Director Allen gradually approached, followed by his inseparable good friend Joe Dante. Dante was almost 5 feet 6 inches (about 1.70 meters), like a guard on the basketball court hiding behind the center and dribbling forward.
Walking in front of everyone, Joe's head popped out from behind Allen. His middle-parted hairstyle could not hide his rapidly receding hairline. He grabbed Director Allen's arm with one hand, pointed at Ronald with the other and shouted: "Ronald"
Ni, Ronnie, how are you preparing for today?"
"I have just organized two rehearsals for the group performance. The lead actors have finished moving and have touched up their makeup. Wait for Director Allen to confirm the lead actors' costumes with you. We can rehearse with makeup in 5 minutes. The director of photography said that we can start on time at 6:30.
Shoot.”
With that said, Ronald handed over the storyboards drawn yesterday.
Joe Dante took it and took a look: "Is this a storyboard you drew?"
He was particularly proactive today and took on the director's duties. While looking at the storyboard drawings drawn by Ronald in detail, he ordered: "Bring Director Allen's chair over."
Ronald saw that Director Allen was not in good condition. He quickly brought a chair. It was the kind of chair with a name written on the back, exclusive for directors. Ronald took the director's arm from Joe's hand and supported him with difficulty.
Sit down.
The director's forehead was sweating, his face was pale, and he looked a little bad. Ronald leaned close to the director's ear and asked softly: "Would you like a cup of hot coffee, Director Allen?"
Allen nodded. Ronald pulled his assistant Jim and gently told him to bring him a cup of hot coffee.
"Very good, I will shoot according to your storyboard today. PJ, you are wearing the red one," Joe Dante said, handing the storyboard to the director of photography. The two began to discuss the details of the shooting:
"The camera starts with a close-up view of the freshmen, then pulls back, then rises, giving a panoramic view of the playground, and then moves forward to the science club welcome platform where the good girl stands..."
After the two discussed it, Joe came over, spread out the storyboards, and explained it to Allen. Allen nodded in agreement.
At this time, the performers returned to the playground one after another. Ronald picked up the electric horn and guided the performers to their positions.
The red-haired photography assistant began to put a black cloth on the film box to prevent exposure, and put his hands in the dark to install the film.
The director of photography called two other strong assistants, and they began to check the installed camera rocker, raised and lowered it a few times, and started testing.
In less than a minute, the red-haired man installed the film in the black cloth bag in the dark. He came over and picked up a roll of black tape and pasted it along the edge of the film box. Low-cost movies all rent second-hand machines, and they don’t know the machine.
The quality of the film depends on the quality. So I used black tape to cover the gaps to prevent accidental light leakage and damage to the film.
After wrapping the film box, the director of photography began to instruct the assistants to lift the camera onto the crane arm and install it, and began to test it by raising and lowering the camera. The crane arm was also rented second-hand, and if not tested, something might go wrong.
Co-director Joe Dante began to tell Dai Yang, who plays the good girl...
The crew is like a big machine, and each staff member is like a gear, which starts to operate in an orderly manner at the director's order.
Ronald likes this kind of order very much. A good director is like a general, and the camera crew is like a team of soldiers. Film shooting is a team effort, and the director must have leadership skills.
The leading actors and supporting actors stood up and prepared to start rehearsal. Joe Dante was discussing the details with the director sitting on the chair.
Ronald picked up the electric horn and began to organize the group performances to act as a human background. "Dear boys and girls from Van Nuys High School, we are about to start the rehearsal with makeup. Please take the seats you have determined before. Please
Everyone, stand at the positions you determined before..."
"People from the rugby team, please come to me. Okay, your game uniforms are great. You stand here at the beginning, and after I give the signal, you rush to the map, pick up the freshman, and carry him away as a prank.
.do you understand?"
The director signaled to Ronald that the rehearsal was about to begin. Several actors began to pretend to act. In order to save the best performance for the official filming, the actors were on point in moving and rehearsing. The group of actors cooperated very well, except
One or two peeked at the camera.
Director of photography Dean Candy personally took control of the camera, climbed on the crane arm, and walked through the official camera movement path. The director expressed satisfaction.
Ronald picked up the electric speaker again and said: "All extras, please stand at the starting position." The leading actors and supporting actors also stood at the starting position.
The staff all exited the area covered by the cameras, and everyone waited patiently and expectantly.
Co-director Joe Dante gave the lead actor Dai Yang a few more details that needed attention. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the arrival of the magic light.
Just after 06:28, the light in the air suddenly began to flow, like an athlete hearing the starting gun. The sun had not yet risen from the horizon, but it had slowly illuminated the sky and the background.
This is a beautiful color. The metal body of the camera has a light blue luster, as if it is covered with a layer of armor.
The hairpins worn by several female high school students and the large black-rimmed glasses worn by the obedient female top student also began to shine with a faint reflection. Everyone seemed to dare not breathe, waiting for the magic light to come.
The red-haired photography assistant trotted to the actor to measure the light, then ran back to the camera to report the light metering data to adjust the aperture.
The uncle carrying the long recording pole raised the long recording pole above the actors' heads and tried to get as close as possible to collect the sound, but still far enough away to avoid being caught by the camera.
"The light is just right!" the photography director yelled.
After receiving a look from director Allen, Ronald picked up the electric horn and said, "Okay, let's get ready for our first official shoot!"
Jim sounded the whistle three times in cooperation, "Beep...Beep...Beep..." This was the signal to notify the restricted area.
Everyone stopped whispering and waited for orders.
Ronald looked at the director, and Joe Dante motioned for him to start. Ronald said through the electric speaker:
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Recorder?"
"It's on!" the recording team replied.
"camera?"
"Run at full speed!" The red hair signaled that the camera's motor had accelerated to 24 frames of film per second and that filming could begin.
Picking up the trumpet slate, the scribe Jenny ran to the camera, held it up, and began to say: "'High School Life' Scene 127, first shot, first time."
He knocked down the clapperboard with a bang and quickly exited the shooting area.
"Start shooting. (Action!)"
Alan Arkush, who was sitting in the director's chair, said softly.
"Action!"
Ronald used the electric speaker to loudly deliver the director's orders.
The performance begins.
A freshman looked at the map on the wall. There was a red cross on it, and underneath it was written: "Your location is here."
"Where am I?" the freshman said to himself.
The director of photography directed the camera to move laterally, and then slowly retreat. The viewfinder slowly zoomed out from the freshman's upper body to his whole body, and then continued to retreat. Three members of the rugby team entered the frame from the right.
"Oh, there's a new student here!" "New student, new student!"
Members of the football team, dressed in game uniforms, rushed over to pick up the extras playing the new students.
"Where are you going to get me!"
"Put it in the locker room!"
"Oh, don't, don't throw me into the locker room."
The camera's crane arm rose to the top of the head at a constant speed and began to switch to a bird's-eye view. The football players carried the freshmen out of the camera frame. Then the camera slowly moved, and the screen framed the science club's orientation platform where the good female top student was.
The camera pointed at the female top student played by Dai Yang, one of the heroines. It began to slowly descend, and finally stopped, pointing to the table in front of her.
There are several bottles used for chemical experiments on the table, filled with water of different colors of red, green and blue. Next to them is a sign saying "Science Club, Kate Lambeau, Chemical Reaction Demonstration".
Ronald stood not far behind the camera and watched the filming. This was a rare highlight in this low-budget movie. It cost a lot of money and will be cut into the opening scene of the movie in the future.
Today's first shot seems to be going well. I secretly compared the real shots and the dream revelation scenes. They were basically the same. Ronald nodded. He would wait to see if the director was satisfied and left this one for development.
But the director hasn't called it quits yet. It seems he has some special ideas. Is it to make the shot longer to facilitate editing? Or are there any other special artistic considerations?
No, this is too long. The actor's expression has begun to stiffen, and Dai Yang, who plays the good girl, starts to turn her head to look at the camera. She is looking for the director, asking for a signal from the director whether to continue acting.
Why don't you call Cut?
Ronald also turned around to see what director Allen was thinking.
The director, who is nearly two meters tall and lanky, sat on his chair and gradually tilted his head, using this angle to move the camera? No, how could the director...
Ronald quickly picked up the electric horn:
"Cut! Cut! Cut!"
Everyone was frightened by his hurried shouting and turned their heads suddenly.