Grumman engineers modified the cockpit of the F-14A Tomcat with a Super 35 camera for the second time. Ronald sat in the radar officer's seat behind the cockpit, turned his body left and right, and took a small clapperboard and typed it in front of the Super 35 camera.
The test results are very ideal. The actors can turn on and off the camera by themselves, and they can shoot pictures from a subjective perspective.
Ronald pushed open the cockpit cover. He was just tall enough to sit down. Anyone taller would not be suitable to fly an American fighter jet. I heard that Soviet fighter jets are extremely compact and are only suitable for small pilots. If the movie was made by the Eastern camp, then the only actor to choose would be someone as tall as Tom Cruise.
Kimball, the director of photography, was left to continue testing the camera's performance at high altitudes at the Navy's Miramar base, including F-14A and F-5 fighter jets posing as Soviet MiG-28s. Ronald drove himself back to Hollywood.
Navy liaison Pete Pettigrew conveyed the Pentagon's opinion to the producers. They didn't want any official Soviet fighter call signs to appear in the movie. Therefore, the MiG-21 originally written in the script was changed to the MiG-28.
Ronald also thoughtfully chose an even-numbered model. As we all know, the Soviet Union's MiG fighter jets all end in odd-numbered models, such as MiG-19 and MiG-25. Even if in the future, or the alliance has built a new type of fighter jet unknown to America, this fictional MiG-28 model will not be used.
The actors will begin their first non-stop script reading this afternoon. After reading each scene separately in the first two days, the actors have basically understood what each scene is about. Next, they read the script without stopping, so that they can master the performance of each scene from a global perspective. intensity. Make the emotional intensity consistent before and after the scene so that the audience does not seem to be thrown off by the actor's emotional imbalance.
Especially "Top Gun" will not use the method of shooting according to the script order like Ronald's previous director "The Dragon King". The actors must have a better understanding of each scene.
"Jerry, where's Don?" Ronald looked at producer Bruckheimer. Today he came to discuss the film's soundtrack with the two producers.
In fact, Ronald also suggested to the two producers that they use sequential shooting methods to make the actors' performances more realistic. But Bruckheimer made a calculation for him.
The Department of the Navy gave Paramount a favorable price (actually mainly because Ronald asked the deputy commander to call the Secretary of the Navy), a fixed fee of US$1.8 million, to rent four F-14A Tomcats to the crew. Used for aerial combat shooting with four F-5s fighter jets.
When Secretary of the Navy John Raymond saw that Ronald was the director, he thoughtfully took up the pen and specially approved two "Sidewinder" air-to-air missiles on the application documents, so that the crew could film the missile launch and the target drone. .
"Let the boys take more exciting photos and capture the elegance of the navy." These were the exact words of Mr. Minister.
Of course, this is just a fixed cost. If you want to rent a fighter jet, you must also rent a fighter pilot to participate in the filming. Otherwise, it is impossible for the crew to find a civilian pilot who can fly the F-14.
The Navy offered a rental price of $7,800 an hour for pilots plus fuel and maintenance. If you want to shoot footage of fighter jets taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier, you will have to rent an entire combat readiness crew. The Navy offered a "friendly price" of US$25,000 an hour.
And they noted in the contract that the crew must not affect the aircraft carrier's mission. The actors and staff must obey the command of naval officers on the ship. They must not film parts of the aircraft carrier that need to be kept confidential. The captain's order must be the highest level during filming.
Thinking of the flying scenes, they are scattered throughout the script. If they were shot in sequence, even doubling the filming budget of 15 million would not be enough.
So we can only focus on shooting different parts according to location. Ronald has decided to focus on completing the air combat and aircraft carrier-related scenes within a week or two, placing them behind the actors' other scenes.
"Ordinarily he should be here," Bruckheimer looked at his watch. "I won't wait for him. Let me first introduce you to George Moroder, our composer."
There are still many questions that need to be finalized in the script that the Navy has initially approved. For example, in the opening air battle, Ronald arranged for the Lone Ranger to scare away two Cuban pilots alone, and in the final air battle, he shot down three North Korean Air Force planes. From the Navy's perspective, these are very provocative contents, and further research is needed on whether specific country names can appear in the movie.
But the general structure has been completed, so Ronald proposed to introduce music lyrics and composition first. Since this movie is said to be a music video, it should have some good music.
Anyway, the story is very simple, and the audience comes to watch the movie for those hormone-filled shots. Ronald has an Oscar for Best Theme Song. He knows that with the right music, the audience's hormones can be amplified exponentially by the combination of music and images.
"Hi, Giorgio," Ronald shook hands with Italian-born composer and record producer Giorgio Morodel.
"Actually I've met you," Giorgio Morodel said in an Italian accent.
"Huh?" Ronald thought to himself that he had indeed gained some fame in Hollywood. No, everyone started to build relationships with him as a prelude.
"I was the one who collaborated with Joe Esposito on his last record. I happened to meet you when he recorded the theme song of 'The Dragon King'."
"Ah, is Joe okay?" Ronald was half relieved when he saw that he was from an acquaintance network. He seems to be a talented person who knows how to score movies.
George Moroder worked with the Simpsons/Bruckheimer duo on "Beverly Hills Cop", but the soundtrack requirements for that comedy police film were completely different from those for "Top Gun".
"Our movie requires a lot of hormones, so we need rock music." Ronald mentioned his idea.
"Specifically, what you need is a pop-rock album." George Moroder felt Ronald's pulse as soon as he opened his mouth.
Pop rock is to add a lot of pop melodies and formats to rock, making it more acceptable to the audience.
"Do you have any songs in your mind that can be put into the movie as a soundtrack? After I read the script, I can contact you about your favorite songs and then coordinate them with new songs."
Giorgio Moroder had no preconceptions and had no intention of scoring an entirely original film.
Ronald was overjoyed. This kind of composer is the one who really thinks about the overall effect of the movie. It seems that Bruckheimer has a good vision.
Bruckheimer gave him a look of reassurance as I do things for you.
Ronald pondered for a while, "I think Bruce Springsteen's music is good." He remembered the song "Dancing in the Dark", which was originally reserved for Diane to appear in the music video. The melody and rhythm were very suitable.
"Born in the .a.? That fits. I understand what you mean." George Moroder kept nodding. Indeed, this patriotic song is very suitable for the theme of your movie.
"Well, that song is not bad. I think there needs to be a song about romantic love, which can be used when the hero and heroine are in love. In addition, the air battle also needs a song that is intense and intense, making people secrete a lot of adrenaline."
"Don't worry, George will take care of it for you. Let me take a look at the script first." George Moroder seemed very confident. He, Ronald and others said goodbye and went back to create.
"Where's Don? Why haven't you come yet?" Ronald also left when he saw the soundtrack. Don Simpson always didn't attend such key meetings. It would be bad if he missed any good ideas. Don Simpson often had some whimsical yet sound advice.
"I asked my assistant to look for it. Did he go to Paramount and be delayed again?"
Ronald shook his head and walked into the large conference room. All the actors with lines were already in place, and the non-stop script reading was about to begin.
"Lone Ranger, this has nothing to do with your flying skills, but with your attitude. The enemies in the sky are dangerous, but you are more dangerous than the enemies." Val Kilmer stared at Tom Cruise and read out Got this line.
This was a tit-for-tat conversation between the two when they were competing to win the "top gun" flight school. On one side is the theoretical Iceman who always remains calm, and on the other is the intuitive Lone Ranger who believes in his own intuition and impulse.
However, when the actors read their lines, they seemed a little too emotional. Ronald made a note here in the script that the intensity of the emotion would need to be adjusted in the future.
"Yeah, I'm... very dangerous." When Tom Cruise read this line, he specifically leaned forward from his chair, showed his evil smile to Val Kilmer, and then bared his teeth at him. The provocation of Fang Kilmer.
"Hey!" Val Kilmer was irritated by this action. He didn't follow what was written in the script. He also leaned forward, raised his head, and made a provocative gesture towards Tom Cruise with his chin.
"Haha..." Kelly McGillis laughed silently next to her. This kind of crew is so interesting. Before filming started, the two rival actors were already in the mood.
"Ahem..." Ronald could only clear his throat and pretended to take a sip of black tea. He didn't want the two male protagonists to continue to increase their hormone secretion, but he couldn't interrupt the reading of the script, so he had to remind him aloud. .
The two male leads smiled disdainfully and leaned back in their chairs.
Val Kilmer obviously hadn't had enough fun yet, he just put down the script and improvised a line.
Tom Cruise is eager to try and see what wonderful lines the other party can say.
Kelly McGillis looked at the two older boys, smiled slightly, raised her hand and trimmed her shawl blond hair behind her ears, revealing a sexy neck.
Ronald frowned, trying to stop her from adding fuel to the fire.
"boom!"
Suddenly there was a loud noise outside the window.
Then there was a burst of lighter movement.
"What happened?" Ronald took the opportunity to interrupt the tense atmosphere of the reading. He walked out of the door to see what was going on.
Standing at the exit of the porch, Ronald saw a Porsche 911 sports car in the parking space outside. It was smashed to pieces, and its parts, smashed hood, broken glass, etc. were brought out by the inertia and scattered on the ground. A very long one.
The man sitting in the cab was hit head-on by a large white airbag, and a seat belt was restraining him.
There was obvious blood on the air bag, and Ronald felt something was not right about this man. Although the law passed last year included airbags in the safety regulations of automobiles, the force of the impact and the speed at which this person was racing must have been terrifying.
And why didn't he apply the brakes when he wanted to stop?
"Oh, shxt", Jerry Bruckheimer also heard the sound and rushed out. He recognized the driver with blood on his face as his partner Don Simpson.
"Don, Don...how are you?"
Ronald was shocked. Is this driver Don Simpson? He won't be killed, right?
"Call 911 quickly and call an ambulance!" Ronald went over and stopped Bruckheimer who wanted to move Simpson. "I have learned first aid. Don't move him at this time. We let professional emergency doctors handle it."
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