Chapter 9: Black person
As the filming of the crew ended, Ryan became a little worried. It was not an easy task to cut more than 90 minutes of film out of more than 200 minutes of material.
Of course, there is also a good side. The material produced by many Hollywood films takes at least about a thousand minutes, and even the material of some art films may double again.
In contrast, Ryan only shot more than 200 minutes of material, which is really nothing.
On the downside, though, the entire film was shot with a hand-held camera, and even though it was kept as steady as possible, there was still some jiggling, plus some scenes that needed jiggling in the first place.
You don't need to watch him to know it. After watching the whole movie, it is inevitable that people will feel dizzy.
Next, it is a technical job to cut out more than 90 minutes of video from the 200-plus minutes of material, and to ensure that the audience will not feel too dizzy after watching it.
Fortunately, Ryan didn't worry for long, and Helen introduced an editor.
"Chris Paul, once served as the assistant editor of "Star Wars", in addition, he also served as the main editor of several niche films."
Niche videos!
"Could it be that apart from "Star Wars", the rest of the films are directly released videotapes!" Ryan immediately understood the meaning of the niche films she said.
There are many small distribution companies in Hollywood, and they have no real distribution channels at all.
The films purchased by these distribution companies from all over the world are generally re-edited, and the offline video tapes are directly released, and they will not be shown in cinemas.
It made some unknown editors specialize in editing such films.
Don't look at the small income from editing each film, but it can't stand the large number of films, and the sum of all the pieces is definitely not a small amount.
"exactly."
Helen wrote down the address and phone number calmly, and said, "However, his editing skills are not bad, and his weekly salary is only 800 dollars."
"If you think you can, you might as well go to this address to find him."
The weekly salary of eight hundred dollars can't be said to be cheap, nor can it be said to be too expensive, at most so-so.
"All right!"
Ryan took over the address and phone number and asked, "I need to know the name of the movie he edited."
A good editor is not necessarily suitable for all types of films, some are more commercial, some are more artistic, and some are more fearful, so you need to watch the films he has edited first.
"no problem."
Helen proficiently reported the names of several films, none of which he was familiar with.
After Ryan took notes, he said goodbye to Helen and left. He found a Blockbuster chain rental shop and planned to rent the few movies Helen mentioned.
As for the release of the film, neither of them talked about it.
Naturally, Helen will take care of this matter.
In a Blockbuster chain rental store, Ryan spent a lot of effort and finally found two of the video tapes.
There are still two films that are not available at all, and there are a few films left. The clerk finally told him that they seemed to be rented out, and they were inked for more than an hour.
To be honest, he was very speechless about the service attitude of the Blockbuster chain rental store. The clerk was almost dispensable, and he needed to find the movies by himself. After urging him several times, he told him that there was no one with a bad attitude.
As for computer inquiries and humanized services, go to hell.
"It's no wonder the Blockbuster chain of rental stores ended up going bankrupt."
Ryan curled his lips and drove home.
Even without the emergence of online rental and the birth of video websites, I am afraid that such a rental chain store will eventually be eliminated by the market.
The service is not in place, and it is cumbersome to find movies. It is no wonder that they are not eliminated.
When he got home, Ryan watched the two films again, carefully studied every shot, and didn't even bother with dinner.
Two films, one British and one French literary film, although both were re-edited, have a decent sense of rhythm. Careful observation reveals that the editor corrected several mistakes.
"The cut is not bad, we can see each other." Ryan is basically satisfied, especially the price.
For many low-budget films, there is no dedicated editor. Most of the time, the director himself acts as the editor, so there will inevitably be some small mistakes.
As a result, Hollywood distribution companies can only hire people for secondary editing.
The success of "The Blair Witch" in the previous life was due to the fact that publicity can take up the main part, and the editor absolutely contributed to the rest.
Otherwise, a film that makes people dizzy, even if the promotion plan is perfect, it is still difficult to get a good box office.
Early the next morning, Ryan took a taxi and came to Nandu in downtown Los Angeles, gradually driving into a slum.
There is no comparison between the slums in the United States and the countryside on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. The law and order here is appallingly bad, and crimes such as robbery, theft, and marijuana trafficking can be seen almost everywhere.
Unless it is a last resort, the locals rarely come here.
Fortunately, generally speaking, it is safe during the day, provided that you do not go to remote alleys, otherwise you will ask for trouble.
Not long after, the car stopped under an old apartment building. Ryan checked the address carefully before getting out of the car cautiously.
The old apartment building in front of me has no security measures and no cameras, as if you can come in and out at will.
Ryan didn't stay long, and walked to the farthest apartment on the third floor according to the address Helen gave, and gently drummed on the door.
"Excuse me, is Mr. Chris Paul at home!"
"I'm Ryan Gosling, introduced by Miss Helen."
The apartment in front of me didn't seem to have very good sound insulation, and the sound of footsteps coming from inside could be heard.
About ten seconds later, the door was pulled open from the inside, and a middle-aged black man appeared who was a bit slovenly.
"You are the one introduced by Helen on the phone!" The middle-aged black man asked with a hoarse voice.
"Yes, Miss Helen is my manager."
Ryan looked at the middle-aged black man in front of him, and said with a slightly hesitant expression: "You are Mr. Chris-Paul!"
Unexpectedly, the editor introduced by Helen turned out to be a black man.
Now is not the United States after 9/11. There is no such thing as Black Lives Matter. The status of black people in Hollywood is similar to that of Asians and Latinos.
At the same time, Ryan also has some original feelings. No wonder a skilled editor who once served as an assistant editor of "Star Wars" lives in a poor area and specializes in secondary editing of some niche films.
In Hollywood, white people are allowed to make mistakes, at most, after a while, new opportunities will still appear.
But if you are a black man, it will be completely different. Once you make a mistake, it will mean being marginalized by Hollywood.
"If I'm not wrong, I'm Chris Paul."
Chris Paul invited Ryan in and said, "Since you were introduced by Helen, you don't need to be so polite, you can sit wherever you want."
"And just call me Paul."
Ryan looked at the small apartment in front of him. It was barely tidy, but almost half of the space was occupied by various large and small instruments.
It was more of a small editing room than an apartment, and finding a suitable place to sit seemed to be a challenge.
In the end, Ryan could only carefully sit down on a dilapidated chair, for fear that the chair under him would fall apart if he was not careful.
"Helen has already told me about your matter. It's 800 dollars a week, no matter how many days the cut is finished."
Chris Paul was very straightforward and said, "Of course, if you rent a formal editing room, I can make it cheaper."
"Mr. Paul, I think you have misunderstood. This is just a video shot by a hand-held camera. A regular editing room is too luxurious for it. It would be better to charge 800 dollars a week."
Renting a formal editing room is expensive, and Ryan naturally wouldn't waste that money. The equipment in front of him can completely edit a film shot with a hand-held camera.
"Hand-held camera!"
Chris-Paul looked at Ryan in surprise, he really wanted to ask, does anyone still shoot videos with a handheld camera?
"Well, I need to watch all the shooting shots of the film first, and then I can discuss with you how to edit it."
"I would also like to ask, whether this film will be released directly on videotape, or will be screened on demand like a regular film!"
As for the large-scale release, he didn't even think about it.
It is almost a luxury for a film shot with a hand-held camera to be released on a large scale in theaters.
"Helen has already contacted about the distribution, and she should choose to order screenings." Ryan replied half-truthfully.
"It turned out to be the distribution company that Helen contacted, so there is no problem."
Chris-Paul showed such an expression. With the connections of Helen's parents, it is not difficult to find a small distribution company.
The next thing was very simple, the two of them drove to Xingkong Brokerage Company together to sign a film editing contract.
