Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The crew quickly built a public bathroom locker room scene out of wood at the Miramar base, which originally did not have a large public bathroom. There are two halls, large and small, connected by a false door in the middle.

The large room is the lounge scene at the bathroom door. This is where the pilots change their clothes and tidy up their appearance in front of the full-length mirror.

The smaller room is more narrow and long, with metal lockers on both sides and a long wooden stool in the middle.

One side of the two halls is decorated to look real, while the other side is open to nothing, allowing the camera crew to set up huge lenses and lighting equipment. Base staff who visited behind the cordon wondered why the bathrooms were only half full.

The first scene today is the first verbal confrontation between the two top pilots, Lone Ranger and Iceman.

The instructor "Joker" was experienced in dog fighting. The fight ended in five minutes, humiliating "Hollywood" and his radar officer "Werewolf" on the radio.

But Clowney also suffered two defeats today. Iceman followed the tactics in the flight manual and defeated the instructor "Joker".

The "Lone Ranger" used a dangerous but effective strategy. When being followed by the clown, he suddenly pulled up, slowed down and landed behind the clown's plane, locking the clown with missiles.

Hollywood and Werewolf were lying on the bench in the middle, laughing at themselves as Iceman and Radar Officer Slider came over and casually revealed that they had defeated Instructor Joker.

The werewolf pointed to the Lone Ranger and Goose on the other side, "They also won."

"No, this is not the news we got. They committed a foul and ran below the prescribed height." The Iceman faced the Lone Ranger and contemptuously denied his achievement.

"The height is specified, just like farting," the Lone Ranger said a curse word, "If you win, you win, we have locked the clown."

"cut!"

"Kilmer, you didn't go to the prescribed point and went out of the camera." Ronald called out to Fang Kilmer. This was the third time he made a mistake today.

"My problem, sorry, I'm not used to entering the camera from this side."

Val Kilmer chewed gum, raised his chin, and explained to Ronald.

"We'll rest for a quarter of an hour."

Ronald looked at the scene and everyone was a little tired. Val Kilmer's "mistake" was not an unintentional mistake. He had to pause first and then think of a solution.

"Director, Kilmer's better half of his face is on the left side. He is used to walking on the right side of the screen. If you ask him to enter the frame from the left side, it will not be very conducive to his performance..."

Seeing that everyone had dispersed to rest, Val Kilmer's manager quickly walked up to Ronald and said something that was not convenient for Kilmer to say.

"You don't need to say any more, I know what's going on."

The thing is very simple, this is the unspoken rule of star filming.

Val Kilmer wanted more close-ups to take care of the more handsome half of his face. But Tom Cruise, who has a higher salary and a higher status than him, has the better-looking half of his face on the same side.

Of course, Ronald looked after Tom's interests first. Knowing that he was not good-looking in the camera, Val Kilmer played tricks and made various small situations, just to avoid photographing the worse half of his face.

"Kimmer is tired. He finished the beer party with everyone last night late. I will go and cheer him up. As long as you give me a certain convenience..." The manager gave Ronald a hint, as long as he can take care of it. According to Val Kilmer's needs, at least the two people's screen time and scenes are equal, and Kilmer can fully cooperate.

"Ronald, I don't need to say anything more. Tom has always been very cooperative with your work. Not to mention your personal relationship, he is still the top star of the crew. His name appears on the subtitles after the film title. I want His shots are more beautiful, which is very reasonable.”

Paula Wagner also came over and talked about their personal relationship.

"I know it well."

It's impossible to say who is right or wrong in this kind of thing. The key problem facing Ronald now is to make the two stars cooperate and continue filming.

Val Kilmer is very slick and uses various accidents as excuses to slow down work. It is impossible for the producers to do anything to him. It didn't work out, and he didn't expect any progress today.

As for Tom Cruise, who has always been dedicated to his work, there is no way Ronald would ask him to give up the leading role and give a supporting role better treatment. Moreover, even if he made such a request, given Cruise's current position, it might be his turn to make a "mistake."

"At times like this, I miss Don very much," Bruckheimer said beside him. Don Simpson had a fiery personality and was outspoken. If he were on the set at this time, he would definitely scold Val Kilmer.

"Yes." Ronald knew that Bruckheimer wanted to play the role of a "good policeman" and it would not be appropriate for him to step in. After all, the director's position requires cooperation with the actors.

At this time, there is one less "bad cop".

"How about I give it a try?" Bruckheimer scratched his scalp and prepared to do it himself.

"I have another way, let's try again." Ronald stopped him, pretending not to be like him, but it had no effect.

…

"You set up the camera here." Ronald took out the storyboard he drew and crossed out the camera position originally arranged on the side of the stool. Then, a new cross was drawn on the opposite side of the Iceman's locker.

"This way, you take a close-up shot of his face and ask him to turn his head away from the locker. Your lens can capture the better half of his face."

"Then we will do the same with the Lone Ranger?" Kimball took the pencil and started to modify the next frame of the storyboard.

"Yes, to express the dialogue, you don't have to shoot the main shot to explain the spatial relationship between the two people."

Ronald deleted the original Hollywood standard method of "one main shot and two over-the-shoulder shots" on the screen, and then drew several consecutive close-up pictures.

"As long as we ensure that the axis of their close-up shots is not messy, it should not be difficult for the audience to feel the logical relationship between the two of them."

"You are really good, how did you come up with this method? I only heard an old photographer talk about this method. Some people in Hollywood in the golden age adopted it."

"This is not shooting the main shot to prevent the boss of the studio from editing the story at random. The anti-interference shooting method invented by the directors at that time, Walter Murch taught me."

Ronald smiled. In the golden age of Hollywood, the studio pursued speed rather than artistic standards. It was often used by unrelated people to edit the director's negatives, and it was not uncommon for the finished film to be completely different from the original intention.

At that time, some directors invented this method of not shooting the main shot, but only shooting close-ups of the dialogue. Without the main shot, the audience cannot see the logical relationship between the characters in the dialogue, and the editing must be strictly cut according to the director's design, without any room for secondary creation to change the tragic ending into a happy ending.

"That was also because live recording was not used at the time, and the lines had to be changed during the post-dubbing," Kimball is knowledgeable, "I didn't expect you to use it to prevent stars from stealing the spotlight. Maybe your method will become popular in the future."

"A!"

After preparing the new shot, Ronald called for a start.

"You two are really cowboy style!"

After hearing the swear words of the Lone Ranger, the Iceman played by Val Kilmer turned around and angrily scolded the pair of partners.

Ronald looked from behind the camera. Val Kilmer's better half of the face looked very handsome in front of the camera, while the other half looked a little fierce, like a bad guy.

No wonder he cares so much about his side of the face being photographed.

"Cut!"

"Print this one," Ronald asked Val Kilmer to continue with the next one.

"What's wrong with you, Kazansky?" Tom Cruise said to Val Kilmer off camera.

"That's because you are everyone's problem, Lone Ranger, you make everyone else feel insecure." Val Kilmer faced the camera alone, raised his chin, chewed gum while speaking, very arrogant, and then bit his teeth in the air, making a click, like a big cat that wants to eat people.

"Cut!"

This line is full of gunpowder. Val Kilmer has a bit of a double entendre. It is not only the Iceman's complaint to the Lone Ranger, but also Val Kilmer's complaint to Tom Cruise.

The good thing about using close-ups to show the dialogue is that the Iceman's annoying face here will definitely resonate with the audience. As long as the Lone Ranger can fight back, the audience will definitely applaud.

The bad thing is that the Iceman acted very well. He looked at Tom Cruise, which was a big challenge for Tom.

Tom stared at Val Kilmer with his eyes tightly and frowned slightly, like a falcon, staring at its prey.

"Will there be a big conflict?" Ronald felt a little uneasy.

Actors are very sensitive to the camera. Val Kilmer's performance just now was impressive, and Tom Cruise would not fail to feel it. He must have a plan to surpass Val Kilmer.

"Ronald, I want to use an over-the-shoulder lens. Can you make me look less..." Cruise drew a line at the height of Ronald's chin while taking a break and waiting for the re-lighting.

"Are you sure?" Ronald knew that this was a close-up shot. If an over-the-shoulder lens was used, Cruise's face and the back of Val Kilmer's shoulders would appear in the lens, and his height difference would be exposed.

"I need him to stand in the lens." Tom Cruise's eyes were firm.

"What do you think?" Ronald asked the director of photography, Kimball.

"It doesn't matter. I can take a little overhead shot. There is a lack of reference in the close-up shot, and the audience will think that their height difference is very small." Kimball's various tricks are endless.

"Thank you, Kimball," Cruise thanked the director of photography and gave Paula a look.

"Tell me when you are ready," Ronald nodded to Tom Cruise.

"a!"

The camera passed through Val Kilmer's shoulder and took in the good-looking half of Tom Cruise's face.

The slightly downward shot made the two seem to be only about an inch apart in height.

"What's wrong with you, Kazansky?" Tom Cruise gritted his teeth.

"I don't like you, you make everyone feel insecure," Val Kilmer repeated the conversation.

"That's right," Tom Cruise improvised, patting Val Kilmer's shoulder, as if he was flicking the dust for him, and gave a wicked smile, "I... am... very... dangerous!" It was like another big cat teasing its prey.

"Cut!"

Tom Cruise's lines also had a double meaning. If you want to grab the spotlight, you must be prepared to compete. What follows is not just a competition in acting. I am very "dangerous."

Ronald was very satisfied with this rivalry. The two were on edge. In the camera, they looked like two high school students fighting for a beauty, and like two little roosters inspecting their hens.

"Okay, okay," Ronald said to the two stars who were still kicking each other after he called a halt. We will clear the scene to shoot the shirtless scenes later, so you guys go take a break first.

"Humph!" Val Kilmer turned and went into the dressing room.

"I'll treat everyone to a drink at the bar tonight. I've brought craft beer from Los Angeles." Tom Cruise invited everyone.

"Yeah!" All the supporting actors cheered.

"Clear the scene now, please leave the filming site if you are not interested."

In the large hall where the scene was set up, the assistant director shouted three times in a row. Many female technicians of the crew, female officers and soldiers of Miramar Base who heard the news and came to watch the excitement, and the bar waitresses, etc., all looked back every few steps and left the dressing room reluctantly.

"Isn't there a rumor that there will be a bathing scene of Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer? Why haven't they come out yet?"

"Director, it's all cleared."

"Yes," Ronald stood up slowly, "Camera crew, get ready."

The focus puller was also a woman. She happily picked up the tape measure, walked to the row of benches in the dressing room, taped a cross mark, and waited happily for the protagonists to come out of the dressing room.

"Ah!"

Besides the photography, recording, and lighting, there were only Ronald and the heroine McGillis who came to watch the "group bathing" performance of men.

"Lone Ranger, you flew well today, until you are shot down by me, never, never leave your wingman." The actor who played the Joker came in and gave Tom Cruise a lecture.

The Lone Ranger played by Tom Cruise was very angry with himself. In order to shoot down the instructor "Viper", he left his wingman pilot "Hollywood" and radar operator "Wolfman" without authorization, and was finally shot down by the instructor "Joker" who was in ambush.

The camera was pushed out on the fixed track, drawing an arc and capturing the whole scene.

After the camera reached the end, Ronald silently pointed to the door leading to the bathroom, and Val Kilmer came out from inside with only a bath towel wrapped around his waist.

Val Kilmer was naked with a strong upper body, and his muscles were explosively beautiful. A dog tag with the pilot's name registered on his chest was dangling on his chest muscles.

"Lone Ranger, this is not your flying skills, but your attitude. The enemy is dangerous, and your attitude makes you a wingman, which is more dangerous than the enemy."

The camera continued to turn around and capture the figure of the Lone Ranger.

Tom Cruise stroked his hair, and a few drops of sweat dripped from it. He was also naked, with one foot on the stool, and the white bath towel tied around his waist was stretched to the limit.

"Cut!"

Ronald looked at McGillis next to him. Female audiences should like this kind of shot very much.

McGillis took an ice cream and licked it. "Is this what you learned from that men's magazine?" She gave him a look like a girlfriend, as if to say, you are this kind of Ronald, no wonder you were not in a hurry last time.

"Hi hi..." Ronald quickly announced to continue shooting. This woman's eyes really speak.

The shooting was completed that day, and the costume assistant began to use the laundry basket to collect the actors' bath towels one by one.

"Will you go to the bar with us? I specially brought good beer today." Tom Cruise walked in front of McGillis and invited.

This woman is the only beautiful actress in the crew now. The actors have a male instinct and want to date McGillis.

"Okay, let me try it." McGillis glanced at Ronald and accepted the invitation.

"Let's go." Val Kilmer won the shot, but lost to Tom Cruise in picking up girls. He went out with his manager.

"Have you noticed that either Kilmer drinks beer with everyone, or Cruise drinks beer with everyone, but they never drink beer together." Director of photography Kimball came over to report his discovery to Ronald.

Then, he packed up his equipment and went to the bar with the camera crew.

"It is good to maintain a moderate level of competitiveness," Ronald was very satisfied with the shots he took today, "as long as you master it and don't go too far."