Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 9 The Hollywood Method

Back at the scene, Ronald found Jim: "The boss will come over and it will take 2 hours. Before that, we will continue to shoot."

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

"Yes, when the boss comes to take over. He and his assistant Gail will be on the scene. We have to hurry up, what is the next scene? You will take care of the positioning"

"The next scene is the scene where the good girl Kate strikes up a conversation with the handsome Tom." Jim picked up the storyboard drawing 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 has a strong body, blond hair, and a green and white school uniform. He is exactly the dream lover in the eyes of American high school girls.

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

Ronald recalled the image in his dream. He played the honest and dull Ma Baonan, who didn't match his temperament.

But if he can act like a film, he must have good acting skills, so the problem lies in...

"Clothes, where are the clothes?"

"Here" Linda, the chubby dresser, raised her hand.

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

"OK, I'm ready, I'll let you pick it out." Linda, the dresser, picked up two ties, one with blue and green stripes and the other with deep red.

"This one," Ronald pointed to the blue-green striped one, "goes well with this green and white school uniform."

……

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

Roger indicated the position of the camera, and then pointed to the teaching building: "The male protagonist came out of the building, holding a novel that no one read in his hand, and he didn't fit in with the happy dancing crowd around him."

Described the picture 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 bit disbelieving that these words came from his mouth, a bit like an old director who has been in the film industry for decades.

"How do you shoot when you feel out of place?" Director of Photography Dean Candy asked, "You tell me how to move the mirror."

"No, don't rely on camera movement." Ronald explained, "This scene 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 come up to greet him, the frequency of walking and movement is normal, but Tom will slow down half a beat, so that he can shoot a sense of incompatibility."

"Okay, I understand." The director of photography nodded, "You go to schedule the actors' rehearsal, and leave it to me."

"Thank you, Mr. Candie."

After Ronald thanked him, he turned around and ran to talk to the actors in a hurry.

"Hey, today is your first scene, right?" Ronald looked at Vincent who had put on his tie, and he really became a bit 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 be impressed with you. Come out from the room, show up here, then take a book, go this way, say hello to many male classmates, and finally sit on the seat here, eat Breakfast. Then wait for Kate to come and talk to you."

Ronald demonstrated the position again, "What do you think?"

Vincent imitated it again: "Appear...take the book...go...greeting...sit down."

Ronald said: "Perfect. What do you think of this shot? Any ideas?"

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

Ronald gave him a thumbs up, "Pay attention to the frequency of your movements, it's like a slow reaction."

"No problem, look at mine," Vincent stroked his handsome hair.

"Oh, you messed up your hairstyle. Gigi, fix his hair" Ronnie called the make-up and hairstylist.

Being an actor is a troublesome profession. If the makeup and hairstyle are slightly inconsistent, the lens will be magnified exponentially.So after each shot, check for touch-ups.

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

"No problem, I get good coverage with a 20mm lens. Just stop down a stop and it's as bright as the front lens."

Ronald looked up at the sky, the sun had risen, and the school's courtyard walls blocked most of the direct light.But the brightness of the environment is much brighter than before.The photographer had to make some technical adjustments to make the front and rear images roughly as bright.Otherwise, the flickering picture during the screening will break the audience.

It is quite complicated to shoot with natural light, but fortunately there is a very experienced director of photography.

Ronald and Jim whispered, ready to shoot.

The plot is like this: Kate saw Tom, showed a nympho expression, took the initiative to sit next to Tom, and struck up a conversation with him.Tom doesn't like the school bully good girl, he prefers the cheerleader Liv Randall.He replied hello in distaste, and turned his head to read the novel.The camera finally stopped on Kate Rambo's embarrassed and depressed face.

"Action!"

The shot is well done, from start to finish.

"Cut!"

Next up is the dialogue.

The camera switches to a medium shot, focusing first on Vincent.Dai Yang sat across from him, only one shoulder was exposed in the viewfinder frame.The two played out the strike-up scene again.

"Cut, it's over."

Then the camera was moved behind Vincent, aiming at the good girl played by Dai Yang.This time it was Vincent's turn to show a shoulder.The two struck up a conversation for the third time.

The shot is shot, waiting for confirmation from the director of photography.Making a movie is not like making a TV series. You can watch the replay in real time. Whether a shot is good or not, and whether it meets the director's requirements, you must ask the director of photography to nod.

"OK"

Then start taking reaction shots.

The red-haired camera assistant puts on a close-up lens with a focal length of 100mm.Carefully move the camera closer, almost to the actor's face.

The director of photography looked at the light and shook his head: "The best time has passed, the direct light is a bit strong now, and the shadow on the face in the close-up shot is too strong, so put on a reflector."

The lighting assistant half-kneeled on the ground, holding a foam reflector in his hand, reflecting the sunlight onto the actor's face, making shadows less obvious.At the same time, I have to be careful not to let my hands enter the viewfinder frame, so as not to wear the help.

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

"Good! Action!"

Vincent stood behind the camera and was accosted for the fourth time.The camera took Dai Yang's face into the lens and printed it on the film.Waiting to be developed, reprinted, copied, and finally enlarged on the big screen to be seen by thousands of boys and become their dream lover.

"Cut!"

This set of shots is what Roger Coleman said: "One master, two shoulders and three reactions".It's a Hollywood standard.First take a panoramic shot, then take two shots of the conversation with an over-the-shoulder lens, and finally take a few close-up shots, which are added as the reaction of the other party after hearing the conversation.

Just one advantage, the shooting is fast.

Film shooting is boring and time-consuming. Every scene has to be re-arranged. The actors have to touch up makeup, move positions, rehearse, and indoor scenes have a particularly time-consuming lighting link.

The low-budget film "Rock and Roll High School" was filmed very quickly, and it took more than an hour to complete a set of Hollywood techniques.

Let the actors leave the scene, and the next thing to shoot is the dancing scene.The rock music sounded, and the students danced with a strong rhythm.

In fact, this shot has little to do with the plot, it mainly shows a rock and roll atmosphere.

More importantly, a few beauties in cool clothes will come and dance some beautiful dances, which can be regarded as 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 drama is the choreographer.How to dance and how to dance well depends on the level of choreography.

The choreographer of the crew is a Polish man named Siana.He speaks with a thick Eastern European accent.

"Ronaldo, although the Ramones sing about rock and roll, I'm going to make the students dance disco."

Ronald froze for a moment before realizing that Ronaldo was himself. "OK, what are the considerations for doing this?"

"Disco looks better."

The crew does not have actors with profound dance skills, and a large number of extras can only dance some popular dances.Compared with old-fashioned swing dancing, popular disco can be danced by everyone.

This kind of dance is now popular and purple. Last year's "Saturday Night Fever" and this year's "Grease" set off a national disco popularity.The leading actor in the two films is John Travolta, who has also become a national idol and a new generation of Hollywood dancing king.

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

"Oh, who is it?"

(End of this chapter)