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 Production. He immediately felt that he made the right choice to give up the portrait photography business.
When he saw the movie poster in the corridor, he became excited and eager to get into 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 that his body was eager to try. Something was awakening in his blood vessels, resonating with the film, and he couldn't wait for them to be photographed, developed, and played according to his wishes.
Let's go to the president's assistant on the second floor first to get some news. Seeing that Gale was already busy in his seat, Ronald quickly stepped forward to say hello.
"Hi Gail, happy new year. You look great."
Gale wore a new professional suit and still had a Vassoon bob. There were several new photos on her desk, including a solo 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 and Roll High School" was completed, the crew members immediately dispersed and went their separate ways. The actors had already gone to the next crew, as had the photography, sound recording and other technical staff.
The actual shooting time of the movie is actually not long. Only the director is involved in the entire preparation and the long post-production work. This is what boss Roger Corman said, movie shooting is long at the two ends and short in the middle. It costs a lot of money to shoot.
Parts need to be done as quickly as possible, and later editing and mixing can be done slowly.
But that's just a Hollywood philosophy. No, more accurately, it's the philosophy of low-budget exploitation tycoon Roger Corman.
Polanski has been filming "Tess" for more than 6 months, and he hasn't finished filming yet. I don't know how he deceived investors? And can investors tolerate him working 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 designing and manufacturing special effects models. Roger Corman named the new movie "Battle of the Stars". He planned to take the path of copying "Star Wars" and also
Do a space opera.
PJ Soles went to Warner Bros.'s big production, the US$15 million-budgeted production of "The Big Bad". But unfortunately, she still didn't become the leading actress in a blockbuster. This time, she was given the chance to become a popular star, an Oscar-winning singer.
Dee Han plays a supporting role.
But the most surprising thing is Jenny, the screenwriter. She actually became a screenwriter and revised the script for the movie "Dark Horse". This was produced by Francis Coppola's "Peep Show" company. I heard it is very artistic, but
It will be directed by Coppola's senior brother, Carol Ballard.
"Wow," Ronald couldn't help sighing, 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 seemed that Jenny had some family background and was connected to 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 hairline that had receded. He took Ronald to the film cabinet in the corner of the room and moved out a few reels of film. Then he found another recording from the same period according to the number on the film.
tape.
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. It was these lines that magnetically recorded sound.
Finally, the audiotape records will be added to both sides of the film at the lab, and the sound will be synchronized with the image during projection.
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 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.
"Have you noticed? 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 off the audio tape that recorded nothing at the beginning and keep it in sync with the film."
Joe Dante didn't waste any time and immediately brought 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 with your hands."
Joe Dante took a small connector.
"Put this end of the film in this grid, stick the transparent tape on it, put the other connector here, stick the tape on the other side, and then..."
As he spoke, he pressed down the pressure lever of the connector, snap!
Ronald picked up the film and took a look. Sure enough, it was a perfect fit.
Then Ronald did it himself a few times using scrap film.
Joe Dante saw that Ronald got started quickly, and after watching him find 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, to see how he did the initial cut.
Editor Larry took a large roll of film that Ronald had synchronized, cut it one by one according to the shot, and rolled each shot into a small roll so that it could be put on the editing machine later and assembled into a movie.
The film shot lasted for 25 hours, with a total length of 120,000 feet (38,000 meters). Synchronizing the audio and video was not a small project, and repeating the same work every day was very boring. If Ronald hadn't wanted to learn editing techniques, he would have
I really can't stand it.
Editing was almost always done by women in major studios during the golden age of Hollywood. The reason is that women are meticulous and make fewer mistakes. In this editing room, except for Ronald, the other two assistants are girls.
Soon, Ronald discovered that he was not good at this kind of repetitive work that required meticulousness. Compared with the two assistants, he made more mistakes and his work efficiency was much lower. The editing assistants were very particular about working in three shifts, with everyone resting.
The machine does not rest and works 24 hours a day.
Ronald was inefficient and had to work more night shifts instead of fighting for the machine with the two female assistants. He went back and forth, causing himself to be confused between day and night.
After working continuously for two weeks, the state got even worse. During one night shift, he made three mistakes in a row. Ronald finally couldn't stand it anymore, and he asked Director Allen to take a day off to adjust his state.
…
After a good sleep, he woke up naturally. Ronald went out to buy a TV set. He needed to change his 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 signals were pretty good. There was also a public education television station, PBS, which played some science and education programs.
Ronald began to change channels randomly and enjoyed watching TV alone.
"Unrest in Persia continues to worsen, King Pahlavi and his family left Persia on a private plane and headed to 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 the CBS evening primetime TV series "Dallas".
Ronald stopped turning the channel dial and sat on the sofa to watch the TV series "The Family." It was about the feud between two oil tycoon families in Dallas.
Ronald saw almost no scenes that impressed him. He has watched too many film clips and his taste is a bit picky. When he watches TV series, he just looks at beautiful actresses.
The plot was exaggerated and the footage was a bit rough, but fortunately it had a beautiful heroine. Ronald watched it for half an hour until the end of the episode.
Yawning, Ronald got up and turned off the TV. Even if there was a TV, there wouldn't be any good programs. He would have to go to work tomorrow and continue his boring work.