"This is the sample photo taken?"

Ronald was sitting in the screening room, watching Dustin Hoffman's performance on the screen, and turned around and asked.

"Yeah...", director Barry Levinson replied a little awkwardly. It is not such a pleasant thing for a director to have another director watch the samples he shot. But Dustin Hoffman is on the verge of quitting.

So he must endure it.

"Why does he think the performance is not good? In my opinion, there is no problem? Of course, I am an outsider and do not know the specific details of the script, so I still have to ask you for advice. Did I not understand something? What is special about this performance?

Do you want to ask for it?"

There were only two people in the screening room, Ronald and Barry Levinson. This was specially arranged by Ronald. The director needs authority on the set. He just came to see it for himself. He couldn't let the real director feel that he had replaced him.

Idea. So Ronald didn't even let Ovitz in, saying that this was just a mutual communication between the directors.

"This is the scene where Rain Man (Dustin Hoffman's character) recalls that when he was a child, he put his brother Charlie (Tom Cruise's character) in the bathtub to take a bath and burned little Charlie till he turned red. He said no

Knows how to act out that feeling of embarrassment and anger at one’s own incompetence.”

When Barry Levinson listened to Ronald's speech, it was still a technical discussion, and he was vaguely speaking on the director's side. He put down a little worry and began to discuss with Ronald.

This issue is actually a major issue in film performance.

Unlike a theater performance where you can find an audience to watch the rehearsal and modify your performance based on their reactions, when filming a movie, it is impossible for the audience to give you feedback.

The first time the audience sees your performance is after you have shot the entire movie and then edited and scored it. At this time, if the actor finds that somewhere in his performance is wrong, or is not good enough, it will be very difficult for him to do so.

Opportunity to reshoot.

Therefore, after filming, actors are confused about whether their performance is good or not, which has become a problem for those actors who have become famous. Many actors have no idea what their performance is like.

Some people who have seen the movie shooting scene but did not participate in the creation will ask, can't you watch the dailies every day? The actors can use the looks on the dailies as a reference to see if their acting is good?

Even if you don't take into account the cost of reshooting after the sample is developed, this kind of feedback is very inaccurate.

The reason why Broadway allows actors to improve their acting skills is because performing on stage provides real-time feedback from the audience.

Those who watch the sample films are directors, producers, actors themselves, and other people in the industry. There is a big difference between the perspective of the creator and the perspective of the audience. In addition, the human brain has the beautification function, which will always change its own perspective.

Screen performances are instinctively beautified, and many people overestimate their performance on the screen.

Another obstacle is that the samples are all fragments without the editor's secondary creation. It is difficult for us to evaluate the quality of this performance from the perspective of the entire movie. It may be very good to watch this alone, but

The flaws in the plot are excessive. Or conversely, the originally dull performance is exceptionally brilliant when placed in the right place.

Therefore, the only person on the set who can fully grasp the quality of the actor's performance is the director who knows the entire script and clearly understands how much effort the actors should put in each place.

What Ronald meant was that he couldn't see anything wrong with it, so he asked Barry Levinson if the plot required the performance here to be particularly powerful, or to hold back and wait for the following scene to inspire the audience.

resonance.

"Yu Ren burned his younger brother until he was red all over. This made their father decide to send away his eldest son. He was afraid that his younger son would have an accident because of his intellectual problems. This was also the reason why the father felt guilty, so he sent his eldest son away.

The inheritance was left to Rainman, a son who owed a lot, and he only left two classic cars to Charlie. This is the starting point of all stories and conflicts."

Director Barry Levinson talked a lot about the background of this scene, but Ronald never figured out what was wrong with Dustin Hoffman's performance here.

This is just a scene of memories, Mr. Best Actor! The audience understands the past history and then has a deeper understanding of the characters' behavior, that's all. What else can you make? Can it make the audience cry?

"I said, Director Levinson, this is the first time we have met, but I am not afraid of exposing my shallowness. I don't see any problem with the performance here? Why is it still not working after more than two weeks of filming? Is it Dustin?

Is it a bit overly sensitive here and demanding too much from the performance?”

Ronald couldn't help it. He felt that telling the truth was the most helpful way to solve the current problem. Anyway, it was impossible for Barry Levinson to pass these words to Dustin Hoffman.

Barry Levinson showed a smile that said, "You're damn right, I think so too." But that's not what he said, "Dustin is a very sensitive actor, how should I put it?"

Especially at this time, he needs some external affirmation so that he can have confidence in his performance."

As he spoke, he briefly explained the origin of Dustin Hoffman's heart disease.

The problem still lies with last year's Dustin Hoffman movie "Ishtar," which flopped at the box office.

Originally, Dustin Hoffman took on this project to repay a debt of gratitude. Elaine May did a lot of important script rewriting for "My Fair Lady" that helped her get nominated for the Best Actor Award, adding many important additions from a female perspective.

's role.

But after filming started, he, Warren Beatty, and director Elaine May all had their own ideas about what they understood to be a good performance, and they started arguing over the performance on the set.

In addition, the heroine Isabella Adjani happened to be Warren Beatty's girlfriend at the time. She kept asking for more of her role on the set, which aroused the interest of Elaine May and Warren Beatty.

There was a big conflict, and Elaine May almost resigned.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The dispute between the three parties continued into the editing room. The two major stars and director Elaine May each hired an editor, and it was like fighting in the editing room every day.

Everyone has retained his own set of piece assembly plans.

The results of such multi-headed leadership can be imagined. Distributor Columbia has discovered during the test screening that the film is destined to lose money, and the distribution department wants to reduce the marketing budget. However, Columbia executives are afraid of offending the two major movie stars, and future major movies will be affected.

Their company had no share in the project. So instead of reducing it, the marketing budget was increased.

The total production and distribution budget was close to 60 million US dollars, but the result was only a little over 10 million US dollars at the box office. For a time, Hollywood imitated the "Heaven's Gate" and began to call this movie "Beatty and Hoffman's Gate"

.

Now Dustin Hoffman is depressed. Being called a nickname, especially one associated with a box office disaster, is very embarrassing. Not only does it make him lose face, but it may also cause him to lose face in the future.

It lost favor with major productions.

When actors face failure, they usually don't find the reason for their interference in the filming. For example, this time it was mainly three big bosses fighting for the right to speak. Maybe according to one person's idea, the filming would not be so bad. But all three people should listen.

, taken together, it is completely the worst result.

Most of the actors have not participated in the entire production of the movie, so Dustin Hoffman looked for the reason himself: If his performance on the screen is not good, there must be something wrong with his acting skills, so the new film "Rain Man" must improve on his acting skills.

You have to do your best in every detail, otherwise you will be abandoned by Hollywood!

This kind of sensitivity and paranoia brought from failed projects, coupled with the lack of appropriate feedback channels, made Dustin Hoffman obsessed. It took more than two weeks to shoot one scene, and he always doubted his own ability this time.

Still not working, you have to find that feeling.

"I heard that you made Harrison Ford very obedient. How did you do it?" Barry Levinson actually doesn't work with actors who have already achieved star status many times. He also heard that Harrison Ford was raped by a young man.

After complaining about Ronald's obedience on the set, he still couldn't stop asking for advice.

Ronald thought for a while and said something. "Maybe the key is not whether he shot well or not, but to make them feel that he shot well." He knew that Harrison Ford was difficult to deal with, so he did it on the set.

A lot of preparation in advance, including art director Polly Platt praising Harrison Ford's performance. All in all, it was well managed.

"Daxmn it, you're right." Barry Levinson knew that he had a problem with Hoffman's expectation management. But before the cooperation, who knew that he was such an awkward person?

"Barry, Barry...I'm done, I'm done,..."

While Ronald and Barry Levinson were watching and discussing the film in the screening room, an actor shorter than Tom Cruise and with a typical Jewish nose walked in. It was very awkward.

Dustin Hoffman.

"Dustin, this is Ronald Lee. He came to visit Tom on the set. I invited him to take a look at the samples and think about any solutions. I hope you don't mind..." Barry Levinson in front of the big star

Still very humble. He knows very well who is the biggest star in the "Rain Man" project.

"Ronald, I'm so glad you're here. I've wanted to meet you for a long time." Dustin Hoffman came up and hugged Ronald, saying some grandiose and nice words.

"Oh... you are watching this scene, burn it, burn it! Burn it all, I'm hopeless, it's over, these samples are like shit, just pick one from a high school drama club

Even middle school students can perform better than me."

"Don't say that, your acting is not bad. It's just because you have high requirements, that's why you feel like this. As long as you have a good rest for two days, you will be fine by then..." Barry Levinson is already used to Das

Dinh Hoffman's compulsive behavior is like a woman's coquettishness.

Of these two, one is used to complaining about himself, and the other is used to hearing each other's self-blaming. Only Ronald next to me is left, and I feel so embarrassed. You two are talking about such internal things in the crew in front of me, an outsider.

?

I don’t know what Ovitz said to Dustin Hoffman last night. He is particularly sensitive today.

"That's not the case. You all don't tell me the truth. My performance is terrible, terrible..." He covered his face with his hands as he said that he was sad for his sudden performance.

"Then what...I..." Ronald felt that he must be very embarrassed and asked to leave.

"You think so too, don't you? Ronald, although I'm meeting you for the first time today, you are an expert. If you say so, I will definitely not be able to do it anymore, I will not be able to do it anymore..." Hoffman started to talk nonsense.

"No...I didn't say anything...don't rely on me..." Ronald felt that some actors were more terrifying than mental patients when they got into trouble.

"I can't act. This is the highlight of the whole play...it's the foundation of the whole play. The audience must be convinced of me here before they can be convinced of the entire movie plot...

But I can't act it out. I can't act out this most embarrassing, escaping, and helpless feeling... This is my problem..."

Dustin Hoffman seemed to have been hit hard. He suddenly raised his head and said to director Barry Levinson:

"Barry, go find Richard Dreyfuss, go find Jack Nicholson, go find someone, Barry, because this is the worst job of my life. I can't do it."

"No, no, you just need to break away from the performance. You need to rest for two days." Barry Levinson jumped. Unexpectedly, Dustin Hoffman's pressure reached its peak and he couldn't stand it anymore, so he really asked

He was about to resign. He glanced at Ronald and asked for help, asking you to come quickly and help me persuade him.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Mr. Hoffman..." Ronald had a new understanding of the fragility of this kind of star. He also felt that his decision to reject the director was extremely correct. If he touches

Even a star like this would have to collapse.

"Call me Dustin, Ronald, what do you think I should do?" Dustin Hoffman suddenly reached out and grabbed Ronald. He was like a drowning man when he saw Ronald's eyes.

, do you think that maybe this director can find some way to save himself?
To be continued...