Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Atlantic Pictures went to great lengths to secure "Night of the Comet" in 500 theaters in its third week. In addition to the breakthrough "Star Wars - Return of the Jedi", two new movies were released this week, occupying a large number of movies in the schedule.

One is the sequel to Hitchcock's classic "Psycho," "Psycho 2," which also stars Meg Tilly. A total of more than 1,400 theaters were taken away, and it seems that Zinnemann spared no effort in order to flatter his wife.

The other is Warner Bros.' "The Man with Two Brains," a science fiction comedy that also occupied more than 1,200 theaters.

Ronald got an estimate from the Atlantic. This week's box office is estimated to be no more than 16 million in total. The distribution capabilities of small companies are like this. Ronald can only expect two new films to have poor box office. Wait a minute. Zhou Zai regained the lost ground.

Another issue to deal with is the issue of martial arts moves in karate-themed movies. Ronald wanted to spread some Eastern martial arts philosophy in the movie so that Danny Boy could defeat his opponent in the end without degenerating into a bully like the opponent.

This requires giving the audience some philosophical ideas. However, telling philosophy in a movie is obviously a thankless task, and it is easy for the audience to lose interest. Ronald suffered from this problem at the hairdresser Tony's.

There are also some moves that Danny's mentor taught him. How to make these moves so that the audience can understand them at a glance without the need for additional explanations is a waste of thought. Moreover, the audience will finally see Danny Boy defeat his opponent using the moves taught by these instructors, so that they will have a feeling of empathy.

In order to find a suitable expression method, Ronald asked Richard to help contact various Chinese and Japanese cultural centers and martial arts clubs in the Los Angeles area, hoping to communicate with the masters and bring inspiration to him.

On Saturday, Ronald went to the Asia-Pacific Museum. The museum is located in Pasadena, the town where Ronald and Diane went to the concert last time.

The Asia-Pacific Museum is located in the upper part of the town and was originally a private building. The whole building adopts the Chinese Huizhou architectural style. The eaves are separated by Feng Shui walls, which are said to have fire prevention effects.

There are several courtyards, each with a theme exhibition, including exhibition areas for China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Indians. There is also a small garden-style garden in the middle of the yard, with a nine-curved bridge, a lotus pond, and a round gate.

However, the exhibits and cultural materials were only averagely preserved. At first glance, Ronald saw that they were all junk. In the Chinese section, there was only one Buddhist bronze statue that looked a bit extraordinary.

"I have a big watermelon, half for you and half for him." A burst of American Tai Chi formulas came over.

One of the characteristics of the garden-style garden is that the scenery changes with each step. After walking a short distance, you can see the new scenery separated by the original wall.

Ronald heard someone teaching Tai Chi, turned several corners, and finally saw a middle-aged Chinese man teaching Tai Chi to a large group of whites, blacks, and Latinos.

He was wearing white training clothes and a wide cloth belt around his waist, which gave him a somewhat immortal air.

Ronald watched him demonstrate the simple eight-position Tai Chi. His elegant postures made a group of students look at him seriously.

"This man looks familiar. He seems to be the one who taught Tai Chi on the instructional video tape when Coppola was on the set and asked everyone to learn Tai Chi." Ronald remembered who this man was.

After a set of simple Tai Chi was finished, the middle-aged man came over to say hello to Ronald, "Hello, my name is Chaoli. Are you here to learn Tai Chi?"

"No, I was wandering around the Asia-Pacific Museum. I didn't expect to see a Tai Chi master like you, so I stopped to take a look."

Chaoli smiled and said, "If you want to learn, you can come here to see me every Saturday. I will come here to teach boxing regardless of rain or shine. It's all free of charge, and all fans can learn from each other."

"Thank you. I saw a video of you teaching boxing from a director friend. I wonder if you invented these big watermelon formulas yourself?"

"Hahaha, have you seen that video? Yes, because Tai Chi has many concepts, which are related to the ancient Chinese 'Tao Te Ching' and 'Book of Changes'. It is not easy for people who do not have a certain understanding of Chinese culture. I understand the meaning of this concept, such as yin and yang, such as hardness and softness, so I transformed it into a formula suitable for American culture, so that I can learn it faster.

However, in order to have a deep understanding of the effectiveness of Tai Chi in martial arts, we still need to understand Chinese culture. I have open classes at California State University, teaching the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching. You can listen to them if you are interested. "

"This is all free? Why don't you use this knowledge to make money?"

Chaoli stopped smiling, "Many friends have advised me to sell Tai Chi teaching content, but I feel that Chinese culture has been suppressed too much in America. California had a Chinese Exclusion Act until the 1960s. White people are not allowed to intermarry yet, so I want to spread Chinese culture as much as possible so that more people can understand us.

There is an idiom called subtle influence. If you understand more, you will not demonize us Chinese. Chinese culture is a bridge to enhance friendship. "

"But if you can make a blockbuster movie that reflects Chinese culture, wouldn't it be able to better promote Chinese culture?"

"Hahaha, you are right. I am a film and television actor. If you can make a hit movie about Chinese culture in the future, it will be a great thing for us Chinese and racial reconciliation in America. Since the unfortunate death of Bruce Lee, the image of Chinese on the movie screen has begun to become negative and villainous."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't tell you this," Chao Li smiled, as if seeing Ronald was like seeing a compatriot. It was rare for a white person to like Chinese culture, so he couldn't help but say more.

He took a booklet, "This is the 36-style boxing manual of Tai Chi that I compiled myself. There are various formulas that I invented myself. I'll give it to you. You can come here to communicate with me when you are free. My boxing teaching time today is up, and I have to go back to Los Angeles to give people acting lessons."

"Oh, okay, thank you, Chao Li." Ronald accepted the boxing manual and exchanged business cards with Chao Li.

"Are you really a director? Don't forget me if you have a chance to shoot a Chinese movie in the future." Chao Li found that Ronald's business card said "movie director", but there are many people in Hollywood who call themselves directors, so it doesn't hurt to know one more.

"Maybe there will be a chance in the future."

Ronald carefully looked through the Tai Chi manual, in which Chao Li translated many Chinese names of moves into something that people in English-speaking countries can understand.

For example, the white crane drying its wings was changed to crane-style kicking, and it was not directly translated as "the white crane drying its wings".

In this way, Americans can easily remember the connection between the action and the name.

Ronald decided to modify the moves of Goju-ryu karate in this way. Those difficult names such as "three battles" and "turning palms" must be changed to formulas that can be understood without explanation, such as "I have a big watermelon".

When returning to the city, he drove through a puddle and the car was splashed with a lot of mud. Ronald drove to the mechanic shop next to the apartment and asked someone to wash the car.

"Sir, do you need waxing?" the young car washer asked Ronald. If he waxed, he could make more money.

"Waxing?"

"Yes, first apply this car wax (; On), then wipe it off slowly with a soft cloth (; Off), I guarantee that your car will be like new."

"What did you say?"

"I said it will be like new."

"No, the previous sentence."

"Wax first, then wipe it off. (; On,; Off)"

"Very good, this is a tip for you." Ronald had an unexpected surprise, took out a dollar bill, shook hands with him, and handed it over.

"Okay, just leave it to me." The car washer received a large tip, and immediately took out the tool and cleaned Ronald inside and out.

After driving the car home, Ronald immediately took out a pen and paper and made up a new name for the moves of Gangju Flow.

"This step-up blocking is called waxing style." Ronald drew a few little people doing karate moves, with their arms rotating outward to block the opponent's straight punches and swinging punches.

"How about blocking the hand from below?" Ronald stood up and gestured, and saw the vacuum cleaner in the corner, "It's called the mopping style." The arms of several little people rotated inward to block the opponent's hook or kick.

"And this attack and defense combined with fighting." Ronald gestured for a long time, one hand up, one hand down

"That's called the wall painting style."

"Waxing style", "Mopping floor style", "Wall painting style", "Hahaha..."

Ronald kept gesturing in the room, then drew the postures, and finally turned on the computer and started typing frantically. This section of the teacher teaching the protagonist to learn karate, it seems that American audiences will not fail to understand.

"What do you think? I changed these moves into names that everyone can understand?" Ronald called Vidal the next day to discuss with him.

"This is very good, although it doesn't quite suit the tastes of those old antiques. They all pay attention to tradition and don't want to change the old-fashioned names, but I think it's good. I can try it when I teach boxing in the future." Vidal praised Ronald's idea.

"Well, I'll write it like this. It won't be a big joke in the eyes of insiders."

"Actually, it won't. My teacher told me before that the source of our Goju-ryu is Southern Shaolin martial arts. In Shaolin Temple, monks have to fetch water and chop wood, which is actually a kind of exercise. After one or two years of fetching water and chopping wood, many basic movements can be finalized. The names of the moves that follow are all thought up by scholars."

"Is that so?" Ronald came up with another inspiration. "Why not let Danny's teacher teach him the techniques of Goju-ryu by waxing, mopping the floor, and painting the walls. In this way, Danny didn't understand it at first, but after completing the three basic trainings of waxing, mopping the floor, and painting the walls, he naturally learned the basic forms of Goju-ryu."

"But this will take a lot of time. Doesn't your movie take place in a summer?"

"For movies, you can exaggerate appropriately." Ronald was confident.