Exploiting Hollywood 1980

After a week of adaptation and welcome, Ronald officially began his academic career at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Roger Corman mentored director Martin Scorsese to shoot a film in Los Angeles. The film and television appreciation class taught by Roger Corman at Tisch would start later, but Ronald still enrolled in the class.

The other courses are film theory, picture editing, and sound editing. Ronald signed up for these three courses based on his own preferences and previous jobs in New World.

The reason why I chose sound editing is that I plan to go to the San Francisco Peep Show Company next summer to study with Walter Mersey. Ronald wants to lay a foundation and learn more knowledge and skills when he goes to San Francisco to study.

The first class of the semester is film and television theory. All undergraduate students majoring in film and television arts came to attend the class. Ronald chose a seat near the front, and an old man with gray hair walked in.

He is the lecturer, a Greek professor. The old man threw the information on the table and sighed "Alas".

"This year there are dozens of fools coming to study film and television. Two weeks before the start of the semester, you can ask for a refund. This way you can get back all the tuition fees, and then quickly apply to transfer departments or schools to study some profitable majors. Well. If it’s two weeks later, this year’s tuition will be in vain.”

"Huh?" Ronald was a little confused. Is this a stand-up comedy talk show? How can any teacher persuade you to quit the first class?

Dozens of students didn't dare to believe the professor who persuaded him to quit. Everyone remained silent, waiting for the old man's next reversal.

"I know it's hard for you to accept, but the film industry is almost dead. Although there are job opportunities in television, they are all occupied by affiliates. What can you do? Studio assistants and camera assistants can do it with a high school degree. If you know the industry You can become an actor if you are a celebrity, so don’t waste your time here.”

No reversal! It's really about quitting.

"Coax..." The students finally couldn't help it and began to discuss loudly.

A student stood up and questioned the old man's statement: "Sir, why do you belittle film so much? As the fifth art, it was America who promoted it. We all have a movie dream, so we came to Tisch Art College to study film and television. , what’s the benefit of saying that?”

The old man was very pleased and nodded:

"It is a very good thing that you have dreams. But film and television should not be taught in universities, but should be learned on the set. In the 1960s, New York University and Columbia University on the East Coast, Southern California and Los Angeles on the West Coast UC has started to offer film majors, but this is nonsense. It’s enough to teach undergraduates about film and television appreciation. What kind of film and television major should they offer?”

The old man sounded angry and inappropriate. He continued:

"Did you know that in 1929, more than 95 million people in the United States went to movie theaters every week? That was the golden age of the film industry. Four-fifths of the population in the United States went to movie theaters at least once a week."

The students' expressions softened slightly. This is what a professor from a film and television school should say. Film is undoubtedly a great art.

"Do you know what that number is today?"

The students looked at each other, not knowing the exact number.

A nerdy-looking student raised his hand and asked to speak.

"No, don't raise your hand. Do you have an answer?" the old man asked the student.

"The population of America is about 2.2 billion now. Not so many people go to the movies now. Everyone watches TV at home. If we divide the population ratio by 2 and then multiply by the total population, it should still be around 90 million."

"Ha, you should be a scientist, not learn filmmaking." The old man started to speak venomously again.

"Your observation is actually very accurate. Among teenagers, especially male teenagers, the number of people who watch movies every week remains at a high proportion, so your observation is relatively accurate and your reasoning is very powerful. But you forgot one important thing The problem."

"You have forgotten that adults rarely watch movies now. Especially your mothers. There are no movies made for them in the cinema. Now housewives watch soap operas at home."

The old man glanced around the students, then cut off his hand and made a strong gesture.

"Now there are only more than 20 million people in the United States going to movie theaters every week, which is equivalent to one-tenth of the population. In a rapidly shrinking market, even if you do your best, what's the use? Just like cars replacing horse-drawn carriages, the last one Companies that make carriage wheels have a growing market share and good products, but in the end they are dead.”

"What about TV? You just said that a lot of people watch TV." The nerdy student asked another question.

"What skills are needed for television? It's just a few cameras shooting, and then the director switches. Protagonist A's perspective, protagonist B's perspective, panoramic view, do you need to learn it? No one is making movies as carefully as Hollywood did back then. It’s all sharks, spacemen, and selling toys.”

The old man shook his head again.

"For those of you who are not from millionaire families, you should choose a major that can make you money. There are only three ways to study film and television, making TV commercials, making factory teaching films, and making documentaries. None of them are easy to do and the income is not good. If you are high, you might as well go into real estate sales.”

The old man said to himself, is it wrong to come to university to study? Why not work hard with Cameron at New World Productions? Maybe now I can become an assistant director and advance in the industry.

"Remember what I said. You still have two weeks to regret and get a refund. After two weeks, you can only get a partial refund. Of course, unless your father is a millionaire or a Hollywood movie star."

The old man finally walked up to the podium and began to lecture.

"Film is an art that is about to die. What we are starting to do now is the archaeology of film. I will talk about those great movies. You can also listen to them and know what heights the movies in the past have reached. Then look at the garbage that is being shown now and decide for yourself whether to quit."

The old man began to give a formal lecture, film archaeology... No, it is film theory.

"We have all heard of a word - Auteur. The Chinese of the New Wave proposed that only a director who has mastered all aspects of the film, especially the final decision on editing, can be called a creator - Auteur... But before that, did Hollywood have no classic movies? Of course not..."

Ronald didn't listen much to the old man's lecture. Like everyone else, he was thinking about his own things. Although it was a bit strange for the teacher to persuade people to quit, what he said did sound reasonable. When an industry is booming, everyone will rise with it. When the industry declines, only a few people will be able to make ends meet.

The key is, are you one of the few?

The decline of the industry also means fewer opportunities for newcomers. Do you still have a chance to stand out?

Joining a union has become a difficult task now. When the film industry was booming, the rules for joining the union might not have been harsh at that time.

After class, two or three students immediately rushed to the college office to handle the transfer and refund. The rest were also discussing whether to change their majors.

Ronald sat alone for a while, and it was better to ask more experienced seniors and learn more from multiple sources before making a decision.