Chapter 5 Filming 

 Director Allen gradually approached, followed by his inseparable good friend Joe Dante. Dante was about 5 feet 6 inches (about 1.70 meters), like a guard on the basketball court hiding behind the center dribbling forward.

  Walking to the front of the crowd, Joe's head flashed out from behind Allen. His middle-parted hairstyle could not hide his rapidly receding hairline. He grabbed Director Allen's arm with one hand and pointed at Ronald with the other and shouted: "Ronnie, Ronnie, how are the preparations for today?"

  "I just organized the group performances to practice twice. The main actors have finished their positions and put on makeup. I'm waiting for Director Allen to confirm the costumes for the main actors. We can rehearse with makeup in 5 minutes. The director of photography said that we can start shooting on time at 6:30."

  As he spoke, Ronald handed over the storyboard he drew yesterday.

  Joe Dante took it and looked at it: "Is this the storyboard you drew?"

  He was particularly proactive today and took on the director's responsibilities. While looking at the storyboard drawings drawn by Ronald in detail, he ordered: "Move Director Allen's chair over."

  Ronald saw that Director Allen was not in a good state. He quickly brought a chair. It was the kind of chair that has a name on the backrest, which is reserved for directors. Ronald took the director's arm from Joe and helped him sit down with difficulty.

  The director's forehead was sweating, his face was pale, and he looked a little bad. Ronald leaned close to the director's ear and asked softly, "Can I get you a cup of hot coffee, Director Allen?"

  Allen nodded. Ronald pulled assistant Jim over and gently told him to bring a cup of hot coffee.

  "Very good, let's shoot according to your storyboard today. PJ, you wear the red one," Joe Dante said as he handed the storyboard to the director of photography. The two began to discuss the details of the shooting:

  "The camera will start with a close-up of the freshmen, then pull back, then rise, to give a panoramic view of the playground, and then push forward to the Science Club welcome stand where the good girl and the top student are standing..."

  After the two discussed it, Joe came over and spread out the storyboard and explained it to Allen. Allen nodded in agreement.

  At this time, the extras returned to the playground one after another. Ronald picked up the electric horn and guided the extras to their positions.

  The red-haired photography assistant began to put a black cloth on the film box to prevent exposure, and put his hands in to install the film in the dark.

  The director of photography called the other two strong assistants, and several people began to check the installed camera crane, rising and falling a few times, and began to test.

  In less than a minute, the red-haired man installed the film in the black cloth bag in the dark. He came over and picked up a roll of black tape and pasted it along the edge of the film box. Low-cost movies are all rented second-hand machines, and the quality of the machines is unknown. So black tape is used to cover the gap to prevent accidental light leakage and ruin the film.

  After wrapping the film box, the director of photography began to direct the assistants to lift the camera onto the crane and install it, and then rise and fall to test. The crane is also rented second-hand, and if it is not tested, there may be problems.

  Co-director Joe Dante began to explain the play to Dae Young, who played the role of the good girl...

  The crew was like a big machine, and the various staff members were like gears. At the director's command, they began to operate in an orderly manner.

  Ronald liked this kind of order. A good director is like a general, and the crew is like a group of soldiers. Filming is a team work, and the director must have leadership skills.

  The leading and supporting actors stood in position and prepared to start rehearsal. Joe Dante was discussing the details with the director sitting on the chair.

  Ronald picked up the electric speaker and began to organize the group actors to stand in position, acting as a good human background. "All the boys and girls from Van Nuys High School, we are about to start the dress rehearsal. Please take up the positions that have been determined before, please stand in the positions that have been determined before..."

  "The football team, please come over here, okay, your game uniforms are great. You will stand here at the beginning, and when I give the signal, you will rush to the map here, pick up the freshman, and carry him away as a prank. Do you understand?"

  The director signaled Ronald to start the rehearsal. Several actors began to act in a fake manner. In order to save their best performance for the official shooting, the actors did not move around much and did not rehearse. The extras cooperated well, except for one or two who peeked at the camera.

  Director of photography Dean Conti personally operated the camera, climbed onto the jib, and walked through the camera movement trajectory for the official shooting. The director indicated that he was satisfied.

  Ronald picked up the electric speaker again: "Please stand in the starting position, all extras." The leading and supporting actors also stood in the starting position.

  All the staff left the range covered by the camera, and everyone waited patiently and expectantly.

  Co-director Joe Dante gave the leading actor Dae Young a few more details to pay attention to. Everyone held their breath and waited for the magic light to arrive.

  Just after 06:28, the light in the air suddenly began to flow like an athlete hearing the starting gun. The sun had not yet risen from the horizon, but it was slowly illuminating the sky and the background.

  It was a beautiful color, and the metal body of the camera revealed a light blue luster, as if it was covered with a layer of armor.

  The hairpins worn by several high school girls and the black-framed glasses worn by the good girls also began to flash a faint reflection. Everyone seemed to be afraid to breathe, waiting for the magic light to come.

  The red-haired photography assistant trotted to the actor to measure the light, and then ran back to the camera to report the light measurement data to adjust the aperture.

  The uncle carrying the long recording pole raised the long recording pole to the actor's head, trying to get as close as possible to collect the sound, but keeping far enough away to avoid being captured by the camera.

  "The light is just right!" the director of photography shouted.

  Receiving the eye signal from director Allen, Ronald picked up the electric horn: "Okay, now we will take the first official shot, get ready!"

  Jim cooperated and pressed the whistle three times "beep...beep...beep..." This was the signal to notify the ban.

  Everyone stopped whispering and waited for orders.

  Ronald looked at the director, and Joe Dante signaled him to start. Ronald said on the electric horn:

  "Recorder?"

  "On!" the recording team replied.

  "Camera?"

  "Full speed!" The red-haired man indicated that the camera motor had accelerated to 24 frames per second and could start shooting.

  Picking up the small clapperboard, Jenny, the script supervisor, ran to the camera and held it up, and began to say: "'High School Life' Scene 127, first shot, first time." She

  slammed the clapperboard down with a snap, and then quickly left the shooting area.

  "Action!"

  Allen Arkush, who was sitting in the director's chair, said softly.

  "Action!"

  Ronald loudly conveyed the director's order through the electric speaker.

  The performance began.

  A freshman looked at the map on the wall. There was a red cross on it, and under the red cross it was written: "Your position is here."

  "Where am I?" The freshman said to himself.

  The director of photography directed the camera to move horizontally, and then slowly retreated. The frame slowly zoomed out from the freshman's upper body to his whole body, and then continued to retreat. Three members of the football team entered the picture from the right.

  "Oh, there's a freshman here!" "Freshman, freshman!"

  The football team members, dressed in their game uniforms, rushed over and picked up the extras who played the freshmen.

  "Where are you taking me!"

  "Put me in the locker!"

  "Oh, no, don't throw me in the locker."

  The camera's jib rose evenly to the top of the head and began to switch to a bird's-eye view. The football player carried the freshman out of the camera's frame. Then the camera slowly moved, framing the welcome stand of the Science Club where the good girl was.

  The camera pointed to the female student played by Dae Young, one of the female protagonists. It began to slowly descend, and finally stopped, pointing to the table in front of her.

  There were several bottles for chemical experiments on the table, filled with red, green and blue water of different colors, and there was a sign next to it that said "Science Club, Kate Lanbao, Chemical Reaction Demonstration".

  Ronald stood not far behind the camera and watched the filming. This was a rare highlight in this low-cost movie, which cost a lot of money and will be edited into the opening scene of the movie in the future.

  The first take of the day seemed to go smoothly. He secretly compared the actual take with the revelation in the dream. The two were basically the same. Ronald nodded. We'll see if the director is satisfied later. We'll keep this one for printing.

  But the director hasn't called a stop yet. It seems he has some special ideas. Is he keeping the shot longer for easier editing? Or are there any other special artistic considerations?

  No, this is too long. The actors' expressions have begun to stiffen. Dae Young, who plays the role of a good girl, has turned her head to look at the camera. She is looking for the director, asking him to give a signal whether she should continue.

  Why hasn't he called "Cut" yet?

  Ronald also turned to see what director Allen was thinking.

  The director, who is nearly two meters tall and thin, gradually tilted his head while sitting on the chair. Is he moving the camera at this angle? No, how could the director...

  Ronald quickly picked up the electric speaker:

  "Cut! Cut! Cut!"

  Everyone was frightened by his rapid shouting and turned their heads to look over.

  "The director has fainted!"

  (End of this chapter)