Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald stood on the editing machine and started the film.

A rumbling sound of film reeling sounded, and an image appeared on the frosted glass, a close-up of the old-fashioned Principal Toga.

"If the main culprit comes forward, I can let the others go..."

The good girl Kate Lanbao raised her hand and took the responsibility.

"Kate Lanbao, I will punish you to stay in school today." Principal Toga announced the punishment.

"And me, I am also the main culprit." The rebellious girl Liv Randall stood on the table and said.

"Who are you?" Principal Toga asked fiercely

Liv stretched out her hand "Liv Randall, shake... get out"

"Get out? Okay, you and Kate will stay in school together."

"The shot I took will be cut later here." Ronald thought.

The camera cut to the scene where Liv and Kate comforted each other.

A panning shot, the two walked into the grass in the sunset and walked into the distance. The sunset dyed their hair into a golden round.

"Very good? There is nothing wrong with the shot, and there is no goof. The actors' expressions, emotions, and use of light are all perfect."

Ronald looked confused. What's the problem? He stood there for half a minute and rewound the film to watch it again.

The principal spoke...punished the students...and then cut to that perfect and poetic shot.

Still didn't see anything.

Ronald turned around and looked at director Allen with his eyes.

But Joe Dante stopped Allen who was about to give an answer, and looked at Ronald and said slowly:

"Ronald, it's best for you to think about this reason yourself. If others tell you, you won't get real profound knowledge. If you can see it yourself, then you are really talented and can be a successful director."

After that, Joe took the smiling director Allen and the editor out for lunch.

"Remember, look at it from the audience's perspective." Joe added before leaving.

Is this a test? ...Okay, accept it yourself!

Ronald regarded this as a challenge to himself. I have a talent for directing...right.

Standing in front of the editing machine, rewind and play again.

Then try again, and again...

After many attempts, nothing came of it!

The more anxious he got, the more he couldn't figure it out. Ronald paced slowly in the room. Thinking about what Joe Dante said before he left, "If you can see it yourself, you are truly talented as a director."

Calm down!

From his tone, it seems that this is not a technical problem, but a problem of artistic talent?

Ronald began to think, reason, and analyze.

But this shot is obviously beautiful. The sun sets, and the two good friends walk hand in hand to the front. The edge of their hair reflects a golden light. No matter how you look at it, it must be a shot by someone with extremely high artistic taste.

There can't be a problem here.

Wait a minute, what did Joe say before he left?

"From the audience's perspective? So you can't see it from the director's perspective?" Ronald muttered to himself, continuing to circle around in the editing room.

From the audience's perspective?

The audience only looks at the plot, the beautiful actresses, and the beautiful pictures.

Is there a problem with these?

Ronald rewound the film again and looked at it again.

Both actresses are very photogenic, and the light in the picture is just right. In terms of performance? There was no problem with the performance, at least Ronald himself could not see it.

Still nothing!

"Huh..."

Ronald was a little anxious and sweated.

He hurried to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on his face to cool down.

There was still a lot of time. Ronald calmed down temporarily and continued to think.

We can't start the analysis from what they said, but we should look at what they did. What was the process of Joe discovering the problem?

"Director Alan's first look was fine. Joe found the problem when he came up. What is the difference?" Ronald began to think.

"I cut this shot here and drew a mark." Ronald began to restore everything he had done.

Then Alan came up, he rewound to the beginning of my shot, and then started to replay. He stepped on the stop pedal. At this time, Alan was still very satisfied and said that my choice of editing point was fine.

Then Joe came up, he also rewound, Ronald closed his eyes and gestured Joe's movements.

Huh, it seems that Joe rewound for a longer time, he watched the previous shot together.

Ronald hurried forward, trying to restore Joe's rewind time according to his memory.

I can't remember clearly...

However, the editor Larry finally stopped the film at the close-up of the old-fashioned principal, which shows that the problem can be seen from here.

The editor also said that it was not my mistake, so it was the problem of editing?

The problem of editing...

Originally, Joe was talking about the problem of editing!

After a circle, he returned to the starting point, and Ronald still couldn't see the problem.

Ronald poured another cup of black tea from the thermos and tried to calm down.

Joe is not a god. He said that he can see that there is talent, but what if he can't see it? It doesn't necessarily mean that he has no talent.

Besides, even if he has no talent, he won't starve to death. He can go back to be a photographer and take wedding photos for people, and he can live a good life.

Aunt Karen is a waitress in a restaurant. She supports herself and her cousin. Who can say that she is not successful?

Speaking of Aunt Karen, by the way, what did she say to me on the phone last time?

"When there is no direction, you should rely on your own intuition to find the direction. Don't start thinking to solve the problem before your intuition points out the direction."

“Trust God’s guidance for you.”

When you have no direction, trust your intuition.

Ronald reflected on his experience since joining the cast of "Rock of Ages."

Discovering that the bass player was unwilling to cooperate, he persuaded Roger Coleman to give him the right to shoot, and chose to use Demi Moore as the model to advertise in newspapers...

It can be said that every successful decision is based on the direction given by intuition. Rather than analyzing, thinking, and reasoning beforehand. In the words of many religious believers in America, it can also be said to be "God's guidance."

Of course, after determining the direction, the final solution to the problem requires rational analysis, extensive thinking, and continuous efforts.

But that first weak inspiration, God's guidance, or the feeling of a reborn person, seems to be something that can be felt intuitively without thinking.

Also, after making a decision based on intuition, your body will become extremely excited and your thinking will be very smooth, as if your physical and mental strength have doubled.

So what was my instinct this time?

Yes, the intuition is...

The shots I took are fine!

Does that mean there is something wrong with the footage taken by someone else?

Ronald stood on the editing machine and simply rewound an extra section of film.

The scene that appeared on the frosted glass this time was of group performers dancing disco on the playground. The dance was very amateurish and a bit entertaining.

There is also the good girl Kate, who tries to chat up the handsome boy Tom but is ignored. This script is quite stupid. How could Tom, a handsome guy, not understand that a beautiful woman is flirting with him?

It is worthy of being produced by the company of the master of exploitation films. The story is casual and the non-main actors are amateurs. The audience is not here to see this anyway. They have already expected these silly and unrealistic plots.

When the audience buys the tickets, they know that it is not a serious drama, so they don't care about the plot and performances. Anyway, the main audience is young people, who come to see beauties and rock music.

The picture continues to move forward, showing the principal, detention and punishment, and then the sisters under the sunset that I took.

Beautiful pictures, so many shots are the best ones taken by myself. The story of this movie is not worthy of this shot...

Wait, the story isn’t worthy of the camera?

"I see!"

Ronald yelled happily.

He really understood that he had made this shot too poetic.

"Rock of Ages" was originally an exploitation film. The villains made a lot of noise, the beautiful women danced and sang, and some jokes were added, and everyone laughed and it was done.

A warm and touching scene is suddenly inserted here, which is very unexpected.

The audience's emotions were aroused, and they looked forward to the follow-up story, but what followed returned to a very bloody plot.

For example, it is like the TV series "The Enmity of the Rich Family" that I have been watching at home these days. If in the daily conversation between a wealthy young man and a beautiful woman, a line from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is suddenly inserted, and then it cuts back to the daily quarrel between the wealthy family.

Audiences will only find that section of Shakespeare to be weird, rather than appreciate its aesthetic value.

At this time, Alan and Joe heard the sound and pushed the door open. "What do you understand, Ronald?"

"This scene doesn't match the... well, the tone of the movie. The tone doesn't match."

Qiao nodded, "Yes, it seems you really understand that if a certain shot is taken too well, it may have a bad impact on the whole. You are indeed talented."

"Always remember, the whole is greater than the parts." Joe Dante concluded.

"What should I do? I remembered this place, so I took a photo."

Ronald raised his head and asked Joe, in a bad mood, as if he had spent countless efforts writing a beautiful love letter, but the girl held it in front of her best friend and made fun of his spelling mistakes one by one.

"Don't worry, Ronald," Joe Dante laughed.

"The advantage of low-cost exploitation films is that the audience is not picky. They already know that it is an exploitation film and have no intention of watching it for authenticity or artistry."

"In the middle of the movie, it is allowed to insert some dance, explosions, and funny scenes. The audience is already expecting to see a hodgepodge. It's okay to add a poetic shot."

"Besides, we can't get funding for reshoots," director Allen winked at him.

Ronald took a long breath, as long as he could keep it, it didn't matter if it was sudden.

When it was released, I was able to point out to my friends that this part was shot by me... which felt pretty cool. After all, it is my screen debut, and it has subtitles. Ronald thought happily.

After passing Joe Dante's test and figuring out the correct answer, he felt very relaxed. Only then did Ronald feel that his stomach was already very hungry.

He went to McDonald's and ordered a double Big Mac meal, extra large fries and Coke, and a chocolate ice cream sundae, and had a wonderful meal.

It seems that after being guided by intuition, I will be particularly hungry.