Back at the scene, Ronald found Jim: "The boss will rush over and it will take 2 hours. Until then, we will continue shooting."
"Wow, so you continue to be a director?"
"Yes, when the boss comes to take over, he and his assistant Gale will come to the scene. We have to hurry up. What's the next scene? You will be responsible for the positioning."
"The next scene is the scene where the good girl Kate strikes up a conversation with the handsome man Tom." Jim picked up the storyboard and handed it to Ronald, "Congratulations, Ronnie. You deserve it."
…
Ronald found the actor who played handsome Tom, Vincent Van Patten. At first glance, he was strong, with blond hair and wearing a green and white school uniform. He was exactly the dream lover of American high school girls.
Vincent is a handsome American boy. He is not like the old-fashioned nerd Tom in the script, but a sporty and sunny boy.
Ronald recalled the image in his dream. He played the role of an honest and dull mama's boy, whose temperament did not match.
But if he can perform in a movie, his acting skills must be good, so the problem lies in...
"Clothes, where are the clothes?"
"Here" Linda, the fat costume clerk, raised her hand.
Ronald pointed to Vincent's chest, "Add a tie and look. I want him to look like he was raised in a very serious Puritan family."
"OK, I'm prepared, I'll bring it for you to choose from." Linda, the dresser, picked up two ties, one with blue and green stripes, the other with dark red.
"This one," Ronald pointed to the blue and green striped one, "matches this green and white school uniform."
…
After arranging the actors here, Ronald went to the camera crew and arranged directly: "We want a long shot for this one, 10 seconds. Tom came out of the room, wearing a school uniform and tie, only greeted his male classmates, and finally sat here to eat
Breakfast. A master shot looking down from a crane,"
Roger indicated the location of the camera, and then pointed to the teaching building: "The male protagonist came out of the building, holding a novel that no one was reading, and he was out of tune with the people dancing happily around him."
He described the scene in the dream to everyone, and then asked: "Mr. Candy, what do you think?"
"Did you hear that?", the director of photography turned around and shouted to several assistants, "Start work."
The red-haired Daisuke looked at Ronald, a little disbelieving that these words came out of his mouth, and he seemed to have the authority of an old director who has been in the film industry for decades.
"How do you capture the feeling of being out of place?" Director of Photography Dean Candy asked, "Tell me how to move the camera."
"No, it doesn't rely on camera movement." Ronald explained, "In this scene, the frame is about the width of three people from left to right. Let the camera follow Vincent all the time and keep him in the center of the frame."
Ronald gestured to the director of photography: "When other people came up to greet him, the frequency of their walking and movements was normal, but Tom would slow down by half a beat, so as to create a sense of being out of place."
"Okay, I understand." The director of photography nodded, "You go and arrange the actors to rehearse, and leave this to me."
"Thank you, Mr. Candy."
After Ronald thanked him, he turned around and hurried back to tell the actors about the scene.
"Hey, today is your first scene, right?" Ronald looked at Vincent, who was wearing a tie, and indeed he became a little rustic and dull.
"Yes, how do you arrange my appearance?" Vincent replied.
"I will let the camera follow you all the time, so that the audience will have a deep impression on you. Come out of the room, show up here, then take the book, walk this way, greet many male classmates, and finally sit down here and eat
Breakfast. Then wait for Kate to come and chat with you."
Ronald demonstrated the positioning, "What do you think?"
Vincent imitated it again: "Appear...take the book...go...say hello...sit down."
Ronald said: "Perfect. What do you think of shooting like this? What are your thoughts?"
Vincent was very happy, "No problem, I think this is good." It seemed that he was quite satisfied with the image and duration of his shot.
Ronald gave him a thumbs up and said, "Pay attention to the frequency of your movements, just like your reaction is half a beat too slow."
"No problem, it's up to me." Vincent brushed his handsome hair.
"Oh, you messed up his hair. Gigi, fix his hair." Ronnie called the makeup artist and hairstylist.
Acting is a troublesome profession. If the makeup and hairstyle are slightly inconsistent, the camera will zoom in exponentially. So after every shot, the makeup must be checked and retouched.
Ronald went to the director of photography again: "How are you preparing?"
"No problem, I can cover it well with a 20mm lens. Just lower the aperture by one stop and the brightness will be consistent with the lens in front."
Ronald looked up at the sky. The sun had risen. The school's walls blocked most of the direct light. However, the brightness of the environment was already much brighter than before. The photographer had to make some technical adjustments to allow front and rear shooting.
The resulting image should be almost bright. Otherwise, the flickering images during the screening will upset the audience.
Photographing with natural light is quite complicated, but fortunately I have a very experienced photography guide.
Ronald and Jim whispered, ready to officially shoot.
The plot is like this: Kate saw Tom, showed a nymphomaniac expression, took the initiative to sit next to Tom, and struck up a conversation with him. Tom didn't like the good school girl, he preferred the cheerleader Liv Randall. She replied with disgust.
Hello, I turned around and started reading the novel. The camera finally stopped on Kate Lambeau’s embarrassed and depressed face.
"Action!"
The shot is well done, from beginning to end.
"Cut!"
The next step is to shoot the dialogue.
The camera switched to a medium shot, first focusing on Vincent. Dai Yang was sitting opposite him, with only one shoulder exposed in the viewfinder. The two acted out the conversation scene again.
"Cut, passed."
Then the camera was moved behind Vincent and focused on the good girl played by Dai Yang. This time it was Vincent's turn to show his shoulders. The two struck up a conversation for the third time.
Once the shot is taken, wait for the director of photography to confirm. Filming a movie is not like filming a TV series. You can watch real-time replays. Whether a shot is good or not, and whether it meets the director's requirements, the director of photography must give his nod.
"OK"
Then we started shooting reaction shots.
The red-haired photography assistant switched to a close-up lens with a focal length of 100mm. He carefully pushed the camera closer, almost touching the actor's face.
The director of photography looked at the light and shook his head: "It's a little past the optimal time. The direct light is a bit strong now. The shadows on the face in the close-up are too strong. Put on the reflector."
The lighting assistant was half-kneeling on the ground, holding a foam reflector in his hand to reflect sunlight onto the actor's face to make the shadows less obvious. At the same time, he had to be careful not to let his hands enter the viewfinder, so as not to cross the frame.
"Give me a shy smile..." Ronald commanded.
"Okay! Action!"
Vincent stood behind the camera and was accosted for the fourth time. The camera put Dai Yang's face into the lens and printed it on the film. It waited for development, reprinting, and copying, and was finally enlarged on the big screen and watched by thousands of boys.
Come and become their dream lover.
"Cut!"
This shooting method is what Roger Corman said: "One subject, two shoulders, three reactions." It is a standard Hollywood method. First use a panoramic shot, then use an over-the-shoulder lens to shoot twice the dialogue, and finally shoot a few shots
A close-up shot was added to show the other party’s reaction after hearing the conversation.
The only advantage is that it shoots quickly.
Film shooting is boring and time-consuming. Every scene has to be re-arranged, actors need to make up, move, rehearse, and indoor scenes also have a particularly time-consuming lighting process.
The low-budget film "Rock and Roll High School" was shot very quickly, using Hollywood production methods, and it took more than an hour.
After the actors were asked to exit, the next thing to be filmed was the dancing scene. Rock music played and the students danced with a strong rhythm.
In fact, this shot has little to do with the plot. It mainly expresses a rock and roll atmosphere.
What's more important is that a few beauties in cool clothes dance some beautiful dances, which can be regarded as ice cream for the audience. In low-cost youth exploitation films, this kind of inexplicable and wonderful dance is also a standard feature.
The protagonist of a dance drama is the choreographer. How to dance and how to dance beautifully are all determined by the level of the choreographer.
The choreographer of the crew is a Polish named Siana. She speaks with a strong Eastern European accent.
"Ronaldo, although the Ramones sing rock music, I'm going to let the students dance disco."
Ronald was stunned for a moment before realizing that Ronaldo was himself. "OK, what are the considerations for doing this?"
“Disco is better.”
There are no actors with strong dancing skills in the crew, and a large number of extras can only dance some popular dances. Compared with the old-fashioned swing dance, everyone can dance the popular disco.
This dance is now very popular. Last year's "Saturday Night Fever" and this year's "Grease" have set off a national disco trend. The leading actor in both movies is John Travolta, who has also become a national idol.
The new generation of Hollywood dance king.
"You have two beauties with particularly good figures. You should let them dance more in front of the camera." Siana said.