Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 504 Orion is out of money

   "Why hasn't filming started on your 'Terminator' yet?" After cutting "Break Dance", Ronald came to play with Jim Cameron and Gal Heard over the weekend.

   Originally thought that their movie had already started shooting, or at least the preliminary scenography work had already begun, but who knew that the two were still stuck at home, and the preparations were progressing very slowly.

"Its implementation Wassinger has already filmed 'Conan the Destroyer', and we have also found a heroine named Linda Hamilton. She looks weak and a little strong, which is very suitable for the heroine Sarah." Cameron is full of confidence.

   "There is something wrong with the funds on Orion's side, so we need to delay the startup a little bit." Gale interjected.

   "What's going on?" Ronald looked at Gale, "Orion is your distributor, right? Aren't they the strong side? I thought there was something wrong with that small producer, Heimdall."

   "They were forced to add more than 10 million to Coppola's 'Cotton Club' budget, squeezing out the production funds of other films. Except for us, I heard that all Orion productions were affected."

   "Anthracene!" Ronald calculated that the total investment of this "Cotton Club" was almost 60 million, and it was a bit difficult to recover the investment from the footage he saw.

   "Huh", Ronald's thoughts changed, the direct opponent of "Break Dance", "Hot Street Kid" was also invested by Orion, so wouldn't it be very beneficial to him.

   "Then when will you be able to switch on?" Ronald put away his smile, it is not a virtue to be happy when friends are in trouble.

   "About March, I'm still worrying about the lack of funds, and many scenes can't be filmed." Cameron was a little frustrated.

"No way? Didn't you cut a lot of scenes in this movie?" Ronald remembered that Cameron originally wanted to shoot a lot of scenes. Because of the cost, he once helped him cut out as much as possible according to the content of the dream. Lots of sequels. "

"It's just hard, I want to do road chases, I want to do Armageddon when human warriors and Terminators fight in flames, and finally I want to go to the desert interstate and shoot Sarah alone and in her belly The shot of the child on the road. It's not complete."

  Cameron seemed to have no one to talk about the troubles of filmmaking for a long time, so he took out a thick stack of split-shot drawings and complained to Ronald.

   Ronald has heard a lot of Cameron's remarks, and the three big scenes he wants to shoot are indeed very important parts. The road chase is halfway through the movie and needs a big scene to lift the audience's lethargic spirits.

The    battle is the final climax. It must be very thrilling and exciting. In the end, the protagonist defeats a powerful enemy in order to make the audience feel the same.

   And the last desert trip is the aftertaste. The audience went through a decisive battle, and the human warrior who returned in the future of the male protagonist perished with the robot killer Terminator. The boy the heroine is carrying is the leader of the future resistance army.

   At this time, although the audience got the good ending that the future leader was not eliminated, the hero sacrificed for this and needed a little comfort to ease the audience's emotions from the stimulation and bring them a glimmer of hope.

  Cameron's apocalyptic film is a serious drama with a medium investment. It is different from the "Night of the Comet", which he shot at a low cost. It needs to be handled very seriously, and cannot be a comedy ending.

   But the main drama needs a big scene, and it costs a lot of money. Cameron is a stunt expert himself, he can't be unaware of the cost here, just unwilling? Who doesn't want a perfect debut. Woolen cloth?

Ronald thought for a while, and drew it on a piece of white paper, "I think your money may only be enough to shoot one of the scenes, it's better to keep this car chase scene. The big bang is always better to shoot, The scene is awesome and it doesn't cost money.

But this fight in the fire is too expensive. Why don't you change it into a shopping mall chase. Anyway, I recommend you to put the lights in the Sherman Pine department store. It can be used directly without additional lighting, so that The faster you shoot, the more money you save. Then the two of them entered the factory and fought in the factory without setting fires. It could be very violent, but it would save a lot of money.

  The last road scene, I think there is no way to create a cumulonimbus cloud for you with a heavy rainstorm coming. It is better for you to pay more attention to the weather forecast. When there is a heavy thunderstorm, shoot it whenever you want. "

  Cameron took over Ronald's painting and looked at the chase inside the mall. Finally, the pros and cons hit the factory, and the Terminator was lured into the punching machine and crushed to death by the machine. He shook his head involuntarily, "It seems that you are Roger Coleman's direct disciple. There are so many ways to save money. Let's do it like this. I also understand that there is no way to ask for more for the first movie."

   solved the funding problem, the two of them rode a motorcycle, Cameron took Gail, and a group of three went to the suburbs to play for a day.

   On Monday, Ronald went into the editing of "Dragon Power Kid".

   As Minahan had guessed, Ronald paid more attention to "Dragon Power" than "breakdance". After a few days of rest, he plunged into the editing room arranged by producer Weintraub and began to live in it every day.

It took    a whole week for Ronald to get acquainted with all the shots several times and master the rhythm of the whole film. Then you have a good idea, and then slowly cut down the scissors.

   This day Ronald was editing and Weintraub came.

  I saw him cutting that scene where Mr. Miyagi was drunk, and was discovered by Daniel that Miyagi joined the 442 Infantry Regiment when he was young. His wife and unborn child both died due to dystocia.

  Daniel got drunk in Miyagi and found that the box contained various medals of honor that Miyagi received.

   "Why don't you give the medal a frontal shot?" Weintraub asked in a strange way, seeing that Ronald only left the shot where the medal was covered, allowing him to flash away in front of the audience.

   "Because I called Mr. Daniel Inoue, a Japanese-American Senator from Hawaii, and his assistant told me that although Japanese-Americans suffered heavy losses, in history, no one has been awarded the highest Congressional Medal of Honor.

   The only yellow-skinned soldier to receive the Army's highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, was Captain Francis Wei, a Chinese-American who died on the Pacific battlefield. "

   "So I'm just hinting, this blue ribbon. The Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart below are all once obtained by Senator Inoue, and I'll borrow a character story so that it doesn't seem to go against the truth."

   Weintraub glanced at him, "This is a movie, these little places don't matter, right?"

  Ronald smiled, "It doesn't matter, but I know, I'll try not to make mistakes."

   What he didn't tell Weintraub was that Ronald hoped that this "Dragon Power Kid" could be passed down. He hopes that thirty years from now, there will still be people talking about the film.

  Most of the handed down films are in fact very sophisticated, and the logic of the characters is also as reasonable as possible. Although his "Longwei Kid" may not be passed down, Ronald also wants to get as close to a great movie as possible.

"You're an ambitious young man, Ronald," Weintraub seemed to see what he was thinking, "Just follow your ideas. The film scorer I'm looking for has already arrived. When are you going to see him? one side?"

   "Just here? That's right," Ronald stood up and said, "I can see him now."

  Ronald likes this kind of composer who intervenes in the post-production of the film in advance, so that he can communicate some of his ideas with him in advance. After the editing is completed, it is much easier to mix the sound.

  Bill Conti is an Italian-born composer who once composed the theme music for Stallone's "Rocky", but did not continue to work with Stallone after that. This time, after receiving an invitation from Weintraub, he immediately came to negotiate.

"I need a kind of ancient, oriental, melodious music, an ancient style, which reminds people of Dongying and China." After Ronald and Conti exchanged greetings, let him take a look at the beginning. Cut the film, get a first impression, and then make a good composition.

  "I propose to use the pan flute", Conti thought for a while and said, "This musical instrument commonly used by the Indians has a natural melodious and ancient charm."

   Ronald thought for a while and completely agreed with the other party's idea. Indeed, the American people are also not familiar with the music of Eastern Ying and China. The pan flute, an ancient musical instrument, can bring an ancient feeling and achieve its own effect.

   The two had discussed it, and Ronald asked for what kind of atmosphere music should be added to those passages, and Conti wrote them down one by one.

"Why do I feel like you already have a soundtrack in your head, but you just need me to write it out." Conti is a little strange, such an a la carte method of writing soundtracks is rare, and many film directors also I don't know how to communicate with the soundtrack, but I only briefly talk about the style of music that I need.

   "Haha, I'm very interested in the effect of music in movies. I used to study with Walter Murkey and know a little bit of skills, so I thought about the topics I needed in advance, and then communicated with you."

  Conti nodded. Indeed, this approach will allow the soundtrack to be targeted, and everyone will have a good foundation for communication. There will be no embarrassment of the director saying no when the delivery is over.

   "You seem to be missing an episode." Bill Conti calculated the requirements at hand, and the last vocal episode, which brought the atmosphere of the audience, has not yet been finalized, "Whose song are you going to use?"

  Conti knew that this kind of interlude was usually filled with published singer singles.

   "I don't have a clue yet. Do you have any recommendations? I need a counterattack from the weak, and finally complete the song of heroic feats."

"Since that is said, I suggest you look for Joe Esposito. He has a song that was originally prepared for 'Rocky III', but Stallone didn't like it and chose another one." Conti remembered the past A singer who worked with, "Of course, if you don't mind."

   "I don't mind, if he wants to, invite him to talk?" Ronald didn't have a door, Stallone didn't like it, he couldn't use it? No such thing, or to see if the song is suitable for the atmosphere of the movie.

   "Okay, I'll call him." Bill Conti agreed, "Anyway, your movies, like the younger version of 'Rocky', are..."

"No, my story is a heroic epic, a story of an ordinary person who is guided by a master and tries his best to defeat his opponent. Unlike Rocky, he was originally a gangster boxer who collected protection fees for the underworld. He only made money to make money. Resuming boxing is a completely different theme from my movie."

  Ronald hates being told his story is like Stallone's "Rocky".

   To be honest, although Stallone won the Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for this "Rocky", judging from his two screenwriting experiences with him, this Italian doesn't know much about screenwriting.

He used to send the script of "Rocky" to major studios for several years before, but it was repeatedly rejected. In the final product, I don't know how much he wrote by himself, and how much was the shooter found for him by United Art. Written.

   is something that Stallone is very good at. He uses the script to set off his "brilliant image". In order to highlight himself, he does not hesitate to destroy the overall structure of the script.

   This "big star" who only cares about his own image! Ronald shook his head, he would not be similar to his script story.

   (end of this chapter)