Exploiting Hollywood 1980

On the afternoon of the first day of principal photography for "The Karate Kid" in Los Angeles, the crew arrived at Rio Carrillo State Beach in Malibu. Weintraub obtained a permit for filming. The state beach was cleared for the crew to film.

The autumn wind was a little chilly on the beach, and Ronald gave orders for the assistant director to start organizing the extras.

Ralph Mazzio, wearing a vest and barefoot, started playing beach soccer with a group of Latino extras in the new apartment. Daniel, played by Ralph Mazzio, began to show off his dribbling skills, rushing left and right among a large group of Latino extras, dribbling forward all the time, and no one could stop his ball.

Suddenly, he kicked the ball a little too long, and his friends rushed to fight for it. They fought for it, stirring up countless sand on the beach.

The sand flew up and splashed on the girls sitting in a circle. Daniel was suddenly immobilized, and he stared blankly at the girl in the middle without moving.

"Cut!"

Ronald called a halt to the filming. Ralph Mazzio's acting was trustworthy, and he played the role of a middle school student who fell in love at first sight very well. Director of photography James Crabbe gave a thumbs up, indicating that this shot was over.

Next, it was a reverse shot of Elizabeth Shue's Ali. .

While waiting for the camera crew to set up the shooting position, Ralph Mazzio came over and chatted with Sue.

He threw the football down, and then began to bounce the ball with his feet and knees. "Look, it's very simple, just do this, one two... one two... keep the bounce within the range you can catch."

Elizabeth Shue looked at Ralph Mazzio who was teaching seriously, and a smile appeared in her eyes. She stepped forward and squeezed Ralph, who was like a dry chicken, snatched the ball, and then took it away quickly.

"Hey..." Ralph Mazzio was a little embarrassed when the girl snatched the football, but he was embarrassed to go up and snatch it back.

Ronald, who was watching from the side, covered his face, why was he so weak.

"Hehe..." Elizabeth Sue looked at his innocent face and laughed out loud, "I have been on the school women's football team since I was a child."

"Oh?" Ralph Mazzio put his hands on his hips, "Director Ronald asked me to practice."

"I know," Elizabeth Sue glanced at Ronald standing in the distance, picked up the football and kicked it at Ronald.

Ronald, who was relieved to see the two of them talking and laughing again, was almost knocked down by the football. He saw that it was Elizabeth Sue, smiled and said, "Go get ready, it will be your turn later."

This is the third scene of the whole movie. After LaRusso and his son arrived in Los Angeles. Daniel went to the beach to play football with his Latin friends in the apartment and saw Ali, who fell in love at first sight.

In order to ensure the actors' acting skills, Ronald basically shot all the scenes in the order of the script.

The camera position was quickly moved, Elizabeth Sue put on makeup, and wore a blue and white striped one-piece swimsuit, revealing her white and tender skin. Her weight loss was somewhat effective, but she still retained some baby fat.

Ronald looked through the camera's viewfinder. Elizabeth Sue was wearing a blue headband on her head, the same color as her swimsuit, and was smiling at the camera.

"A!"

The next shot started.

Elizabeth Sue looked sideways at the close-up shot.

Standing behind the camera, Ronald nodded secretly while watching the actors perform. Elizabeth Sue seemed to have regained her chemistry with Ralph Mazzio, and the two of them looked at each other with interest.

The setting sun shone from behind the camera. Elizabeth Sue squinted her eyes, and a halo was found on her blonde hair.

She looked at the camera, a little embarrassedly looking at the ground, then suddenly blinked her left eye with a smile on her lips, raised her head and made a face behind the camera.

"Cut!"

"Very good, your wink just now was very good." Ronald immediately went up to praise a few words, the girl was attracted, and then gave a response, this is a very good improvisation, "But I believe you can do better..."

"Let's do it again..."

This time Ronald retreated several steps behind the camera, looking at the overall composition and the actors' body movements.

Elizabeth Sue looked at Ralph Mazzio behind the camera, she made another grimace, and then smiled.

"Cut!" Ronald felt that this treatment seemed to be a little worse than the previous shot. When shooting a movie, it is always like this. Generally speaking, the first shot is the most emotional.

"Third scene, second shot, first shot."

After shooting Elizabeth Sue's close-up, the crew immediately turned to the next shot.

The sun was about to set soon, and Ronald seized the time. Instead of applauding and congratulating everyone on the completion of the shot, he immediately turned to the next shot.

Elizabeth Sue sat there, and the football ran into her hands. She took the football and threw it to Ralph Mazzio.

Ralph Mazzio caught the ball with his thigh, then started to juggle it with his legs and feet.

Elizabeth Sue watched him juggle the ball and pretended to be interested.

Just as Ralph was about to juggle the ball, a Latino extra rushed up as agreed and headed the ball away, "Stop showing off here."

"Who's that in the blue swimsuit?" Daniel apologized to Ali and caught up with his companions.

"The Hills (referring to the rich people living in Beverly Hills)."

"The Hills?"

"Rich people," the Latin companion told Daniel.

The girls sitting on the ground stood up and went to swim in the sea. Elizabeth Shue, who played Ali, stood up last, pulled her swimsuit, and walked into the sea. She also looked back at the camera in the distance, and then looked again.

"Cut!"

Ronald was very satisfied. Both shots achieved the desired effect in one shot. The beach scene was the first time the hero and heroine met, and they both had a strong interest in each other. This left a good first impression in the audience's mind.

Especially Elizabeth Shue, the two shots of looking back played the curiosity of a girl about the boy she met for the first time, and the emotion of wanting to continue to understand the relationship very well.

"It seems that Ralph Mazzio's ball skills have been recognized by her." Ronald was very satisfied with his moves.

"Everyone go to the tent to rest, we will wait until dark to shoot the rest of the content." The first assistant director picked up the loudspeaker and began to notify everyone.

"Are you telling the truth? Is Ronald's girlfriend really Brooke Shields?" Elizabeth Shue and Ralph Mazzio walked back from outside the camera and put on bathrobes. It was really cold to go to the sea in this weather.

"Didn't you see it too? The National Enquirer published their photos." Ralph Mazzio also whispered, "In Princeton, Brooke Shields also treated our crew members to dinner. It was probably when Ronald sent her back to campus at night that the paparazzi took her."

"Really?" Elizabeth Shue looked back at Ronald who was discussing with the assistant director and others, and became more and more curious about him. Unexpectedly, Brooke Shields was also captured by him. What is so special about Ronald?

Soon the sun began to set, and the props team brought a lot of firewood and lit a bonfire. The crew began to shoot the evening scene.

Here, Daniel was encouraged by his Latin friends and bravely went over to meet Ali wearing a blue headband. A friend even assisted directly and picked up the football and kicked it to the bonfire.

With a snap, the football fell to the ground. The girls picked it up and handed it to Ali, who was the most independent and opinionated.

Elizabeth Sue picked up the ball and walked towards the camera.

"Cut!"

Gu Hui

Ronald directed the camera to change position, and then the two male and female protagonists formally introduced each other.

Elizabeth Sue finished her makeup on the spot and walked towards Ronald.

She was wearing a white cashmere sweater and the blue headband on her head. She saw Ronald talking to an old man.

She didn't know that it was Charles Okun, the associate producer of the crew. She only heard that Ronald and him seemed to have a small dispute.

"Why not give Ali a slow-motion close-up? Don't we just need to create the atmosphere of her and Daniel falling in love at first sight here?" The old man Charles Okun spread his hands and said.

"First of all, Ali and Daniel did not fall in love at first sight. Daniel has an obvious affection for Ali, but he lacks confidence in pursuing a rich girl. Ali is just curious about Daniel now, and then he fought with his ex-boyfriend Johnny for her, which really made Ali look at him with new eyes.

In addition, if you have different opinions, you can raise them when watching the sample film, and don't challenge my authority in the crew."

Ronald was very dissatisfied with Charles Okun's behavior of meddling in him in the crew, but he pointed out his problems in public and had to fight back quickly. Otherwise, if the staff saw that he could not convince the public, many people would not trust him as a director.

This would cause many problems for subsequent filming. If everyone came to him to make a decision and had to explain, then he would not be a director. So Ronald quickly issued a clear threat to Charles Okun.

Charles Okun shrugged, saying that he was innocent and just had some ideas to communicate.

Ronald waved his hand and asked him to leave. Then he turned around and saw Elizabeth Su standing next to him, as if she had something to ask him.

"What? Do you have any questions about the next scene?"

"No, no, I know how to act. I'm actually here to confirm a rumor with you." Elizabeth Sue saw Ronald scolding the associate producer just now, and thought that this was the kind of person who could hook up with Brooke Shields.

"What rumor?"

"Are you...are you Brooke Shields' boyfriend?" Elizabeth Sue looked at Ronald, as if to see from his face whether he was lying.

"What? I'm not, I'm not, who told you that?" Ronald was shocked. How did the news of his affair with Brooke reach the crew? "Did Ralph tell you? He's talking nonsense. Brooke and I are just ordinary friends. I directed one of her commercials, just like I directed your gum commercial."

"Oh," Elizabeth Sue found it funny to see Ronald's anxious denial. Could he really not be? But for an average American boy, if he has the opportunity to have a scandal with Brooke Shields, he should insist on it.

"I didn't listen to him. I was... your agent should come to you anyway."

"Director, come and take a look at this angle." Director of Photography James Crabbe asked him to go over and confirm the position of the camera.

Ronald, who was confused, didn't care about this matter anymore and ran to the camera to get busy.

"A!"

Under the clever arrangement of the lighting engineer, a high-power lamp was hidden behind the bonfire. Generally, the brightness of a bonfire is not enough and needs to be supplemented. With such lighting, it seems to be the light of the bonfire, and the audience in front of the screen cannot see the flaws.

"You seem to have dropped something." Ali, played by Elizabeth Shue, said to Daniel who came over with courage, holding a football.

"Yeah, I hope I didn't bother you." Ralph Mazzio took the ball and didn't know how to continue the topic for a while.

"Your juggling," Ali made a juggling action with her thighs, "Can you teach me how to do it?"

"Oh, that's very simple," finally reaching his strong point, Daniel immediately explained, "You juggle with one foot first, and then with two feet after you are proficient, one, two..."

Daniel bent his knees and used his two thighs to juggle the ball in turn.

"Then three, four?" Ali actually knows how to play football, and deliberately found a topic to get to know Daniel.

"Yes, then three, four... Use the instep, which is more difficult."

The two began to practice juggling intentionally and deliberately.

"You start like this, and then..."

Daniel is a boy who likes to show off. He began to teach Ali all kinds of skills. Ali was a little impatient. She just gave this stupid boy a chance to get close to her. She took the football...

"And like this..." He kicked the football out with a big kick.

"Cut!"

Ronald took the lead in applauding. He felt that the chemistry between the two protagonists was just right. This subtle emotion is not something that all viewers can feel. But attentive viewers, or teenagers who have had similar experiences, will smile knowingly when they see this.

Everyone applauded. Today's progress was shot.

Only associate producer Charles Okun did not applaud. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, as if he wanted to make an opinion.

"Hey, everyone, to celebrate the successful completion of today's shooting, I prepared barbecue and beer." Producer Weintraub came in and brought a lot of meat and beer.

He took off his sunglasses. He had been watching for a long time. At least Ronald's command was easy, and all the staff were convinced by him. He was also relieved half of his heart. Let's wait and see Ronald go to the location to shoot and the sample film shot in the morning.

After eating some barbecue and beer, Ronald, Weintraub, Charles Okun, Susan Ekins and others came to a screening room in Columbia to watch the sample film that was quickly printed.

The advantage of big production is here. The shots shot this morning have been printed by a special person.

The screen flashed Ronald's shot of LaRusso and his son leaving home in New Jersey, and the shot of the car breaking down in front of Princeton and the two people pushing the car to start.

Then the camera turned to the apartment with three palm trees at the door. Mother Lucille said to Daniel, "Are you unhappy? There is a swimming pool here. Every morning when you wake up, you roll to the side and you will reach the swimming pool."

"Of course" Daniel, played by Ralph Mazzio, accurately captured the helplessness of his mother who is always optimistic. He was still thinking about his friends far away in New Jersey. "

The next shot was taken by Ronald and his team in the repair room on the first floor of the apartment. Noriyuki Morita played the role of Master Miyagi for the first time. He was trying to use chopsticks to catch the flying flies.

He was impatient with Daniel's report that the faucet in the apartment was broken.

This was Miyagi's first appearance, and the audience was played a trick by Ronald here. Master Miyagi, a karate master, appeared as a person who spoke without grammar and seemed not to care much about his job as a repairman.

Associate producer Charles Okun took out his notes, cleared his throat, and was about to start talking about Ronald's shortcomings and shortcomings.

Weintraub hugged Susan, and the two sat in the back seat, watching the sample clips affectionately.

The two of them treated watching the sample clips as watching a movie, turning their heads to talk from time to time, and then kissed each other.

"Jerry, did my phone book fall on your car, dear." A middle-aged lady walked in from outside. She walked in the direction of Weintraub.

"Oh, Shxt! "

While kissing Susan passionately, Weintraub saw his wife Jane Morgan walking in quickly. She saw her husband kissing his secretary at a glance.

Jane Morgan shrugged, said nothing, turned around and walked out.

"Jane," Weintraub chased after her.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what had happened.

Only Ronald looked at Susan Aikins, as if he was shocked, then covered his face with his hands, lowered his head, and his shoulders shrugged silently.