Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1435: Presenting Facts Without Comment

"Forrest, Forrest..."

The next morning, the crew continued to shoot the scenes of saving people on the battlefield in Vietnam. Every time Forrest Gump ran back to the battlefield to find his good friend Bubba, he was called by another comrade and asked for help. He ran like this several times, and each time he carried a comrade out.

After several attempts, Forrest Gump found Lieutenant Dan. Lieutenant Dan was calling for firepower support from the rear, and wanted to use aerial bombs to flatten the place. He was already seriously injured, with both legs blown off, and he only wanted to die for his country like his ancestors.

But Forrest Gump's intelligence was not enough to understand such a complicated matter, and despite his strong protests, he was carried to the safe riverside.

In addition to a few shots of Tom Hanks running with his comrades on his back, today's film mainly focused on his conversations with many of his comrades by the river. From the perspective of a person with a low IQ, we can see how the Vietnam War affected ordinary people in America.

Most of those who were drafted and sent to the front line to fight were civilians, and some were people with low IQs like Forrest Gump. The American Army has always had more people in the back who were responsible for logistics than those who were fighting on the front line.

During World War II, the American people still had a simple sentiment of upholding justice and opposing fascism. They wanted to fight for an outcome for their hometowns and loved ones that would not be occupied by the Nazis like Europe.

But when it came to the Vietnam War, this natural sense of justice disappeared. Vietnam was far away and had no ability to reach America. The soldiers there were armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers at most. In front of the American army equipped with modern weapons, they were almost like lambs to be slaughtered.

Jane Fonda spoke for the Vietnamese and opposed the US military because too many Vietnamese were killed. Many battles had an exchange rate of more than 1:100. The public could not bear to see their children go to Vietnam and kill unarmed Vietnamese.

In contrast, the worst were the soldiers who were sent to the battlefield. On the one hand, they suffered from inner torture, and on the other hand, there were casualties on the battlefield. Those Vietnam veterans who returned to their hometowns were not liked by the people, and on the other hand, they suffered from the torture of conscience. Some of the disabled ones were even more miserable.

This social division has continued to this day. The Star-Spangled Banner legislation passed two years ago (allowing the burning of the Star-Spangled Banner) highlights the extreme opposition in America today, and the evaluation of the Vietnam War has become polarized.

Even in Hollywood, there is polarization. The most left-wing is Oliver Stone, who made several Vietnam War movies and criticized everything about the war as a personal participant.

The right wing, because of the aftermath of the social movements in the 1960s and 1970s, dared not make movies like John Wayne's "The Green Berets" that spoke well of the US military. But in Stallone's "First Blood", after Rambo's rampage, the sentiment that the war should continue and I should go to Vietnam to kill the enemy could not be concealed. The subsequent sequels were even more about special warfare against the ultimate enemy of the Cold War...

Ronald's "Forrest Gump" focuses on the theme of real history seen through the eyes of Forrest Gump. So he can neither oppose nor support the war, because Forrest Gump's IQ is limited. Ronald's idea is not to make any comments, but to show you the facts at that time. As for how you react after watching it, it's reasonable to criticize either side.

Therefore, when Ronald filmed the quarrel between Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan, as well as the farewell scene with Bubba, he was very careful to design this neutral image arrangement. The tone and color of this Vietnam War plot are mainly unadulterated.

It has neither the kind of color that warms people's hearts nor the color that turns Vietnam into an inner hell. It just presents the inner memories of a generation of veterans truthfully on the screen.

The scene Ronald filmed was the farewell scene between Forrest Gump and Bubba. Although Bubba was hung up by a wire to save effort, it was just part of the weight. Mykelti Williamson was also a big strong man, so after Tom Hanks put him down, he had to take a breath to recover.

"Hi, Babu..."

"Hey, Forrest..."

The close-up shot looks for a touching expression on the two people's faces. In this scene, Bub really knows that he will die soon. On the way, he keeps comforting Forrest Gump that it's okay, and he also holds a palm leaf to block the huge wound on his abdomen.

But Forrest Gump really didn't understand this, he still thought he had rescued Bubba to a safe place. Behind him, Lieutenant Dan and several other extras were still pulling smoke bombs to indicate their direction to the planes that had been called to avoid bombing by mistake.

Purple smoke rose, and there was a hazy shadow behind Forrest Gump and Bubble. It seemed that at this moment, the two of them had left Vietnam and returned to their hometown of Alabama, where they were preparing to discuss how to do business together.

"Forrest, why are these things happening to us?"

Bob was at his deathbed, and all he wanted to do was talk to his best friend about his regrets: How could a shrimping kid from Alabama end up in Vietnam and lose his life in a place that was said to have the best shrimp in the world?
"Bubble, you've been shot..." Forrest Gump still looked like he had a low IQ.

Mykelti Williamson, facing the camera in this shot, begins to shake uncontrollably with his head, a clear symptom of excessive blood loss.

Babu already knew that he didn't have much time left to live, so he said what he wanted most in his heart, "I want to go home!"

At this time, no matter how stupid Forrest Gump was, he could see that his good friend Bubba was going to leave him. Tom Hanks looked very sad...

The camera slowly moved away from the face of Bubba, who was about to die, and slowly shifted to the face of Forrest Gump next to him.

The only thing in the frame was Forrest Gump's sad face, his almost exhausted breath, and Bub's blood-soaked hand, which was still tightly clenched around Forrest Gump's shoulder. Due to the long period of blood loss, one of Forrest Gump's shoulders was already soaked with Bub's blood...

The camera continued to move forward, and the close-up of Tom Hanks turned into a close-up, and then into an extreme close-up. Finally, Bob's hand tightened.

The roar of a helicopter was heard, and in the blurred background, the fire support called for by Lieutenant Dan finally arrived.

Ronald forgot to call for stop for a moment. Everyone waited for a few seconds and confirmed that Tom Hanks and Mykelti Williamson had completed their performance. They didn't know why the director didn't call for stop, and everyone looked at him.

"Kid, it's over..." It was his old partner, artistic director Polly Pratt, who noticed Ronald's abnormality, grabbed his hand, and whispered in his ear.

"Cut!"

"Oh, I thought you wanted me to keep holding Mckelly, man you're really heavy..." Tom Hanks joked, and everyone laughed it off.

Only Ronald himself knew that the scene just now was almost the same as what his father and uncle experienced on the battlefield in Vietnam...

A few days later, after filming the Vietnam scenes on the golf course, a party was held for Mykelti Williamson, who played Bub, as he finished his scenes there.

"Thank you, everyone. Cheers to Mckelly!" Ronald said some words of thanks, and everyone started to have a happy party. Many of the scenes in the past few days were completed in mud puddles, watering, and marching in palm trees. From the actors to the staff, they all suffered a lot.

This time, Ronald also specially invited many people's relatives to come and reunite, so that everyone can relax and prepare for the upcoming scenes.

“Will I soon be able to travel around the country shooting?”

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson are chatting with Ronald with their children. After Forrest Gump left him again because Jenny and his mother died, he suddenly had the idea to start running. In the footage of running across the country, iconic buildings from all over the country will appear, as well as various realistic light changes. Such footage is difficult to synthesize with computer special effects without making people feel strange.

Even if they insist on doing it, the various complicated processes are very time-consuming. So the crew is still preparing to shoot in various places. The filming plan includes the Atlantic Ocean at the easternmost end, the Pacific Ocean at the westernmost end, the magnificent mountains in the central part, and the characteristic roads of each state.

However, the entire film had to leave enough budget and time for post-production special effects, so flying Hanks to these places to shoot one or two shots was actually at the end of the shooting plan.

"We don't have much time to shoot, and you have a lot of scenes to shoot later, which are indoor scenes in Los Angeles. It would be best to have a stand-in who looks very similar to you and run around for you, so that we can find a second crew to complete it."

"Hey, I remember in the script, Forrest Gump had a beard at this time?"

"Yes, the beard will gradually grow longer..."

"Then you can try my brother Jim. He looks a lot like me. With the beard on, it's basically impossible to tell him apart."

Ronald got Jim Hanks's audition photo, and it turned out that the two brothers looked very similar, especially the longer forehead and the fleshy nose. Only the mouth and teeth below the nose were clearly different from his brother Tom.

However, as long as the makeup artist uses various beards to camouflage it, the dissimilarity can be covered up.

Ronald asked Julia Taylor to help him check, and then set up an independent second crew, equipped with important personnel such as photographers and makeup artists, and flew to various parts of the country with Jim Hanks to shoot.

The entire crew rested in Alabama for a weekend and prepared to move to the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument in Washington, DC to shoot the scene where Forrest Gump and Jenny reunited after the war.

Ronald left earlier than them and went to Crofton, Maryland, for the weekend. The Renaissance Carnival held here from August to October every year was getting better and better.

Allen Lewis is Julia Taylor's apprentice. He has been here for more than a week, recruiting more than two hundred extras, preparing to go to Washington DC to shoot a movie.

"One of the themes this year is the hippie era. Many of the people who come to the carnival have a background in performance, from high school or college drama clubs, or from failed Broadway and Hollywood actors. What's even better is that many of them bring their own hippie costumes, which fits the look of the time very well."

In a temporary office rented here, Ronald saw many photos of the selected people, and many people were still waiting outside to be selected.

"Very good, we will go to Washington tomorrow. I have applied for two days of filming time and two days of rehearsal time. Let these extras get used to the atmosphere of the anti-war rally first."

……

"Director, you're here. I went to the Washington Monument as a tourist a week ago to check out the situation. I was even questioned by the Secret Service."

The person who was talking to Ronald was Ken Ralston, the special effects supervisor for this scene. The young man looked very energetic and dedicated. He had been investigating the scene. He was almost in trouble with the local police and the Presidential Guard Secret Service, but fortunately he showed his crew credentials and was not arrested.

"Tell me about your plan..."

Ronald walked to the other side of the big pool opposite the obelisk, where Forrest Gump would express his views on the Vietnam War.

"My idea is that we will build a platform for the rally here, and the main camera will follow Forrest Gump, coming up from below, and then panning over to face the crowd of thousands of people below the stage. This will be a spectacle that the audience cannot see normally.

Then, when we first filmed with Mr. Hanks, we only filled the area under the stage with more than 200 extras, asking them to echo Forrest Gump, hold up protest signs, interact with Forrest Gump, shout slogans, and so on.

Once that main shot was done, I spent the rest of the day moving the guys to other areas around the pool and filling them in piece by piece. By the time the next day was done, we had all the shots we needed of the pool being filled in, and back in LA we could layer them all together.”

"Good, for the shot of Forrest Gump giving a speech, do you need any positioning?" Ronald took a look and understood what he was going to shoot. However, he didn't know much about the details of special effects production, so he had to listen to the experts.

"The most important thing is the main shot. The audience must strictly follow our plan, the standing area, the range of movement, and not affect other areas. This requires some practice."

"Well, I'll give you a day to rehearse. When Tom Hanks comes, he will rehearse the shooting sequence before and after the speech with your extras. When you think it's okay, we'll shoot this scene..."

"Am I responsible?" Ken Ralston was a little surprised.

"Yes, that's you. You are the most professional here for this special effects shot. Everyone, including Tom and I, will follow your instructions. You have to let everyone know what to do and when. I only applied for two days of shooting time, and we can't waste any of it."

"Ah, oh, okay, I will make sure to do it completely, director. I can definitely make sure that there won't be any problems during the official filming..." Ken Ralston was very happy that such a director trusted him so much.

"You contact Alan Lewis, a member of our casting team, and discuss directly with him how many people you want, how many men, how many women, what costumes, what slogans. I just want to see a result that fits the hippie protest rally of the year."

After explaining what was happening here, Ronald ran outside the White House. He also managed to buy half a day to shoot some shots here.

Doug and Donna happened to be here to play. Their honeymoon was very comfortable. They were rich and not as busy as Ronald. They could go wherever they wanted. After hearing Aunt Karen say that the movie might be very good, they came to DC to see Ronald's latest masterpiece.

"That's right, Doug. You're not afraid of public speakers..."

Ronald was overjoyed to see his cousin and her husband. There was a TV reporter missing here covering President Johnson's speech.

The original script was to directly film President Johnson's speech, but because that speech was a little inconsistent with the general values ​​of the people in today's society, Ronald temporarily modified the script and changed it to a reporter doing live reporting outside the White House, leading to the plot of Forrest Gump accepting the Medal of Honor.

"Action!"

A portable camera started working, and little Doug in the camera was wearing a windbreaker and a tie, looking very much like a TV field reporter back then.

He is also a person in the political circle and is very proficient in public speaking.

"The ceremony has officially begun. The President first gave a very sincere speech, talking about the necessity of expanding the war in Vietnam. President Johnson will also present the Medal of Honor to four soldiers returning from Vietnam..."

"Cut!"

Ronald saw the image of little Doug in the portable news recorder, and he really looked very much like the reporter back then.

"Okay, I didn't realize you had a talent for acting."

"It's about the same. Speaking to the camera is more difficult than speaking to a large group of financial sponsors. "Little Doug showed off proudly in front of his wife, making Donna laugh.

"You guys play first. I have things to do here. Let my assistants accompany you." Ronald turned around and went back to his own business.

"Director, are these medals and honors on Forrest Gump's military uniform correct?"

The costume team came to ask Ronald for instructions.

"Let me see. Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Infantryman's Shoulder Straps, Combat Infantryman's Badge..."

Ronald was also familiar with this, and he counted them one by one, "What is this?" He did not recognize the service experience of the last two honor representatives.

"This is the Rifle Expert Badge and the Outstanding Unit Commendation," Donna recognized it and reminded them.

"Oh, yes..." Ronald hugged Donna. These were all the medals that her uncle had won during his military service. Donna had recognized them one by one when she was little.

"This is my cousin, an expert in U.S. military medals and insignias..." Ronald introduced her to the costume designer in a different way.

"Oh, no wonder. Do you think it's right to commend this outstanding unit?" The costume designer thought Donna was really a Hollywood history expert.

"Most of it is correct, but since your protagonist is from the Army, you can't use the Marine Corps' Navy Unit Commendation. Instead, you should use the Army's Outstanding Unit Medal..."

Just like that, Forrest Gump's military uniform was ready, waiting for the next big show to begin.