After intense auditions and the hard work of the director and producers, the protagonists and supporting actors were finally found. In addition, there are 57 permanent dance actors and more than 500 extras. Only a few acting teachers are still left in the crew.
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The choreographer has long reminded the director that the more time spent on casting, the less time will be left for dance and drama rehearsals.
The casting process, which started four months ago, has been delayed for a long time, and the director decided to start dance rehearsals immediately.
All contracted dance residents receive a weekly salary of $785 starting from rehearsals. Rehearsals are 5 days a week and have two days off on weekends. Including Meg Tilley.
Producer David Da Silva was extremely busy during this period. The New York Academy of Performing Arts rejected the revised script submitted by the crew. It is said that Ronald distributed advertisements on campus and seduced almost all graduating students to audition.
, once again angered the school.
Therefore, the crew's idea of renting the Academy of Performing Arts' campus for filming fell through. Da Silva had to search for available exteriors and interiors throughout New York.
After leveraging his Latino connections on the city's Board of Education, he finally obtained permission to film at Harlan High School, an abandoned high school in midtown Manhattan.
Not only is the architectural appearance of Harlan High School very similar to that of the Academy of Performing Arts, but the two schools are very close to each other, just across the road.
MGM invested US$200,000 to renovate the interior and exterior of the campus. The high school's original practice room was given priority to be re-paved with professional ballet carpets, practice facilities were updated, and it was first opened to the dance rehearsal team as a practice room.
This is the second time Ronald has filmed in an abandoned high school since he joined the film industry. In recent years, many public high schools have been closed down, and the reasons are related to the Vietnam War and the hippie movement.
The baby boom generation in America began to appear after World War II. A large number of people multiplied, and states opened a large number of new elementary and middle schools for this baby boom.
However, this baby boom came to an abrupt end in 1965, when the United States became deeply involved in the Vietnam War.
Hippies no longer get married and have children. Economic stagnation and the liberation of women from the family to join the workforce have also significantly reduced the average number of children in a family.
Except for a few ethnic groups who believe in Catholicism, because abortion is against the doctrine, they still maintain a high birth rate. The birth rates of other white Europeans have dropped significantly.
In the first year of the end of the baby boom, babies born in 1966 are now entering high school. The decrease in enrollment has caused a large number of schools to close because they cannot recruit students and cannot make ends meet.
Ronald walked into Harlan High School, which had reopened for movies after being closed for a year. When he entered, he saw an MGM carpentry room. Every day, the carpenters were busy working, creating some one-off sets that looked useless.
At the beginning, Ronald found that every morning there would be two trucks parked outside the wood shop without unloading the wood, and then take it away at night.
After reporting the incident to the producer, da Silva told him not to make a fuss, as it was a necessary waste.
The director of photography chosen by the director also flew from the UK the next day. The first thing he did after getting off the jet lag in New York was to ask Ronald to drive and purchase two of the latest cameras and rent them to MGM.
Come and shoot this film.
Thinking about how you bought your own car, and the fixed expenses such as equipment, vehicles, transportation, etc. in the crew, it is indeed a good place for powerful people to divide their territories and get their hands dirty.
The casting process is basically over. Theoretically, Ronald no longer has a permanent job on the crew and can only help the director revise the script at home. However, the producer asked him to keep an eye on the dance rehearsals.
Meg saw him coming in and turned around without saying a word. The dancers were used to it. They didn't argue or communicate.
Ronald first went to the production office next door to chat with the producer.
"Mr. da Silva, the practice room is very hot today. Summer is here. The temperature is already 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). It can only be higher in the practice room. If cooling measures are not installed, I'm afraid someone will suffer from heatstroke in the next two days.
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"I know, Ronald. I will ask them to buy air conditioners. The safety of actors is a big deal." Since Madonna failed in an exaggerated audition, da Silva has become more and more satisfied with Ronald. He talks to him every day.
, keep track of the progress of rehearsals and the movements of actors.
60 boys and girls were inseparable in a practice room, rehearsing and resting for 8 hours a day. You can imagine what happened. Ronald's daily reports allowed him to grasp the trends and quietly add protective measures. He didn't want it
Hillary's story comes to life.
"No, my director of photography, Michael Seresin, just surveyed the site yesterday and installed air conditioning. The air-conditioning sprayed out will cause poor lighting effects during shooting." Director Parker quickly denied.
"Then let's bring four big fans, the kind used on the set. During the breaks between filming, we'll blow them at the actors." The producer thought of a compromise.
In the afternoon, a truck drove into Harlan High School, removed four large floor-standing fans, and sent them into the practice room.
The dancers cheered loudly, but they were soon disappointed.
The buzzing noise is very disruptive to rehearsals. Even if you turn it on for a while during a break, the hot air blown by the fan will not cool you much.
The dancers who were originally full of hope were now full of disappointment, sighing, and the quality of rehearsals had also declined. The choreographer was so angry that he grabbed Ronald and said, "You have to find a way to cool me down, otherwise the actors will lose their energy."
Ronald reported to the producer again, and they hauled in two large refrigerators, froze two boxes of ice cubes, and placed them in front of the fans. Now the dancers finally started cheering.
"There is also Coke." Ronald opened the cap of the glass bottle and handed a bottle to the choreographer. "The refrigerator can also provide each dancer with a bottle of iced Coke every day."
Now even the choreographer was happy, "You are such good news sir".
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Meg also received a bottle of Coke. She looked at Ronald who was surrounded by everyone to thank him, and finally couldn't help but walked over.
The dancers were all young people, and they knew that the two of them had something to say. Antonia Francesca gestured to everyone, and everyone separated to give the two of them a private space.
But everyone pricked up their ears, waiting to hear this rare live gossip.
"Ronald, I'm very angry. The role that said my lines went to someone else... But the past is past, and I will pay you back the money for the acting training."
"You made it very clear, as long as you feel it's OK."
"Okay, after I finish filming this movie, I will go to Los Angeles to find my sister. In the future, I will develop in Hollywood, and you will go to school in New York."
"Then... I wish your dream in Hollywood will come true." Ronald stretched out his hand.
Ronald took his Coke, walked to a corner of the practice room, and drank it quietly. As expected, roles and close-ups are the Achilles heel of all actresses, even newcomers like Meg who only entered the industry because of their own recommendations.
Everyone didn't enjoy the show and left in a hurry.
Gene Anthony Ray, the star who played Leroy, came over to complain: "Ronnie, don't be sad for that bitch. I'll introduce you to Lucy, a girl from Harlem. We black girls are very good."
Antonia Franceschi also came over and interrupted Jean's nonsense, "You know what girl. Ronald, don't care.
Ronald smiled. The two of them were recommended to join the crew by himself. In a sense, they were "Ronald's people".
"You seem to get to know someone very quickly."
"I have been able to tell who is pretending and who is real since I was a child." Antonia became serious, "For example, I can tell at a glance that Jean has no feelings for..." She made a "girl" mouth shape.
"Hey sister, who said that, I'm in the movie with you..." Gene smiled and made an obscene gesture.
Ronald was a little surprised. Gene had a complicated background. He came from the streets of Harlem. He had muscles and could throw his ballet partner high and flying. He would not lose in a fight. He was very kind to Antonia.
And Antonia really has a keen eye, and she saw through Jean's orientation in a short time.
"Hey, Ronnie, look at me." Gene patted his chest, "Which black girl do you want to date? It's Erin Kara. I can also let her sneak out and date you behind the agent's back."
Ronald smiled and was about to refuse, but suddenly something happened in his heart, and he took the opportunity to win over the crew.
"Stop dating, let's go find a place to eat some delicious food and find a place to have fun together?"
"Then I'll call Lucy and Antonia, and we'll have a two-on-two date."
Today happened to be Friday, so a few people got into Ronald's Honda Accord, discussed it, and decided to go to Little Italy to eat pizza first, and then watch a late-night movie.
"Wow, Man, is this a BMW?" Gene was envious of Ronald's car.
"No, the Japanese Honda brand is not as expensive as BMW. They imitated BMW's front design." Ronald replied, "If you become popular, you will have one in the future."
"I recommend eating Margherita pizza, which has cheese and fresh basil leaves. It tastes very good. Some Wall Street traders will come here specifically to eat it," Antonia said.
They are all children from poor families, and none of them are gourmets. They all agreed to listen to the Italian-born Antonia.
Italian pizza tastes really good. Compared with it, Domino's pizza is just baked dough. It's a pity that this Margherita doesn't deliver, so you can't come here often to eat it.
Gene moved his shoulders to the music in the restaurant, Donna Summer's new song "Hot Stuff," a disco number that hit every restaurant and nightclub in New York.
"Let's all talk about Cheese." Gene took out his new toy Polaroid camera, and everyone leaned together and took some photos.
"Our black girls are the best, aren't we, Lucy?" Gene began to promote Lucy, who was also an extra from Harlem. Lucy puffed up her chest when she heard this, with an expression that said he was right.
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"You are great, but Ronald may not like your style." Antonia smiled.
"What do you know, the darker the blackberry, the sweeter the juice..." Lucy argued unconvinced.
"That's a good line. I have to write him into the lines." Ronald took out his small notebook and ballpoint pen, then stopped to ask for Lucy's opinion, "Would you mind, Lucy? If you don't want others to
Just read your lines and forget it."
"Do I have a chance to read it?" Lucy asked with eyes shining.
"I don't want to lie to you, no." Ronald stopped writing.
"It doesn't matter, just write it, it's not a big deal." As an extra, Lucy knew her position very well.
"That's right, Lucy Ronald is my big brother. He takes care of me so I can take care of you." Gene was very satisfied with Lucy's knowledge.