Exploiting Hollywood 1980

In an old neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, the sky had just risen. The iron vents of the underground pipes on the sidewalk were still emitting faint steam. A lucky homeless man grabbed a cardboard box and occupied the vent. He was covered with thick New York Post and slept very warmly.

This was originally a government-built apartment near Little Italy. The narrow street could only accommodate one car in and out. Outside the window of the apartment next to it was an old-fashioned fire escape installed to comply with fire regulations.

"Meow!" A cat woke the homeless man up. He stood up from the cardboard box and suddenly found that there was a noisy crowd on the other side of the street. A camera was set up, and there was a strong man holding a long pole with a fluffy white thing on his head, which looked like the white cat next to him.

"Sorry, a movie is being filmed here now. No one is allowed to come in." The homeless man was stopped by several security guards on the periphery and he looked forward.

The camera was placed in the middle of the street, with a red and yellow cordon separating him from the crew.

"A!"

A young man gave an order and a nice female song was played on the scene. A woman dressed in a weird way with hair like a turkey, danced and skipped in from the other end of the street.

"Cut!"

Ronald shook his head and pointed to the back of Cyndi Lauper to the camera crew. A door on the street opened, and a man in pajamas walked out of the gatehouse in the semi-basement with a big dog. The dog was very excited to see Cindy and started barking around her.

"Shxt," the assistant rushed forward and talked to the man.

Ronald came to shoot this scene in the morning when there were no people on the street, but the houses on both sides of the street were not sealed or evacuated. In addition to the man walking his dog, some people were awakened by the music and opened the window to look down.

It was a small-budget MV, and Ronald just took the opportunity to secretly shoot it. It happened that this shot was ruined by a resident and his big dog who couldn't wait to be walked.

"Are you really shooting a movie? My dog ​​is very smart. I can be a passerby and walk behind the heroine." The resident was very interested in such a big show and wanted to appear in the film with the dog.

"Thank you, no thanks." Ronald didn't want to cause trouble. Dogs are difficult to shoot. Dogs that are not specially trained often bark or run around when they hear the noise of the camera, causing unnecessary trouble for the camera.

"Then I will stand here. This is my legal apartment. It is not illegal for me to stand here. You can't just drive me out of my home." The middle-aged man spoke like a typical New Yorker. He knew a little about the law, and then he boasted to gain benefits for himself.

"Okay, someone come and sign a temporary agreement for him, and give you a shot, but you and your dog can only stand on the steps to watch the excitement. More and more people are coming, and some people who work early are about to go out.

"Ah! "

Cindy Lauper started to jump along to the rhythm of the music again. When she passed the man and the dog, she improvised and knocked her head at him.

On the other side of the street, behind the camera, the son of a senior executive of a portrait record company, riding a bicycle, with a mail bag across his body, like a newspaper delivery boy, entered the picture from behind the camera and crossed paths with Cindy Lauper.

Cindy, wearing high heels, jumped to the middle of the road with water stains on the ground, jumped over several puddles, and reached the other side of the road.

"Cut!"

The scene of Cindy Lauper dancing home was shot several more times. The last shot was a close-up. The pajamas man and his dog in the back came out to make trouble again. The lazy dog ​​even lay on the ground and took a poop.

Ronald saw that this part was at the end, so he didn't care so much. At most, he cut a part, "Hurry up, we still have to go to the street corner to shoot. If it's late, people who get up early to work will come."

"Hey, you should pay me and my dog ​​wages. Otherwise I will sue you for violating my portrait rights. "The man in pajamas is asking for money again by relying on hearsay of the law.

Ronald pointed at lawyer Hoffman and went forward to negotiate, "According to our contract, you and your dog defecated during the filming, which violated the contract. We have to bear the corresponding filming losses. According to this contract, you need to compensate."

"Hey, I'm just here to help you. What contract?" The man quickly pulled up the dog and ran away in the opposite direction.

"Hey," Hoffman put the contract away. Originally, this was not an employment contract, but an informed consent form. The signer automatically gave up the pursuit of portrait rights.

"Girls, it's your turn." Ronald picked up the electric horn and shouted to the eight secretaries from yesterday. Today they put on various brightly colored skirts, belts, leather shoes, and exaggerated and towering hairstyles, and began to prepare to dance.

"Squeak..." Several large trucks stopped by the roadside and prepared to back into the road. They happened to run into the crew and were stuck in a crowded intersection.

"I'm here to deliver goods to the grocery store. Please make way. "Several people who looked like drivers got out of the car and yelled at Ronald and the others.

"We still have a few more shots." The assistant tried to reason with them.

"Who agreed to let you come here to film? We are members of the truck union. If you don't get out of the way, you will be responsible for the damage to your things." The Italian truck driver started to be unreasonable, chewing gum and honking the horn.

"You young people, don't you have the tradition of respecting the elderly? What did your mothers teach you?

Ah? Whose son are you? Let your mother come out and talk to me. Who washes your clothes and makes pasta for you? How dare you talk to a mother like that. "

Cindy Lauper's mother Caterina came over and hit the arms of these Italian youths one by one. These Italian youths, who had to send stolen clothes home for their mothers to change and wash all year round, became honest out of habit when they saw Aunt Caterina, who was also Italian, and sent a young man to complain to her on behalf of everyone.

"We are very hard-working, Mom Caterina. We have to deliver goods before dawn every morning. If we delay here for too long, it will affect our income."

"Let's shoot a shot of the girls walking into the street, very simple. If you are interested, you can also play your own roles here, standing on both sides of the street, welcoming Cindy and her friends home." Ronald said after listening. He had to rush for time, and it would be troublesome if he got entangled with these people.

"Oh yeah, "The Godfather"! We are going to shoot "The Godfather III"! "Italian youths are very enthusiastic about filming. When they hear that they can appear on camera, they can forget about any difficulties. They parked the truck and stood on both sides of the road according to Ronald's arrangement, applauding and welcoming the girls led by Cindy Lauper to dance into the street.

Cindy took the lead, and a few who were better at dancing lined up behind her, and a few who were halfway through the dance followed behind the team.

The big trucks delivering goods to the supermarket stopped on the side of the road. Ronald asked these Italian drivers to form a long line together to cheer for the girls.

More and more people gathered, including drivers, residents, morning joggers, taxi drivers, and construction workers repairing the road on the side of the road, all of whom were attracted by the camera and recording.

Ronald accepted everyone who came and asked them to sign the informed consent form, and then asked them to stand still on the street.

Cindy Lauper took the lead, dancing and moving forward with exaggerated movements, followed by a group of secretaries, who were also led by Cindy's crazy and danced exaggeratedly one by one.

"The girls just want some fun, some fun! ”

The drum beats of the song were distinct, and Cyndi Lauper was dancing happily. She lifted the hem of her skirt and began to sway.

The secretaries also joined in, just like the classic cancan dance, with the dancers lifting their skirts and swaying to the rhythm. Except for not lifting their thighs, the performance was very beautiful.

“Cut!”

Ronald directed everyone to change the scene. There were still some dance scenes to be performed at the dock in downtown Manhattan.

“Director, which movie will we appear in?” The truck drivers kept pulling Ronald, wanting to know if the movie they were in was a gangster movie like “The Godfather”. If so, they would be very proud among their friends.

“Watch MTV radio then, it’s very cool. "Ronald dismissed these Italian extras. These people had very low cultural quality. They were photographed posing coquettishly and always wanted to grab a few shots. It was estimated that there would not be many shots left after one cut.

The team moved to the pier in Lower Manhattan, which was facing the Statue of Liberty. There were not many people on the pier. There were many girls on the scene, carrying large billboards, soliciting donations from passers-by.

"Help us repair the Statue of Liberty."

There were not many tourists on the opposite island. The Statue of Liberty was becoming more and more dilapidated. Many Girl Scout organizations would send Girl Scouts to solicit donations.

"Go buy some cookies. "Ronald took out some cash and handed it to his assistant. When the Girl Scouts were collecting donations, they would usually sell some cookies that were obviously much more expensive than the market price, and the profits would be used for fundraising.

The crew found a cafe on the dock that they had contacted, and lawyer Hoffman sat at a white outdoor coffee table, drinking coffee.

The beautiful secretaries danced around lawyer Hoffman, passing by him one by one. Hoffman had a pair of small eyes and two pointed mustaches, and looked like an old-fashioned man who was disturbed by beautiful girls.

Cindy Lauper walked into the picture, pulled up lawyer Hoffman, and the two held hands and began to dance together. Hoffman took Cindy's hand and asked her to turn around.

"Cut!"

Ronald, who was standing on the second floor directing the shooting, was very satisfied with this overhead shot.

"Bring up the Girl Scouts' cookies, so that everyone can have some and rest," Ronald asked everyone to rest, and the entire MV was almost finished.

"Leave me some mint flavor. "Ronald picked up the shooting plan and checked it. There were still a few close-ups left before the job was done.

"Here you go, mint flavor." A familiar voice came, and a hand handed over a box of cookies for Ronald to take.

"Thank you. Hey, Diane? Why are you here?"

Ronald stood up, "Donna, you're here too? Didn't you say you'd go to my house for dinner tonight?"

"Diane and I haven't seen you for a long time, so I came to see you as a director." Donna replied with a smile.

Ronald also smiled. Today Diane's style has completely changed to that of a high school girl, with a white shirt, jeans, and a pair of Vans canvas shoes. Her hairstyle was combed up high, and she looked very imposing. Donna carried an extra backpack than her good friend Diane, and it was bulging inside, and I didn't know what was in it.

"Oh, a real and pleasant surprise."

Ronald quickly hugged his cousin and Diane Lane, and then rubbed their hair, "Wait for me for a while, there are still a few shots to be shot. "