NOVEL WEB Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 7 Asking the Boss
Chapter 7 Asking the Boss
"New World" Productions is a company that specializes in low-budget films. The official shooting time of the 90-minute "Rock High School" is only three weeks, minus the Sunday rest time, it is actually only 18 days.
So it is as fast as you can shoot as many blocks as you can.In order to save time, everyone had no rest time after one shot, and immediately began to prepare for the next shot.
The crew are all experienced, very accustomed to the rhythm of New World production.
Without Ronald's order, the three strong guys in the camera crew began to remove the camera from the rocker arm and moved it to the front.The first camera assistant with red hair started to install the gimbal, and then everyone worked together to put the camera on it.
Clothes and make-up, I was rushing to touch up Dai Yang's makeup, and the powder puff flew away.
Soon, Ronald picked up the electric horn and gave another order, and another order was successfully completed.
The next scene is the appearance of the main character, PJ Souls.She plays Liv Randall, who puts a "The Ramones" record on the turntable on the playground, and school bully Kate Lambeau, who hooks up the line to the school stereo.
As soon as the switch was turned on, the indoor and outdoor speakers of the whole school began to play the punk rock of the "Ramons" band.
Shooting this scene required a re-set.Jim began to direct the various crew assistants to start moving props. "Put the record player here" The wires that Dai Yang will connect are placed here.The recording department began to connect the speakers in the playground to the tape recorders that actually played the songs.
Leaving the scene to Jim, Ronald himself went over to discuss her first play today with PJ Souls.
PJ Sauls was a slender beauty who stood out in her chosen red top with a black and white spotted collar.He was wearing leather pants and Converse canvas shoes on his feet.In 1978, this was the rock punk girl, the most popular look.
"Beautiful! You had a blast today, PJ"
"Hey Ronnie, what's it like being a director?"
"That's right, maybe I'll have to take a photo with you later, as a souvenir of my career as a director."
"Hahaha, no problem. You're very nice, Ronnie."
"This scene is your appearance, have you figured out how to catch the audience's eyes?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm going to give the audience a very energetic image of a girl at the beginning, bouncing around..."
Ronald's qualifications, and acting skills, are not enough to guide PJ Souls.Seeing that what she said was similar to the image in his dream, he pretended to appreciate it very much and nodded frequently.
"Perfect, let's do it again later."
At this time, Jim came over and said that the props and scenery had been set up.
"Please..." Ronald made a gesture, leading the two heroines to enter the stage together.
This is a long shot, the director of photography and Ronald mentioned, using hyperfocal distance.
The red-haired photography assistant looked at the aperture, and after converting it, said: "5 meters, 5 meters away from the camera lens is the hyperfocal distance." That means that all scenes can be clearly shot without focusing.
This method of hyperfocal shooting, which Ronald has seen several times before in the "Rock High School" crew, is said to have a very good aesthetic effect.But he thinks it is more important to save time, and take as many shots as possible.
Ronald starts from the camera and walks 7 steps, still far away from the actors.Reassuringly motioned Jim to begin.
Jim gets banned for three blows of the whistle.
"Attention everyone, we are officially filming..."
"Scene 128 of high school life, the first shot, the first article."
The shot begins with PJ Souls, who puts a vinyl record in the turntable and hits play.
The camera then pans to Dai Yang, who pretends to connect two wires with exposed copper wires.
Ronald motioned for the recording crew to play music. The music of the "Ramons" band "Do You Wanna Dance? (Do You Wanna Dance?)" began to sound, and the prelude of "Didi, Didi, Dididi" came from the speakers...
"Cut!"
Ronald feels that he is a tool man, and the old fritters PJ can control the performance, and the artistry of photography is handed over to the director of photography, Mr. Condi.As for himself, he only wanted to see if it was the same as the picture revealed in the dream.Degenerated to only called Action and Cut.
"That's fine, anyway, I'm a temporary director and I don't know anything."
Ronald consoled himself.
"How about this one?"
Dean Candie assured him it was all right.
"Do you need to keep one?"
"You are the director!"
"Okay, let's keep one more."
After shooting this shot, the sun has risen, and the magic light will dissipate after ten minutes.
Ronald looked at the shooting log, and there was a panoramic shot of the schoolgirl fleeing after the female principal came to the playground to lecture and threatened to detain the students.
"Okay, let's take another shot of this and then rest."
After discussing with the director of photography, Ronald directed the group performers to the middle of the playground.
"Mr. Candie, are these people enough?"
"It's still a little empty, it can't fill the lens."
"All on, all on, all crew assistants, costumes, make-up, stand-ins without shooting missions, stand in the back row for me!"
Ronald drove 20 crew members to the back row of the playground, and stood in the back row in the camera, and no one paid attention to their clothing and age.
"Recording...camera...
Start shooting Action!"
"One, two, three, run!" Ronald said, and the extras started to scatter,
"Cut, Cut"
Ronald hurriedly stopped. "Too fast? What do you think, Mr. Candie?"
"Yes, and the group performers all ran out of the screen from the nearest direction, and the shot was only less than 2 seconds long, not long enough."
Jim interrupted suddenly: "Can you shoot in fast motion?"
The director of photography rarely replied: "You mean downgrading the shooting?"
"Yes." Seeing that Ronald didn't quite understand, Jim explained to him in a low voice:
"Shooting down is to shoot at a relatively low camera speed, so that under the normal speed of 24 frames per second, the actors will become fast-moving, just like we watch early silent films. It achieves a funny effect."
"Director, how do you decide?" Director of Photography Dean Candy still spoke as little as possible.
"OK, let's shoot in reduced mode." Ronald said as he walked towards the group performers, "We still have to solve the problem of insufficient time." He recalled the scene he dreamed of last night and had an idea in his mind.
"Boys and girls, let's change the way of running. With me as the center line, all the people on my left, run to the right; all the people on my right, run to the left."
"Everyone returns to the initial position and starts." Ronald turned back and said to the camera crew.
"Not a rehearsal?" Jim asked.
"No, I want this first time without rehearsal. Let them be unprepared, we catch the real reaction"
……
"One, two, three... run!" A few minutes later Ronald gave the order again, and now all the group performers ran in the opposite direction from last time, and the crowd inevitably collided, dodged, and screamed, this time the time was long enough . "
"Cut!" Ronald turned to the director of photography, "Mr. Candy, let's go and call the boss, Mr. Coleman first?"
The DP looks at the light, and the magic light moment is basically over, "Okay, let's go."
"Okay, the crew has a 30-minute break." Jim picked up the electric speaker and began to announce the 30-minute break, and began to arrange the scenery for the next scene.
Ronald pulled the director of photography and explained with the dean of education sent by the school to supervise. The two entered the principal's office and started calling the office of New World Production.
On an old-fashioned dial telephone, each number dialed must wait for the dial to turn. Ronald organized a speech to his boss, Roger Coleman.
"Beep...beep...beep...beep, after waiting for several times, someone finally answered the phone. Good morning, New World Production Company."
A pleasant female voice came from the microphone, softly.
"Is that Gail? I'm Ronald, the 'Rock High School' assistant."
"Oh, Ronnie. Calling the company so early? If I hadn't come to the company this morning, no one would have answered your call. What's the matter?"
"Um, yes, I was worried about calling too early and no one was around. Is Mr. Coleman in the office? Listen, there's an emergency here, and Mr. Dean Candy, the director of photography, is with me. Director Alan He got sick and passed out on set, Joe has taken him to the hospital, we need a new director."
On the other side of the phone was Roger Coleman's assistant to the president Gail, the assistant to the president of New World Company, not the kind of office in a big studio.Roger Coleman, a stingy boss, uses people to death.In addition to handling things in the office, Gail has to travel around the scene for him, as busy as a real estate agent.
"Don't panic, I'm going to call Roger right now. Wait for my call back. What's your number? (818) 778-6801? Okay, don't walk away, I'll hang up later."
Putting down the receiver, Ronald looked at Dean Candy beside him.
"So, Mr. Candi, what do you think happened to the director? Why don't you let me take him to the hospital, and Qiao Hao stay and continue to direct?"
(End of this chapter)
"New World" Productions is a company that specializes in low-budget films. The official shooting time of the 90-minute "Rock High School" is only three weeks, minus the Sunday rest time, it is actually only 18 days.
So it is as fast as you can shoot as many blocks as you can.In order to save time, everyone had no rest time after one shot, and immediately began to prepare for the next shot.
The crew are all experienced, very accustomed to the rhythm of New World production.
Without Ronald's order, the three strong guys in the camera crew began to remove the camera from the rocker arm and moved it to the front.The first camera assistant with red hair started to install the gimbal, and then everyone worked together to put the camera on it.
Clothes and make-up, I was rushing to touch up Dai Yang's makeup, and the powder puff flew away.
Soon, Ronald picked up the electric horn and gave another order, and another order was successfully completed.
The next scene is the appearance of the main character, PJ Souls.She plays Liv Randall, who puts a "The Ramones" record on the turntable on the playground, and school bully Kate Lambeau, who hooks up the line to the school stereo.
As soon as the switch was turned on, the indoor and outdoor speakers of the whole school began to play the punk rock of the "Ramons" band.
Shooting this scene required a re-set.Jim began to direct the various crew assistants to start moving props. "Put the record player here" The wires that Dai Yang will connect are placed here.The recording department began to connect the speakers in the playground to the tape recorders that actually played the songs.
Leaving the scene to Jim, Ronald himself went over to discuss her first play today with PJ Souls.
PJ Sauls was a slender beauty who stood out in her chosen red top with a black and white spotted collar.He was wearing leather pants and Converse canvas shoes on his feet.In 1978, this was the rock punk girl, the most popular look.
"Beautiful! You had a blast today, PJ"
"Hey Ronnie, what's it like being a director?"
"That's right, maybe I'll have to take a photo with you later, as a souvenir of my career as a director."
"Hahaha, no problem. You're very nice, Ronnie."
"This scene is your appearance, have you figured out how to catch the audience's eyes?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm going to give the audience a very energetic image of a girl at the beginning, bouncing around..."
Ronald's qualifications, and acting skills, are not enough to guide PJ Souls.Seeing that what she said was similar to the image in his dream, he pretended to appreciate it very much and nodded frequently.
"Perfect, let's do it again later."
At this time, Jim came over and said that the props and scenery had been set up.
"Please..." Ronald made a gesture, leading the two heroines to enter the stage together.
This is a long shot, the director of photography and Ronald mentioned, using hyperfocal distance.
The red-haired photography assistant looked at the aperture, and after converting it, said: "5 meters, 5 meters away from the camera lens is the hyperfocal distance." That means that all scenes can be clearly shot without focusing.
This method of hyperfocal shooting, which Ronald has seen several times before in the "Rock High School" crew, is said to have a very good aesthetic effect.But he thinks it is more important to save time, and take as many shots as possible.
Ronald starts from the camera and walks 7 steps, still far away from the actors.Reassuringly motioned Jim to begin.
Jim gets banned for three blows of the whistle.
"Attention everyone, we are officially filming..."
"Scene 128 of high school life, the first shot, the first article."
The shot begins with PJ Souls, who puts a vinyl record in the turntable and hits play.
The camera then pans to Dai Yang, who pretends to connect two wires with exposed copper wires.
Ronald motioned for the recording crew to play music. The music of the "Ramons" band "Do You Wanna Dance? (Do You Wanna Dance?)" began to sound, and the prelude of "Didi, Didi, Dididi" came from the speakers...
"Cut!"
Ronald feels that he is a tool man, and the old fritters PJ can control the performance, and the artistry of photography is handed over to the director of photography, Mr. Condi.As for himself, he only wanted to see if it was the same as the picture revealed in the dream.Degenerated to only called Action and Cut.
"That's fine, anyway, I'm a temporary director and I don't know anything."
Ronald consoled himself.
"How about this one?"
Dean Candie assured him it was all right.
"Do you need to keep one?"
"You are the director!"
"Okay, let's keep one more."
After shooting this shot, the sun has risen, and the magic light will dissipate after ten minutes.
Ronald looked at the shooting log, and there was a panoramic shot of the schoolgirl fleeing after the female principal came to the playground to lecture and threatened to detain the students.
"Okay, let's take another shot of this and then rest."
After discussing with the director of photography, Ronald directed the group performers to the middle of the playground.
"Mr. Candie, are these people enough?"
"It's still a little empty, it can't fill the lens."
"All on, all on, all crew assistants, costumes, make-up, stand-ins without shooting missions, stand in the back row for me!"
Ronald drove 20 crew members to the back row of the playground, and stood in the back row in the camera, and no one paid attention to their clothing and age.
"Recording...camera...
Start shooting Action!"
"One, two, three, run!" Ronald said, and the extras started to scatter,
"Cut, Cut"
Ronald hurriedly stopped. "Too fast? What do you think, Mr. Candie?"
"Yes, and the group performers all ran out of the screen from the nearest direction, and the shot was only less than 2 seconds long, not long enough."
Jim interrupted suddenly: "Can you shoot in fast motion?"
The director of photography rarely replied: "You mean downgrading the shooting?"
"Yes." Seeing that Ronald didn't quite understand, Jim explained to him in a low voice:
"Shooting down is to shoot at a relatively low camera speed, so that under the normal speed of 24 frames per second, the actors will become fast-moving, just like we watch early silent films. It achieves a funny effect."
"Director, how do you decide?" Director of Photography Dean Candy still spoke as little as possible.
"OK, let's shoot in reduced mode." Ronald said as he walked towards the group performers, "We still have to solve the problem of insufficient time." He recalled the scene he dreamed of last night and had an idea in his mind.
"Boys and girls, let's change the way of running. With me as the center line, all the people on my left, run to the right; all the people on my right, run to the left."
"Everyone returns to the initial position and starts." Ronald turned back and said to the camera crew.
"Not a rehearsal?" Jim asked.
"No, I want this first time without rehearsal. Let them be unprepared, we catch the real reaction"
……
"One, two, three... run!" A few minutes later Ronald gave the order again, and now all the group performers ran in the opposite direction from last time, and the crowd inevitably collided, dodged, and screamed, this time the time was long enough . "
"Cut!" Ronald turned to the director of photography, "Mr. Candy, let's go and call the boss, Mr. Coleman first?"
The DP looks at the light, and the magic light moment is basically over, "Okay, let's go."
"Okay, the crew has a 30-minute break." Jim picked up the electric speaker and began to announce the 30-minute break, and began to arrange the scenery for the next scene.
Ronald pulled the director of photography and explained with the dean of education sent by the school to supervise. The two entered the principal's office and started calling the office of New World Production.
On an old-fashioned dial telephone, each number dialed must wait for the dial to turn. Ronald organized a speech to his boss, Roger Coleman.
"Beep...beep...beep...beep, after waiting for several times, someone finally answered the phone. Good morning, New World Production Company."
A pleasant female voice came from the microphone, softly.
"Is that Gail? I'm Ronald, the 'Rock High School' assistant."
"Oh, Ronnie. Calling the company so early? If I hadn't come to the company this morning, no one would have answered your call. What's the matter?"
"Um, yes, I was worried about calling too early and no one was around. Is Mr. Coleman in the office? Listen, there's an emergency here, and Mr. Dean Candy, the director of photography, is with me. Director Alan He got sick and passed out on set, Joe has taken him to the hospital, we need a new director."
On the other side of the phone was Roger Coleman's assistant to the president Gail, the assistant to the president of New World Company, not the kind of office in a big studio.Roger Coleman, a stingy boss, uses people to death.In addition to handling things in the office, Gail has to travel around the scene for him, as busy as a real estate agent.
"Don't panic, I'm going to call Roger right now. Wait for my call back. What's your number? (818) 778-6801? Okay, don't walk away, I'll hang up later."
Putting down the receiver, Ronald looked at Dean Candy beside him.
"So, Mr. Candi, what do you think happened to the director? Why don't you let me take him to the hospital, and Qiao Hao stay and continue to direct?"
(End of this chapter)
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