performance. He specifically told me that your performance is outstanding. But you don't look good in that movie, you're a little fat." Ronald touched Diane's belly. At that time, she gained a lot of weight in order to play the plump figure of a female star in the 1920s.

"Well, you also said that you said that I was fat and looked like I was pregnant..." Diane thought of the past and gently hit Ronald a few times.

"Well", Ronald actually enjoyed it very much, but he has a good chemistry with Richard Gere? I don't like it very much.

"Are you jealous? Hahaha, I don't get along with him on the set, but we look more emotional in the camera." Diane smiled at Ronald.

The camera is a very magical machine. Some screen lovers actually have many contradictions and can't get along, but they are really a perfect match in the camera, and the audience loves them to death. Some real lovers have no feelings on the screen and look like a pair of passers-by.

For example, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, the leading actors of "Gone with the Wind" that fascinated a generation of audiences, had many conflicts during the filming. Gable even chewed garlic to tease the other party before filming the kissing scene.

"I was indeed jealous. I should have listened to Coppola at the time and gave up directing to become an actor, so that I could play a couple with you on the screen." Ronald began to tease Diane.

"Mr. Li, Mrs. Li, your dinner." The Chinese chef recommended by Ronald's personal accountant brought roast goose, barbecued pork and stir-fried vegetables. This young chef was a chef at a Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown, Los Angeles. He wanted to earn more money to open his own restaurant, so he agreed to apply for Ronald's chef.

He and another Italian chef recommended by Richard made delicious meals, which were very suitable for the appetite of the newlyweds. , It also took into account the diet needs of the actresses and was not easy to gain weight. Ronald, who was unable to choose, simply hired them together. Now he prepares meals every day and brings them to the hotel. After the new house is completed, they will have their own housing and kitchen in the big house.

…

"Honey, I have packed your luggage for you. Come back early..." The next morning, Diane, with red cheeks, had packed Ronald's clothes, and a suitcase was lying on the sofa.

"Thank you, honey." Ronald smiled and kissed Diane, and then Diane kissed his cheek back. This traditional American family warmth is very useful to both of them. Especially Diane, whose parents divorced a few weeks after she was born. She and Ronald are actually similar, and they both long for a peaceful family life.

Today Diane is going to the crew to continue auditioning, and Ronald is going to South Dakota. There are problems with the filming of "Dances with Wolves". Senior producer Polly Pratt also called for help.

The filming of some hunting scenes encountered protests from animal protection organizations, and local police encountered reports every now and then, saying that the crew abused animals. They seemed to know that Ronald was a producer, so they refused to reconcile and insisted that Ronald come out to talk to them, as if they wanted to use this project to make their organization famous.

Ronald had to go no matter what, otherwise the filming would be delayed and the wasted production costs would be astronomical.

Little Bud and bodyguard Dan were already waiting outside the door. They looked at the lipstick marks on Ronald's face and couldn't help laughing. In the end, Bud handed him a tissue and wiped it clean with the small mirror on the back seat.

"Yes, this is Ronald's phone number. What's your name?" The car arrived at the airport. Richard was already waiting in the waiting room. Just when everyone was about to get on the plane, they received a call from a woman.

"It's Cindy Crawford... She wants to talk to you." Richard whispered in Ronald's ear.

"Doesn't she know I just got married?" Ronald glanced at Richard. Later, when he held a few private parties, Crawford declined Ronald's invitation. Only another model, Christy Turlington, came every time. Why did she come to the door again now?

"I think it's not what you think. She said she wants to talk to you about your new project."

"Oh," Ronald answered the phone, not expecting to overestimate his charm, "It's me, Ronald."

"Congratulations on your wedding, Ronald." Cindy Crawford stuttered on the phone and congratulated Ronald first.

"Thank you, you are looking for me..."

"I want to confirm with you, is your new wife going to act in a romantic movie with Richard Gere?"

"Yes...", Ronald thought to himself, do you still want to compete for the leading actress or what? Unfortunately, it's too late...

"I have a request. Can you... Can you not choose Richard as the male lead? If you really have to choose him, can you allow me to visit the crew frequently when it's convenient?"

"No, why did you come? Are you and Richard?"

"Yes, he is my boyfriend, and we have been dating secretly for a while..." Cindy Crawford straightened her chest on the other end of the phone. Her charm is very reliable. In order to win the status of Richard Gere's official girlfriend, she defeated actress Kim Basinger, singer Elvis' daughter Priscilla Presley, veteran actress Barbra Streisand, Columbia executive Dawn Steele, and fellow models Tianna Zhou and Laura Bailey... and countless unknown beauties.

But a male star like Richard Gere is like a bull in heat in Hollywood and the modeling industry. She still has to deal with those actresses and models who pounce on her every day. Moreover, Richard Gere has not yet made their special relationship public, which is really a headache.

"Oh, come on, as long as it doesn't affect the filming. I say, you really care about your boyfriend?"

"You don't know Richard, every time he shoots a scene, he will have sex with the actress... You know what I mean, I have to go to the set to watch him..." Cindy Crawford thought, it's because you, a good asset, don't want to develop a special relationship with me, so I have to fall in love with male stars and keep fighting with those women.

"Damn, does Richard Gere get horny every time he's on the set?" Ronald put down the phone and remembered that Diane was going to act with him, and he felt uncomfortable, "Why did my girlfriend call me?"

"In fact, he may not be the best candidate for the male lead..." Richard crossed out Richard Gere's name in his heart, and he could exert some influence on the crew. As an agent, he had to help with some things that Ronald was not convenient to say and do...

...

When he arrived at the filming location of "Dances with Wolves" in South Dakota, Ronald first went to discuss with Polly Pratt and took a look at the sample film.

"Kevin (Costner) lacks experience, but he is indeed a director who is determined to make a good movie. You can see his efforts and the speed of his progress by looking at these shots." Polly has a good impression of Costner.

She pointed to a shot at the beginning of the film shot by Kevin Costner and explained to Ronald. It was a scene that explained the background of Lieutenant Dunbar (who was later named Dances with Wolves by the Indian Dakota tribe).

In the decisive battle of the Civil War, Lieutenant Dunbar thought he was going to die, so he opened his heart, closed his eyes and rode towards the enemy position. The enemy's line infantry concentrated their fire, but none of them hit him who was galloping on his horse.

Inspired by this miracle, the Northern Army followed and charged behind, defeated the Southern Army and won the victory.

In order to show this fearlessness and the personality characteristics of Lieutenant Dunbar, Kevin Costner actually closed his eyes on the horse and let the warhorse take him to gallop. Although the horse was very docile, the danger of shooting like this was still very high.

Ronald watched until the end, when the props staff yelled at Costner to prevent the horse from rushing towards the fence in the Confederate set.

"Be careful..." Ronald knew that actors who filmed westerns were often good at horsemanship and could usually control the horses in this situation, but he still had to give a few words of advice.

"What's the matter with the animal protection organization?" Ronald still asked the most critical question.

"It seems that someone informed on us, so these people from the animal protection organization came to South Dakota and targeted our crew from the beginning." Pratt frowned when talking about this. Generally, when filming in such a rural place, the union rarely comes, so how could he provoke these people?

"I will find someone to investigate..." Ronald frowned. There was no problem with the leak last time, and this time he was targeted again. Private detectives really can't find any problems using conventional methods. Do they really need to upgrade to some unconventional methods?

"What are their demands?" Ronald asked again, and he was willing to talk to someone, which showed that the demands were within the scope that could be solved with money.

…

"This is our association's protest letter, which contains our main demands..." When people from the Animal Protection Association met with Ronald, Costner, Platt and others, they handed over the copied text.

"Protect wild wolf actors..." The first thing Ronald saw was to protect wolves. The title Dances with Wolves actually refers to the Dakota name of Lieutenant Dunbar, played by Costner, because he was seen by the Sioux people often with a gray wolf with two white front legs (Dunbar named it called two socks) together.

"There were actually two wolves we photographed, one named Buck and one named Teddy. We took good care of them." Costner sighed. This group of people really came to stir things up every day. Holding banners and shouting loudly to protest against the filming. It caused problems with on-site recording.

Moreover, their appeal to protect animals is very popular with women and children. Most people dare not deal with them forcefully, otherwise politicians will support them in order to get votes. If they become news on national television, it will be even more difficult to film.

"But if you take good care of them while filming, you are actually destroying their wolf nature. After the filming is completed, these wolves that are familiar with human feeding are not suitable to return to the wild. This pair of animals is inhumane..."

"Shouldn't it be called the Way of the Beast?" Ronald complained in his mind. He didn't dare to confront him head-on. If his protest was on TV, he would have to stop work, and then the money would be wasted. "What suggestions do you have?"

"We suggest that after filming, let them live in a safe ecological environment built by humans, so that they can maintain their ability to survive in the wild without being hunted by people with ill intentions..."

"Is there such a place?", Ronald asked Richard.

"There is actually a wildlife park in California that can foster such strange animals." Richard quickly added that he had already done his homework.

"Is this okay?" Ronald received the other party's approval, "The next topic..."

"Horses cannot be abused or injured during filming...I noticed that you have a lot of galloping performances, which is a kind of harm to the horses..."

The so-called galloping means riding a bareback horse without a saddle. This is the way the Dakota Sioux were accustomed to riding horses. Indians in classic western movies, especially the bad Indians, such as the Apaches, are often shown in scenes that highlight their ferocity!

"But this is a cultural heritage of the Dakota Sioux... We are trying to show the real way of life of the Indians. They are not the inherently bad guys in traditional Hollywood movies, but have their own way of life and their own Aboriginal civilization with unique culture..."

Ronald also has a way to deal with them. "Dances with Wolves" employs many real descendants of the Dakota Sioux Indians. In the name of protecting their own culture, these people have cordial and friendly conversations with people from animal protection organizations. got up.

"Okay, you can keep the riding shots, but the number of shots per day must be limited. Not putting a saddle on the horse is a kind of destruction to the horse. We need to have representatives on the set to prevent animal cruelty from happening."

In the end, the two sides stopped yelling and discussed a solution. Ronald sighed with relief and agreed. It's just a matter of shooting less scenes every day. Costner's progress is not fast anyway. Fortunately, Platt had experience and had brought in the current deputy chief of the Sioux to argue with them.

"Finally, we prohibit you from filming bison hunts..."

The last request was the most difficult to handle. This group of animal protection groups proposed that real bison hunting scenes should not be filmed.

"Although the American bison is a legally protected animal, our bison provider is a wealthy man who breeds bison to restore the bison population. He has a legal slaughter quota every year. We all follow the law."

Ronald thought that there was no room for concession. In the script, Lieutenant Dunbar was finally accepted by the Indian tribe and truly became a "Dances with Wolves" because he notified the tribe of the arrival of the buffalo herd and together they killed countless people. Bison, as food for the winter.

This is one of the most important shots in the narrative, and it was impossible not to take it. This demand cannot be compromised.

"Slaughter quotas are a barbaric way to take away the power of animal life. This is an evil law. We are working hard to overturn it..."

"But he's still legal now, isn't he?"

Ronald thought to himself that America is a legal society, and it is not illegal for you to break the law.

"However, the quota stipulates that these bison be killed in a humane way, not the unnecessary and inhumane way you used. Chasing them savagely, waiting for them to be exhausted and unable to escape, and then killing them alive. , while the bison are still alive, cut off their livers and eat them alive..."

"Sorry, this is the traditional culture of our Sioux people..."

"This is barbaric... I think many TV viewers will be very disappointed with this kind of filming."

"Is there nothing to talk about?" Ronald was furious. How did the details of the script get known to people from these animal protection organizations? Is there a mole in the crew, or is it?

Costner also joined the fray and debated with animal rights advocates. But this is of no use at all. They just insist that this shooting method is too cruel. You can use some fake beef instead of real bison.

However, the most important thing about this shot is that it is done in one go. Through a natural perspective, it reflects the grand hunting scene of the Sioux people and the way the women prepared food for the winter. The Sioux used to portray the Sioux are not the scalping bad guys like the Apaches, but a civilized race like the Americans who have cultural traditions, love their families, and take care of the elderly and children.

Ronald calmed down during everyone's "heated" discussion and thought about what was really important.

He left for now and went to another room to make a call to Cameron.

"Yes, a mechanical device like a bison that can be controlled through electronic circuits, allowing the bison's limbs and head to rotate naturally...

Yes, different equipment can be used for close-ups and medium shots... Um, okay, thank you, how much do you estimate it will cost? How long does it take to be ready and delivered? "

"Stop arguing, shut up..." Ronald came back and yelled, "I decided not to use a real bison to shoot this scene. I will customize a fake mechanical bison from Hollywood and use this model when the time comes. Filming the scene of falling to the ground and dying..."

"But, Ronald," Costner said when he heard that he was going to use a model, he was worried that it wouldn't look real.

"Don't argue. I'm looking for the best special effects model expert. He could make a mechanical device like a human arm in the Terminator a few years ago."

"In addition, we have to shoot the scene of the buffalo herd running..."

"But, Mr. Li, this is also a kind of persecution of wild animals..."

"Shut up, too. The purpose of raising bison is to let them run, otherwise the bison will get sick due to lack of exercise... This is my biggest bottom line, don't stop... OK?"

Finally, the two parties reached an agreement on animal protection. The association sent two observers to the crew, and the crew also provided them with food and permission, because there was really no place to eat in this rural ghost place except for the crew.

"Ronald, thanks to you..." Kevin Costner was finally able to shoot the way he wanted.

"Let me tell you the truth, Kevin. This mechanical model will cost me another three hundred thousand dollars to manufacture, and then it will cost me tens of thousands more to ship it over and find someone to debug and operate it on site, plus these bullshit animal protection organizations , the buffalo herd running, and the galloping shots, all the animals have to be given enough rest time. This movie is like a budget black hole. Every time I think it’s almost enough, all kinds of problems come up. I pay.

It's best not to put me through this again, and my wallet isn't a bottomless pit. "

Costner nodded vigorously and burst into tears for Ronald's support, "This will definitely be an epic movie."

"It'd better be a fucking epic movie that's a blockbuster and doesn't lose money..." Ronald also yelled "God bless you."