Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 264 The director is the one who makes the decision

Alonso is a Latino photographer with a Mexican mustache.He was in his late fifties, with a calm face and a slight Spanish accent.After saying hello to Ronald and others, I started working.

He turned the camera on, loaded it with scrap film, and started turning it on and off repeatedly.

The noise of UltraCam is higher than that of Panavision, Arri and other brands. In the indoor environment of the office, there is a kind of buzzing reverberation.Alonso picked up the camera and ran to the corner to experiment.

Ronald went to watch for a while, but Alonso didn't like to talk much, he just turned on and off repeatedly, the motor finished spinning the waste film, Alonso took it off and put it back on, and then turned on and started all over again .

Ronald was so depressed, he returned to the chair and closed his eyes to rest.During shooting time, rest is a very luxury for the director, and he must seize the free time.

After waiting for a long time, UltraCam's technical support staff finally arrived.He asked about the symptoms of the camera, and instead of going there to watch Alonso adjust the machine, he just took out a maintenance application form and asked the director of photography to fill it out.

"What's the problem?" Ronald stood up and watched.

"Old problem, the motor of the machine has an unexplained overheating, and some types of Kodak film are used, and the negative fogging will also occur randomly. Fortunately, it is not very serious. Only about 20% of the time, the printed positive film is projected on the screen. , there will be a slight ambiguity."

"Only?" Ronald was too angry to argue.

This is not a regular problem, you don't know which of the 10 shots will have a problem.It's bound to have a big impact on the filming of "fast-paced Richmond High."

"What's the solution?" The director of photography, Matthew, knew from Ronald's tone that the director would be angry, so he hurriedly asked UltraCam's experts.

“We can provide a spare camera and then go back and fix it. But you know, we can’t guarantee that the spare camera will work well in your shooting environment. This fog problem occurs very randomly, and we have not been able to find a pattern. "

"And what about the Madaka film?"

"That's the problem of the motor and the casing of the film cartridge. In order to pursue the short flange distance and compact size of the camera, the reflective lens is designed to be relatively compact. The film cartridge and the lens group are very close. We suspect that some Sometimes the small deformation of the shell caused the jamming."

"Crack", the sound of the film winding motor stopped abruptly, Alonso pressed the stop switch, and said in English with a slight Spanish accent, "I think I have found the reason."

"what is the reason?"

Alonso did not explain, but said to the camera assistant, "Go and get a Panasonic brand camera battery produced by Dongying."

Then he said to Ronald and Matthew, "I think you just need to replace the Panasonic brand battery, and the problem of the film stuck in the film winder can be solved.

Ronald, the producer Lin Sen and others looked at each other, dubious about what Alonso said.

At the same time, UltraCam's technical support staff also said, "It's not a battery problem, but the motor of the film winder can't drive the film forward. We have reproduced this fault, and the battery indicator light is always on when there is a problem. "

Alonso didn't tell the difference, just picked up the Panasonic compatible battery that his assistant had just brought, and installed the camera with a click.

"That's it. I guarantee that there will be no more problems with film jams. As for the fogging of some films, it is a design defect. I can only reduce the fogging phenomenon, but not eradicate it."

Producer Lin Sen listened to Alonso's Spanish-accented English, feeling confident, "Let's get a new Arri or Panavision camera, and use the film from the first two days?"

"No, if you want to use another brand of camera, you have to shoot again, otherwise the films shot by different cameras will be mixed together during editing, and the audience will feel very strange." Matthew, the director of photography, disagreed with this approach.

"Or we'll take a spare UltraCam and start filming, waiting for their repairs," said Azoff, another producer.

"I don't have confidence in them, and it seems that the backup machine can't avoid this problem." Matthew replied.

The director of photography, producer, Crowe, Heikelin and others looked at Ronald together.Everyone in the crew can give their own professional or unprofessional opinions on the problem.But in the end it is up to the director to decide.

Just like the army is to the general, the school officers and soldiers below can express their opinions, but once the general makes a decision, the people below must follow it.

Likewise, those who make decisions must also bear the consequences of their decisions.No matter which method is adopted, Ronald must be responsible for the current decision.

If there is still a problem with the backup camera, or if another brand of camera is used to let the audience watch the show, Ronald must find a solution. The resulting delay in shooting time and cost overruns must also be solved. Let him explain to the global high-level.

Instead of making a decision right away, Ronald walked up to Alonso and looked at the battery on the UltraCam.After the battery was installed, the camera's power indicator light was slightly on, and Ronald followed Alonso's example and pressed the start button.

"Woo..." There was a deep motor sound, and the waste film in the film box was pulled and rotated at an accelerated speed. After a few seconds, the film reached the highest speed and turned into a uniform motion.That's what Ronald called Action!Before, the director of photography had to confirm the reason why the motor was running at a constant speed.

Alonso was like this before, press open, let the film roll to the end, then stop, put the film upside down, and press open again.Repeatedly.

Then...he pointed out that the problem was with the battery.

A flash of understanding flashed in Ronald's mind, he pointed to the indicator light and said, "What's the problem here?"

Alonso smiled. "Yes, the light reads the battery incorrectly. The battery is below a certain level and can't run at full speed with the film, but the light is still on normally."

"Why is there no problem with Panasonic brand batteries?"

"The Dongying people are very serious. The voltage and current drop curve of the battery is very stable. It can guarantee a basic flat line before it is completely dead.

Our American manufacturing industry is no longer as attentive as the Dongying people. Companies like Panavision can also customize batteries. UltraCam can only use standard battery packs on the market. "

"I see, what about the fogging of the film?"

"That's a design flaw. As the manufacturer's expert said, in order to open up the market, this type of camera specially designed a viewfinder that works with the zoom lens, so that you can clearly see the depth of field changes during the zooming process of the lens.

But in this way, a very long viewfinder is required, which compresses the distance between the lens and the exposure plane inside the camera, so that their reflectors are compressed in the too short flange distance, and the lens tilt angle is too large, which is easy to be captured. The resonance caused by the motor with insufficient voltage scratches the surface.

If your crew uses some Kodak films that require high light transmission, there will be a slight fogging state.As you shoot, and when the battery gets low, the resonance gets bigger and the fogging gets a little bit worse.

To completely solve this problem, the camera design must be changed.Now with Panasonic’s battery with stable voltage, basically there will be no serious fogging. Of course, the picture is slightly blurred than Panavision, which is inevitable.

If it is not a professional, ordinary viewers should not be able to find it. "

"Why can't an expert like you be in charge of the technical department?" Ronald fully understood Alonso's logic. He was idling with waste film repeatedly just now, trying to reproduce the shooting scene. How could the film get stuck.

"I like being on set and shooting, plus my accent..."

Ronald knew in his heart that there was a hierarchy among the whites in America.Anglo-Saxon people of European descent have always discriminated against Latinos.In the early years, southern European immigrants were said to be half-black.

The descendants of immigrants from Mexico like John Alonso are even lower than the southern Europeans.

Ronald reached out his hand and shook him firmly, "Thank you, Mr. Alonso. You are really a skilled photographer. I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with you, Amigo."

"I also hope to cooperate with young directors like you. My master likes to cooperate with young directors. He said that young people are not restricted by the so-called industry practices, but can make good movies."

"Who is your master?" Ronald didn't understand the inheritance between photographers.

"It's the Chinese photographer James Huang. He is the greatest master of low-key photography. He is also the first photographer to use hand-held photography. He also invented the velvet method, so that actors with blue eyes will no longer be discriminated against in the era of black and white films.

In fact, he is also the inventor of deep-focus photography and the first lamp available in the sound age, but like me, many of his achievements are not recognized by the mainstream Hollywood photography circle because of his ethnicity. "

Unexpectedly, there is such a Chinese-American photography master in Hollywood, and this is the first time Ronald heard of it, "Then he is now?"

"He has been dead for a few years. He was graylisted because of Chinese exclusion and McCarthy. He didn't have many works in the color era. But he has been nominated for Oscar for Best Cinematography many times and won twice."

"Oh," Ronald nodded. When he was watching old movies, he paid more attention to the director and actors, but he didn't pay attention to the name of the master photographer.

Thanks to Alonso, Ronald decided to adopt the solution he provided, using the Panasonic battery produced by Dongying, and the other things remained unchanged, and the operation continued as usual.

"Go buy a few more batteries for Panasonic cameras, we still use this camera." Ronald instructed the camera assistant to run errands.

"Are you sure?" Producers Lin Sen and Azoff both asked.

"It's the best solution right now."

The shooting that night was all normal. With the efficient lighting system and the camera that had no problems, the shooting progress was advanced again.

(End of this chapter)