Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1424 A match made in heaven
"A 13-year-old boy accused Michael Jackson of assaulting him... The relevant LAPD department said that a criminal investigation is underway. Let's take a look at the report from the scene... Let's hand the footage over to the reporter Martin at the scene..."

"LAPD obtained a warrant today to search the 2700-acre Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara owned by the King of Pop, MJ. This quiet private estate is Michael Jackson's home and his private amusement park, with many art garden statues, amusement facilities and a petting zoo... Martin is reporting for you on the scene..."

"Okay, let's see what the LAPD spokesperson has to say...Cindy."

"Okay, the District Attorney's Office will decide whether to file a criminal prosecution based on the results of the search. The staff of the office said that they are unable to contact Jackson himself now. His agent said that he is on tour in Europe... The prosecutor has asked him to return home as soon as possible to cooperate with the investigation..."

"Thank you, Cindy. Let's contact our colleagues in Europe now..."

"We still haven't seen Michael Jackson. No one has seen him since his concert in Cardiff, Wales. But the news is that MJ is in London... Let me put it this way, the local fans in London seem to be very supportive of their idol, which is very different from the public opinion in America..."

Ronald turned down the volume of the TV. Now no matter which channel he turned on, it was all breaking news about MJ. This news was too explosive. If a criminal prosecution was filed, MJ would disappear from the entertainment industry. As for whether he would be convicted, judging by the way the lawsuits of the rich in America were handled, it seemed that it would take a long time to get a result.

To be honest, Ronald found it hard to believe that MJ would really molest that teenage boy. What a passionate and loving person he was. But the LAPD got a search warrant, which meant that there was a certain possibility... Who was making this bigger? Or was it MJ who really did it?

Ronald didn't think about it anymore. He picked up the phone and called the people in Daydream, asking them to find a few people to follow the filming of "Forrest Gump" and serve as contacts for the three full-time child actors. They should communicate with their parents, arrange various rest and food, and the schedule of the tutor.

Now that MJ's incident has become so public, we must be well prepared when filming the movie to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation...

……

"This is Michael Connor Humphreys, from the small town of Independence, Mississippi. This is his mother. His father is not here because he has a job at the local oil mill..."

"Hello, Michael, hello..." Ronald shook hands with them enthusiastically and introduced their dedicated contact to them.

Michael Connor Humphries is a very interesting kid, about eight and a half years old, a little bit aloof, but not timid. Ronald talked to him, and he answered questions, but he would never say more than necessary.

For example, when Ronald asked him his name, he answered Michael. When he asked him about his father's job, he answered oil pressing.

And he spoke with a very strong southern accent, and it wasn't the soft and gentle accent of the small town lady in "Steel Magnolias", but a hard country accent that sounded like High German, or the remains of Highland Scots...

The characteristic is that at the end of each word, there is a hard G pronunciation. For example, when he says Michael, it is like saying Michael G... When he says his father's factory makes grease, it is like saying making grease G...

In short, this Michael Connor Humphries is a boy who is slow to respond to communication, but after in-depth communication, it is found that he is not a boy with problems in comprehension and communication skills. Perhaps his accent and place of birth make him feel unfamiliar in a big city like Los Angeles.

The other male child actors who were cast were all a little worse than Michael. Especially under the camera lens, they all had a natural fear of the camera, some hid away, some were abnormally excited by their parents, but Michael had no reaction at all, neither afraid nor excited, and could read the lines normally without paying attention to the camera...

"Where did you find him?" Ronald knew in his heart that this was little Forrest Gump. After asking their parents to leave, he happily asked Julia Taylor who had just returned by plane.

"It was just luck that we were about to finish our work that day, and his mother came all the way from Mississippi with him. She said her son had been told since he was a child that he looked like Tom Hanks.

"Hahaha, whatever, your opinion is also...Okay, we'll tentatively decide on him..." Ronald didn't believe this statement. Little Michael didn't look very similar to Hanks. Among the other child actors who came with him, there were more similar ones than him. But in terms of temperament, he was indeed the most suitable for little Forrest Gump...

However, the casting for little Jenny was not so smooth, as two or three girls were equally matched.

Finally, Ronald arranged for Michael Connor Humphries to audition with them. Little Michael really showed that he was not stupid. He remembered the lines quickly and performed innocently and naturally, which made Ronald laugh.

Michael's mother was also very happy that her son could stay and participate in the audition with other girls. His celebrity son had already taken the lead. However, the parents of several girls were very nervous. They prayed in their hearts when they saw little Michael, hoping that he would be more attracted to their daughters when they were together.

"You can sit here... Do you want to sit here with me? What's wrong with your legs?" A little girl actor said to Michael Connor Humphries while sitting on a chair.

"They are fine. My mom said they are very strong. It is my back that is bent like a question mark again. These magic shoes can make my back straighten..."

"Do you think my clothes look good?"

"what?"

“This is my party outfit…”

"What's a party?"

"You've never been to a party before?"

"No……"

"Are you a little bit stupid?"

"My mother said that people who do stupid things are called fools..."

"Cut!"

Ronald called off the audition. Among the three girls, Hannah R. Hall from Colorado had a more refined temperament, and Michael Connor Humphries seemed to be more engaged when performing with her.

He took another page of the script and gave it to the two young actors to read. After they memorized the lines, they performed it together again.

After waiting for half an hour, the two young actors, Michael and Hannah, each took a cloth bag as a schoolbag, stood on the left and right, and walked towards the camera.

"My mother always said that God would watch over the children and would not let them be bullied..."

"I pray to him every night, but I don't really believe he hears my prayers..."

“You have to trust God, you hear me?”

"Hi!" Ronald suddenly said, and threw a crumpled paper ball at Michael's head.

"Ignore them..." Hannah said to Michael.

"What do you mean by ignore?"

"Just ignore them..."

"I never pay attention to anyone..."

"Hi..." Ronald threw another ball of paper over, and this time it landed on Michael's head.

"Run, Gump, run!"

"Cut!"

Ronald laughed out loud. The two really worked well together. The boy was eight years old and the girl was seven years old, just the right age for them to be young and naive, but they were naturally attracted to each other and wanted to play with each other. The two child actors had the best chemistry together. Both of them had a relaxed mentality, which they didn't have when acting with other child actors.

This is very rare, and this kind of relaxation will greatly improve the shooting efficiency of child actors. In their eyes, this is probably a game. Usually in school, there are some children who are born to like playing together.

Although Ronald said the same thing to all the actors who played little Jenny, Hannah's family still saw the clues and thanked everyone countless times before happily taking their daughter back to the hotel.

The next day, after consulting Tom Hanks, Michael and Hannah officially signed the contract and became two franchise actors of the Forrest Gump crew.

"I've thought about it carefully, and I think it's better not to give Forrest Gump a too thick southern accent..."

Afterwards, Tom Hanks talked to Ronald alone about the performance.

"Why?" Ronald was not too obsessed with whether Forrest Gump had an accent, he just wanted to know what Hanks thought.

"This character is not a Southerner, but an American symbol. I didn't want the accent to be too strong for the audience right away. You don't just want to have box office success in the South, right?"

"you're right……"

Ronald agreed with a smile. He understood Tom Hanks's idea. In this novel, although there is the background that Forrest Gump's ancestors were members of the KKK, and there are countless small details that only southerners can understand, but overall, these things should not be the main theme after the opening of the movie.

This is a film composed of the common memories of Americans, so no matter you are from the East Coast, the West Coast, the Midwest Rust Belt, or the Southern Sunshine Belt, you will be able to find things in the movie that can evoke your common memories.

A too strong accent would definitely undermine this attempt. After all, this is not a movie that only cares about box office and awards, and the audience's understanding and needs must be put first.

Tom Hanks also wanted to portray Forrest Gump as a character that could be understood by people across the country. It would be too bad if only people in the South recognized him. It would be too inconsistent with his investment of turning down other films and taking no salary but only dividends.

"Well, I'll find an accent teacher to correct Michael's pronunciation and reduce the Mississippi accent to a suitable level..."

Having basically completed the casting and early preparations, Ronald began to scout locations and prepare for the overall style.

The art director was still Ronald's most trusted veteran, Polly Pratt. She had previously served as art director and producer for "Pretty Baby," starring Brooke Shields, which had the kind of southern-style image tone and setting that Ronald wanted.

Later, she worked with Tom Hanks and Diane in "Grown Ups". They were familiar with each other and had no problems in cooperation.

"Your art design is very difficult..." Polly Pratt said bluntly.

"Of course, I wouldn't have come to you if it wasn't difficult..." Ronald made coffee himself and handed over the cookies baked by his aunt. This master-level art director must be served well.

The story of Forrest Gump spans a great distance in space and time. Life in a small town in Alabama when I was young was a typical warm southern tone. The green plants were also covered with a layer of warm golden light from the sunset.

After graduating from college, he joined the army and eventually went to Vietnam to fight. There was a typical Hollywood Vietnam War tone. The green plants there were dim, covered by dust, and hidden under the mess of weeds and trees. The dark areas were filled with Vietcong who seemed ready to pounce at any time...

When I reunited with Jenny in Washington DC, I felt the cold tone of New England. Green was green, white was white, and the temperature made the colors more distant from people than the warm colors in the south. A solemn feeling of the political center arose spontaneously.

The biggest challenge was the historical news footage, which had different granularity, black and white or color, and film color temperature. These also had to be adjusted to the tones of the images before and after when using special effects lenses to make Forrest Gump shake hands with the presidents, so that there would be no abrupt difference in tone, affecting the audience's sense of immersion.

After explaining the request and the challenges, Polly Pratt was also a little moved. Ronald also assigned her an assistant, Leslie MacDonald, a long-time art designer, who had previously performed very well in "Bugsy", which had a similar image texture.

As for the director of photography, the filming of this movie was not difficult. The important challenge was in the post-production special effects. Finally, Ronald found a photographer named Don Burgess, who shot a road movie last year called "Josh and Sam", a comedy about two kids driving on the road.

Thinking of the many scenes involving children and the indispensable iconic running scene of Forrest Gump, Ronald hired a tested photographer who worked well with young actors and could take beautiful photos of the road after verifying and interviewing him with other people.

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with you, Ronald..."

Don Burgess was very happy to hear that he was chosen. In the past ten years, he had made many movies, but he lacked the experience of working with big-name directors. This time, he felt very satisfied that he was chosen by Ronald from several competitors.

"You have to get busy, Burgess. I have some things to deal with in Los Angeles. You go to Bedford, South Carolina first. Although this movie tells the story of Forrest Gump in Alabama, the conditions in South Carolina are much better. Bedford also has many old houses in southern style. You go to scout the locations first. Once you have a good choice, take photos and send them to me..."

Ronald gave Burgess a stack of location scouting descriptions, describing what was needed for each scene from a director's perspective, and asked Burgess to go ahead and scout the scene.

"Oh, okay..." Don Burgess looked at the table and found that there were still scenes of the Vietnam War, Ping Pong Diplomacy, and the final scene of Savannah where he reunited with Jenny. He couldn't help but admire that Ronald was such a big director, but he still did things the same way as he did back then, and he would not spend a penny that shouldn't be spent.

If other directors were to shoot this, they would at least go to Southeast Asia to film the Vietnam War, and Ping Pong Diplomacy would have to be filmed in China, right? No wonder all their films are profitable.

"Oh, OK, how come that happens? Will that affect my use of CCR songs in my movie?"

Burgess was sorting out the materials needed for location scouting when Ronald received another call. John Fogerty, the soul of CCR, had sued Saul Zaentz, the record company boss who had deceived him, and demanded that he return the copyrights of his songs from CCR.