When he walked out of the New World office building, Ronald happened to see the president's assistant Gail. She was struggling with the car and started it several times, but it just couldn't start.
"Gail, where are you going?" Ronald walked down the stairs, "What's wrong with your car? There seems to be something wrong with the spark plug."
"Oh, Ronald." Gale simply gave up and got out of the car and grabbed Ronald. "Can you take me to the stunt company? My car broke down and I can't find the driver."
It's 1979, and American cars are still prone to breaking down, and they often need to find a mechanic for maintenance. Otherwise, if you drive a long distance, it will easily break down halfway, and you can only call the rescue phone and call a tow truck. In contrast, German cars and Japanese cars
The quality is more stable.
Ronald opened the car door, loaded up Gail, and drove to New World Stunt where Cameron was working.
New World Stunt Company is an independent company newly established by Roger Corman, specializing in the production and shooting of stunt model shots in preparation for the new film "Battle of the Stars".
Roger Coleman heard that the production progress of the model was seriously behind schedule, but he was too busy to do anything, so he called the president's assistant Gail and asked her to go to the site for an inspection.
It was Ronald's first time to go to a stunt company. Gale pointed to the road. The stunt company was located on Santa Monica Beach, a little north of Venice where Ronald lived.
The car drove to the New World Stunt office, which is located in an abandoned port cargo warehouse. When you entered the door, you saw all kinds of weird models, some were made of silicone, some were plaster, some were plastic, and some looked like
Metal, very light to weigh, made of wood and painted.
"Jim", Ronald glanced at Cameron who was working on a large workbench, "Look who's here?"
"Gale, Ronald, are you here?" Cameron was very happy, took off his bib, wiped his hands with a rag, and shook hands with them both.
"Where are the people in charge and other employees here?" Gale came up and asked.
"They were meeting in a cubicle and said they wanted to find a way to solve the problem of the texture of the spaceship model." Cameron shrugged. "Actually, as long as the lens is designed well and the illusion of perspective is used, the fake can be real, just like in my short film.
That way.”
"Really? Then why didn't the stunt director do that?"
"He prefers to make a full-scale model that people can enter. After it is completed, the actors can perform directly and the camera can shoot directly," Cameron explained.
"This is too slow. It would be much faster if we use a model."
Gale looked at the unfinished models on other work tables. There were various materials and molds on the table. Only Cameron had several completed models here, and he was working on an alien mask.
It seems to be almost finished.
"Roger sent me to see why we are behind schedule." Gail asked Cameron.
"If you ask me, it's the problem with the stunt director. He has never made a movie or done it on set, and he doesn't know the magic of the camera. For example, when the monster talks, its head will split. We only need to take a close-up of the face first, and then
Just cut to the reaction shot of other actors, and then cut back to change a hood with a split head. There is no need to make a mechanical model with a head that will split automatically."
Cameron talks freely.
"The same goes for spaceship models."
"There is absolutely no need to build a model that can really perform all functions. If you look at the robot R2D2 in 'Star Wars', a dwarf can put on the shell of the robot and perform in it. There is no need to build a model.
A remote-controlled robot that can slide on its own.”
Gale took out a small notebook and recorded the production progress of the model. Then he found the special effects director and other special effects workers who were in a meeting, learned about the special effects director's explanation, and conveyed Roger Corman's concerns.
The situation is indeed not optimistic, and the schedule has fallen behind significantly. The design and manufacturing of models are the hardest hit areas. Just as Cameron complained, they don't quite understand that movies are an art of forgery.
While Gale was having a meeting with the special effects director in the cubicle, Ronald and Cameron were chatting outside. Cameron's beard was very long, his hair was messy, and there was a lot of paint and dirt stuck on it.
"Jim, looking at you, has your wife, Sharon, abandoned you?"
"Hey, don't mention it. During this period, she disliked me for working overtime for too long and told me not to go home. She doesn't quite understand my investment in movies. Sometimes she misses my days as a truck driver." Kamei.
Long complained a few words to his old friend.
"Actually, I've known Sharon since I graduated from high school. She was still a waitress at a restaurant at the time, and she encouraged me to pursue my dream of making movies. However, when I started working in the film industry, she felt that I was too devoted to my work and ignored her feelings.
"
"So you really didn't go back and lived here?" Ronald was a little confused about Cameron's thoughts and obsession with movies.
"Of course not. I have apologized to her and asked for her forgiveness and understanding. This was just to catch up with the progress yesterday." Cameron pointed to his hair.
"By the way, why are you free to come to my place today?"
"I'm here to help you." Ronald took out a typed letter and asked Cameron to sign it.
"I hereby certify that Ronald V. Lee has demonstrated qualified competitiveness to work as a second unit director on the production of Rock and Roll High School..."
"Have you gotten the application from the Directors Guild?" Cameron happily signed and handed it to Ronald, "Don't forget to go to the court or bank and find a notary to notarize it."
"Thank you." Ronald took the certification documents and handed another envelope, "This is for you." "I was admitted to New York University. I am the first generation college student in my family. As usual, I will give you a gift."
"Wow," Cameron opened it and took a look, "Thanks, Ronnie."
Inside were 10 McDonald's gift certificates placed by Ronald, and a large book of coupons.
It turned out that Cameron, like Ronald, lived on McDonald's coupons, so he was not polite and kept the gift.
"It seems your progress here is still a bit slow?" Ronald asked, looking at the messy models, silicone, paint, molds, dirty rags, and an unthrown McDonald's French fries box on the table.
"On the contrary, it's almost finished." Cameron said proudly. He pointed at various models and introduced them to Ronald one by one. Basically, there were only one or two processes left.
Ronald's intuition was that something was wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
"Why did I think your progress was very slow when I came in?"
"Maybe I put some materials and tools on the same table?"
Ronald thought about it and realized that if you clean a table and put all the models on that table, the look and feel will be much better.
"You should do this...Jim. If the boss, Mr. Coleman, comes to inspect and feels the same as me..."
"Oh shxt, you are right, I will prepare a table display model right now." Cameron reacted and asked his employees to join him in clearing out a special display table for the boss to view the results.
…
Here, Gale had already quietly understood the situation, and she and Ronald were about to return to the company to report. In the parking lot, she even gave Cameron a few words of advice alone.
Ronald drove Gale to the office of New World Production. On the way, Gale asked:
"Ronald, what do you think of Cameron's stunt model skills?"
"I don't know anything about stunt model manufacturing, but I think what Jim said is right. There is no need to build a real full-size fully functional model. We can use photography technology to coordinate it."
"Do you think Jim can be responsible for model making?" Gail asked.
Ronald felt that Gale had the idea to recommend a coaching change to Roger Coleman and let Cameron take charge of all model manufacturing.
Something was wrong with his intuition. Cameron worked much harder than the others. If he was asked to lead a group of people with more seniority than him... there might be a fight.
After thinking for a moment, Ronald said:
"Of course, Jim has genius ideas and implementation capabilities. I believe he can ensure that the model is completed on time. However, stunt photography is not only about the model. If Jim's ideas are followed, close cooperation between the model and the photographer is required."
Ronald applied the principle that the whole is greater than the parts that he had learned in editing before.
Gale nodded after hearing this, and Ronald continued:
"The concerns of the model director are not completely unreasonable. If there is no photography director who is familiar with stunts, then the best way may be to make a fully functional, full-size model, so that the photographer will not be confused no matter how he takes the shot."
"Now the progress is too late. If we use Jim's method, we need to maintain excellent communication between the photography department and the stunt department, so that the style of the shots can be consistent."
"The parts must be coordinated with the whole. If the coordination is not good, the filmed thing may not be as good as the original stunt director's idea."
Ronald concluded using the principles he had just learned.
Gale thought for a while and agreed, "I will report to Roger."
After sending Gale back to the company, Ronald took three certification letters to the Los Angeles County Courthouse and found a clerk with a notary license to have them notarized. Each letter was charged $5 in exchange for a notarization stamp.
I wrote a check for the entrance fee of US$750 and a check for the annual fee of US$50, and couriered them to the Film Directors Guild along with the application materials.
Then fill out the admission confirmation form, attach a $200 deposit check, and mail it to New York University.
Two major things have come to an end.
Ronald has completed these two major things that launched the director's career. Obtaining a Directors Guild card will give him more opportunities in the industry in the future. He will also go to the film department of a well-known university and lay a solid knowledge foundation.
I, Ronald, the new generation of great directors in Hollywood, am here!
The next time in Los Angeles will be relatively free. Ronald plans to visit all the attractions near Los Angeles with Marla. By the way, he is waiting to watch the preview of "Rock and Roll High School".
It's still early to enroll in the fall, and I still have plenty of time.