3 Star Student

Chapter 3 Star Student George woke up in the hospital with tubes in his arms, needles in his stomach, and an oxygen tube up his nose. He could barely see his mother beside him. "Mom," he whispered, "did I do something wrong?" Dorothy started to weep. Had he not been thrown out of the car,

明星学生乔治在医院醒来时，胳膊上插着管子，肚子上插着针，鼻子上插着氧气管。 他几乎看不见身边的母亲。 “妈妈，”他低声说，“我做错什么了吗？”多萝茜哭了起来。 如果他没有被扔出车外，

George would have died. During his two weeks in the hospital and the long recovery afterward, he changed his mind about being a race-car driver. Now he wanted to do something meaningful with his life. He missed his final exams, but Thomas Downey High School awarded him a diploma anyway. Little did they know the former greaser was making plans for college. When he was well enough, George enrolled in Modesto Junior College and studied sociology, anthropology, literature, and astronomy. For the first time, George became a great student. Soon he was ready to move on to a four-year college. John Plummer encouraged George to apply to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Haskell Wexler was a Hollywood cinematographer who knew George through the racing circuit. He offered to help George. The film school at USC was top-notch. George had

乔治早就死了。在他住院的两个星期和之后漫长的康复期间，他改变了想要成为一名赛车手的想法。 现在他想做点有意义的事。 他错过了期末考试，但托马斯唐尼高中还是给了他一张文凭。 他们一点也不知道这位前油漆工正在计划上大学。 当他身体足够好时，乔治进入莫德斯托初级学院学习社会学、人类学、文学和天文学。 乔治第一次成为一个好学生。 很快，他就准备上四年制大学了。 约翰·普卢默鼓励乔治申请洛杉矶的南加州大学。 哈斯克尔·韦克斯勒是一位好莱坞电影摄影师，他通过赛车赛道了解乔治。 他主动提出帮助乔治。 南加州大学的电影学院是一流的。 乔治

always loved photography. Now he wanted to make movies. George Sr. wasn't happy about the idea—it didn't sound very practical—but he agreed to pay the tuition. George arrived at USC in 1964. The school's motto was "Reality Stops Here." It meant that anything was possible, that dreams started there. At USC, George studied English, astronomy, history of film and animation, and drama. He knew he had found his calling. He made his first short film, Look at Life, in 1965. George quickly became part of the elite group of students who were considered the best in the class. He and his friends edited films at night because they were allowed only two hours a day on the Moviola editing machine. George loved cutting shots

一直热爱摄影。现在他想拍电影。 老乔治不喜欢这个主意——听起来不太实际——但他同意支付学费。 乔治于1964年来到南加州大学。 学校的校训是“现实止于此”。 这意味着一切皆有可能，梦想从这里开始。 在南加州大学，乔治学习了英语、天文学、电影和动画历史以及戏剧。 他知道他找到了自己的使命。 1965年，他制作了自己的第一部短片《看人生》。 乔治很快成为被认为是班上最好的精英学生群体中的一员。 他和他的朋友们在晚上剪辑电影，因为他们每天只能在Moviola的剪辑机上工作两个小时。 乔治喜欢切球

together to make meaning out of pictures. Through editing he could conceal some of his weaknesses as a beginning filmmaker. He didn't yet understand how to write strong characters or work with actors to bring about better performances. Student films at USC were shown in public screenings. George's family came from Modesto to see his. George Sr. noticed that any time one

一起从图画中找出意义。 通过剪辑，他可以掩盖自己作为一个初出茅庐的电影人的一些弱点。 他还不知道如何塑造强大的角色，也不知道如何与演员合作来带来更好的表演。 南加州大学的学生电影在公开放映中放映。 乔治的家人从莫德斯托来看他。 老乔治注意到这一点

of George's films came up, the "long-haired hippie kids" in the audience whispered, "Watch this one, it's George's film!" He said to his wife, "I think we put our money on the right horse." Once again George had surprised him. George graduated from USC on August 6, 1966, at twenty-two. He hoped to make documentaries—films that present actual events and facts, rather than made-up stories—or to become a cameraman. But young men George's age were being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. However, during his army physical he found out that he was diabetic. He could not be in the military. He could also no longer wash down chocolate bars with sugary soda. He returned to USC to attend graduate school in 1967. To pay his way he became a teacher's assistant. At this time, the cinematography department had a contract to teach US Navy cameramen. George was assigned to teach the class in the evenings—and he got extra color film to make his own movies.

一提到乔治的电影，观众中的“长发嬉皮士”就低声说：“看这个，这是乔治的电影！”他对妻子说：“我想我们把钱押对了。” 乔治又一次让他吃了一惊。 1966年8月6日，22岁的乔治从南加州大学毕业。 他希望拍纪录片——呈现真实事件和事实的电影，而不是编造的故事——或者成为一名摄影师。 但是乔治这个年纪的年轻人被征召去参加越南战争。 然而，在他的军队体检中，他发现自己患有糖尿病。 他不可能是军人。 他也不能再用含糖苏打水吞下巧克力棒。 1967年，他回到南加州大学读研究生。 为了养家糊口，他当上了教师助理。 在这个时候，电影部门有一个合同，教美国海军摄影师。 乔治被分配到晚上上课，他还得到了额外的彩色胶卷来制作自己的电影。

During the day he worked for Verna Fields, a top-notch editor, on a film about President Lyndon Johnson's visit to Asia. The government wanted the film to make the president look good. Any shot that showed Johnson's bald spot was cut. George hated other people telling him what to do. "I really wanted to be responsible for what was being said in a movie," he said later.

白天，他为一流的剪辑师维尔纳·菲尔兹（Verna Fields）剪辑一部关于林登·约翰逊总统亚洲之行的电影。 政府希望这部电影能让总统好看。 任何显示约翰逊秃顶的镜头都被剪掉了。 乔治讨厌别人告诉他该做什么。 “我真的很想对电影里的内容负责，”他后来说。