Exploiting Hollywood 1980

A few days later, on New Year's Day in 1987, the second filming of the crew of "Moonlight" officially started in a studio in Toronto.

All the indoor scenes were shot in this studio. After a day of adjustment, Ronald began to find his rhythm without being disturbed by union representatives.

The most troublesome thing about union representatives is that some representatives really take the rules and strictly enforce them.

For example, the stipulated shooting time is up and it's time to have lunch, but the crew still has a shot that has not been shot, so they need to work overtime and then have lunch. This is a very normal requirement.

The state of the actors is also gradually adjusted in the shooting. If there is a difficult shot, it is normal for the actors to shoot more than a dozen shots. If at this time, it is interrupted because of lunch, after an hour of eating and resting, the state of the actors is unknown.

The union also has a way to deal with this kind of thing, not as rigid as the British counterparts. When it's tea time, they put down their equipment and leave, and they don't stay for a second longer. Even if you are George Lucas, you will be treated the same.

The two actors' unions in the United States stipulate that when overtime is necessary for a take, the director can request overtime for fifteen minutes. This is a hard rule, and the crew members and actors must obey it unconditionally.

The problem is that fifteen minutes is only enough to shoot one and a half takes. If the protagonist needs to touch up his makeup or re-breed his emotions, there may not be enough time for even one take.

If you don't finish the first fifteen minutes of overtime, then sorry, you need the consent of the union representative and the main actors before you can continue the second fifteen minutes.

Moreover, you must pay double the overtime pay before you can continue to shoot.

If the second fifteen minutes are not finished, there is a third, which is the last extension period. This extension period will pay three times the salary of all staff members on that day.

Once the three extension periods are up, no matter whether your actors are just taken care of by the God of Movies and are about to shoot a clip that will be remembered in the film and television, sorry, today is the end and you can't continue shooting.

Filming is an artistic creation process with a strong uncertainty. Many wonderful shots are when actors and staff collide, discuss, or even abuse each other, and find solutions with a flash of inspiration.

Forcing a rigid creative time like office secretary work is like forcing Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel only within a specified time every day. You may be able to get a model of supporting union work, but all the glory in the movie has almost been lost by this rigid rule.

So, in Toronto, without the annoying union representatives interrupting at any time, the crew's creative inspiration began to flow again.

Toronto has not been a traditional filming location in history. So MGM's set design team found an empty warehouse on Leslie Street in Toronto and built it into the home where Loretta Castorini and her parents lived.

The ground floor is a living room with half of the wall removed and a kitchen dining area. The stairs on the second floor were also restored with wood, and carpets and wallpapers commonly seen in Brooklyn, New York. There are two rooms on it, which were copied exactly according to the photos of the old house in Brooklyn.

Ronald put a lot of Italian and Greek snacks and traditional Canadian barbecue slices in places where the camera can't see. Accompany them with some low-alcohol drinks and carbonated drinks.

Try to let the actors eat their favorite snacks in between filming, and if necessary, drink something to relax.

This arrangement similar to the Broadway rehearsal venue allows all the actors to relax a lot compared to the five-week filming in New York.

The effect of relaxation is a better grasp of the role and the occasional flash of inspiration on the spot.

Ronald is particularly satisfied with Fedor Chaliapin, who plays Loretta's grandfather. Although he is deaf, he never messes up the rhythm when filming the opponent.

This day, the scene of Loretta going home for dinner was filmed. The old man does nothing every day, but likes to go out and walk the dogs. Several big dogs are not pure breeds, and they look like stray dogs picked up by the old man from the street.

But the old man treats them very well. Not only does he take them out to play twice a day, morning and evening, but also gives them the best meat to eat.

His daughter-in-law, Rose, is responsible for the three meals of the whole family. That night, Rose's brother and sister-in-law came to the house for dinner, and she made delicious minced beef to entertain everyone.

The old man saw the beef on the plate in front of him, and while his daughter-in-law was not paying attention, he stood up, walked to the dog cage next to the fireplace, and took the plate from the cage.

The old man pretended nothing happened and went back to the table.

His son Cosmo said to his wife Rose, "I think my father needs a new plate."

At this time, Rose looked over, and Fedor Chaliapin quickly lowered his head to avoid his daughter-in-law's eyes.

Rose scolded the old man for giving the food she cooked to the dog, but still took a new plate from the corner of the long dining table and handed it to her sister-in-law Rita.

Rita was very surprised by the old man's behavior, but seeing that Rose did not complain, she had to win her eyes and added some beef and vegetables to the old man and handed it over.

"Cut"

Ronald was very happy with the tacit performance of several main actors in this scene. The closeness and distance between the members of this big family were portrayed by several excellent Broadway actors in this dog feeding plot, just like a real family.

After the call, the actors went to rest. Ronald specially asked his assistant to help the 81-year-old Fedor Chaliapin to sit on a sofa specially set up for him.

When Fedor Chaliapin walked past Ronald, he smiled at him proudly. Ronald gave him two thumbs up, and the old man was very happy.

Looking back, Ronald said to the director of photography David Watkin:

"Do you know how he acted? I feel that he is very deaf. Sometimes he didn't respond when I called A. But in this shot, Olympia Dukakis, who plays Ross, gave him a look and he caught it immediately. The rhythm and strength are right. What is his secret?"

"Why don't you ask him?" David Watkin smiled and joked with Ronald, "Maybe he will pass on his acting secrets to you when he is happy."

"It is really difficult to communicate with him." Ronald also smiled. Fedor Chaliapin is really deaf. Sometimes you have to speak very loudly to talk to him.

"Pay attention to his eyes in the next shot, and you will know. This is the benefit of many years of acting experience." David Watkin did not say it directly, but let Ronald observe it himself. He found a recliner and fell asleep.

After the camera was repositioned and the light was set, Ronald asked his assistant to wake up David Watkin and continue shooting.

Ross's brother Raymond was also played by Louis Gus, a Broadway actor. They are character actors.

This is an old name used to describe actors who play supporting roles with different personalities. Compared to stars with similar personalities, supporting roles often have different personalities and less appearance time. In a limited time, the audience must feel the different personalities of the supporting roles.

Louis Gus did a good job. Ross's brother Raymond was very happy to hear that Loretta did not come back after dinner because she was preparing for the wedding. He was very worried about his niece, who had no place to go since her husband died unexpectedly.

Raymond was in high spirits and told a story.

When Cosmo was still in love with his sister Ross, Raymond was awakened by something in the middle of the night one day. He looked out the window and saw that it was Cosmo standing in the moonlight, wanting to date his sister.

The moonlight that day was very big and very bright. It looked bigger than the house, as if it was going to crush Raymond's house.

Moonlight

Rose enjoyed this story very much. She was very happy to watch her brother recall his past love affairs, and then glanced at her husband Cosmo from time to time. They had not slept together for a long time. I wonder if this romantic memory today can make her husband romantic again.

But Cosmo did not appreciate it. He did not want to talk about his love for Rose when he was young. He found a lover outside. He was a little ashamed of this past and a little dissatisfied with his shy self in the past.

So he told his wife's brother Raymond that there must be no such thing. Raymond must have dreamed about it in his dream.

"No, it's not a dream. I'm very clear-headed. No one told me when I was young. I was so impressed. You stood under the white moonlight that night. I was very impressed. I was a little angry at that time. I felt that you brought that big, round moon to my house. The moonlight was very bright and shone into the window, waking me up."

"You must be dreaming. You sleep like a dead pig." Cosmo knew that if he continued to talk, Ross would definitely think of his youth, so he asked his sister-in-law Rita to take the glass of red wine, poured himself a big glass, and took a big sip.

"It's not a dream. You were clearly in the moonlight under the window." Raymond, like all older people, is particularly stubborn about the memories of his youth.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Cosmo took another sip of red wine.

"Then what do you want to talk about?" Ross was a little dissatisfied with Cosmo's impolite attitude towards his brother, and even more dissatisfied with Cosmo's pretentiousness. Cosmo seemed afraid to mention the sweet and romantic memories of their youth.

Drinking hard to cover up, and when it's time to sleep, you can use the excuse of being drunk to fall asleep, and you have no interest at all

"Why do you drink so much?" Rose saw Cosmo pouring red wine into her glass again, far exceeding the amount of table wine she should drink for dinner, and she felt annoyed.

At this time, Ronald turned his head behind the camera and stared at Fedor Chaliapin, who played the old man, without blinking.

David Watkin reminded him to pay attention to the old man's eyes.

Fedor Chaliapin saw Olympia Dukakis, who played Rose, pointing at her husband and asking him not to drink too much, and knew that it was his turn to act.

He immediately stood up, took the second pot of beef, and secretly stood up to feed the dog.

"Old man, if you feed the beef I made for you to the dog, I will kick you to death!"

Fedor Chaliapin walked to the doghouse, counted the time and felt that Dukakis's lines were almost finished, turned around, paid attention to distinguishing Dukakis's lips, and when her lips stopped moving, he immediately started to take the plate back to the table.

Fedor Chaliapin acted aggrieved, and dared not look at his daughter-in-law's face. He ate the beef slowly with a spoon.

Rose had a very embarrassed expression on her face. Her brother and sister-in-law looked at her. It was very rude to say such words to the old man, but she did not dare to say the complaints about her husband in her heart. She just found a vent.

"Cut!" Ronald laughed out loud. It turned out that Fedor Chaliapin relied on looking at the lips of the actors in the opposite play. Decades of stage performance experience made him unable to hear other people's lines, but he could also find the position of the sentence break from the reaction of the lips and body. Experience made his rhythm never wrong, but very accurate.

"Bravo!" Ronald took the lead in applauding. This scene was a multi-person eating scene, and the scheduling was complicated. It had to take into account the expressions and reactions of many people. Although it was not as complicated as the last scene, it also cost himself and David Watkin countless brain cells.

Fortunately, I gave these Broadway character actors enough time to rehearse, and let them give full play to their performance methods without restricting them.

Today they improvised very well. This kind of subtle emotions between multiple people, layer by layer, really made these old actors perfectly display their lifelong skills.

"Oh" Several actors were also very excited. They have all been supporting roles on Broadway for decades. Today Ronald gave them the treatment that only the protagonists have, and it was also the most enjoyable scene they have filmed in many years.

Olympia Dukakis, and Cent Gardenia who played Cosmo, Louis Gus who played the brother, and Julie Boisseau who played the sister-in-law and accent coach, came up and hugged Ronald tightly in turn.

They were all surprised that this script was written by a 30-year-old Irish playwright, and the director was Ronald, who was extremely young, so why could he understand this kind of delicate and restrained emotions that only middle-aged people have so thoroughly.

And Ronald did not have the attitude of Hollywood directors who were arrogant and treated actors like animals like Hitchcock. On the contrary, he respected his Broadway supporting actors very much. In the tense shooting process, he also gave several people enough time to rehearse and allowed himself space for improvisation.

As long as it does not violate the original intention of the script, Ronald does not require to follow the script strictly and make no mistakes, but respects the improvisation of each performance, which is the most touching moment in the drama performance.

"I have to say, it is really pleasant to film with you. I hope that there will be directors like you who respect actors on Broadway."

Dukakis was very excited. She originally came to the crew to pay for her children's college tuition. Unexpectedly, she gained the most satisfying filming experience in recent years.

"Oh, really? I heard that Broadway does not welcome Hollywood directors." Ronald joked.

"No, you can. You think you are a very good director. You are the kind of director that we actors are most satisfied with. Everyone knows it in legend, but few people have the luck to meet it. The so-called actor's director."

Sentgardinia, who plays Cosmo, is very sure. He won the Tony Award on Broadway and has worked with many Broadway directors and screenwriters. A director like Ronald who understands the ability of actors, trusts them, and allows them to perform well is the dream of every actor.

"Okay, enough of the flattery, let's continue with the bed scene."

Ronald asked the camera crew to move to the other two rooms in the studio, where they were going to shoot two bed scenes.

One was the bed scene between Cosmo and Ross.

Olympia Dukakis, wearing a white pajamas, walked in from the bedroom door.

She looked at her husband Cosmo, who was already asleep in bed, walked to the head of the bed, and called him a few times.

Maybe he drank too much, maybe it was intentional, Cosmo didn't respond at all.

"Hey, you drank too much. You don't sleep when you should, and you don't sleep when you shouldn't."

Rose felt a little regretful, she turned around and prepared to go around to the other side of the bed to sleep. When she turned around, she was attracted by the moonlight shining through the window.

The moonlight tonight seemed to be just as her brother Raymond said, big, round, and bright. The translucent white curtains also illuminated the room.

Rose walked slowly towards the window, every step was so gentle, as if she was afraid that the moonlight would find her and run away.

But the moonlight was not stingy with her, shining gently on Rose's body, and the white pajamas and long dress actually had a hint of sacredness.

This light arrangement was the unique skill of the director of photography David Watkin. He placed a Wendy lamp invented by himself behind the window. The advantage of the Wendy lamp is that it is a parallel light similar to sunlight and moonlight, so it is not as easy to change as electric light sources when shining on people's faces.

Rose, played by Dukakis, stared at the moonlight blankly. She slightly opened the curtains with her fingers, and the white moonlight shone on her face. The close-up shot was aimed at her from the side.

A sense of grievance and sadness surged in her heart. Her husband Cosmo must have someone outside. The intuition of Italian women is absolutely correct.

But the moonlight still comforted her lightly, and the tears that were about to burst out were soothed by the moonlight.

Life is like this. Which family doesn't have some emotional problems? Italians are like this. As long as it is for the harmony of the big family, some things can still be ignored.

"Cut!"

Ronald was amazed. The veteran actors mastered these transitions and rhythm changes very well. Their familiarity with the script is amazing. Every action and the rhythm of the lines are just right. There is no need to bother with guidance at all.

Dukakis had not yet completely recovered from her emotions. She came over to hug Ronald and whispered her thanks in the director's ear, "Thank you, thank you. I felt so good playing Rose."

"Hold on, we still have a restaurant scene, and I have to rely on your normal performance." Ronald asked the actors to rest, and walked to a nearby house. There was also a bed scene here, and it was Ross's brother Ray. Mond and sister-in-law Rita.

"Rita, Rita" Louis Guth, who plays Raymond, keeps patting his wife Rita's body on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Rita was sleeping in a daze, and actress Julie Boisso looked like she was about to sleep but was woken up by someone.

"Get up and look at this moon. It's the moon I mentioned that Cosmo brought to my house."

Raymond lifted up the quilt and walked to the window. The same Wendy lamp was placed outside the window of this room this time.

"he is

"Sleep in

"Cosmo."

"What is he here for?"

"I have no idea."

"Hehe" Rita suddenly smiled happily, "Raymond, do you know? The expression you had in front of the window just now seemed like you were only 25 years old."

When Raymond heard his wife's words, he turned around and slowly smiled as he recalled the past.

He smiled sweetly and slowly, step by step, walked towards the bed.

"Hey, hey, hey," his wife Rita knew that Raymond was remembering the past when he was young, "What are you going to do? What are you going to do?"

Rita rolled up the quilt and turned her head.

Raymond was reluctant and wanted to win his wife over.

"No, no, hahaha, get out"

"Cut!"

Another perfect performance, these veteran actors have profound skills. Character actors can play different roles, so how to master the role and how to use the least actions and lines to present a character that the audience can remember is their years of experience.

"For a moment, I thought you two were a couple." Ronald hugged the two veteran actors and congratulated them, "Those details are great, how did you perform it."

"Hahaha, Ronald, you will know when you get married. There are many details that only married couples understand." Julie Boisso said to Ronald with a smile.

Immediately afterwards, the crew moved to another room where the scenery was set up.

This is the bedroom on the second floor of Ronnie's bakery, where he and Loretta first met on the same night in the script.

"Hi Cher, is everything okay?"

Cher is a big star. She came to Toronto the latest, had the most luggage, and the most people accompanying her. Ronald found many assistants to help him get settled.

"It's not bad. There is no good hairstylist here. I have to bring my own one. You have to reimburse his food, accommodation and air tickets."

"Of course, I have arranged everything." Ronald knew that the celebrity was very impressive and had already arranged everything.

This is a moonlight play. In order to persuade Ronnie to attend her and Johnny's wedding, Loretta cooked a steak for him. Ronnie ate to her heart's content and thought she was a perfect woman.

The two drank some whiskey, and Loretta talked about her unfortunate past, but Ronnie was still obsessed with losing his hand and his fiancée.

Loretta wants to tell Johnny that everyone has his or her own misfortunes and advise him not to be too persistent.

Two frustrated people, under the big, round moonlight, had impulses and emotions.

Ronnie was jealous of his brother for being able to get such a considerate, beautiful, and temperamental woman. Such a woman is still chattering to herself that she should not give up on herself.

Ronnie was upset at being taught by Loretta and overturned the table. Loretta trembled all over and was shocked. Loretta actually has no love for Johnny. The wolf-like male charm she longs for is found in this brother.

The two looked at each other and suddenly hugged each other and kissed.

Nicolas Cage picked up Cher, went into the inner room, and put her on the bed.

"I don't care, I don't care anymore, come on." Xueer still put her fingers together and made gestures. She had longed for this kind of pure desire for a long time, and she had never felt it with Johnny. Besides, the moonlight was so beautiful.

"What about Johnny?" Ronnie was still asking as he kissed Loretta.

"Don't you hate him? Just take revenge on him on me. Get my heart so that Johnny can only get my body."

"My heart was dead before I met you." Ronnie said looking at Loretta in his arms.

"Me too"

"Cut!"

Ronald led the crowd in applause.

Cage also bowed to everyone.

"Bravo, Bravo!" Ronald praised loudly.

Then he turned to director of photography David Watkin and whispered, "It's still a long way from those Broadway character actors."

"Ronald, the audience can watch Mengnan and Xueer kissing. What else do you want?"

"Yeah yeah"

After shooting three sex scenes, we still have to deal with the bright moon seen in all three scenes, which will be edited together.

David Watkin had already made preparations. He used paper materials to create a large moon, and used small yellow lights behind it to create the effect of parallel lights.

In a dark room, props have prepared different background plates, with background painted boards of Brooklyn Bridge and Twin Towers of World Trade Center in Manhattan.

This old-fashioned shooting method was common in Hollywood before the 1950s, but it is rare now.

But the script says that this moon is the kind of moonlight that is larger than buildings that you can see occasionally. Ronald asked the second group to shoot several real scenes and was not satisfied with them, so he had to use props to shoot the big moon.

Although it is fake at first glance, the audience does not feel abrupt in such a romantic scene.

"A!" Ronald asked the props to emit smoke to simulate the fast-moving clouds next to the moon.

The background is also lit with dim lights. Looking from behind the camera, it has the artistic conception of the bright moon shining on the beautiful woman under the Manhattan seaside skyline.

"Cut! Change the background of Brooklyn Bridge"

Ronald looked at the busy props, changing the background. The big moon still emitted a pale yellow light, shining on Ronald's face.

In this movie, the moonlight implies the love and passion between men and women, and is the catalyst for the hero and heroine to get together. This moon can bring people into a romantic state of mind, so that the audience will not feel that the combination of Loretta and Ronnie is too abrupt.

So whether the moonlight is romantic or not is very important.

Ronald looked at the prop moon and was still very satisfied with Watkin's level.

"It is really a big, round, and romantic moon."