"Cut!"
The director shook his head helplessly. "NG! (No Good)"
The staff sighed in unison, "Alas!"
This is the Whiskey-GoGo Bar, rented by New World Pictures to shoot the movie "Rock 'n' Roll High School". The crew shot the last scene on Friday afternoon. They had already shot 4 takes, and the 5th one was still not good enough.
Everyone couldn't leave work early, but they couldn't get angry. They could only look at the rock band "Ramones" who were starring in the movie with resentment.
Director Allan Arkush got up and went to the band's manager to replace bassist Dee Dee Ramone, who always made mistakes.
Co-director Joe Dante sat there, trying to figure out what went wrong. It was a simple scene, with a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer, grabbing a few boxes of pizza and walking into a backstage lounge. Bassist Dee Dee Raymond said one line, "Pizza, pizza's here, let's eat!"
Why is it still not working after 5 takes? Dee Dee, either he says the wrong line, drops the pizza, or knocks over the small table...
Crew assistant Ronald Lee watched the whole process from behind the camera. It was a bit strange, but the bassist Dee Dee acted very diligently; he really wanted to act well, and he tried his best to shout out the lines every time.
But every time after shouting, when the three of them were opening the pizza boxes, Dee Dee would make some low-level mistakes, as if... yes, as if he did it on purpose.
The three of them sat on chairs to rest. Anyone of them would feel a little dejected if they made five NGs.
Seeing that the band members were a little exhausted, Ronald quickly walked to the table in the corner behind the camera, took three paper cups, filled them with instant coffee, and brought them over.
Dee Dee was the most arrogant of the four band members. He took the coffee lazily without saying thank you. He just glanced at the other side of the room with a sneer of contempt on his face.
Ronald followed his gaze and saw the fourth member of the band, lead singer Joey.
Joey finished his shot first and is now chatting with a fan.
Ronald turned his head and looked over here again. Didi was sipping coffee with his back to the other two band members.
A guess suddenly popped up in Ronald's mind.
Walking quickly towards the director's chair, Ronald greeted Joe Dante, approached him, and said softly, "Mr. Dante, I noticed that Dee Dee is a little dissatisfied with the lead singer, Joey..."
Joe Dante thought for a while, then suddenly his eyes brightened and he asked, "Are you sure?"
"Not entirely sure, but it's worth a try."
Director Allan just came back after a failed negotiation. "No, the band manager said that he wanted to ensure that the four members had equal screen time, and he refused to let someone else say Dee Dee Ramone's line."
Time Equalization...
Ronald and Joe Dante looked at each other and felt more confident.
Joe Dante pulled over the director's chair and asked the very tall Allan to sit down and rest first, and whispered in his ear: "Ronald just discovered... Why don't we try a different way of shooting?"
"Oh my God, you may be right." Allan jumped up from his chair and went to coordinate with the band manager.
Joe Dante also stood up to explain the new shooting method to Dee Dee Ramone and asked the makeup artist to come up and touch up his makeup.
Ronald saw the director of photography looking at him curiously behind the camera and grinned, "The director will change the way he shoots it."
Soon, the crew prepared everything and started again.
Director Allan yelled: "Action!"
Dee Dee Raymond rushed into the camera first, holding a large stack of pizzas. He put the pizzas on the small table and shouted, "Pizza, pizza is here, let's eat!"
The other two members of the band, the drummer and the guitarist, then ran into the picture from the left and right. The three of them opened a box of pizza, and each took a piece and bit into it.
"Cut! This one is good, passed!"
Everyone shouted "Yeah" and applauded. Today's scene was finally finished.
…
Ronald took the form and asked the actors to sign one by one to confirm their working hours. Then, he handed the signed form to Jim, who was also an assistant on the crew.
Jim is a young man with long hair parted in the middle, a beard, and a Beatles look. They both do "odd jobs" as assistants on the crew, and they usually interact with each other the most at work.
Jim put away the form, saw that the Ramones had gone far away, and leaned closer to ask quietly, "What did you say to the director just now so that Dee Dee could pass it on the first try?"
Ronald smiled slightly: "When I brought coffee to Dee Dee, I found that he was dissatisfied with the lead singer, Joey. The previous shot gave a close-up of Joey alone, while this shot gave a medium shot of the three of them together. So I asked the director to try a single shot for him."
The two smiled knowingly. It was not only the actors in the same crew who were like this, but also rock stars in the same band were very concerned about their status.
Ronald looked at his watch and stood up to leave.
"Why are you leaving? Aren't you going to the party?" Jim was a little confused. The crew was staying at the Whiskey-Go-Go bar tonight to have a weekend party.
"No, I have to call my aunt in New York."
"Don't forget that we still have to shoot tomorrow. While the students are on vacation, we'll go to Van Nuys High School to shoot the morning scene. Let's gather at 05:30." Jim handed over a notice with a map on it.
Taking the notice, Ronald walked out of the bar, got into his car, and drove out of the parking lot.
When passing by the crew's van, the camera crew was loading equipment into the van. Ronald honked twice, signaled to the camera director standing there directing the group, and then turned left onto the main road.
On December 15, 1978, in Los Angeles, daylight saving time had ended, and the clocks were turned back one hour. It was just past 6 p.m., but it was already dark.
My aunt must have been waiting for a call. There was a three-hour time difference between Los Angeles and New York. It was already 9 p.m. there. It would be too late to call after I got home. Ronald stopped at a telephone booth not far ahead.
Taking out a handful of coins and stuffing a few into the coin slot, Ronald began to dial: 1-718-317 7157. The call was connected, and the other end picked up after almost one ring.
"Hello, Aunt Karen, it's Ronald."
"Oh, Ronnie, are you okay?"
"I'm doing fine. I've been working on the set for the past two weeks and have met a lot of people in the industry. After the filming is finished next week, more people will come to me to take photos for auditions. Many people in Los Angeles want to enter the film and television industry. The market here is huge. I have calculated that I can earn more than at home. With $50 for a set of audition photos, I can earn enough for the first year of college tuition, books, and accommodation in three months."
"That's great. I'm so proud of you, Ronnie. You're a good boy, and your father and mother would be proud of you if they were here too. I married Steve right after I graduated from high school. After he died in Vietnam, I could only find work as a waiter. I couldn't make enough money to send you to college. But you have to go to college. That was what I promised your mother, and I have to see you go to college.
Aunt Karen was a little excited. She mentioned her late husband and Ronald's parents, who died in a car accident, which made Ronald sigh.
"Don't worry, Aunt Karen. I will make enough money this year. If I go to a public university in New York State, the tuition will be waived, so it's not a heavy burden."
"I'm just a restaurant waitress. I can't save much money..." Aunt Karen began to blame herself again.
"Don't say that, Aunt Karen. You raised Donna, by yourself, took me in, and spent a lot of money on my aphasia."
After 6 p.m. on weekends, long-distance calls are half price: 29 cents for the first minute, 19 cents per minute thereafter, and 10 cents per minute for local calls. The two chatted on the phone, and Ronald kept inserting coins to renew the charge, and soon his coins were more than half gone.
"I don't have enough coins, so let's stop here for now. I love you, Aunt Karen."
"I love you too, my little Ronnie."
Ronald hung up the phone, pressed the coin return button a few times, put the coins in his pocket, got in the car, turned around, and drove towards the rented apartment.
While driving, Ronald was filled with thoughts. Aunt Karen and cousin Donna were his only relatives in "this world".
Three years ago, Ronald Lee was still in the future. When he closed his eyes while sleeping, he traveled to an American hospital. When he opened his eyes, the first person he saw was Aunt Karen.
In this life, his parents died in a car accident, and only Ronald, who was sitting in the back seat, survived.
Aunt Karen lost her husband in the Vietnam War and lived with her daughter, Donna. After learning that her sister's family had a car accident, she took Ronald, who had become an orphan, from the hospital to her home in Staten Island in rural New York and took care of him until he recovered.
Ronald was then transferred to Tottenville High School on Staten Island.
Thinking about his worries, Ronald stepped on the accelerator and drove towards his home in the direction of Venice Beach.