Ronald walked out of the administrative office and saw Gail, whose eyes no longer shed tears, talking to Jim.
"Hey, Ronald, do you know martial arts? You knocked down two Zachs easily."
"I was on the wrestling team in high school."
"Oh", Gale also imitated Ronald's gesture twice, "Then will you still take pictures for me today?"
"You guys wait for me for a while, I'll bring my camera up to take pictures, and then I'll treat you to dinner."
"What? Is there anything worth celebrating?"
"Yes, Mr. Coleman asked me to take charge of the remaining second unit directing duties."
…
"Give me an emotion, Gale." Ronald was instructing Gale to pose and make expressions. "Think of something random, something happy."
"No, no, the thing you just thought about is a bit bad, think of another one."
"This thing is good, I like it, keep it, good."
Gale seemed to suddenly think of something happy and gave the camera a beautiful smile. Ronald quickly pressed the shutter and captured it.
Jim walked from behind Ronald to Gail and handed him the coffee.
"I took a photo with Gail."
"Put it aside for a while, so as not to stain my lipstick."
Ronald clicked the shutter a few more times, both of them looked very good.
Then I set the shutter to the timer and took a photo of the three of them.
Ronald put away his camera and tripod. The three of them walked out of the office and got into Ronald's car to go to dinner.
Without spending too much money on Ronald, the three of them found an ordinary restaurant for a meal. Ronald felt that the environment was very similar to the one where Aunt Karen worked in Staten Island. There were big bright windows, sofa booths, and dining.
There weren't many people there, maybe because it was Sunday.
The three of them sat in a booth, and the waiter brought them menus for them to order. Italian food such as pasta, meatballs, pizza, and pure Italian espresso are served here.
After finishing their staple food, the three of them started chatting about what had just happened.
"...Roger asked me to be in charge of the second team's shooting, and then asked me to ask you for the photographer's contact information and take charge of the photography." Ronald briefly explained what had just happened.
“Not using the original second camera crew from ‘Rock of Ages’?”
"Roger asked me to shoot with him. We will finish the second unit, but we will not continue Jerry Zucker's shooting schedule."
"So you set up a second unit to shoot the remaining scenes?"
"Then you're not..." Gale said, stopping and looking at Jim next to him.
"It doesn't matter, Jim and I are friends." Ronald took the coffee brought by the waiter and pushed it in front of Gail and Jim.
"Union member?" Jim asked.
Ronald nodded.
"I already am," Jim said, taking out his wallet, pulling out a membership card and putting it on the table.
Ronald picked it up, "United Teamsters..."
"Oh, not this one, this is another union of mine."
Jim looked for it again, took out one, and handed it to Ronald.
This is a cardboard card. In the upper left corner is the logo of the Directors Guild, an eagle fluttering its wings. Below the logo are the words 1978-1979, indicating the validity period of this card.
Directly at the top is the name of the Directors Guild of America, below is Jim's name and address typed on a typewriter, and at the bottom is the signature of the president of the Directors Guild.
It's such an ordinary little card. With it, you can get into the industry in Hollywood.
"You used that short film to apply for this?" Ronald asked.
"Yes, my short film was made by dentists for tax rebates, so it must be registered with major labor unions in Hollywood to get a tax rebate certificate. The Directors Guild will send you application materials after seeing your registration."
Gale took Jim's Directors Guild card from Ronald and looked curious.
"Then you need to find three members of the Directors Guild to endorse you, then get the application materials notarized and send them back to the union. After they approve them, they will send you membership information. You then write a check for the membership fee.
Give it to them and you can get this membership card."
"Sounds a bit complicated."
"Yes, and the membership fee is not cheap. Short film directors like me belong to a relatively low level, just like advertising directors, documentary directors, director assistants, and drama site managers. They have to pay a membership fee of US$750. Oh, by the way, you still have to pay it every year.
There is a $60 renewal fee.”
"But there are benefits. They will help you pay for medical insurance, and you don't have to pay extra for the lowest level. Compared with other industries, the film and television industry unions do this well."
Ronald is a little envious because he doesn't have medical insurance. But next year he should be able to get an invitation to join the membership, and he still has to work hard to make money and pay the membership fee.
Jim took back the Directors Guild card that Gale was playing with and put it into his wallet. "Tell me about your college application. Have you decided?"
"I have already applied to two public universities in New York. But I would like to apply to film majors in some schools. I just asked Mrs. Coleman for advice. She said that several universities in California and New York have film majors worth considering, and she also said that you can contact her.
Write letters of recommendation to Roger.”
"Then you have a good chance. Mr. Coleman knows some people in the circle, and his letters of recommendation are of certain value." Gale is a Stanford graduate and is familiar with these things.
"But the tuition is not as cheap as public schools. I heard that you need to pay for filming in college."
"Don't be too superstitious about those university professors." Jim said, "You can read the books there and make some friends. But those professors have never made a movie themselves, so how can they teach you? They are just following the textbooks."
"Instead of spending money to learn filmmaking from professors, it is better to work and study at New World Productions, and you can still enter the industry. Few of those film graduates can shoot better than me."
"You can't say that." Gale still prefers to go to college. "Look at the newly emerging directors now, all of them graduated from college. Lucas who shot 'Star Wars', Francis Coppola who shot 'The Godfather'
…”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "But Steven Spielberg, who was filming 'Jaws', dropped out of college." Jim laughed.
Gail slapped Jim's hand to express dissatisfaction with his argument, and kept giggling.
"Gail, can I use the company's copy machine? I want to prepare the application materials today. Please help me mail them out tomorrow. I have to shoot the second set starting tomorrow, and I'm afraid I'll forget things."
"No problem, you can prepare the envelope with the recommendation letter, and I will remind Roger for you tomorrow. Today is the 17th, not far from the Christmas holiday. Don't send express letters from the post office, it is not fast at all. Just look for it there
Use FedEx, the documents they send can arrive within two days, guaranteed to be before the deadline."
"Thank you very much. I'll give you the postage first." Ronald turned to Jim's direction. "Jim, do you want to come to the second set to help me? Or would you rather learn from Alan on the set."
"I'll help you," Jim agreed. "Most of the scenes at Allen's place are indoor scenes. I read that there is also an outdoor motorcycle chase in the script. Was it shot by your second team?"
"Yes, then I will let you shoot this scene." Ronald knew that Jim was interested in stunts and was also a motorcycle enthusiast.
"There are still some introductory empty shots without actors. We also need to find a prop designer and make a school sign." Ronald began to calculate how much manpower would be needed.
"No, just let me do it. I know these things." Jim said, "What other scenes and props are there? I'll think about it together."
There is also a phone booth scene, the sunrise scene on the mountain, and the entrance scene of the concert. They are all trivial and scattered scenes. We can go back to the office and review them in detail.
After drinking the espresso in one gulp, Ronald left the slightly excessive tip, and the three of them returned to the office of New World Production.
After consulting the office phone book and the film industry directory, Ronald found the admissions office addresses of four universities. Gale helped him fill out several blank envelopes and asked Roger Corman to write letters of recommendation tomorrow.
"Mr. Coleman pays more attention to his own recommendations, and he writes them all himself," Gale said.
"By the way, is your short film in the company? We just have time to watch it today." Ronald said.
"Oh, I left it at home. I'll remember to bring it next time."