Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Ronald is very busy right now. After shopping, he went straight to the editing room, where Walter Murch was editing Ronald's second film, "Moonlight".

   "How's the demo this time?" Ronald handed Murch a cup of coffee, like a promising student who always wanted to hear his teacher's praise.

   "Very good, very good. I saw good dramas, here, and here." Walter Murch pointed out a few scenes to Ronald, saying that he liked them very much, and it was interesting to watch.

   Ronald looked at it all at the dinner table. It seems that this kind of table play is indeed a test of the skills of the actors and directors of the school. Murch, who has led many movie editing and sound design, is well-informed and speaks more directly, so this compliment has a high gold content.

"Are you still going to play that Dean Martin's 'That's Love' at the beginning?" Murch put the first roll of film on the editing table, he had the sound and picture synchronized, and he could start slowly with Ronald Edited.

"Yes, what advice do you have?" Ronald, of course, according to the soundtrack in his dream, brought in the music broker Jimmy Lehner, whom he met during "Dancing Hot", and asked the record company to buy this old song. the right to use.

"It wasn't my idea, it was your DP David Watkin who told me in Toronto. You know, David's a classical music lover, and he thought the opera 'Bohemian' should open. of your cold little hands.

   It happens that this is also the music when the hero and heroine fall in love. When they went to see the opera together, they couldn't help but fall for the performance, only to confirm that each other is the right person for each other. "

   "OK, what do you think?" Ronald asked Walter Murch to play a bohemian aria, then closed his eyes for a second, comparing it to "That's Love."

"I think from an artistic point of view, Bohemian is more relevant. The opera scene behind this music, the audience will hear it again, it's a repetitive process in a symphony. Movies are sometimes like a symphony, you Repetition and variation of the theme is required.”

   "Well, but I'm worried about audience acceptance, not as household name as Dean Martin's song."

   "You're the director, you make the decisions. Dean Martin's song is also good, but in terms of structural integrity, it's not as good as this 'Your Cold Little Hands'."

   "Otherwise, we'll make one for both versions, and we'll see the reaction when we try it out."

  The editing work is very boring. After looking at the material repeatedly, the two of them can probably cut five or six scissors a day, and the rest of the time is spent discussing and trial and error.

   "I think your film editing is not too difficult. You seem to know the effect of your final film before shooting. This is not the case with some directors. They often don't know what story they want when they shoot.

  When I was editing Coppola, I basically only had one or two scissors a day. "

   "What about your own 'return to Oz'?" Ronald asked Murch.

   "I didn't direct the editing of the film myself. In general, I was more free to play. Clay animation was so heavy, I wasn't sure what the results would be."

What   Murch said was actually the main genre of the two directors.

   At one extreme is Hitchcock. He is extremely disgusted with the improvisation of actors on the set, and once said that he should treat actors like horses and horses.

   All the pictures, he had planned before shooting. Once, an actress felt that her performance was not good, and proposed to make a new one. Hitchcock refused to agree, but did not even open the camera lens cover, just let the actress walk through.

  After the actress found out, she was very angry with Hitchcock, she was still dissatisfied with the performance, and just wanted to keep improving.

   And Hitchcock said that for herself, her performance has been completed just now.

  Many directors, including Stanley Kubrick and John Ford, prefer this approach.

   And at the other extreme, Francis Coppola. This dude can also temporarily write tomorrow's script at the scene, and during filming, he also encourages the actors to use different methods to improvise.

   So when Murch edited him, each one was a different act. They can be matched together, and the final cut out plot can even be completely opposite.

   Ronald, like most directors, is in the middle of two extremes. He mainly shoots commercial films, so the performance of the actors is not so important. This "Moonlight is sultry" can already be regarded as a play that he attaches great importance to performance.

  …

The    editing continues, and suddenly one day, the vice president of Twentieth Century Fox, Joseph Farrow, suddenly called Ronald and asked him to come over and talk.

   "Mannequin is scheduled to be released on the 12th of next month. Our distribution budget is not large. Now there is a chance to get some free popularity, but we need your help."

  Joseph Farrow got straight to the point, and the test screening results for the audience of "Spirit" were not bad, but the critics' perception was very poor, and there was a lot of scolding.

   Twentieth Century Fox saw this and dismissed the hype of the film in the media, and turned to relying on audience word of mouth.

   "Absolute crappy, and for anyone who remembers what a cinematic comedy should be, this movie is frustrating."

   Ronald picked up Farrow's review on the table and read it. These film critics have gone through 20th Century Fox's public relations and watched the film critic's special show.

   It’s just that the movie has not been released yet, and the content of the film review has not been published in the media, but is only circulated inside Fox.

   "Does this author, Leonard Martin, have a grudge against you?" Ronald glanced up at Farrow.

   "No, but the American media has the right to report freely. We can only invite them to come and write film reviews. As for what to write, we have no control."

  Joseph Farrow took a cigarette, and he was also very dissatisfied with the negligence of the marketing department. CEO Barry Diller is turning his attention to television, and he and his new boss have a lot of work to do.

  Fox's film division is now headless. Everyone goes their own way, all just looking to find their own interests within.

   If it wasn't for the fact that the marketing department had given some budget and wanted to find some film critics to write the film review, this "brilliant" film would most likely be ignored by the film critics. Instead of the current situation, there will be a bunch of very negative movie reviews.

   "Bullshit, you didn't send some vacation vouchers, sponsor the annual meeting of the Film Critics Association or something?"

   "That's Eisner's strength. We at Twentieth Century Fox respect the media." Joseph Farrow was still stubborn.

   But seeing Ronald's disdainful smile, he stopped pretending.

   "Fxck, if I were the president, I'd have to get rid of the **** in the marketing department."

   "This movie, made by idiots, for idiots, about idiots." Ronald went on to read, this is the Washington Post film review.

   "As co-writer and director Michael Gottlieb, 'Spirit' at its best shows what it means to be perfunctory."

   This is a New York Times film review.

   "Damn, you Foxes **** too. I know these people, they were taken care of properly when they were at Paramount and Universal."

  Ronald read a bunch of swearing movie reviews, but they didn't have any good words throughout. Fortunately, he was the producer, and he was not scolded.

   Lastly, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times.

   "A lot of bad movies, but they have a lot of vitality.

   But this "spirited" is deadly. The audience kept a wake for it for an hour and a half, and then they could finally end the ceremony and leave the funeral.

   In fact, halfway through, I was ready for someone to lead us to turn the rosary and start mourning it.

   The film stars Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.

   They are actors I used to admire and will no doubt appreciate again.

   Years later, they may look back on the project with a mixed smile and shrug, just as we remember Paul Newman's trashy 'Silver Cup'. This lousy film has not damaged our love for them at all, but only appeared in the memory as a joke.

  In 'Beautiful', McCarthy plays an incompetent young man who is fired from job after job, while Catlar plays an Egyptian princess who is reincarnated as a dummy in a Philadelphia department store window..."

   "Isn't it better?" Ronald read halfway through and threw Albert's film review on the table.

   These film critics are so bad.

   Consistently scolding a commercial film for its lack of artistry, poor acting skills, and loopholes in the story. This is to deliberately demean the film by telling the truth.

  Commercial films have never been so particular about the details and integrity of the story and the harmonious development of acting skills.

   Such a consistent scolding, needless to say, must be a certain movie of the same period, who spent a lot of money to buy their praise, so that they have to step on the production of a big company for comparison.

   "Here's a good article."

  Joseph Farrow threw a bound magazine sample.

   "Philadelphia is a great city, once the capital of our United States..."

   "Isn't this a film review?" Ronald read the previous paragraphs and said that Philadelphia's economy is now recovering, capital is entering the suburbs of the city, and business activities are active.

   "Look down." Joseph Farrow didn't say much.

   Ronald then scrolled down.

  At the end of the article touting the city, the author finally remembered the movie and mentioned the new Hollywood movie "Spirit", which was shot in Philadelphia with Philadelphia as the background.

   "Spirit This movie, while clunky, is the greatest movie story of all time, set in 1980s Philadelphia. Truly the most uplifting movie ever made about the city."

"Hey..." Ronald smiled bitterly. This is still a touted article from the magazine of the city where the film was filmed. The black mayor of Philadelphia attached great importance to the filming of the film in Philadelphia, but that's it, he only said a few words at the end. Good words for the movie.

   "Stop talking about that, what do you want to do?" Ronald put aside all the film reviews and asked about Joseph Farrow.

   "The Starship Band sings the ending song of the movie. Nothing can stop us now. The band is more satisfied with this song. Lead singer Grace Slick wants to give herself a happy memory before leaving the band.

   So their record company is willing to pay for a MV for Grace Slick, so we can take a bite out of the song's popularity. "

Joseph Farrow stated his plan. He had no resources to rely on. He just saw that Ronald's "Top Gun" and the theme song "Take My Breath" complement each other, bringing a lot of sales to each other. I want to imitate it.

   "How much are they going to pay?" Ronald understood that this was because of his company's MV shooting ability. "Take my breath away" was filmed in the aircraft cemetery of the Navy and Air Force. It cost little and the effect was very good.

   "This number", Joseph Farrow held out three fingers.

   "That's it, it can only be interspersed and edited with the pictures of the movie. Do you Fox willing?"

   "Yes, but don't use too many shots of the hero and heroine."

   "Okay, let the lead singer of the Starship band dress up as the image in the movie and take some additional shots." Ronald thought of an idea to save money.

  Let the lead singers play the plot of the movie, interspersed with real movie scenes, so that not only saves money, but also can be used as a trailer to broadcast on MTV.

   "Then I'll let them find you." Joseph Farrow was satisfied. He and Ronald cooperated tacitly on this film, tacitly making money from each other. You can also send a few of your own people into the crew to act as starring actors.

  I work hard to become a company executive, isn't that what it is?

   "By the way, Starship, do you plan to release the soundtrack of the movie?"

   Ronald asked Joseph Farrow.

  Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer are already working on the soundtrack to Top Gun. In addition to several episodes and theme songs, there are also some soundtracks to set off the atmosphere.

  Ronald didn't know how this soundtrack worked, and just asked Joseph Farrow, who was a vice president at the studio, and he must be well aware of these things.

   "What does it have to do with the band? The movie soundtrack is released by the film company, and has nothing to do with the record company. They just issue a copyright and are just waiting to split the money.

  This movie doesn't seem to have any good reviews. I don't plan to release a record. "

  Joseph Farrow was amused by Ronald's ignorance. I don't want to come up with this kind of record, it's purely a money-losing thing. If it is reflected in the financial statements, wouldn't there be another handle?

   still be honest, don't lose money on this movie anymore. Anyway, it’s almost the same as the market. No one knows whether the movie is a hit or not, and the executives of the film company can’t predict the future.

   "Is it the film company? I thought it was the record company?"

   Ronald was a little puzzled. Movie soundtracks are also records, right? Why not the record company?

   "Whoever takes the risk takes all the remainder. That's the iron law of this business, Ronald."

  Joseph Farrow pointed at the director and producer with the cigar in his hand. The young man was still a little inexperienced, and he could teach him.

   After listening to Joseph Farrow's explanation, Ronald realized that the rules for the release of the original soundtrack of this film were indeed dominated by the film company.

  The episodes of the movies are mostly old songs, some use singers to sing a new version, and some directly use the old version of the recording.

   For example, Ronald's "Spicy Dance", because of the limited production cost, the soundtrack of the old record is directly mixed into it.

   And when a record company wants to release a record, it depends on how many consumers can pay for it. Look at the capacity of the market, decide the size of the release, the number of productions, and the marketing budget.

   And the soundtrack composed of movie episodes, this collection of old songs and new songs, how much it can sell depends entirely on the box office of the movie.

  The record company can only predict the market around the singer or the band. No one in the record company can predict the sales of this kind of derivative record that accompanies the movie.

   Based on the principle of who knows the market better and who is the boss, the soundtracks of movies in history were all published and distributed by film companies.

   Of course, in the late 1970s, "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" started the trend of record companies entering the movie market, and some record company bosses also invented the method of making movies to promote new records.

  Robert Sterwood, Jerry Weintraub and other record tycoons, also completed the task of transitioning to Hollywood.

   But the box office of a movie is more unpredictable than the sales of a record.

   These tycoons quickly lost their magic and lost a lot of money in the film industry. By the second half of the 1980s, record companies had shied away from movies.

   They are just content to get a little benefit from the soundtrack of the movie by the authorization of the song. At least this way, there is no risk.

  Old songs can sell again, and they can make a lot of royalties. The soundtrack doesn't sell, and they have nothing to lose.

   Ronald learned about the production process of the original sound record and began to make plans in his heart. As for the old songs of "Dancing Hot", the copyright broker Jimmy Lainer got them without spending a lot of money.

  If the box office of this movie is good, with the cheap copyright of these dozens of episodes, it will be beneficial to release the album, right? I don't know if fans who like movies will buy another record and listen to it at home?

   Thinking of his thoughts, Ronald left Joseph Farrow's office. Before taking a few steps, I heard a magnetic female voice calling me.

   "Ronald."

  Ronald looked up and saw the official "spirited" heroine, Kim Cattrall.

   "Why are you here."

   "I heard about the film review, so I came to ask about the situation."

  Catroll's face is not very good, she heard about the film critics, and the collective gave the lowest score. I only got a real heroine when I was 30 years old, and I was about to be ruined by these film critics.

   "Don't worry, this kind of small production is actually not very useful for film reviews." Ronald hugged the unhappy Catrol and went downstairs with her.

   "Is that so? I really don't know anything right now, Ronald. Can you tell me? I really don't know…"

  Catroll's brows were furrowed together. Hearing Ronald said that, he seemed to have found a life-saving straw.

   She is really tired.

   She has been an actress and a star since she was a child, and no one has really treated her well and planned her career seriously.

   I have been deceived many times, and it has been 30 years before I really become a heroine with enough role in one scene.

   "Of course, film reviews and marketing only determine the box office of the film. It's impossible for such a small production to spend a lot of money to make a good film. It still depends on the audience's word of mouth."

  Ronald has a lot of experience in making small films. He knows very well that film marketing and film reviews can give you a good opening weekend box office, but in the end, it depends on the quality of the film itself.

"Really? I believe you now, don't lie to me. I can bear anything, I just want to know the truth." Cattrol has been hit a lot, she is more about lies than failure hate.

   "I won't lie to you, you still remember the movie 'Monsters in Chinatown' where Diane made a cameo before. The film review is quite good. I remember you also appeared on many TV shows and gave interviews. What about the final box office?"

"real?"

"Of course, Joseph Farrow told me, the audience test scores were good, with a B level. The emaScore company's scores are more objective, but not very different. This kind of romantic comedy has this audience reaction, it is not bad. Where did you go."

  Ronald's confidence in the box office is not bad, he can probably recover the cost and make a small profit.

  Kim Cattrall saw Ronald's solemn assurance that the movie was not as bad as the critics said, and he was in a better mood.

   "Which hotel do you live in? I'll accompany you." Cattrol has nothing to thank now, but to give himself as a gift to this man who always helps him at critical moments.

   "You don't have to do this, we are friends", Ronald knew that the contractual relationship between the two had ended, and there was no need to force others.

   "Between friends, occasionally..." How could Catrol let it go, he didn't leave after getting into Ronald's Ferrari.

   Ronald got into the driver's seat and drove back to the hotel.

   "What to drink?" Ronald opened the door, took out the champagne in the refrigerator, and poured a glass for Catrol and himself.

   "Well, Ronald." Cattrol saw that the other party wanted something romantic, took the wine glass and took a sip, leaving a red lip print on the glass.

   She turned on the TV station in the past, tuned to the channel dedicated to old songs, put the wine glass down, took Ronald's hand, and danced a veneer dance with him.

"Do you love me?

   I can really dance.

Do you love me?

  I'm in that dance..."

This cable channel,   , is playing black music, which happens to be the soundtrack to the dance at the beginning of "Dancing Hot".

   Ronald is held by Catrol, feeling her amazing charm.

   Suddenly, as if some inspiration appeared in his mind, Ronald tried his best to catch it, but escaped.

   "Hmm..." Cattrol saw that Ronald was a little absent-minded, and hurriedly took Ronald's hand, put it on his hip and waist, and drilled into his arms again.

   "Come and dance, forget about other women."

  Ronald's blood surged from the friction, and he didn't care about the inspiration, and only started dancing with Catroll.

   "I'm working hard.

  You always drive me crazy.

  Don't be lazy,

  Let's dance together..."

   The song "Do you love me?" is very rhythmic. Ronald and Catrol danced very vigorously. Both of them had a good sense of rhythm in their dance. When they danced, they rubbed their bodies and felt more and more hot.

   Following the rhythm of the swing dance, Kim Cattrall squatted down with a twist, then stood up and resumed the half-squat position. She reached out to Ronald's waist, and with a snap, the metal buckle was released.

   "Shxt!" Ronald's head jolted in comfort, "I thought about it. I thought about it."

  Catroll looked at him puzzled, "What did you think of?"

   "I thought, if 'Spicy Dancing' is released with an acoustic record, the audience will buy it not to listen to the song, but to learn to dance."

  Ronald suddenly realized this and was in a good mood.

   He bent down and pulled Catrol up.

   "Ah...hahaha...Ronald, you are too strong."

   "Um...ah...ah..."

  Catroll was ecstatic, as if he had lost his senses. Accompanied by the strong rhythm of dance music, his consciousness seemed to go to the bliss.