"Cut!"
The director shook his head helplessly, "NG! (No Good, meaning unqualified)"
The staff sighed neatly, "Alas!"
This is the Whiskey-GoGo Bar, which was rented by New World Productions to film the movie "Rock of Ages." The crew had already shot 4 shots of the last shot on Friday afternoon, and the fifth shot was still NG.
We can't get off work early, and we can't have an attack. I can only look at the rock band "Ramones" who participated in the movie with resentment.
Director Alan Arkush got up and went to the band manager to replace bassist Dee Dee Ramone, who kept making mistakes.
Co-director Joe Dante sat there, trying to figure out what went wrong. It was obviously a very simple scene. The content was that the guitarist, bassist, and drummer took a few boxes of pizza and walked into the backstage lounge of the concert. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone said the line "Pizza, pizza is here, let's eat!"
Why did it still not work after taking 5 shots? This Didi either said the wrong lines, dropped the pizza on the floor, or knocked over the small table...
Production assistant Ronald Lee watched the entire process from behind the camera. It's a bit strange. The bass player Didi played very hard. He really wanted to perform well and shouted the line with all his strength every time.
But every time after the shouting, when the three of them opened the pizza box, Didi would make some stupid mistakes, as if... yes, as if they were intentional.
The three of them were sitting on chairs to rest. Anyone who was NGed by the director five times would be a little dejected.
Seeing that the band members were losing energy, Ronald quickly walked to the table in the corner behind the camera, took three paper cups, filled them with "delicious" Nescafe instant coffee, and carried them over.
Didi was the most arrogant among the four band members. He lazily accepted the coffee without saying thank you. He only glanced at the other side of the room with the corner of his eyes, and a contemptuous sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Ronald followed his gaze and saw that it was the fourth member of the band—lead singer Joey.
Joey finished filming first and is now chatting with a fan.
Ronald looked back here again. Didi had his back to the other two band members, sipping coffee.
A suspicion suddenly occurred in Ronald's mind.
Quickly walking to the director's chair, Ronald said hello to Joe Dante, approached him and said softly, "Mr. Dante, I found that Didi was a little unconvinced by the lead singer Joey..."
Joe Dante listened for a while, then his eyes suddenly brightened and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Not entirely sure, but worth a try."
Director Allen just happened to have failed negotiations and came back, "No, the band manager said that the four members must have equal playing time, and he is not willing to let another person say Didi Ramone's line."
equal time...
Ronald and Joe Dante looked at each other, feeling more confident.
Joe Dante pulled over the director's chair and asked the very tall Allen to sit down and rest first. He whispered in his ear: "Ronald just discovered... Why don't we try a different shooting method?"
"Oh my god, you're probably right." Allen jumped out of his chair and went to coordinate with the band manager.
Joe Dante also stood up to explain the new shooting method to Didi Ramone, and at the same time asked the makeup artist to come up and touch up his makeup.
Ronald saw the director of photography looking at him curiously from behind the camera and grinned: "The director will change the shooting method."
Soon, the crew was ready to start again.
Director Allen shouted: "Start! (Action)"
Didi Ramone rushed into the camera first, holding a large pile of pizza. He put the pizza on the small table and shouted: "Pizza, the pizza is here, let's eat!"
The other two members of the band, the drummer and the guitarist, ran into the scene one by one. The three of them opened a box of pizza and each took a piece and bit into it.
"Cut! This one is good, passed!"
Everyone shouted "Yeah" and clapped, and today's scene was finally finished.
…
Ronald took the form and asked the actors to sign one by one to confirm the working hours. Then he handed the signed form to Jim, who was also a production assistant.
Jim is also a young man, with long hair parted in the middle, a beard, and a Beatles look. Both of them are "odd boy" assistants on the set. They have the most contact with each other at work, and they are the most eloquent friends.
Jim put away the form and saw that the Ramones had gone away. He leaned closer and asked quietly: "What did you just say to the director so that Diddy could pass in one go?"
Ronald smiled slightly: "When I was delivering coffee to Didi, I found that he was dissatisfied with the lead singer Joey. The previous shot gave a close shot of Joey alone, while this shot gave a medium shot of the three of them together. So. I asked the director to try giving him a solo shot."
The two smiled knowingly. Not only actors in the same crew are like this, but rock stars in the same band also care about status.
Ronald looked at his watch and stood up to leave.
"Why did you just leave and not go to the party?" Jim was a little strange. The crew is at the same spot tonight, the "Whiskey-Go Go" bar, having a weekend party.
"No, I have to call my aunt in New York."
"Don't forget to shoot tomorrow. While the students are on vacation, we will go to Van Nuys High School to shoot the morning scene. We will gather at 05:30." Jim handed over a notice with a map on it.
Taking the notice, Ronald walked out of the bar, got into his car, and drove out of the parking lot.
When passing by the crew's van, the camera crew was loading equipment into the van. Ronald honked his horn twice to acknowledge the cameraman who was standing directing, and then turned left onto the main road.
In Los Angeles on December 15, 1978, daylight saving time had ended. The clocks were set back one hour, just after 6 p.m., but it was already dark.
My aunt must have been waiting for the call. The time difference between Los Angeles and New York is 3 hours. It's already 9 pm there. It will be too late to call when I get home. Ronald stopped at a phone booth not far ahead.
Taking out a handful of coins and stuffing a few into the coin slot, Ronald started dialing: 1-718-317 7157. I dialed the number and was picked up after almost one ring.
"Hello, Aunt Karen, I'm Ronald."
"Oh, Ronnie, are you okay? (Ronnie is Ronald's nickname)"
"I'm doing fine. I've been working on the set for the past two weeks, and I've met a lot of people in the industry this time. When the filming is finished next week, more people will come to me to take photos for auditions.
There are many people in Los Angeles who want to get into the film and television industry, and the market here is huge. I have calculated that I earn more than I would at home. A set of audition photos worth 50 US dollars can cover the tuition, book fees, and accommodation fees for the first year of college in three months. "
"Great, I'm so proud of you, Ronnie. You're a good kid, and your mom and dad will be proud of you in heaven.
I married Steve right out of high school, and after he died in Vietnam, I had to wait tables and not make enough money to go to college. But you must go to college. This is what I promised your mother, and you must do it. "
Aunt Karen was a little excited and mentioned her late husband and Ronald's parents who died in a car accident, which made Ronald sigh.
"Don't worry, Aunt Karen. I will definitely make enough money this year. If I go to a public university in New York State, my tuition will be waived, so it won't be a heavy burden."
"I'm just a waiter in a restaurant, I can't save much money..." Aunt Karen began to blame herself again.
"Don't say that, Aunt Karen. You raised your daughter Donna by yourself, took me in, and spent a lot of money on my aphasia."
After 6 p.m. on weekends, long-distance calls are half price, 29 cents for the first minute, 19 cents for each subsequent minute, and 10 cents for local calls per minute. The two chatted on the phone, and Ronald kept inserting coins to renew, and soon more than half of the coins were lost.
"We don't have enough coins, let's stop talking here. I love you, Aunt Karen."
"I love you too, my little Ronnie."
Ronald hung up the phone, pressed the coin eject button a few times, collected the coins and put them in his pocket. He got in the car, turned around, and drove towards the rented apartment.
While driving, Ronald was thinking a lot. Aunt Karen and cousin Donna were his only relatives in "this world".
Three years ago, Ronald Lee was still a Chinese. As soon as he closed his eyes while sleeping, he traveled to an American hospital. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Aunt Karen.
In this life, his parents were killed in a car accident, and only Ronald, who was sitting in the back seat, survived by chance.
Aunt Karen lost her husband in the Vietnam War and lives with her daughter Donna. After learning that her sister's family had a car accident, she took Ronald, who had become an orphan, from the hospital to his home on Staten Island in the countryside of New York, where he took care of him until he recovered.
After that, Ronald transferred to Toteville High School in Staten Island.
With his thoughts in mind, Ronald stepped on the accelerator and drove towards his home in the direction of Venice Beach.
