Chapter 537 Computer special effects B-level movie
"Have we reached an agreement? That's great. You have made great contributions to our Hollywood. Okay, I already have some potential projects here. After you come back, you can sort out the past movies and find the right one for us.
Just buy the distribution rights of Huaguo and send them over there for review..."
The day after the Oscars, Michelle Cannold made an international long-distance call from China. The communication quality of the phone was a bit poor and the price was a bit expensive, but it couldn't stop Ronald and his two eager hearts.
.
Although compared with the early 1980s when Hollywood movies were first discussed for distribution in China, the movie box office market there has dropped a lot. The cinemas in big cities also have outdated facilities and are in urgent need of updating.
But the Chinese market has several super advantages that all other international markets do not have. A thoughtful person like Ronald is really salivating when he sees this big cake that is about to be baked.
Michel Cannold didn't believe it at first, but during the negotiation process, he gradually discovered that the people there have a very different characteristic from the bureaucrats in other third world countries in the world, that is, they are more pragmatic.
One of the biggest advantages is that in such a big country and such a big film market, there is only one company talking about importing films. In other words, as long as they give the nod, your film can appear on screens across the country.
Another good thing is that they can allow the release of original movies, and there are also two large translation studios in the north and the south, which can provide translated versions of movies. Subtitles and dubbing versions can satisfy those who have language skills and want to
Look at the needs of the two major audiences for dubbing in the country.
Don't underestimate these two advantages. No matter where else in the world, there is no such convenience.
For example, in Europe, there are several film distribution circles divided by language. London is the distribution center for English films, which can radiate to Ireland and some English-speaking African countries. The Cannes Film Festival is the distribution center for French films. In addition to France,
A large number of French-speaking African countries accept and distribute films produced there.
The Venice Film Festival is the distribution center for Italian, and many places in Southern Europe, including the former Yugoslavia, Spain and Portugal, as well as some Italian-inhabited areas in Latin America, buy films from there.
The Berlin Film Festival is the distribution center for German-language films. Eastern Europe and some markets that were originally in the other camp are all within its scope.
The total number of these market circles is only equivalent to one market in China in terms of population. In other words, their potential is unlimited.
In such a large market, there is only one distribution company that is connected to it. With the account sharing agreement, all they have to do is wait to collect the money. Because according to their own company's interests, they will also supervise the box office and urge payment collection.
Although the agreed-upon share ratio is not high, only 13 to 15 percent, correspondingly, you don't need to bother with any supervision and distribution marketing. As long as it passes the review and is released, you can just count the money.
Even if the current proportion and box office share are still small compared to the three major European language film circles, looking at the potential of population and economic development, it is very necessary to invest in good relations now. After all, their head office will not
Changes, more than ten years later when the box office is released, whoever helps them now will be rewarded as friends in the future.
Judging from the filming process of The Adventures of Panda, as long as they pay attention to it, the efficiency of doing business will be much higher than that of Hollywood. This time the import is operated by a head office, not a single leader, so long-term returns are guaranteed.
, Ronald decided to support him well...
…
"Paul, how did Oscar feel? Was the party wonderful?"
In the afternoon, Paul W.S. Anderson, the director from Britain, was called home by Ronald for a chat. He got the Oscar tickets from Ronald and went to the scene. Fortunately, this year’s awards were held on
The new venue has a surplus of tickets.
"It feels very good. Many British practitioners have won awards, but I am not very familiar with them, and I did not go to their parties afterwards."
Paul W.S. Anderson smiled. Before he made this debut film, he wrote scripts for ITV. He is not in the same circle as those British filmmakers who are based on the theater stage.
Ronald also laughed, including the award-winning Emma Thompson and the two winners of the Best Screenplay Award, all of whom are in the traditional London theater circle. Many of them graduated from Oxford and Cambridge and have been playing Shakespeare and Jane Austen since they were young.
, traditional British classic plays such as Dickens.
Hollywood, on the other hand, grew up from the grassroots. The selection of actors does not depend on the depth of understanding of Shakespeare's plays, but on whether you are photogenic. The film philosophies of the two sides are fundamentally different.
Paul W.S. Anderson obviously followed the Hollywood commercial route. The actors in his debut film all looked very distinctive, especially the young male protagonist, who was very handsome, including the young Michael.
·Kane’s style.
"I have a lot of action movie scripts here, such as the sequel to Black Belt Elite, and a script about bombs on public transportation. If you are interested, please give me a shooting plan. My daydreams are very exciting.
Working with a director as talented as you."
Ronald understood Paul W.S. Anderson's thoughts and extended an olive branch. Many of his films here are waiting for directors who are capable of shooting action movies and do not dislike this B-level commercial film shooting method to join.
"I'd love to, but after watching some of the production process of Mr. Spielberg's "Big Dinosaur" and chatting with Mr. Cameron about his new movie, I still want to shoot a movie that combines computer special effects.
Compared with traditional action movies, I think the visual expression will be very problematic compared to this kind of movie."
Ronald raised his eyebrows, but he didn't expect that Paul W.S. Anderson's views were similar to his own. The special effects pictures involving computers are visual spectacles that the audience has never seen before. When this kind of thing comes out, it will definitely
There will be a period of time when dimensionality reduction will hit traditional movies.
Who would have thought that scenes in science fiction novels could be so realistically presented on the screen? Original movies adapted from science fiction novels, such as "Dune" directed by David Lynch, were very boring and could only use actors.
Actions to simulate science fiction scenes, plus some cheap piu piu piu lasers.
As for Dinosaur and the movie prepared by Cameron, the final effect of the special effects is such that the human eye of the audience cannot tell which are special effects and which are real shots. In just ten years, the visual presentation of Hollywood movies
, it’s like a technological update that took a century.
But there is also a problem with movies like this, that is, they are very expensive.
Cameron's first special effects-heavy movie "Terminator 2" has already exceeded US$100 million. However, it included sky-high salaries for Schwarzenegger and others.
Spielberg's film also has a production cost of close to 80 million. If you add in Industrial Light and Magic and the special effects team that Ronald participated in, if it is converted into market price and the stars' remuneration is excluded, it will cost
The money spent on special effects is higher than in Terminator 2.
Ronald himself has never made a movie like this, so how can he trust a director from Britain to make it?
"It's good that you have such ambitions, but today's special effects movies are still very expensive..." Ronald said that if you want to use that trick, you have to practice, and if you have the results, I will shoot you an expensive movie.
"Of course, I don't have such ambitions to shoot such an expensive movie in Hollywood. But with the budget of a B-movie, you can also make a good special effects movie. I was in 'Shopping', actually.
Some special effects are also used. B-level movies can also use cheap special effects to achieve a spectacle that the audience has never seen..."
With that said, Paul W.S. Anderson talked about his thoughts. After watching the big productions of big directors, he has been thinking about how he can shoot such cutting-edge technology-involved movies with a small amount of money.
.
This period of time was an eye-opener for him, and if he were asked to go back and shoot action movies like smashing glass and car chases, it would really make people uninterested.
Ronald was silent. This was a risk. He would not invest so much money in such a big gamble for a new director.
But if you don't invest in letting him make a film in Daydream, you are likely to lose this promising director. After all, there are not many directors who can, are willing to, and like to make commercial films now. And most of them want to go after they become famous.
Prove yourself by making artistic films.
As he thought about it, Ronald's brows relaxed, and he remembered a movie that was just right for Paul W.S. Anderson.
"I didn't expect you to like this kind of cutting-edge special effects technology. I have contacted many directors, but they are unwilling to update their knowledge and take safety measures. You gave me a big surprise. I have a movie that suits you right here.
…”
Ronald turned back to the study, rummaged through the safe, took out a script, and handed it to Paul W. S. Anderson.
"If you are willing, you can sign an agreement with us, so that you can write a shooting plan for this movie. After I get the plan, if you have proven yourself technically and in shooting technology, the special effects technology still needs to go through
After our evaluation, we can go to investors for road shows and then raise funds for filming.”
"I'm very happy. What kind of movie is this? Does it have a lot of special effects?"
Paul W.S. Anderson felt that after meeting Bole, the producer who could give him such an opportunity must have vision and ability. Unless he had reached a certain artistic and technical level, how could he find himself in a commercial film?
What about geniuses?
"This is a movie adapted from a game. You may have seen Street Fighter produced by our company. This movie is also a group fighting movie, but it has more special effects background than that movie, because it is a magical story.
…”
What Ronald wanted to give to Paul W.S. Anderson was the movie adaptation of "Mortal Kombat" produced by Midway Games.
Because Midway Games wanted to put Ronald in the role of Street Fighter and create a movie to drive sales of the game. So they also told Daydream Pictures about the plot content of the second part of the game.
The plot is that the earth is protected by a mythical figure, Thunderbolt. The emperor of another world, through an evil agent, Shang Tsung, wants to invade the earth.
Both sides have always used a few martial artists from each side to hold a martial arts competition to determine the winner. If Raiden wins, he can protect the earth from being invaded by evil forces. If Shang Tsung wins, he can absorb and imprison the souls of the martial artists.
Turn the earth, like other worlds they invaded, into a place of slavery.
On the Earth side, Liu Kang, the descendant of the Shaolin Temple, Johnny Cage, an action star with real kung fu, Sonia, a special forces soldier, and others are fighting. On the other hand, there are very strange creatures on the villain side, such as the wedge that can breathe fire.
, Absolute Zero that breathes ice air, two ninja-looking warriors, reptiles that turn out to be lizard-like creatures when humans fight, and Goro, a powerful evil warrior with three heads and six arms.
Judging from this plot, decent warriors only need to cooperate with traditional martial arts guidance, while villains, such as fire, ice, lizards, and three heads and six arms, must be presented through computer special effects.
The good thing about this movie is that it doesn’t need too many special effects, and there are many characters, which thinly divide the plot of each person. In this way, even if there is one person’s fighting action, or the special effects are not so satisfactory, as long as the overall plot is compact
, the audience can quickly forget those unpleasant things and immerse themselves in the plot again.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Speaking of which, this kind of movie is indeed one of the best choices for a novice director to try out computer special effects movies.
After securing Paul W.S. Anderson's contract, Ronald officially asked him to start preliminary research and preparations for this "Mortal Kombat". In addition to this young and promising director, this movie is also like "Street"
"Overlord" can recruit a group of young actors, and it is possible to shoot a sequel. It is a perfect project for a small production company like Daydream.
…
"Ronald, the movie has been cut. Orson Welles is such a genius..."
Just after finishing this work, Walter Murch's call came. He had completed Orson Welles's 58 editing comments and re-edited the film using the film footage discovered by Universal.
"Okay, I'll send someone to pick you up. I can't wait to see Orson's true level..."
Since Ronald accepted the commission from Orson Welles, he has had several opportunities to watch the black-and-white film of "The Last Day" on TV. In his opinion, the film is not very good.
There is a big gap in quality between the creation of "Psycho" and the black-and-white film "Psycho" shot by Hitchcock a year later with a similar theme and using the same heroine.
But Walter Murch praised it so much, saying that it was cut according to Orson Welles' original intention, and it was better than "Psycho" and more advanced than the times.
Ronald's curiosity also aroused, and he immediately sent someone to bring Walter Murch and the edited work copy to Los Angeles.
When it was shown at Ronald's house, it happened to be in the afternoon. Ronald and Murch were the only two people watching the movie silently.
The movie has indeed been greatly improved, especially the elimination of the opening subtitles and soundtrack, which allows the audience to be immediately drawn into the suspense of a time bomb that is about to explode. After the explosion, they begin to worry about whether the actor can find out the truth.
To be fair, this kind of beginning is much more attractive than the beginning of the heroine's nervous driving in Hitchcock's "Psycho". After all, there are explosion scenes and the spectacle of long shots, which is much more attractive than what Hitchcock used.
Close-ups and actors' performances create much stronger suspense.
It's just a pity that the director of Universal at the time was ignorant of the goods and wasted an epoch-making film that can go down in film history.
The projectionist soon put on the last reel. The badass policeman Quinlan played by Orson Welles himself, the conscientious detective Menzies, and the actor Vargas arrived at a ground covered with oil derricks.
Start looking for each other.
Menzies was carrying a wireless microphone, and Vargas was holding a tape recorder to receive the recorded content, but Quinlan did not know all this...
"Oh, shxt!" Ronald saw three people chasing each other to the bottom of a bridge. In the dry bridge hole, the voice carried the echo of the bridge hole.
"I told you, Orson Welles was thirty years ahead of everyone else."
"How did this bastard come up with this idea?" Ronald's mouth opened in surprise. Finally, because Quinlan heard the faint echo of his own voice in Menzies' voice, he understood that Menzies had used a tape recorder.
Trying to get yourself to confess.
In this scene, the three characters did not say any dialogue about the recording conspiracy, but the audience, like the protagonist Quinlan, understood from the changes in sound effects that they were recording. The decryption of the final climax actually relied on sound processing.
Rather than any performances and lines.
It can be said that no one in Hollywood today has this kind of ingenuity, which is so seamless that the audience fully understands it without feeling artificial.
"I have to send out invitations to all the actors who participated in the show to see what kind of masterpiece it would be if Orson Welles's opinion was used to edit it..."