Chapter 12 Lunch for the Crew
Roger Corman left the set quickly. He had to go to the hospital to settle Allen's bill, and then take his lawyer to the police station to bail out Joe Dante. The life of a multimillionaire is always busy. However, the president's assistant Gail stayed at the scene.
It was a sunny day today, and the sun had risen high. The director of photography said that they could only shoot close-ups and close-ups now, and use reflectors to fill in the light, otherwise the shadows on the face under the direct sunlight at a high angle would make the movie look like a Hitchcock thriller.
Ronald and Jim picked some suitable shots together, and the director of photography continued to shoot after approving.
These shots are about the new headmistress Evelyn Toga (played by Mary Woronoff), who heard someone playing rock music on the radio and came to catch the perpetrator.
She took a pair of large scissors and cut the audio cable of Liv Randall's record player. Then she asked everyone who was the leader, and as long as they handed over the leader, everyone else would be innocent.
Kate Lanbao, the good girl, stood up and said that she did it. Of course, Liv Randall was also indispensable. Principal Evelyn Toga announced that the two would be punished by staying after school today.
Ronald found that if the actors rehearsed well and the crew cooperated well, the filming would be very rhythmic. Actors moved, lights were set, actors rehearsed, real shots were taken, props were changed, cameras were arranged, actors moved, lights were set... over and over again.
Maybe it was because Ronald had low requirements (he didn't have any guidance in his dreams, and he didn't know whether the filming was good or not), or maybe it was because he respected the opinions of the crew (he didn't know if others were fooling him anyway), the crew's shooting speed today was actually three points faster than when Allen and Joe directed it.
By 10:50 in the morning, most of the shots had been taken. Only a few panoramas and long shots were left. It was impossible to fool the light with reflectors, so we could only wait for the magic light before and after sunset.
"The morning shooting is over, it's lunch time now, everyone in the crew, take a 1-hour break." Ronald shouted with a bullhorn.
Daylight saving time had just ended, and the time in the Pacific time zone was still a bit strange. The sun rose at around 6 a.m. and set at around 4 p.m., and lunch was set at 11 a.m.
The extras ran back to the teaching building to eat. The principal of Van Nuys High School welcomed the crew to come and film. As a high school in the West Hollywood area, there are many artistic students among the students. They have been exposed to filming since childhood. They joined the drama club in elementary school and hope to enter the film industry in the future. If a crew comes to the high school to film, it will be a good thing for the school district's annual assessment and will also help attract students.
So the school treated us today, eating pizza and drinking Coke. This made the crew members, whose meals were ordinary, very happy. The stingy crew did not have a large budget for food, and usually only had cheap hot dogs and instant coffee.
Ronald, Jim, and Gail sat together to eat Domino's pizza. This is a popular chain delivery recently. The taste is not amazing, but it is delivered very quickly and is still hot when you get it. Ronald ate a few slices of pizza, drank a can of Coke, and patted his stomach with satisfaction.
Gail was much more elegant when eating. At first, she used a plastic knife and fork, but under Jim's guidance, she soon learned to eat directly with her hands, covering her mouth with her hands.
I don't know what joke Jim told, but Gail was so amused that she giggled and shook her body.
Ronald took out a pair of sunglasses from his waist bag and put them on. Today, he was considered a senior member of the crew, so he sat in a better seat, and the chair had a backrest. He leaned back comfortably, feeling quite relaxed. There was basically nothing to shoot in the afternoon, so he organized a few actors to rehearse and try to get a pass around sunset.
The advantage of wearing sunglasses is that others can't see what your eyes are looking at. Ronald closed his eyes, breathed calmly, and closed his eyes to rest. Unlike most Americans, he likes to take a break at noon. However, in a country where physical fitness is proud of culture, taking a nap can easily make people think that you are not energetic, either in poor health or lazy, so Ronald wears sunglasses to cover it up.
Today he is a temporary director and is destined to not rest. Soon Jim came to ask about the secrets Roger Corman had taught him that morning. Ronald took off his sunglasses, took out a small notebook, and explained them to him one by one. Jim nodded as he listened, "I wish I had known all this when I was making short films."
"You've made short films before?" Ronald didn't know that he had this history. Gail knew a little bit about the situation, "Yes, Jim brought the short film over at that time, and Mr. Corman admired his talent very much and asked him to join the company to learn film production."
"Oh, what's the subject? Do you still have your copy? When can I have a chance to see it?" Ronald became interested. "
It's a science fiction film, 12 minutes and 7 seconds. I transferred it to a VHS tape and will show it to you when I have a chance."
"There's no VCR where I live, but I'll still go to the company to see it when I have a chance. How much money did it cost to make that short film, and how did you raise the money?" Ronald was a little envious of Jim. He knew that Jim was definitely not a child from a wealthy family. They both secretly used McDonald's coupons for meals.
"It cost 24,000 dollars. I found 12 dentists and persuaded them to raise funds for the film."
"Science fiction? That would cost a lot of money on props and special effects, right? You can make it with 24,000 dollars, that's amazing."
"Ah, the main cost is the two robot models, the kind that people sit in and fight. It cost a lot of money, and the actors can't perform while squatting in them. I can only shoot separately, with the actors sitting on chairs pretending to drive the battle robots, and then shoot the scenes of the robot models fighting each other, and edit them together to create a feeling that the actors are driving the battle robots."
When talking about his favorite science fiction movies, Jim began to talk endlessly. Ronald suspected that if this "Rock High School" was not a youth movie with a lot of music and dance, Jim would definitely compete with him to be the temporary director.
"It seems that New World has made a lot of science fiction movies?" Ronald asked Gail.
"Yes. But last year, George Lucas's "Star Wars" raised the threshold of science fiction movies a lot. Mr. Coleman's original science fiction movies that only Piu Piu shot green light are not selling well." Gail smiled and made a laser gun gesture with his hands.
"Ronald, can you give us another close-up?" a voice came from the side.
Ronald turned his head and saw two dancing sexy bombs, Chris Soma and Mara Rosenfield, visiting together.
They changed their costumes and now wore T-shirts and jeans, but they still couldn't hide their youth. One was blonde and the other was brunette, and their two pairs of big eyes stared at the young temporary director.
Ronald suddenly felt a little overwhelmed and put on his sunglasses, "Hi, Chris, Mara. My temporary director position ends today. The only thing left today is the scene of the headmistress played by Mary Woronoff, and you can dance on the roadside as a background. I can't add a monologue for you." "
Oh, thank you, it would be great if you were a real director."
"Yes, I think you shot it better than Allen."
The two beauties immediately complimented him.
"Stop talking like that. You two are photogenic (real), and you dance the best (fake). There are dance scenes later in this movie. I think the dance director Siana will definitely recommend you."
Ronald quickly interrupted their complaints and told them to ask the dance director who really had the right to recommend them. The two beauties thanked them and went to find the dance director Siana.
"Puff," Gail laughed as he looked at the backs of the two beauties, "Ronald, you can be a diplomat."
"Uh, I'm just telling the truth."
"The truth? You only selectively told them part of the truth." Gail saw it clearly, "For this kind of low-cost movie, the director is the one who can decide their fate in the end."
"There's nothing wrong with that. Mr. Coleman told me before that his moviegoers don't come to see the story, but to see young beauties dancing disco. They best meet the audience's expectations."
"It seems that you understand them very well?" Gail wrinkled his nose and asked.
"Yes, I understand them very well. Movies are a magical art that can let tens of millions of viewers see you. As a student in a public school, being able to appear in a movie and have a few positive shots is also a dream come true, isn't it?"
Ronald stood up and put the pizza boxes and Coke cans he had eaten into the garbage bag. "Today the school is treating us, and we finally don't have to eat hot dogs. I don't have to count the number of people and prevent outsiders from stealing food." As he said that, he and Jim laughed together. This is one of their important tasks on weekdays, and Gail also laughed.
(End of this chapter)