In 1979, it was the first day of work after the holiday.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, Ronald returned to the office building of New World Productions. I immediately felt that I made the right choice to give up the portrait photography business.
When he saw the movie posters in the corridor, he became excited and eager to get to work. Sometimes people's rational thinking is really not as real as the body's reaction.
As soon as he arrived at the New World Production Office Building, Ronald felt like his body was getting ready to try. There is something awakening in the blood vessels, resonating with the film, and can't wait for them to be exposed to light, developed, and played according to their own wishes.
It's better to go to the president's assistant on the second floor first to get some information. Seeing that Gale was already busy in his seat, Ronald quickly stepped forward to say hello.
"Hi Gail, happy new year. You look great."
Gail wore a new business suit and still had her Vassoon bob haircut. There were several new photos on the desk, including a single photo of herself, a photo with Cameron, and a photo of the three of them, all taken by Ronald.
She was very happy to see Ronald, "Ronald, you are here? How was your vacation?"
"Very good, how about you?"
Ronald and Gale chatted about what their acquaintances were doing.
After the filming of "Rock of Ages" was completed, the crew immediately dispersed and went their separate ways. The actors have already rushed to the next crew, as have the photography, sound recording and other technical staff.
The actual shooting time of the movie is actually not very long. The director is the only one who goes through the entire preparation and the long post-production work. This is what boss Roger Corman said, the movie shoot is long at the ends and short in the middle. The expensive parts should be shot as quickly as possible, and the post-production editing and mixing can be done slowly.
But that's just Hollywood philosophy. No, more precisely, the philosophy of low-budget exploitation film mogul, Roger Corman.
Polanski has been filming "Tess" for more than six months, and it is not finished yet. I don’t know how he deceived investors? And can investors tolerate his workmanship like this?
As he and Gale continued to gossip, Ronald discovered that several of his acquaintances had also gone their separate ways.
Cameron went to the crew of a new science fiction film and started a new job in the design and manufacture of stunt models. Roger Corman gave the new movie the name "Battle of the Stars". I am going to take the path of replicating "Star Wars" and also create a space opera.
P.J. Soles went to Warner Bros.'s big-budget, $15 million-budgeted production of "The Big Bad." But unfortunately, she still did not become the leading actress in a blockbuster. This time she played a supporting role for the popular star and Oscar winner Goldie Hawn.
But the most surprising thing is Jenny, the screenwriter. She actually became a screenwriter and revised the script for the movie "The Dark Horse". This is a film produced by Francis Coppola's "Peep Show" company. I heard it is very artistic, and it is directed by Coppola's senior brother, Carol Ballard.
"Wow," Ronald couldn't help but sigh, why didn't he share in such a good thing?
Gale saw the envy in his eyes and reminded, "Jenny's surname is Rosenberg."
Ronald was stunned for a moment, then realized that Rosenberg was a common Jewish surname. It seems that Jenny has some family background and has caught up with the most powerful Jewish circle in the film and television industry.
…
"Are you reporting to the editing room today? I'll take you there."
Gale took Ronald and knocked on the door of an editing room. Director Alan Aikush was already inside. When he saw Ronald coming, he stood up to greet him, "Ronald, you are here, welcome." "
Allen was nearly 2 meters tall, which put a lot of pressure on Ronald, "Hello, director, what do you need me to do? Please give me your instructions."
"Joe, Joe? You take Ronald to get familiar with the equipment, teach him how to load film and audio tapes into the machine, and then teach him how to synchronize audio and video." Allen asked Joe Dante to teach him how to get started.
"Hi, Ronald. I'm glad you came to the editing room and we can continue to work together."
Joe Dante smoothed his hair, revealing his receding hairline. He took Ronald to the film cabinet in the corner of the room and took out a few reels of film. Then according to the number on the film, we found the recording tapes of the same period.
This was the first time Ronald saw a movie audio tape. It was 35mm wide like film, but it was empty in the middle, with only some lines on both sides. These lines magnetically recorded sound.
Finally, the audiotape records will be added to both sides of the film at the lab, and will sound in sync with the image when shown.
There is a table in the corner of the room. There are two spinning wheel-like plates on it, and a crank handle.
"This is the film winder. Load the film and shake the handle to pull the film up." Joe Dante demonstrated it to Ronald.
"Then put the tape on the second reel and attach the sound playback head, so that when you shake the handle, the image and sound will move forward together." Joe Dante motioned to Ronald to try it.
"It's best to keep the speed at which you crank the handle at 24 frames of film per second, which is the standard speed for movie projection." Joe reminded Ronald.
"Okay, stop here."
Ronald stopped cranking the handle, and so did the film and tape.
"Did you notice? This scene is Jenny, the recorder, typing, but there is no such sound on the tape. Do you know why?" Qiao asked, pointing to the scene on the film.
Ronald still remembers that every time a movie was shot, the tape recorder was turned on first, the camera was turned on second, and the director called Action last.
"Because the tape recorder is turned on first, the recording takes longer than the film."
"Yes, your job is to cut out the audio tape that recorded nothing at the beginning and keep it in sync with the film."
Joe Dante was no nonsense and immediately came over with a bunch of tools.
"These are your friends at work, white tape, clear tape, and guillotine. First, stick a 10-foot-long piece of white tape on the beginning and end of the film and audio tape, and write the shot number and content."
Ronald did as he was told, picked up a pen and wrote "Rock'n'Roll High School Scene 2 Scene 3"
"Then put the film and audio tape on the rollers, find the frame where the record is printed, and then find the "pop" of the audio tape, and cut off all the excess parts in front. Do you understand?"
Ronald tried it out. He found it quickly and successfully tested it immediately.
"Throw away all these extra films and audio tapes. Then connect the useful parts together. Use transparent tape for the movie film and white tape for the audio tape to ensure that the camera and sound of the slate are synchronized. Very good!"
"I'll teach you how to use the connector. It's much faster than sticking tape on it by hand."
Joe Dante took a small connector.
"Put this end of the film in this grid, stick the transparent tape on it, put the other joint here, stick the tape on the other side, and then..."
As he said this, he pressed down the connector’s pressure lever, and bang!
Ronald picked up the film and took a look. Sure enough, it was perfectly affixed.
Ronald then worked on it himself a few times using scrap film.
Joe Dante saw that Ronald got started quickly, and after observing him finding a printing point a few times, and connecting the film a few times, he asked him to be responsible for the sound and video synchronization.
Director Allen saw Ronald getting into working mode and nodded with satisfaction. Before the synchronization of audio and video was completed, the director had nothing to do in the editing room. After staring for a while, he went out to play with Joe Dante.
After synchronizing the sound and video of a roll of film, Ronald handed the film to Larry, the film's senior editor. See how he does the initial cut.
Editor Larry took a large roll of film that Ronald had synchronized and cut it one by one according to the shot. He rolled each shot into a small roll so that it could be later put on the editing machine and assembled into a movie.
The film was shot for a full 25 hours, with a total length of 120,000 feet (38,000 meters). Synchronizing the audio and video was not a small project, and it was very boring to repeat the same work every day. If Ronald hadn't wanted to learn editing techniques, he wouldn't have been able to bear it.
Editing was almost always done by women in major studios during the golden age of Hollywood. The reason is that women are thoughtful and make fewer mistakes. In this editing room, except for Ronald, the other two assistants were girls.
Soon, Ronald discovered that he was not good at this kind of detailed and repetitive work. Compared with the two assistants, he made more mistakes and his work efficiency was much lower. Editing assistants are required to work in three shifts, with the person resting and the machine not resting, and working 24 hours a day.
Ronald was inefficient and could only work more night shifts instead of competing with the two female assistants for machines. Going back and forth, I was confused day and night.
After working continuously for two weeks, my condition got worse. One night during the late shift, three mistakes were made in a row. Ronald finally couldn't stand it anymore and asked Director Allen to take a day off to adjust his condition.
…
After a good sleep, I woke up naturally. Ronald went out to buy a television. He needed a change of mind.
After a while, he brought back an old-fashioned color TV from the second-hand electrical appliance store and placed it on the cabinet in the living room.
I connected the power supply, pulled out the antenna, and changed several channels. I could receive CBS, NBC, and ABC, and the signal was pretty good. There is also a public education television station, PBS, which shows some science and education programs.
Ronald began to change channels randomly, enjoying watching TV alone.
"Unrest in Persia continues to worsen, and King Pahlavi and his family leave Persia on a private plane for England..." ABC's "International News Tonight"
"Persian National Petroleum Corporation announced the suspension of oil exports, international oil prices are expected to rise, and Persian crude oil production accounts for 10% of the world's total production..." NBC's Economic Commentary
"Don't do this to me... JR, you are also a member of the Youying family." This is CBS' late-night primetime drama "Dallas."
Ronald stopped turning the channel dial and sat on the sofa to watch the TV series "The Family". It's about the feud between two oil tycoon families in Dallas.
Ronald basically didn't see any impressive shots. After watching too many film clips, my taste is a bit picky, and when I watch TV series, I just watch beautiful actresses.
The plot was exaggerated and the footage was a bit rough, but fortunately there was a beautiful heroine. Ronald watched it for half an hour until the end of the episode.
Yawning, Ronald stood up and turned off the TV. If there was a TV, there wouldn't be any good programs. I have to go to work tomorrow and continue the boring work.
