Exploiting Hollywood 1980

A section of 46th Street in Midtown Manhattan has been cordoned off by the police since the beginning of the morning for the filming of "Famous Around the World".

The brigade moved from Harlan Middle School to the door of a stone building here to shoot the location of the theme song dance.

This building was chosen as the gate to the school in the movie, for the simple reason that Alan Parker likes a high gate for the acting school, so he found a similar one on 46th Street.

The road between the intersections to the left and right of the gate was blocked by the producers for three days for filming.

One end of the crosswalk, which intersects 46th Street, was also requisitioned for parking prop vehicles.

In order to film this highlight, the crew also hired 30 additional on-set assistants with Motorola's wireless walkie-talkies to assist with the on-site shooting.

Ronald stood behind the camera and watched as the field assistants, dressed in uniform white T-shirts with "Fame" on their chests, took orders from DP Michael Ceresin.

"My child's father is an Oscar winner." The words on the back of the white T-shirt made Ronald, who was standing beside him, smile knowingly.

"When the director announced the shooting, you mainly maintained the order of vehicles entering the venue. After the actor playing Anglo drove the taxi with the horn into the venue, the team began to prepare..."

After watching a new choreography from last night, Alan Parker decided to add some more authenticity to the scene.

All the vehicles are no longer parked on the road in advance, but queue up on the cross road that intersects 46th Street, and then drive into 46th Street at a slow speed. Try to make the scene where the dancer stops the vehicle as real as possible.

"All vehicles, approach slowly by number, with a speed limit of no more than 6 mph. I repeat, no more than 6 mph."

"Prepare for a rehearsal." The director, seeing that everyone's tasks were assigned, gave an order to the first assistant director.

Ronald stepped back out of the director's sight and stood beside an apple crate.

The assistant director picked up the walkie-talkie and ordered the car to come in. The camera operator commanded the team to slowly push the machine forward.

Dancers burst out of the gates and danced the streets to the disco chants of the sound crew.

At this time, according to the original plan, the leading car should brake, and the following teams brake in turn, and the drivers stick their heads out of the cab to observe the situation.

But the driver at the beginning seemed to be making a joke with the dancers on purpose. First, he faked the brakes, and the front of the car was a little bit. When the dancer stopped to dance, he arched forward another half a foot.

This time annoyed the dancer in front of the car. He originally only showed his back in front of the camera, and he didn't get the shot of showing his face. Now he was shaken by the driver again. He was angry and slapped the hood of the car hard. What does the driver want to do?

The driver, who is of Italian descent, started talking in Italian when he got out of the car, raised his hand and pushed the dancer's chest.

This move aroused the anger of the dancer and wanted to push the driver back. However, he is tall and thin, and fighting is not a physical movement that he is good at.

The unexpected reinforcements came from the camera crew. The camera operator handed the machine to the assistant, led the pushers and pullers to catch up, and pushed the driver all the way, "What the hell are you doing? I don't know you're shooting. If the scene does not follow the plan, will it kill everyone?"

It turned out that the operator carried the camera on his shoulder and shot on the forward extension line of the car. If halfway through the shot, and the driver does another fake brake shake, the unlucky operator will be the operator behind the camera, staring at the frame.

The Italian-American, backed by the truck driver and workers union, did not expect the unexpected challenge from the strong men of the British Isles, and fell into a disadvantage for a while.

Alan Parker asked DP Michael Ceresin to stop his men. He walked up to the Italian-born driver and said:

"I like your fake brakes a lot,

Let the actors' performances be realistic, but you must pay attention to safety when you are officially filming, and you can't use such dangerous tricks, do you understand? "

Of course, the driver understood the meaning of the director's words, knew that the director was standing by his side, and gestured to the director with his thumb out.

Then, when Alan Parker turned his back and walked back, he quickly turned his thumb upside down and provoked the camera operator.

The camera operator smiled contemptuously, pointed to his own eyes, and pointed two fingers to the Italian guy's. It means "I'll keep an eye on you, don't let me catch you scumbag again."

In British studios, there have been class barriers for a long time. Directors, actors, etc. belong to the upper class, speaking with an orthodox upper-class accent, or Shakespeare's dramatic accent.

Camera operators, field writers, props, sound recordings, etc. are all working class, mostly with a Cockney accent in East London. They were commanded by the first deputy director, like in the British army, only the sergeant-major commanded the big men.

Although director Alan Parker claims to have been in the East End of London since he was a child, he does not speak a Cockney accent, and even the British crew members do not regard the director as his own.

The short, stocky camera operator didn't look down on the thin, slender style of the Italian-born driver at all, like a British hero who could hit seven pussies on a football field.

The first assistant director picked up the radio and started calling the cart driver in the back row.

One car after another, slowly backed out of 46th Street and returned to the starting position.

Ronald watched the assistants direct the traffic like a traffic policeman and restore everything to its original state. The field recorder inspected with props to make sure that everything was restored to its original position so as not to be crossed.

The choreographer pointed out some questions to the dancers, and took everyone back to the building to wait for the official shooting.

With a large crew of more than 100 people, it takes time to restore the original, not as easy as rewinding on a VCR.

When everything returned to its original state, the official shooting could take place. Ronald looked at his watch, and more than half an hour had passed.

"No wonder I have to apply for three days of filming time. Shooting like this, I can't get a few shots in a day." Ronald nodded secretly. This is an experience that cannot be learned in textbooks. of.

"Attention of all departments, the next one is officially shot!"

The shooting instructions for large scenes are given by radio. In addition to the main camera on the guide rail in the middle of the road, there is also a second camera on the second floor of a facade on the roadside.

With careful scheduling, the DP can keep the two cameras out of each other's sights, so as not to get in the way.

The convoy, like normal traffic on the road, filed into 46th Street.

"Give me something hot, baby, just tonight"

The dance group rushed into the street. The Italian-born driver at the head did not play tricks on the car, and a sudden brake stopped in front of the group performance.

The second camera group on the second floor captured the serial impact of the sudden braking on the team. The series of sudden braking of the team is very beautiful. The driver at the beginning deserves to be often involved in filming, and he has a good grasp of the director's intentions.

Next up should be the group show climbing the leading Cadillac and starting to dance on the roof, with other dancers dancing in the middle of the stopped traffic. Turn the entire 46th Street into a disco.

The Italian-born driver at the beginning still remembered the director's suggestion to give the group some surprises and stimulate a real response.

He shifted into neutral, and stomped on the gas pedal with two feet.

"Boom, boom"

The dancer who was going to get on the roof of the car was frightened and quickly dispersed from the front of the car.

"Cut!", the director stopped the shooting, the actors did not act as scheduled, and after being frightened, they did not follow the trend and stopped by the side.

The hot-tempered uncle, the camera operator, put the camera on the ground and jumped forward a few steps, "Hi, what's the matter with you?", pointing at the Italian driver who was still in the car and scolding away.

The driver shifted to first gear, stepped on the accelerator, and the car jumped forward a foot and stopped in front of the operator. The driver wanted to scare him, why is he so cowardly? Don't you know how powerful the Italian truckers' union is?

The camera operator, who is a three-generation fan of West Ham United in East London, couldn't help it. He punched the hood of the Cadillac, and the frame was a hole.

The driver who got out of the car and yelled for trouble was pushed to the ground by the uncle of the operator.

This time, all the drivers in the convoy got off the bus and wanted to seek justice for the driver of the lead car, while the dancers on the other side rushed forward and stood firmly with the camera crew.

Ronald watched from the sidelines, this fight should not start, both sides were more restrained, and it seemed that they would have to wait for the leading negotiation to resolve.

Sure enough, after the first assistant director negotiated with the heads of the drivers, the two sides agreed that the crew should compensate for the maintenance costs of the Cadillac's hood, and the driver promised to follow the director's instructions in future shooting and not to carry out surprise attacks.

In addition, the driver asked the uncle, the camera operator, to verbally apologize to the driver who was pushed to the ground by him.

Director Alan Parker pointed at the operator without speaking, and raised his hand to signal him to apologize quickly and not delay the shooting.

"You're a fucking jerk, Alan. I won't apologize to that bitch." The operator scolded the director on the spot when he heard this strange request, "Whoever wins will apologize to the loser. of?"

"Michael, take care of your people." The director did not speak directly to the operator.

"Huck squid! I quit my job, I can't work for a jerk." The camera operator yelled in his Cockney accent in East London.

The dance troupe gathered around the uncle to fight for him. After all, the uncle had a conflict with the Italians because of them.

"Don't worry!" The uncle comforted the young people in turn, "I have union protection and can get full salary and return air tickets."

"With my qualifications, I can get a new job in two weeks. I'm glad I don't work for this bastard who doesn't care about your safety and health."

"I've seen it a lot. Don't watch that bitch Ellen Parker saying every day that he wants to make movies that reflect human nature. I think he is the most inhumane. Children, you have to protect yourself, you know?"