American comics: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

"...Pepsi is neither too much nor too little. You can drink as much as you want for 12 ounces. It costs 5 cents. You can drink twice as much. Pepsi-Cola is your drink."

In the Courier newspaper office, as the radio drama ended, CBS began to insert subsequent advertisements.

For some industries, the Great Recession and crisis were also turning points.

Pepsi-Cola was born twelve years later than Coca-Cola, which also resulted in its long-term dominance in the beverage market.

At the same time, during this period, more than one hundred beverage companies participated in the competition in the cola market.

"Amendment No. 18 (Prohibition Act)" restricted the manufacture of alcoholic beverages, but instead provided a huge market for other beverage products. Especially affected by the Great Depression, the distressed people needed spiritual sustenance. Coke and Coffee also developed vigorously during this period.

Of course, even in the Coke market, there is still a serious gap between rich and poor.

As powerful as Coke, Coke has always occupied a leading position.

Others, such as Pepsi-Cola, Alpha-Cola, Ami-Cola, Alla-Cola, Broma-Cola, Cabo-Cola, etc. are all competing for the market under Coca-Cola.

Among them, Pepsi-Cola stands out because of its low-price strategy.

As claimed in the radio advertisement, a 6.5-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola cost 5 cents during this period, but if you used this money to buy Pepsi-Cola, you could get a 12-ounce double Coke.

It was by taking advantage of the economic downturn during the Great Depression that Pepsi successfully attracted the working people who wanted to taste the taste of carbonic acid but were cash-strapped, and successfully used its price advantage to steal part of Coca-Cola's market among the American working class.

At the same time, it has narrowed the distance between itself and Coca-Cola, establishing its position as the second largest Coca-Cola brand.

Of course, Pepsi wasn't the only brand that rose to prominence during the Great Recession.

Another well-known industry is condoms. Affected by the economic impact, people need to avoid anxiety and find cheap means of pleasure, but do not want to have children. After all, during this period, many people cannot even support themselves, let alone have children. .

As a result, the condom industry flourished.

Although times are tough, there are always ways to make money.

Whether it is the beverage market, the security market or the newspaper industry where Colin works.

There is no doubt that the Great Depression was a bad era, but it was also an era that gave birth to painful life.

…

"Then the rest will be left to you, Old John."

In the cheerful cleaning soap advertisement, Colin checked the time on his pocket watch, stood up and said to Old John in the newspaper office.

"Leave it to me, sir."

Old John nodded while finalizing the text on the comic in front of the typesetting machine.

"Sir, your umbrella."

When he came to the door, he put on his clothes and hat again and took the umbrella from Little John's hand. Colin turned his head and glanced at the busy workers in the newspaper office, then opened the newspaper office door and faced the heavy rain and came to the street.

“Maybe I should buy a car?”

Standing in the heavy rain with an umbrella, Colin couldn't help but think.

The Great Recession was an absolutely terrible time for the auto industry and the oil industry.

However, for those who want to buy a car, it is a good time. They can buy a new car at half or more than the price before, and the price of gasoline is also unimaginably cheaper.

The stock price of oil fell to less than 3 US dollars. This is only the budget price of the stock market. In fact, the market price is even lower. Some sales prices with obvious declines directly fell to 0.4 US dollars.

Of course, if he is unwilling to accept such a price, Colin can buy a second-hand car.

During the Great Depression, the first mortgage for many bankrupt middle-class people was their cars.

If he wanted to, he could even spend a hundred dollars to buy a 70% to 80% new luxury car.

Dudu——

Just as Colin was thinking about buying a car, the sound of a car horn from behind interrupted his thinking.

Turning his head and looking at the familiar figure in the car, Colin immediately stepped forward and got into the car.

"Long time no see, Colin."

Cadillac produced only 48 units of the Fleetwood 75 series luxury car.

And right now, Colin was sitting in one of them.

In the luxury car, Hughes held a cigar and greeted Colin who got into the car.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Closing the umbrella and leaning it against his hand, Colin looked at Howard Hughes, whose skin was obviously much darker than a month ago, and nodded: "It seems that you have gained a lot from this cruise."

"really."

After nodding and taking a puff from the cigar in his hand, Hughes said with a little excitement in his tone.

"The sea is indeed a wonderful place. I can now understand why Herman Melville praised the connection between man and the sea so much in "Moby-Dick". I have been to the sky and walked on the earth, but I rarely set my sights on the sea..."

It is not difficult to see from Hughes's description that this trip to the sea left a profound impression on him.

“In the past, I always thought that the sea was a rather monotonous existence, but it wasn’t until this voyage that I discovered that the sea is wider than I thought before. During the voyage, we passed countless islands and saw the largest island in the world. Animals have experienced dangerous storms, especially in Greenland. Those huge and magnificent icebergs and the huge and beautiful scenes created by the power of nature give people an illusion of insignificance.”

When talking about Greenland, Hughes looked obviously lost in thought.

It seems that he is recalling his shock when he saw the iceberg.

"So, you've got footage of the iceberg?"

After watching Hughes dazed for a while, Colin opened his mouth and redirected the topic back to the movie "Titanic".

Don’t forget, the main purpose of Hughes’ trip to Greenland was to film the movie.

"Speaking of this."

After recovering from Colin's reminder, Hughes lowered his head and took a puff of his cigar. He paused for a few seconds before saying: "The photographer team did capture the shocking scene of the iceberg, and we also confirmed it in the projection room of the ship. The effect of shooting.”

Although Hughes' tone didn't fluctuate much, Colin still noticed something from his reaction.

window._taboola = window._taboola || ; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbs-feed-01', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnail---300x250', placement: 'Below article thumbnail-300x250' , target_type: 'mix' });

Sure enough, under his gaze, Hughes in the car changed the topic, shrugged and said in a helpless tone.

"However, I wasn't satisfied with how the finished product turned out, so I planned to reshoot it all."

Such a 'willful' approach would be unbelievable to others.

But for Howard Hughes, it was not something unacceptable.

After all, when he was filming "Hell's Angels" before, he had already cut off the silent films and remade them into sound versions.

Of course, on the surface, Colin still cooperated with the inquiry.

"Why?"

Hughes took a puff of his cigar, glanced at Colin in front of him, and then slowly replied.

"Because of Superman and Mickey Mouse."

Hearing Hughes' answer, Colin's face immediately showed a surprised expression.

He had anticipated various reasons for Hughes to reshoot, but he obviously did not expect that his decision this time would actually be related to the animated short film he co-produced with Disney.

“After I came back from Greenland, I originally planned to make flashlight movies right away, until I saw your short film. The colors in the short film made me suddenly lose the idea of ​​shooting black and white movies. I couldn’t relate to the gorgeous world of the short film. In comparison, black and white movies are too monotonous and boring. We are obviously in a color world, so why go to the cinema to watch a black and white movie. "

Colin obviously did not expect that color animation would have such a huge impact on Hughes.

It even changed his mind about movies.

"After watching "Superman and Mickey" in a private cinema, a thought has been lingering in my mind, that is, since animation can be produced in color, why can't movies? There is no doubt that color movies are the future The trend is just like the sound film era replaced the silent film era. People are always pursuing better things. Since color films will become the trend of film development, why should I continue to shoot black and white films? "

The craftsmanship of color technology has always existed in the film industry, but due to its cumbersome process and high cost, it has always been just an embellishment of Hollywood scenes.

In many film productions, this technique is often used only in a few scenes, such as weddings or dances.

Color films in the true sense would have to wait until a few years later, with the development of the dye transfer process and cementation process, to become truly popular. Before that, black and white films were still the mainstream of films, just like the development of sound films in the silent film era. , when sound technology appeared, film practitioners were worried whether the presence of sound would make the movie fancy and distract people from the movie story.

Prior to this, Hughes wanted to make a complete color film, which was obviously quite time-consuming and expensive.

Moreover, no one can guarantee that movies produced through color technology will make money.

Such a time-consuming and labor-intensive approach with huge risks, ordinary people may not consider it at all. However, Hughes is obviously not an ordinary person, as Royce Disney once mentioned in a letter. , he is a maverick existence who goes his own way.

So, having decided that he wanted to make the film in color, Hughes was already ready to sail on a ship again.

Even though the film in his hand uses color transfer technology, it can show colors.

However, for Hughes, this pure craftsmanship technique could not achieve the true color film he had in mind.

Only by comparing it with the gorgeous icebergs on site can he present the colors in his mind perfectly bit by bit.

"So, you have confirmed the sailing time?"

If Colin is really the producer of the film, he may be very troubled by Hughes' crazy behavior.

But fortunately, he is just the provider of the script.

Even the purpose of giving the script of "Titanic" was just to establish a relationship with the other party through this method, so as to achieve his own goals with the help of connections.

There is no doubt that this plan is going very smoothly.

On the contrary, he is not as concerned about the production of "Titanic" as Hughes.

But, no matter what.

Colin still has some sighs about Hughes's idea of ​​daring to make the first full-color movie in the era of black-and-white movies.

"It is not so easy to find technicians who can use color technology, so I still need to wait for a while, and maybe I have to go back to Los Angeles to see the construction of the aircraft repair shed."

Although attracted by the magnificence of the sea, Hughes did not forget his dream of the sky.

During the time he was sailing on the sea, his aircraft repair shed in Los Angeles was almost built.

"Compared with airplanes and ships, the traffic conditions on the ground are really too bad. If I couldn't find a suitable plane in New York, I wouldn't want to take the train back. The long journey is really a torture."

At this point, Hughes couldn't help complaining about the traffic problem again.

He was used to the convenience of airplanes and the unimpeded flow of ships on the sea, and had a clear opinion on transportation tools such as trains.

"Maybe you can try to develop more convenient transportation tools, such as civil aviation aircraft, or you can solve this problem."

In Hughes's complaints, Colin said casually.

"This is a good idea. After I finish shooting the movie, I will try it if I have time."

Colin's seemingly "casual" reminder gave Hughes a good inspiration.

He held a cigar in one hand and raised his eyebrows.

In this way, the two exchanged ideas about the filming of the movie in the car.

Most of the time, Hughes spoke. For the movie "Titanic", he obviously had his own unique ideas. Especially after deciding to make it into a color movie, Hughes felt that his passion for movies seemed to have returned to him.

"We are making history!"

This is what Hughes said to Colin in the car, and it also proved his ambition to make color movies.

After the topic of movies stopped for a while, Colin asked him.

"Securities manager?"

In the luxury car, facing Colin's question, Hughes smacked his lips, smoked a cigar and said: "Now is not a good time to enter the stock market."

Even for Hughes, the stock market during the Great Depression was too dangerous. Although he had money.

But he did not plan to invest money in the stock market. After all, even if he lost money, he could at least see something when he used it to shoot a movie, but if he put it in the stock market, the money might be swallowed up without even a ripple.

'Financial swamp' is Hughes' definition of the current stock market.

At the same time, as a person who started from industry, Hughes instinctively resisted the stock market.

Please remember the domain name of the first release of this book:. Shuquge mobile version reading website: