Exploiting Hollywood 1980

After a two-week break, Ronald entered the editing room and started editing "The Karate Kid Part II".

This was the first time that Ronald felt that he lacked the strong desire to create when editing.

In the previous films, including the first Karate Kid, he was eager to slowly dig out the final film from the sample film.

Sitting in front of the editing machine, Ronald sometimes felt like an ancient Greek sculptor, watching the final film, slowly arranging and combining it from a pile of films and recordings according to the way he thought in his mind, and finally becoming a work of art.

But for this sequel, Ronald found it difficult to muster the full desire to create, as if he was just completing a job, no longer carving with a carving knife, but like a plaster worker, putting plaster in according to the mold of the first film, and then waiting for it to take shape, breaking the mold and breaking out a statue from it that could not be called art, but could also be sold at a good price.

Ronald, who had never had this feeling before, called the editing master Walter Murch and asked him to come to the scene to see it.

Walter Murch had finished making MJ's "Captain Io" 3D short film and was exploring the stereo soundtrack for this new type of 3D film. When he heard Ronald's call, he came to see his apprentice immediately.

After spending two hours and reading several original films, Murch smiled and said to Ronald, "No problem, you shot a very typical Hollywood commercial film, you just have some aesthetic fatigue."

"What?" Ronald didn't understand what Murch meant.

"When a director shoots the same type of film more often, he will accumulate a lot of experience. For this type of film, you have a deep understanding of where to slow down the pace and where to speed up, all the narrative and lens scheduling, and editing techniques.

In this way, when you edit, you will not feel very excited like the first time when you faced many challenges.

There is a famous saying in our industry that directors and editors always get bored before the audience gets bored."

"Then what should I do?" Ronald drank a sip of wolfberry black tea and did feel a little bit like this.

"Either you seek change in the genre, or you let someone else edit your film." Murch shrugged, obviously there was no good way.

Ronald couldn't do either, so he had to continue in the editing room, spending time making editing decisions one by one.

After looking at the film from a more objective perspective, Ronald began to be picky about the actors' acting skills.

Like him, a director with aesthetic fatigue, Ralph Mazzio and Morita Noriyuki's performances also tend to fall into a pattern.

This is not intentional, but a problem caused by the script.

"The Karate Kid 2", the actual core is actually not much different from the first part. It is still a story of a kid who is not optimistic about others, but with the help of a master master, he defeated a powerful enemy and finally got the beauty back.

Because it is the second part, the audience needs a story with more emphasis. So the plot is also increased in all aspects. More sharp contradictions, more powerful enemies, more romantic stories, more budgets, more novel locations...

The two leading actors are a bit like the characters established in the first part, and they automatically act down.

Fortunately, there is a newcomer, Tomita Tanling, who is acting in this series for the first time. So Tomita's performance is still full of the unique aura of a newcomer who is acting in a movie for the first time.

Judging from the love scenes alone, the second part is better than the original, and the chemistry between the two actors is better.

The editing continues to move closer, and one weekend, Ronald unexpectedly received a call from an old friend, inviting him to his home for a gathering.

"Kevin!" Ronald walked into a small house in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

"Ronald, welcome!"

Kevin Costner let him into his new home, took out a can of Budweiser from the refrigerator and threw it to Ronald.

Kevin Costner is also famous, but he looks a bit indifferent to fame and fortune. He called Ronald to meet up, and the two simply drank beer, as if they were two old friends from high school.

Costner's role as the male protagonist in "Night of the Comet" was not much, and it also attracted some attention. However, the box office success of this movie only allowed him to get some new script invitations, and he did not become a big star.

On the contrary, the recently released "Silvarado" made him suddenly famous and had money to live in a new house.

"Silvarado" is a traditional western. In today's declining westerns, there are still many fans of westerns among the top executives of the seven major Hollywood studios.

The success of this movie made these old stubborn people begin to look forward to bringing westerns back to mainstream theaters.

"Congratulations!" Ronald took a sip of Budweiser, picked up the pizza and beef jerky on the table, and started chewing. While watching the baseball game on TV, he chatted with Costner.

"This is what Director Kasdan still remembers and owes me. I'm lucky."

The main reason why Costner was able to play one of the four male protagonists in "Silvarado" was that director Lawrence Kasdan wanted to repay a favor.

In "The Big Chill" a few years ago, Kevin Costner played the college student who died at the beginning, but in the final film, Director Kasdan deleted all his scenes.

At the time, at the home of Meg Tilly, who was playing his girlfriend, other actors were still laughing at Costner because he didn't have the high-end cashmere scarf given by the crew.

Lawrence Kasdan has always remembered this incident. After taking on "Silvarado", he specially asked Costner to play the leading role to repay him a favor.

Silverado is a western film. No one has been willing to make westerns for a long time. This is a somewhat retro western film. The unexpected box office is good. In addition, the film critics and major studios have given him high praise.

So for a while, Costner also became a small star in western films, earning a lot of money and renting a house. He also remembered that Ronald gave him the first role and invited him to drink beer first.

"How is the box office?" Ronald asked Costner. This guy who was born as a carpenter has a trait that makes people feel no pressure to get along with him.

"Not bad. The producer said it can last for about three months in the theaters, and the box office won't be too high. But this kind of western has a fixed audience. I heard that the TV broadcast rights are selling well, and the video tape will be released at the end of the year."

"How much are you going to sell it for?"

"Ninety-nine dollars and nine?"

"It's still too expensive," Ronald shook his head and took a sip of beer.

Now most movie videotapes are sold at a price close to one hundred dollars. Most American families can't afford it. Their more common choice is to rent a videotape from the newly emerging video rental stores to watch at home.

The price is only one dollar and a half to three dollars a day.

"Cindy, give us some more fried chicken wings."

Costner said to his wife in the room.

"Okay, I'll come after I coax Annie to sleep."

Costner and his wife Cindy are a sweet couple who fell in love in high school. The two have a good relationship and just gave birth to a daughter, Annie, last year.

Kevin Costner took Ronald's movie "Night of the Comet" and had basic living expenses, so Cindy became a housewife at home.

Soon, Cindy put on an apron and went to the kitchen to make snacks for her husband and friends. She was a black-haired beauty, very beautiful.

"Here, Ronald, try it."

Cindy respected Ronald very much. This man brought hope and the first big money to her small family.

"Oh, it's delicious. Kevin is such a lucky guy."

"Yes, I'm so lucky."

Costner and Cindy kissed. Then he continued to watch the Baseball World Series with Ronald. This year, the Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals entered the finals.

"Bang!" Left fielder Lonnie Smith hit a hit.

"Did you know? Lonnie just transferred from the Cardinals to the Royals this year. This is the first time in the history of the World Series that a player who entered the finals has such a situation."

"Oh, then he is very motivated." Ronald and Costner toasted. The other party knew the history of baseball like the back of his hand. With such an knowledgeable person introducing it, Ronald also found it very interesting.

"Kevin, is there anything to eat?" Ronald saw a sloppy man walking out of the study.

"Michael, there's pizza on the table, you can take it." Costner pointed to Ronald and the pizza he had left.

"Thank you," the sloppy Michael picked up the pizza and put it into his mouth.

"Don't you want some hot tea or something?" Ronald asked, seeing that he was having a hard time eating.

"There's hot coffee in there." Costner pointed to the kitchen.

"Thank you, I'll be ready soon."

Michael finished his pizza, took something that looked like a script, and walked out.

"Who is he?" Ronald asked.

"My friend. You know, when I was down and out, I had a lot of friends, screenwriters, makeup artists, actors, we all mixed together. I got ashore one step ahead of them, and now if these friends encounter difficulties, I let them live in my house."

Kevin Costner is very good to old friends.

"You have to talk to Michael, don't throw food everywhere to attract cockroaches." Cindy cleared out a dozen snacks and instant packaged cakes from the study.

"I'll tell him, Michael used to be very good to me, he just lacks opportunities."

Costner went to argue with his wife, and finally let Michael continue to live at home.

"Is his script really good?" Ronald asked.

"No, but I can't drive him away." Costner smiled and shook his head. This friend always wrote some whimsical things, and the rhythm was not right.

I can only give him a place to live. After a few months, he will feel hopeless and naturally return to his hometown.