Capítulo 23: Chapter 23: Jim's Talent
Ronald and Jim began to look over the shooting information for the second unit and made a plan for what shots they would take in the next five days.
Gale helped contact the photographer and arranged to meet tomorrow, Monday, at 5:30 a.m. to photograph the opening scene at Mount Carmel High School.
The next morning, Ronald met the photographer, a common British photographer in Hollywood. Ronald deliberately slightly changed the tone of the recording of "New Concept English," adding a touch of the British BBC radio accent.
The photographer laughed cheerfully and told some jokes about himself being drunk and making a fool of himself to establish a good rapport.
The three quickly got familiar with each other and worked together to prepare for the shoot.
"I want a fixed shot, about 3 to 5 seconds, of a soft ray of sunlight shining on the teaching building."
"Wait, wait, a soft sun? How do you want me to take photos of a soft sun?" the photographer protested.
"Just shoot normally. The sunlight after dawn is relatively soft, right?"
"In that case, I'll adjust the parameters to reduce the aperture. This Kodak daylight film is an old model. It's estimated to be about a year old since it left the factory. It will be a bit whiter, so the yellow dawn can be 'gentler.'"
"You decide."
"Roger Corman said the same crap to the last crew," Jim complained.
Cut!
Finish.
"Where will we do the next shot?"
"Wait, it's under a big sign with the school's name."
"That means there isn't one. Let's get in the car and look around to see if there's something suitable."
After taking the camera off its stand, the three packed up and got into the crew van.
"Do you know that big sign over there? We need to take a close-up," Ronald asked the driver.
"A big sign? Well, there's a sign on the back wall of the school. Do you think that will work?"
The driver stepped on the accelerator, and the car arrived behind Mount Carmel High School. Where the stadium used to be, weeds grew to half a person's height. There was a barbed wire fence surrounding the stadium, which was right next to the road. There was a big sign at a suitable height by the roadside.
"Very good, you have a great sense, and the place you chose is very good."
"Put the name of the school that Jim drew."
The four took out the folding ladder and placed it against the sign. Ronald and the driver were on one side, and Jim directed from below: "A little higher to the left, a bit higher, okay, just to the right."
The sign read "Vince Lombardi High School" in green letters on a yellow background.
Vince Lombardi is the most famous football coach and has won two consecutive Super Bowls. He coached army football teams, emphasizing discipline. It is similar to the school management philosophy of Principal Toga in "Rock and Roll High School." In other words, the character of Principal Toga was inspired by Vince Lombardi.
The photographer confirmed that it was okay through the viewfinder.
Ronald took out the clapperboard, wrote the scene number, clapped it in front of the camera, and then raised his hand to check his watch: "One, two, three, four, five..., okay, Cut!"
The shooting of the second unit was scattered and trivial. They only needed to shoot one or two takes in one location. Most of the time was spent waiting for the light, setting up and breaking down the camera, and fixing the scene's props.
Ronald fully understood what Roger Corman had taught him about how to focus on a scene. It was too slow to shoot in a place like this.
The three had some experience and cooperated tacitly. In three days, they filmed seven or eight of the scenes planned by Jerry Zucker. Jim also directed a motorcycle scene, and the photographer sat in the scene. In front of him, he held the camera and took a subjective photo. According to the photographer, what the audience would see would be like riding a motorcycle.
Of course, this was Jim's idea, and he resorted to the old method of degrading the photography. The 20 mph motorcycle was driven at a low speed, giving the feeling of running.
After finishing the shoot that day, Ronald and the others sent the film to New World Productions and were waiting for it to be sent for development and printing. They ran into the boss, Roger Corman.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Coleman."
"Oh, Ronald, how was your session?"
"We've completed most of the second unit shooting. Tomorrow we will go to Mount Carmel High School. Director Allen will film an explosion scene with two cameras. There will also be a phone booth scene the day after tomorrow. We have to wait for the two protagonists, PJ and Dai Yang, to film. After the gymnastics scene, the shooting of 'Rock of Ages' can conclude."
Packing is slang in Hollywood, equivalent to wrapping in Chinese, which is a metaphor for the end of the shooting phase. Everyone packed the camera and the film to indicate that the shooting had finished.
"Very good. I really like your work style. It's fast, precise, and artistic." Roger praised him.
"I've already written your letter of recommendation and asked Gale to send it with your application. After you graduate from university, don't forget to make a movie for me."
"Of course, Mr. Corman. Not all Hollywood bosses give opportunities to newcomers like Jim and me like you do." Ronald thanked Roger Corman from the bottom of his heart. The boss recognized the talents he had and was very discreet. Ronald had the opportunity to direct solo.
"Where is Jim? Ask him to come see me in the office, and I'll ask him to present himself in the stunt department for the new movie. This guy's mind is full of stunts and models, and he's already called me several times."
"He seems to be waiting at Gale's house, Mr. Coleman. You can see him when he comes up."
Roger Coleman nodded and entered the office.
After learning that his application had been sent, Ronald couldn't help but look forward to college life. What's better, Columbia in the Ivy League or New York University in Manhattan? Speaking of which, the sun in the Westwood district of Los Angeles is also very nice, and UCLA located there is also very suitable, very close to Hollywood.
Ronald was at the reception, drinking instant coffee and thinking about his college career.
After two sips, Jim came down the stairs and shouted joyfully to himself:
"I'm going to be a stunt model, Ronnie!"
"Congratulations!" Ronald hugged Jim tightly. As a human being, being able to realize your dreams and turn your hobby into a job is something worth celebrating.
"When are you going to work?"
"After the Christmas holidays."
"That's great; we can also go together to the 'Rock and Roll High School' packing party."
Before Jim's excitement faded, he suddenly remembered:
"By the way, I brought my short film. Can we watch it together later?"
"Okay, do you want to wait for Gale to come with you? Has she seen it?"
"She said she only saw the last minute and not the whole thing."
"Then go call her, and I'll ask the photographer to prepare the video recorder in the conference room." Ronald really didn't know how to connect the VHS recorder to the TV.
After a while, the four started to watch Jim's short film in the conference room.
The resolution of this VHS tape is very poor, and the title "Xenogenesis" appears at the beginning.
Each letter appeared on the screen like a typewriter, and Jim also added some electronic sound effects, somewhat like the popular Atari game console.
Then came the credits. The Sony TV was only 21 inches, and the subtitles were not clear. The three of them still needed to distinguish them carefully.
The subtitles were very long and boring. In a 12-minute short film, the initial subtitles with white text on a black background lasted only one minute. Fortunately, he finally saw the words "Director," and Ronald knew that the subtitles were finally coming to an end.
Hollywood's practice is to place the director at the end of the opening credits. The American custom is to put the most important person at the end of the list.
**Director:**
Then the letters formed a name.
**James Cameron.**
"Are you James, Jim?" Jim is the short name for James, and Ronald never asked Jim for his full name.
"Yes."
End of chapter
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