Chapter 97 The unscrupulous director

   On the morning of the first day of filming the big scene, the crew lost the camera operator within two hours of starting up.

  Director of Photography Michael Seresin had to step in as a camera operator, or what some might call a camera operator.

  The director ordered to restore the original state and prepare for the second official shooting.

  In the chaotic scene of reversing the car, the American camera pusher slipped out of the set and dialed the phone again.

  At ten o'clock in the morning, everything on the scene returned to the initial test state, and Allen was ready to announce the second shooting.

   "Recording? Camera?"

   "Stop! This has to stop"

   It was the representative of the International Cinematographers Union in suits and leather shoes who loudly stopped the shooting at the scene.

   "I received another report that the director of photography of your film crew also served as the cameraman. This is expressly prohibited by the union charter." The triumphant union representative handed director Alan Parker a stop-work order.

   "Hey man, you can't do this, we stopped ground transportation in half of Midtown Manhattan, we have a time limit, we can't shut down," the DP yelled.

   "Give you two hours." The union staff was not completely unreasonable, "If it exceeds two hours, a camera operator with union qualifications must be hired again."

   "I won't accept a **** clerk from a union telling me how to make a **** movie!" Alan Parker rushed to him in a rage.

   "Okay! As you wish", the union staff took back the 2-hour grace period, "Now we must stop working until you find a suitable camera operator."

   Ronald was chatting with several white T-shirts at the corner of the street. They also saw the farce.

   "Why can't the DP be the operator at the same time?" Ronald asked one of the older white T-shirts.

"I heard that in Hollywood in the early years, the director of photography was the person who took the camera, so that he could see whether the shot was in line with his intentions. However, the International Photographers Workers Union strongly intervened in the production team in the 1970s, making strict regulations. The director cannot handle the camera, and a dedicated camera operator must be hired."

"Since then, in places where labor unions are strong, such as New York and Los Angeles, photographers have been forcibly divided into two types of work. The advantage is of course that there is an extra job out of thin air, hehehe." Bai T-shirt smiled happily, he is also a labor union one of the beneficiaries.

   "What's the downside?" Ronald asked.

   "With one more person, many subtle artistic ideas will inevitably be out of shape."

  …

   "Ronald, come here." Producer David da Silva waved him over.

   "Hello, David."

   "See that little man in the peaked cap? He is the new operator we hired. Your task is to ensure that he does not touch the camera, does not interfere with the shooting, and only gets paid."

  The producer agreed to the blackmail of the union representative and hired one of his connections.

   "First time on a movie set? Man?" Ronald greeted with a peaked cap.

   "Ah, yes, it's the first time. My cousin said that I can be arranged as a photographer."

   "Do you know what the best thing about photographers is? Light metering! Few people can measure the intensity of light at one time." Ronald took a mechanical light meter and handed it to the peaked cap.

"Every time the director shoots, you have to calibrate the intensity of the sky light. Whether we can shoot every shot depends on how well you measure the light. If the pointer is less than zero, you have to call the director of photography to pause immediately. .”

   "Can I trust you, buddy? It's up to you to get a good shot of our whole crew."

   "Oh, yeah? Of course you can trust me, how do I get this thing?" the peaked cap asked hastily.

After Ronald taught the peaked cap to measure light against the sky, he walked to the photographer until Michael Seresin, "Michael, you have to look at the peaked cap before every shot, and after he nods, you can shoot as usual .”

   "Anyway, it will always be a positive number." Ronald smiled secretly.

  Photographer Michael Seresin glanced at the peaked cap inexplicably, and the other party excitedly waved the light meter in his hand and nodded vigorously to him

   "Camera?" director Alan Parker confirmed before filming.

   "Turning at full speed." Michael Seresin retracted his gaze and focused on the next shot.

   "Action!"

  The Cadillac car-led convoy slowly drove into 46th Street from the cross road.

  The music of "Hot Stuff" plays again, and Ronald and the peaked cap stand together to prevent him from spoiling the filming.

   Every time the dancers rushed down the street with all their strength, they danced differently from the last time.

   This time he rushed ahead and stopped the Cadillac that was slamming on the brakes. It was a male dancer and Lucy. Lucy climbed onto the roof and started dancing to the disco rhythm.

  The Italian driver, still following the director's instructions this time, wanted to do some tricks to surprise the dancers and make real reaction expressions and movements.

  After he stopped the car, he waited for the dancer to climb onto the roof of the car, and lightly pushed the accelerator, and the car sped forward.

  The dancers on the roof were greatly surprised by this unexpected movement, and several dancers fell on the roof.

  Lucy was squeezed by other dancers and fell from the side.

  She brought down other dancers on the ground next to the car, and several people sat on the ground together, including Antonia, who was also brought down on the ground.

   Seeing the fall, Ronald rushed up.

  Lucy sat on the ground, clutching her ankles.

   "How are you, Lucy?" Ronald asked, pushing his way through the circle of dancers.

   "I sprained my ankle, it doesn't seem to be too serious." Lucy struggled to stand up with one foot, and hopped twice while supporting the car.

   "Don't move, I'll help you." Gene, also from Harlem, put one of Lucy's hands on his shoulder, and accompanied Lucy to hop to the side to rest. The resident doctor hurried over to check Lucy's ankle.

  Antonia was taken aback. She has already been admitted to the New York City Ballet. If she is injured, it will be bad. She sat on the ground, still a little shocked.

  Ronald walked up to him and squatted down, asking about Antonia's injury with his eyes.

Antonia moved her hands, feet, neck, and waist, "I'm fine. I saw Lucy fall and brought other dancers. In order to avoid them, she fell to the ground on her own initiative." She also struggled to stand up .

  Ronald saw that the buttocks of her dance clothes were dirty, and it seemed that the fall was not as easy as it was said. So he stepped forward to stop Antonia. Squat down and let Antonia wrap her arms around her neck, support her waist with one hand, lift her legs with the other, and hug her up.

   Ronald carried Antonia a few steps and put her on the chair next to the resident doctor.

  The doctor finished examining Lucy, who sprained her ankle and needed rest, basically saying goodbye to filming. The dark-skinned, always open-minded girl cried sadly.

  The doctor examined Antonia again. After asking a lot of questions, Antonia was lucky not to be injured, but she put her hand on the ground and scratched a little skin on the base of her palm.

   Ronald let out a long breath, and leaned over to watch the doctor apply medicine to Antonia's palm. Then he stood up and turned around and walked to the Italian driver.

   A group of dancers performed in groups, and the Italian gang drivers have begun to confront each other. This time was different from the previous two times. The group performers were injured. The dancers insisted that the driver who drove the Cadillac get out. Some black dancers also yelled to beat him.

  Ronald separated from the crowd. Everyone had some trust in the young man who invented leg warmers for dancers and won the cooling measures, and let him walk in front of the driver.

   Ronald stared into the eyes of the driver who caused the accident for more than ten seconds without speaking. The other party finally began to avoid his sight, when Ronald suddenly said:

   "Why did you do that dangerous action that started suddenly?"

   "The director hinted at me..." the driver who caused the accident said half a sentence, then realized something was wrong, and stopped.

  Everyone was in an uproar. Some people didn't believe it and accused the driver of nonsense. Some people heard the warning from the operator, and some people believed it in private...

  Ronald looked back at the director who was talking to the producer in the distance, then turned his head and said to the drivers: "In any case, you are not suitable to continue driving on the set..."

  Representatives of the Screen Actors Union also came over and said to everyone: "Don't be afraid, children, you have all received the wages stipulated by the union, and the Film Actors Union will protect your legal rights."

  …

"Alan, you can't do this kind of dangerous action for the sake of performance." The producer just finished negotiating with the actors' union, "We pay the dancers the minimum wage stipulated by the union. In theory, they can Trade union members put themselves on the spot and even went on strike."

   “I didn’t ask him to start the car suddenly, David. I just asked him to do something special to surprise the actor,”

   "Don't treat me like a child, Alan." The producer was a little angry, ignored Alan, and walked towards the extras.

   After Allen finished speaking to shirk his responsibility, he seemed to realize that someone was looking at him, and turned his head to look at the group dance, just in time to meet Ronald's eyes.

  …

  "There can be no more dangerous sudden movements, the driver who caused the accident is not allowed to work on the set, an apology to the injured dancers, the actors involved will be paid an extra week's wages, and then, give the injured Lucy and the other two a face-to-face scene in the future."

   Ronald reported the cast's request to producer David Da Silva.

"that's it?"

   "That's all, do you think it's okay? If you agree, you can resume filming." Ronald replied.

  "The representatives of the actor union over there are launching a strike by extra performers. But the extra actors just want more wages and more shots, and the strike has no special benefits for them. If you agree, there will be no strike."

   "Of course, I can agree to let them resume filming. I owe you one, Ronnie." The producer was relieved, fearing that if the shooting of a big scene was postponed for some reason, it would greatly overrun.

   Among other things, just contacting the city hall to block the roads is not something that can be done in a short period of time.

   Ronald dragged the driver who caused the accident, apologized to everyone, then took him away from the extras, and escorted him out of the set.

  The driver also thanked Ronald. If it weren't for the reasoning on both sides today, he would have to suffer a severe beating.

   "It's not my fault, brother, your director asked me to do this." The driver was still explaining along the way.

   "What did the director tell you? Did he ask you to start the car suddenly?"

   "He said he liked my performance and gave the actor a real reaction. He asked me to do another unexpected action in the official filming. He also said that he should be careful not to make dangerous moves..." The driver lowered his voice as he spoke.

"Suggesting and not leaving anything behind, he is really a director who does whatever he can to meet his shooting requirements." Ronald looked back at Alan Parker again, remembering that the taxi driver Bert had reminded him that this director would not let actors shoot During the bath thing.

  (end of this chapter)