Chapter 11 Film Directors: From Beginner to Master in 10 Minutes
Roger took Ronald into the large room next to the principal's office. On the door was written "Detention". This is where the principal of a public school exercises his power. A few naughty children can be kept after school.
Student punishment.
The two sat at the corner of the conference table. Roger Coleman took a sip of coffee and said slowly:
"Most of the directors who work for me are newcomers to the industry. So before every new director directs for the first time, I will talk to them. I will tell them my directing experience and let them get started quickly."
"Although you are a temporary director who only directs for one day, I will treat you the same and have a talk with you."
"In the next 10 minutes, I will tell you about my experience as a director. I have made more than 50 movies as a director, and many directors have not made as many movies as I have in their lifetime."
"The most expensive part of making a movie is the shooting stage. Preparation and post-editing don't cost much. In the middle shooting stage, every day is like water. So in my opinion, there is only one way to shoot a movie, and that is to shoot quickly.
"
"Do you mind if I take some notes?" Ronald asked. After getting Roger's approval, he took out a small notebook and ballpoint pen from his pocket, and quickly wrote down "Photos are expensive, save front and rear, and shoot fast in the middle."
.
"When you have the opportunity to sit down on the set, because the director needs to stand for a long time and walk a lot. You have to rest when you have the opportunity, otherwise you will be very tired and affect the shooting the next day. This is why the director's chair has a name to prevent
Someone else is sitting."
"Find a chair to sit on..." Ronald jotted down in his notebook.
"The most important thing about a movie is the first reel of film at the beginning (about 11 minutes). The audience wants to know what happened. The second most important thing is the last reel of film. The audience wants to know how it ends. The stuff in the middle is irrelevant, just shoot whatever you want.
.”
"One volume is the heaviest..." Ronald remembered again.
"When writing a script, you should pay attention to focusing on a few main scenes. You can shoot many scenes in each scene, saving money and time. If the scene can use natural light, or there is free light, write more scenes, this can save money.
Cost and time of setting up lights.”
"Concentrate the scene, save the light, use less lighting..." Ronald looked up after writing down, waiting for the next item.
"Can you take shorthand?" Roger became interested.
"Yes, I took a correspondence course in shorthand when I was in the 10th grade." Ronald replied, "I had a physical problem at that time and had difficulty speaking. My aunt was afraid that I would not be able to find a job in the future, so she asked me to learn a course.
Fortunately, I recovered later."
Roger Corman watched his shorthand with interest...
"Don't be in a hurry when rehearsing. Spend as much time as you need. Any time you spend rehearsing will be saved during filming. If you don't have to rework, it will be faster."
"Just rehearse..."
"Be confident on set. The crew will always pay attention to what the director is doing, especially at the beginning of shooting. Give them clear and specific instructions. Tell them what the shot is like as soon as you come in, so that they can
I will recognize you and give you the greatest support.”
"Actually, the technical details of making a movie are not difficult. As a new director, you can master various techniques in about a week, and the smarter can do it faster. But the performance of actors is always a big problem, and you need to learn as much as possible.
and gain experience.”
Roger said, "How to inspire and encourage actors to give full play to their acting skills while keeping it within the overall framework of the film is the gold standard that distinguishes good directors from bad directors."
"In addition to spending time rehearsing, we also need to communicate with the actors as much as possible. Many mistakes are caused by the lack of mutual understanding between the director and the actors."
"If he is a method actor, you can discuss with him the highest task. What does this role require? What is his motivation?"
"Give the actors the script for tomorrow's shooting in advance. Don't give the script on the same day, as this will not give you time to digest it."
"If the actors have the ability to improvise, you can also let them improvise. Not every actor can improvise, and comedians are more likely to improvise. But this is also a matter of the director's style. I mainly follow the script."
"Let the camera move. The camera is the audience's eyes. Human eyes don't like static things. If something stays still on the screen for more than 5 seconds, the human eye starts to get bored, so let the camera keep moving, or let the camera move.
There are fresh and exciting things in the picture.”
"The plot of a low-budget movie is not important. People don't come to see the story, but to see a woman in a bikini shooting terrorists with a machine gun, or a group of high school girls singing and dancing in cool clothes."
"Always trust your director of photography, if you have a good director of photography. If he says he got it, then he got the picture you wanted to take, because you can't see it yourself. If your director of photography is not good, then
Get another one, or get it yourself."
The most suitable light for shooting outdoors is around sunrise and sunset, which is called magic light. But magic light is very short. Make full use of the time. If you want to take longer photos, you can find a hillside and take the main shot at the foot of the mountain first. After sunset,
Then climb up the hillside to chase the light. The sun has not yet set at a higher place. You can take close-up shots on the hillside. Just bring a photographer, a reflector, and the actors to climb the mountain. Because the background cannot be seen in the close-up shot, it will not be blurred.
…”
Roger started talking about his various tips for saving money on low-budget movies, and Ronald recorded it very quickly.
"You already know the Hollywood method. One main shot, two over-the-shoulder shots, and then a close-up..."
"Always have a sense of humor. Film is a very torturous industry. There are all kinds of accidents and emergencies. You need to have a good sense of humor to find ways to flexibly handle these things that are not part of the shooting schedule.
Trouble inside."
Ronald's shorthand was very fast, and he would often finish memorizing just as Roger finished speaking, and then he would look up at him with eyes eager for knowledge.
Roger Corman was a little proud. This was probably the happiest time for him as a teacher. When he was happy, he couldn't help but talk more about things other than directing experience.
"If you want to express a certain theme through a movie, put it in the background story. Never jump out directly in the movie and let the character speak to promote a certain value. Put it in the subtext, and the audience will understand it subconsciously.
Accept it and say it directly, and the audience will resent your preaching."
"To this day, I have directed and produced no less than 200 films, and only one lost money, which was 'The Invaders' in 1962. Because I wanted to promote equality and progressive values so much, I had the protagonist speak directly about black people.
Racial equality issues, this is the only movie I lost money on, even though it got good reviews."
"The last thing is, if you want to be a filmmaker, you have to persist, persist, and persist. If you want to get rich, go into real estate."
"Well," Ronald complained in his mind, "you have made so many profitable movies, why haven't you made a fortune? I heard that you are a multimillionaire. But I don't expect to make money in the film industry.
, let’s get some qualifications first and then talk about it…”
After closing the small book and putting it into their pockets, the two of them got up and walked out. Ronald was behind and turned off the fluorescent light switch. Roger Coleman nodded to express satisfaction.
It's rare to find such a stingy multi-millionaire.