Chapter 15 Going back to college or making a movie?
"Two Filet-O-Fish burgers, thank you."
Catholics have a tradition of not eating meat on Fridays, so McDonald's, which mainly sells beef burgers, has invented fried cod burgers. Ronald doesn't eat it often, and today he ran out of coupons for Big Macs.
When he got home, he boiled a kettle of water, took out a tea bag, and made a large cup of black tea. He hurriedly finished his dinner with the black tea. Ronald sat at the table and was in a daze.
Ronald college is public university in New York at Albany, State University of New York . The economy is in recession and inflation is severe. It is not certain that you can find a good job with a diploma from an ordinary university.
Ronald chose this public university with low tuition fees. Aunt Karen is a resident of New York State, so she can enjoy a large reduction in tuition. He applied for directing major.
New York is in the northeast of the United States, and people often hear about Ivy League private schools, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, etc.
The starting point of class separation in America is college, and Ronald also wanted to go to a prestigious school. He had no money and no scholarships, and the tuition fees of private prestigious schools are several times that of public schools. His SAT scores and high school grades are not enough to qualify for prestigious college.
Alas, if he had to go to the Staten Island campus of the City University of New York, which has just been upgraded from a community college (junior college to undergraduate), he will probably have to look up to those students from prestigious schools for the rest of his life.
...
He joined a film company and worked as a temporary director for a day. He originally just wanted to find a job in the industry to earn more hard-earned money for taking pictures.
However, the conversation with Gail about dreams, and the feeling of having a single word in a crew of dozens of people at the end of the day, ignited the wildfire in Ronald's heart.
...
In the film industry, only those who are talented can make a lot of money. I must have talent, right
? Besides, there was the strange dream last night. If I can dream about more future movies, I can make a lot of money by shooting them in advance, right?
Not to mention i know also many Hollywood movies of 90s and 2000s .
Film is the most expensive art.
Unlike novelists, who can write with just one dollar for a pencil and manuscript paper, if you want to be a painter, you only need to spend $100 to buy brushes, paints, and canvases, and you can start painting.
If you want to make a feature film that will be shown in theaters, you need at least $200,000.
Even a 10-minute short film like Jim shot, which has no chance of being shown in theaters, costs more than $20,000.
If you want to make a normal-budget movie, sorry... you need to start with $3 million.
... Or else,
you can dig out the script and submit it to the studio? Then be appreciated by the producer, become a director, make a masterpiece, marry a rich and beautiful woman, and reach the peak of your life?
I'm afraid it's not that easy.
Not to mention other things, from my experience of reading scripts at New World Studios for a several months, many of the movies that will be shot this year were actually written five years ago, and some have been hidden in the warehouses of the eight major studios for more than ten years.
As a young man with no successful works and no connections, I'm afraid that if I write a script and send it to the eight major studios, it will not even pass the review of a reviewer like me.
...
Join the new world, slowly gain Roger Corman's appreciation, and then be like Allen and Joe?
This road is also very difficult.
This is no longer the era of big studios. Twenty years ago, as long as you worked in a big studio, you could get ahead if you had talent and worked hard. Write scripts for your own company's stars, find your own company's directors to shoot, and after five or six years, you can be promoted to assistant director, and then become a director and start shooting your own movie with a budget of 3 million US dollars.
In Hollywood now, everything is a free market. You find your own investment, your own actors, and your own negotiations with distribution companies.
Before getting the ticket to enter this free market, you have to be like Allen and Joe, and get the minimum wage of 200 US dollars per week stipulated by the union during the shooting period, and reduce your income by more than half during the non-shooting period. After five or six years, you can start shooting a low-cost small production of 300,000 US dollars. This is still under Roger Corman, a well-known honest man in the industry.
Not only that, in the New Hollywood movement in the past 10 years, the new generation of big directors that have emerged are all college graduates. George Lucas who made "Star Wars", Francis Coppola who made "The Godfather", Martin Scorsese who made "Taxi Driver"...
I graduated from college school, can I compete with these graduates from prestigious college?
...
But on the other hand, it is not easy for me to enter the film industry.
How many handsome men and beautiful women want to enter this industry but can't find the door.
I accidentally entered New World Productions and participated in the filming of the movie. It can be said that luck plays a big role. At another time, I might not even pass the interview.
If I go to the City University of New York to study again, it will probably be to late. The dream of making movies in the past may become a memory of youth like Chris and Mara.
...
Ronald held the cup and took a sip of red tea. The feeling of the studio responding to the call came to his mind again.
He smiled bitterly and enjoyed recalling that moment. Anyone who has had this creative experience of making a decision by word would probably want to do it again.
After going to college, you may find a stable job with a normal income, and then forget about making movies as a dream.
Working hard in Hollywood may make you a lot of money, or you may always be poor. But no matter what, one thing is certain, you will be poor for many years.
How to choose between going to college and making movies? It would be great if there was a way to have the best of both worlds.
If there is a way to have the best of both worlds..., then maybe there is a way.
...
"Ring, ring, ring..."
The phone suddenly rang.
"Hello, this is Ronald."
"Um, hello, I'm looking for Mr. Smith, he's a portrait photographer." A pleasant mezzo-soprano voice came.
"I am. Please call me Ronald. Who are you?"
"OK. Ronald, my friend recommended you to me. You see, I called you several times this week, but no one answered, so I'll try one last time tonight."
"Sorry, I've been working on a film crew since Thanksgiving break, so I haven't been at home during this time."
"Are you still helping people take audition photos now?"
"Yes, but I have to film on the crew next week, and it will last until the 22nd."
"So you're very busy before Christmas?"
"I should be free on the 23rd, or the morning of the 24th, because everyone will be celebrating the holiday in the afternoon."
"Okay, I'd like you to take a set of audition photos for me, on the 23rd."
"What's your name?"
"My name is Demi Gaines"
"OK, do you want to update your audition photos, or are you shooting for the first time?"
"First time."
"Okay, do you want to shoot in black and white or color?" Ronald opened the drawer, took out a work notebook, and began to remember.
"Uh, I don't know, what do you think?"
"It depends on whether the movie you want to audition for is black and white or color. If you just shoot it and keep it with the casting director, then I recommend color." "
Okay, then color."
"Well, do you want to shoot outdoor or indoor? Oh, if it's your first time, you can consider indoor. There are still more movies shot in studios. You can use indoors when you first start, and add more later if you need it."
"Oh, I hear you, you sound very professional."
"Thank you. You can shoot at my house. I live in Venice Beach..."
"Wait a minute, Ronald. I'm a print model with an agent. I don't go to the photographer's house." The girl was very alert.
"I totally understand. If you have a free studio, I can use your place. If I rent a studio, it will cost extra. Or if you have a larger room at home, I can bring lights and go to your place to shoot."
"That's great, my boyfriend's house in West Hollywood is very big."
"Generally speaking, for the first audition photo shoot, I suggest taking two versions, one for a serious drama and one for a romantic comedy. The total cost of the two sets of photography is $80, including 5 6X8-inch photos per version, and negatives." "
Okay, that's a deal."
"What's your phone number, Ms. Gaines? I will contact you on Friday the 22nd, and we will set the time and address for the shoot."
"Oh, my phone number is 689-8425"
...
Rock High School
(End of this chapter)