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 Production Company to shoot the movie "Rock and Roll High School". The crew had already shot 4 shots of the last shot on Friday afternoon, and the fifth shot is still ng.
We couldn't get off work early, and we couldn't have an attack. We could 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 was always 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 grabbed a few boxes of pizza and walked into the concert.
In the lounge backstage at the meeting, bassist Dee Dee Ramone said a line: "Pizza, pizza is here, let's eat!"
Why did it still not work after five takes? This Didi either said the wrong lines, dropped the pizza on the floor, or knocked over the small table...
Ronald Lee, the production assistant, watched the whole process behind the camera. It was 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 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 directed 5 times would be a little downcast.
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 of the four band members. He lazily took the coffee without saying thank you. He only glanced at the other side of the room from the corner of his eyes, with a contemptuous sneer on his lips.
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, where 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.”
It happened that director Allen failed to negotiate and came back, "No, the band manager said that the four members must have equal playing time, and he would not let another person say Diddy 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 Allen, who was very tall, to sit down and rest first. He whispered in his ear: "Ronald just discovered it... Why don't we try a different shooting method?"
"Oh, my God, you're probably right." After hearing this, Allen immediately jumped up from 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 prepared everything and started 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 on the left and the other on the right. The three of them opened a box of pizza and each took a piece and bit into it.
"Cut! This one is very 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 to allow Diddy to 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, but 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 shared a knowing smile. 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 surprised. The crew was at the same place 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 the horn twice, greeted the camera director who was standing directing, and then turned left onto the main road.
In Los Angeles on December 15, 1978, daylight saving time had ended, and the clocks were set back one hour. It was just after 6 p.m., but it was already dark.
Auntie must have been waiting for the call. The time difference between Los Angeles and New York was three hours, and it was already 9 pm there. It would be too late to call when she got home. Ronald stopped at the phone booth not far ahead.
Taking out a handful of coins and stuffing a few into the coin slot, Ronald began to dial: 1-718-317 7157. After dialing the number, it almost only rang once before he was picked up.
"Hello, Aunt Karen, I'm Ronald."
"Oh, Ronnie, are you okay? (Ronnie is Ronald's nickname)"
"Everything is fine with me. I have been working on the set for the past two weeks and I have met many people in the industry this time. When the filming is completed next week, more people will come to me to take photos for auditions.
There are many people in Los Angeles who want to enter the film and television industry, and the market here is huge. I have calculated that I can earn more than at home. A set of audition photos worth 50 US dollars can cover the tuition for the first year of college in three months.
Book fees, and accommodation fees.”
"Great, I'm so proud of you, Ronnie. You are a good boy, and your father and mother will be proud of you in heaven.
I married Steve right after I graduated from high school. After he died in Vietnam, I could only find a job as a waiter in a restaurant and could not earn enough money for you to go to college. But you must go to college. This is my promise to your mother.
Things must be done.”
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 every subsequent minute, and 10 cents for local calls per minute. The two chatted on the phone, and Ronald kept inserting coins to renew.
, and in a short while more than half of the coin was missing.
"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 return button a few times, put the coins away and put them in his pocket. He got in the car, made a U-turn, 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 a Chinese. As soon as he closed his eyes while sleeping, he traveled to a hospital in the United States. When he opened his eyes, the first person he 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 lived 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, and took care of him until he recovered.
Ronald then 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.