Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Back at the scene, Ronald found Jim: "The boss will rush over and it will take 2 hours. Until then, we will continue filming."

"Wow, so you continue to be a director?"

"Yes, when the boss comes to take over, he and his assistant Gale will come to the scene. We have to hurry up. What's the next scene? You will be responsible for the positioning."

"The next scene is the scene where the good girl Kate strikes up a conversation with the handsome boy Tom." Jim picked up the storyboard and handed it to Ronald, "Congratulations, Ronnie. You deserve it."

…

Ronald found the actor who played Handsome Tom, Vincent Van Patten. At first glance, he is strong, blond, and wearing a green and white school uniform. He is exactly what an American high school girl would dream of.

Vincent is a handsome American guy. He himself is not like the old-fashioned nerd Tom in the script, but a sporty and sunny boy.

Ronald recalled the image in his dream. He played the role of an honest and dull mama's boy, whose temperament did not match.

But if he can act in a movie, his acting skills must be good, so the problem lies...

"Clothes, where are the clothes?"

"Here" Linda, the fat costumer, raised her hand.

Ronald pointed to Vincent's chest, "Add a tie and look. I want him to look like he was raised in a very serious Puritan family."

"OK, I'm prepared, I'll bring it for you to choose from." Linda, the costume clerk, picked up two ties, one with blue and green stripes, the other with dark red.

"This one," Ronald pointed to the blue and green striped one, "matches this green and white school uniform."

…

After arranging the actors here, Ronald went to the camera crew and arranged directly: "We want a long shot for this one, 10 seconds. Tom came out of the room, wearing a school uniform and tie, only greeted male classmates, and finally sat here to eat Breakfast. A master shot looking down from a crane,"

Roger indicated the location of the camera, and then pointed to the teaching building: "The male protagonist came out of the building, holding a novel that no one was reading. He was out of tune with the people dancing happily around him."

He described the scene in the dream to everyone, and then asked: "Mr. Candy, what do you think?"

"Did you hear that?", the director of photography turned around and shouted to several assistants, "Start work."

The red-haired Daisuke looked at Ronald, a little disbelieving that these words came out of his mouth, and he seemed to have the authority of an old director who has been in the film industry for decades.

"How do you capture the feeling of being out of place?" Director of Photography Dean Candy asked, "Tell me how to move the camera."

"No, it doesn't rely on camera movement." Ronald explained, "In this scene, the frame is about the width of three people from left to right. Let the camera follow Vincent all the time and keep him in the center of the frame."

Ronald gestured to the director of photography: "When other people came up to greet him, they walked and moved at a normal pace, but Tom would slow down by half a beat, so that he could shoot the feeling of being out of place."

"Okay, I understand." The director of photography nodded, "You go and arrange the actors to rehearse, and leave this to me."

"Thank you, Mr. Candy."

After Ronald thanked him, he turned around and hurried back to tell the actors about the scene.

"Hey, today is your first scene, right?" Ronald looked at Vincent, who was wearing a tie, and indeed he became a little rustic and dull.

"Yes, how do you arrange my appearance?" Vincent replied.

"I will let the camera follow you all the time, so that the audience will have a deep impression on you. Come out of the room, show up here, then take the book, walk here, greet many male classmates, and finally sit down here and eat. Breakfast. Then wait for Kate to come and chat with you."

Ronald demonstrated the positioning, "What do you think?"

Vincent imitated it again: "Appear...take a book...walk...say hello...sit down."

Ronald said: "Perfect. What do you think of shooting like this? What are your thoughts?"

Vincent was very happy, "No problem, I think this is good." It seemed that he was quite satisfied with the image and duration of his shot.

Ronald gave him a thumbs up and said, "Pay attention to the frequency of your movements, just like your reaction is half a beat too slow."

"No problem, it's up to me." Vincent brushed his handsome hair.

"Oh, you messed up his hair. Gigi, fix his hair." Ronnie called the makeup artist and hairstylist.

Acting is a troublesome profession. If the makeup and hairstyle are slightly inconsistent, the camera will zoom in exponentially. So after every photo shoot, you have to check and touch up your makeup.

Ronald went to the director of photography again: "How are you preparing?"

"No problem, I can cover it well with a 20 lens. Just lower the aperture by one stop and the brightness will be consistent with the lens in front."

Ronald looked up at the sky. The sun had risen, and the school wall blocked most of the direct light. But the brightness of the environment is already much brighter than before. The photographer must make some technical adjustments so that the front and rear images are about the same brightness. Otherwise, the flickering images during the screening will upset the audience.

Shooting with natural light is quite complicated, but fortunately I have a very experienced photography director.

Ronald and Jim whispered, getting ready for the official shoot.

The plot is this: When Kate sees Tom, she shows a nymphomaniac expression, takes the initiative to sit next to Tom, and strikes up a conversation with him. Tom doesn't like the good school girl, he prefers the cheerleader Liv Randall. I replied "Hello" with disgust, then turned around and started reading the novel. The camera finally stopped on Kate Lambeau's embarrassed and depressed face.

“Action (A!)”

The shot was well done, from beginning to end.

“Cut!”

Next is the dialogue.

The camera switched to a medium shot, first aimed at Vincent. Dai Yang sat opposite him, with only one shoulder exposed in the frame. The two acted out the flirting scene again.

“Cut, passed.”

The camera was moved behind Vincent and aimed at the good girl played by Dai Yang. This time it was Vincent's turn to show one shoulder. The two flirted for the third time.

The shot was done, waiting for the director of photography to confirm. Filming is not like filming a TV series, where you can watch the instant playback. Whether a shot is well shot and whether it meets the director's requirements must be approved by the director of photography.

“OK”

Then start shooting the reaction shot.

The red-haired assistant photographer switched to a close-up shot with a focal length of 100. Carefully push the camera close, almost sticking to the actor's face.

The director of photography looked at the light and shook his head: "It's a little past the best time. The direct light is a bit strong now. The shadow on the face in the close-up is too strong. Put up the reflector."

The lighting assistant half-knelt on the ground, holding a foam reflector in his hand, reflecting the sunlight on the actor's face to make the shadow less obvious. At the same time, he had to be careful not to let his hands enter the frame to avoid being exposed.

"Give me a shy smile..." Ronald commanded.

"Okay! A!"

Vincent stood behind the camera and was approached for the fourth time. The camera took Dai Yang's face into the lens and printed it on the film. Waiting for washing, reprinting, copying, and finally being enlarged on the big screen, seen by thousands of boys, becoming their dream lover.

"Cut!"

This set of shooting methods is what Roger Corman said: "One main, two shoulders, and three reactions". It is the standard method of Hollywood. First use a panoramic shot, then use an over-the-shoulder lens to shoot the dialogue twice, and finally shoot a few close-ups and add them in as the other party's reaction after hearing the dialogue.

There is only one advantage, it is fast.

Filming is boring and time-consuming. Every scene needs to be rearranged, and the actors need to put on makeup, move around, and rehearse. There is also a particularly time-consuming lighting process for indoor scenes.

The low-cost film "Rock High School" was shot very quickly. A set of Hollywood techniques took more than an hour.

The actors left the stage, and the next thing to shoot was a dance scene. Rock music sounded, and the students danced with a strong rhythm.

In fact, this shot has little to do with the plot, but mainly expresses a rock atmosphere.

More importantly, a few beautiful women dressed coolly and dancing beautifully are ice cream for the audience. In low-cost youth exploitation films, this kind of inexplicable dance is also a standard feature.

The protagonist of the dance scene is the choreographer. How to dance and how to dance beautifully are all determined by the choreographer's level.

The choreographer of the crew is a Polish woman named Siana. She speaks with a strong Eastern European accent.

"Ronaldo, although the Ramones sing rock, I plan to let the students dance disco."

Ronald was stunned for a moment before he realized that Ronaldo was himself. "OK, what's the consideration for doing this?"

"Disco is more beautiful."

The crew didn't have actors with deep dancing skills, and a large number of extras could only dance some popular dances. Compared with the old-fashioned swing dance, everyone can dance the popular disco.

This dance is very popular now. Last year's "Saturday Night Fever" and this year's "Grease" have set off a nationwide disco craze. The male lead of both movies is John Travolta, who has also become a national idol and a new generation of Hollywood dance king.

"You have two beauties with particularly good figures. You should let them dance more in front of the camera." Siana said.

"Oh, who is it?"