Exploiting Hollywood 1980

A glass of sparkling wine with two sugar cubes was brought to Ronald. It was Olympia Dukakis who played his mother Rose.

Ronald drank it all in one gulp. Sparkling wine helps blood circulation, and the sugar quickly provides energy to the body. Ronald returned to normal in a short while.

"Are you OK?" Dukakis looked at the director and asked with concern. The filming just now was very enjoyable. Did this director spend too much energy on the filming? The table scene has always been a difficult action that directors try to avoid. There are stars like Cher who have different ideas.

"Maybe you didn't eat. It's already 2:30 now. You should go eat something too. There will be a packed dinner in the evening."

Ronald waved his hand to indicate that he had nothing to do.

In Toronto, the crew was not familiar with the local entertainment facilities, and most of the actors were middle-aged people, and they didn't have the energy of young people to indulge in parties. So after the filming, instead of a carnival party, they changed to a dinner party.

David Watkin was very happy listening to the indoor classical music played in the high-end restaurant, "This is the most interesting takeaway activity I have ever participated in."

"Hahaha, pass me the salad." Ronald asked Nicolas Cage on the other side of the table to pass the plate that he couldn't get.

The staff and actors, like the big Italian family in the movie, gathered around several large tables, eating and chatting. Everyone was talking about the filming experience of this movie and predicting what the film reviews would say after the release.

Broadway actors still gathered together. They often cooperated on Broadway, but movies are a kind of mass entertainment after all, and they also have more expectations for the release. No matter how famous Broadway is, these actors are still not well-known, but movies are different.

"Olympia, how did you come up with that improvisation, flushing the future down the toilet...hahaha, it sounds like something an Italian would say."

Vincent Gardenia, who plays the father Cosmo, asked Dukakis about some details of the noon scene. Broadway actors usually exchange their performances of the day after the show. It is rare for a movie shoot to be reviewed like this.

"Hahaha, that's what my mother said to me. She is Greek, but older people talk about the same thing."

Dukakis has been up and down on Broadway for decades, and she and her husband are both actors. But she only gained a lot of acting skills, and she didn't play any leading roles or win any awards. No film critics noticed her in the few movies she participated in.

When she was middle-aged and her children were going to college, she seized this opportunity to earn tuition. Her mother was angry at her for not fighting for it, and said something unpleasant to her daughter.

Greeks and Italians are similar, with a tradition of large families. So children are still complained about by their parents when they grow up. Ronald picked up the wine glass, "At a certain age, everyone lives like an Italian. Cheers to the family."

After the dinner, the actors and staff went their separate ways the next day.

Only Ronald and the director of photography David Watkin were left waiting for the film in Toronto.

Toronto is one of the film and television production centers in Canada. There is a company called "Medal Film Laboratory" that is responsible for the printing of the film shot here for "Moonlight".

"Moonlight" was produced with the participation of MGM, and it was the first major film after more than a year of chaotic mergers and acquisitions. The project was decided when Weintraub was still the person in charge, so all technical preparations were the best.

Therefore, the Technicolor printing process with the highest color quality in the industry was used this time.

This color film is the oldest color printing process in Hollywood. It was used in blockbusters such as "Gone with the Wind" very early.

In the 1950s, Technicolor had new technical developments, and the degree of color restoration was the most able to restore the real world color among all color printing processes.

Many of Marilyn Monroe's films were shot with Technicolor, so that American audiences could still appreciate the true charm of this sex symbol decades later.

However, the disadvantage of this process is that it is very expensive. He has to use the three primary colors to print separately, and then use color dyes to color it. Although it can be preserved for a long time without the fading problem of ordinary color film, it is generally not affordable for large-scale productions.

The most famous recent blockbuster using Technicolor is Coppola's "Apocalypse Now".

The next day, Walter Murch, who was invited by Ronald to serve as his film editor again, came to Toronto and went to the Medallion Laboratory with David Watkin and Ronald to see the effect of the printed positive film.

"You came at the right time. The samples during the shooting were all quickly printed using a simple printing process. Like you, I have never seen the effect of the real Technicolor positive film."

Ronald sat in the projection room and whispered with Walter Murch.

"Let me see the results. I just came from New York. The exterior scenes you shot in New York were developed in the Technicolor New York factory. Although the effects on both sides use the same process parameters, the age of the equipment, the batches of chemicals and dyes, and the carefulness of the workers may cause subtle differences, which need to be adjusted during the later color grading."

"MGM has invested a lot of money and must make the first film of the reshoot a big hit. They have a special person watching in the laboratory."

"For any process involving human participation, I only trust my own eyes."

……

The sample films were played on the screen one by one. Walter Murch was very satisfied with the technical level of the Toronto factory.

"In fact, the craftsmanship and experience of the workers here are better than those of the New York Technicolor factory.

You know, my father is Canadian. I didn't expect their technical level to be no worse than that of the Americans."

"The people our crew hired here are also very capable. Another movie I produced, Disney's "Adventures of Babysitting", almost had a shooting accident because the Toronto cleaners were too dedicated."

Ronald told Murch the joke that the garbage arranged by Chris Columbus was cleaned up by the Toronto cleaners in the early morning.

"Our new generation of Americans has really lost this serious spirit, if it weren't for the small population of Canada." Walter Murch shook his head.

Ronald couldn't help laughing. One of the signs of a person getting older is that he can't stand the next generation.

The sample film was put on the table scene shot on the last day. More than ten minutes of film, film shot by several cameras at the same time, was played on the screen.

"This scene has the style of a master."

Walter Murch praised Ronald's filming.

"It was Mr. David Watkin who arranged the camera position. If it weren't for him, I might not have caught the opportunity for this actor to enter the state."

"Yes, very lucky boy." David Watkin was also very satisfied with his filming. "I felt that the God of Movies looked at you at that time. How did you feel at that time?"

"Me? I don't know." Ronald saw that Murch and Watkin were looking at him with great interest. Both of them have been in the film industry for decades and know that this state is hard to come by.

Ronald then recalled the state at that time, "I felt like I had entered a zone, a state. It seems that the movie should have such a scene, as if I just filmed it."

"Maybe, you are really possessed by someone?" David Watkin is a mystic.

"He was just concentrating and entered a state of autopilot. The human subconscious is very powerful. Sometimes your conscious mind has not figured it out yet, but the subconscious mind has already figured it out clearly. It will take over your creation at the right time. Many artists have similar experiences. My father is a painter, and I have seen him do this.

Francis Coppola also had such moments. When he was filming The Godfather, some scenes were as if assisted by God."

Walter Murch came from the hippie era and was good at this kind of chicken soup for the soul.

Ronald was very happy with the praise from the two senior experts.

Walter Murch returned to Los Angeles with the developed film. In his editing room there, he will start the work of audio and video synchronization and preliminary editing.

Ronald took a vacation on the spot. He had a good impression of Toronto. There are still many Chinese immigrants here. Some Cantonese restaurants are very good and more suitable for the taste than those in New York and Los Angeles. In particular, the morning tea was completely preserved. Eating some Chinese dim sum and brewing a pot of black tea every day made Ronald linger for a while.

Good times are always short-lived. A few days later, Ronald received a call for help from Chris Columbus, the director of "The Babysitter".

After watching some of the arrangements on the first day of filming, Ronald knew that Columbus's directing level was trustworthy. In order to reassure him, he said that if there was anything, he could call him and he would help solve it. Unexpectedly, Columbus really had something that Disney couldn't solve, so he called for help.

"What happened?" When he arrived at the crew, Ronald found Chris Columbus and asked what specific problems he encountered that he couldn't solve and needed to come forward.

"I have two things that I can't solve. Now time is tight, so I have no choice but to ask you for help."

Columbus pushed his glasses. He is not a person who asks for help when he has difficulties. In fact, these two things are beyond his ability, and there are time constraints, so he can't take it slowly.

"You tell me, one by one."

It turned out that there were two interesting scenes in the script of "The Babysitter", and there were problems that could not be bypassed during filming.

The first problem is that the heroine Chris Parker escaped from the gang of car thieves and found out that her car was sent to the repair shop.

The youngest girl taken care of by Nanny Parker is called Sarah. She has always been a loyal fan of the comic book "Thor". When she saw Mr. Dawson, the director of the repair shop, she thought she was the Thor in the comic book.

Dawson looked at the little girl and thought she was very imaginative. As long as they paid for the tire repair, he would let them drive the car home. But Chris Parker couldn't afford the $50 for the repair, only $45.

Sarah gave Dawson the Nordic helmet of Thor that she was wearing. Dawson was amused by the little girl's belief that she was the Thor in the comic book, and he also liked her innocence and kindness, so he returned the car to them in the end.

Mr. Dawson was originally invited by the crew to play a Canadian bodybuilding champion and rock singer Jon Mikkel Thor.

The actor's name is Thor, which is the same as the real name of Thor in the comic book, which is a double heel.

But when filming was approaching, Jon Mikkel Thor showed his true colors when he joined the crew and harassed actresses and female staff everywhere, so director Chris Columbus had to fire him.

This scene lacks a suitable actor to play Thor.

If the script is modified and a character other than Thor in the comics is replaced, the foreshadowing of the little girl Sarah wearing Thor's helmet and holding Thor's hammer toy will be in vain.

"This is easy to solve. Just change an actor." Ronald asked.

"Jon Mikkel Thor is a very famous person. He is a double bodybuilder in Canada and America, and the lead singer of the famous rock band "Rock Warrior Thor". If you just change an actor, there will be no effect of the audience smiling knowingly. It will also lose the convenience of marketing."

Chris Columbus said the difficulty. This scene was about to be filmed, and an actor with a little gimmick was temporarily found to replace it.

"Ah... who did you take a fancy to?" Ronald understood that this was because Columbus had few connections in the industry and could not find a suitable candidate for a while. He had to continue directing. As a producer, he should really help solve such problems.

Columbus didn't say anything, just stared at Ronald.

"Me?"

Ronald didn't expect Chris Columbus to choose him to play Thor.

"You are tall and photogenic. And it will be a good topic for the audience to see you in the guest role. I don't have time to find new actors now. You are the best candidate to save the fire."

Chris Columbus said his reasons.

"Okay, but I have little acting experience, so don't expect too much."

"It's okay, there is only one entrance shot and some medium shots."

Seeing that Ronald agreed to the guest role, Columbus immediately asked his assistant to finalize the shooting time, and then took Ronald to try on the costumes.

The hairstylist put a golden wig on Ronald, which hung down his shoulders. With a height of six feet two inches, he had a cool and unrestrained vigor.

Another costume designer came over and put on blue-collar jeans for Ronald, matched with a blue vest and black leather boots, making him look like a handsome mechanic in a garage.

"Oh, you are really suitable for playing a blue-collar role," the makeup artist put on Ronald's makeup and kept praising Ronald's chest and abdominal muscles.

"What's one more thing?" Ronald waved his hand to let the makeup artist move aside, and talked to Columbus about another difficult problem.

Columbus looked at Ronald's makeup, took a few photos with Polaroid, and was very satisfied.

"One more thing, it's the Playboy cover photo of the heroine Elizabeth Sue."

"Huh?"

Ronald thought to himself that he had never heard of Sue taking photos for Playboy.

It turned out that this was also a design of the movie plot.

Nanny Chris Parker accidentally entered the lair of car thieves.

On their table, there was a "Playboy" magazine, and the cover girl on it looked very much like Nanny Parker.

Brad, the eldest son of the neighbor who had a crush on Chris Parker, secretly took the magazine with him, and later because of this magazine, he was almost exposed.

This cover photo was originally planned to be taken by Elizabeth Sue for a fake one. But the name of Playboy appeared, and it was necessary to get the consent of Hugh Hefner, the dresser of Playboy magazine.

I don't know what went wrong. Hefner originally agreed to transfer the copyright of the magazine's name to the film for a symbolic price, but Playboy changed its mind at the last minute. The senior executives at Disney couldn't find Hefner's people for a while.

Columbus knew that Ronald was more famous in the industry than he thought, so he asked Ronald to try. If it didn't work, he had to remove the name of Playboy from the cover of the magazine.

"Small case, I'll ask someone." Ronald felt that with his position in the industry, if he did it himself, this kind of small matter would not be a problem.

...

"Oh, you really look like Thor."

The little actress who played Thor's fan Sarah was called Maya Bruton. She and Ronald had an intersection. In the 1985 blockbuster "Back to the Future", she happened to play the sister of Michael J. Fox's character Marty.

Maya Bruton read a lot of "Thor" comics for the role. Ronald's appearance really looks like the incarnation of Thor in the comics, Dr. Donald Blake.

"Really? Maya." Young actors are usually very cute, outgoing and good at communication.

Ronald likes Maya Bruton's innocence.

"You can call me Sarah. I feel that I can perform better if I stay in character on the set." Maya Bruton tilted her head and looked at Ronald, acting like a real actor.

"Okay, Sarah," Ronald had to follow the wishes of the young actors. It would be bad if they were in a bad mood and couldn't perform.

"Ronald..." Elizabeth Sue, wearing a yellow camel coat, which was exactly what she wore in the movie, greeted Ronald with a smile.

"Hi, Elizabeth."

Ronald went up to hug her, "When do we start? I'm still a little cold wearing this."

It's still a little cold in Toronto in January, wearing a vest.

"It'll be ready soon. You and Sue will go through the positions with the children later." Chris Columbus came up to explain the play to Ronald.

"Dawson is a blue-collar worker who only cares about money and goods. He was unwilling to give the car to Chris without enough money. But Sarah was very naive and thought Dawson was the real Thor. Although Dawson denied it, Sarah thought he was a superhero and didn't want to reveal his identity..."

"Hmm...Hmm..." Ronald nodded frequently. Chris Columbus liked to tell the actors about the background and psychological state of the characters before rehearsal.

The working methods of each director are different. When Ronald came here, he had to respect the director's arrangement.

"So he is a mechanic who has not received much education, but is straightforward, willing to accompany children, and kind-hearted. He is cold-faced and warm-hearted."

"Okay, just a little silly, kind-hearted." Ronald summed it up in his mind.

"Okay, A!" Columbus announced the start of the filming of this Thor scene.

"Shh..." A white steam sprayed up from Ronald's feet. Thor's appearance shot really looks like the appearance in a superhero comic. Slowly descending from a platform, there is steam underneath to set off the atmosphere.

"Cough cough..." Ronald was choked and coughed.

"Cut!" Columbus was not happy with Ronald's mistake. "Ronald, you have to be patient. We don't have more time or budget to make special props."

"Okay, I didn't pay attention just now, I won't do it this time."

Ronald apologized repeatedly. He held a car repair tool hammer tightly in one hand, hugged it to his chest, made a sacred expression, and then stood on the platform, leaning back slightly to avoid the steam.

"Shh..."

Another steam rose up, Ronald tried to hold it back and maintained a serious appearance.

The nanny played by Elizabeth Su handed over a handful of cash.

Ronald smiled at Su and counted the money, "There are only 45 dollars here. I believe in one hand for the money and one hand for the goods. You don't have 50 dollars, you can't drive this car tonight."

"I'm sorry, a lot of things happened tonight, I only have this much." The nanny played by Su was helpless. They escaped from the den of thieves and participated in the blues competition. It was not easy to find their car.

"Then I'm sorry too." Ronald dropped the hammer and changed his hand.

"Are you fighting against the dark forces?" Sarah, wearing a toy helmet of Thor and holding a plastic Thor's hammer, suddenly asked Ronald, who played Thor.

"What are you talking about?" Ronald held the tool hammer in his hand and made a confused expression.

"Uh, Mr. Dawson, she mistook you for someone else." The nanny played by Elizabeth Sue hurried up to take Sarah away. She was a little afraid of Dawson.

"No, I didn't make a mistake. He is Thor, Thor. This is his protective identity."

Sarah was still struggling in the nanny's arms and told Dawson's true identity (what she thought).

"Don't be silly, let's go." Sarah's brother Brad came up to pull his sister. It would be bad if Dawson was mad.

"Don't listen to her nonsense. She also said you are a Hoo."

"Listen, kid, are you kidding me?" Ronald grabbed the collar of Keith Coogan, the actor who played Brad, and lifted him up with one hand.

"No, no, sir, I didn't." Brad quickly denied it and pulled his sister back.

Sarah smiled. She felt that Thor should be so powerful. "But, Mr. Thor, shouldn't you protect the weak? We really have no money."

"Protect the weak?" Ronald looked at the Thor helmet Sarah was wearing. This little girl really believed in these things. It would be bad if she was disappointed with superheroes at this age.

"Hi," Ronald took out the car keys from his jeans and threw them to Elizabeth Yin.

"Thank you, Thor!" Sarah was very happy.

Snap, Elizabeth Yin caught the key, "Sir, can I know your address? I will send a check for $5..."

"Don't talk nonsense, let's go," Ronald raised the hammer and signaled them to leave quickly.

"Cut!" Chris Columbus called a halt. He looked very happy and satisfied with Ronald's performance.

"Very good acting, very good. Now, let's change the way we act. Ronald, try to be more cold..."

"Uh..." I didn't expect that this director's trick would be used on me.