Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Very good, it seems that letting the actors adjust the camera themselves in the air can work." The fighter just stopped on the runway, Ronald untied the oxygen mask and said to the pilot "Bozo" in the front seat of the F-14A.

In order to shoot the shots in the cockpit, Ronald sat in the radar officer seat of the Tomcat first, turned on the camera in the air, and shot a scene facing his own face. He wanted to make sure whether the actor could stay calm at high altitude and complete the operation of hitting the board and turning on and off the camera.

"You are different, those weak chickens who get airsick may not be so sure," "Bozo" replied with a smile.

"Don't be too hard on them... The rent for me to shoot here is not cheap for the Navy." Ronald also smiled.

"Ronald, Ronald," Nicita ran over anxiously just after getting off the boarding ladder, "Hurry, hurry with me."

"I'll be back soon," Ronald said goodbye to the pilot calmly and got into the BMW sedan parked next to Nicita.

"What's wrong?" Ronald asked.

"Paramount CEO Mancuso suddenly called all the key people in the crew to a meeting."

"What is he going to do? Is Val Kilmer going to complain again?"

"Not sure, producer Don Simpson, Bruckheimer, and Ned Tanin, the vice president in charge of production, were all called to the meeting. We suspect he has some secret plan, otherwise it is unlikely that he would call all the key people. This time I will accompany you to this meeting. If you have any questions, follow my instructions."

Ronald still trusts Niceta's experience, and the two quickly arrived at the executive meeting room at the top level of Paramount.

A small projector was set up in the meeting room, and a small screen was set up on the wall at the other end of the room.

Ronald slid into the seat at the end of the conference table and nodded to Simpson and Bruckheimer who were already sitting there. He found that Paula and Val Kilmer's agent were also sitting there.

"Since everyone is here, let's start."

Frank Mancuso and Ned Tanin pushed the door from the adjacent CEO's office and announced the start of the screening of the sample film of "Top Gun".

The screen showed the female instructor Charlie giving a lecture in the airport classroom, her date with Tom, and so on. Seeing Ronald's low shot of McGillis's legs, all the men present smiled knowingly.

Then came the shot of Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, and Rossovich, four strong men, playing beach volleyball with their upper bodies naked. The bodies covered with olive oil exuded a male hormone glow in the sun, which was impressive.

Ronald found that Mancuso's secretary, a middle-aged woman, was watching with great interest, her mouth opening and closing as if she was applauding.

Finally, there were some shots of F-14 fighter jets taking off and landing in the sunset shot on an aircraft carrier. Ronald secretly hummed the theme music of Gun in his heart and dubbed these shots in his mind, a very powerful combination of sound and picture.

The film was finished, leaving a white patch on the screen. After watching these selected samples, Ronald liked them very much. From the pictures, these films all achieved his intentions. He turned to look at CEO Mancuso who called the meeting. What was he going to say?

Mancuso leaned forward and put his hands on the conference table, like a bird trying to spread its wings to scare its own kind. He said:

"What kind of garbage did you shoot?"

"Huh?" Ronald sat up straight and stared at Mancuso, watching what he could say. How is it garbage? Let me see if you can shoot such "garbage".

"Look, McGillis here, this makeup, this posture, these high heels and stockings, is she a naval flight expert or a street girl on Hollywood Boulevard?"

"How the hell do I know what the girls on Hollywood Boulevard look like? It seems that you are very familiar with them?" Ronald stood up suddenly and wanted to curse back.

Nicita pulled his sleeve hard from below. He knew that if this client really wanted to go all out, an old-fashioned person like Mancuso would not be able to bear it, and that would completely ruin the relationship.

Ronald glanced at Niceta and saw that he seemed to be saying "calm down" with his mouth, so he slowly sat down.

"And these four male actors, beach volleyball, is it necessary to shoot it like a low-cost soft erotic film? Or is it a version for men and men only, are you only good at shooting low-cost exploitation films?"

Ronald stopped cursing this time. He ignored Mancuso and turned to look at the agents of the two actors. Paula was shocked, while Val Kilmer's agent seemed to be prepared.

Ronald looked at producer Don Simpson and Bruckheimer again. The two of them were also shocked when they answered. They didn't expect that Mancuso would completely devalue the sample film to this extent this time. What handle did he catch to replace the upper management of their crew?

"And these, all the shots were shot against the light at sunset, what is this? V? Or an advertisement?" Finally, Mancuso began to criticize the shots on the aircraft carrier again.

"You are so good at shooting commercials and videos, why don't you specialize in those in the future? Hollywood's big productions require complete plots and performances that drive character growth. So far, all I have seen of the sample you shot is a big video."

"And you guys," Mancuso turned his firepower to the two producers.

"When you were about to shoot, you told me that this is the inheritance of the golden age, it is patriotism, and it is the reappearance of the spirit of John Wayne's great western films in the air. Now look at it, what is it?

Director John Ford, who shot a documentary for the U.S. military on Midway Island during World War II, braved Japanese air raids to capture the scene of the aircraft carrier being attacked. It was a great spirit of sacrifice. It is not such a sissy scene, with men and women, I want What I saw was a Western, not a Western erotica. "

Ronald looked at Ned Tanin next to Mancuso. At this time, he should come out to defend himself. He gave the green light to the film. If Mancuso is allowed to deny it, he will also have to be responsible as the person in charge of production.

Tanin shook his head invisibly at him, signaling Ronald not to have an attack on the spot.

Ronald frowned, he was puzzled. What kind of leverage did Mancuso get? Tanin didn't even say a word?

"The aircraft carrier, beach volleyball, and some important scenes of the heroine must be reshot." Mancuso came back and pointed at Ronald.

"Mr. Mancuso, this movie is rated PG and there will be no excessively erotic or violent scenes..." Ronald couldn't help but stand up and defended himself.

"Sit down!" Mancuso yelled.

"This is Paramount's glorious tradition. If you don't want to shoot, you can replace it. Paramount has many mature directors who can shoot these scenes. They will know how to use classic Hollywood protagonists like Van Kilmer as actors. The real way to make a movie."

Ronald sat down angrily and glanced at Val Kilmer's agent who was sitting next to him. The other party looked at himself a little triumphantly.

Ronald looked at Ned Tanin opposite again and motioned him to speak with his eyes. You are his, shouldn't you say something at this time?

Seeing that he avoided his gaze, Ronald decided to go in on his own and stood up to argue again.

"Union, two-thirds."

Niceta pulled Ronald desperately and said two words softly.

"snort!"

Ronald held back his anger. He understood what Niceta meant.

The main scenes of the movie have been shot, leaving only some aerial combat scenes. Ronald has already mastered the technical aspects, and it does not necessarily require a director with special talents to follow suit.

If Mancuso gets another director to do those scenes, kick him out. Then we re-shot some important scenes and retained the difficult aircraft carrier scenes that we shot ourselves. In this way, it is easy for the new director to shoot more than two-thirds of the total scene shots.

At that time, he can justifiably remove his name from the director column. Even the entire filming technology, filming logic, and the most difficult rivalry scenes were all handled by myself.

At this time, Don Simpson spoke up, defending Ronald and himself.

"I don't agree with some of your points, Mr. Mancuso. Today's new generation of viewers don't like old-fashioned preaching, but like the fast-paced editing brought by V and advertising.

Ronald's camera scheduling is in line with the lighting of classical oil paintings, and it is also the tone and temperament that the new generation of audiences like. This is typical of John Ford westerns. "

Ned Tanin breathed a sigh of relief. Someone put the conversation into the rhythm of a normal technical discussion and he could speak.

"Frank, Don is right. Hollywood today is not the golden age. You don't necessarily have to rely on actors to advance the story and develop the characters. This is a high-concept big production, just like Spielberg's ET With Alien and Jaws, the audience is more likely to see a big scene and a big spectacle.”

Don Simpson continued, "Yes, today's audiences can watch TV series at home, where they are all dramas. They go to the cinema to watch those unprecedented scenes of aircraft carriers taking off and landing, flying air battles, etc."

Mancuso interrupted them, "Of course I know this, but are we hiring Spielberg or George Lucas now? Apart from them, who else in Hollywood can make this kind of movie?"

Mancuso brought the topic back again, accusing Ronald of going off track as a director. He raised his hand and looked at his watch. The time was just right:

"I remind you that the Commander-in-Chief is about to give a keynote speech on the current situation in Hollywood. It's almost time."

As he spoke, he turned on the TV and used the remote control to tune to NBC's live broadcast.

"Is this planned?" Ronald looked at the TV. The commander-in-chief had just met him. What could he say?

The leader was on a podium and was about to give a speech. On the wall behind him was a wooden title "Conservative Political Action Conference." This is an event held annually by conservative forces in America. This year the T\u0026T was invited to deliver a keynote speech.

"...I believe that those who seek to overthrow the current government in Nicaragua are morally equal to our founding fathers. I again call on Congress to pass the $14 million appropriation for them..."

"Conservative values ​​are the foundation of the United States, and they have now become the mainstream values ​​​​in hundreds of millions of families. We have a responsibility to them, and we must cherish these conservative values."

The commander-in-chief said a lot of praise for the resurgence of conservatism in America. He stopped to take a sip of water and remembered the commission from his old friend Sinatra.

"We are the American nation, and our movies are our epics. I have noticed that in recent Hollywood, violence and eroticism have become easier, and our ordinary American families are worried that their children are affected by Hollywood movies.

We need more smart movies, just like the previous ET Aliens and Star Wars. Hollywood should make more movies of this type, rather than those more controversial, violent or adult-themed movies."

Mancuso heard this and turned back to look at the speech with pride. His actions to eliminate Eisner's bad influence in Paramount were more just.

"Speaking of this, it reminds me of something. Two days ago, Nancy and I watched a movie shot by Sewell. This is a movie made by one of our little friends. He has the same name as me, Ronald, and he introduced it with a unique vision." The president continued his speech.

Mancuso found that the two producers Simpson and Bruckheimer, as well as Ned Tanin, all focused their eyes on Ronald.

The young over-the-top director looked at himself with a smile, pointed at his nose with his finger, and his mouth shape seemed to say, "Yes, that's me."

"Nancy and I both like this movie. I regret that it is not made in Hollywood.

This kid is directing a movie about naval aviation funded by Paramount. We need more Hollywood-made heroes on the screen to relive the best qualities of America, leadership, heroism, and sacrifice on the screen."

Mancuso's face quickly collapsed, and his face quickly changed from excited red to angry blue, and then quickly to a dead white color. He touched his heart and felt a faint pain. He felt that he was about to have a heart attack.

The President continued to speak on TV, "My dear friends of the Conservative Union, remember that we Americans are born to lead the world. The sky - not the streets - is our limit."

"Nancy and I are looking forward to the release of that kid's movie. There has never been a more exciting time than now, a time to inspire miracles and heroic achievements. Our space shuttles are sending ordinary people into space. We don't need roads to go to the sky we want to go to."

The President personally selected Ronald to direct "Top Gun" and to watch it at the White House.

Mancuso trembled as he took out a pill from his pocket and swallowed it in one gulp.

Everyone, except Mancuso, was having a hard time holding back.

Tanin spoke up, "Mr. Mancuso, Ronald and the others have more shots to complete, why don't we adjourn now."

"Hahahaha", Ronald and two producers laughed wildly at the gate of Paramount.

"You are amazing, when did you go to the White House? Is Nancy your aunt? Hahaha." Don Simpson also laughed so hard that he kept hitting the front of his newly bought Ferrari, "I can't take it anymore, my tears are about to come out, look at Mancuso's face."

Nicita pulled Ronald into the car, "Don't laugh at the gate of Paramount, Ronald. This is our experience as agents, someone will pass on the message. We must respect the CEO of Paramount... Hahahaha... Get in the car quickly."