Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Although Ronald has decided to move the indoor scenes to Toronto, Canada, some scenes that have indoor and outdoor intersections will still be shot in New York.

If the indoor and outdoor scenes are separated and shot in real scenes in New York and Toronto studios, and then synthesized on the editing table, there will be a technical difficulty. That is, the light and color temperature of indoor and outdoor are different.

In this way, different color styles will be presented on different types of film. The balanced color temperature of an outdoor shot under natural light and the balanced color temperature of indoor artificial lighting are obviously different to the naked eye.

In order to make the edited shots not feel abrupt to the audience, very complex color grading must be done in the later stage, especially when the gap between natural light and artificial light is too large, it will still make the audience feel jumpy in the end, as if they have entered another movie.

This feeling is a situation that any film director should try to avoid, because such a jump will pull the audience away from the daydream that the movie has finally woven, and the audience will have the idea that this is a movie, which will reduce the viewing experience by several levels.

So, Ronald preferred to look at the annoying and stern face of the union representative, and went to the bakery on the corner of 502 Henry Street in Brooklyn, which he had rented in advance, to start shooting the first difficult scene.

Martin Scorsese's parents, Charles and Catherine Scorsese, put on Italian-style coats and waited for makeup inside the small bakery.

They had been actors before, but their main job was to run a dry cleaning shop in Little Italy, Manhattan. Father Charles ironed clothes, and mother Catherine tailored the hems of pants, raising Martin Scorsese, an important American director.

The two also had cameos in their son's movies. In "Taxi Driver", a photo of the two was put into the newspaper report as the parents of the character played by Jodie Foster. In "Raging Bull", father Charles also played a named role.

But the couple had never appeared in a movie as a couple.

Ronald saw that they were a little nervous, but he didn't care. Anyway, they are two very small roles, and they are not the focus of the audience's attention. They are mainly used to introduce the story of Loretta, played by Cher, going to the Camarelli Bakery owned by Johnny's brother.

"Wonderful!" Ronald saw the two people's outfits, Charles was wearing a top hat, and Catherine was wearing a down jacket with a fur collar. He went up to flatter them, "Very good, now I know where Marty's artistic talent comes from."

"Ah, hahaha..." Mrs. Scorsese is more outgoing, and Ronald made her laugh.

"When the time comes, the camera will give you a close-up, and then the girl who plays the bakery clerk will hand you bread. Mrs. Scorsese will take it and say goodbye to you. You can just buy bread like you usually do in the bakery, and ignore this big guy."

Ronald patted the close-up shot on the counter. This is a big guy, and amateur actors will inevitably be a little nervous.

"Just call me Catherine. Marty used to make a short film and made me the heroine. I know what to do." Mrs. Scorsese was very satisfied. This time both of them had close-ups. This friend of the son is really good, much more important than his role in the scenes for his parents!

"A!"

After arranging the lights, Ronald called for the start.

"Thank you, Mrs. Foggage. Here is your bread. See you tomorrow."

Katherine Scorsese took the bread. Facing the huge close-up, she was still nervous. Her throat was a little itchy and her voice became smaller. "Goodbye!"

Charles Scorsese was even more nervous and couldn't help swallowing. He turned back and went out first, and then Katherine took the bread and followed him out.

"Ring, ring, ring..." The bell on the door rang, and Loretta, played by Cher, was still wearing the boring dark gray coat and black leather boots. She brushed past the Scorsese couple and walked in.

Cher walked to the front of the counter and entered the close-up range. Ronald looked at the monitor and nodded to the director of photography David Watkin, saying it was okay and there was no need to stop.

"Is Ronnie Camarelli there?"

"He's in the bakery. What do you want him for?"

The clerk behind the counter asked, with a bit of hostility in his tone.

"I have something to talk to him about." Cher's Loretta is of course much more sophisticated than the young shop assistant. She knows where this hostility comes from, and she is more curious about Ronnie, her brother, whom she has not met yet, but has not seen for several years.

A female shop assistant with messy hair walked out from the counter and walked around Loretta.

From the physical shape, she is a very typical Italian girl, walking a little stiffly, wearing a floral jacket on the upper body, a white shirt inside, a green long skirt on the lower body, woolen gray stockings on the feet, and a pair of heavy thick-heeled leather shoes on the feet.

At first glance, she is a young girl who has just begun to fall in love. She is not very good at dressing herself up, but she is invincible in youth.

The clerk walked to the door, turned around and nodded to Loretta, indicating that she should follow him to the bread bakery opposite to meet Ronnie Camarelli who was baking bread there.

"Cut!"

Ronald was very satisfied with the two's rivalry.

After consulting David Watkin's opinion, he kept this one for printing.

"How did I do?"

The female clerk ran over, opened her eyes wide at Ronald, and asked the director's opinion in a coquettish manner. She changed her dull look just now.

"Very good, perfect!" Ronald smiled and touched the actress' head.

She was Diane Lane, who came to play the role of the female clerk these two days.

Ronald praised Diane's acting skills beyond his expectations. After makeup, Diane not only looked like an Italian girl, but also her walking figure was obviously carefully designed, with many details of life.

The culture when acting with Cher clearly showed the anger that the girl knew in her heart that a woman came to find her secret crush.

But when she heard that the other party had something to ask Ronnie, she quickly fulfilled the duties of a clerk and did not act on her own. She was like a good girl working in the store of relatives, friends and elders.

It can be said that this performance exceeded the acting skills required for a small supporting role. Diane's serious preparation for this role made Ronald very emotional.

If Coppola hadn't delayed her three films in a row, now Diane has such acting skills, looks and fans accumulated in the past, she would definitely be the heroine of every big production.

"This role is a little small for you, but because it is a love story of middle-aged people, so..."

Ronald admired Diane's performance. With her acting skills, playing a small role can greatly enhance the weight of the movie itself that makes people intoxicated.

As Roger Corman's disciple, Jonathan Demme said, the whole movie is a whole. If any small role can be carefully found by the audience's favorite actors, the overall level of the movie can be raised to a higher level.

Although it is not intentional to use high-profile actors to play low-profile supporting roles, the actual effect is that in this "Moonlight", any supporting role has the acting skills of playing the protagonist in other movies.

"Don't say that, I'm already very happy. It's very enjoyable to play this role."

"It's hard for you to wear such ugly clothes." Ronald helped her adjust her collar and signaled that he would continue.

"Oh," Diane stopped chatting with Ronald and ran to the side to wait for the next shot. Her eyes were always on Ronald.

"Brother Ronnie is really nice," Diane was actually quite happy.

This small role is not a simple cameo. And it is not a vase-like role, but a role with content. Although the makeup does not highlight her beauty, and there are no beautiful clothes to wear, the simple three scenes will leave a very deep impression on the audience.

It can be said that among all the small roles in this movie, this role is the most impressive to the audience. I have played several not-so-good movies, and there is such a movie that fully demonstrates my acting skills. Maybe some film critics can recognize me and mention me?

The next scene was shot on the roadside.

Chris, played by Diane, reluctantly took a woman (Loretta) to see Ronnie, whom she had a crush on.

After leaving the store, she walked in front with big strides because she didn't want to talk to Loretta. This awkward mentality made her walk stiff, as if she was trying to escape the unmistakable reality that her crush Ronnie was seeing other women.

Loretta, played by Cher, followed behind, and the two turned a corner and walked to another street that crossed the street corner, and walked into the oven from the entrance of a basement.

"Cut! Very good, very good! Let's do another take."

In order to have more assurance, Ronald called for a second take. In fact, from the performance point of view, this was not necessary. This kind of play that was performed right away without careful rehearsal was the most emotional.

Standing far behind the camera, Ronald could smell the unwilling attitude emanating from Diane.

Soon it was time for lunch, and the representative of the actors' union came again and pointed at his watch to signal Ronald to stop filming and guarantee the right of all actors and staff in the crew to eat.

Ronald no longer wanted to argue with him, so he pulled down his New York Yankees baseball cap and sat down in the director's chair with his eyes closed.

Diane brought him a hamburger and a can of Coke and pushed him. Ronald woke up, picked up his hamburger and Coke, made a toast gesture with Diane, and ate it in big mouthfuls.

"Cheers!" Diane laughed out loud, and really came up to clink Coke cans with Ronald, and then drank two sips.

"Oh, it's rude to disturb others' sleep, beautiful lady."

Next to him was the director of photography David Watkin, who was really sleeping on the chair.

"Sorry, we woke you up." Ronald apologized to the humorous Watkin. When they worked together in Sweden to shoot Saab's commercials, and when he and Walter Murch worked with him in Britain on "Return to Oz", Ronald knew the habits of this old man who had a strong personality and liked classical music more than being a film photographer.

When he was on the set, he especially liked to sleep whenever he had time. This was also because Watkin's level was too high. He could make plans immediately after taking a look at many lighting arrangements, and the lighting team would immediately meet the requirements.

Of course, this was also because of David Watkin's special thinking habits. He always liked to simplify things instead of complicating them.

For example, for indoor lighting, he likes to simplify it to a single light source to achieve the effect, rather than a complex multi-light system. Hollywood's stacked-frame lighting method means that if the lens is deflected fifteen degrees, the lighting must be re-arranged to keep it consistent. And with his single light source lighting method, no matter how the camera is moved indoors, there is no need to re-set the scene.

Diane looked at Watkin and then at Ronald, very confused. "Mr. Watkin, do you always sleep when you are on set?" Coppola's crew, when he and the photographer knew Steve Baran, they wanted to discuss the light in every shooting gap. and camera movement.

"Of course, what else can keep you from getting more tired when working on the set? The only thing is to sleep!"

"Hahaha..." Diane was amused by him and laughed.

"Mr. Watkin is a very philosophical person. The point-matrix light source he invented, also called the Wendy lamp, allows us to re-light when shooting night scenes without having to walk five meters. This has saved many anxious directors. "

Ronald explained to Diane Watkin's philosophy and that not all directors of photography can fall asleep on the set.

"By the way, Ronald. When Murch and I were communicating before the shooting started, he said that your factory is helping him take care of his editing tapes now. You also invented and manufactured a lamp yourself?"

After hearing Ronald talk about his beloved invention, the Wendy lamp, David Watkin stopped dozing off and came over to ask Ronald.

"Ah, that's not an ordinary lamp. It simulates the effect of lightning. It's much brighter than the electrical short-circuit method commonly used in Hollywood today. It's reproduced very well on film. It's also used on some Broadway stages." Rona De looked at Watkin and replied.

"What about that? My Wendy lamps are mostly handmade now. Can you cooperate with me, just like the model you cooperated with Murch?"

"Of course. If you are willing, you can use the patent to invest in shares, and then we can work together to sell your Wendy lights to all the crews in Hollywood who need to shoot night scenes. Wouldn't it be great?"

Seeing that he had a small business, Ronald became more energetic. After discussing it with Watkin, they finalized the cooperation. Then they called their own people and asked them to discuss the details.

"It seems that I can go to see more operas and listen to more symphonies in the future, and I can also buy a recording of Rachmaninov's First Concerto played by Rubinstein."

David Watkin had talked a lot with Walter Murch about "Moonlight" before. He was surprised to find that Murch, who was originally in poor financial condition due to his failure as a director, showed him the film. In the family photo, several children are wearing good public high school uniforms.

After chatting with him, I found out that I used my invention to partner with Ronald and make some money through dividends. After paying off some loans, I can change schools for my children.

Watkin has great trust in Murch, who is also a master of technology, but after all, unlike Murch, he has a mentorship to Ronald. Today, he just took the opportunity to express his idea of ​​​​wanting to form a partnership. Unexpectedly, he and Ronald Ronald hit it off immediately.

I don’t know why such a small invention can still be sold at a good profit.

Ronald is also very happy. He has another good product, and it is facing the same market. Marketing and channels can share costs.

Lightning lights, editing tape, scenery tape, and Wendy lights, what these products have in common is that users do not pay for them themselves, but buy them for work.

For them, it saves them a little trouble and they can make up a lot of reasons to get the studio to pay. The studio doesn't care about these small sums of money. As long as the equipment is good and can speed up efficiency and prevent accidents, the cost saved by one less day of shooting is dozens of times the price of these devices.

The staff members changed their shifts and came back one after another to prepare for filming the scene in the basement barbecue room.

Diane also went to the public trailer to prepare for the afternoon scene. She looked at Ronald again before getting in the car. This man was actually very kind and brought good luck to the people around him. Many people became richer by being with him. No wonder he is so popular in Hollywood.

"a!"

After two hours, the lighting team set up the lights, and David Watkin made an OK gesture to Ronald.

"a!"

"Ronnie, Ronnie"

The clerk Chris, played by Diane, opened the door of the baking room.

The camera gradually moved back, showing more of the environment of the barbecue room. This is a pretty rough place. There are a lot of baguettes in the oven on the wall. This oven was specially made by the people in the oven for filming.

"Someone is looking for Ronnie." Chris, played by Diane, let Loretta into the grill and stood by the door, frowning, wanting to see what Loretta and her crush Ronnie were doing. relation.

Although it was late autumn, everyone inside was wearing undershirts and still sweating. Makeup was sprinkled on them, creating a sweaty effect.

Nicolas Cage on the other side was wearing a small vest, with a large section of his thick chest hair exposed, and his messy hair standing straight up. At first glance, he looked like a hormonal volcano.

"Are you here in place of my brother Johnny?" He looked at Loretta coldly.

In the camera, Loretta, played by Cher, walks towards the camera from the door, while Chrissy behind her is still standing there, uneasy.

David Watkin used the hyperfocal distance technique introduced to Hollywood by Orson Welles to create the effect of deep focus.

In the current popular aesthetic trend in movies, in many scenes, when the focus is on characters close to the lens, a shallow focus lens will put the background characters and environment behind them out of focus and blur them.

But in this scene, Watkin went against the trend a bit, using the deep focus effect that was popular when black-and-white sound films first appeared in the 1930s. The distant background characters and the nearby characters are both in focus and remain clear.

The change in Loretta's demeanor when she was talking to Ronnie, and the expression on Chrissy's face after hearing the conversation between them, were all clearly captured.

Although Ronald was on a small monitor, he couldn't see their expressions clearly. But when the film is developed, developed into copies, and shown on the big screen, the faces of the two actors, Cher and Diane, will become the focus of the audience's attention.

Therefore, Watkin also deliberately asked the two actors to stand on the same axis, with only a slight staggered angle. This way, when presented on the big screen, the audience does not have to keep looking back and forth on their faces, but only stares at them. Just by looking at one area of ​​the screen, you can see the different states of mind of the two characters.

In this kind of movie that wins by plot and actor's performance, this narrative technique is very important. Deliberate design and arrangement, as well as the coordinated execution of masters during filming, can present the audience with an effortless and can-do movie. The effect of understanding what the director wants to say.

"Yes," Loretta came closer and talked to Ronnie, the character behind the camera.

"What are you here for?"

"I'm getting married to Johnny, so I want to invite you to the wedding..."

"So, you're going to marry my brother Johnny? I have no life left, my brother Johnny took my life away."

"Excuse me?..." Loretta, played by Cher, showed an incomprehensible expression in the camera. I invited my fiancé’s brother to attend the wedding. Why did he talk about life...

"I don't understand what you said?" Loretta didn't understand, but deep down in her heart, she seemed to understand that the original impulse and desire of Ronnie's life was destroyed by Johnny.

"Johnny is getting married. Now he has a meaning in his life. I didn't have one, and he took it all away from me."

"I'm not here to piss you off..." Loretta wanted to explain. She was temporarily freed from the radiation of Ronnie's strong vitality and regained her sanity. She was just an unscrupulous person who came to find her fiancé. The younger brother who spoke just went to attend a wedding.

"What on earth is life!" Nicolas Cage suddenly raised his voice, "What is life!"

"They all say that bread is life, but I am in this small house that is too hot, making bread, bread, bread every day..."

Cage took the baguettes out of the oven viciously and threw them into the basket.

"I stay here with my stinky sweat every day, shoveling this stinky bread ball in and out with a shovel. Where is my life?

You want me to go to your wedding with my brother? snort? sweetheart? So where is my wedding? "

"Chris, give me the biggest bread knife on the wall, I can't..."

Chrissy, played by Diane, was almost moved to tears by Ronnie as she stood there. How come such a man doesn’t have a woman to love him?

"No, Ronnie, I won't give it to you," Diane was there, yelling in her newly acquired Italian accent.

"Chris, give me the knife quickly...I want my own..."

"Perhaps, I should come at another time." Xueer was stunned for a moment. She didn't know whether Ronnie was telling the truth or just making nonsense.

"No, I want you to watch here." Nicolas Cage said viciously to Cher, "Do you understand me?"

"Yeah," Xue'er shook her head.

"It's no one's fault, it just happened." Nicolas Cage took off the glove on his left hand, revealing a wooden prosthetic hand inside.

"I got engaged five years ago and my brother Johnny came to visit. He asked me to buy some bread. I got distracted while talking to him and the bread cutter sliced ​​my hand.

Very fun, right? My fiancée found out that I was disabled and left me. "

"This is the misfortune between you and Johnny? But it's not Johnny's fault? It's no one's fault, it's just bad luck." Loretta, played by Cher, heard the two brothers' hearts for the first time. Knot.

"I don't care!" Nicolas Cage suddenly burst out and knocked down the free iron bucket in front of him.

"I have no hands! I have no wife! Johnny still has his hand! Johnny still has his wife! Do you want me to reconcile with him and go to his wedding?"

Loretta was shocked. There had never been a man with such strong primitive instincts in her life. She was not worried at all that the other person would hurt her, but expressed sympathy for his misfortune.

"It's just a matter of time. When a man opens his eyes in the morning, he kisses his dream goodbye."

Nicolas Cage put away his temper, as if his anger just consumed too much energy. He spoke softly to Loretta, as if to himself.

Everyone in the baking room was shocked by this huge contrast. A man like Ronny, after giving up his dream due to an accidental disability, became a person shoveling dough in the bakery every day. It is really a huge tragedy in life.

The camera focused on several people and took several reaction shots.

Cher's face was expressionless in shock, but the surging impulse in her heart almost broke through the boundaries of reason. Like Ronnie, she gave up her dream because she was called a jinx.

Chris's eyes were red, and she tried her best not to let the tears flow down. The man she secretly loved was indeed a man with big dreams, so pitiful.

A tear finally broke through the obstruction of the eye socket and flowed out of Diane's left eye.

The tears accumulated all her strength, so that they instantly broke through the obstruction of cheekbones, lips, and chins and fell to the ground.

"I love him, but I never told him, because after he lost his fiancée and a hand, he could no longer love anyone."

"Cut!"

"Pa, pa, pa..." After waiting for a few seconds, everyone began to applaud under the leadership of Ronald, applauding for this wonderful performance.

All the actors were perfect, and it was a perfect performance.

Not only the performances of the two protagonists are very good, but also the minor role played by Diane is very good. The male and female protagonists meet for the first time and suddenly have a spiritual connection, as if they have been lovers for many years. This very abnormal and incomprehensible plot is set off from the perspective of an observer.

Ronnie Camarelli is a man with dreams. He lost his fiancée and dreams because of his disability, and can only join the family-passed baking business.

And Loretta also had dreams, but because of social pressure and prejudice against widows, she was suppressed for a long time.

On a specific occasion, Ronnie's monologue that burst out and spoke his heart moved my heart.

Especially Nicolas Cage, who imitated the performance method of the early German expressionist film "Metropolis" and asked hoarsely to the wooden prosthetic hand, "I have no hands, I have no wife!"

If it weren't for Cage, a particularly explosive actor, the effect of the performance would be much worse. This kind of unreasonable role and plot must be driven by reasons beyond common sense. This kind of explosive power is exactly what is needed at this moment when the audience needs to be shocked.

And this kind of crazy role needs to be controlled in a certain degree. After the explosion, Cage's energy was exhausted immediately and he turned to whispering, so that the audience would be shocked and understand the reason why Ronnie suddenly went crazy.

This kind of grasp between madness and normality is indeed not something that ordinary actors can play freely. If Cage had not been influenced by his uncle Coppola and watched "Metropolis" every day to comprehend acting skills, he would not have been able to do it so seamlessly.

Seeing David Watkin made an OK gesture to Ronald again. Several actors calmed down and began to hug and congratulate each other.

Ronald also breathed a sigh of relief. The second most difficult scene to shoot was finally passed with the explosion of acting skills of several actors.

Ronald picked up a baguette and broke it open. The freshly baked baguette was very crisp and delicious. Ronald also broke a small piece and handed it to Diane who came over, and considerately took out a handkerchief and asked her to wipe her eyes.

"I didn't expect you to have such explosive power." Ronald said he didn't expect that this kind of supporting role is actually more difficult to play than the main role.

After all, the main role has a natural foreshadowing and the reaction of the opponent.

This kind of supporting role has no background story in the front and no opponent to react to in the back. It all depends on your imagination. And you have to be able to perform at a high level right from the start. Diane's performance is not bad compared to those old Broadway actors.

"Hehe, I have been acting in the 'AA' experimental theater company off-Broadway since I was 4 years old, and I have acted with Meryl Streep."

"So you are also an old actor, the young one." Ronald laughed and rubbed Diane's hair.

Diane finished her part and went back home to reunite with her father Bert.

The crew then shot several outdoor scenes at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and in the Catholic Church.

Because of a one-night stand with her fiancé's brother, Loretta came to the church to confess. The godfather "severely" criticized Loretta and punished her to recite two "rosaries" to atone for her sins. His mother in the church helped him cover up the fact that he didn't go home to spend the night and had a one-night stand with Ronnie. Loretta was surprised to find that her mother found out that her father Cosmo had an affair.

Later, Loretta dated Ronnie and went to the opera house to watch an opera. At the opera house, she found her father and his lover also watching the opera "La Boheme", and the two father and daughter knew each other tacitly. Cosmo complained to his daughter, "You are engaged", but his daughter retorted, "You are married."

Ronald was also very happy when shooting these scenes. Screenwriter Stanley Shanley's writing power is really strong. With just a few strokes, he wrote the characteristics of Italians vividly.

This movie will be a very different movie from other movies reflecting the lives of Italians. There are no gangs and singing and dancing, but people can tell at a glance that it is a story about Italians.

Soon, the outdoor scenes in New York were shot.

The union representatives are really strict. During the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, the crew is not allowed to work overtime in New York.

Ronald had no choice but to disband the crew a day in advance. Everyone went back to celebrate the holidays and flew to Toronto in the New Year to film in a place without a union.