Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Wonderful!"

After another day of filming, Ronald praised Whoopi Goldberg's performance. This week of filming repeated the same situation almost every day. Whoopi Goldberg filmed many good scenes, and Patrick Schwytz also accompanied her in many good scenes. However, after the samples came out, not many of them were usable in the end. .

Ronald's editor and sound effects design supervisor Walter Murch was also on hand, having been invited to see the scene.

As an experienced editor, Murch roughly knew during the shooting stage how likely it was that a certain line could be used in editing, and whether a few more lines were needed to ensure the smoothness of the finished film.

Shooting on location in a studio, it was not director Ronald or director of photography Adam Greenberg, but Walter Murch's words that ultimately decided whether a certain scene had been shot enough.

Ronald also had no choice. After a week of filming, Whoopi Goldberg basically ruled out the suspicion of being a big name. At best, she is a little bit addicted to acting. She likes to make new movies just to enjoy the filming.

This is probably because Whoopi is a stage performer, and she has also tried stand-up comedy. What these two types of theatrical performances have in common is that they need to emphasize on-the-spot performance.

A stage play performs the same play every time, and it can last from several months to several years. And stand-up comedy also basically has the same process in every show.

This creates a situation that drama directors are most afraid of: the actors are too familiar with the performance and do not have the natural reaction of drama.

Imagine that every day you play Shakespeare's Hamlet on stage, saying "To live or to die..." at the same time and in the same position every day.

Or telling the same joke every day in a theater, mocking the current commander-in-chief for not making any political statements unless he has an approval rating of 80%.

When it’s time to reach the climax and convey emotions to the audience, or when it’s time to hit the key point of laughter and make the audience burst into laughter, your performance seems to be too familiar and lacks explosiveness. Neither your co-stars nor the audience feel that way anymore.

This is also a problem that the performance system invented by Stanislavsky needs to solve.

As an excellent stage actress and comedian, Whoopi Goldberg's solution is also very classic, which is to rely heavily on live performance every time. If your lines and performances are different every time, then your opposite actors will not have the cliché expectations of you, and every performance will be full of surprises and very real.

But film acting doesn’t need to be that way. The biggest difference between movies and plays is that the audience only needs to see the best performance.

Therefore, the director hopes that the improvisational parts should be limited to a certain general range. It’s best if you only have small differences in lines and actions every time, and the rhythm is roughly the same.

But Whoopi Goldberg's performance had already taken shape, and after Ronald tried it a few times, he knew it couldn't be changed. For the sake of progress, Ronald no longer tried to correct other people's acting methods, but made mistakes and simply followed Whoopi's acting method.

"Isn't it just a few more?"

Anyway, Whoopi Goldberg's comedy talents are top-notch, and every time I watch her live, it's like watching a stand-up comedy show. Whoopi Goldberg acted happily, Ronald shot very fast, and the director of photography also shot with great sense... Why shouldn't this great director spend more film when filming?

When Ronald was shooting in the past, the amount of film used was never higher than that of some famous directors, which made it impossible for the director of photography to brag. This time he could finally brag.

"I shot Ronald Lee's "Ghost" and Whoopi Goldberg's scenes. Good guy, that's called a high level of shooting. The film went foot by foot, and the film boxes had to dry out many boxes in one afternoon.

guess what? As expected of a famous director and actor, his performances are different every time. I have been in the industry for so many years, and I have never seen such a cooperative and smooth crew.

It's different for famous directors. The editor sits directly on the set, and the first cut is almost completed before the film is sent to the lab..."

In the crew, there was only one person with a sad face, and that was the leading actor Patrick Schwytz. Before resting for the weekend, he took the time to find Ronald.

"I don't think I can act anymore, Ronald."

"Don't worry, Whoopi Goldberg's acting method is different from the traditional Hollywood one. It's not your problem..." Ronald patted the other party's shoulder. He had this kind of performance when acting against an actor who likes to improvise. Pressure, you don't know what she will say next.

"No...I feel like there's no rhythm anymore. The scene where Sam turns into a ghost after he dies, I find it very difficult to perform..."

Patrick Schwytz's biggest worry isn't playing opposite Whoopi Goldberg. In fact, although it was difficult for Whoopi to keep up with his rhythm, he could still cope with it because the opponent had enough energy and was mentally alert.

What he was most worried about was that after Sam turned into a ghost, his performance suddenly became unrivaled. Except for Whoopi Goldberg's psychic Odme, and a few supporting ghost characters, his performance was all excellent. No response.

In other words, his character can see other characters and hear other characters talking. But other characters can't see him or hear him speak.

Many times, Sam's ghost is a bystander.

"Today is the weekend, come to my house, let's have a good chat..." Ronald understood the difficulty of this kind of performance. After all, Patrick Schwytz is not a particularly top-notch actor. Such a performance without any response from his opponent put a lot of pressure on him.

…

"How was the filming of this movie compared to Dirty Dancing?"

At the hotel, Ronald, Diane, and Patrick Schwytz had dinner together. After finishing the specially prepared Japanese, Chinese, and Italian fusion dishes, Ronald and Schwyz went to another room to chat together.

"I feel good. You know I don't like to limit myself to the role of a skater or a dancer. This movie finally didn't let me do such a physically demanding thing."

Patrick Schweitz practiced ice hockey and ballet when he was young, and many crew members with characters with similar backgrounds especially liked to submit scripts to him.

And the Sam that Ronald asked him to play this time basically didn't have these side specialties and was completely an "orthodox" character, which he was very grateful for.

"I mean, during the filming, did you feel any different from other movies?" Ronald is an inspiring director, but Schwitz is sometimes not smart enough to know which direction he is leading. .

"It feels good. Most of my movies are very difficult. Such love scenes are a kind of enjoyment for me." After saying this, Patrick Schwytz glanced outside the door. His wife was having sex with him. Diane chats.

"Hi, Honey!" Lisa Niemi, Schwitz's wife, who was using dance moves to maintain her figure with Diane, saw her husband's head emerging from the door of the room and smiled and waved to him, "What's up? Something?"

"No, no, I..." Patrick Schwytz didn't expect his wife to be so alert, and he stopped making up lies at once.

"Diane, where do you put the videotape I prepared?" Ronald came to the rescue quickly and took over the conversation.

"Here..." Diane found it on the coffee table and threw it towards Ronald.

"Thank you... We still need to talk about some things in depth. If you feel bored, you can go

The two returned to the room, Ronald put the videotape into the machine, adjusted the remote control, and sat down with Schwytz.

Patrick Schwytz doesn't know why, why does he look like he was in an acting training class back then? He stared at the TV screen, where the logos of MGM and United Artists appeared.

Then along with rhythmic music, a red Ferrari appeared on the screen and was slowly lowered by a crane at the port.

"Have you seen it?" Ronald pointed to the TV.

"Rain Man? Of course, I watched it twice. Dustin Hoffman is really amazing." Patrick Schwytz thought Ronald was going to analyze the acting skills of twice-time Best Actor Hoffman for him.

"No, you want to watch Tom's show..."

After Ronald ended the first scene, he quickly fast-forwarded to the character played by Tom Cruise who inherited his father's inheritance, only to find that he had an autistic brother who received all the inheritance. Then he and his girlfriend planned a plot to abduct his brother and escape.

Patrick Schwytz stared at Cruise on the screen. When he was filming "The Kid", Tom was still his little brother. Why did Ronald ask him to learn his acting skills?

Looking left and right, Schwytz couldn't see how Tom Cruise's acting skills were any better than Dustin Hoffman's. He gradually lost his patience. In addition, he had some face issues, and his butt was on the sofa. Keep moving.

"Have you noticed? Tom's character is in a very similar situation to Sam after he became a ghost. He became an observer of the action rather than a participant. The main task became to draw the audience's attention to Hoffman The interest in that character continues to deepen.”

"Oh?" Schwytz's butt stopped making squeaking noises, and he gradually looked inside.

"It turns out that Sam, as a ghost, actually stands with the audience. His perspective is the audience's perspective. The audience hopes that he can elicit a response from Molly as soon as possible, making Molly believe in him and believe that Carl is the bad guy. Mo Li, don't agree to fall in love with him and fall into the hands of bad people..."

It lacks interaction with other main characters in the movie, but it can still make the audience sympathize. The secret lies in Tom Cruise's acting method, which mainly guides the audience's thoughts and emotions, allowing them to have a sense of "being anxious" with themselves. "The empathy, and the main interactive part was completed by Molly, Carl, and the psychic Odme.

And because Sam, the protagonist of "Ghost", will eventually resume communication with the psychic medium Odmee and Molly, the audience's final emotions will still have to be resolved through this character, and there will not be an obvious performance by Cruise in "Rain Man" The performance is very good, but the acting skills are not recognized.

"I think if you direct Rain Man, it will definitely be great..." Patrick Schwytz sighed after listening to some of Ronald's analysis and discussing some of Sam's acting techniques with him.

According to Ronald, the difficulty of Dustin Hoffman's performance is actually not to the point where he is certain to win the Best Actor.

"I told you, unless Tom plays that fool..."

…

On Monday morning, filming resumed.

"I said Pat, you are in great shape today, I have to step up...otherwise you will overwhelm me. Don't take away all the shots..."

Whoopi Goldberg is a person who likes to exaggerate and speak directly. She keenly discovered Schwitz's sudden progress.

When he was acting with him, he always seemed a little lacking in strength because he had no one to communicate with. But in the new scene, Schwitz's explosive power reached a new level, and he saw that his improvisation was gradually unable to suppress the other party.

Patrick Schwitz glanced at Ronald behind the camera and smiled.

"Aha, did Ronald teach you some secrets?" Whoopi Goldberg laughed happily and came to act coquettishly half-jokingly, "Director, I also want your individual tutoring, um..."

"..."Ronald didn't want to talk to an actor like Whoopi, maybe he would be fooled by her.

"Why, I'm so pitiful, the director doesn't want to flirt with me..." Whoopi Goldberg insisted on hugging Ronald, and then kissed him twice on the cheek exaggeratedly "um, ah... Bo, Bo..."

"Whoopi, is it okay?" Ronald was teased by her and had no choice but to let the other party do whatever she wanted.

"I didn't kiss enough. The handsome guys in the crew were either snatched away by Demi or we didn't get a chance," Whoopi pointed at Schwitz, making Demi Moore next to him laugh. "How about you give me a few more close-ups? I'm going to shoot a kissing scene with Demi soon."

"I'll arrange it..." Ronald knew that this black comedian had a very good sense of proportion and always made jokes that made the other party uncomfortable. He quickly agreed and stopped playing tricks.

"Uh..." It was Demi Moore's turn to be embarrassed.

Still in the apartment set of the studio, what was immediately filmed was the scene where Sam found the psychic Odeme and used the ability to move small objects learned from the ghosts in the subway to make the lucky coin float in the air, convincing Molly that Sam's ghost was at home.

Because the two separated too hastily and missed each other very much, Sam took advantage of Odeme's body and finally touched Molly through Odeme's body.

Because it was the upper body, from Sam's perspective, Patrick Schwitz hugged, touched and kissed Demi Moore. From Molly's perspective, she and Oddmey are reuniting with their past lovers.

So, this scene is a little special. When the script was written here, there were actually a lot of passionate scenes between Oddmey and Molly.

"A!"

The camera was aimed at Whoopi Goldberg sitting on the chair, and Patrick Schweitzer walked over from the side and made a move of possessing the body.

Ronald's three visual effects supervisors were all on the scene. They had to estimate the difficulty and estimated duration of such shooting and the visual effects of transforming into a ghost in the later stage. If it was not suitable, they could also propose a reshoot.

"Cut!" Ronald looked at Van Fleet and others, and the three of them nodded to indicate that there was no problem.

"Let's continue..."

Then Whoopi Goldberg was going to play Oddmey who was possessed by Sam.

She shuddered, then frowned, as if a ghost had regained her body and sense of touch, a little confused, a little excited...

Then she relaxed her frown, turned her head slightly, and between her eyebrows and eyes, there was actually a bit of Patrick Schweitzer's expression and charm.

"Tsk..." Ronald saw it clearly behind the camera, and he also had to admire that Whoopi Goldberg was indeed a good actor, but she liked to play tricks on her opponents, and sometimes even herself, which was a bit outrageous...

Demi Moore sat opposite her with her hands on her knees.

The camera was aimed at these hands, and then Whoopi Goldberg's hands with red nail polish on her ears also entered the picture and held Demi's hands with rings...

At first, the white hands seemed a little nervous and clasped together tightly. Then the black hands held them up and slowly separated the two hands.

Gradually, the black hands slowly stroked the white hands, and the owner of the white hands gradually calmed down.

Then the camera gradually moved up, from the palm, to the arm, and finally to the chest and neck, and finally fixed on a close-up of Demi Moore's face.

Molly had gone from nervous to calm at this time. She still had a lot to say to Sam and a lot of intimate things to do with Sam, but at this moment, time was very limited. She closed her eyes and found the image of her boyfriend Sam in her mind, imagining that the person opposite was not the short and fat black Odme, but the tall Sam.

"Cut!"

Ronald felt very good and called a halt.

"Hey, Ronald, why did you call a halt? My passionate scene with Demi is not over yet?" Whoopi Goldberg was dissatisfied and shouted at Ronald.

"The passionate scene exists in Molly's imagination, and your mission has been completed..."

"You are destroying the bridge after crossing the river..." Whoopi Goldberg knew that the director had returned her joke, and immediately pretended to be very disappointed and began to complain.

"I spent three days preparing for the scene with Demi. When I was practicing this scene, I didn't let my boyfriend enter the bedroom, otherwise I would feel sick if I opened my eyes and saw something other than Demi's face..."

"Hahaha..." Demi Moore knew Whoopi was joking and laughed so hard that she lay on the sofa and rubbed her belly.

"You can't blame me for this. If you want to blame someone, blame the MPAA. This is a PG-13 movie. You can't anger the rating staff..."

Ronald's words clearly implied that even if there were some passionate scenes, the MPAA would turn a blind eye, but for a fat black actress like you to be intimate with a beauty like Demi Moore on the screen, that would be too...

"Hahaha..." Whoopi Goldberg also laughed at herself, "I don't care, director, you have to give me more close-ups."

"Then we have to go to New York to shoot the exteriors, and you have room to play..."