Chapter 418: Special Effects Head Changing Technique
"Dxmn it!"
Ovitz was very angry on the plane back to Los Angeles. The brokerage business had encountered a bottleneck, and he wanted to open up new business lines. Advertising was an attempt he came up with after thinking about it for a long time by combining his own resources.
Now that his first attempt at a big account ended in miserable failure, he took a piece of Ronald's information in his hand, tore it apart and kneaded it, as if he was treating this little screenwriter back then...
"Damn it..." Ovitz gasped. The Aikido breathing techniques taught to him by his former bodyguard, action movie star Steven Seagal, could not calm him down.
"They're all fucking liars..." Ovitz practiced for several minutes, but it was of no use at all. He still felt a tightness in his chest that couldn't be released.
"Put me through Siegel's phone..." Thinking of the movie star who got the Aikido Master's Certificate in Japan, "I heard that your new movie has encountered financing problems? Why not package it to CAA to run the project?
Sample?"
Ronald's company, Daydream Pictures, is currently mass-producing some low- and medium-cost kung fu action movies, starring Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Eric Roberts... It just so happens that this Aikido kung fu requires a small amount of exercise.
, suitable for beginners and looks very powerful. He can knock the opponent down with just a slap of the arm, and he can support himself and compete with Daydream in the ring.
"Yes, Ovitz, sir, my project will be very popular... I have already thought about it. To explain this high-concept movie in one sentence, it is called Die Hard in Battleships!"
Steven Seagal went to the airport to pick up Ovitz, and then resumed his old career as a driver and bodyguard for Ovitz with the honor of "Hollywood second-tier action star and Japanese Shinken Aikido black belt teacher".
"Sounds good. I'll put him on the same schedule as Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme's movie. Can you beat them?"
"It's just a piece of cake. Their karate is all based on fists and kicks. How can Haikido be as powerful as using small moves to make the opponent fall? In a real fight, you must not hurt yourself and let the opponent fail. If you are strong in combat, you can
One against many..."
Ovitz adjusted his glasses. Is this Siegel dizzy? Filming a movie is not a street fight... "The important thing is that the fight looks good..."
"Well, that's why Aikido is better..." Steven Seagal immediately changed the topic, "Although Karate has volley kicks, each move gives people an unreal feeling. The key point of Aikido is to
One enemy has many enemies. The audience must be very happy to see how easily they can defeat a group of bad guys..." The more Siegel said, the more it felt right. If the movie was a hit, there would definitely be a group of teenagers coming to my Innocence Ryu Gym to learn.
, kill two birds with one stone...
"Okay, give me your plan, and I'll help you find Warner Bros., package it and sell it to them for distribution... Your slogan for Die Hard on Battleships is good. You should say the same when you get to Warner Bros. Bring a few apprentices with you
, give them a live demonstration of Aikido..."
…
"Tom, when was the first time you came to my show? In 1984? What was that movie called, Mermaid? The prince and the princess finally left to live in the underwater world. It was an unusual story..."
After the theme music of Other People's Money started, Tom Hanks walked out to the music on David Letterman's show.
"Yeah, it was 1984, the first time I was on your show. That movie was really special, right. But I really don't want to talk about it anymore. At that time, each of us
Ask me how I kiss underwater..."
"But you come less and less. I haven't invited you to my show for a long time..."
"Honestly, I prefer watching my friend Bob Sagat's home videos of American humor..." Tom Hanks showed his true colors as a comedian.
"Ah, hahahaha... But I know that when you filmed The Mermaid, the original heroine was not the later actress, but another actress who later acted in many well-known works..."
"Yes, you are talking about Diane... Diane Lane. I heard that she went to star in another movie at that time, Streets of Rage, a very good movie... They were originally looking for Daryl Han
Na’s…”
"Diane Lane, it seems that you will also collaborate in a movie in the future, Grow Up..."
"Ah, yes, she acted very well and we had a great time working together..."
"So, you have collaborated on another movie recently, and it is a very interesting business war movie... Let's invite Diane Lane..."
"Hi, David, Hi, Tom..." Diane walked out wearing a high-end white-collar suit.
"Diane, the first time you appeared on my show was even earlier. I remember you attended the Oscars party at that time?"
"Yes, I was very young at that time, only sixteen years old. The man who went with me won an award, and his award disappeared overnight hahaha..."
"But I heard that you also met your husband, Ronald Lee, the director of this film, that day?"
"Hey, yes, he also went to the award ceremony at that time. No one happened to know me, and the male best friend was missing. Fortunately, he saved a little girl from being embarrassed."
"But he doesn't have a statuette..."
"No, you are wrong, he also has an award. But it is not the best director but the best original song. He is the lyricist of the famous theme song..."
"Hey, really? Ronald won an Oscar at that time?" Tom Hanks asked next to him.
"Yes, he is so precious. He keeps it at his home in New York..."
…
"David, thank you very much."
Ronald also went to David Letterman's NBC studio, this time to do marketing previews for the movie "Other People's Money." Letterman is indeed the second most-watched talk show host.
Movie marketing helped a lot.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Because his audience, many of whom work in big cities, go home late at night and finish watching his program before going to bed. These audiences, and "other people's money"
Highly coincident.
"Next time you have to do a one-on-one interview. I'm going to launch a successful director series and invite as many directors as possible to come on my show..." David Letterman said to Ronald with a smile.
Speaking of.
"Next time you come, are you going to move up there?" Ronald pointed at the ceiling.
"Who knows?" David Letterman smiled even more when he saw this.
Ronald is saying nice things. Johnny Carson, the host of The Tonight Show who has the highest ratings in the history of America, the longest continuous hosting time, the first advertising price, and 30 million viewers at his peak, was there a month ago.
Announced his retirement next year.
Over the past thirty years, many Americans have grown up watching his show. Being on his show has become the gold standard for judging a star's status.
The clothes he wears and the products he uses have become hot-selling commodities. Many middle-aged American men choose their clothes based on what Johnny Carson wears. You can guarantee that you will not go wrong when attending social events, and you will also
Being praised for your dress sense.
NBC has not yet decided on the candidate to succeed Johnny Carson, but both within the network and the audience, most are optimistic about David Letterman.
Not only because David Letterman once worked as an apprentice for Johnny Carson, but also because Letterman's Late Show happened to follow Carson's Today Show. Letterman's ratings were half of Carson's.
about.
This is a great achievement, because the evening show is too late and many viewers are asleep. It would be great to have half of the audience.
Even Johnny Carson himself, when asked who he wanted to be his successor, revealed that his preference was David Letterman.
"Hahaha, then it's settled..." David Letterman obviously likes this kind of blessing. When it comes to the new program, there must be some adjustments. The Tonight Show is more focused on public taste and is more unscrupulous than the Late Show.
Adult jokes should be smaller in scale.
He is now planning to take over the Tonight Show and start by inviting some more mainstream and mature guests.
…
"This is very interesting and well done."
In the next few days, Ronald made a special trip to the crew of "Reinventing the Soldier", a collaboration between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren, to check on the preparations for the special effects.
The protagonist of this movie is the Re-Soldier, a war tool synthesized by machines and humans. This is similar to the Terminator robot in the "Terminator 2" movie.
The Terminator series has greatly improved the quality of this type of science fiction film. After viewers have seen a film of that level, and then see Roger Corman-style special effects, they will feel that it is too fake.
Therefore, Ronald discussed with Roger Corman and increased investment in special effects. He also upgraded some equipment for them. In fact, Corman does not necessarily have to make a movie with less than 2 million, there are good things.
He will still appreciate it.
After several months of preparation, coupled with the special effects makeup team and the cooperation with Ronald's special effects company, the effect makeup of the leading actors looked very satisfactory.
Each reconstructed warrior has one eye equipped with a synthetic mechanical eye - a retractable device similar to a gun sight.
The job of special effects makeup is to make Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme look cool and stylish after wearing this thing.
The computer special effects company needs to produce some images from the perspective of the protagonist's supervisor. An artificial intelligence auxiliary device that matches the image seen by the mechanical eye and can perform real-time analysis and display various data and vital signs of the target.
The special effects team made a lot of reference to Schwarzenegger's subjective perspective shooting method in "Terminator 2", and then changed the red color in it to a yellow-green color that is more suitable for the desert terrain.
After Ronald watched it, he looked at Coleman, and the two of them nodded at the same time, saying that this shot can score 100 points. It's not that theirs has surpassed "Terminator 2", but that they don't need it.
At 5% of the price, similar results are achieved, and the price/performance ratio is the best in the United States!
"You are going to Arizona for filming next. I have already coordinated with the Hoover Dam Management Office and tried my best to do it as well as possible. Your supplies have been shipped there in advance. There is no shortage of anything, including mobile toilets..."
Ronald talked to director Roland Emmerich about things to pay attention to. It was his first time to film in Hollywood, and many of his shooting habits had not yet been changed. In addition, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren also had to change their filming habits.
The stars are big and small, and getting along with them requires some adaptation for a German director who is filming here for the first time.
It was his first time to film in Hollywood, and it was his first time to direct and become a famous star. Ronald was afraid of problems, but looking at Emmerich's fluent English, Ronald felt that the problem was not big, especially since he regarded himself very well.
Rachel Talalay, a capable producer, was sent over, and her toughness could handle all the stars.
The dissatisfaction between the two leading actors that arose at the project establishment ceremony has attracted a lot of media attention. This time the movie was shot in the deserts of Arizona and Nevada. Ronald was afraid that reporters would not go, so he arranged for someone to call them to break the news.
, and then invite interviews through formal channels.
True or false, the stage has been set up anyway. The two leading actors, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren, have already rehearsed a lot of scenes, and are just waiting for the reporters to come and a small conflict will break out...
"Isn't Mr. Casal coming?" The crew arranged for everyone to take a group photo, and someone asked where Mario Casal of Carloco Films, who was also an investor, was.
"He is now very proud and is touring the country, accompanying the main creators on road shows and accepting interviews from media from all over the world."
Ronald smiled and shook his head. The box office of "Terminator 2" was very good at the beginning. But after all, it is an R-rated film, so the weekly decline is still higher than that of ordinary PG-13 or PG-rated films.
Movies are coming in a big way. The weekly box office decline of about 25% is relatively stable, which is inseparable from the hard work of several stars on their road shows.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! But after all, the box office base is huge. In the second week of release, the box office had exceeded 100 million, which also made Mario Casal very happy. His
The huge debt was completely saved through this movie, and it is impossible to go bankrupt again.
It's a pity that the private jet he booked has been transferred to Ronald, which made him speak loudly and feel a little uncomfortable when he faced the top executives of the Seven Big Companies in Hollywood.
"I heard that Warner has recently approved an action film project, which coincides with our schedule..." After Roger Corman took the photo, he quietly discussed a few words with Ronald in the corner.
"Competition is a good thing, because it shows that this market segment is very promising... I have observed that in video rental stores, the biggest divisions are action and horror. When two movies compete, they will cover similar categories.
The popularity of the movie..."
"This is a good angle. The current video tape market is really hot..."
…
"This is still a bit uncoordinated, very uncoordinated."
Back at the special effects company, Ronald, Van Fleet and others had another meeting to watch the production progress of the new Coca-Cola commercial.
After the polar bear commercial aired, it received very good reviews. Coca-Cola immediately added some additional versions. The first one was to have the polar bear drink Coke with Santa Claus to prepare for the Christmas promotion at the end of the year.
At the same time, it is impossible for Ronald to completely eliminate celebrity endorsements. There are still many celebrity agents in CAA, hoping to get a piece of the pie.
In order to unite the majority, Ronald asked Maguire to distribute some suitable advertising endorsements through Niceta to young agents in CAA who had consensus.
However, it was not enough to win over young people. Ronald also privately approached the other remaining founder of CAA, Ron Meyer. He had agency contracts for a large number of veteran stars, including some who had passed away.
Film and television rights of celebrities.
Ron Meyer accepted the olive branch handed over by Ronald. He was also deeply worried about Ovitz's growing monotonous style at CAA. Soon, an advertising idea was proposed, and Meyer's British
The famous singer and Ronald's old friend Elton John was also invited to shoot this special advertisement.
This is an advertisement that interweaves reality and history. Elton John will play a singer who sings in a bar. The two classic movies in history with bars as the main scenes are "Casablanca" and "Love".
Me or Leave Me)”.
Ronald wanted the two films' late leading actors, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, to reappear in the film.
However, judging from the few seconds that Van Fleet has taken out to test the special effects, it can still be seen at a glance that it is fake.
We found actors similar in stature to the two late actors, and replaced their heads with classic scenes from historical films. The actors' heads and the surrounding environment can be seen to be obviously out of place.
"The current technical capabilities can only do this..."
"Okay, you don't need to be too particular about the commercial, let's just do it like this." Ronald thought, it was just a one-minute commercial anyway, and the dissonance of more than ten seconds was diluted by the audience's joy at seeing the historical superstar reappear.
Already.
"The authorization of Ingrid Bergman and Doris Day must also be stepped up. If necessary, I can call Bergman's family."