Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"There is a fire hazard here and everyone, I repeat, are never allowed to smoke or set off fireworks indoors and fire extinguishers must be ready..."

Weintraub called a short meeting in the editing room to highlight the fire safety issue.

Everyone was confused and checked the fire extinguisher reserves. The editing assistant also went out to practice the use of fire extinguishers. Then he came in and started the daily editing work, which was delayed for half an hour.

"Is anyone smoking in the editing room? Next time, go outside. It's full of film. It's very dangerous." Ronald inhaled sharply, but there was no smell of smoke at all. I don’t know why Weintraub went out of his way to state the importance of fire prevention.

"No, how dare we smoke in a room full of films? We all smoked in the open space outside." Several editing assistants and editors shook their heads in denial.

"Jerry, what happened? Did some company's film burn?" Ronald asked Weintraub who had just entered the room.

"Didn't you watch the news? The black singer had an accident," Weintraub came over and said to Ronald.

"Who? What accident?"

Weintraub turned on the TV in the editing room. The news was full of news that Michael Jackson was hospitalized for emergency treatment due to burns in an accidental fire.

Being busy editing every day, Ronald was a bit of an afterthought to the news.

It turns out that Michael Jackson was unfortunately caught in a fire while filming the latest Pepsi commercial. His scalp and face were burned and he was sent to the hospital. The doctor said that he was not in danger...

Ronald was stunned and thought it was a bit ridiculous. It was just a commercial and it was not an action movie with dangerous stunts. How could he still get burned?

He called to arrange an agent and wanted to visit J. However, because there were too many people visiting, J still needed to rest, so he just called J’s team to express condolences on behalf of Ronald.

A few more weeks passed, and the initial cut of "The Dragon King" was basically completed. It lasted about two hours and twenty minutes. Ronald began to refine each editing point, trying not to waste time in any place and not affect the content. , cut off a few seconds, more than ten seconds, to make the movie more compact.

If the first cut version is about 20% longer than the scheduled time, then this method, similar to that of slowly simmering soup to reduce the juice in Chinese food, can polish off the 20% excess footage.

Ronald, on the other hand, has always been more precise in his control of filming, and the final result can already be partially formed in his mind before filming begins. So here you only need to figure out where to cut the scissors every day. It is not technically difficult, but it just takes some time.

Fortunately, Ronald spent more than ten hours in the editing room every day, plus some dream scenes for reference, so by the end of February, he had completed the fine editing and started working on the soundtrack.

Bill Conti has completed the score for the panpipe instrument, nine pieces in total. Start adding them to the movie separately, and then slowly fine-tune the time.

Weintraub was very happy that the film would be completed soon, and he sat next to the mixing machine every day, watching his beloved film take shape day by day.

"The panpipes here are very suitable for the scene of Master Miyagi. He said that karate is in the head and in the heart, not in the belt you wear. What do you call this?" Weintraub looked at this paragraph. The soundtrack is greatly appreciated.

"The music of this panpipe is a 'booster'. Miyagi was just a repairman before. Although he saved Daniel from several boys in the Cobra Dojo, the audience has not yet realized how powerful he really is.

It wasn't until this philosophical speech was given here to define his own martial arts that the audience, like Daniel, saw Miyagi as a true martial arts master. "

Ronald explained to their lay producer that the music matched the language of the camera perfectly, and the zoom zoomed in closer to Miyagi, making his image suddenly appear taller.

"Yes, that's right, with this boost, I feel like he suddenly grew taller." Weintraub said, "Your score is very good and has a Japanese charm."

Bill Condy smiled, but in fact it was more due to the zoom lens. The soundtrack here is not the protagonist, but a booster. However, there is no need to refute when the boss praises you.

"The rhythm here is a bit wrong." Ronald continued to watch the soundtrack, and when he saw the soundtrack of the last gold medal battle, he pointed at the monitor to the two of them.

Weintraub hadn't read this section yet, so he lay down on the table and watched it carefully on the small monitor.

This plot is about Daniel and Johnny, who are tied two to two in the final. Whoever scores one point in the end can become the champion.

Daniel's left foot had been kicked and injured by other players at the Cobra Dojo before. Although he received acupuncture treatment from Master Miyagi, the old injury recurred when he was kicked by Johnny with a sweeping kick in the finals.

He had no other option but to use his unique skill "Crane Kick".

Daniel lifted his injured leg slightly off the ground, raised his arms in the pose of a crane showing its wings, and then the camera showed his injured leg.

Gulian

Daniel, who was not confident, glanced at Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi also felt that something was not good, so he nodded in agreement. This was Daniel's last chance.

The camera cut to Johnny again. He didn't know what it meant. He didn't know what Daniel stood up on one leg and looked like his middle was wide open.

The camera then cuts back to a close-up of Daniel's face. He deliberately glanced at his left foot, then returned his gaze to Johnny's chest.

Johnny didn't care what tricks the opponent was playing, he just moved forward.

The camera returns to Daniel's left foot, a feint.

Johnny seemed to understand, he was going to use his injured leg to kick his upper body and score unexpectedly. Anyway, in karate competition, you will score points as long as you kick the opponent's effective part. His hands came down to protect his chest.

The camera returns to the panoramic view here. It is a low camera position, capturing the panoramic view of the battle between the two players from the side.

The low camera position made the two of them look very tall. Johnny rushed in front of Daniel and wanted to punch him in the face to KO him.

Daniel hit Johnny in the head with a crane kick, taking away the final point.

What follows is a scene of Ali and Daniel’s mother rushing to hug him.

Weintraub also pressed the stop button and asked Ronald, "What's the problem here? I think it's great. The climax of that score happened to coincide with Daniel's trick score."

Ronald smiled, "Of course, there is a reason for this approach. But we already know that Daniel is the final winner. But the audience may not know that.

Why not keep a suspense here. Let the climax of the soundtrack appear after that crane kick? "

"Why? Isn't it like this in movies?" Weintraub hadn't figured it out yet.

"That's right." Ronald rewinded the film again. "We have already laid a lot of groundwork starting here. Daniel's old injury recurred, and the audience thought he was going to fall in the finals, but it ended unfortunately. This gave the audience A feeling of disappointment, even though it was so hard, it didn’t work out in the end.

But Danny didn't give up. After making eye contact with Miyagi and agreeing, he desperately used Goju-ryu's unique skills that he had practiced and had never tried in actual combat.

Johnny was powerful and he rushed over. How could Daniel win in the end if he deliberately gave up defense like this? He mobilized the opponent's attention and made two consecutive fake moves, leaving Johnny with no head defense. "

Ronald paused before the ultimate move, Crane Kick, was released, "Now the audience is still guessing, can Daniel win in the end? How did he win? How can he do a unique move with this posture? At the critical moment, the climax of the soundtrack enters..."

Ronald started playing at normal speed, and the climax of the soundtrack had already entered one second. He paused before the crane kick took off, "Here, the audience was leaked the ending in advance. They were expecting a trick from the sky. From their The result is that the soundtrack has told them, Daniel “Well, I see what you mean. "Musician Bill Candy understood what Ronald meant. You want the climax of this score not to guide the audience's emotions. Instead, it comes after the crane kick is successful. After their emotions are fully expressed, then add enlarge?"

"Yes, that's it." Ronald put the knob in the play position, "We have used the entire movie to make enough preparations. Miyagi also said that if the Crane Kick is used correctly, the opponent cannot defend it.

The audience's emotions are already looking forward to the final outcome. There is no need to be like those crude exploitation films that don't remind the audience that they don't know yet. "Smart strategy, very good, I will modify it again." Bill Condy was very satisfied. , I rarely learn something from the cooperation with the director.

"What you said makes me look forward to the expressions of Columbia's senior executives when they see this movie." After explaining, Weintraub understood that Ronald's changes will make it look better. Few movies are so carefully designed. Let the audience respond immediately every time something comes to mind.

"Huh? We seem to have missed a shot here." Ronald looked at the picture on the monitor and slid to the end.

"What lens?" Weintraub wondered.

"Look, the main plot of this movie is the father-son relationship between Miyagi and Daniel. At this point, Daniel was hugged by Ali, and finally he was a beautiful woman. His mother also came up to care and congratulate him, and he also gained the respect of his opponent Johnny. After admitting defeat and getting the trophy, what he wants most now is to celebrate with Mr. Miyagi, right?

We just filmed him saying ‘We did it, Master Miyagi! ’ was the line followed by a satisfied smile from Master Miyagi? "

Ronald played the last few seconds of the film over and over again, "At that time, I was focusing on Noriyuki Morita, and the shot was a mid-range scene. In fact, there should be a close-up here. Miyagi was also smiling at Daniel and nodding in appreciation.

In this way, the audience can be emotionally satisfied, which is a victory between two interracial fake father and fake son. "

"You're right." Weintraub also watched the replay of this episode. "I'm going to call Noriyuki Morita and hope he hasn't shaved off his beard."