Roger Corman left the set as quickly as he had arrived.
He still had to go to the hospital to settle Allen Arkush's bill, and then take a lawyer to the Hollywood police station to bail out Joe Dante. The life of a movie mogul, even a stingy one was always busy.
However, his executive assistant, Gale Anne Hurd, remained on set to supervise.
It was a bright, cloudless day. The sun was high in the sky, beating down on the asphalt of Van Nuys High.
Dean Cundey, the Director of Photography, advised that they could only shoot close-ups and medium shots now. They would need heavy diffusion and reflectors to fill in the shadows.
Otherwise, with the high-angle sunlight, the actors would have "raccoon eyes" dark shadows in their eye sockets making the teen comedy look like a Hitchcock thriller.
Ronald and Jim selected a few suitable shots from the schedule. After Cundey approved the lighting plan, filming continued.
These scenes focused on the new principal, Evelyn Togar (played by Mary Woronov). Hearing rock music blasting from the PA system, she marches out to catch the culprits.
Wielding a pair of giant scissors, she cuts the audio cable of Riff Randell's record player. Silence falls over the quad.
She demands to know who is responsible, promising that if the leader confesses, everyone else will be spared detention.
Kate Rambeau, the "good girl," steps forward to take the blame. Of course, Riff Randell also steps forward.
Principal Togar, unmoved by their solidarity, sentences both of them, and everyone else to detention.
Ronald found that when the actors were rehearsed and the crew was in sync, filming had a rhythm. It was a dance: Block, Light, Rehearse, Shoot. Change setup. Block, Light, Rehearse, Shoot.
Perhaps Ronald's standards were low (he had no "dream footage" to guide him for these specific shots), or perhaps he just knew how to listen to his crew. Either way, the pace was blistering.
By 10:50 AM, they were actually three setups ahead of schedule.
Only a few wide shots remained...shots that required the soft, romantic light of the "Magic Hour" at sunset. They would have to wait.
"That's a wrap for the morning session!" Ronald shouted into the megaphone. "Lunch! One hour!"
The extras cheered and ran toward the cafeteria.
The Principal of Van Nuys High was thrilled to host the production. Located in the shadow of Hollywood, the school had a strong arts program. Hosting a film crew was a badge of honor and a great selling point for the district.
To show their hospitality, the school was treating the cast and crew to lunch: pizza and soda.
For a Roger Corman crew, usually subsisting on lukewarm hot dogs and watered-down coffee, this was a feast.
Ronald, James and Gale sat together on a retaining wall, boxes of Domino's Pizza between them.
Domino's was becoming a massive chain, famous not for the taste, but for the speed. It was hot, cheesy, and free. Ronald ate three slices and washed them down with a Coke, patting his stomach contentedly.
Gale started eating elegantly with a plastic knife and fork, but after watching Jim devour a slice in three bites, she abandoned her manners.
She picked up a slice with her hands, giggling as cheese strung out.
Jim cracked a joke about the "gourmet catering," and Gale shook with laughter.
Ronald pulled a pair of aviator sunglasses from his fanny pack and slid them on.
Today, as the Director, he had been upgraded. His chair had a backrest. He leaned back, feeling the tension drain from his shoulders.
There wasn't much to shoot in the afternoon until the sun went down. He would run rehearsals, prep the actors, and try to nail the sunset shots in one take.
The advantage of sunglasses was that no one could see your eyes closing.
Ronald drifted, but rest wasn't in the cards.
"Hey, Ronnie," Jim asked, wiping tomato sauce from his beard. "What were those secrets Roger told you this morning?"
Ronald sighed, took off his sunglasses, and pulled out his notebook. He went through the points one by one.
Jim listened intently, nodding. "Man. I wish I had known all this when I made my short film."
"You made a short film?" Ronald asked. He didn't know this part of Jim's history.
Gale chimed in. "Yes. Jim brought his short to the office.That's why Roger hired him. He saw the talent immediately."
"Oh? What genre?" Ronald asked, his interest piqued. "Can I see it?"
"It's sci-fi," Jim said, his eyes lighting up. "Twelve minutes long. It's called Xenogenesis. I transferred it to VHS. I'll bring it in for you."
"I don't have a VCR," Ronald admitted. "Maybe I can watch it at the office." He paused. "How much did it cost? And... how did you get the money?"
Ronald felt a twinge of envy. He knew Jim was broke, they both used coupons at McDonald's.
"Twenty-four thousand dollars," Jim said.
Ronald choked on his soda. "Twenty-four grand? How?"
"I formed a consortium of dentists," Jim said matter-of-factly. "I pitched them on the tax write-offs and the potential for profit. Got twelve of them to invest."
"Dentists?" Ronald laughed. "That's genius."
"It had to be sci-fi," Jim explained, his hands moving as he spoke. "Most of the budget went to the models. I built these stop-motion robots. But I couldn't afford to build full-scale suits for the actors. So, I filmed the actors sitting in chairs, pretending to pilot the mechs. Then I filmed the miniature robots fighting. I edited them together to create the illusion of scale."
As soon as he started talking about special effects and robots, Jim transformed. He was eloquent, passionate, and technically brilliant.
Ronald realized that if Rock 'n' Roll High School had been a sci-fi movie instead of a musical comedy, Jim Cameron would be the one in the director's chair right now.
"New World makes a lot of sci-fi, right?" Ronald asked Gale.
"We do," Gale said. "But Star Wars changed the game last year. The bar is too high now. Roger's old sci-fi films with the pie-plate UFOs and green lasers just don't sell anymore." She made a "pew-pew" finger gun gesture.
"Ronald? Can we get a close-up?"
A voice interrupted them.
Ronald turned to see the two "dancing bombshells," Kris Soma and Marla Rosenfeld.
They had changed into T-shirts and jeans, but their energy was still radiant. One blonde, one brunette, both looking at the temporary director with wide, hopeful eyes.
Ronald felt overwhelmed. He slid his sunglasses back on.
"Hi, Kris. Marla. Look, my authority ends today. This afternoon is all Principal Togar. You can dance in the background, but I can't add any solo shots."
"Oh, come on," Kris pouted. "I wish you were the real director."
"Yeah," Marla added. "You're way better than Allen."
The flattery was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Please don't say that," Ronald said, raising a hand. "Allen is a pro. Look, you two are very photogenic, and you're great dancers. There are more dance scenes coming up later in the schedule. Scilla, the choreographer, has the power to recommend you for those. Go talk to her."
He deftly passed the buck.
"Really?" Marla asked.
"Really. Scilla loves your energy."
The girls thanked him profusely and sprinted off to find the choreographer.
"Pfft." Gale watched them go, shaking her head. "Ronald, you should be a diplomat."
"I was just telling the truth," Ronald shrugged.
"The truth?" Gale raised an eyebrow. "You selectively told them part of the truth. For these low-budget flicks, the director is God. You could have put them in."
"There's nothing wrong with that," Ronald said. "Mr. Corman told me the audience comes to see young beauties dancing disco. They are exactly what the audience wants."
"You seem to understand the demographic well," Gale teased.
"I understand the dream," Ronald said quietly. "For a public school kid, getting one second on screen is a dream come true. It's validation."
He stood up and began gathering the empty pizza boxes.
"Besides," Ronald grinned, " the school paid for lunch. We didn't have to eat hot dogs, and for once, I didn't have to stand guard over the craft services table to stop the students from stealing the food."
Jim burst out laughing. Guarding the food was usually their primary job as PAs.
Gale laughed with them, the three future Hollywood power players sharing a moment over greasy cardboard boxes.
Authors Note:-
Today's second chapter.....
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