Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 199 Why did musicals die?

"one two Three…"

   Ronald took the "Grease" script and, under the illumination of the bedside lamp, marked the right margin of some passages that were obviously lyrics.

   "Grease" is adapted from a Broadway musical, and the script contains a large number of paragraphs copied from the musical's singing passages. The lines in these parts are two lines of lyrics, and then two lines of lyrics for another character.

   This is tantamount to artificially lengthening the length of the screenplay, making the rule-of-thumb for a finished screenplay of about a minute per page no longer accurate.

   Then there are some dance passages without any description, only the word "dancing" is written, how to dance and how long to dance, generally refer to the original Broadway musical.

A dance scene like    contains a lot of missing information, the word "dance", which can be a few seconds of dancing or a few minutes of dancing. This in turn is equivalent to shortening the length of the script.

   Two-phase offset, 121-page script, the final length of the film is 110 minutes. That is to say, the singing passages account for a very high percentage of the entire script. Ronald counted them, and singing can account for 40% of the lines in the whole film.

Well, apart from a little change in the lyrics due to the nationality of the heroine, and the addition of a few minor supporting characters that were not in the original musical, the original screenwriter Bronte Woodard actually only made some sets for the musical. , changed it to a real movie. And the work of changing the performance of musicals into audio-visual language.

   This conclusion was quite unexpected by Ronald.

   "Son of Grease" is equivalent to writing a musical from scratch, and Ronald can't compose or write lyrics...

   Well, Ronald copied the words for two episodes from the movie in his dream. However, in the 110 minutes of the musical, the singing session of about 45 minutes has no revelation in the dream. It is necessary to work closely with the songwriter to write the script.

  Ronald is completely inexperienced. After all, he should write the lyrics and music first, and then cooperate with the plot. Or should I write the plot first and leave some holes open for songwriters to fill in?

   After thinking about it all night, Ronald didn't sleep well, and when Richard came to pick him up the next day, he also found that Ronald was in a bad mood.

   "What's the matter with you? Didn't you sleep at night? Do you need to change a room?"

"No, I read the grease script you gave me in the middle of the night, and found a big problem." Ronald told Richard about his findings, "The original is very difficult to adapt, and the sequel is by no means mine. What one person can write, I kind of regret agreeing to producer Sterwood."

Richard lowered his head and thought for a while, "We're still going to meet Ms. Patricia Birch, the choreographer of the original work, as originally planned, and let's get to know the situation first. Then we'll discuss with Mr. Nisita. I think Mr. Sterwood has succeeded. He's made so many movies, he'll definitely think about it."

"Sterwood doesn't think about it that much. He just wants to make his singer Andy Gibb famous and make his albums a big hit with movies," choreographer Patricia Birch told the visiting. Ronald said.

"It was the same with the original movie. I tell you, Grease was originally a Chicago story, and Sterwood stepped in to write the script in order to hype the heroine Olivia Newton-John, and finally had to change the background of the heroine. , became an exchange student from Britain."

   Patricia Birch, a lean woman in her late fifties, was the choreographer of the original Broadway musical "Grease," with a deep affection for the original. The changes made to make the film version seemed to her to be heretical.

   It turned out that she was not very friendly to Ronald, and felt that it was a completely irresponsible choice for a film writer to write "Son of Grease" from scratch. But after learning that Ronald was the lyricist of the two episodes of "Famous Around the World", his attitude changed significantly.

   "I entered the industry in the late 1950s, and I know the behind-the-scenes stories of some classic musicals from my predecessors. Before the 1950s, Hollywood was a big studio system.

  Whether they are screenwriters, choreographers, or composing lyrics, they are all hired by large studios and receive salary bonuses. In this way, everyone can work together every day to write the script of the musical.

  In Hollywood now, all types of jobs are freelancers, and everyone is a group of professionals who change from one movie to another, and join the team at different times during the filming of the movie.

  The screenwriter and the lyricist, the choreographer and the composer have no tacit understanding for a long time, and it is impossible to work together for a few months to complete the song and dance of the musical.

   Therefore, after the disintegration of the Hollywood studio system, the musical film that required the highest degree of cooperation between the behind-the-scenes creators was one of the earliest films to die out. "

Taking the black tea from Patricia Birch, Ronald thanked him and took a sip, "Then how did the grease become so perfect in the first place? Ms. Birch, you also won the Broadway Tony Award for Best Editor for this. dance."

   "Because we are a stage play", Patricia Birch showed a nostalgic look, "You haven't participated in the production of stage plays, have you, Ronald?"

"No."

"Stage and film are two completely different arts, and 'Grease' didn't start out on Broadway either. We did a lot of shows in Chicago, and each performance could be adjusted based on the audience's reaction, the structure of the play was inappropriate, the lyrics Imperfect, etc. imperfections."

   "Then Off-Broadway in New York, continued to improve. Then it went to Off-Broadway, and finally the audience and the reviews, bang! We went to Broadway."

"But the movie has only one chance, and it cannot be adjusted according to the audience's feedback during filming. When the editing is finished, if the audience does not respond well, there is no chance to make major changes. Edit." Ronald continued.

  Patricia Birch gave Ronald an admiring look, "Yes. That's why I prefer to work on Broadway, an art form without immediate feedback, it's too difficult."

   Ronald also understood when he heard this. The creative method of musicals is very different from other types of films. Unless the "Son of Grease" can be made into a musical first and polished on Broadway for a year or two, otherwise, if you want to make a movie that is comparable to the original, it is near impossible.

   "When you filmed 'Grease', did you just copy Broadway songs and dances?" Ronald asked.

   "It's basically the same thing, with subtle differences of course," says Patricia Birch.

"For example, in the selection of actors, John Travolta has participated in the Broadway version of 'Grease', but he can only play a supporting role because his dancing is not good enough. And the lead role in the Broadway version cannot play the lead role in the movie version, Because he's not handsome enough. The syntax of the cinematography, after all, is not the same as the stage play."

   Ronald nodded, he understood this difference in casting priorities. On the Broadway stage, what the audience sees is the actor's body, dancing. And movies can use close-up shots to explain what the actors look like.

   "When we shot the original film, we were looking for elite dancers, and many of the supporting characters danced better than the two main characters. I remember a New York girl who faked her age to participate in the background group dance.

   I saw that she danced really well, and I persuaded the director to give her a lot of shots. But then she did not continue to work hard in Hollywood, but went back to continue her ballet studies. Otherwise, with her quality...hey, Hollywood doesn't have more musicals for her to play. "

   Ronald's recording hand paused, a story he had heard once before.

   "You mean Antonia Francesky?"

   "Yes, how do you know her? Is she okay now?"

   "She later participated in the filming of 'Famous in the World' as one of the leading roles. But she still didn't go to Hollywood, and now she went to the New York City Ballet."

   "You?" Patricia Birch saw the tenderness in Ronald's eyes.

   "Yes, once..."

   "The ballet girl is like that. If you want to form a family, you have to give up your career like me." Patricia Birch patted Ronald's hand comfortably.

"Tell me, Ms. Birch. If I'm going to start writing a script from scratch, what should I pay attention to? Should I write the plot first and leave a few holes for the song and dance, or wait until you have a mature song and dance. , and then write the plot around these paragraphs?"

   Ronald put the past back into his memory.

  Although "Son of Grease" is facing unexpected difficulties, he still has to do what he has promised. Ronald asked Patricia Birch how to write a script for a musical.

"Mature musicals have their own rhythm and structure. Generally speaking, there will be a song and dance at the beginning of the plot to set the tone of the film, and then when the plot enters the second act, the character development needs a song and dance to help him complete. , and the reversal of the third act, and the climax at the end..."

Patricia Birch was more satisfied with Ronald, who humbly asked for advice, and explained several large fixed paragraphs of the musical to Ronald, "These places need to be reserved in the script in advance, and other small songs and dances, It is mainly an emotional boost, and you can wait for the script to be generally completed before adding more."

   Ronald is taking a quick shorthand for choreographic suggestions, frowning from time to time. From the beginning of script creation, musicals are different from other types of films, and are of their own kind.

  It is no wonder that after the disbandment of the big studio system, several successful musicals, such as "West Side Story", "Grease", and "My Fair Lady", are all successful adaptations of famous Broadway plays.

   And those big-budget musicals, such as Ronald's teacher Martin Scorsese's "New York, New York", are original stories of directors who admire the ancient musical form and go their own way.

   This kind of work method, which is self-contained and slowly polished in the interaction with the audience in advance, is very similar to comedy. Comedians and comedy directors need to prepare for a few years to accumulate enough jokes that have been polished in live performances before they can shoot a successful film.

   And unlike ordinary movies, which can be transformed into classic bridges, comedy jokes and musical scenes are one-off. After using it this time, it cannot be repeated in the next movie.

   No wonder producer Sterwood is looking for comedy director Jerry Zucker, it seems that there are similarities between the two.

   "Looks like it's going to be a lot of work this time." Ronald couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Patricia Birch looked at Ronald a little distressed, and couldn't help but speak up, "Actually, there are tricks, as long as you can do any of these two points, it's not a big problem for 'Son of Grease' to maintain a qualified sequel. If you can do both, it's bound to explode."

   (end of this chapter)