Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Cut!"

The director shook his head helplessly, "NG! (No Good, meaning unqualified)"

The staff sighed neatly, "Alas!"

This is the Whiskey-GoGo bar, rented by New World Productions for the film "High School of Rock". The last scene of the crew on Friday afternoon has already taken 4 shots, and the 5th shot is still NG.

Everyone can't get off work early, and they can't have seizures. He could only look at the rock band "Ramones" who participated in the movie with resentment in his eyes.

Director Aaron Akush got up and went to the band manager to replace the always-mistaken bassist Didi Raymond.

Co-director Joe Dante sat there, trying to figure out what went wrong. It was obviously a very simple scene. The content was the guitarist, bassist, and drummer. They took a few boxes of pizza and walked into the backstage lounge of the concert. Bassist Didi Raymond says the line "Pizza, here comes the pizza, let's eat!"

Why did it not work after 5 shots? This Didi, either said the wrong line, or the pizza fell to the ground, or the small table was knocked over...

Crew assistant Ronald Lee watched the entire process from behind the camera. It's a bit strange, the bassist Didi played very hard, he really wanted to play well, and every time he tried his best to shout that line.

But every time after the shouting, when the three of them opened the pizza box, Didi would make some low-level mistakes, and it seemed like... yes, it seemed like it was intentional.

The three of them sat on the chairs to rest, and whoever was directed by the director 5 times would feel a little dejected.

Seeing that the band members were a little out of energy, Ronald quickly walked to the table in the corner behind the camera, took three paper cups, dipped "great" Nescafe instant coffee, and brought them over.

Didi, the coolest of the four band members, took the coffee lazily without saying thank you. Only looking at the other side of the room with the corner of his eyes, there was a contemptuous sneer at the corner of his mouth.

Ronald followed his gaze, and it turned out to be the fourth member of the band - lead singer Joey

Joey's shot was done first, and now he's chatting with a fan.

Ronald turned his head to look this way again, and Diddy turned his back to the other two band members, sipping his coffee.

A conjecture suddenly appeared in Ronald's mind.

Walking quickly to the director's chair, Ronald greeted Joe Dante, approached him and said softly, "Mr. Dante, I find that Didi is a little dissatisfied with lead singer Joey..."

Joe Dante listened for a while, then suddenly his eyes brightened and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Not entirely sure, but worth a try."

Just as director Allen came back from a failed negotiation, "No, the band manager said to ensure that the four members have equal playing time, and refused to change the line of Didi Raymond."

Equal time...

Ronald and Joe Dante glanced at each other, feeling more confident.

Joe Dan pulled over the director's chair, let the very tall Allen sit down to rest first, and whispered in his ear: "Ronald just found out... Why don't we try another shot?"

"Oh my god, you might be right." Allen jumped up from his chair and went to coordinate with the band manager.

Joe Dante also got up to explain the new shooting method to Didi Raymond, and at the same time asked the makeup artist to come up and touch up his makeup.

Ronald saw behind the camera, the director of photography looked at him curiously, and grinned: "The director will change the way of shooting."

Before long, the crew was ready to start all over again.

Director Alan shouted: "Start! ()"

Didi Raymond burst into the camera first, holding a large stack of pizza alone. He put the pizza on the small table and shouted, "Pizza, pizza is here, let's eat!"

The other two members of the band, the drummer and the guitarist, just ran into the picture from left to right,

The three opened a box of pizza, and each took a piece and bit down hard.

"Cut! This one is good, it's over!"

Everyone shouted "Yeah" and applauded, and today's scene was finally finished.

...

Ronald took the form and asked the actors to sign one by one to confirm the working hours. Then hand over the signed form to Jim, who is also a crew assistant.

Jim is also a young man, with medium-parted long hair, a beard, and a Beatles outfit. Both of them are crew assistants who "do errands". They have the most contact with each other at work and are the best friends.

Jim put away the form, saw that the Ramones had gone far, leaned in and asked quietly, "What did you tell the director just now so that Dee Dee can pass?"

Ronald smiled slightly: "When I brought Dee Dee coffee, I found that he refused to accept the lead singer Joey. The previous shot gave Joey a close-up shot, and this shot is a medium shot of the three of them together. So I asked the director to try and give him a one-shot shot."

The two smiled knowingly, not only for the actors in the same crew, but also among the rock stars of the same band, they also care about their status.

Ronald looked at his watch and got up to go.

"Why don't you just go to the party?" Jim wondered. The crew is on the spot tonight, at the "Whiskey-Go Go" bar, for a weekend party.

"No, I still have to call my aunt in New York."

"Don't forget that we have to shoot tomorrow. While the students are on vacation, we will go to Van Nuys High School to film the morning scene. We will gather at 05:30." Jim handed over a notice with a map on it.

Taking the notice, Ronald walked out of the bar, got into his car, and drove out of the parking lot.

When passing the crew's van, the camera crew was loading the equipment. Ronald honked his horn twice, signaled to the standing conductor's camera guide, and turned left onto the main road.

On December 15, 1978, in Los Angeles, daylight saving time ended, and the clocks were turned back one hour, just after 6 p.m., but it was already dark.

My aunt must have been waiting for a call. The time difference between Los Angeles and New York is three hours, and it's already 9pm there. It's too late to call when I get home. Ronald stopped at the phone booth not far ahead.

Pulling out a handful of coins and stuffing a few into the coin slots, Ronald began dialing: 1-718-317 7157. After dialing the phone, there was almost only one bell and it was picked up.

"Hello, Aunt Karen, I'm Ronald."

"Oh Ronnie, how are you? (Ronnie is Ronald's nickname)"

"Everything is fine for me. I have been working on the set for the past two weeks, and this time I have met a lot of people in the circle. When the filming is finished next week, more people will come to me to take pictures for the audition.

There are a lot of people in Los Angeles who want to enter the film and television industry, and the market here is huge. I figured it out, and I earn more than at home. For $50 for a set of audition photos, I can earn enough for my first year of college tuition, books, and housing in three months. "

"Great, I'm so proud of you, Ronnie. You're a good boy, and your father and mother will be proud of you in heaven.

I married Steve right out of high school, and after he died in Vietnam, I could only get a job as a restaurant waiter, not earning enough money for you to go to college. But you must go to college. This is what I promised your mother, and you must do it. "

Aunt Karen was a little excited and brought up her deceased husband and Ronald's parents who died in a car accident, which made Ronald sigh for a while.

"Don't worry, Aunt Karen. I'm sure I can make enough money this year. If I go to a public university in New York State, the tuition fee is waived, but it's not a heavy burden."

"I'm just a restaurant waiter, I can't save much money..." Aunt Karen began to blame herself again.

"Don't say that, Aunt Karen, you raised your daughter Donna by yourself, took in me, and spent a lot of money on my aphasia."

After 6 p.m. on weekends, long-distance calls are half price, 29 cents for the first minute, 19 cents a minute after that, and 10 cents a minute for local calls. The two chatted on the phone, Ronald kept refilling the coin, and after a while, the coin dropped by more than half.

"Not enough coins, let's talk about it for now. I love you, Aunt Karen."

"I love you too, my little Ronnie."

Ronald hung up the phone, pressed the return button a few times, and put the coins in his pocket. Get in the car, make a U-turn, and drive towards the rented apartment.

Driving, Ronald's thoughts were full of thoughts. Aunt Karen and Cousin Donna were the only relatives he had in "this world".

Three years ago, Ronald Lee was still a Chinese. As soon as he closed his eyes when he slept, he traveled to a hospital in the United States. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Aunt Karen.

His parents were killed in a car accident, and only Ronald, who was sitting in the back seat, survived.

Aunt Karen lost her husband in the Vietnam War and lives with her daughter Donna. After learning of her sister's family car accident, Ronald, an orphan, was taken from the hospital to his home in rural New York Staten Island, where he took care of him until he recovered.

After that, Ronald was transferred to Totterville High School in Staten Island.

Thinking of what was on his mind, Ronald stepped on the accelerator and drove to his home in the direction of Venice Beach.