Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 1 "Rock High School"

   "Cut!"

   The director shook his head helplessly, "NG! (NoGood, meaning unqualified

   The staff sighed neatly, "Alas!"

   Here is Whiskey-GoGo Bar, rented by New World Productions for the film "High School of Rock". The last scene of the crew on Friday afternoon has already taken 4 shots, and the 5th shot is still NG.

   Everyone can’t get off work early, and they can’t have seizures. He could only look at the rock band "Ramones" who participated in the movie with resentment in his eyes.

   Director Alan Akush got up and went to the band manager to replace the always wrong bassist Didi Raymond.

   Co-director Joe Dante sat there, trying to figure out what went wrong. It was obviously a very simple scene. The content was the guitarist, bassist, and drummer. They took a few boxes of pizza and walked into the backstage lounge of the concert. Bassist Didi Raymond says the line "Pizza, here comes the pizza, let's eat!"

  How come it still doesn't work after 5 shots? This Didi, either said the wrong line, the pizza fell on the floor, or the small table was knocked over...

  Crew assistant Ronald Lee watched the entire process from behind the camera. It's a bit strange, the bassist Didi played very hard, he really wanted to play well, and every time he tried his best to shout that line.

   But every time after the shouting, when the three of them opened the pizza box, Didi would make some low-level mistakes, and it seemed like... yes, it seemed like it was intentional.

   The three of them sat on the chairs to rest, and whoever was directed by the director 5 times would feel a little dejected.

   Seeing that the band members were running out of energy, Ronald quickly walked to the table in the corner behind the camera, took three paper cups, dipped in the “delicious” Nescafe instant coffee, and brought them over.

  Didi, the coolest of the four band members, took the coffee lazily without saying thank you. Only looking at the other side of the room with the corner of his eyes, there was a contemptuous sneer at the corner of his mouth.

   Ronald followed his gaze, and it turned out to be the fourth member of the band - lead singer Joey

  Joey's shot was finished first, and now he is chatting with a fan.

  Ronald turned his head to look this way again, and Diddy turned his back to the other two band members, sipping his coffee.

  Ronald's heart suddenly came up with a conjecture.

   Quickly walked to the director's chair, Ronald greeted Joe Dante, approached him and said softly, "Mr. Dante, I find that Didi is a little dissatisfied with the lead singer Joey..."

  Joe Dante listened for a while, then suddenly his eyes brightened and asked, "Are you sure?"

   "Not entirely sure, but worth a try."

   Just as director Allen came back from a failed negotiation, "No, the band manager said to ensure equal playing time for the four members, and refused to change the line from Didi Raymond."

  Equal time…

   Ronald and Joe Dante glanced at each other, feeling more confident.

  Joe Dan pulled over the director's chair, let the very tall Allen sit down to rest first, and whispered in his ear: "Ronald just found out... Why don't we try another shot?"

   "Oh my god, you might be right." Allen jumped up from his chair and went to coordinate with the band manager.

  Joe Dante also got up to explain the new shooting method to Didi Raymond, and at the same time asked the makeup artist to come up to touch up his makeup.

   Ronald saw behind the camera, the director of photography looked at him with a curious look, and grinned: "The director will change the way of shooting."

   Soon, the crew was ready to start over.

   Director Allen shouted: "Start! (Action

  Didi Raymond rushed into the camera first, holding a large stack of pizza alone. He put the pizza 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, ran into the picture from left to right, the three of them opened a box of pizza, and each took a piece and bit down hard.

   "Cut! This one is good, it's over!"

   Everyone shouted "Yeah" and applauded, and today's scene was finally finished.

  …

   Ronald took the form and asked the actors to sign one by one to confirm the working hours. Then hand over the signed form to Jim, who is also a crew assistant.

  Jim is also a young man, with medium-parted long hair, a beard, and a Beatles outfit. Both of them are crew assistants who "do errands". They have the most contact with each other at work and are the best friends.

  Jim put away the form, saw that the Ramones had gone far, leaned in and asked quietly, "What did you tell the director just now so that Dee Dee can pass?"

Ronald smiled slightly: "When I brought Dee Dee coffee, I found that he refused to accept the lead singer Joey. The previous shot gave Joey a close-up shot, and this shot is a medium shot of the three of them together. So I asked the director to try and give him a one-shot shot."

   The two smiled knowingly, not only the actors in the same crew, but also among the rock stars of the same band, they also care about their status.

   Ronald looked at his watch and got up to go.

   "Why don't you just go to the party?" Jim was a little weird. The crew is on the spot tonight, at the "Whiskey-GoGo" bar, for a weekend party.

   "No, I have to call my aunt in New York."

   "Don't forget to shoot tomorrow, while the students are on holiday, we will go to Van Nuys High School to shoot the morning scene, and we will gather at 05:30" Jim handed over a notice with a map on it.

   took 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 the equipment. Ronald honked his horn twice, signaled to the standing conductor's camera guide, and turned left onto the main road.

   In Los Angeles on December 15, 1978, daylight saving time has ended, the clocks are turned back one hour, just after 6 pm, but it is already dark.

   Aunt must have been waiting for the call. The time difference between Los Angeles and New York is 3 hours, and it is already 9 pm there. It will be too late to call when I get home. Ronald stopped at the phone booth not far ahead.

   took out a handful of coins, stuffed a few into the coin slot, and Ronald started dialing: 1-718-3177157. After dialing the phone, there was almost only one bell and it was picked up.

   "Hello, Aunt Karen, I'm Ronald."

   "Oh, Ronnie, how are you? (Ronnie is Ronald's nickname

   "I'm fine, I've been working on the set for the past two weeks, and this time I met a lot of people in the circle. When the filming is over next week, more people will come to me to take pictures for the audition.

  There are many people in Los Angeles who want to enter the film and television industry, and the market here is huge. I figured it out, and I earn more than at home. For $50 for a set of audition photos, I can earn enough for my first year of college tuition, books, and housing in three months. "

   "Great, I'm so proud of you, Ronnie. You're a good boy, and your father and mother will be proud of you in heaven.

  I married Steve right out of high school, and after he died in Vietnam, I could only find a job as a restaurant waiter, not earning enough money for you to go to college. But you must go to college. This is what I promised your mother, and you must do it. "

   Aunt Karen was a little excited, and brought up her dead husband and Ronald's parents who died in a car accident, which made Ronald also sigh.

   "Don't worry, Aunt Karen. I'll definitely make enough money this year. If I go to a public university in New York State, the tuition fee is waived, but it's not a heavy burden."

   "I'm just a restaurant waiter and can't save much money..." Aunt Karen began to blame herself again.

   "Don't say that, Aunt Karen, you raised your daughter Donna by yourself, took in me, and spent a lot of money on my aphasia."

  After 6pm 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, Ronald kept refilling the coin, and after a while, the coin dropped by more than half.

   "Not enough coins, let's stop here. 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, and put the coins in his pocket. Get in the car, make a U-turn, and drive towards the rented apartment.

   Driving, Ronald's thoughts were full of thoughts. Aunt Karen and Cousin Donna were the only relatives he had in "this world".

   Three years ago, Ronald Lee was still a Chinese. When he closed his eyes when he was sleeping, he traveled to a hospital in the United States. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Aunt Karen.

   His parents were killed 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 lives with her daughter Donna. After learning of her sister's family car accident, Ronald, an orphan, was taken from the hospital to his home in rural New York Staten Island, where he took care of him until he recovered.

After   , Ronald was transferred to Totville High School on Staten Island.

  Thinking about his thoughts, Ronald stepped on the accelerator and drove to his home in the direction of Venice Beach.

   (end of this chapter)