Ned Tanning sent an assistant to accompany Ronald to Chicago.
The two arrived at Glenbrook North High School, an abandoned public high school where John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club" was filmed.
Since Ronald first entered the industry, the number of births in America has continued to decrease. The interior decoration and facilities of this Glenbrook North High School are still very new, but the lack of students still defeated it.
The library, which is about to be demolished, has become the main filming location for John Hughes.
"The Breakfast Club" is a very strange movie. The story takes place in this library. Five middle school students were imprisoned for different reasons. On Saturday morning, the five people who usually did not interact with each other were forced to write together.
examine.
In this long day, they went from hating each other to understanding each other, and finally became close friends and lovers. But maybe after the weekend, they returned to the high school social circle and became strangers again.
John Hughes' movie actually tells the story of such a day.
"Hi Ronald, welcome."
John Hughes was lying on the ground next to the camera directing.
His previous commercial production "Sixteen Candles" was OK at the box office, but this film was actually the one he wanted to make the most, so his level of investment was much deeper than before.
"Hi, John," Ronald came up to greet him. Seeing that he didn't get up, he simply knelt down to talk to him.
"Are you used to sitting on the floor? Why don't you ask your assistant to prepare a chair for you?" Ronald looked around and saw no chair. This was the first of Roger Corman's movie secrets.
"It's more convenient for me to sit on the floor and watch the actors perform." Hughes didn't take it seriously. He had no airs as a director at all, and he was like friends with the actors.
"Hi, John."
Hughes' sweetheart and muse, the red-haired Molly Ringwald, plays a wealthy "princess".
The two of them were like good friends, sitting on the floor and chatting about pop music.
"After the Beatles went solo, which song do you think is the best?"
"That was undoubtedly John Lennon's 'imagination'"
Next up is Anthony Michael Hall, who plays a "nerd" who, like Ringwald, is sixteen years old. Only two of the five actors are actually in high school.
This method of quickly classifying characters in teen movies using labels is the first time it has been used in director Ronald's "Fast-paced Richmond High". Because of its good effect, the audience can immediately identify who is who.
, so it is widely used in teen movies now.
"Ellie, Emilio", Ronald saw two actors coming from behind. One was Emilio Estevez, who played a wrestler, and he was an old acquaintance.
The other one is Ally Sheedy. Ronald has an acquaintance with her. She is the girlfriend of Eric Stoltz who was fired from "Back to the Future". She used to be in Ronald's "Dragon Boy"
There was a lot of fun in the crew.
Emilio played the role of an "athlete" and Ellie played the role of a "psychopath". One of them is strong and good at sports, while the other is beautiful but has no family warmth. The whole person is autistic and slovenly. In the end, the role played by Ellie was dismissed as a "princess"
After a beauty treatment, she amazed everyone and became a couple with the "athlete".
The last one is Judd Nelson, who plays the "criminal", the kind of person who often gets into trouble and is regarded as a thorn in the side by his teachers.
"Okay, everyone is here, let's start." Director John Hughes saw that the five main actors had arrived and ordered the filming to start.
The scenes of this movie are limited. After a few days of shooting, the lighting team only had to continue with the previous plan. The photographer had no room for creativity. He just took a medium shot of five people and watched them improvise each other's lines.
"A!" John Hughes lay down on his side again and watched the five people start performing.
Ronald glanced left and right, but didn't see the chair, so he had to sit down cross-legged and watch the camera crew and recording crew start to move.
"Hey, I'm still inexperienced." Ronald shook his head.
John Hughes was already filming his second movie, but he still forgot to ask the scriptwriter to write the script, and the scene was in vain.
Ronald resisted the desire to speak out. On the set, the director's authority needs to be carefully maintained. Even if he is wrong, he can only discuss it alone later.
The "criminal" played by Judd Nelson is the most mischievous, while the "princess" played by Molly Ringwald squirms around and keeps messing with him.
"Stop making trouble." Molly Ringwald turned her head and scolded angrily.
"This reaction is very realistic," Ronald thought. It seems that Hughes still has some ability in directing performances.
He looked at Judd Nelson. This actor might also be a Methodist, and he was very involved in the drama.
"Cut!" John Hughes stopped filming.
The actors started discussing on the chairs.
"I think the reaction I just acted was okay."
"You reacted very well when you were scared by Judd."
Two sixteen-year-old actors were discussing with each other. They both acted in the director's last film "Sixteen Candles" and they were considered a small gang.
"Yeah", a piece of Ringwald's hair was pulled out by Judd Nelson.
She turned around and hit Judd.
"As expected, Judd Nelson is a methodist like Sean Penn and Eric Stoltz, and he still stays in the character even when the machine is stopped." Ronald smiled.
"Okay, let's do it again." Hughes didn't talk to them about the drama, and directly called the second one.
"a!"
"No", Ronald put down his outstretched hand again. This Hughes didn't follow the director's routine, so he just did it again? Didn't he talk about the pros and cons of the performance?
And he didn't make any moves on this one.
Ronald reminded himself that he must say it next time, otherwise it would be a small matter to waste film, but it would be troublesome to waste a wonderful performance, and the actors may not be able to perform the same wonderful performance again.
"Cut!" Hughes stopped the second one, but still let the actors discuss and develop themselves.
Ronald discovered that the lines spoken by the actors were different in the two filming sessions, and they were still discussing what the characters should say to suit their personalities.
"John, did you forget to hit the board?" Ronald couldn't help it and whispered in Hughes's ear.
"I don't want to hit the script. If I hit the script, they will act according to the script. Only by shooting directly without hitting the script can I catch their improvisation." Hughes changed his position and said to Ronald, "Sometimes
I didn’t tell them to turn on the camera, so the reaction would be the most authentic and believable.”
"this……"
Ronald hesitated a little.
Hughes undoubtedly has his own method, and the actors mainly rely on improvisation rather than copying the lines from the script.
The effect of this directing method, which Ronald also saw, was unexpectedly very real and more in line with the habits of high school students than the lines written in the script.
This improvisational method requires good actors and tacit cooperation.
Ronald felt that the whole film relied on improvisation and he couldn't do it himself.
But here in Hughes, the effect is pretty good?
This is how we shoot, and when we finally edit it, it’s time to find out which scene this shot belongs to, or where the shot of that scene is.
"I think the performance you shot like this is surprisingly good, John."
Ronald took advantage of a break in filming to pull Hughes over for a chat.
"I am learning your method. Every scene is shot according to the order of the script. After I lost my "Sixteen Candles" to you, I especially studied your shooting method."
Hughes replied with a smile.
This sequential shooting method is not expensive because most of the scenes in the entire film are in the same place. Moreover, the actors can better understand the characters' reactions and the intensity of their emotions. Ronald expressed his understanding.
"What I want to say is, how will you edit it then?"
"Clip?"
Hughes had no experience in operating an editing machine himself, so he always asked the editor to cut out the combination he wanted. He never thought that unblocked film would be a nightmare during post-editing.
"Okay, I'll think of a way." Ronald felt that it was inappropriate to change Hughes's creative method rashly, but after shooting like this, even Hughes himself might not be able to remember clearly, and there would be no way to start editing. He couldn't even find the film.
Ronald walked out of the filming location, found a phone number, and called Ned Tanin.
"Ned, congratulations, you discovered a director genius. Yes... yes... he shot very well... but you have to send the editor over in advance."
Ronald explained the situation here. This kind of shooting is rare. Don't try to correct the genius' creation. Just send an experienced editor to assist Hughes and mark each scene.
"Oh, why did you hit me?"
"You f*cking...beat you..."
Ronald, who returned to the filming location, suddenly had a conflict when he saw the actors who had just been together.
Two actors, Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson, surrounded John Kellus, who played the janitor, and were beating him up.
"Why did you hit me? I just said a few words for your own good." John Kellus was beaten inexplicably, "Oh..."
Seeing Emilio Estevez give him a hard blow, his scalp was bleeding.
"Stop, stop fighting."
Ronald rushed forward, struggled to separate several people, and then dragged John Kellus, who was covering his head, out of the circle.
"What's going on? Why did you hit him?"
"You let this son of a bitch speak for himself!" Estevez pointed at Keles and pointed a finger at the other man's nose.
"What did you say?" Ronald looked around, and only one assistant stepped forward smartly and brought a towel for Keles to cover the wound.
"I saw that they were discussing too enthusiastically and didn't pay attention to rest at all, so I kindly reminded them that when Martin Sheen was filming 'Apocalypse Now,' he had a heart attack because he worked continuously without rest."
"How dare you fucking say that? Let's see if I don't beat you to death." Estevez stepped forward and continued to beat him.
"Oh, hey," Ronald put his hand on his chest. Estevez was playing a wrestler, not like he was a real wrestler.
John Hughes used to be a nerd who worked as a creative director in an advertising agency, so he could only stare blankly when encountering this kind of thing.
Fortunately, several assistants came forward and helped Ronald separate everyone again.
"Mr. Kellus," Ronald said to the unfortunate guy who was beaten, "you have to apologize to Emilio. Mr. Martin Sheen is Emilio's father. You shouldn't use him as an example."
"Ah? I don't know..." Kelless was dumbfounded. He didn't know that Martin Sheen was a stage name. Emilio, the eldest son, did not inherit Sheen's stage name, but his second son Charlie took it.
"You have to apologize to him." Ronald knew that Martin Sheen nearly died from a serious heart attack while filming "Apocalypse Now."
"I solemnly apologize to you!" Keles covered his head, and the blood had stained the towel red, but he continued to apologize and beg for forgiveness.
"You @#%, be careful what you say in the future." Estevez pointed out arrogantly, and walked away with Judd Nelson behind him. The two of them continued to make fun of Keles' stupidity.
Ronald looked at John Hughes. This kind of hooliganism on the set requires the director to stand up and distinguish right from wrong and make the perpetrators restrain themselves, otherwise the set will be in chaos in the future.
Hughes shrugged, "His character in the movie is a person who uses his body to solve problems."
Of the two young actresses, Molly Ringwald flipped her red hair, but she couldn't stand it either, so she turned around and went back.
"Director Ronald Hughes pays more attention to entering the scene and improvising."
Or an acquaintance, Ali Xidi, came over and tried to explain.
"I understand, every director has a different approach." Ronald looked at the beauty, wearing black eye shadow and wearing clothes that covered up her beauty.
"I'm sorry about Eric." Ronald told Siti what happened that led to Stoltz's dismissal.
"It's okay, we are no longer together. He is in love with Xue'er, the heroine in the last movie." Ali Xidi waved her hands and said she had nothing to do with her.
"Cher?" Ronald was shocked. "She debuted in the 1960s, but she must be around 40 now?"
"Almost forty." Seeing Ronald seeming to be calculating Xue'er's age, Ally Xidi chuckled.
"Okay, be careful and don't conflict with Emilio. His fists are quite heavy." Ronald felt that actors who attack at the slightest disagreement should still be careful, so he reminded him.
"It's okay. I know how to deal with people like him. Ringwald is the director's muse. He doesn't dare."
In the evening, Ronald met the editor sent by Ned Tanin.
"What alarmed you, Ms. Allen?"
Ronald was also surprised to see this lady wearing large tortoise shell glasses.
Dee Dee Allen is a veteran Hollywood editor. She has edited the film "The Big Bad" that created a new Hollywood, also edited Sydney Lumet's "Hot Day Afternoon", and also edited Warren Beatty's Best Director Award.
The "red elements" of the award.
Her mentors were also the editor of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" and the director of "West Side Story" Robert Wise.
Ronald often watched the movies she edited during his college classes.
"Didn't you say that this is a work of genius and needs an experienced editor to cooperate? I am very interested in geniuses."
Didi, a very kind lady, exchanged ideas with Ronald about Hughes's shooting methods.
The next day, Didi watched the chaos shot by Hughes and the wonderful performances of the actors, and was also shocked.
"You have to get me a Sony camera, and I have to follow it myself, otherwise no one can find where the lens is."
Didi quickly got the portable camera bought by Ronald. She looked at the place where the actors were, and Hughes filmed. She also filmed, and she also used a clapperboard to record every improvised line.
on the notebook.
"This is indeed a work of genius, but the director is a complete asshole!" Even though Dee Dee Allen was very experienced, he was also confused by Hughes's shooting method.