Brooks Studios.

The day after the filming was completed, director James Sr. summoned his production team to start the tedious post-editing production.

By the time Jerry Towne arrived at the studio, the film had been edited for a week, and the first cut had been cut for more than twenty minutes.

In order to ensure the quality of the film, James Sr. hired editor Joe Joseph to be in charge of the editing of the film, and the soundtrack for the film was German musician Hans Zimmer.

Hans Zimmer is an old friend of James Brooks, and the two worked together a decade ago.

In recent years, director James Sr. has shifted his energy to filmmakers, and there are not many works he has filmed, but they have always been in contact with each other.

1996 was a very busy year for Hans Zimmer, who took on the background scoring of four films, "Jerry Maguire", "Onslaught", "Changing Face" and "Terminator", and the first soundtrack was directed by James Sr.

Compared to Hans Zimmer's post-production soundtrack, Jerry Towne was more concerned with the first cut of editor Joe.

Hans Zimmer is famous, he is a top musician active in the Hollywood film industry, and James Sr. can bring him in to be responsible for the background soundtrack, Jerry Towne naturally agrees with both hands, without the slightest doubt about his soundtrack ability.

Although Hans Zimmer is more adept at soundtracks for commercial action films, successful musicians like to push the limits of their abilities, believing that this comedy film will maximize his creative enthusiasm and create better background music.

Joe Joseph is a well-known editor in the behind-the-scenes film production circle in recent years, and has completed the editing of six films, which have received great reviews after their release, such as: "JFK" and "Peach Deal".

This is his seventh film, after he also worked on the 20th Century Fox shootout action film "Broken Arrow," which is currently being screened in theaters, and is now in theaters, and is now the second work directed by Chinese director John Woo in Hollywood, which has grossed nearly $50 million.

In the editing room, Joe methodically edited the footage according to the movie's storyboard, and Jerry Towne sat quietly watching from the side, although he already had the complete film picture in his mind, but it was a special feeling to be able to watch these images gradually appear in the editor's hands.

That's right, Jerry Towne is stealing.

While watching editor Joe edit the footage, Jerry is also confirming the film editing techniques he has mastered in his previous life.

In the unbearable memories of his past life, after experiencing the double blow of broken leg and disfigurement, he was almost insulated from his acting career. However, with his strong willpower far beyond ordinary people, he did not change his career, but with the help of his teacher, he blended into various crews to help the crew run errands and run tricks at the same time.

This dark life lasted for five years, during which he mastered all the types of work in the crew, and successively worked in theater, props, lighting, scene assistant, photography, scenery, recording, art and other positions, and even worked as an assistant director for more than two years, participated in the behind-the-scenes production of more than a dozen films and television, and later entered his alma mater to study professionally for three years.

It is precisely with the hard skills of the all-rounder of the crew that he can continue to mix in the entertainment industry, always insist on his dream and never give up, gradually move from behind the scenes to the foreground, and appear on the TV screen again, and begin to change from a dragon actor to a group actor, to a special actor, to a role actor, and finally to a golden supporting role.

This memory is a bitter history of blood and tears for him in his previous life.

But for Jerry Towne now, it's like an encyclopedia of screenwriting, storyboarding, film and television acting, and filmmaking.

Personal experience is far more than 10,000 times better than words, and as long as conditions allow, Jerry can turn his memories into tangible works.

The film "Maguire" means a lot to Jerry, plus he is the first time to star, he is not familiar with the production process of Hollywood films, and he lacks connections in film production, so he didn't dare to take too big a step, worried that the step would be too big, so after careful consideration, he finally chose to hire a well-known director to direct the production of the film.

Subsequently, Jerry followed in the footsteps of director James Sr., starting from drawing the film script, to the actor audition, to the filming of the film, and now the post-production and the release of the film in the near future, Jerry has to participate in the whole process, and the effort and energy invested are no less than the character performance.

For a rainy day!

In order to avoid being hindered in the future, Jerry needs to re-learn the whole process of filmmaking, and then take the initiative into his own hands and firmly control his own destiny.

Hollywood can still run without anyone, and Jerry Towne wants to minimize the external factors that restrict him, which requires mastering enough skills.

The so-called skill is not pressing, in fact, it is to get rid of the shackles of others and make yourself better adapt to this ever-changing society.

……

"Joe, your editing technique is great, it was an eye-opener for me!"

After finishing the morning's work and having lunch, Jerry and Joe sat together, drinking coffee and complimenting.

Joe listened to it very usefully, and said with a smile: "Thank you for the compliment, Jerry, your performance in the film is very good, and it is also an eye-opener for me, you are the most talented young actor I have ever seen." If I hadn't met you in person, it would have been hard for me to imagine that the mature and handsome Mr. Maguire in the movie was actually a boy who had just turned eighteen!"

Jerry smiled and got up to pour Joe another cup of coffee.

Joe was very talkative, and after taking a sip of coffee, continued: "No matter what the film, the editing method is much the same, it is a montage technique, the only difference is that the editors have different personal perspectives and interpretations of the script, plus the control of the rhythm, so that the different styles of the film are edited.

As a result, the same footage is placed in the hands of different editors, and the resulting result is completely different. It's a little bit of a lesson I've learned over the years, and now it's finally coming in handy, and I hope we'll be happy with this film after it's been edited, Jerry. ”

"I think so. Jerry smiled and nodded, "I like your editing technique very much, it is very consistent with the picture I expected, and we will definitely succeed Joe." ”

After a half-hour break, Jerry and Joe walked into the editing room together, and before starting work, Jerry formally put forward his suggestions for film editing, which is the power of investors and producers.

"There's a five-second special effects shot at the beginning of the film, and I've sketched it out, and then I'm going to get a professional to make it.

For film editing, my requirement was to be fast-paced, no more than three seconds per shot, even for dialogue, and for a long line of dialogue, the lines should not be interrupted, but the camera should be constantly changed.

Only in this way can you attract the audience's attention and not get drowsy by the long dialogue.

The highlights in the film, the screen transition can be appropriately slowed down to five seconds, and the close-up of the protagonist in the heavy scene should not exceed four, otherwise the frequent close-ups will cause the audience to have visual fatigue.

By the way, the opening scene of the two athletes being injured one after another should be coherent, and the transition shot of Maguire negotiating with the club owner should be put in the front, so that it can be seamlessly connected with the scene in the hospital room and be more convincing. ”

When Jerry poured beans and said so many suggestions, and these opinions coincided with his own, Joe's eyes widened in surprise, and he was speechless for a while.

"Jerry, you're amazing!"

Coming back to his senses, Joe excitedly grabbed Jerry's arm and said in surprise: "It's incredible, you said what I thought, and our views are completely the same!"

Jerry broke free of his arm without a trace, and said with a smile: "There is a saying on the other side of the ocean that is far away from us, called 'heroes see the same thing', which describes our current situation. That shows we're all very optimistic about the film, and that's something to celebrate, isn't it?

How about I have a drink after work? Oh, and call old James and Mr. Zimmer, the post-production of the film is boring and dreary, and it is necessary to relax properly. ”

"I'll be on time, Jerry. Qiao nodded with a smile.

I don't know if it's because I'm too sensitive, or if my senses are skewed, Jerry feels that Joe-Joseph's gaze at him is a little weird, and his attitude is too enthusiastic, so that he has to suspect that there is something wrong with Joe's sexual orientation, and Gay is very likely.

"Then it's decided, you work, I won't bother you. ”

With that, Jerry stepped aside, and Joe seemed to be a little unsatisfied, and opened his mouth to say something, but seeing that Jerry had turned around, he smiled and shook his head, and turned his attention to his work.

Jerry didn't go far, he still wanted to carry out the stealing behavior to the end, so after seeing Joe get into the working state, Jerry gently walked up to him and sat down, carefully observing his editing techniques.

During a night of drinking and chatting at the bar, Jerry took the opportunity to tell Hans Zimmer some of his thoughts on the film's soundtrack, and also talked to James about his and Joe's views on the film's editing.

In the middle of the conversation, Jerry's cell phone rang.

Brian informed him on the phone that there was an audition for Touchstone Pictures tomorrow morning, and the producers had sent the audition invitation to Brian.

………… (To be continued)