NOVEL WEB Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Director Allen gradually approached, followed by his inseparable friend Joe Dante.Dante is almost 5 feet 6 inches (about 1.70 meters), like a guard on the basketball court hiding behind the center and dribbling forward.
Walking to the front of the crowd, Joe's head flashed out from behind Allen, with a haircut parted in the middle, unable to conceal the rapidly receding hairline.He grabbed Director Allen's arm with one hand, pointed at Ronald with the other and shouted, "Ronnie, Ronnie, how are your preparations going today?"
"I just organized group performances to practice twice. After the leading role has finished moving, the makeup is done. After director Alan and you confirm the leading role's costume, the makeup rehearsal can be done in 5 minutes. The director of photography said that it can start on time at 6:30 shoot."
With that said, Ronald handed over the storyboard he drew yesterday.
Joe Dante took a look: "Is this the storyboard you drew?"
He took the initiative today and took on the role of director. While looking at the storyboard sketch drawn by Ronald in detail, he ordered: "Bring over Director Alan's chair."
Ronald saw that Director Allen was not in a good state.He quickly brought a chair.It's the kind of director's exclusive chair with the name written on the backrest.Ronald took the director's arm from Joe and helped him sit down with difficulty.
The director was sweating on his forehead, his face was pale, and he looked a little bad.Ronald leaned closer, whispered in the director's ear, and asked softly, "Shall I get you a cup of hot coffee, Director Allen?"
Allen nodded.Ronald pulled Jim over to his assistant and gently told him to bring a cup of hot coffee.
"Very well, I will shoot according to your storyboard today. PJ, you are wearing the red one." Joe Dante said and handed the storyboard to the director of photography.The two began to discuss the shooting details:
"The camera starts with a close-up shot of the freshmen, then pulls back, then rises to give a panoramic view of the playground, and then pushes forward to the welcome platform of the Science Club at the station of the good girl student..."
After the two discussed it, Joe came over and spread out the storyboard, and explained it to Allen.Allen nodded in agreement.
At this time, the group performers returned to the playground one after another. Seeing this, Ronald picked up the electric horn and guided the group performers to their positions.
The red-haired photography assistant began to cover the film box with a black cloth to prevent exposure, and stretched his hands in to install the film in the dark.
The director of photography called the other two strong assistants, and several people began to check the installed camera rocker arm, went up and down a few times, and started testing.
In less than a minute, the red hair installed the film in the black cloth bag in the dark.He came over again and picked up a roll of black tape and pasted it along the edge of the film box.For low-budget movies, they rent second-hand machines, and the quality of the machines is unknown.So tape the gaps with black tape to prevent accidental light leakage and ruin the film.
After wrapping up the film box, the director of photography began to instruct the assistants to lift the camera to the rocker arm and install it, and then started to test it up and down. The rocker arm is also a rented second-hand product.
Co-director Joe Dante starts to play Day Young as Good Girl...
The crew is like a big machine, and the various staff members are like gears. Under the order of the director, they start to run in an orderly manner.
Ronald liked the order.A good director is like a general, and a film crew is like a squad of soldiers. Filmmaking is a team job, and a director needs to be a leader.
The leading actors and supporting actors stand in their positions, ready to start the rehearsal.Joe Dante is discussing details with the director sitting in a chair.
Ronald picked up the electric loudspeaker and began to organize group performances, acting as a good human background. "Boys and girls from Van Nuys High School, we are about to start rehearsal with makeup, please take the positions you have determined before, please stand on the positions you have determined before..."
"Football team please come to me, ok, your game uniforms are great. You stand here at the beginning, after I give the signal, you rush over here on the map, pick up the freshman, and carry him away like a joke .do you understand?"
The director signaled to Ronald to start the rehearsal.Several actors began to act in a fake manner. In order to save the best performance state for the official filming, the actors in the walking and rehearsal were all ordered.The extras work well together, except for one or two peeking at the camera.
The director of photography, Dean Candy, held the camera himself, climbed onto the rocker arm, and followed the official camera movement trajectory, and the director expressed his satisfaction.
Ronald picked up the electric speaker again: "All the extras, please stand at the starting position." The leading actors and supporting actors also stood at the starting position.
The staff all exited the range covered by the camera, and everyone waited patiently and expectantly.
Co-director Joe Dante said two more details to star Day Yang that need attention.Everyone held their breath, waiting for the arrival of the magic light.
Just after 06:28, the light in the air, like an athlete hearing the firing of the starting gun, suddenly began to flow.The sun has not yet risen above the horizon, but is slowly lighting up the sky and background.
This is a beautiful color. The metal body of the camera has a light blue luster, as if covering the body with a layer of armor.
The hairpins worn by several female high school students, and the large black-rimmed glasses worn by the obedient schoolgirls also began to glint faintly.Everyone seemed afraid to breathe, waiting for the magic light to come.
The red-haired camera assistant trotted to measure the light in front of the actors, and then ran back to the camera to report the light metering data to adjust the aperture.
The uncle who carried the long recording pole raised the long recording pole above the actor's head, trying to get as close as possible to collect the sound, but kept it far enough away that it would not be photographed by the camera.
"Just the right light!" the DP yelled.
Receiving director Allen's eye signal, Ronald picked up the electric speaker: "Okay, let's make the first official filming, get ready!"
Jim pressed the whistle three times in coordination, "beep...beep...beep..." This is the signal to notify the ban.
Everyone is no longer whispering, waiting for orders.
Ronald looked to the director, and Joe Dante motioned for him to start.Ronald said through the electric horn:
"recorder?"
"Open!" The recording team replied.
"camera?"
"Run at full speed!" The red hair signaled that the motor of the camera had accelerated to 24 frames per second, and it was ready to shoot.
Picking up the small slate, Jenny ran to the camera and held it up, and began to say: "'High School Life' Scene 127, the first shot, the first time."
He knocked down the slate with a snap, and quickly exited the shooting area.
"Shooting. (Action!)"
Alan Akush, who was sitting in the director's chair, said softly.
"Action! (Action!)"
Ronald loudly delivered the director's order with an electric horn.
The show begins.
A freshman looked at the map on the wall. There was a red cross on it. Below the red cross was written: "Your location is here."
"Where am I?" the freshman said to himself.
The director of photography commanded the camera to move horizontally, and then slowly backed away. The viewfinder frame stretched from the newborn’s upper body to his whole body, and then continued to back away. Three football team players entered the picture from the right.
"Oh, here's a new student!" "New student, new student!"
Members of the football team, in game attire, rush forward to pick up the extras who play freshmen.
"Where are you going to get me!"
"Put it in the locker!"
"Oh, don't, don't throw me in the locker."
The camera's rocker arm rises to the top of the head at a constant speed, and begins to switch to a bird's-eye view.Rugby players carry freshmen out of the camera frame.Then the camera moved slowly, and the screen framed the welcome stage of the Science Society where the good girl Xueba was.
The camera points to the heroine played by Dai Yang, one of the heroines.It began to descend slowly, and finally stopped, pointing to the table in front of her.
There are several bottles for chemical experiments on the table, filled with red, green and blue water, and next to it is a sign "Science Society, Kate Lambert, Chemical Reaction Demonstration".
Ronald stood not far behind the camera watching the shoot.This is one of the few main scenes in this low-budget movie. It cost a lot of money and will be cut into the opening scene of the movie in the future.
Today's first shot seems to be going well. I secretly compared the real shot and the revelation in the dream. The two are basically the same, Ronald nodded.I'll see if the director is satisfied later, I'll save this one for printing.
But the director hasn't stopped yet, it seems that he has some special ideas.Is it to keep the shot longer for easier editing?Or are there other special artistic considerations?
No, this is too long.The actor's expression had already started to stiffen. Dai Yang, who played the good girl, turned her head to look at the camera. She was looking for the director, asking for a signal from the director, whether to continue acting.
Why don't you call Cut?
Ronald also turned his head to see what Director Allen was thinking.
A thin and tall man who is close to two meters, the director began to tilt his head gradually while sitting on the chair, did he use this angle to move the camera?No, the director, why...
Ronald quickly picked up the electric horn:
"Cut! Cut! Cut!"
Everyone was frightened by his hasty shout, and they all turned their heads to look at him suddenly.
"The director has passed out!"
(End of this chapter)
Director Allen gradually approached, followed by his inseparable friend Joe Dante.Dante is almost 5 feet 6 inches (about 1.70 meters), like a guard on the basketball court hiding behind the center and dribbling forward.
Walking to the front of the crowd, Joe's head flashed out from behind Allen, with a haircut parted in the middle, unable to conceal the rapidly receding hairline.He grabbed Director Allen's arm with one hand, pointed at Ronald with the other and shouted, "Ronnie, Ronnie, how are your preparations going today?"
"I just organized group performances to practice twice. After the leading role has finished moving, the makeup is done. After director Alan and you confirm the leading role's costume, the makeup rehearsal can be done in 5 minutes. The director of photography said that it can start on time at 6:30 shoot."
With that said, Ronald handed over the storyboard he drew yesterday.
Joe Dante took a look: "Is this the storyboard you drew?"
He took the initiative today and took on the role of director. While looking at the storyboard sketch drawn by Ronald in detail, he ordered: "Bring over Director Alan's chair."
Ronald saw that Director Allen was not in a good state.He quickly brought a chair.It's the kind of director's exclusive chair with the name written on the backrest.Ronald took the director's arm from Joe and helped him sit down with difficulty.
The director was sweating on his forehead, his face was pale, and he looked a little bad.Ronald leaned closer, whispered in the director's ear, and asked softly, "Shall I get you a cup of hot coffee, Director Allen?"
Allen nodded.Ronald pulled Jim over to his assistant and gently told him to bring a cup of hot coffee.
"Very well, I will shoot according to your storyboard today. PJ, you are wearing the red one." Joe Dante said and handed the storyboard to the director of photography.The two began to discuss the shooting details:
"The camera starts with a close-up shot of the freshmen, then pulls back, then rises to give a panoramic view of the playground, and then pushes forward to the welcome platform of the Science Club at the station of the good girl student..."
After the two discussed it, Joe came over and spread out the storyboard, and explained it to Allen.Allen nodded in agreement.
At this time, the group performers returned to the playground one after another. Seeing this, Ronald picked up the electric horn and guided the group performers to their positions.
The red-haired photography assistant began to cover the film box with a black cloth to prevent exposure, and stretched his hands in to install the film in the dark.
The director of photography called the other two strong assistants, and several people began to check the installed camera rocker arm, went up and down a few times, and started testing.
In less than a minute, the red hair installed the film in the black cloth bag in the dark.He came over again and picked up a roll of black tape and pasted it along the edge of the film box.For low-budget movies, they rent second-hand machines, and the quality of the machines is unknown.So tape the gaps with black tape to prevent accidental light leakage and ruin the film.
After wrapping up the film box, the director of photography began to instruct the assistants to lift the camera to the rocker arm and install it, and then started to test it up and down. The rocker arm is also a rented second-hand product.
Co-director Joe Dante starts to play Day Young as Good Girl...
The crew is like a big machine, and the various staff members are like gears. Under the order of the director, they start to run in an orderly manner.
Ronald liked the order.A good director is like a general, and a film crew is like a squad of soldiers. Filmmaking is a team job, and a director needs to be a leader.
The leading actors and supporting actors stand in their positions, ready to start the rehearsal.Joe Dante is discussing details with the director sitting in a chair.
Ronald picked up the electric loudspeaker and began to organize group performances, acting as a good human background. "Boys and girls from Van Nuys High School, we are about to start rehearsal with makeup, please take the positions you have determined before, please stand on the positions you have determined before..."
"Football team please come to me, ok, your game uniforms are great. You stand here at the beginning, after I give the signal, you rush over here on the map, pick up the freshman, and carry him away like a joke .do you understand?"
The director signaled to Ronald to start the rehearsal.Several actors began to act in a fake manner. In order to save the best performance state for the official filming, the actors in the walking and rehearsal were all ordered.The extras work well together, except for one or two peeking at the camera.
The director of photography, Dean Candy, held the camera himself, climbed onto the rocker arm, and followed the official camera movement trajectory, and the director expressed his satisfaction.
Ronald picked up the electric speaker again: "All the extras, please stand at the starting position." The leading actors and supporting actors also stood at the starting position.
The staff all exited the range covered by the camera, and everyone waited patiently and expectantly.
Co-director Joe Dante said two more details to star Day Yang that need attention.Everyone held their breath, waiting for the arrival of the magic light.
Just after 06:28, the light in the air, like an athlete hearing the firing of the starting gun, suddenly began to flow.The sun has not yet risen above the horizon, but is slowly lighting up the sky and background.
This is a beautiful color. The metal body of the camera has a light blue luster, as if covering the body with a layer of armor.
The hairpins worn by several female high school students, and the large black-rimmed glasses worn by the obedient schoolgirls also began to glint faintly.Everyone seemed afraid to breathe, waiting for the magic light to come.
The red-haired camera assistant trotted to measure the light in front of the actors, and then ran back to the camera to report the light metering data to adjust the aperture.
The uncle who carried the long recording pole raised the long recording pole above the actor's head, trying to get as close as possible to collect the sound, but kept it far enough away that it would not be photographed by the camera.
"Just the right light!" the DP yelled.
Receiving director Allen's eye signal, Ronald picked up the electric speaker: "Okay, let's make the first official filming, get ready!"
Jim pressed the whistle three times in coordination, "beep...beep...beep..." This is the signal to notify the ban.
Everyone is no longer whispering, waiting for orders.
Ronald looked to the director, and Joe Dante motioned for him to start.Ronald said through the electric horn:
"recorder?"
"Open!" The recording team replied.
"camera?"
"Run at full speed!" The red hair signaled that the motor of the camera had accelerated to 24 frames per second, and it was ready to shoot.
Picking up the small slate, Jenny ran to the camera and held it up, and began to say: "'High School Life' Scene 127, the first shot, the first time."
He knocked down the slate with a snap, and quickly exited the shooting area.
"Shooting. (Action!)"
Alan Akush, who was sitting in the director's chair, said softly.
"Action! (Action!)"
Ronald loudly delivered the director's order with an electric horn.
The show begins.
A freshman looked at the map on the wall. There was a red cross on it. Below the red cross was written: "Your location is here."
"Where am I?" the freshman said to himself.
The director of photography commanded the camera to move horizontally, and then slowly backed away. The viewfinder frame stretched from the newborn’s upper body to his whole body, and then continued to back away. Three football team players entered the picture from the right.
"Oh, here's a new student!" "New student, new student!"
Members of the football team, in game attire, rush forward to pick up the extras who play freshmen.
"Where are you going to get me!"
"Put it in the locker!"
"Oh, don't, don't throw me in the locker."
The camera's rocker arm rises to the top of the head at a constant speed, and begins to switch to a bird's-eye view.Rugby players carry freshmen out of the camera frame.Then the camera moved slowly, and the screen framed the welcome stage of the Science Society where the good girl Xueba was.
The camera points to the heroine played by Dai Yang, one of the heroines.It began to descend slowly, and finally stopped, pointing to the table in front of her.
There are several bottles for chemical experiments on the table, filled with red, green and blue water, and next to it is a sign "Science Society, Kate Lambert, Chemical Reaction Demonstration".
Ronald stood not far behind the camera watching the shoot.This is one of the few main scenes in this low-budget movie. It cost a lot of money and will be cut into the opening scene of the movie in the future.
Today's first shot seems to be going well. I secretly compared the real shot and the revelation in the dream. The two are basically the same, Ronald nodded.I'll see if the director is satisfied later, I'll save this one for printing.
But the director hasn't stopped yet, it seems that he has some special ideas.Is it to keep the shot longer for easier editing?Or are there other special artistic considerations?
No, this is too long.The actor's expression had already started to stiffen. Dai Yang, who played the good girl, turned her head to look at the camera. She was looking for the director, asking for a signal from the director, whether to continue acting.
Why don't you call Cut?
Ronald also turned his head to see what Director Allen was thinking.
A thin and tall man who is close to two meters, the director began to tilt his head gradually while sitting on the chair, did he use this angle to move the camera?No, the director, why...
Ronald quickly picked up the electric horn:
"Cut! Cut! Cut!"
Everyone was frightened by his hasty shout, and they all turned their heads to look at him suddenly.
"The director has passed out!"
(End of this chapter)
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