Chapter 4: Fake Script

"Fake script?" Jenny asked with a smile.

"Yes, asking the director to borrow the location and extras for free won't reveal the plot of the movie."

This is the constant style of New World Production: stingy!

Van Nuys High School agreed to lend the playground for filming for free, organize students to act as extras for free, and provide free breakfast and lunch. All of this is based on the fake script created by the producer.

"Rock and Roll High School" is a typical low-budget movie, filled with various elements of rock, rebellion, love, and other things that teenagers like. The plot is very simple: the cheerleader from "Vince Lombardi High School" is a rebellious rock and roll girl. Together with her best friend, the obedient high school student, she invites the popular rock band "The Ramones" to come to the school festival for a concert, which angers the old-fashioned guy. The principal eventually tears the roof off the school's teacher's office building and changes the school's name to "Rock and Roll High School."

Of course, the school officials at the public high school of Van Nuys, where the movie was filmed, would not agree to such a plot. The director asked Ronald to write a fake script of "High School Life" to trick the school.

The story written by Ronald is: The new principal of the high school rectifies the school spirit and makes the rock music-addicted students realize that there is more to life than rock and roll. Some students went to college, some worked as supermarket cashiers, and others worked in factories. All have a bright future.

"Okay, I understand," Jenny began to erase the title on the board with an eraser and rewrote "High School Life" with a pen.

"Please notify the relevant staff and don't reveal your secret. We will only film at this school for one day."

"No problem," Jenny smiled and joked, "Ronnie, you're talking more and more like a director."

Ronald smiled and waved his hand, "I'm just here to show the credits."

At that moment, a group of people on the other side of the camera erupted into a burst of fast conversation, and the sound became increasingly shrill, as if they were about to start a fight.

"I'm going to find out what's going on. See you later, Jenny."

"See you later."

Walking quickly through the crowd, it was Jim who was surrounded by three actresses, as if 1,500 ducks were quacking.

"Can we start rehearsing the moves?"

"Where is Mr. Director? Should I wear a red coat or a black coat today?"

"Where is Joe? He agreed to introduce me last week."

…

Ronald shook his head with a smile, and Jim was like a poor chicken, confused by the rapid-fire questions from the three leading ladies. Before he could answer the previous question, he was immediately interrupted by the next question.

Then he asked the director of photography: "The extras are already in position. They have rehearsed twice and are waiting to be positioned along with the actors. Mr. Candy, what happened? Can't we start yet?"

The director of photography was lying behind the camera checking the framing situation. After hearing this, he poked his head out from behind the camera and looked at him: "What they want is a result, and what Jim gave them is a lot of explanations, so..."

Ronald understood as well. There were countless cues on set. The script only said that the protagonist wore white shoes, and the director had to choose the most suitable pair from the various pairs of shoes prepared for the costume.

Directors have to make dozens of decisions like this every day. It can be as small as what shoes the actors wear, or as big as 50 extras dancing, or how to choreograph everyone's dance movements. The actors do not trust Jim's choices, and Jim is anxious to explain why he chose this over that.

"Jim, where is the director? Where is Joe? Should I wear a red coat or a black one today? This is a poor, low-budget movie. The costume cost is only $100. I can't buy suitable clothes at all. I'll take all the money from the movie." I bought clothes.

"You know, that day at the Fred Segal clothing store on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Rod Stewart (the famous singer) was behind me. I bought this red one a minute before he did; otherwise, he would have bought it. Yes, it cost me $300. And this black one is..." PJ Soles, the first heroine, talked very familiarly about the two garments.

"Miss Sowers!" Ronald shouted, "You should wear the red one for today's shoot."

"Call me PJ. Wear red? But black would be fine too."

Because you wore red in the tape, Ronald thought, but he had to make up a reason.

"Miss PJ Sowers, we are filming today's scene at dawn. The light before and after dawn is bluish, which will make the black stand out incorrectly.

And your red coat is very suitable. Light blue is just the complementary color of red. It will definitely pop when you photograph it. And your character is a rock girl, so red is more appropriate."

"Really? Then I'll choose red."

"Ms. Mary Voronov, the director promised to add a close-up of you last week, and it will be in today's shooting schedule, I promise. You will walk in front of the camera from a distance and appear in the principal's uniform."

Ronald took the shooting sheet from Jim's hand, flipped to a certain page, slapped a piece of differently colored paper on it, and pointed to Mary, who played the principal: "Look, this is the shot."

"Miss Dey Young, the obedient schoolgirl you played is the protagonist of the first take. First, we start moving, measure the focus, and wait 20 minutes, no, 18 and a half minutes to be precise. The extras are in their place and we can start rehearsing."

The problem was perfectly resolved, and the director of photography gave the thumbs up.

Mary Voronov, who plays the principal, has acted in several New World Productions films, and Dai Yang, who plays the good schoolgirl, is a newcomer. The two have little experience and are ready to start taking on roles.

PJ Soles, who plays the protagonist, the rebellious rock cheerleader, is the most important actor on the team and receives the highest salary. Last year, she played important roles in the successful horror film "Carrie" and the recently released "Moonlight," so she had a stand-in.

Before the official shooting, the lighting team had to observe the effect of the light on the person's face, while the camera crew had to use a measuring tape to measure the distance between the actor's eyes and the camera. The film camera does not have autofocus, so it is necessary to use a tape measure to measure the focal distance and manually focus to capture the actor's bright eyes on screen.

Some actors do not want to waste time, so they hire a stand-in of similar height and weight to do it for them. PJ Soles is the only actor in the cast who receives this treatment. While the stand-in took her place, PJ went to the temporary dressing room in the teaching building to change clothes and touch up her makeup.

The first assistant cameraman, the red-haired cameraman who is also the focus puller and chief grip, quickly took the tape and found the initial position of the actors on the storyboard on the floor. After finding it, he taped a T-shaped marker on the ground, which is the actor's position.

Then he takes out a measuring tape, hangs one end from the camera, brings the other end close to the actor's eyes, and writes down the reading. Then he goes back and determines the corresponding focus point and makes a mark on the focus ring next to the camera body. When it comes to the actual shooting, wherever the position is photographed, the focus puller will adjust it to the corresponding mark to ensure that the focus is on the actor's eyes.

After repeating this process several times, the shooting position for the first shot was completed. Everyone sighed with relief, and Ronald grabbed the loudspeaker: "Where is the makeup? Gigi, touch up the heroine's makeup."

It had reached 5:55, and Ronald was getting anxious again. The director still hadn't arrived. At that moment, PJ Soles had already changed clothes, touched up her makeup, and came out of the temporary dressing room in the teaching building.

She was still a little undecided, wearing a red coat and holding a black coat in one hand while continuing to gesture, "Where is the director? I still have to ask the director."

Everyone looked at Ronald. Ronald suddenly broke out in a sweat. I don't know where the director is either? But in the end, I definitely chose red for my clothes. He kept pretending to be confident: "Director, director..."

"The director is here!" Jim shouted, who was in front.

A tall, thin man walked toward the school door, about 6 feet 6 inches (approximately 2 meters) tall. With an explosive curly hairstyle and facial features vaguely reminiscent of those from the Middle East, he was none other than the director of the "Rock of Ages" team, Alan Arkush.

End of chatper