Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 2 Videotape



Chapter 2 Videotape

Pulling the car into a McDonald's Drive-through, Ronnie opened the storage box, took out a stack of coupons, picked out a Big Mac combo, attached a dollar bill, two $25 cents, a dime, and pass them through the cashier window together.

Originally priced at $2.59, the value-for-money Big Mac package only costs 1 yuan with coupons.

Taking the set meal wrapped in a paper bag, Ronald drove all the way back to the apartment.

People who live in Venice Beach are not rich, and most of the residents are residents with middle and lower incomes.Mostly white people, so law and order is good.

Ronald was a little hungry, so he ate a Big Mac and drank Coke when he got home.

This apartment has one bedroom and one living room. Venice is relatively remote, and the rent is not high, less than 200 US dollars a month.

Apart from being far from the city, there are no disadvantages.Ronald has a car and commutes to and from get off work every day, which takes more than half an hour one way, and he has nothing to dissatisfy with.

Throwing the finished garbage into the trash can, Ronald took a change of clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Thinking of getting up early tomorrow, taking a shower and going to bed early.Ronald wiped the mist off the mirror a few times with his hand, revealing a handsome face.Deep-set eye sockets, a straight nose, and a well-proportioned body are the result of years of physical exercise. No matter how you look at it, you can be considered a handsome guy.

After the release of the comic book adaptation of "Superman" last year, everyone said he looked like Christopher Reeve, who played Superman.

It's kind of like, Ronald is tall too, 6ft 2 (1.88m).But Superman has black hair, and his own hair is considered dirty blond, with the roots of the hair close to black and the tips of the hair more blond.The eyes are amber in color, the inner circle near the pupil is dark brown, and the outer circle is golden yellow.

The hair and eyes are not pure color, very typical of the United States, and the ancestors do not know how many countries they have.However, Ronald did not have the strong body odor common to white people, just like the Hua people in his previous life.It's a relief that he doesn't have to spray deodorant on his underarms every day like his buddies on the high school wrestling team.

Ronald changed his clothes and lay on the bed, thinking a little of Aunt Karen in New York.

After crossing over, Ronald found tragically that he had no memory of his previous life at all, and only retained some skills.Such as driving, drawing comics, and Huaguo-style wrestling.There is also a dumb English who can only write but cannot speak. At first, he could only pretend that he could not speak.

Aunt Karen was anxious and took him to the doctor.After some examinations, the doctor believed that the brain was hit, which caused a rare aphasia, and he had to learn to speak again like a child.

Ronald found the "New Concept English", a secret book for Chinese people to learn English, and studied hard for half a year with the recording, and added an all-English environment, before he learned to speak again.

Later, he joined the high school wrestling team. Unfortunately, Huaguo's old wrestling habit of grabbing people's clothes can't be changed, and he can't adapt to the freestyle wrestling that hugs people's necks.Lost in intercollegiate competitions and didn't get a college sports scholarship.

It wasn't until one day that he accidentally picked up the camera of a classmate on the wrestling team that he discovered the most useful skill in his previous life - taking pictures.

Metering with bare hands, turning on the light, and guiding the pose, it seems that you can shoot a qualified portrait without thinking.Could it be that he was a photographer in his previous life?This skill can make money now.

Aunt Karen had saved $200 to buy him a used car.This is a tradition of middle-class families in America. The child takes the driver's license test as an adult, and the father buys a second-hand car for the child.

Ronald didn't ask for a car, but took the money to buy a second-hand Nikon F2 SLR camera and a few rolls of film. Since then, he has become a photographer, taking various portrait photos to make money.

After graduating from high school, Ronald didn't have enough money to go to college, so he took a year off from school and worked part-time to earn tuition.With a "huge sum" of more than $500, he bid farewell to Aunt Karen and Cousin Donna.It took 12 days to drive from New York to Los Angeles along Interstate 40.

Taking a one-year break is completely forced by lack of money.He looks like an 18-year-old boy, clients don't trust his photography ability, and he doesn't make enough money as a portrait photographer.In the countryside of Staten Island, there are not many fast food restaurants that recruit young people to work.

Ronald soon discovered that the easiest way to make money in portrait photography is to take audition photos for actors, which is simple and easy to earn. Two A4-sized headshots can charge more than 100 US dollars.There weren't many people making movies in New York, so Ronald came to Hollywood to look for opportunities.

When I came to Hollywood, I took some portraits one after another. Word of mouth can also attract customers, but people don’t want to believe his strength when they see him young. Rookie actor shoots.

Ronald wants to be in a film crew and put his name in the credits, so that clients can believe that he is an "insider".Charge more money, and save enough tuition fees, book fees, accommodation... and other expenses as soon as possible.

Later, I went to New World Production Company to apply for a screenwriter. After being selected, I didn't write a single page of the script, but worked as a script reviewer for several months.Two weeks ago, I was hired by the boss to work as an assistant on the "Rock High School" crew, and the main job was to make coffee...

Feeling sleepy, Ronald set the alarm clock at 04:30 tomorrow morning, turned over and fell asleep.

……

After sleeping in the dark for an unknown amount of time, Ronald heard someone talking outside.He opened the door and walked outside. On the open space in the middle of the apartment, there was an extra white screen, as if someone was playing a movie?

With the faint light, Ronald found that there were many people sitting in rows in front of the screen.Is this a party?
"Sit down!" someone shouted at him.

Ronald took advantage of the opportunity and sat in the middle aisle seat in the last row, next to the projector.

It seems something is wrong, the person just said seems to be in Chinese.Ronald wanted to find the person who spoke up. There are not many Chinese people in Los Angeles who speak Mandarin. At least he could ask about the situation in Huaguo.

Suddenly the screen lights up.Ronald was taken aback, a bunch of English words jumped out, and the title was in red capital letters:

"FBI WARNING".

Here is a line of fine print:
"Under federal law, the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or public display of a copyrighted motion picture work may result in severe civil or criminal penalties (Title 17, U.S. Code, Section 501 and 508). The FBI investigates complaints of copyright infringement (Title 17 CFR, 506)”

This is a copyright warning.

"Why haven't you started yet? What movie is showing today?" The man was speaking Chinese again.

After more than ten seconds, a picture jumped out of the screen, and everyone fell silent.

A three-story white building leaps into the picture, and the sun shines gently on the upper floor.There was no one, only a few crickets chirping... chirping, reflecting the tranquility of the environment.

A few seconds later, a line of big red characters jumped up from the bottom of the screen, "A movie produced by New World, copyright @1979, New World Production Company."

what?
It turned out to be a movie produced by the New World where I work.But why fight for next year's copyright?
The camera pans to a large sign with the words Vince Lombard High School written in green letters on a yellow background.There is another sentence below: "Winning is not the most important thing, it is the only thing."

The boss of Ronald's mouth, Vince Lombard High School, isn't it the name of the fictional school in the script?It's not going to be "High School Rock" that's being filmed today, is it?

Everything in the picture, a student appeared on the screen, he looked at the map on the wall, there was a red cross on it, under the red cross it was written: "You are here."

"Where am I?" the student said to himself.

A group of players in rugby uniforms came over and grabbed the student, carried him and left the scene.A female student wearing large black-rimmed glasses appeared on the camera, standing next to the stage where freshmen were welcomed.

There are various chemical experiment utensils on the table, filled with red, green and blue liquids, and next to it is a sign that reads "Kate Lamb, Science Society, Demonstration of Chemical Reaction".

The screen cuts to another handsome boy, whom others call Tom.Tom walked out of the teaching building and sat at the table to eat. Kate Lanbao went up to strike up a conversation, but Tom, who was puzzled, refused her and began to read books.

In the picture, another beautiful woman in red put on the Ramones record and began to play this kind of strong rock music.Students start dancing on the playground, and the title "Rock High School" appears in red.

It really is "Rock High School"!
thought Ronald.

"Boss, change to a better one." Someone shouted.

"That's right, it's for war."

"For martial arts, martial arts looks good."

"Is there any director Wang's, in exchange for that gold..."

Suddenly someone got up, walked to the machine next to Ronald, pressed a button, and the screen turned into white light again.

The machine spit out a black box.On the white label pasted on it, four Chinese characters were written in a red pen in a flying style——

"Rock High School."

"Boss, change the film!"

The man brandished the black box - the videotape yelled.

"Ah!" Ronald yelled and rolled off the bed.

(End of this chapter)


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