Chapter 361: Dances with Wolves begins announcement
"Welcome to the preview of Dances with Wolves, thank you all for your kindness to the indigenous groups..."
Kevin Costner's wife Cindy became the host of the test screenings. The test screenings were held in four cities, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Arizona, and Seattle, Washington, because these places are all
The former residence of Aboriginal tribes.
This is a publicity method thought up by Ronald's public relations consultant, Michael Gray. It not only did a media preview for "Dances with Wolves", but also gave major film critics some names to reap benefits, and it can also be watched
See the real audience reaction and make final adjustments to the film based on the feedback.
In addition, ticket sales from several test screenings can be donated to the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Native Americans, in exchange for some free page exposure in major print media.
Kevin Costner was sitting in the back half of the movie theater where the New York premiere was held, biting his fingernails nervously. This movie was his big gamble. If he made money, he could continue to make the movies he loved. If he lost money,
Then he has to go back to making commercial films to make money.
The opening scene of leg sawing attracted the audience immediately. Without any further whispering, they were fully involved in the plot. When Lieutenant Dunbar, played by Kevin Costner, went to the most remote outpost, the officer who signed the document for him committed suicide.
, the coachman who sent him there was killed, and no one in civilized society knew his whereabouts. With various hints that the Indians were nearby, viewers who had watched Western movies suddenly began to worry about the single-handed Lieutenant Dunbar.
Ronald was also watching from behind. The audience was still very immersed and no one was distracted. This was a good sign.
But the second act that is about to enter is the big test of the movie.
First of all, the Indian tribe is not a bad person. They did not attack Lieutenant Dunbar, but made a deal with him. Later they became good friends and gave him the Indian name "Dances with Wolves".
Secondly, from this point on, the movie uses a lot of Sioux language. Except for Lieutenant Dunbar’s voice-over narration, the rest of the language can only be understood by reading subtitles.
This is a huge challenge for American audiences who have not watched a foreign language movie with subtitles for more than ten years.
After being ordered by Ronald to cut the film to length, Costner almost sat in the editing room with calluses on his butt. This hard work also paid off. At this critical moment, he added a lot of scenes that showed the grand beauty of nature.
lens.
Kevin Costner has a good aesthetic. Those shots are very fresh and in line with the aesthetics of classic photography. The audience does not consume too much energy by the subtitles. The magnificent world scene after scene leaves them wide open.
Vision.
These scenes all have soundtracks composed by John Barry and Peter Buffy, which complement each other and give the audience a great sense of satisfaction.
Although it was a ranch for Indians back then, now the people on Manhattan Island are all urbanites. Where have I seen such a magnificent scenery?
In particular, Lieutenant Dunbar also tamed a wolf to keep him company and named him "Two Socks". Later, he rescued an Indian woman, "Stand Up" played by Mary McDonough.
Adopted by others, a white woman whose family was exterminated by the Pawnee people.
The audience was not stumped by the small language barrier, but instead added some interest to the plot. The wise men of the Sioux tribe, the family members who stood upright with clenched fists, kicked the bird. Because Dunbar always lived with a wolf, they gave him an Indian name.
The name is Dances with Wolves.
Because of his clenched fists, Lieutenant Dunbar's relationship with the Sioux became better and better. He also understood that some of the horrific legends about the Sioux that were spread by white people were false. He was invited to participate in the annual buffalo hunt.
.
Afterwards, Dunbar helped the tribe repel the Pawnee invasion. Kicking Bird approved his marriage to Clenched Fist. Just when the audience was intoxicated in this lifestyle in harmony with nature, the white man appeared again.
They hunted bison, but only took the valuable fur and discarded the meat. As a result, the Sioux had less and less food, and the tribe had to migrate. On the way to the outpost to collect information, Dunbar danced with wolves and was constantly attacked by the army.
Prisoners. They did not believe his words and regarded him as a traitor to the white people.
The mood of the audience took a turn for the worse. Ronald saw that the audience around him began to frown. Are the protagonists who were so warm and happy in front of them going to end in tragedy?
Finally, Dunbar and Clenching Fist Standing decided to leave the tribe to prevent the white army from causing trouble to the tribe because of him and Clenching Fist Standing. The two rode horses and left slowly in the snow-covered wilderness, and a line of subtitles rose
Come up...
Thirteen years later, their homeland was destroyed and the buffalo disappeared—the last free Sioux tribe surrendered to white authorities at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The great buffalo culture of the prairie had disappeared, and the United States
The frontier is about to become history.
"Hua Hua Hua..."
The lights came on, and the audience began to applaud desperately, because the director spared the lives of the hero and heroine in the end, without directly filming their tragic endings. The audience was moved by their love and the same family affection between Dunbar and the Sioux tribe.
Finally let out a sigh of relief...
Although judging from the ending and subtitles, their ending will not be too happy, but it was not directly filmed. The audience can also rely on their own imagination to convince themselves that dancing with wolves and standing upright with fists in the end will be a happy life with children and grandchildren.
The Ten Bear Tribe is also the last aboriginal group to be preserved, and it has been passed down to the present...
"Thank you all, thank you to Daydream Pictures for bringing us such a magnificent image. Now if you have any questions, you can ask the director and star of the film, my husband, Mr. Kevin Costner."
Cindy Costner began to host the post-screening Q&A session. An audience member stood up and asked if the director intended to leave Dances with Wolves and Standing Tall at the end to give the audience a hopeful and bright ending. Seeing him talking so much about theories, Luo
Nader knew he was a film critic.
Kevin Costner showed a smile and was about to answer. What kind of intentional design? How could it be possible? I actually wanted to film a tragic ending, but I ran out of money, and no theater was willing to show it for four hours.
movie, otherwise I will definitely finish it...
When Ronald saw this, he knew that this guy had no experience and was afraid that he would go astray. He quickly took the microphone and said, "Although Kevin is a first-time director, he is definitely a genius with a deep understanding of movies. This ending is his
What he came up with is so perfect, I can't think of a better way to express it than him..."
"Ah, yes... Actually, I asked Ronald for advice, and he said that such an ending shocked the audience the most. The previous plot of this movie has already told a story about the former aboriginal tribe.
I think it’s best to let him maintain a heroic lifestyle with such a long-lasting ending..."
Costner reacted quickly and immediately changed his story. The next day, the interview was published in the newspaper, "Ronald Lee said that he could not think of a better ending than the version directed by Kevin Costner..."
"a ha ha ha……"
Kevin Costner was about to take a flight to other places for promotion. When he saw this report, he and Ronald who came to see him couldn’t stop laughing. In any case, the free publicity had an effect. I was originally worried that it would be in vain.
Costner, whose marketing budget for Japan Dream was insufficient, was completely relieved.
"Is there some improvement in our distribution? Some of those small town movie theaters are very dilapidated." Kevin Costner heard a little bit of news. Ronald seemed to be contacting distributors. I wonder if there are any big producers.
Is the factory willing to take over midway?
The box office momentum of Ronald's "The Last Day" is really too strong. Now the studios have realized that the most important thing is whether romantic films are becoming popular again or female stars are starting to gain popularity at the box office.
The factor is still Ronald.
The reason why romantic films were not available before was probably because a genius of his level was not interested in making them. Genre films were created by great directors, not the other way around.
"Don't look down on these markets..." Ronald explained with a smile, "This is a forgotten market. Do you remember when we were students, we drove a shabby car and took beautiful women to drive-in theaters?
?”
"Isn't it...hehe..." Kevin Costner nodded with a smile. Back then, drive-in theaters were indeed an affordable date venue for children from poor families. With a shabby second-hand car bought by his father, he could date his female classmates.
Or something like that, then buy two tickets, bring some food and drink with you, and then you can watch two movies. In a small enclosed space in a car, young people are more likely to fall into a passionate kiss than in a movie theater.
"Nowadays, new cinemas are all multiplexes in shopping malls. Ticket prices are also expensive, and you have to buy food in the mall. You also have to buy two large boxes of popcorn and Coke to enter the cinema. After a movie, it actually costs a lot.
of."
Ronald explained the current situation. Today's movie theaters are not the ones that were close to home. You have to drive to a new shopping mall that is far away, and the prices there are not cheap. For students, it is not an easy expense.
The old movie theaters in these small towns can only watch second- or third-run movies because of their old equipment and inconvenient movie arranging in the lobby. Just like Ronald on Staten Island, what he saw were last year's movies.
Or a thousand-year-old movie.
This time, Daydream adopted the method of self-distribution and contacted the operators of these old-fashioned theaters. They were very excited to see the new blockbuster produced by Ronald. They all expressed that they would give "Dances with Wolves" the best
Good schedule...actually they don't have any other movies to show.
"That's true, but..." Costner still recognizes the hard work of his colleagues at Ronald Company. However, if a big distributor can take over and release it simultaneously in theaters with advanced equipment... After all, this is
Only in order to be in the news, in the columns of film critics, and in the selection of various awards, right?
"Don't worry, we can also have first-class cinemas on the east and west coasts..." Ronald said, it was the Palm Tree Cinemas opened by the Middle East financiers, plus he has maintained good relations with them for many years.
Chinatown theater chain.
"As for joint distribution, I'm still negotiating. Maybe there will be good news after you finish the test screening."
The audience ratings and opinions after the New York preview screening of "Dances with Wolves" were compiled into tables and documents and sent to Ronald.
Because the producer had some procedural issues and was not sure with the distributor, the factory logo was not marked during the test screening. Or should the seven-star logo of Orion be placed in the title sequence? Is there a new distributor to take over? In addition, the title title should be added.
It's all still undecided.
The length of the entire movie is still a few minutes shorter than the final copy. However, a movie that is close to three hours is still much longer than an ordinary two-hour movie. This is a very uncomfortable length for theaters.
.
Regardless of whether it is a multiplex or an old-fashioned cinema, it can only show four shows a day, instead of six (one hundred and twenty minutes) or more (ninety minutes) for ordinary length films.
Ronald's "The End of the World" and his production "Pretty Woman" still gave major blockbusters a shock this year. One film may be due to luck, but two shows his strength. If there is still... Then
Ronald must have been kissed by the muse.
Therefore, they all took the initiative to contact Ronald to see if they could open hundreds of theaters at the end of the year and do some joint distribution with Daydream. Anyway, during important periods every year, the box office of movies is not as good as expected.
Those movies were greatly compressed and then put on Ronald's "Dances with Wolves", which is also a good remedy.
However, the enthusiasm of the major film producers gave way after seeing the length of the screening. A three-hour blockbuster is a bit too scary. According to research results from the University of Southern California, when emotions are high and hormones are secreted in large quantities,
, an adult male can only hold it in for up to two hours without going to the bathroom.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! A three-hour movie, no matter how good-looking it is, who has such a powerful bladder? As we all know, the audience will interrupt the plot as soon as they go to the bathroom, causing
There is a drama, and according to research, the proportion of viewers who use the restroom to recommend movies to their friends will be much lower.
However, it is not that no one is interested.
There are no more schedules for next year, and Disney, which was directly transferred to Ronald, has shown greater interest in "Dances with Wolves" which will be released in the New Year.
"What's going on? The test screening results of the three Christmas movies this year were all B-?"
Jeffrey Katzenberg was furious in the office. With such results, do you have to bear Eisner's anger? After the success of "Pretty Woman", Eisner has become more and more tough and arbitrary in the company.
On the one hand, the movie box office is good, on the other hand, the screen fund is almost at his disposal...
Peter Weir, who made "Dead Poets Society", paired with Chinese star Depardieu, plus Andie MacDowell, who became famous in "Sex, Lies, Videotape", and also found an expensive actor.
"Green Card", filmed by composer Hans Zimmer, received negative reviews in test screenings. Especially the male protagonist with a big nose was generally given low marks.
This new film from Touchstone Pictures has completely failed to find the taste of American audiences.
There is also "Mr. Destiny" also produced by Touchstone, starring comedy star John Belushi, female Linda Hamilton, supporting actor Michael Caine and others, and the audience score is even worse.
As for the other label supported by Eisner, Hollywood Pictures, its production capabilities are even weaker. They also found John Belushi and invested more in "Little Thief Gaosheng" than Touchstone's work. In the audience's evaluation
The score is the worst, already a C. I don’t know if there are so many fewer stars than “Mr. Destiny”, and there aren’t any exciting scenes. I don’t know where the extra three million spent was spent.
The factions that Eisner intends to support are probably not competing on the quality of the movies, but on their ability to make money, right?
In short, Eisner was safe and no one challenged him. However, when the movie failed at the box office, his KPI was damaged. Seeing that in the entire Christmas season, there was only one movie directed by Emile Adolino, the director brought out by Ronald
The sequel to "Three Dads and a Baby" received an okay audience rating, reaching B.
However, the three male protagonists in the original work all asked for super remuneration. If next year's review shows that the profit situation is not good...
We still have to find Ronald, as he has the background of the movie. Anyway, if it fails, it’s not my responsibility to produce it. If it succeeds, it will be my credit.
"Please pick up Mr. Eisner's assistant for me..." Katzenberg carefully called his immediate boss.