Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 396 Trailer

Two weeks after editing began, Ronald had the film cut and ready to hand over to the sound designer for the score and foley.But today he is still busy in the editing room.

"Crack, click."

Insufficient manpower, Ronald also personally used the machine glued film modified by Walter Mercy, put the film on both sides of the clip on a metal plate, and then aligned it left and right, and pressed it in reverse, the film was very beautiful. It's done.

The editor that Atlantic Company hired for Ronald was called Fred Stafford. Like Walter Murch, he was also a master of film editing and sound editing, which saved money.

"This is the opening title sent by the Amex company of the ADO special effects machine. Take a look." Fred put on the opening title with special effects. Long's shot of the return of the comet closes up.

"That's right, how much did you spend to make it?" Fred is an old hand, seeing the title, he knew that it took a lot of labor and machines to make it.

"It's free. I thanked them at the end of the credits. Amex wants to enter the film market. I used their machines to do the special effects in the first MV. It will be broadcast on MTV in two months."

"Yes, yes. I find you always have something new, including this new type of editing tape, which is also very good." Fred was full of praise for Ronald's new toy.

"It's a pity that their new software has not been written yet. The current software has no way to calculate the Z-axis image effect other than the XY axis. The title of the film is a bit like a piece of paper without thickness. They said that next year, the upgraded software will have three-dimensional fonts. The effect is..."

The song "Girls just want to have some fun" came to mind, and a dance scene appeared on the monitor, and the two beauties kept changing fashions, admiring for themselves.

"I think the title of this song can be used as the title of a movie." Fred joked with Ronald while editing.

"Portrait Records only authorized us to use the episode, not the name. Now many movies follow the example of 'Saturday Night Fever' and directly use the name of the hit song as the movie name. So the record company has to charge extra."

Ronald explained why.In addition to not wanting to spend money, Ronald also felt that this song could not fully explain the elements of the movie, and it was not as easy to understand as Night of the Comet.And I don't have the confidence that this song will become popular, and by the way, it will bring up the popularity of the movie.

"How about this shot?" Fred found another piece of film and loaded it up for Ronald to see.

When the comet died, the crowd standing outside watching the comet had bursts of bright light flashing across their faces, and then the stepmothers of the two heroines watched in surprise as their arms began to rot.

"Tsk, this brightness is still not good enough, it makes it a bit like a camera flash, or a high-power fluorescent lamp indoors, without the realistic feeling of lightning." Ronald said.

"I think it's okay. Lightning is always shot like this. It's impossible for you to make it brighter."

"No way, this is the effect I made by asking an electrician to short-circuit the circuit. If a particularly high-power light is switched on and off so quickly, it will explode."

"These two zombies are not bad, they gave the heroine Samantha a big fright." Ronald said as he watched the scene where the two real police cameo zombies were about to get into the car and attack Samantha.

"Or just cut the frame after she yells, so the audience can't tell it's a dream."

The zombies played by the two police officers were also cut into this scene.

Atlantic, unlike the Big Seven or New World under Roger Corman, does not have a dedicated department for editing trailers.Ronald had to do it himself, and edited a 1-minute trailer with editor Fred.

Because only one copy was developed to save money, Ronald could not disassemble the edited film that had already been cut. The trailer used the film material that was discarded in the previous film editing.

"You're done." Ronald selected the last piece of material, that is, the two sisters and Hector, together with several children who escaped from the base, finally met the survivor with the initials DMK.

"One?" Fred shook him a Marlboro, and the two of them gasped as they rested outside the editing room.

"Speaking of which, you still do more sound design?" Ronald asked editor Fred.

"Yes, I actually want to shoulder it like your friend Walter Murch, but many times the big studios don't want to. I don't have his Oscar."

"Hey, that's right." Ronald took a puff of cigarettes. Except for writing scripts and editing movies, he basically didn't touch cigarettes, but when doing these two extremely mentally consuming things, cigarettes, coffee, red wine It means that those who come will not be rejected.

"Which movie did you do sound editing for before?"

"First Blood," Fred exhaled a smoke ring, "and your friend Tom Cruise's good boy is also crazy."

"Well, Stallone's movies. What kind of a guy is he?" Ronald asked.

"What else? A star, he has privileges, ordinary actors are not allowed to enter the editing room, to prevent them from competing for their exposure time. But Stallone can come in, and interfere with many editing decisions. Anyway, Hollywood knows his style, I am not afraid to speak ill of him."

"So what do you think of Cruise? Will he be a star?"

"I don't know that, but he does have the face of a star, and every girl in America would want to date him."

The two finished their cigarettes, went back to the editing room, and watched the trailer again.

The red filter created an apocalyptic atmosphere. Ronald picked up his own voice-over and began to read, "Have you ever thought about what would happen if you became the last living person on earth?"

The two sisters accepted the fact that all their relatives were dead, and began to ride alone on the street.

"What do you think, what do you do? Where will you go?" Ronald continued.

The soundtrack and the atmosphere suddenly changed and became more cheerful, and the two sisters began to show free costumes in the mall.

"This city is ours!" cried the two sisters.

"Are you ready? When the comet arrives on your planet." Ronald continued to voice.

The two sisters started a shootout, strafing cars and enemies.

"This is when you rule the world, Night of the Comet"

Finally, the camera cut to the title of the special effect.

"I think your voice is alright, Ronald. How about you do the narration?"

"You really think it's okay? If you can, then I'll do it." Ronald picked up the microphone, prepared, and recorded the narration.

The trailer clearly shows several major elements of the whole movie, the end of the world, zombies, youth, dance, gun battle, romance... In the end, the two heroines found their lovers, and lived in the end of the world according to the philosophy of the valley girl. It's very good.

Regina, played by Catherine Mary Stuart, has short hair, a strong face, jeans, a gun, and a top with high shoulder pads.

Even the younger sister of the cheerleading team, Samantha, has sneakers and a submachine gun, strong and confident.

Since the 80s, the Suvail Alliance has continued to expand around the world. The new commander-in-chief confronts each other, making tough speeches and telling jokes to ridicule each other.

People in America especially like girls with this tough tomboy image.The image of the two heroines in this movie can be said to be on the cusp of popularity.

"It seems that the second movie is okay, and it must be a big hit." Ronald now looks more and more at his own movies.Just after filming and editing, the creator is still immersed in the appreciation of the creation, and there will be a period of time to see how good it is.

"I don't know how Helen's fitness is on the London set? It should be similar to Regina. She abandoned her original gentle image and became tough. I just don't know how many pounds she gained?"

……

"Here is your plane ticket, your passport, the telephone number of CAA's London office, and here is your luggage... Here is your traveler's check. There is also a map of London, a rented car... "

Ronald took them one by one from his agent Richard. After finishing the editing, he wanted to visit his girlfriend Helen in London.

"By the way, do you know how to drive a car with right-hand drive? The traffic rules over there are the opposite."

"Uh, no." Ronald replied, "Or I'll just find a taxi."

"That will be very expensive. I'll help you contact the London office and ask them to find someone to pick you up." Richard took out a small notebook and wrote down the matter.

"This is the address of Supergirl's producer in London. This is the address of Pinewood Studios. It's a big place. Several crews are shooting at the same time. Remember to go to the producer to get permission first."

"No problem, I put everything away." Ronald put all the materials in the suitcase, and the travel bag in his hand only contained a few changes of clothes, a passport, a check, and a book written by Bogdanovich. Interview with the famous film director, "Who made this movie?"

After checking the luggage, Ronald took the travel bag on the plane, and the Pan Am flight took off and flew to London.

(End of this chapter)