Exploiting Hollywood 1980

“Dongdong, dong…dongdong, dong…”

“Cut!”

Ronald called a halt to the filming. “Tomita, come here.” He reached out and called the female lead, Tomita Tanling, who was wearing a white shirt and suspenders and looked confused after being stopped.

Since the direct conflict with Ralph Mazzio’s manager, the two new stars in the filming acted like big names and asked for various treatments less frequently. Ronald’s filming progress also gradually began to speed up.

However, he encountered a lot of obstacles in the scene where Tomita Tanling played Kumiko and taught Daniel to dance traditional Japanese dance.

“What kind of person do you think Kumiko is?” Ronald knew that the girl had no experience in filming movies and might not realize where her problem was, so he had to guide her slowly.

“I think she is a typical Ryukyu girl, very motivated, and wants to go to America by herself to pursue ballet studies.”

Tomita Tanling was a little embarrassed. This was the third time she was stopped from dancing. She spoke a lot softer.

"You understand it very well, but I think Kumiko may not be a typical Ryukyu girl. A typical Ryukyu girl does not have the dream of pursuing ballet, am I right?"

"Well... Director, you are right, I didn't think of it before."

"In fact, you and Kumiko have similar backgrounds. You came to America from Ryukyu and then pursued an acting career. If you were not influenced by American culture, you would not be so independent and free to bravely pursue your dreams. Am I right?"

Ronald felt that Tomita's understanding of acting was a bit misguided, so he had to teach her slowly. He is not an acting coach, and he has not learned the deep things, let alone teaching them.

Fortunately, as a bystander, Ronald saw Tomita's problem clearly. This is a common mistake made by beginners.

"When acting, you need to pay attention to the reaction of your opponent. Your attention cannot be fixed on your own heart, how can I play this role well.

You need to integrate the role with yourself, pay attention to the expressions, thoughts, and lines of the actor playing opposite you, just like in our daily life, our attention is also on the outside of the body."

"Director, you are right, I know what you mean." Tomita Tanling has a high level of understanding, and she understands that she is thinking too much.

"Show more of your own characteristics, instead of trying to play Kumiko. Less conservative of Japanese girls, more independent and free of American girls. Kumiko is you, you are Kumiko, understand?"

"A!"

After filming again, Tomita Tanling's performance was indeed much more natural. Once her mental pressure was gone, she was very relaxed. In some scenes, she even surpassed Ralph Mazzio, who played Daniel next to her.

Ralph Mazzio also felt this, and he also tried to exert greater kinetic energy in his performance. In this virtuous cycle, the quality of their rivalry began to get better and better.

"Dongdong... Dong, Dongdong... Dong" Kumiko danced to the rhythm. This Japanese dance, with the body turning left and right, and the hands making various clapping movements at the sides, has a unique charm.

Ronald watched from behind the camera. It was rare that the screenwriters hired by Weintraub could connect Daniel-san's trick in the second film with this dance. Using the rotation of the waist to attack and defend at the same time, ordinary audiences can also understand the beauty of this trick.

"Cut!"

The crew moved to a road on Oahu Island, and an electrical appliance store had been found in advance. On both sides of the road, people had stopped cars, and the flow of people on the road was played by extras.

"A!"

"I'll show you my dream." Kumiko pulled Daniel to the door of the electrical appliance store.

"Do you want to be a salesperson?"

"No, I'll show you my dream."

The salesperson in the electrical appliance store said a few words in Japanese to Kumiko, and then put the video tape of "Famous All Over the World" into the machine.

"Is this your dream? To be a dancer?"

"Yes."

The camera shot from between the two male and female protagonists. Their backs were sandwiched between the TV in the window, and they gradually moved forward. Antonia Franceschi's dancing posture was gradually magnified and then occupied the entire screen.

Ronald looked over from behind the camera, full of memories of his youth.

"Ronald," the director of photography James Crabbe called softly, but the director did not respond.

This shot has been shot. Do they still need to do some improvisation? Crabbe touched his chin and thought that many directors would deliberately not call a stop, so that the actors can continue to do some improvisation. Sometimes the lines forced out in this way will be more real.

"Where did you learn ballet?"

"There is no ballet school on the Ryukyu Islands."

"Oh, this is too bad."

Ralph Mazzio and Tomita Tanling knew that the director did not call a stop, and they did not dare to look back to see what happened, so they had to continue to talk nonsense. However, what they said was quite interesting, and they fully expressed the thoughts of a Ryukyu girl.

"Hey? Cut!" Ronald suddenly realized that he was lost in his memories and forgot to call for a stop. Fortunately, the two improvised lines were pretty good.

…

The filming continued for many days, and the two new stars were quite obedient. Although they could not be as dedicated as in the first film, using a video camera to record all the rehearsal scenes, and then disassemble and figure it out one by one.

But after the baptism of the first film, the images of the two have become household names in America. And the two of them have been playing these two roles in and out of life this year. So although Ronald was not completely satisfied, he still felt that the performance was eight or nine points.

The two stars are certainly different from the actors who debuted back then. What celebrities think about is not the drama and overall effect, but deepening their own image in the minds of the audience.

Ronald also knew that this was a necessary compromise. Sometimes the filming was not perfect, and when he wanted to start over, he would think to himself, "Anyway, this is a sequel. Anyway, this is a sequel. Just make money, just make money. Long live eighty, long live eighty." "

On this day, I took a picture of Daniel just arriving in Ryukyu.

The main villain of the movie, a karate master named Nagazen, was dispatched by Master Miyagi's childhood brother Sato, pretending to be a taxi driver to pick them up and test the master and apprentice.

"Welcome to Ryukyu", the Japanese-American actor Yuji Yiben plays the role of Changshan.

He stretched out his hand, took Ralph Mazio's hand, and then shook it hard, "I hope your journey in Ryukyu will be a happy one."

In a close-up view, Youji Yiben's arm muscles are in very good shape, and it can be seen that he has been exercising all year round.

"cut!"

Ronald saw Ralph Mazio shaking his hands, and he was pinched hard.

"Ronald, I want to talk to you alone." Ralph Mazzio came to Ronald with a serious face.

"Okay, you come with me." Ronald was discussing with the director of photography Crabbe in his trailer.

"I have to reshoot this one, it doesn't match Daniel's image." Seeing Ronald closing the door, Ralph Mazio immediately pointed out his dissatisfaction directly.

"What do you mean?" Ronald was a little angry because Mazio also started trying to direct his shooting.

"I'm referring to the image of Daniel. In the first part, he is a counterattacking kid who has been practicing karate with Mr. Miyagi. There is no way that in the second part, he is still a rookie who can't stand a handshake. After all, he has The champion of the All-Valley Karate Championship.”

"But have you ever thought about it? The championship is actually a competition for a group of high school students in America to entertain themselves. On Ryukyu Island, Changshun is a real karate master who wins in the ring and fights to the death. The core of the drama of Long Wei Boy is Daniel's counterattack. If he is not allowed to face a master whose strength exceeds his own, how can he realize the ultimate trick and defeat the enemy with the last move? "

The two discussed this issue of Daniel's image for a long time, but could not reach a consensus.

"Ronald" Ralph Mazio lowered his head, "I have always been very grateful for your support. This is the first movie in which I can become famous."

Then he raised his head firmly, "I can't shoot scenes where Daniel is treated too badly, Ronald. My entire career is based on this role. My agent found it for me. In the new film, the character is also an electric guitar enthusiast who learns along the way and finally defeats the electric guitar masters in the industry.

For the sake of my image, for my future, and for me to get more similar roles, I can't shoot scenes of Daniel's miserable failure. He can fail, but he can't be like this, being pinched hard by Chang Shun, and it hurts. Can't stand it. "

"I hope you can understand the plight of an actor if you insist on filming..."

"What if I insist on shooting?" Ronald looked at Ralph Mazio to see what he could say.

"I will ask the manager to raise objections to the crew and use the terms of my contract to deny this scene from appearing in the final film."

Ralph Mazzio still said those words, and then he looked away again, as if he didn't dare to look at Ronald.

"You are already a mature star." Ronald sighed in his heart. The other party disagreed, and he actually had no choice. It would be impossible for the American audience to agree to a different role. Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, the chemistry between the two actors is so good that without them, no one will come back to watch the second part.

"Really? You agreed?" Ralph Mazio breathed a sigh of relief. He was under great pressure to disobey the director who made him famous.

"I'm not against you, Ronald, but I also have my own problems to face." He explained quickly.

"It's okay, I understand." Ronald patted Mazio. He put his arm around the other person's shoulders and walked out of the trailer. He still had to maintain a united image in front of the crew.

"This shot is handled like this. I mainly take a close-up shot of Chang Shun's forearm, and you only take a shot of the hand, so that you won't have the audience comparing the strength of the two of you in the close-up. I will also add a shot of the surprised reaction on your face. ”

"That's great, but Daniel's image shouldn't be too weak."

"Don't worry, tomorrow is the time for you to show off your power."

The next day, the crew came to a bar converted from a warehouse.

Daniel is here, making a bet with the guy at the bar. Teacher Miyagi wanted to help Daniel win back his tuition, so he taught him the secret of concentration.

Finally, under the guidance of Mr. Miyagi, Daniel broke three stacked ice cubes and won $1,800.

"a!"

"Ah, ah..."

Ralph Mazio spun and broke three blocks of ice at once.

"cut!"

Very good, the props team will get a few more ice cubes, and we will do it again. Make more cracks on the ice, and don't expose the gaps you made in advance.

"Ronald, can I talk to you?"

This time, Morita Noriyuki, who plays Miyagi, came to Ronald.

"In my role, I show more of the humorous side of Master Miyagi, but the mysterious, powerful, and philosophical performance in the first part is a little less in the sequel."

"Why are you..." Ronald sighed, "Forget it, I will give you more mysterious, powerful, and philosophical roles tomorrow."

"Daniel-san, this is the ancestral hall of our Miyagi family, look at this", Master Miyagi took out a rattle.

"When I was a child, my father used this to teach me karate. This is the powerful secret of Miyagi's karate."

"This?" Daniel fiddled with the rattle twice, making a dongdong sound.

"Yes, you see, only the waist can be rotated, and the two drumsticks, one is always in defense and the other is in offense. Then the offense becomes defense, and the defense becomes offense.

People have two arms, just like this rattle, with the waist as the base point, rotate left and right, so that you can always take care of defense and offense."

Daniel suddenly realized, turned the rattle a few more times, and then began to practice this trick himself.

"Daniel-san, come and practice with me."

The camera slowly pulled back.

In the dark room, Miyagi and Daniel, facing the two open paper sliding doors, practiced the basic techniques of the Goju-ryu karate handed down by the Miyagi family.

However, this time the two people added the secret method of the Miyagi family. It can be clearly seen that there are back moves in their attack and defense, and they pay special attention to the rotation of the waist.

"Very good, Daniel-san. Well done."

Ronald watched from behind the camera.

In the middle of the sliding door, the white skylight came in, and the master and apprentice who were practicing basic skills one by one were backlit.

The dark background inside the room was inspired by the white skylight coming in through the sliding door, and the two of them seemed to be practicing in a paradise.

…

"Oh... Great!" Morita Noriyuki and Ralph Mazzio saw the printed sample the next night and were very satisfied with the shot.

The audience was happy, and the two masters and apprentices began the process of enlightenment again. Master Miyagi's teachings were full of philosophical teachings. During the two people's practice, Daniel improved his skills at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Both of them were satisfied and began to applaud.

"Damn, I hate making sequels. Since these two became stars, they have too many ideas." Ronald said softly to producer Weintraub in the back.

"I hate sequels, too. Both of their salaries have increased more than tenfold."

"But it's still worth it. The audience will like it and we will make money."

"We will definitely make money, a lot of money." Weintraub was also encouraging himself, "The deputy commander's flight will stop in Oahu tomorrow. You should be quick when the time comes. He will also visit Japan."