Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Roger took Ronald into the large room next to the principal's office, with "Detention" written on the door. This is where the public school principal exercises his power and can keep a few naughty students after school to punish them.

The two sat at 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 I will talk to every new director before directing for the first time. I will tell them my directing experience and let them get started quickly."

"Although you are a temporary director who only directs for one day, I will treat you the same 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 movies as I have in their lifetime."

"The most expensive part of making a movie is the shooting stage. Preparation and post-editing don't cost much. In the middle shooting stage, money is spent every day. So in my opinion, there is only one way to shoot 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 ballpoint pen from his pocket, and quickly wrote down "Photos are expensive, save front and rear, and shoot fast in the middle." .

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

"Find a chair to sit on..." Ronald jotted down in his notebook.

"The most important thing about a movie is the first reel of film at the beginning (about 11 minutes). The audience wants to know what happened. The second most important thing is the last reel of film. The audience wants to know how it ends. Those in the middle are irrelevant, just shoot whatever you want. ”

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

"When writing a script, you should 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, this can save money. Cost and time of setting up lights.”

"Concentrate the scene, save the light, use less lighting..." Ronald looked up after memorizing, waiting for the next item.

"Can you take shorthand?" Roger became interested.

"Yes, I took a correspondence course in shorthand when I was in the 10th grade." Ronald replied, "I had health problems at that time 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 take a shorthand course. Fortunately, I recovered later.”

Roger Corman watched his shorthand with interest...

"Don't be in a hurry when rehearsing. Spend as much time as you need. Any time you spend rehearsing will be saved during filming. If you don't rework, it will be faster."

"Just rehearse..."

"Be confident on set. The crew will always be paying attention to what the director is doing, especially at the beginning of filming. Give them clear and specific instructions. Tell them what the shot is going to look like when you come in so they can I will recognize you and give you the greatest support.”

"Actually, the technical details of making a movie are not difficult. As a new director, it takes about a week to master various techniques, and the smarter ones can do it faster. But the performance of actors is always a big problem, and they need to learn as much as possible and gain experience.”

Roger said, "How to inspire and encourage actors to give full play to their acting skills while keeping it within the overall framework of the film is the gold standard that distinguishes good directors from bad directors."

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

"If he's a method actor, you can talk to him about the highest mission, what does this character want? What's his motivation?"

"Give the actors the script for tomorrow's shooting in advance. Don't give the script on the same day, as this will not give you time to digest it."

"If the actors have the ability to improvise, you can also let them improvise. Not every actor can improvise, and comedians are more likely to improvise. But this is also a matter of the director's style. I mainly follow the script."

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

"The plot of a low-budget movie is not important. People don't come to see the story, but to see a woman in a bikini shooting terrorists with a machine gun, or a group of high school girls singing and dancing in cool clothes."

"Always trust your director of photography, if you have a good director of photography. If he says he got it, he got the picture you wanted to take, because you can't see it yourself. If your director of photography is not good, then Get another one, or get it yourself.”

The most suitable light for outdoor photography is around sunrise and sunset, which is called magic light. But the magic ray is short-lived. Make full use of your time. If you want to take longer shots, you can find a hillside and take the main shot at the foot of the mountain first. After sunset, climb up the hillside to chase the light. The sun has not yet set at higher places, so you can take close-up shots on the hillside. Just bring a photographer, a reflector, and climb the mountain with the actors. Because you can’t see the background in a close-up shot, it won’t reveal anything…”

Roger started talking about his various tips for saving money on low-budget movies, and Ronald recorded it quickly.

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

"Always have a sense of humor. Filmmaking is a very torturous business, with all kinds of accidents and emergencies. You need to have a good sense of humor to find ways to flexibly deal with these troubles that are not in the shooting plan."

Ronald's shorthand is very fast. He often finishes writing down what Roger has just said, and then looks at him with his eyes full of curiosity.

Roger Corman is a little proud. This may be the happiest time for him as a teacher. When he is happy, he can't help but say more about the content other than the director's experience.

"If you want to express a certain theme through the movie, put it in the background story. Never jump out directly in the movie and let the character speak to promote a certain value. Put it in the subtext so that the audience will accept it subtly. If you say it directly, the audience will be disgusted by your preaching."

"To date, I have directed and produced no less than 200 movies, and only one lost money, which was "The Invaders" in 1962. Because I wanted to promote equality and progressive values, I let the protagonist speak directly about racial equality for black people. This is my only movie that lost money, although the reviews were good."

"The last one, if you want to be a filmmaker, you must persist, persist and persist. If you want to get rich, go into real estate."

"Uh," Ronald complained in his heart, "You have made so many profitable movies, why haven't you made a fortune? I heard that you are a multi-millionaire. But I don't ask to make money in the film industry. I will get some experience first..."

Closing the small notebook and putting it in the waist bag, the two got up and walked out. Ronald was behind and turned off the fluorescent light switch. Roger Corman nodded in satisfaction.

It's rare to find a multimillionaire this stingy.