Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1214 The reason for the box-office miracle of the unresolved love between man and ghost
The box-office performance of "The Last Day" continues to be strong.The box office drop in the fifth week was only about 10%.Moreover, something unexpected happened at the box office.Except for the box office in big cities, which has always been strong, the box office in many regions in the Midwest and Deep South has increased rapidly, which has abruptly slowed down the decline in box office.

People within Hollywood began to circulate a theory that was said to have leaked from within Warner Bros.

As Warner Bros. has always paid great attention to investment returns, they hired some management consulting companies to analyze the impact of important genres, directors, stars, etc. on the box office.

This year they concluded that romantic movies are returning and the influence of female stars on the box office is rising rapidly. The male stars of "Beautiful Woman" and "The Ghost Story" did not score high in the popularity Q analysis, and their story and directing abilities did not receive high scores in the internal evaluation.

So after eliminating all possible options, the "reasonable" conclusion is that romantic comedies have returned to the mainstream market again after many years and have won the love of the audience.Female celebrities have gradually returned to the central position of attracting audiences and are no longer the foils of male celebrities.

The most important evidence for this analysis is Cinema Scores’ cinema export market survey.When asked what was the biggest reason to watch these two movies, most viewers chose actresses Julia Roberts and Demi Moore.

In Ronald's hand was the detailed report made by Cinema Scores for "The Love of Ghosts".

After its fifth week of release, the movie has already grossed nearly 9000 million at the box office.To be honest, not only others couldn't understand it, but Ronald himself couldn't understand it either.

In Hollywood movies, only in the original era of silent films and black-and-white films, female stars were the biggest draw at the box office.Female stars like Greta Garbo are famous because she is one of the few women whose box office appeal is comparable to that of future male stars.

At that time, Garbo's first talkie had the slogan "Garbo Speaks."Later, the romance film "Ninotchka" in which she starred also used the slogan "Garbo smiles (Garbo has always been a cold beauty before)" as the promotion slogan, suppressing all the male actors who starred with her at that time.

However, since genre films matured in the late 30s, male stars have gradually replaced female stars in box office appeal.Beginning with Clark Gable, the names of male stars gradually moved to the front row of movie posters, and later even the font size was larger than that of female stars.

The audience is no longer satisfied with seeing close-ups of beauties and feel happy. They demand more twists and turns of the plot and exciting pictures to gain pleasure.The screen has also begun to increasingly feature fists, bullets, and pillows, allowing men to become the protagonists of the highest-grossing genre films.

Is it now another turning point in history?Female stars are starting to gain a large number of fans again.The new genre films led by Ronald and Cameron (such as highlighting female characters in business wars and action genres) have given female stars more important positions.

"This report is very reasonable..." Diane also took the consulting report and was very excited. It praised Ronald a lot for his role in the creation and development of new women's films.

"I don't know, I didn't think that way when I was making those movies." Ronald took a sip of coffee, this time replacing it with Japanese coffee.Japanese products are made very carefully. Not only are the coffee beans carefully selected, but they are also equipped with a variety of special coffee pots and other supplies. The detailed brewing process is illustrated, so that any ordinary housewife can make delicious coffee according to the diagram. coffee.

Although there were still flaws, Ronald was able to drink it. "Richard, try this coffee too..."

This consulting report analyzed various factors in great detail, and the answer that really interested Ronald was the second-ranked answer - "Special Effects."

Many viewers also filled in the supplementary plot underlined at the end.Many people said that the special effects in the movie made them feel good, and it was more touching than many movies that deliberately use special effects as their selling point.

Especially in the end, the evil spirits dragged Carl, played by Tony Goldwyn, into hell by the god of death holding a scythe, and Sam, played by Patrick Schwytz, finally ascended to heaven in the milky white holy light descending from heaven.

For most American viewers, there is content about heaven and hell in their family education.Many people were scared by their parents when they were young that if they did bad things they would go to hell.

The sections about heaven and hell in "The Love Between Ghosts and Ghosts" brought many viewers' childhood memories out of forgotten corners, so many people mentioned these two sections in particular.

"Hey, it's these two special effects that touch people the most. I didn't expect it." Ronald felt that this was the most enlightening thing in this consultation report. The three special effects teams of "The Ghost Story" spent the most energy and time not on these two plots, but on the one where Sam's soul left the body and came back to see his body lying in Molly's arms. lens.

Because there were two Sams, it took a lot of time to align the two shots. Because the early shooting was not done well, it had to be re-shot.

In fact, after evaluation by the three special effects directors, the two sections of going to hell and going to heaven were not very suitable for the current computer-generated special effects. In the end, they found an animator and used traditional painting techniques to draw the God of Death with black smoke and That milky white holy light.

If we say that Industrial Light & Magic's models and computer special effects are both high-tech. The two special effects that moved the audience the most in "The Love of Ghosts" are truly "low-tech".

"I called three special effects directors. It would be a pity for such a team to be disbanded."

……

Richard Edlund, Katherine Keane, and John Van Fleet, the three directors who jointly completed the special effects work for "The Ghost Story", were invited to Ronald's home.

The three of them hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they exchanged greetings for a while.Richard Edlund is good at light effects, Katherine Keane is good at keying and alignment, and John Van Fleet is good at making objects or human bodies move.

After "The End of the World" ended, they all began to take on work in other films.But no movie is as satisfying as "The Love between Humans and Ghosts".

First, Ronald trusted them and fully authorized them. He discussed the technical route and nodes in detail beforehand. Later, he also understood that they could not complete some shots due to technical difficulties and would rather reshoot the scenes to match the special effects.

Second, a movie like this requires close cooperation from all three parties.The small businesses that follow are just a link on the assembly line.Compared to being a nominal special effects director and producing a final scene that moved the audience, the sense of accomplishment brought by "Unresolved Love between Humans and Ghosts" is much greater.

"Everyone, I bring good news..."

Ronald walked into the study, saw three special effects directors, rubbed his hands and sat down.

The three of them looked at each other. Could it be that Ronald had a new project for them to participate in?I was very happy to do this. Ronald paid generously and the transfer time was within one day. He was a very good boss.

"Does Mr. Li have any new projects that require our services?" Among the three, Van Fleet has the closest relationship with Ronald. He spoke on behalf of the other two.

"Haha, there are no projects for the time being. I invite you here for a fee." Ronald took out three checks and handed them to the three of them respectively.

"This?"

The three directors took the check and looked at the numbers on it. They all suspected that they had made a mistake and quickly counted them secretly. There were indeed five zeros after the single digit.The special effects industry is not about star actors, so there is no such thing as dividends afterwards?
Everyone pays one hand and delivers the goods, raising the asking price, and relying on the special effects blockbusters they participated in to obtain high box office.The biggest help that Ronald's "The Love between Humans and Ghosts" gave them was the signature in the subtitles after the end.

"Isn't this against the rules?" Van Fleet was an honest man and didn't know how to express his gratitude.

"What he means is, Ronald, you are really an outstanding producer and director in the industry. In this industry for so long, this is the first time we have seen someone who can so recognize the value of special effects..." Katherine Keane quickly kicked out Van Fleet... "Well, thank you, boss. But do you have any other considerations for inviting us to come together this time?" Richard Edlund has been in the industry for the longest time, and he understands that if it is just a bonus, We won't call all three of them here.

"Haha, you are right." Ronald nodded to him. "First of all, I am a person who recognizes the value of special effects. There is a problem with the current Hollywood system. Originally, when a movie is a hit, the people who have made important contributions should be given monetary recognition, instead of asking them to ask for the next movie. Pay a lot of money and ruin that movie.”

Ronald explained his reasons. It takes three years for a star to win an Oscar. This is largely because the asking price has increased, and only those bad films that cost a lot of money to hire a star but are poor in other aspects are screened out.

The same is true for special effects companies. Except for Industrial Light and Magic founded by George Lucas, other successful special effects teams can easily go bankrupt immediately.It's because after a hit movie with special effects, I was immediately asked to copy these things on a bad movie at a high price.If this goes back and forth, the films that use a lot of special effects will be bad, and the box office will not be good, and the value of special effects will not be widely recognized by the industry.

Therefore, Ronald felt that the special effects team should be given due recognition since it was a hit at the box office.Don't let them accept a lot of bad movies just to update equipment and retain talents.

Everyone nodded loudly. This director knew the pain of the special effects company all too well.

"Secondly, do you think the special effects in a movie like The End of the World are very fulfilling?" Ronald continued to promote his idea.

All three of them nodded. Ronald is really one of the few directors in Hollywood who knows how to produce special effects.

"So, I plan to retain this team for a long time and provide overall special effects solutions for more movies."

"Huh?" The three of them raised their eyebrows when they heard this.Van Fleet is willing, as long as he has a movie project to work on, everything else doesn't matter.Catherine is a little worried. She mainly does detailed film restoration work. How much of the film's special effects do she need?Is the business volume enough?Edlund wanted to hear Ronald's proposal. Many successful directors had the idea of ​​forming their own special effects company, but only Industrial Light and Magic was successful.

"That's what I planned..."

Ronald expressed his thoughts. He did not want to acquire three companies. The daydream special effects business could not support a large company.His idea was to invest in three companies. Daydream and his friends were going to make some low- and medium-cost productions. This special effects company could provide high-quality and low-priced special effects services to fill the daily business.

When there is a large-scale production that requires a lot of special effects work, let the three companies give priority to the best special effects engineers to join the large-scale production.

With this flexibility, the three companies can be divided or combined, just like a group of sparrows. They usually look for food separately, but when there is a big project, they can join together to fight together.

This relieved the concerns of the three special effects directors, and after discussing with their partners, the three agreed to Ronald's request to become a shareholder.Engineers from the three companies formed a "Ronald Team", and their first collaborative project was to synthesize some air combat footage of armed helicopters for the "Firebird".

……

In its sixth week, "The Love Between Ghosts" has narrowed its box office decline to less than 10%.Even more exciting is that the domestic box office exceeded $[-] million.

Paramount was very excited about this new record, and the celebration party was very grand.There, Ronald received numerous offers from actresses.

In the consulting report that circulated, the reason ranked third was that "super directors" like Ronald were the reason.This is the X factor of Hollywood movies.No matter how you arrange and combine other factors, there is a kind of director who can break the inherent formula, use actors that others don't want to use in genres that others don't think of, and create a new box office formula abruptly.

Who wouldn’t want to have a relationship with such a director?
Of course, not everyone has the chance to strike up a conversation.Ronald was surrounded by a few sexy female celebrities he knew, such as Kim Basinger, Annette Bening... These Bitches relied on their acquaintance with Ronald, and no matter what he said, they would immediately respond and forcefully I didn't give anyone else a chance to chime in.

"I have to leave first. I'm sorry, I miss my son..." Ronald was surrounded by a group of beautiful women with different characteristics. It felt very good, but this kind of celebration party was crowded with people and he couldn't be too exposed. many.

"My child, it is a good quality to love your family..."

The speaker was Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest.The suburb where he lives is the poorest and least secure in Los Angeles. He has done a lot of charity for young men and women there. He is also a frequent guest at major Hollywood charity galas and often goes to beg for alms.

"Ah, thank you, Father Boyle. I have a donation for your project." Ronald took out his checkbook.

"No, my child, your movie has helped us a lot." Father Boyle stopped with a smile. This was not a charity party.

"Really? I'm very happy." Ronald noted that he wanted to donate money to such a real good person. He thought the priest was speaking politely.

"What I said is true. Your movie is a good way to bring those young men and women closer to God. More young people come to my weekly sermons, and they have become more pious."

……

"Why did Father Boyle say that unrequited love between ghosts and ghosts makes people more religious? Is it because the special effects of heaven and hell are so good?"

Ronald returned home and wrote a check to the priest while chatting with Diane.

"Look, I saw the Christian Science Monitor today, and there was your movie review on it."

"Do newspapers like this also have film reviews?" Ronald smiled and took the newspaper. The more he read, the happier he became. It seemed that the church really liked his movies.

The above is an evangelical priest's interpretation of "The Love between Man and Ghost". First, he gently let go of the inconsistencies between the movie and the Bible. "Compared to the orthodox understanding of what happens to the soul after it leaves the body, there are some elements in the movie that are accurate and there are some that are wrong. Those elements in themselves don't pose a big problem for a believer. The problem lies in the overall slant of the movie. "

Then he started bragging about the movie’s accurate interpretation of the spirit of the Bible.

For example: There are good guys and bad guys in movies.When bad guys die, like murderers and embezzlers, their souls come out of their bodies, and within seconds, terrifying black angels emerge from the ground, growling and roaring, making the poor guy scream. Take him to hell.In fact, this is an accurate and entirely orthodox view.There are dozens of accounts supporting this idea in the stories of the Desert Fathers and the lives of various saints.

For another example, he commented that the representation of the Holy Light and heaven in the movie was very accurate and very consistent with the Bible.Any devout Christian would feel happy for such a picture.

His biggest criticism of the movie was that Sam and Molly didn't get married.The fact that the couple is happily married only strengthens the bond of love between the two, making the film's emotional power all the more powerful.

"Hahaha, no wonder the box office in the South is rising rapidly this week. I wonder why. I don't understand why small towns in the South suddenly like New York love stories."

(End of this chapter)