Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 552 American National Essence

   "How was your audition?" Ronald spoke on the phone with Helen, who herself went to audition for the first round of "The Legend of Billy King."

   "Well, I think Billy King and The Baseball Player's Wife have characters in both movies. I like them. They're all Shakespearean characters, and there's a lot of room for them."

  "I...Okay", Ronald actually wanted to ask her if she was sure of being selected, but thinking that these two films were recommended by his own great favor, it should be a 90% chance.

   "Then which one do you like?"

"I like the role of Billy King better, but the movie called for a very short haircut, and I still prefer the baseball player's wife. It's not that I don't want to sacrifice for the role, it's that it takes a long time to grow after shaving an inch return."

   "Well, you can decide for yourself."

   "Come on, let's go to Burbank." Ronald put down the phone in the phone booth and said to Bud Jr.

   Bard Jr. drove very steadily, and he was specially trained to drive during his service. And the mouth is also very strict, Ronald is still very satisfied with him as a driver.

"Just park next to the trailer, you find a place to have dinner first, I'll probably stay until midnight." When we arrived at the "Back to the Future" shooting scene, Ronald sent Bud Jr. to dinner first, and took the sign to go. visit class.

  "Hi Ronald", seeing Zemeckis greet him from a distance, "Fox is really suitable for this role, and the filming is progressing very fast, you really helped a lot."

   "It's not worth mentioning, I'm here to visit the class, I hope you all go well."

"It's going well, he's born for this kind of light comedy. It's just that he doesn't get enough sleep, and sometimes he forgets his lines." Zemeckis took Ronald to the set, and the crew had to wait for Fox from the 'Family Bonds' studio. Come and shoot again.

   "Lee, how are you doing here?" Ronald saw Leigh Thompson, who played his mother, who happened to be talking to Christopher Lloyd, who played the Doctor. Lloyd was going in Einstein's direction, a neurotic scientist with tousled white hair.

"Ronald", Leigh Thompson took him aside, "You have to take care of it, Fox's two sets are connected, and maybe only two hours of sleep a day, I see that sometimes I can fall asleep standing up, often forgetting Lines, if it goes on like this, there will be problems."

   "So miserable?" Ronald thought for a while, but Michael J. Fox was brought in to play the leading role himself. If something happened, it would be hard to explain.

   "Did he have no time off?"

"It's going very fast here, to get back Stoltz's wasted time, and according to the director there's still a lot of stunts to deal with. So, yeah, time is tight. And there's no letting go over there. past him."

  Lee Thompson is actually a very good person. In addition to being a little emotionally flawed, she actually cares about her friends and colleagues and has her own opinions.

   "Michael!" The two were chatting when Michael J. Fox drove to the scene with a sleepy look on his face, and was stuffed with a few scripts in his arms, asking him to memorize the lines.

   "Ah... um..." Fox yawned, "Okay."

   "Does he always drive by himself?" Ronald felt very inappropriate. What if he was tired of driving like this, what should he do in case of an accident.

   "Yes, although he is a TV star, the contract for the TV series has not been replaced with a new one. He doesn't make much money, and he can't afford a manager." Thompson said beside him.

  "That's not good", Ronald decided to intervene, "Where's the phone?"

Following Thompson's direction, Ronald called his agent, Richard, "Hey, Rick. I need a van, yes, a bigger one. I'll use it for a long time, let People came to Burbank's 'Back to the Future' set."

  Richard's work efficiency is very high. He went to rent a Honda van for a long time and drove to the set by himself.

   Ronald looked at the van, took Bud and Richard, went to a nearby furniture store, bought a camp bed, thick blankets, and some black blackout curtains.

  The three people lifted the bed into the back of the van, fixed it, spread the blanket, and then covered the head of the window in the back of the van with a curtain.

Ronald returns to the set, which happens to be the scene where Marty McFly, with the help of his 1950s Ph.D., uses a church lightning rod to induce lightning, recharges the DeLorean's time machine, and finally returns to future scene.

Ronald is standing behind watching the shooting. In fact, this shot is not very logical, but the script is handled much better than "The Legend of Billy King". Power up the time machine and put Marty McFly back in his original eighties.

   The inappropriate part of this script is mainly a violation of the laws of physics. Lightning spreads so fast that the doctor has no time to plug in the connector.

   But from the perspective of the audience, it is very in line with the development of the story. This last-second rescue is a narrative mode that began when Hollywood started.

   "The electrician is ready." Director Zemeckis gave the order.

   As when Ronald shot "Night of the Comet", the glare of the lightning can only be achieved by an experienced electrician manipulating a short-circuit of a light bulb.

   "pop" twice, the light bulb emitted a strong light several times more than its own brightness, the light group hit the flash board, and the flash behind the light bulb was also reflected towards the camera.

   "Cut!"

   Zemeckis estimated the exposure intensity, "We need twice as many bulbs."

   Although it is a very bright flash, there is still a big gap compared to the real lightning brightness. Ronald watched the electrician make adjustments and then deliberately short-circuited with a screwdriver.

  This method of operation is neither safe, nor the intensity of the flash is different each time, it all depends on the experience of the electrician himself.

   After finally filming this scene, Fox sat down next to him exhausted and fell asleep with his head tilted.

   Ronald motioned to little Bud, and the two gently lifted Fox and carried him to the bed of the van that had just been arranged, then closed the doors and windows to let him sleep.

   "This is a good idea, we should have thought of it long ago." Leigh Thompson came to care for her friend again.

  Ronald had no choice but to shake his head. There was no other way. The schedule was rushed, and the producers on both sides were unwilling to give in and give Fox more time to rest. I had no choice but to find a way to make him sleep longer in this place.

  Ronald asked Bud to stay here in the van and wake him up when he was filming again.

   Zemeckis was already directing the set for the next scene.

   "How do you feel?" Zemeckis saw Ronald coming over and asked him how he looked at his shooting.

   "How do you plan to add the special effect of the lightning transmitting energy along the wire?" Ronald asked.

   "Steven went to ILM and they'll do it the old fashioned way."

   "An old way?"

"Hand Painted."

"Oh", Ronald nodded. In this way, nothing can be seen on the scene. Except for the short-circuited light bulb to simulate lightning to illuminate the background, the rest has to be done in post. .

   A few more shots, and today Michael J. Fox's job is done. Ronald told Bud Jr. to drive carefully, and he sat in the passenger seat, taking Fox back to the set of the TV series "Family Bonds."

   Outside the studio, Bud gently stopped the car, kept the engine running to turn on the air conditioner, and let Fox continue to rest.

  Fox got his first comfortable sleep in days in the back of the van. Hours later, he thanked Ronald after he was woken up after filming had begun.

   "Thank you so much, I feel like my brain is frozen. If I go on like this, I have to die on the set."

   "Call your agent and ask him to find a driver who drives carefully. You should sleep in the car during this time." Ronald patted Fox on the shoulder. It was also very difficult for him to make a movie.

   "I will, thank you." Fox quickly grabbed his bag and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

   Ronald and Bud went back to the apartment, and the two also rested for a long time. In the evening, Ronald put on clean clothes and Bud put on a new Olympic Ring T-shirt, and the two watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics together.

   They are going back to Staten Island, New York, to see their family. Ronald felt he should also give Bud a chance to watch the Olympics.

   "I heard that MJ will perform at the closing ceremony?" Bard Jr. admired this black idol very much. It is not easy for black people to get ahead in America. To be like MJ, to be commended by the commander, and to use MJ's influence to promote his own legislative process, is unprecedented.

   "There was a black star performing in Feng Chuan, but it didn't say it was MJ." Ronald took the remaining bottles of Jianlibao and threw them to Bud.

   "I don't think so, otherwise they would have announced it directly."

   "Well" Little Bud said nothing, and went out to start the car.

  The two went to the stadium, and Ronald took a camera and took a few photos of Bud with the Olympic logo. Then, another volunteer was invited to take a group photo of the two of them at the door and on the seats in the stadium.

  "Thank you, Ronald", Bud hugged the camera, his mouth closed with joy. This is the first time he has participated in such an event.

   Sure enough, it was not MJ who came to sing, but Lionel Richie, another famous black singer.

   He sang the theme song of the Olympic Games "Reach Out"

   Around the stadium, fireworks were suddenly set off.

   Lionel Richie on the center stage began to sing amid the explosion of fireworks.

   "Sprint! Sprint for medals!

   Sprint! Sprint for gold! "

   "Ah ah..." The audience suddenly started to go crazy.

   On the center stage, the lights turned on, and dozens of breakdancers suddenly appeared. They began to perform various breakdance moves against the background of the music of "Sprint" and against the backdrop of fireworks on all sides.

   are all those iconic moves that are the hardest and most entertaining in breakdancing. Back spin, head spin, spacewalk..."

   "Ronald, they're dancing in the movie you directed." Bud danced, and he used to dance this wild dance on the street.

   Before returning to China, he also saw this film made by Ronald in the base in Dongying. Every soldier in the platoon, regardless of skin color or race, was crazy about it.

   is also this movie, which made him firm in his determination to follow Ronald's brother.

   "Yeah", Ronald patted his head. Did the organizing committee show breakdancing as the quintessence of America? The closing ceremony is expected to be watched by 200 million viewers, and MJ's suspense has hooked the appetite of many people.

   Does this mean that his "breakdance" is going to continue to soar at the box office?

"I owe the Olympic Organizing Committee a big favor for this. I have developed, developed." Ronald laughed from ear to ear, picked up the last bottle of Jianlibao, and faced Lionel Richie on the stage. Toast:

"thank you!"

   (end of this chapter)