Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Everyone please line up. In a few minutes, you can get your coupons and go in to watch the movie." The crew's assistant said to a large group of moviegoers at the entrance of El Ray Cinema, directing them to line up in front of the cinema.

Ronald and the camera crew lay on the roof opposite the cinema, facing the line, and not exceeding the range of more than 100 people. "

"Snap", Ronald took the clapperboard in his hand and hit it in front of the camera.

"Aren't you afraid that they will sue you? The laws in America are much stricter than those in Mexico. If they see their own shots on the screen, they can theoretically sue." Arthur Albert, the director of photography who was lying next to Ronald and had shot movies in Mexico and California, reminded Ronald.

"So I asked not to shoot shots showing my face. Not many people will recognize me in the distance. . "

Ronald thought that this was also forced by the budget, and there was nothing he could do. If he really had to invite more than a hundred extras to pose for photos, plus the cost of clearing the venue to compensate the cinema, and having to ask the LAPD to maintain order, the expenses would be terrifying.

"Okay, we've captured enough shots, you can go and hand out coupons." Arthur

Ronald nodded, and handed out coupons to the crowd one by one.

"Thank you, thank you, this is the coupon for the El Ray Cinema, thank you for your cooperation."

Ronald had agreed with the El Ray Cinema in advance to give them a two-second frontal shot of the cinema in the movie, and persuaded the manager of the El Ray Cinema to let them shoot for free.

Then at the cinema's ticket office, he used 50% off coupons to recruit more than a hundred moviegoers and asked them to line up at the entrance of the cinema.

"Thank you, thank you." Ronald breathed a sigh of relief after handing out the coupons. This shot was not reported to the Los Angeles City Hall, but fortunately it was a long shot that was fast-forwarded and fast-forwarded, and it didn't take much time. It was not discovered by the patrol police.

"Then take a picture of the sign and exterior of this cinema. ”

The manager of the El Ray Cinema changed the words on the large illuminated sign on the roof of the cinema from "Fair and Handsome" to "Stay up late to watch the comet together". The crew took the opportunity to take a close-up shot.

The audience who had just cooperated at the door had all entered the cinema to watch the last movie, and the street became empty in an instant.

"Okay, let the extras get off the bus quickly." Ronald waved quickly at the big bus opposite. The driver on the bus opened the door, and the assistants handed various props to the extras who had put on makeup. They filed out and lined up on the edge of the sidewalk.

"Remember your movements, remember your movements..." Ronald reminded each extra, "We only have one chance to shoot, everyone remember to smile at the camera."

This shot imitates the shooting method of TV interviews, so these extras need to smile happily at the camera as if passers-by saw the TV live broadcast car and camera.

"A! ", Ronald gave instructions to the director of photography Arthur.

Arthur Albert personally carried the camera and shot the faces of the extras from below. He walked forward slowly, capturing everyone's smiling faces.

These extras played the roles of people who were attracted by the comet that appears once every 65 million years and came to the street to see the arrival of the comet.

The number of people that can be included in the close-up frame is very limited. After scanning the twenty extras from beginning to end and editing them together with the overhead shot just now, montage can be used to create a special impression, as if the street is full of people, and there are many people watching.

There are a few people wearing comet headdresses, a few holding "I Love Comet" cards, and two extras playing a couple kissing in front of the camera, which is similar to the live TV interview during the New Year's Eve.

It was already past eight o'clock in the evening. In fact, the roadside outside the close-up was empty. But people's imagination will automatically add the shot of more than a hundred people queuing up as the background of this story. Although there are only more than 20 people in the close-up, the audience will feel that there are a lot of people.

"How is it? Arthur? "

"No problem." Arthur replied.

"Snap", Ronald turned the clapperboard upside down and hit it towards the camera. This means that there was no clapperboard at the beginning of this shot, and the last scene and shot would be recorded by the final clapperboard.

Because the clapperboard was at the end of the shot instead of the beginning, the clapperboard had to be turned upside down when hitting the clapperboard. It was convenient for later identification.

They also wrote on the clapperboard that there was no simultaneous recording of this scene, reminding the editor to add music in the later stage to cover up the noisy sounds on the scene and the dialogue between Ronald and Arthur.

Because this scene mainly introduces the crowd's curiosity about the comet and the scene of going out in full force, it doesn't matter if there is no dialogue.

"Okay, everyone get on the bus, hurry up!" Ronald saw the director of photography Arthur signaled OK, and hurriedly directed the extras to rush to the bus.

"Hurry up, hurry up." Ronald lifted the camera carried by Arthur and got on the bus last. He clapped hard a few times on the driver's seat, "It seems that there is a patrolman on the opposite side, let's go quickly. ”

“This is yours, yours, yours…” The assistant handed everyone a copy of the storyboard and asked everyone to sign on the form to record the shooting time.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Ronald picked up the microphone on the bus and thanked the extras. This guerrilla-style shooting method saves money, but it is not very friendly to the extras. There is no RV as a dressing room, and everyone puts on makeup on the bus.

If they are caught by the LAPD, there will be trouble. So Ronald paid them at 1.2 times the minimum wage.

"The storyboard in our data is just a simple outdoor scene with some lightning special effects."

Ronald was on the way to the next shooting location and explained it to everyone.

The car soon arrived at the shooting location of the two heroines Regina and Samantha's house. This is a middle-class community in Los Angeles. On the lawn outside the room, a row of headlights has been arranged.

"Beth, thank you for coming to help." Ronald was the first to get off the bus and shook hands with a woman in electrician clothes and boots.

"No problem, Cameron's friends are my friends."

Beth is a rare female electrician, tall and strong. She took Ronald to the back of the row of lights. Two thick cables were lifted in the middle and placed on two wooden racks.

"I can show you the effect, but it will cause a lot of damage to the bulbs, so in order to prevent the bulbs from exploding during the actual shooting, I can only demonstrate the effect briefly now."

Ronald nodded.

Beth connected the two cables, put on thick insulating gloves, and pressed a guillotine switch.

The bulbs of the row of headlights suddenly fanned out very bright light, illuminating the faces and houses on the opposite side.

"Snap" Beth turned off the switch again. The brightness dropped suddenly.

"That's it, do you think it's okay?" Beth asked.

"The brightness is enough, I want this rhythm, snap... snap" Ronald beat a few beats.

The special effects of lightning are very difficult to shoot. If you shoot at the sky on a thunderstorm, the film is not sensitive enough, and it is difficult to capture the moment of lightning.

An experienced electrician will short-circuit the power cord of the light in a controlled manner for a short time. This will increase the voltage and emit a light several times brighter than the rated brightness. Then, by manually controlling the short circuit time intermittently, the effect of lightning can be simulated.

Of course, this also has risks. Sometimes the electrician is not experienced enough and the short circuit voltage is too long, which will cause the bulb to explode. So Ronald asked Cameron to find an experienced expert in the industry, Beth, to operate the scene of the comet emitting a world-destroying flash.

More than 20 extras were divided into several groups outdoors, looking up at the comet. The strong light flashed by the lamps shone on their faces, just like the strong light emitted by lightning. In this way, only the reflection of the actors' faces can be shot, which can avoid the complex special effects scene of the comet flashing from the front, saving a lot of money.

In addition to the extras who just got off the bus, there were also the fathers of the two heroines and the official actors who played the stepmother in the crowd.

The stepmother was played by Sharon Farrell, a beautiful actress with a lingering charm. She is actually only a few years older than Catherine Mary Stuart, who played the eldest daughter, and Kelly Maroney, who played the youngest daughter.

But the industry is very cruel to actresses. Everyone in the industry says that actresses can only play three roles: virgin, slut, and grandmother.

Behind this metaphor, in fact, few people in Hollywood will shoot stories about middle-aged women because the audience doesn't like to watch them.

In this way, the roles that actresses can play are quite limited, such as a young girl who is just beginning to fall in love, a slightly older female role who falls into a romantic love scene with the male protagonist, and a mother and grandmother of a younger girl.

Sharon Farrell has passed the first two stages and started playing the mother directly. Many actresses will resist the arrival of this day, and some will even report a false age. But the wrinkles on the face don't lie.

"Sharon, when you come out of the room, you just had a fight with Samantha and slapped her, but you still act like a good stepmother in front of your husband."

Ronald talked to her about the play, then asked the lights to be ready and walked once.

"In 1910, Halley's Comet returned, and many people thought they would die," an old man talked about his last experience of seeing Halley's Comet in the crowd.

Sharon Farrell had curly blond short hair, a black velvet collar tied around her neck, and red nail polish on all ten fingers, dressed like a wealthy suburban housewife.

She walked towards her husband and began to say bad things about her two stepdaughters.

"Very good, let's start shooting."

"Recording? Camera? A!"

Ronald gave an order, and the camera started to move.

"In 1910, Halley's Comet returned, and many people thought they would die," the old actor began to tell the story to the other groups, and a flash of light flashed, illuminating everyone's face.

"What is that?" the old man asked, looking back.

"Dear, Samantha still has a little rebellious temper, ah, what is that?" Sharon Farrell, who played the stepmother, was also awakened by the lightning. She and her husband hugged each other and looked up at the sky, with flashes of light shining on their faces.

Ronald made a gesture. The lighting team turned on the dark red lights, and the scene was illuminated with a dark red atmosphere.

The electrician Beth made several quick short-circuit operations, and several flashes flashed.

Sharon Farrell, who played the stepmother, looked at her arm, and it seemed that her arm began to itch.

Another flash of light, Sharon Farrell covered her eyes with her red-painted fingers, "Ah..."

"Cut!"

Ronald was very satisfied with this shot.