Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Back at the scene, Ronald found Jim: "The boss will come over, it will take 2 hours, before that, we will continue to shoot."

"Wow, so you continue to be a director?"

"Yes, when the boss takes over. He and his assistant Gail will be there. We have to hurry up. What's the next scene? You'll be in charge of the position."

"The next scene is Kate, the good girl, talking to handsome Tom." Jim picked up the storyboard and handed it to Ronald. "Congratulations, Ronnie. You deserve it."

...

Ronald brought in Vincent van Patten to play Handsome Tom. At first glance, he is strong, with blond hair, and wearing a green and white school uniform. He is the dream lover in the eyes of American high school girls.

Vincent is an American handsome guy. He himself is not like the old-fashioned nerd Tom in the script, but a sporty sunny boy.

Ronald recalled the image in his dream. He played the role of the old and solid Ma Bao Nan, and his temperament did not match.

However, if he can act as a film, he must be good at acting, so the problem is...

"Clothing, what about clothing?"

"Here" Linda the fat dresser raised her hand.

Ronald pointed to Vincent's chest, "Add a tie and see. I need him to be a very serious Puritan homebred look."

"OK, I'm ready, I'll bring it for you to choose." Clothesman Linda picked up two ties, one with blue and green stripes and the other with dark red.

"This one," Ronald pointed to the blue-green striped one, "would go with this green-and-white school uniform."

...

After arranging the actors here, Ronald went to the camera team again and arranged directly: "We want a long shot for this one, 10 seconds. Tom came out of the room, wearing a school uniform and tie, only greeted the male classmates, and finally sat here to eat. Breakfast. A master shot looking down from the jib,"

Roger signaled the location of the camera, and then pointed to the teaching building: "The male protagonist came out of the building with a novel in his hand that no one was reading, and he was out of tune with the cheerful dancing crowd around him."

After describing the scene in the dream to everyone, he asked, "Mr. Candy, what do you think?"

"Did you hear it?", the director of photography turned back and shouted to several assistants, "Start work."

The red-haired Daisuke looked at Ronald, a little disbelieving that these words came from his mouth, to a bit of the power of an old director who has been in the film industry for decades.

"How do you feel out of place?" Director of Photography Dean Candy asked back, "You tell me how to move the camera."

"No, it doesn't depend on moving the camera," Ronald explained. "This scene is about the width of three people from left to right. Let the camera follow Vincent all the time and keep him in the center of the picture."

Ronald gestures to the director of photography: "When other people come up to say hello, the frequency of walking and movements is normal, and Tom will take a half-shot, so that he can shoot out of place."

"Okay, I understand." The director of photography nodded, "You go to the rehearsal of the actors, and I leave it here."

"Thank you, Mr. Candy."

After Ronald thanked him, he turned around and hurried to talk to the actors.

"Hey, it's your first scene today, right?" Ronald looked at Vincent who had put on his tie, and it turned out to be a bit rustic and dull.

"Yes, how do you arrange my appearance?" Vincent replied.

"I will let the camera follow you all the time, so that the audience will be impressed by you. Come out from the room, make an appearance here, then take a book, walk this way, say hello to many male classmates, and finally sit on this seat, eat Breakfast. Then wait for Kate to come and talk to you."

Ronald demonstrated his position again, "What do you think?"

Vincent imitated it again: "Appear... get the book... go... say hello... sit down."

Ronald said: "Perfect.

What do you think of this shot? Any ideas? "

Vincent was very happy, "No problem, I think this is very good." It seems that he is more satisfied with the picture and duration of his shots.

Ronald gave him a thumbs up, "Pay attention to the frequency of your movements, it's like reacting half a beat slower."

"No problem, look at me," Vincent stroked his handsome hair.

"Oh, you messed up your hair. Gigi, fix his hair." Ronnie called the makeup artist and hairstylist.

Acting is a troublesome profession. If the makeup and hairstyle are slightly inconsistent, the camera will be magnified exponentially. So after each shot, check the touch-up.

Ronald went to the director of photography again: "How are you preparing?"

"No problem, I've got good coverage with a 20mm lens. Just drop the aperture one stop and you'll get the same brightness as the previous lens."

Ronald looked up at the sky. The sun had risen and the school walls blocked most of the direct light. But the brightness of the environment is much brighter than before. The photographer had to make some technical adjustments to get the front and rear images to be about as bright. Otherwise, the flickering picture during the screening will cause the audience to collapse.

Shooting in natural light can be tricky, but I have a very experienced director of photography.

Ronald and Jim whispered, getting ready for the official shoot.

The plot goes like this: Kate sees Tom, shows a nympho look, and takes the initiative to sit next to Tom and strike up a conversation with him. Tom doesn't like schoolboys, he prefers cheerleader Liv Randall. After saying hello in disgust, he turned his head to read the novel. The camera finally stopped on Kate Rambo's embarrassed and depressed face.

"Start shooting (!)"

The shot is well done, from start to finish.

"Cut!"

Next is the filming of the dialogue.

The camera switched to a medium shot and first aimed at Vincent. Dai Yang sat opposite him, with only one shoulder exposed in the frame. The two acted out this conversation again.

"Cut, it's over."

Then moved the camera to the back of Vincent, aiming at the good girl played by Day Yang. This time it was Vincent's turn to show a shoulder. The two met for the third time.

The shot is good, waiting for the director of photography to confirm. Shooting a movie is not like shooting a TV series. You can watch instant replays. Whether a shot is good or not, whether it meets the director's requirements, you must ask the director of photography to nod.

"OK"

Then start shooting the reaction shots.

Red-haired camera assistant, changing to a 100mm close-up lens. Carefully push the camera close enough to almost touch the actor's face.

The director of photography looked at the light and shook his head: "It's a little past the best time, the direct light is a bit strong now, the shadow on the face in the close-up is too strong, put on the reflector."

The lighting assistant was half-kneeling, holding up a foam reflector, reflecting sunlight onto the actor's face, making the shadows less noticeable. At the same time, you have to be careful not to let your hand enter the viewfinder, so as not to wear it.

"Give me a shy smile..." Ronald commanded.

"it is good!!"

Vincent stood behind the camera and was approached for the fourth time. The camera took Day Young's face into the shot and printed it on the negative. Waiting to be developed, reprinted, copied, and finally enlarged on the big screen, seen by thousands of boys and become their dream lover.

"Cut!"

This set of shooting methods is what Roger Coleman said: "one master, two shoulders and three reactions". It's standard Hollywood workmanship. First, take a panorama shot, then use an over-the-shoulder camera to shoot the conversation twice, and finally take a few close-up shots to add to the other party's reaction after hearing the conversation.

One advantage is that it shoots fast.

Filming is boring and time-consuming, every scene has to be rearranged, actors have to make up, move, rehearse, and indoor scenes have a particularly time-consuming lighting session.

The low-budget film "High School of Rock" was shot very quickly, and it took more than an hour to complete a Hollywood method.

Let the actors leave the stage, and the next thing to do is the dance scene. Rock music played, and the students danced to a strong rhythm.

In fact, this scene has little to do with the plot, and mainly shows a rock and roll atmosphere.

What's more important is to come with a few cool beauties and dance some beautiful dances, which can be regarded as ice cream for the audience. In low-cost youth exploitation films, this inexplicable dance is also a standard.

The protagonist of the dance drama is the choreographer. How to dance and how to dance well depends on the level of choreography.

The choreographer of the crew is a Polish-born named Siana. Speaks with a strong Eastern European accent.

"Ronaldo, although Ramones sings rock, I'm going to let the students dance disco."

Ronald was stunned for a moment before realizing that Ronaldo was himself. "OK, what are you thinking about doing this?"

"Disco is better."

The crew did not have actors with deep dance skills, and a large number of extras could only dance some popular dances. Compared to the old-fashioned swing dance, the disco that is now popular can be danced by everyone.

This dance is now red and purple, last year's "Saturday Night Fever", and this year's "Grease", set off a national disco popularity. The male protagonist of both films is John Travolta, who has also become a national idol, a new generation of Hollywood dancers.

"You have two beauties with a particularly good figure, you should let them dance more in front of the camera." Siana said.

"Oh, who is it?"