Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 11 Film Directing: 10 Minutes From Beginner to Mastery

  Roger took Ronald into the large room next to the principal's office. The door read "Detention". This is where public school principals exercise their power to leave a few mischievous students to punish after school.

   The two of them sat in the corner of the conference table. Roger Coleman took a sip of coffee and said slowly:

   "Most of the directors who work for me are newcomers to the industry. So every new director. Before directing for the first time, I will talk to them once. I will tell them my directing experience and let them get started quickly."

   "Although you are a temporary director who only directed for one day, I will treat you equally and talk to you once."

   "In the next 10 minutes, I will tell you about my experience as a director. I have made more than 50 movies as a director, and many directors have not made as many films in my life."

"The most expensive part of making a movie is the shooting stage. It doesn't cost much for pre-production and post-editing. In the middle of the shooting stage, every day you spend money like water. So in my opinion, there is only one way to make a movie, and that is to shoot quickly. "

"Do you mind if I take some notes?" Ronald asked. After getting Roger's approval, he took out a small notebook and a ballpoint pen from his pocket, and quickly wrote down "Yingguipai, save before and after, and take a quick snapshot." .

"Sit down when you have a chance on the set, because the director needs to stand for a long time and walk a lot. If you have a chance, you need to rest, otherwise it will be very tired and affect the next day's shooting. This is why the director's chair has a name to prevent Someone else is sitting."

   "Looking for a chair..." Ronald took shorthand in his notebook.

"The most important thing in the movie is the first reel (about 11 minutes), and the audience wants to know what happened. The second most important thing is the last reel, and the audience wants to know how it ends. The middle ones don't matter, just shoot whatever you want. ."

   "1 roll is the heaviest..." Ronald remembered again.

"When writing the script, pay attention to focusing on a few main scenes. You can shoot many scenes in each scene, saving money and time. If the scene can use natural light, or there is free light, write more scenes, which can save money. Cost and time to lay out lights.”

   "Concentrate on the scene, save your own light, and put less light on..." Ronald raised his head after remembering, waiting for the next one.

   "Can you take shorthand?" Roger became interested.

"Yes, I took a shorthand correspondence class in grade 10," Ronald replied. "I had physical problems and had difficulty speaking. My aunt was afraid that I would not be able to find a job in the future, so she asked me to study one. Craftsmanship, fortunately I recovered later."

  Roger Coleman watched his shorthand with interest…

   "Don't be in a hurry during rehearsal. You can spend as much time as you need. The time you spend during rehearsal will be saved during the shooting. If you don't rework, it will be faster."

   "Rehearse..."

“Be confident on the set, the people on the set are always paying attention to what the director is doing, especially at the beginning of the shoot. Give them clear and specific instructions. As soon as you come in, tell them what the shot looks like so they can I will recognize you and give you the greatest support."

"Actually, the technical details of filming are not difficult. As a new director, you can master various techniques in about a week, and the smart ones can be faster. But the performance of actors is always a big problem, and you need to learn as much as possible. and gain experience.”

  Roger said eloquently, "How to inspire and encourage actors to perform their acting skills to the fullest, while being able to control them within the overall framework of the film, is the gold standard that distinguishes a good director from a bad one."

   "In addition to spending time rehearsing, we also need to communicate as much as possible with the actors. Many mistakes are caused by the lack of mutual understanding between the director and the actors."

   "If he is a method actor, you can discuss the highest task with him, what does this role want? What is his motivation?"

   "Give the actors the script for tomorrow's shooting ahead of time. Don't give the script the same day, it won't have time to digest."

   "If the actors have the ability to improvise, they can also improvise. Not every actor can improvise, and there are more comedians. But this is also a matter of the director's style. I mainly rely on the script."

"Let the camera move, the camera is the eye of the audience. The human eye doesn't like static things. If something is still on the screen for more than 5 seconds, the human eye starts to get tired, so let the camera keep moving, or let There is something new and exciting in the picture.”

   "The storyline of a low-budget movie doesn't matter. People don't come to see a story, they come to see a woman in a bikini shooting a terrorist with a machine gun, or a group of high school girls singing and dancing in cool clothes."

"Always trust your DP, if you have a good DP. If he says you got it, you get the picture you want, because you can't see it yourself. If your DP can't, then Get another one, or go on your own."

  The most suitable light for shooting outdoors is before and after sunrise and sunset, which is called magic light. But magic rays are short. Make the most of your time. If you want to shoot longer, you can find a hillside and shoot the main shot at the foot of the hill first. After sunset, climb up the hillside to chase the light, higher up before sunset, you can take close-up shots on the hillside. Just bring a cameraman, a reflector, and an actor to climb the mountain. Because the close-up can't see the background, can't wear it..."

  Roger begins with his various low-budget tips for saving money, and Ronald records it fast.

   "You already know the Hollywood method. One main shot, two over-the-shoulder shots, then close-ups..."

"Always have a sense of humor, filming is a very torturous business, all kinds of accidents, all kinds of unexpected events, you need a good sense of humor, in order to find a way to flexibly deal with these non-shooting plans trouble."

  Ronald's shorthand was quick, often as soon as Roger finished speaking, he finished it, and then raised his curious eyes to look at him.

  Roger Coleman is a little proud. This may be the happiest time he has ever been a teacher. When he is happy, he can't help but say more about the director's experience.

"If you want to express a certain theme through the film, put it in the background story. Never jump out of the film and let the character talk about a certain value. Put him in the subtext, and the audience will subtly subtly Accept it, say it directly, and the audience will resent your preaching."

"To date, I have directed and produced no less than 200 films, and only one lost money, the 'Invader' in 1962, because I wanted so much to promote equality and progressive values, so I asked the protagonist to speak directly about black people. Racial equality issue, it's the only film I've ever lost money with, despite good reviews."

   "The last one, if you want to be a filmmaker, you have to persevere, persevere and persevere. If you want to make a fortune, go into real estate."

"Uh," Ronald complained in his heart, "You've made so many lucrative movies, why haven't you made a fortune? I heard that you are a multi-millionaire. But I don't want to make money in the movie industry. , first mix up your qualifications and then..."

   closed the small book and put it in his pocket. The two of them got up and walked out. Ronald was behind and turned off the fluorescent light switch. Roger Coleman nodded in satisfaction.

   Such a stingy multimillionaire is really rare.

   The real English shorthand method is to omit most vowels. Here is an example for everyone to see:

   Fucnrdthsmsg,

   u2cndblyrincm

   wspdwrtng.

   (end of this chapter)