Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The absurd comedy "Lights Out," starring Timothy Hutton and Tom Cruise, in which military cadets resist real estate developers demolishing their houses, has completed editing of the entire film and has begun internal previews.

Based on feedback from test screenings, 20th Century Fox does not have much confidence in its box office prospects and does not want to compete with big productions such as "ET" and "Rocky 3" for next year's summer slots.

President Shirley Lansing took the initiative and scheduled the production with a budget of 14 million for the Christmas period at the end of the year, urging the director to make a second revision based on audience feedback.

"Texas", which is invested by Disney and produced by Zinnemann, has been filmed in Tulsa, a rural town in Oklahoma and the hometown of the original author SE Hinton.

Disney expects the film to receive a PG rating due to the scene of heroine Meg Tilly getting up in low-cut pajamas, some strong language, and the suspect's use of a gun after escaping from prison.

This is in great conflict with Disney's principle of always being G-rated and attracting children to watch. Disney's president, Ron Miller, spent a lot of energy to suppress the opposition of a group of veteran officials and insisted on releasing the film.

However, as he took charge of Disney as a son-in-law, he had to make certain compromises with the conservatives led by Roy Disney Jr., his wife's cousin. "The Texas Man" does not use the Disney logo in the title, but uses the publisher's brand "Buena Vista".

Ron Miller decided to make this movie, which was later increased to a production cost of 6 million, as a test of the transformation direction of Disney's youth live-action movies, and put it on the big screen in July at the end of next summer's season.

"Grease 2," Paramount's teen movie and sequel to the hit musical, is a mess. Director Patricia Birch lacked experience and put her own people in the production.

Those with power competed for the leading and supporting roles, and those without power could also join in a few singing and dancing groups. Casting meetings were held every day with great excitement.

Except for the heroine Birch, who has already settled on Michelle Pfeiffer, the selection of male protagonists has already been fiercely contested. Birch almost lost control of the show, and as the show was about to begin operations, the two producers were still arguing over the male lead.

The script began to be further revised to accommodate different candidates for the male lead. If this chaos continues, the script may not be finalized when filming starts in November. Director Birch's hair has turned gray.

Universal Pictures' teen movie "Fast Richmond High" was a small $3 million production. Including the all-American burger brought in by the young director and the sponsorship of Vans canvas shoes, the production budget is exactly 3.1 million.

Assistant director Albert came to the production office to meet Ronald, the young and over-the-top director. The director chose him over him and two other candidates, which was a bittersweet experience for him.

Albert had just entered the industry not long ago. Because of his serious and responsible work, he once served as the first assistant director in "Urban Cowherd". The movie was a box office hit and he got more job opportunities.

The job of the first assistant director is to help the director manage all personnel and processes on the set, allowing the director to focus on directing the performance. Whether the box office is good or not has little to do with him.

However, Albert's next three films all failed at the box office. Albert had no long-term director. Others thought he was unlucky and could not find a good job for a while.

It happened that Universal's small production was recruiting people, and the director chose him. He had a job and could support his family. But he is also afraid that the film will fail to be released, which will have a worse negative impact on his resume and cause problems for his future work.

"Hi, Al. The director is losing his temper with the producer." The person calling him was Matthew, the crew's director of photography, and the two were familiar with each other before.

"Go to the office and wait, Ronald is waiting for you." Matthew reminded him and walked out.

Al added another layer of worry. Not only was this director young, but it was his first time making a film. If he got angry with the producer Lin Sen... he was recommended by Lin Sen.

Many studios will provide young people who become directors for the first time with an experienced first assistant director to help them get started smoothly. But this Ronald Lee...why did he have a conflict with the producer before filming started?

He knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Al pushed open the door and heard Ronald talking loudly to producer Lin Sen.

"It's not fair, why do we have Dolly Parton product placement for her movie in the movie and she doesn't have product placement for us?"

Lin Sen chuckled, he was used to Ronald's fussy style.

"e on, Ronnie. Our 'Quick' is a period drama and it's not normal to have a poster of the protagonists in front of the movie theater where they work. Dolly Parton's 'Best Chicken Room in Texas' It’s a period drama, how can we insert a story that takes place in the present?”

"Fair, fair, Mr. Linsen. They can't just instruct us to do that for free just because Ms. Mona from Texas got a budget of 30 million." Ronald replied.

Ms. Mona is Dolly Parton's character in the movie, and she runs a chicken room with many beauties.

He met Dolly Parton at an Oscars party, not that he had any problem with her personally.

"Okay, I'll go talk to the old guys and ask their theaters to add some trailers for us. But you can't expect too much."

"I know. It's better to have something than nothing." Ronald knew that he had a small production of 3.1 million, and there was no room for equal exchange with the other party.

"Ahem..." The first assistant director Al cleared his throat.

"Oh, Al, you're here. I just gave you the finalized script. You can start breaking down the script next Monday." Ronald handed over a completely white copy of the script. If the script needs to be revised in the future, the white paper of the revised part will be changed to blue and other colors.

All these trivial matters are handled by Al, the first assistant director, and his assistant director team. Usually, a woman will be assigned to the second assistant director for this kind of delicate document sorting.

Al took the script, which had the title "Fast-paced Richmond High School" written on it, and a line of small words on the lower right corner, the final draft.

He let out a long sigh.

He didn't recognize the capable person in front of him. Many new directors, even big directors, have made this mistake. The delay in finalizing the script made other departments of the crew, such as costumes, scenery, lighting, photography, etc., unable to work, and it became a mess after the start of the filming.

Ronald was very organized. He finalized the script at the first meeting, and other people freed up their working time. In fact, the finalized script could be revised later. He and the producer were not arguing, but fighting for the interests that the crew deserved.

This was not a novice director asking him for help. Isn't this just a replica of the urban legend circulating within Universal?

When Spielberg directed for the first time, a novice director in his 20s acted like a veteran director.

Ronald saw Al flipping through the script and added, "Next Monday is the countdown to the start of the four weeks. You should first find the assistant director team and try to use experienced people who have worked with you.

Then start to break down the script and make a shooting schedule. I will take you to the set office first, then the costumes, and props. Finally, my office, which is very big. You will work with me there."

Ronald walked out of the producer's office with Al. The crew was gradually taking shape, and the original preparation office was no longer sufficient and became the accounting department. Now that the number of people is increasing, Universal has allocated a lot of new offices for the crew to use.

Al followed Ronald through the sets, props, and costumes. Ronald was familiar with the people in charge, especially the costume department. He even picked out two pictures of sweaters for the protagonist Stacey and asked them to make them.

This made Al think highly of Ronald. Many directors who come from fine arts backgrounds, such as David Lynch, spend the whole day with costumes, constantly selecting and making exquisite costumes. His new title, Chief Costume Designer, has spread in Hollywood.

Another type of director who focuses on performances, did not meet with the costume department when the filming started. When the filming started, they were not satisfied with the costumes, but could not change them immediately, which was very troublesome.

"This is Cameron Crowe, this is Al, our first assistant director. He will be in place next Monday." Ronald finally led Al to the office where the screenwriter and director worked.

Al looked at his desk, which was the largest. It seems that Ronald is not a director who only pays attention to the hierarchy of the set, and he is flexible. The assistant director team has a lot of paperwork, and it is very convenient to have a large desk to spread out the papers and sort them slowly.

He said goodbye and left. It must be comfortable to work in such a crew. Although the budget is not high, the boss is knowledgeable and all departments prepare early, so the shooting can be orderly and fast.

However, this type of director may be less artistically creative. Spielberg is a special case after all. But why think so much? Can you expect to win an award for an exploitation film with a budget of 3.1 million?

Ronald sent Al out and turned to Cameron Crowe and said, "The producer has given us a job to insert an advertisement for Dolly Parton's new film in the movie theater scene at the beginning of the film. Think about it."

"Is it that nerdy 'rat' Mark, who works as a ticket checker in the movie theater? Then let them take out a poster and we can put it next to Mark's ticket checker."

"Add some material, we have to be more serious, how about adding a line to Mark's friend Mike, the scalper? Just like this..." Ronald thought of an idea for Crowe.

"Hahaha...you really have a sense of humor." Crowe laughed and started typing on the typewriter.

"I've always been a little curious. The countdown to the start of filming will begin soon. Aren't you nervous?" Crowe asked while typing.

"I'm not nervous. I'm very excited. I can finally realize my dream. Cameron, you will experience this when you become a director in the future."

Fourth week to go...

First Assistant Director Al finished the script analysis and took out the preliminary shooting schedule to discuss with Ronald.

"There are two nude scenes here. Have the contracts been processed?" Al reminded the director.

"Yes, the actors are all adults and have signed the consent form. We informed them at the beginning of the audition, and the actors' union has checked it."

"There are two children's scenes on the first day of filming. Do you need to postpone them for two days? After all, children's scenes are difficult to direct."

Ronald took the shooting plan and read it. Al's reminder was necessary. Hollywood legend says that children, animals, and water are the three most feared shooting subjects for directors. Their common feature is that they are disobedient.

It is often easy to waste time and delay the shooting process. This makes it easy for associate producer Heckerlin to catch them.

But he flipped through the shooting schedule and shook his head, "I have no choice. The mall scenes have to wait until the mall closes at 9 pm to shoot the night scenes. The shooting schedule after that is very full, and the children have union regulations and cannot shoot too late. It will be against the rules after 11 pm.

We only have a relatively empty schedule on the first day, which can give them enough time to make mistakes."

After all, the budget is too small, and it is impossible to build the scene to shoot the mall interior scenes by ourselves.

The third week from the end...

The first assistant director Al and Ronald came to Sherman Oaks again. This week, according to the shooting schedule, we have to check the shooting scenes one by one, and work with the art director and the director of photography to ensure that each scene can be shot as expected.

"We will find a way to hide the lights here, consistent with the lighting system inside the mall, so that it can illuminate the scene without looking like a real mall." The photographer knew that Matthew took Ronald to see the lighting arrangement.

"The first week of shooting will be in normal tones, showing the way the human eye sees it on the film. Then when you switch to shoot other scenes, I will be here to watch and decorate the mall to look like Christmas. When you come back, we will shoot another week of Christmas scenes."

"Does the mall agree?"

"They are very happy that they can save the cost of decorating for Christmas. Anyway, it will be Christmas almost when we finish shooting."

"Very good..."

The third week to go...

Ronald is meeting with the actors separately to discuss the performances of each character.

"How do you get along with Robert Romanus, who plays Mike?" Ronald asked Jennifer Jason Lee, who was trying on a sweater.

"He is a very good person and has done a lot of work for our family. My mother was reluctant to let him go after filming." Jennifer laughed.

"How about this one? The neckline was specially modified to match her double ponytail hairstyle." The costume took a double ponytail wig from the hairdresser and put it on Jennifer.

"Very good, let's order this one. Find her another one to match her shawl hair." Ronald ordered.

Jennifer had two passionate scenes, and Ronald specifically asked him about how he felt about getting along with the male actor. However, Jennifer came from an acting family, so Ronald was not particularly worried.

He was more worried about Phoebe Cates. Because the "Paradise" crew edited her exposed scenes with a double, she was angry. She publicly accused "Paradise" of plagiarizing "The Blue Lagoon" in the newspaper.

This made him a little worried that Phoebe would be disgusted by the "fast-paced" exposed scenes.

Among the other leading actors, Judge Reinhold was indifferent to Ronald's conversation, and it seemed that he was still biased towards Heckerling. Judge's acting skills were still acceptable, and Ronald hoped to calm them down when the filming started, so that the filming would be on the right track.

The only thing that made him scratch his head was Sean Penn, who had a stage play in Chicago and had not returned to Los Angeles yet. And Tom Cruise said that Sean was a method actor, and it would be better if there were no problems when such actors and non-method actors acted against each other.

The last week...

"All the shooting schedules have been confirmed. Here is the notice for each actor." The first assistant director, Al, was very helpful and the documents were well organized.

Ronald picked up the notice and handed it to the producer Lin Sen and the deputy producer Hekelin. On the last weekend before the start of the shooting, they held a meeting to check all the preparations and prepare for the start of the next Monday.

"All the extras have signed the consent form. All American Burger has also agreed to open the back kitchen to us. This is the consent form..."

One by one, the items were checked and confirmed, and the crew was waiting for the official start of the shooting.

"Wish us success." Ronald shook hands with everyone. When he shook hands with Hekelin, he saw that she also smiled. The two smiled and said goodbye, just waiting for the show to start.