Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"A!"

Ronald squatted on the deck tube and stretched out in front of the elevator motor.

The exit of the hangar was illuminated by the unique yellow light of the sunset on the Indian Ocean. Under the backlight, the staff on the deck were only reflected as a black silhouette.

"Woo...", the elevator slowly rose, gradually blocking the sunlight, and the silhouette of the F-14A fighter on the lifting platform also slowly disappeared in the lens, leaving a dark area.

"Clang!", the elevator closed tightly.

"Cut!"

Ronald and the others quickly climbed up the elevator that descended again and reached the deck.

The sunset scenery was very beautiful, and the crew took the time to shoot.

Ronald once again used the backlighting of the sunset for a large area of ​​framing. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen lens also left a lot of space for the huge fighter.

On the deck, the figure of the Tomcat slowly slid across the frame from left to right. It took a full ten seconds for the entire fighter to be included in the picture, and it could only occupy half of it.

The sky gradually darkened, and the metal color of the fighter jets on the deck, which was almost invisible, presented a mysterious tone under the white steam emitted by the steam catapult.

"Cut"

Ronald was very satisfied with the results of today's shooting. The dim, beautiful, smoke-shrouded tones in his dream were indeed the most suitable for shooting the mechanical monster in front of him.

"Tomorrow, the carrier-based aircraft wing agreed to shoot the shots of the aircraft catapult taking off. I hope the weather will cooperate at that time."

Director of photography Kimball said to Ronald.

"The weather in the Indian Ocean changes very quickly. We are ready. The shooting time is limited. The Enterprise aircraft carrier formation has patrol missions. We'd better complete the shooting within the scheduled time. I don't want to go to the Secretary of the Navy to ask for mercy again."

Kimball smiled and patted the young director on the shoulder. Thanks to him, he can become the first director of photography to shoot on-site on an aircraft carrier in decades.

"Tom Cruise, can you sign for me?" A carrier-based aircraft pilot came over and asked Tom for an autograph embarrassedly.

Tom was stunned, then smiled and signed his name in his notebook.

"Hey, you want an autograph too?" The ground staff laughed and teased the pilot.

"I'm asking for an autograph for appreciation. Maybe in a few years, this autograph will be worth a lot of money."

The profession with a bigger ego than a star in the world may be a fighter pilot, and a bigger one than a fighter pilot is a carrier-based fighter pilot.

With their one-in-a-million quality and master's and doctoral degrees, it is difficult for them to look down on these uneducated actors who play themselves.

Tom Cruise is the only exception. With his affinity and the popularity of his previous movies, the pilots recognized his role as the carrier-based pilot Lone Ranger.

"Shxt!"

Val Kilmer and Rick Rossovich next to him cursed with disdain, and they were regarded as idiots by the pilots.

Yesterday, a pilot explained to the two low-IQ actors with a look of idiocy that the nuclear in nuclear power means reactor, and it is not as dangerous as a nuclear bomb. Sleeping in their original bunks is actually very quiet, and it is the best bunk that a non-commissioned officer can sleep in.

"I want to give some compensation to the officers and soldiers who will cooperate with the filming tomorrow..." Ronald showed some goodwill during dinner with the captain and the flight wing leader, trying to make up for the rift between the crew and the officers and soldiers on the aircraft carrier caused by Van Kilmer's violation of discipline yesterday.

"Don't forget, taxpayers are the ones who pay them." The captain felt Ronald's goodwill, but reminded him not to give too much, so as not to cause conflicts between the officers and soldiers who participated in the filming and those who did not.

"How about ten dollars per person?" Ronald thought about it, at least to give people money to buy iced Coca-Cola. Tomorrow, nearly a thousand officers and soldiers will be extras to fill the deck and bridge.

"Haha, okay, notify the kitchen to make enough ice cream to sell to the boys tomorrow."

The next day, the sky was clear.

The assistant director was assigning tasks to the neatly arranged navy officers.

A large group of officers and soldiers in authentic navy uniforms formed a big circle on the deck. Ronald and his team wanted to shoot the Lone Ranger shooting down three enemy planes alone, and returning to the aircraft carrier safely with the Iceman, and being celebrated by everyone.

This is the final climax of the film.

"Everyone, listen to me. The Lone Ranger's fighter will turn around and come here," Ronald picked up the electric speaker and told the "extras" present.

These soldiers of the disciplined forces are much easier to manage than ordinary extras.

"Then the Lone Ranger will come down from the boarding ladder. You will surround the rescued Hollywood and the Werewolf. When they hug each other warmly, you will cheer. Now let's try it."

"Start cheering!"

"Ahhh..."

"Ah!"

After the rehearsal, the official shooting began. An F-14A Tomcat fighter slowly circled half a circle and cut into the picture from the right side of the frame. A group of sailors surrounded it and everyone began to shout the Lone Ranger's call sign.

Tom Cruise came down from the boarding ladder and was surrounded by people cheering and celebrating his achievement of shooting down three MiG-28s alone.

"The 2.35 anamorphic widescreen lens is great. With such a wide frame, you don't need to shake the camera to tell the story, and nearly one-third of the screen can be left blank." Ronald was also watching the scene with the director's viewfinder behind the camera. This frame is really suitable for shooting large scenes.

The two actors who played "Hollywood" and "Werewolf" came over and hugged Tom Cruise fiercely. As soon as they engaged in the battle, they were shot down by MiG missiles and fell into the sea after ejection. If the Lone Ranger hadn't driven away the enemy plane later, the search and rescue helicopter would not have been able to rescue them from the sea so easily.

Hundreds of people surrounded the three pilots and walked towards the deck on the other side, where the Iceman and Slider who returned early were. The two ace pilots were finally going to face each other and resolve their grievances.

Ronald stood behind the camera and smiled. He saw Barry Tubb, who played "Werewolf". The smart guy wore a straw hat to steal the show in the airport scene. This time he thought of another way.

Everyone else had their backs to the camera, surrounding the Lone Ranger and walking towards the Iceman crew.

He was the only one who faced the camera and said this to the Lone Ranger and his temporary radar officer, the Wizard, while walking backwards.

This method of stealing the show was very unique. It did not affect the protagonist, the composition, or the narrative. It was just a clever trick to successfully keep his face on the screen for a few more seconds.

"Cut!"

Ronald looked at Barry Tubb and nodded to him, indicating that he acted very well. He did not pursue his private stealing of the show.

Tubb was very happy. As a supporting actor with few scenes, showing up more in a big production like this would definitely leave a deep impression on the audience. It seemed that the director was quite sure of his improvisation. After being rescued by the Lone Ranger, he must want to talk to him more. It was reasonable to walk backwards.

"Very good, let's hurry up and finish the filming," Ronald arranged to the assistant director and began to nervously re-set the camera.

"A!"

Soon, Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise were pushed into a circle surrounded by hundreds of extras. Before taking off, Iceman was still questioning the Lone Ranger's combat style of ignoring his wingman. But if the Lone Ranger hadn't sacrificed himself to save him, Iceman would have been surrounded and beaten by five MiG-28s, and most likely shot down.

The camera captured Val Kilmer walking to the fixed point on the deck with tape and saying, "You're still very dangerous, but you've passed the test!"

"Cut!"

Ronald reluctantly stopped filming and picked up the loudspeaker to say to Val Kilmer:

"Kilmer, you remembered the lines wrong, read according to the script."

This is the climax of the reconciliation between the two ace pilots. Iceman will say, "You're still very dangerous, but you can be my wingman at any time."

This means that Iceman recognizes the Lone Ranger's combat style, and the Lone Ranger has also learned a lesson from the accident of the silly goose, and no longer abandons his wingman to show off alone. At this point, the Lone Ranger has completed the role transformation and grown into a better fighter pilot.

"A!"

"You're still so dangerous..."

Val Kilmer seemed to have forgotten his words again, and got stuck here, and then he looked at the camera. He spread his hands and shrugged, indicating that he had forgotten the words.

"Cut!"

Ronald began to get angry, "Do you want me to make a prompter for you?"

"Director, I can't say this line."

Val Kilmer approached Ronald, with his hands on his hips. He tilted his head, and his square chin was pointed at Ronald like a shovel, as if provoking him. He had the demeanor of an ancient ape.

"Can't say it? What do you mean?"

"I just can't say it. I can't bow to Tom's character..."

"Fuck you..."

Ronald was furious.

Val Kilmer did this for his own status, and he didn't want his role to bow to Cruise's role. He also wanted the Iceman to preach to the Lone Ranger again at the end, so that the Iceman's role could be highlighted, and he wanted to compete with Cruise.

The Iceman and the Lone Ranger have always been two levels of confrontation. One relies on reason and textbook-like flying to irritate his opponent. The other relies on intuition, does not think in battle, and acts on intuition.

In the final dogfight with hostile fighters, the Lone Ranger saved the Iceman, and the styles represented by the two were reconciled here. This is the reasonable plot climax that a commercial film should have.

"Go to hell and finish that line." Ronald ignored his remaining face and pointed at Val Kilmer's nose, asking him to go back to film.

"I can't guarantee that I can say it."

"Then just keep saying it until you can say it."

"Humph," Val Kilmer put away his rebellious eyes and walked into the middle of hundreds of extras unconvinced.

Ronald stared at Val Kilmer's back, this man is not smart.

He would not say anything about Barry Tubb's stealing of the scene just now, which fits the role. It is really stupid to completely overturn the character and the development of the story.

Would he change the priority of the two male protagonists on the spot?

"Cut!"

"Cut!"

...

After more than a dozen takes, every time when the Iceman spoke, Val Kilmer either didn't say "You can be my wingman" or changed the words without authorization.

Ronald put away his outward anger, but his heart was actually boiling like hot water.

This Val Kilmer dared to openly challenge the director's authority on the set because his Paramount CEO Frank Mancuso said a few nice things about him at a high-level meeting.

Now the two sides have reached an impasse. Either he overpowers himself as the director and changes the lines, or he overpowers him and forces him to say those lines.

"a!"

Ronald's face was as dark as water. If you don't say anything, then I will continue filming until you say something. I don’t mind doing this shot thirty, fifty times...

"Change the film," Kimball yelled. A large roll of film was wasted, and Val Kilmer still looked disdainful, and he just didn't say anything.

The staff all saw what Kilmer meant and were careful not to say anything, for fear of being caught between the two people who were at war with each other and being used as a scapegoat.

"Ronald", producer Bruckheimer came over, and Tom Cruise also came over, "This is not the solution. Should we find his agent..."

"Let's continue until we get the effect I need."

Ronald ignored them both. There was no direct dial phone on the aircraft carrier, so telegraphing messages back and forth was a waste of time. This kind of thing is actually a contest of wills between the two parties.

"Hey", Tom Cruise punched his left palm hard with his right fist and returned to his standing position.

"Guys, the ice cream is here...hey?"

A large bucket of ice cream was brought to the aircraft carrier's kitchen to relieve the heat of the officers and soldiers participating in the filming. When they arrived, they saw a stalemate among everyone.

"Put the ice cream tub down, and we'll eat it when Mr. Kilmer remembers his lines."

Ronald picked up the electric horn and announced to everyone present.

"Boom..." The officers and soldiers had been staying on the hot and humid deck for a long time. Seeing that they couldn't eat the ice cream in front of them, thousands of people complained together and made a loud sound.

"a!"

Val Kilmer looked unkind, and the extras around him looked at him like a clown. Thousands of eyes looked at him, threatening to knock him down to the ground and beat him up if he continued to play tricks.

"You are still very dangerous, Lone Ranger..." Fang Kilmer's face muscles were deformed in embarrassment, "but you can be my wingman at any time."

As everyone said, Val Kilmer had never enjoyed this kind of treatment. His legs were weak and his tongue was stiff, and he couldn't help but speak the lines prescribed in the script.

Opposite him, Tom Cruise showed an evil smile. He finally won the male lead's charm competition.

"Nonsense, you can be my wingman." After Cruise finished speaking, he stepped forward and hugged Val Kilmer, patting him hard on the back several times.

"cut!"

Ronald saw Kimball's OK gesture.

"This print is ready for ice cream."

"Ouch..." The sailors rushed forward happily, lined up consciously, each had a cone of ice cream, and licked it happily.

"Woo..."

A strong wind blew over.

The weather in the Indian Ocean is very changeable. It will soon become cloudy and darken quickly.

"Mr. Director, the flight commander asked me to ask you if it will rain heavily soon. Do you still want to take off?" Liaison Officer Sergeant James came over to find Ronald.

"Please tell the co-captain to thank him for his kindness. Even if we can take off in bad weather, we will not be able to capture satisfactory footage."

Ronald looked at the heavy rain that was about to fall and felt very bad. Fang Kilmer wasted too much time just now, and he might not be able to catch up with the good weather before sunset today. There is only one day left tomorrow, so I can only pray to God for blessings and be able to take a satisfactory picture.

He looked at Val Kilmer, who was walking towards the cabin, and Rick Rosovich, who played his partner, the two black sheep.

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－

Looking at the data today, I discovered that anakcai also became the leader of this book last month.

I didn't notice it at the time, so I'm adding thanks now.

Thanks for your support!

anakcai often helps me correct typos, thank you again.