Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 373 Final Cut Right

"'The Godfather' has two hours and fifty-five minutes, and 'The Outer Boy' is only one hour and fifty-five minutes. I don't think there is any problem. If we cut it further down, the classic scenes in Hinton's novels are inevitable. to be cut off.

   Those viewers will be disappointed, how can I meet those middle school students who write to me? I promised to watch the premiere of the movie with them. "

   Francis Coppola was excited in CAA's Nisita's office, constantly reinforcing his expression with gestures.

  Nisita sat aside, nodding in agreement with Coppola's complaint. He saw Coppola drain the espresso from the cup, took a bottle of Italian pomace grappa from the cupboard, and poured it into the empty coffee cup.

   "Drink some real coffee, Francis." Nisita poured a glass of Italian-style spirits for Coppola, who was also Italian. In this way, adding grappa to the finished espresso glass is also an authentic Italian drinking method.

  "Rick", Ronald pushed in from outside, "Oh, Mr. Coppola is there too, hello."

   Ronald nodded to them, "I didn't know Francis was with you, I'll come back later."

   "No, Ronald, you come, you come."

Coppola called Ronald in, "Look here too, the current producers don't have the guts. There's never been a producer who can support the artist like Albert Rudy from Paramount formerly. people..."

   "What happened?" Ronald sat down and asked Nisita. He came to meet Nisita today. The first cut of Paramount's "Lightning Dance" was done, and Don Simpson invited him and Nisita to see the first cut.

   "Warner Bros insists on cutting 'The Outer Boy' to ninety minutes." Nisita replied.

   "But this is a drama, right? If it's cut short, will the audience feel disconnected?" Ronald asked Coppola, looking at him.

"That's the artist's gut feeling, Ronald, and you're right. I made this film because of a group of junior high school students in Fresno, California, who voted for the best adaptation of the novel, and I Victory over George by an overwhelming vote.

  The joint letter of their more than 100 children asked me to direct "The World's Urchin", and then I read Hinton's "The World's Urchin" novel, and this movie was born.

   Now that my movie is finished and Warner Bros. has to cut it into 90 minutes, how sad are those students? Many classic scenes in the novel are not in the final version of the movie, and I obviously did it..."

   "This is a low-concept drama without a star, Mr. Coppola, just like your 'Godfather', the plot is the root of the audience's satisfaction. Why cut it short?"

   Ronald was a little surprised that Warner Bros would cut Coppola's movies, who gave them the confidence that someone would do better than Coppola?

"I feel like this movie is a teenage version of Godfather, with the protagonist being the youngest of the three brothers. Mazai's older brother is hot-tempered and impulsive like Sonny in Godfather, while Johnny is milder, like Fredo . Horseboy and Johnny go into exile after killing a member of a rival gang, similar to Michael Corleone.

  If any of the key plots in the finished film are deleted, I am afraid that viewers who have not read the novel will feel that the plot is separated before and after, and they cannot understand it. "

   Ronald was very upset for Coppola. One of America's greatest directors, coupled with the performance of many talented teenage actors, has this film, and it is really uncomfortable to be cut short at random.

"You have to be careful, Ronald. Those studio executives, after 'Heaven's Gate', are getting more and more cunning and have more and more control over the director's creation. You will encounter these things gradually in the future. Yes. Watch out for their little moves."

   Another glass of Grappa, and Coppola got up to say goodbye.

   "Why, doesn't even Coppola, the director who made "The Godfather", have the final cut?" Ronald asked Nisita after Coppola left.

"The final editing right is a very complicated contract. Specifically, for this 'Urtle Boy', Mr. Coppola has the editing rights, but Warner Bros. has the right to decide the length of the final film. They set the total length of the film to be Ninety minutes, so Francis also had to have major surgery on the plot."

   "Why? Isn't the length of this movie pre-determined?"

"It's not the Supreme Court decision. Now all the studios are acting in a conservative strategy. The 90-minute length can be lined up at prime time after get off work, which can guarantee the number of screenings of the movie. .

   Besides, the current economy is not booming, and the unemployment rate for the whole year has exceeded 8%. Warner Bros. does not want to take the risk of cutting a feature film and raising the minimum ticket price. "

   "Does this verdict really have such a big impact on Hollywood?" Ronald felt that the people in the film industry that he encountered recently were discussing this issue.

   "Everyone is complaining, each of them is looking for acquaintances, trying to ban this matter in the legislative channel. At least let the people of Dongying install the technology to prevent piracy on the video recorder, otherwise we will all have to go back to filming TV series."

   "By the way, did Mr. Coppola come to see you? Could your CAA help him restore the length of the movie?"

   "That's impossible. Warner Bros. has the right to decide the total duration of the contract, and we can't do anything about it. He came to pick up a new movie, you know, his 'Diorama' company..."

   Ronald nodded to show his understanding. Coppola's company's financial situation was still in trouble, so he just waited for the two consecutive films of "Bad Boy" and "Betta Fish" to save his life.

   "Let's go to Paramount. Don Simpson invited you to go this time, and he will upgrade your title of associate producer to the title of co-producer." Nisita said.

  Don Simpson was very satisfied with Ronald's help in filming in Pittsburgh, and this time he took the initiative to invite them to see the demo, and said that he would upgrade Ronald to the level of producer. This co-producer (Co-Producer) is generally available to those who have made significant contributions to the filming.

   "By the way, when will your Night of the Comet start? If you need any help, I can help you, except that the agent can't participate in the film investment."

"Thank you, Rick, I'm waiting for New World's new CEO to take office now, and I'll talk about production in two days. My film may be New World's first after Roger Coleman sold the company. Department of Production."

   "Hahaha, Roger is a lucky man, and now Hollywood calls him the lucky Roger, who sold the company for a good price before the verdict came out."

  The two went to Paramount's studio. The edited sample was still a working copy, and there was no final shape. So what Ronald saw was the working copy that was used for editing, with tape covering every cutout so that every shot would jam during the screening.

   is not a professional director and editor. When you see this kind of editing, you will play, so this preview is only open to insiders.

  Only when the producer finally confirms the copy, will they edit the negatives in the order of editing, and then use the negatives to print out a version of the copy, which is called a response copy. This copy has no tape to create an editing opening, and can be released to the audience for preview.

   If the audience has any feedback, they can also disassemble the working copy and re-cut, and then publish a copy of the response. Generally, the trial screenings and re-cuts of major studios can be repeated for two or three rounds until the screening.

   "Why is the clip on this clip so short? I can't find it if I don't pay attention."

Although the internal preview of "Lightning Dance" was a working copy, the stuttering of the editing port was very short. Ronald estimated that it was only about five or six frames, which was shorter than the normal working copy of the eighteen frames with the tape on the editing port. A lot, and the fleeting pause is not much different from the response copy.

  Director Adrian Lane replied, "We used a new type of editing tape, which has a very small sticking area, but the sticking effect is similar to the original 3M tape, but it is a bit expensive, and it costs twenty dollars for a roll.

   But now working copies can be previewed to audiences, which is much cheaper than reprints. So I bought a batch after seeing it at a friend. "

   "Oh, what brand is this tape called?"

   "N-vis-O, if you want, I will ask the assistant to call you, they are all handmade, you can call them in advance to order."

Paramount's opening credits ended with a Pittsburgh morning on the screen. The busy city scene was well rendered, and the theme song "What It's Like", written and sung by Erin Carra, was perfect for Alex's morning bike ride to work in Pittsburgh. process of struggle.

   Ronald stopped talking and concentrated on watching the movie.

  The movie was two hours and thirty minutes long, and Ronald enjoyed it very much. Alex, a welding female worker, is self-reliant and has experienced a tortuous love triangle with his boss Nick and his ex-wife. And the story of her good friend Sunny who gave up on her skating career because her boyfriend left. Finally got into the ballet school in Pittsburgh, the dream came true, and finally reunited with her boyfriend Nick.

   Adrian Lane's greatest strength is not the plot, but the scene of the temptation. Jennifer Beers watched TV at home at first, wearing a T-shirt with a cut neckline and exposed shoulders, very sexy.

And she was in the restaurant, in front of her boyfriend Nick's ex-wife, took off her jacket, wore only a halter dress, and used stockings to slap him along Nick's legs, saying, "I'm going to take your brain out... "The lines, angry with his ex-wife.

   A memory that Ronald only felt was awakened, and he could not help but bend his legs, making his pants less uncomfortable.

   Coupled with the seductive dance in the bar, Ronald felt that the film did not need a plot, and only kept these seductive scenes, which could also attract word-of-mouth communication from many audiences.

  The best part is Alex's dance scene. He wears leg warmers the whole time, and there are several close-up close-ups. Isn't this a free placement advertisement?

  Ronald was delighted.

   "How is it, did you see your signature at the end? Co-producer." Producer Don Simpson, who was tall and stubborn, came over and put his arm around Ronald's shoulder and said.

   "Don, why didn't I see Marlene Jahan's name?" Ronald was a little serious, he read all the subtitles, but didn't find Jahan who was acting as a dance double for Jennifer Beals.

   Even the break dance master "Crazy Legs" who performed floor dance for the protagonist Jennifer Beals has a signature. On the contrary, Jahan, who did most of the movements, did not.

"You found out? This is Mr. Eisner's request. He thinks Bills will become popular because of this movie. In order not to let the audience's image of this beautiful-faced actress with a successful dance career collapse, we decided not to sign it. No publicity, no news outlets, Bills has a dance double."

"This? Then you have to make up for Marlene Jahan a little bit? Besides, this movie isn't all about dancing and **** scenes winning, Alex and his boss Nick's love story, and Alex's own dance career struggles, and supporting roles. The love story is also very touching. I don't think the audience will think Jennifer Beals is bad."

"Come here," Don Simpson pulled Ronald aside "Mr. Eisner meant to cut the movie down to ninety minutes, all those plots to be cut out, leaving only the simplest of the plot frames, It doesn't affect the audience's understanding. Those **** dances should be kept."

   "Oh, poor Adrian. This is to cut the movie into a high concept? Sexy babes, welders by day, dancers by night?"

   "Hahaha, you are very smart, Mr. Eisner is about to summon Adrian Lane. You know, the Supreme Court's decision is coming soon, and we are very unfavorable. Everything must be the first."

   "Oh, no..." screamed director Adrian Lane, who got bad news from Jerry Bruckheimer about Eisner's insistence on cutting the movie short.

   (end of this chapter)