Back at the scene, Ronald found Jim: "The boss will rush over and it will take 2 hours. Until then, we will continue filming."
"Wow, so you continue to be a director?"
"Yes, when the boss comes to take over, he and his assistant Gale will come to the scene. We have to hurry up. What's the next scene? You will be responsible for the positioning."
"The next scene is the scene where the good girl Kate strikes up a conversation with the handsome boy Tom." Jim picked up the storyboard and handed it to Ronald, "Congratulations, Ronnie. You deserve it."
…
Ronald found the actor who played Handsome Tom, Vincent Van Patten. At first glance, he is strong, blond, and wearing a green and white school uniform. He is exactly what an American high school girl would dream of.
Vincent is a handsome American guy. He himself is not like the old-fashioned nerd Tom in the script, but a sporty and sunny boy.
Ronald recalled the image in his dream. He played the role of an honest and dull mama's boy, whose temperament did not match.
But if he can act in a movie, his acting skills must be good, so the problem lies...
"Clothes, where are the clothes?"
"Here" Linda, the fat costumer, raised her hand.
Ronald pointed to Vincent's chest, "Add a tie and look. I want him to look like he was raised in a very serious Puritan family."
"OK, I'm prepared. I'll bring it for you to choose from." Linda, the costume clerk, picked up two ties, one with blue and green stripes and the other with dark red.
"This one," Ronald pointed to the blue and green striped one, "matches this green and white school uniform."
…
After arranging the actors here, Ronald went to the camera crew and arranged directly: "We want a long shot for this one, 10 seconds. Tom came out of the room, wearing a school uniform and tie, only greeted male classmates, and finally sat here to eat Breakfast. A master shot looking down from a crane,"
Roger indicated the location of the camera, and then pointed at the teaching building: "The male protagonist came out of the building, holding a novel that no one was reading, and he was out of tune with the people dancing happily around him."
He described the scene in the dream to everyone, and then asked: "Mr. Candy, what do you think?"
"Did you hear that?", the director of photography turned around and shouted to several assistants, "Start work."
The red-haired Daisuke looked at Ronald, a little disbelieving that these words came out of his mouth, and he seemed to have the authority of an old director who has been in the film industry for decades.
"How do you capture the feeling of being out of place?" Director of Photography Dean Candy asked, "Tell me how to move the camera."
"No, it doesn't rely on camera movement." Ronald explained, "In this scene, the frame is about the width of three people from left to right. Let the camera follow Vincent all the time and keep him in the center of the frame."
Ronald gestured to the director of photography: "When other people came up to greet him, they walked and moved at a normal pace, but Tom would slow down by half a beat, so that he could shoot a feeling of being out of place."
"Okay, I understand." The director of photography nodded, "You go and arrange the actors to rehearse, leave this to me."
"Thank you, Mr. Candy."
After Ronald thanked him, he turned around and hurried back to tell the actors about the scene.
"Hey, today is your first scene, right?" Ronald looked at Vincent, who was wearing a tie, and indeed he became a little rustic and dull.
"Yes, how do you arrange my appearance?" Vincent replied.
"I will let the camera follow you all the time, so that the audience will be impressed by you. Come out of the room, show up here, then take the book, walk this way, greet many male classmates, and finally sit down here and eat Breakfast. Then wait for Kate to come and chat with you."
Ronald demonstrated the positioning, "What do you think?"
Vincent imitated it again: "Appear...take a book...walk...say hello...sit down."
Ronald said: "Perfect. What do you think of shooting like this? What are your thoughts?"
Vincent was very happy, "No problem, I think this is good." It seemed that he was quite satisfied with the image and duration of his shot.
Ronald gave him a thumbs up and said, "Pay attention to the frequency of your movements, just like your reaction is half a beat too slow."
"No problem, it's up to me." Vincent brushed his handsome hair.
"Oh, you messed up his hair. Gigi, fix his hair." Ronnie called the makeup artist and hairstylist.
Acting is a troublesome profession. If the makeup and hairstyle are slightly inconsistent, the camera will zoom in exponentially. So after every photo shoot, you have to check and touch up your makeup.
Ronald went to the director of photography again: "How are you preparing?"
"No problem, I can get good coverage with a 20mm lens. Just lower the aperture by one stop and the brightness will be consistent with the lens in front."
Ronald looked up at the sky. The sun had risen, and the school wall blocked most of the direct light. But the brightness of the environment is already much brighter than before. The photographer must make some technical adjustments to make the front and rear images equally bright. Otherwise, the flickering images during the screening will upset the audience.
Shooting with natural light is quite complicated, but fortunately I have a very experienced photography director.
Ronald and Jim whispered, getting ready for the official shoot.
The plot is this: When Kate sees Tom, she shows a nymphomaniac expression, takes the initiative to sit next to Tom, and strikes up a conversation with him. Tom doesn't like the good school girl, he prefers the cheerleader Liv Randall. I replied "Hello" with disgust, then turned around and started reading the novel. The camera finally stopped on Kate Lambeau's embarrassed and depressed face.
"Action!"
The shot is well done, from beginning to end.
"Cut!"
Next is filming the dialogue.
The camera switches to a medium shot, focusing first on Vincent. Dai Yang sat opposite him, with only one shoulder exposed in the viewfinder. The two acted out the hook-up plot again.
"Cut, passed."
Then the camera was moved behind Vincent and pointed at the good girl played by Dai Yang. This time it was Vincent's turn to show his shoulders. The two struck up a conversation for the third time.
The shots are taken and waiting for confirmation from the photography director. Shooting a movie is not like shooting a TV series. You can watch real-time replays. Whether a shot is good or not, and whether it meets the director's requirements, the director of photography must give the nod.
"OK"
Then we started shooting reaction shots.
The red-haired photography assistant switched to a close-up lens with a focal length of 100mm. Carefully bring the camera closer, almost to the actor's face.
The director of photography looked at the light and shook his head: "It's a little past the optimal time. The direct light is a bit strong now. The shadows on the face in the close-up are too strong. Put on a reflector."
The lighting assistant was half-kneeling on the ground, holding a foam reflector in his hand to reflect sunlight onto the actor's face, making the shadows less obvious. At the same time, you have to be careful not to let your hands enter the viewfinder, so as not to wear it.
"Give me a shy smile..." Ronald commanded.
"Okay! Action!"
Vincent stood behind the camera and was accosted for the fourth time. The camera put Dai Yang's face into the lens and printed it on the film. Waiting for development, reprinting, copying, and finally being enlarged on the big screen, seen by thousands of boys, and becoming their dream lover.
"Cut!"
This shooting method is what Roger Corman said: "One master, two shoulders, three reactions." It's a standard Hollywood method. First use a panoramic shot, then use an over-the-shoulder lens to shoot the conversation twice, and finally take a few close-ups to add in the other person's reaction after hearing the conversation.
The only advantage is that it shoots quickly.
Film shooting is boring and time-consuming. Every scene has to be re-arranged. The actors need to make up, move, and rehearse. Indoor scenes also have a particularly time-consuming lighting process.
The low-budget film "Rock and Roll High School" was shot very quickly, using Hollywood production methods, and it took more than an hour.
Let the actors exit the scene, and the next thing to film is the dancing scene. Rock music played and the students danced to a strong rhythm.
In fact, this shot has little to do with the plot. It mainly expresses a rock and roll atmosphere.
What's more important is that a few beauties dressed in cool clothes will do some beautiful dances, which will serve as ice cream for the audience. In low-cost youth exploitation films, this kind of inexplicable dance is also a standard feature.
The protagonist of the dance drama is the choreographer. How to dance and how to dance beautifully are all determined by the level of the choreographer.
The choreographer of the crew is a Polish named Siana. He spoke with a thick Eastern European accent.
"Ronaldo, even though the Ramones sing about rock and roll, I'm going to have the students dance disco."
Ronald was stunned for a moment before he realized that Ronaldo was himself. "OK, what are the reasons for doing this?"
"Disco is better."
There are no actors with strong dancing skills in the crew, and a large number of extras can only dance some popular dances. Compared with the old-fashioned swing dance, everyone can dance the popular disco.
This kind of dance is now very popular. Last year's "Saturday Night Fever" and this year's "Grease" have set off a national disco trend. The leading actor in both movies is John Travolta, who has also become a national idol and the new generation of Hollywood dance king.
"You have two beauties with particularly good figures. You should let them dance more in front of the camera." Siana said.
"Oh, who is it?"
