Roger Corman left the set quickly. He had to go to the hospital to settle Allen's bill and then take his lawyer to the police station to bail out Joe Dante. The life of a multimillionaire is always very busy. However, Gail stayed at the scene.
It's a sunny day today, and the sun has risen high. The director of photography said that we could only shoot close-ups and close-ups now and use reflectors to fill in the light. Otherwise, under the direct high-angle sunlight, the shadows on the faces will make the movie look like a Hitchcock thriller.
Ronald and Jim picked out some suitable shots together and continued shooting after the director of photography approved it.
These scenes show the new headmistress, Evelyn Toga (played by Mary Woronoff), hearing someone playing rock music on the radio and coming to catch the perpetrator.
She took a pair of large scissors and cut the audio cable of Riff Randell's record player. Then she asked everyone who was the leader. As long as they handed over the leader, everyone else would be innocent.
Kate Rambeau, the good girl, stood up and said that she did it. Of course, Riff Randell was also involved. Principal Evelyn Toga announced that the two of them would be punished by staying after school today.
Ronald found that if the actors rehearse well and the crew cooperates well, filming is very rhythmic. Actors move, lighting, actors rehearse, live shooting, changing props, setting up cameras, actors move, lighting... over and over again.
Maybe it's because Ronald has low requirements (he didn't have any guidance in his dreams, so he didn't know whether the filming was good or not), or maybe it's because he respects the opinions of the crew (he wouldn't know if others were fooling him anyway), the crew's shooting speed today was three points faster than when Allen and Joe directed it.
By 10:50 am, I had taken most of the photos, except for a few panoramas and long shots. I couldn't use reflectors to fool the light, so I had to wait for the magic light before and after sunset.
"The morning shooting is over. It's lunchtime now. Everyone in the crew, take a one-hour break." Ronald shouted with a bullhorn.
Daylight saving time has just ended, and the time in the Pacific Time Zone is still a bit strange. The sun rises at around 6 a.m. and sets at around 4 p.m., and the lunch time is set at 11 a.m.
The extras ran back to the teaching building to eat. The principal of Van Nuys High School welcomed the crew to come and film. As a high school in the West Hollywood area, there are many artistic students among the students. They have been exposed to filming since childhood. They joined the drama club in elementary school and hope to enter the film industry in the future. If a crew comes to the high school to film, it will be a good thing for the school district's annual assessment and will also help attract students.
So the school treated us to pizza and Coke today. This made the crew members, whose meals were average, very happy. The stingy crew didn't have much of a budget for food and usually only had cheap hot dogs and instant coffee.
Ronald, Jim, and Gail sat together to eat Domino's Pizza. This is a popular chain delivery recently. The taste is not amazing, but it is delivered very quickly, and it is still hot when you get it. Ronald ate a few slices of pizza, drank a can of Coke, and patted his stomach with satisfaction.
Gail was much more elegant when eating, using a plastic knife and fork at first, but under Jim's guidance, he soon got the hang of it and covered his mouth with his hands while eating.
I don't know what joke Jim told, but it made Gail giggle and shake.
Ronald took out a pair of sunglasses from his waist bag and put them on. Today, he was considered a senior member of the crew, so he sat in a better seat with a backrest. He leaned back comfortably, feeling quite relaxed. There was nothing to shoot in the afternoon, so he organized a few actors to rehearse and try to get a pass around sunset.
The advantage of wearing sunglasses is that others can't see what you are looking at. Ronald closed his eyes, breathed slowly, and rested his mind. Unlike most Americans, he likes to take a nap at noon. However, in a country where people are proud of their strong physique, taking a nap can easily make people think that you are not energetic, either in poor health or lazy, so Ronald wears sunglasses to cover it up.
He was the temporary director today and was destined to have no rest. Soon, Jim came over to ask about the secrets Roger Corman had taught him that morning. Ronald took off his sunglasses, took out a small notebook, and explained them to him one by one. Jim nodded as he listened, "I wish I had known these when I was making short films."
"You've made short films before?" Ronald didn't know that he had this history. Gail knew a little bit about it, "Yes, Jim brought the short film over at that time, and Mr. Corman admired his talent and asked him to join the company to learn film production."
"Oh, what's the subject? Do you still have a copy? When can I have a chance to take a look at it?" Ronald became interested.
"It's a science fiction film, 12 minutes and 7 seconds. I transferred it to a VHS tape and will show it to you when I have the chance."
"There's no VCR where I live, but I'll still go to the company to watch it when I get a chance. How much did it cost to make that short film, and how did you raise the money?" Ronald was a little envious of Jim. He knew that Jim was not a child from a wealthy family. They both secretly used McDonald's coupons to eat.
"I found 12 dentists and persuaded them to raise funds for the film, which cost 24,000 US dollars."
"A science fiction film? That would cost a lot of money on props and special effects, right? You can make it with only $24,000; that's amazing."
"Ah, the main expensive part was the two robot models, the kind that people sit inside to fight. It cost a lot of money, and the actors couldn't perform while squatting inside. I could only shoot separately, with the actors sitting on chairs pretending to drive the battle robots, and then shoot the scenes of the robot models fighting each other, and edit them together to create a feeling that the actors were driving the battle robots."
Jim began to talk endlessly about his favorite science fiction movies. Ronald suspected that if "Rock 'n' Roll High School" was not a teen movie with more music and dance, Jim would compete with him for the temporary director position.
"It seems that New World has made a lot of science fiction films," Ronald asked Gail.
"Yes. But last year, George Lucas's "Star Wars" raised the threshold for science fiction films a lot. Mr. Coleman's original science fiction films that only Piu Piu and shoot green light are not selling well." Gail smiled and made a laser gun shape with his hands.
"Ronald, can you give us another close-up?" a voice came from the side.
Ronald turned his head and saw two dancing sex bombs, Chrissy Sommer and Mara Rosenfield, coming to visit.
The two changed out of their costumes and now wore T-shirts and jeans, but they still couldn't hide their youth. One was blond, the other was brown, and their two pairs of big eyes stared at the young temporary director.
Ronald suddenly felt a little overwhelmed and put on his sunglasses. "Hi, Chris, Mara. My temporary director position ends today. The only thing left today is the scene of the headmistress played by Mary Woronov. You can dance on the side of the road as a background. I can't add a solo performance for you."
"Oh, thank you. It would be nice if you were a real director."
"Yeah, I think you take better pictures than Alan."
The two beauties immediately complimented him.
"Stop saying that. You two are photogenic and the best dancers. There are dance scenes later in this movie. I think dance director Siana will recommend you."
Ronald quickly interrupted their complaints and told them to go find the dance director who had the authority to recommend them. The two beauties thanked them and went to find the dance director, Siana.
"Haha," Gale looked at the backs of the two beauties and laughed, "Ronald, you can be a diplomat."
"Uh, I'm just telling the truth."
"The truth? You only selectively told them part of the truth." Gail saw it clearly, "For a low-budget movie like this, the one who can ultimately decide their fate is still the director."
"There's nothing wrong with that. Mr. Coleman once told me that his movie audiences don't come to see the story, but to see young beauties dancing disco. They best meet the audience's expectations."
"It seems that you understand them very well?" Gale asked, wrinkling his nose.
"Yes, I understand them. Film is a magical art that allows tens or even millions of viewers to see you. As a public school student, being able to appear in a movie and have a few positive scenes is also a dream come true, isn't it?"
Ronald stood up and put the empty pizza boxes and Coke cans into the garbage bag. "The school is treating us today, so we don't have to eat hot dogs. I don't have to count people and worry about outsiders stealing food." He and Jim laughed together. This was one of their important tasks, and they laughed with Gail as well.