Exploiting Hollywood 1980

This morning, the first day's filming of the film has been developed and printed. Ronald, Matthew, Heckerling and other core members of the crew will watch the samples in Universal's screening room with representatives from producers Lin Sen, Azoff and Tom Mount.

With the jammed film magazine in hand, Ronald went to Universal Studios with Matthew, the director of photography. Before watching the dailies, they went to the producer to complain.

"I have long said that this pile of garbage is not good, and now it has seriously affected the shooting." Ronald put the large film box on the producer's desk.

"Fortunately, Matthew was careful and we were able to complete most of the shooting, but in the end it got stuck again. Ruining a box of film and some of our shooting results."

"What's going on?" Producers Lin Sen and Azoff, who were planning to watch the samples, asked.

"Just like your secretary's printer often jams, the film is jammed in this UltraJa machine. It has happened twice. What if it is also jammed when important shots are taken? I don't know Dare to think.”

Lin Sen's face looked a little ugly. This was a big problem. Camera malfunctions should not appear in a movie produced by Universal. If the crew is shut down due to camera failure, then he, the producer, is also responsible because he agreed to use this UltraCa brand of machine.

Another producer, Azov, who knew little about technical equipment, came up with a solution, "Can't we ask the manufacturer to repair it?"

"Of course, but the manufacturer of UltraCa... hmm." Lin Sen thought of the rumors he heard in the technical department. This camera is actually handmade. The producer has some connections in the studio and wants to open up the market first and then improve the quality of the product.

Therefore, the quality of UltraCa cameras varies greatly between individuals, and some parts cannot be used interchangeably. Their crew was unlucky and got a camera with quality issues.

"Let's take it to the experts in the photography department. Maybe they can find a way." Lin Sen asked a photography assistant to take the machine to see if there was any way to repair it.

"Shall we find a spare camera for Ronald and his crew to use first?" Azoff came up with another idea.

"It's not too appropriate. Different cameras have different lens light path designs, and there will be subtle differences in perspective distortion. The audience will see different styles in the shots shot by different cameras at the front and rear." said the director of photography, Matthew.

"Let's take a look at the samples first. Once we're done here, we'll almost have the results on the camera side."

Today is the first day to watch samples. Several producers and senior representatives sat down one by one. Ronald also sat with the core members of the crew, next to Cameron Crowe, and Heikelin sat on the other side. She still felt that she was unique in directing actors and wanted to see the sample effects.

A white light lit up, and a silent image lit up on the screen.

The two treatments of the same scene shot by Heckerling and Ronald, and the scene of the kid bargaining with scalper Mike that Ronald shot in a hurry, were all restored on the screen.

After placing the samples, the lights came on.

The two producers had no objections, and the high-level representatives said nothing, just taking notes. It seems that overall they were satisfied with the first day of shooting, and Ronald proved that he can at least make a passable low-budget teen exploitation film, which is satisfactory.

Ronald looked at the blank screen, lost in thought, his brows furrowed, as if he had discovered something wrong. He said to Cameron Crowe beside him, as well as producers Lin Sen and Azoff, "Did you see it? It seems that the picture is a little foggy?"

"Foggy?" Azoff didn't see any difference.

"There is one thing. About 20% of the films have serious problems."

"Yes, this one is obviously different from the previous one." Lin Sen was more familiar with film shooting than Azoff, and he could see it.

Heikelin came over and joined in the discussion, "Ronald, Mr. Linsen, have you also discovered the problem?"

"Huh?" Ronald was awakened from his reverie, "There are some problems. We have to go to the photography technical department later..."

Technical department? "Heikelin lowered her voice and said in Ronald's ear,"

I'm referring to the scene where Linda teaches Stacey her lesson, and there's something wrong with the performance you shot. Linda said that from the perspective of recalling her own experience, and you filmed it as telling a story. I don't mean to challenge your authority by saying this, I just want this movie to be better. "

After Sheinberg and Spielberg stood up for Ronald, Heckerling knew that there was little hope of replacing him. Mount also has no plans to take further action, but said it would be discussed later.

She spent the past two days on the set observing Ronald's every word and action in preparation for directing films independently in the future.

But after all, Judge Reinhold and Jennifer Jason Leigh were actors introduced by her relationship, and she did not want their acting careers to be delayed by the "fast pace." Especially Jennifer, she rejected the arrangement of her father Vic Morrow and the role of "An Officer and a Gentleman". If she was misled by Ronald...

So she came anyway and pointed out to Ronald in private what she felt was inappropriate.

Ronald reached out and asked Crowe for a script, with some pages stuck on it with post-it notes, and handed it to Heikelin without saying a word. This was originally something he prepared to use to fight back against Heikelin at the sample viewing meeting. Now that she asked the question in private, it showed that she had admitted defeat, so there was no need to fight back in public.

"What's this?"

"See for yourself, I asked Crowe to highlight all the relevant lines that Phoebe Cates' character said."

Heckerling opened the script in confusion and looked at the dialogue passages Crowe had marked with colored markers. They are all conversations between Linda and Stacey when she is narrating her relationship with her boyfriend Doug.

“If I hadn’t had a perfect boyfriend in Chicago who worked at the university…

Doug works for Chicago Airlines…

Doug averages 20-30 minutes...

Doug can do 30-40 minutes at a time…

…

"

"What? Every time she talks about Doug, the details are different? Is this boyfriend Doug a figment of Linda's imagination?" Heckerling shouted.

"Yes, look at Linda's performance in the swimming pool." Ronald pointed to the script.

Heckerling flipped to the pool scene.

Stacey, Mark and Mike were playing in the swimming pool together. Linda was wearing a red bikini and sitting by the swimming pool with her head bowed...

"you mean……"

"Yeah, Linda has never had any experience with men and women, so she had a psychological barrier to playing water fights with boys in the swimming pool. That's when she entered the room and saw Brad..."

Cameron Crowe explains Heckerling in detail.

"Linda did this because...?" Heikelin suddenly had a new understanding of this character.

"Yes, that's what teen sex is like. Everybody talks about it, but few actually do it."

"Why? How did you see it?" Heikelin was not prepared for the devil hidden in the details.

"I adapted the script. Linda's actions and words before and after are inconsistent, which is very obvious." Ronald replied.

"Oh, thank you for telling me this." Heikelin closed the script and handed it back to Crowe.

"It seems that to be a good director, you have to write your own script." Heikelin knew clearly. "At least you have to communicate with the screenwriter in detail about the details of each character."

"But I like how you handled Jennifer's call to ask for a handsome customer. What's the reason for this slight fear?" Ronald turned around and asked Heikelin. After seeing the samples, he felt that Heikelin's treatment was more realistic than his own.

"Oh, you don't understand girls' psychology, Ronald. Before going out with a man for the first time, we are always worried. You don't know what kind of person you are facing. What is his personality, his temper? Okay, isn't that barbaric, you know men are always stronger than women."

Heckerling replied, "Especially because Stacey has no experience with men yet, so she can't predict."

"That makes sense, thank you." Ronald thanked Heckerling and put on his sunglasses, "I'm going to the photography technical department. There are some issues with these samples. Will you go with me?"

"Is there a problem? Why didn't I notice it?" Heikelin said to herself, "Wait for me and come together."

Several people came to the photography technical department, and the crew's photography assistant was anxiously waiting for their arrival.

"Matthew, Ronald. They haven't found out what the problem is yet. They simply checked the film winding motor and tried it several times. It doesn't seem like a motor failure."

"It doesn't look like it?" Ronald was angry and spoke a little harshly. Most of the time, there is no problem of film jamming when shooting on location, but it has happened twice during one night of shooting. He must find willingness.

"Uh... well, what I mean is that the technicians have not ruled out motor problems, but they did not find any signs of problems after testing the machine." The photography assistant was frightened by Ronald's tone.

"Ronald." Director of Photography Matthew called Ronald, "Don't blame him, let's go talk to the technical experts."

"Well, this camera is really in big trouble, and I'm a little anxious," Ronald told his assistant.

"Hi, Matthew, are you here?" The technical expert saw Matthew coming and greeted him.

"This is Ronald Lee, our director..." Matthew introduced everyone to him.

"What's the problem?" Ronald asked urgently.

"It could be a mismatch between the motor and film magazine casing, there could be a problem with the transmission, or it could be a rare case of the motor overheating intermittently."

"So you're not sure?"

"I can't help it. This manufacturer's after-sales service is extremely poor. I was opposed to buying their products at the beginning. What the film industry needs is stable quality assurance, not one or two technical highlights."

Seeing that Ronald looked unhappy, he looked like he was about to have an attack. The director of photography, Matthew, quickly interrupted the other party’s self-complaint.

"Do you have any solutions? There is still 20% film fogging problem. How to deal with it?"

"We have no choice but to wait for the manufacturer to explain."

"You!" Ronald was very angry at the so-called technical expert's attitude and took a step forward to spray him.

"We're going to find Alonso. He may be able to solve your problem." The technical expert was startled by his actions and quickly said a person's name.

"Who is Alonso?"

"John Alonso is a photographer. He often goes to various crews to put out fires and solve problems that other photographers cannot solve. Many times, he solves problems that ordinary people cannot solve.

He is a descendant of Mexican immigrants in Texas, and many people say he knows Mayan witchcraft. "Director of photography Matthew explained next to him.

"Okay, let's wait a little longer. If it doesn't work, we have to take turns to rest because we still have to shoot at night. If the factory staff can't repair it, we will change to Alai. At worst, we can reshoot the scenes of the previous two days."