Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Thank you, Professor Summers. Harvard has agreed to our filming plan, which takes twice as long as the usual filming time, and has opened the conference room for us to shoot. In this way, those Harvard graduates can see that we are shooting on location."

"It's a small matter. Your male lead this time is a Harvard graduate, and he is an orphan who received a scholarship and worked to complete his university studies. Students with this background are the pride of our Harvard. Let everyone know that as long as you are good enough, Harvard will open the door to you."

At the beginning of "Sugar Coated Trap", Mitch, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has to work here while attending interviews at major law firms. If it can be shot inside Harvard, it will be a very interesting breakthrough. Most of the previous movies just shot Harvard buildings, and then edited them to give the audience a meaning.

"By the way, is this student our economics student?" Summers, who now works at the World Bank, still has a lot of feelings for the economics department where he used to work.

"Ha, no, it's from the law school."

"Daxn, it's the same group of law school students again, can't you make a story about economics students?"

"Hey, that's not a sweet love story. The protagonist Mitch encountered a lot of bad things afterwards and almost lost his life."

"That's more like it, hahaha..."

There are still many contempt chains among Harvard people, especially economics and law, both of which publish well-known professional magazines in the industry, but the law school's library and swimming pool are better than other departments, and it is not open to other departments. Students always have a sense of pride...

"Professor Summers seems very happy?" Tom Cruise sat next to him, and next to him was Bridget Fonda, who played his wife, and then there was a row of actors sitting around a long table. They were going to read the script.

"I didn't tell him all the facts. If he knew that law school students could get an annual salary of $96,000 after graduation and his wife was Bridget Fonda, he would revoke my filming permit overnight."

"Hahaha..."

The actors at the table laughed so hard that they fell backwards.

This movie is about lawyers. Unlike the military lawyers in Tom Cruise's previous film "A Few Good Men", civilian lawyers need to be more proficient in various legal terms and cases, and be more reasonable and logical.

So the actors need to learn to understand the various legal terms that appear in the script, and the jokes they bring. Because there are a lot of jokes made up of legal terms in the lines, for example, Ronald joked about the oaths sworn by witnesses in court...

"Oh, really... I'm starting to like this project..."

The speaker is actor Ed Harris. He didn't like to act in such a purely commercial movie, but Tom Cruise was his friend. At his insistence, Harris also agreed to join the crew for the sake of pay and friendship. However, the tradition of script reading made him feel that Ronald was a director who was very serious about drama and performance, not the kind of casual commercial film director, which made him unexpectedly happy.

Generally speaking, script reading is not carried out for every commercial film. Especially for such a large production, many participating stars may not come to participate in the reading with a small role, so there will be a lack of emotional scale when performing.

Ed Harris also met Ronald on the set of "The Abyss" and knew that he was a good friend of Cameron. At first, he was afraid that he would be a director who would torture the actors like Cameron. Unexpectedly, during the reading, everyone was in a relaxed atmosphere and could talk about each other's lines frankly. The atmosphere was more like a Broadway or West End stage director in London.

Especially Holly Hunter, who didn't have many roles in the play, was invited to participate in the script reading and participated very seriously, which made Harris feel that this movie might become a classic.

"Of course you should think so. Ronald is best at getting actors to win awards..." Holly Hunter said bluntly that she came here because her character in the script was very distinctive.

After chatting for a while, everyone resumed the reading.

"Oh, you have to go, my husband is coming back." The lines spoken by Bridget Fonda are a little fun between husband and wife.

"Let him die. Come and see. General Tso's Chicken, Shredded Pork with Fish Flavor, and Spicy Shredded Potatoes, and a bottle of corked wine..." Tom Cruise read out the takeout menu, all typical Chinese food.

"What's the good news?"

"Do you remember the job in Memphis?"

"Stop..."

Ronald found something wrong, and he encouraged everyone to interrupt and raise any questions on the spot. The main purpose was to observe the actors' understanding of the script and whether there were any improvisations. But it was the first time he interrupted the reading.

"What's wrong? Is there anything wrong with me?" Tom Cruise showed a confused expression. This time working with Ronald was completely different from the last time, and his requirements for acting were much higher.

"Well..." Ronald did feel that Tom's lines had a big problem, but he hadn't fully figured out the root of the problem, so he changed the reason.

"No, there's something wrong with the writing of this line. Who would buy General Tso's Chicken and Spicy Shredded Potatoes as a dish to celebrate with his wife? Haven't these people ever eaten good Chinese food?"

"Um?" Female celebrities are very concerned about their figures. They don't eat much Chinese food, so they can't tell. Several male celebrities didn't have much research on Chinese food. All of a sudden, everyone stared at Ronald, hoping that he would make some sense.

"These dishes are very common. Mitchell has earned more than 20% of the annual salary of other students, so of course he has to buy something good to celebrate. So, let's change it to Mushu Pork, Sichuan-style beef, and roast duck, and buy it from Wangji Restaurant of……"

Ronald immediately revealed a few of his favorite dishes. Seeing that everyone was still looking at him with puzzled expressions, he smiled and said, "I'll ask someone to order some. You can eat it for lunch and see how it tastes..."

…

"Hmm...it's delicious..."

Several male celebrities enjoyed eating it, and the actress was not afraid of getting fat after taking a few bites. These dishes are not those bad street Chinese food, they are in line with the taste of white people, they are unique and not too greasy.

"This is good stuff. The Chinese food we used to eat was nothing like that..."

Several Jews had memories of eating Chinese food, but Wang Ji was the chef hired from Xiangjiang after all, and every vegetable was cooked very deliciously without any residue. Everyone agrees that Ronald is the gourmet master of Chinese food.

"Is there something wrong with my performance?" After eating the takeaway, Tom Cruise found a time when no one was around to discuss it privately with Ronald.

"It's not a big problem, it's just, can you dial down your performance energy a little bit?" Ronald said the truth when he saw that Tom Cruise was still studying acting like before.

"Why?" Cruise's eyebrows raised, this statement surprised him. Whether you are a Methodist or a non-Methodist, they all pay attention to the mobilization of emotions. If you cannot mobilize your own emotions, how can you move your opponent's actors and how can you move the audience?

"What are the movies in which you were satisfied with your performance?" Ronald didn't answer, but asked a question.

"The Color of Money, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, There Are Few Good Men I have a good feeling about, although I haven't seen the finished film yet."

When Ronald heard this, it turned out to be exactly what he expected. The only movies that Tom Cruise feels satisfied with his performances are those in which he collaborated with big directors and had heavyweight male stars co-starring with him.

Although Born on the Fourth of July is mainly a one-man show, it is not a commercial film in the usual sense. The protagonist does not have a happy ending that commercial film audiences love to see.

"Is there any problem?" When Tom Cruise saw Ronald specifically mentioning these movies, he thought, could it be that the secret of not being nominated for an Oscar was in Ronald's heart?

"Actually, in these movies, you don't play the leading male role in the absolute sense. There are actually subtle and subtle differences between the leading role and the supporting role. And it's impossible for you to play any supporting role again..."

"This..." Tom Cruise vaguely felt that what Ronald was talking about was the shortcoming he lacked the most. But I couldn't express the things I felt, and I just lacked the guidance of a master.

"Have you seen Jimmy Stewart's Tigers and Dragons? His acting style is different from John Wayne's. Many people think that Jimmy Stewart is one of the top five male stars in Hollywood, but there are also Many people think that he doesn't have very good acting skills... You can look for some of his movies to watch.

That kind of role of an ordinary person is the most difficult to play. This Mitchell, although his status as a graduate of Harvard Law School is not something that everyone can achieve, working on his own to earn money to pay for living expenses and encountering a bad boss after graduation is something that every moviegoer in America will encounter. You need to strengthen this aspect..."

Ronald expressed his observation that Tom Cruise has a tendency to perform deliberately. I don't know if it was instilled in him by a famous director or a habit formed in his own performance experience. Nowadays, this movie is not a comic-style high-concept movie like Top Gun, and it requires more delicate and layered acting skills.

"What should I do?" Tom Cruise felt that the problem pointed out by Ronald was not the kind of solution to achieve the goal of a movie. It is a guiding opinion for his entire acting career.

He himself also discovered some problems, but due to his current status, neither the people around him nor the director would speak out so bluntly.

"Look for a few Stewart movies, especially those key moments of emotional transformation. His acting method is different from ordinary people. If you think more and experiment more, you will be able to find the feeling when filming. Already..."

Feeling that he might have a breakthrough in his acting career, Tom Cruise excitedly called Paula and asked Paula to get him all the Jimmy Stewart movies...

“John, I love the saturation and tone in your films like Witness, Rain Man, and God’s Children…”

Ronald turned around and chatted about professional matters with John Seale, the director of photography whom he hoped to work with. John Seale is a relatively versatile photographer in Hollywood. Ronald just needed the kind of photography tone and temperament required for typical drama films, so he simply invited the photography directors of several movies he admired to talk about it.

The two hit it off immediately and talked about the photography of many movies and felt that they had the same feelings. So John Seale became the director of photography for "Sugar-Coated Trap."

"Which one do you like better?" John Seale wanted to watch the three movies he liked with Ronald, slowly find out what Ronald liked, and then try to understand the effect he wanted to achieve.

"I think it should be between Rain Man and The Witness, Harvard's New England style of low-key and yuppie, and the conservative and close relationship between people in the southern society of The Witness..."

What Ronald wanted was to use different photography styles to show the contrast between Harvard and Memphis, such as prosperity and calmness, progress and conservatism, order and illegality...

"I think I understand what you mean. We still have to watch those movies you like again."

"Very good, I'll find time to borrow the copy, this afternoon? Not today, I have other things to do, there is an advertisement for me to shoot... You want to come too, sure, how about you shoot it for me? Hahaha..."

...

Daydream set up the scene, a Pepsi vending machine under a billboard on a hot summer day. John Seale immediately understood the effect Ronald wanted. He gave the photographer a few pointers and immediately gained the respect and recognition of the photography team.

In the grass and dust blown by the fill light and the fan, Cindy Crawford wore a small white vest on her upper body.

Her hair was deliberately messed up, as if the beauty had just taken a nap and walked into the vending machine lazily.

In the close-up, the thin hair gave off a kind of luster in the sun, as if you could feel the tingling feeling brought by the golden hair brushing against your face on a hot afternoon. It seemed that you could smell the smell of grass stems and dust mixed in your nose...

"Cut!"

...

"Just as I thought, this kind of denim shorts is really very tight..." In the evening, Ronald finished shooting, and Cindy Crawford came to his room again, deliberately put on the clothes, and hugged Ronald tightly.

The denim shorts were in the wrong direction, the small vest was pulled out, and a strong perfume mixed with a little hormone got into Ronald's nose.

"You're only going to shoot for this afternoon?" Cindy Crawford took a shower and washed off the sweat after exercise. A feeling of relaxation after repeated aerobic exercise and anaerobic sprint made her body and mind very happy.

"I'll only shoot this part. Let others shoot the two children's shots. We can edit them together later." Ronald hugged Cindy Crawford. The fresh smell after the bath was another style.

"I know you want to see me..." Cindy Crawford laughed, "I heard that the two boys are still parents. Will they be disappointed?"

"Of course, even if they are children, as long as they are not blind, they can't ignore your charm... But those two children are too pitiful. They can't see you as a supermodel..."

"Hahaha..." Cindy Crawford laughed. She would give them two autographed photos as gifts later...

The most important thing now is to take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the short-term pleasure. A top model like herself is more suitable for a man like Ronald, unlike some stars who are just for show.