As the weeks passed, several more students applied to transfer departments one after another. In the end, dozens of students remained who were determined to pursue their dreams of film and television.
Maybe there are also people whose families have backgrounds in TV stations and studios, so they are not afraid of finding a job after graduation. Ronald seemed to have seen something from the fashionable dress of several classmates.
Today's class is in the evening, in the screening room. In addition to undergraduates, there are also many master's students who come to attend the class. For no other reason than that the teacher is the popular Hollywood director, Martin Scorsese.
Scorsese is very interesting. He did not offer courses related to directing, but instead offered a course on the appreciation of classic old movies. According to gossip among classmates, the old man who persuaded him to quit originally wanted to take this course, but he did not fight for it.
Scorsese can only take film theory.
A little man with a big beard came in, walked to the stage in front of the screening room, picked up the microphone and started to speak.
"I am Martin Scorsese, and I will give you a classic movie appreciation class this year. Because my new movie was shot in Los Angeles, this class has been postponed for two weeks. I'm sorry. I will also finish filming in New York.
That movie, if there is a time conflict, my assistant will come and show the movie, and after you watch it, just give her the review assignment."
"I have always believed that the shortcut to making movies is to watch more classic and old movies. Don't just watch Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly, of course they are also worth watching."
The classmates burst into laughter at the occasion.
Scorsese himself also laughed, "I mean, you have to start from the silent film era. The common techniques of movies were all laid down in the silent film era, so we have to go back to that era. Start from the beginning and walk through the history of directors of all generations.
Through the process, you will have a deeper understanding of current film techniques."
"Today is the first day, so I won't torture you. I picked a black and white film with sound, which is "The Grapes of Wrath" shot in 1940 by the great Western director John Ford.
The reason for choosing this movie is to let you see that all the so-called rules of directors can be broken because of the purpose they want to express. Of course, the premise is that you have mastered the rules before you know when to break them.
What I particularly draw your attention to is the first minute, how the lead actor Henry Fonda (Jane Fonda, and Peter Fonda's father) said nothing during this minute, yet attracted the audience.
attention."
Then Scorsese motioned to the assistant to start showing the movie in the screening room at the back.
Scorsese didn't talk about any theory. Instead, he asked everyone to watch movies and write film reviews after class. A real great director's teachings are always simple, and there are not so many nouns and theories as to persuade the old man.
The students took advantage of the short time before the screening to start whispering about Scorsese's purpose. Some also cited the "auteur's film" theory, believing that Scorsese wanted to train their authorial consciousness.
A black student looked at them disdainfully, put on his glasses, and looked around, as if he wanted to hear what other people had to say. His eyes passed over Ronald, and after a pause, Ronald gave him a friendly nod.
head. The black students also nodded to him and began to look at the screen.
Ronald doesn't think it's so complicated. He is a practitioner who has contempt for theorists. Scorsese also makes commercial films, and of course he knows the importance of the beginning. Roger Corman puts some beauties at the beginning.
, violence, science fiction, suspense.
Scorsese is more advanced. The "Grapes of Wrath" he admired must have some different techniques to attract attention, so he asked his classmates to learn from it.
The movie started to show, and a beam of white light hit the screen.
The old movie copy has been played hundreds of times, and the perforations of the film are somewhat worn. As a result, the film is not firmly stuck on the projector and will shake back and forth. Therefore, the movie screen also has some shakes. There are also scratches caused by previous screenings.
, explosive spots, and some poorly preserved moldy spots.
The opening composition is relatively plain, with a still camera facing a telephone pole and an empty street. A man walks from a distance. He walks past the camera and looks to his left. The camera rotates with him. The man
Moving forward, a truck and an old house appeared on the screen.
It did break a lot of rules. Ronald still remembers that Roger Corman told him that the camera must move as much as possible, not static shots, to stimulate the audience as much as possible.
But the first minute of The Grapes of Wrath didn't have any scenes that stimulated the audience's senses. Up to now, Ronald is still firmly captured. This may be because he is attracted to this man. Who is he? What is he here to do?
Where do you want to go?
The film is two hours long, and Ronald found it very enjoyable after watching it. It tells the story of a murder suspect who, after being paroled from prison, returned to his hometown of Oklahoma just in time for the Great Depression. He took his family to California to find a job.
It’s been a hard journey.
The misery and helplessness under various capitalist economic crises are fully reflected in the story. The economy has been terrible in recent years, which is somewhat similar to the Great Depression. Ronald watched the movie and felt some sympathy.
After the film was played, Scorsese had already left, and the teaching assistant began to distribute course outlines, assignment requirements and other information. Ronald met the black student wearing glasses again.
"Hi, hello." Ronald stepped forward and said hello, "I haven't seen you in undergraduate courses. Are you a master's student?"
"Yes, I'm Sheldon Jackson Lee. I know you. You appeared in 'Rock'n'Roll.' I've read Sisko and Albert's movie reviews."
Ronald couldn't help but smile. This person whose surname is also Li did not say his nickname of "Sleepy Luo". Hello, nice to meet you.
"Me too, you have been on the crew before. I am currently preparing for my graduation film. Can you come to my crew to help?"
Students at the Tisch School of the Arts must make a short film to submit as their graduation thesis after graduation. Ronald has known about this for a long time. In order to save costs, many students help each other. You will be my assistant director and I will be your photographer.
Teacher, wait.
However, this black man's requirements are quite high. He has been on the crew and has filming experience before he is willing to invite.
"Of course, if you let me know when the time comes, I will be happy to help." The college understands the needs of students very well, so many courses are held in the evening so that they can be free to shoot videos during the day.
"That's great, let's exchange phone numbers." Sheldon took out a pen and paper and exchanged phone numbers, "What are you doing recently? Are you going to any other productions?"
"I recently participated in MGM's 'Famous'. Now that the filming is completed, I just come to school."
Sheldon was a little envious of his resume, "I also hope to be able to join the crew and learn, but my ultimate goal is to be a director and shoot black stories. So I hope to make my short film well and participate in film festivals, so maybe I can
There are producers willing to invest in me."
"You will definitely succeed." Ronald said goodbye to him.
Back home, Ronald ate some late-night snacks alone and poured a cup of black tea. Studying was quite stressful, and it was common for him to be busy with various assignments, reading, and writing until the evening.
Antonia is still undergoing training for newcomers. I heard that Balanchine is quite satisfied with her and will give her a formal small role next year. So now she is fully devoted to practice. Both of them are very busy and only work in the evening.
Call and talk.
The video recorder buzzed and started recording automatically. Ronald set a timer to record and record old late-night movies broadcast by CBS, NBC and other TV stations. He would watch and study them over and over again when he had time.
This is what Walter Mersey taught him in his reply. Walter was very honest and said that he was just a craftsman and knew some techniques and art of picture and sound editing. Ronald asked him about the production and marketing of the movie.
He didn’t have an answer to the big question.
However, in the letter, Walter repeatedly reminded Ronald of the importance of old movies. Nowadays, apart from the occasional old movies shown on TV stations, the only way for ordinary people to watch them is in the classes of film schools. This is what all masters have experienced
stage requires careful study.
Walter Mersey also told him that movies have experienced two major technological revolutions. The first was from silent to sound, and the second was from black and white to color. The consequences of both revolutions caused the original technicians to
Unable to adapt to new technologies, large-scale unemployment occurs.
But their techniques have not become outdated, so the new generation of filmmakers after the technological revolution often go through the process of re-inventing the old techniques of the previous generation. Many of the techniques that reached a very high artistic level in the era of silent films and black-and-white films
, were later lost.
Watching a large number of old movies with a photographer's perspective will help to pick up these leftovers and enrich your own arsenal of filmmaking arsenals.
Ronald heard Martin Scorsese say the same thing today, and he couldn't help but pay more attention to watching classic old movies. If he has the opportunity, he should build his own video library and study it over and over again.
"Ring ring ring ring..." The phone rings.
It was Antonia. Ronald picked up the phone happily and said, "Hi, honey."
"Ronnie, the leading lady of the American Ballet Company was suddenly injured. After the B-side was introduced, they didn't have a B-side. They asked me to try dancing the B-side, and I was chosen!"
"Really? Congratulations! This is really great." Ronald was happy for Tonya from the bottom of his heart. This was the best career start.
"However, I will go on tour with them for half a year, and we won't be able to see each other for half a year." Antonia said in a low voice.
"Don't be sad, Tonya, didn't we agree? You work hard to develop your ballet career, and I work hard to make money and try to buy your dance company."
"Pfft", Antonia over there was amused, "You always make me happy, Ronnie."
"I'll go to your place tonight, and you'll take me to the airport tomorrow. I have to go to the west with a group."