Hollywood Director 1992

"Paranormal Activity" Version Two wrapped up after six days of intensive shooting in the villa.

The movie took 16 days to shoot in San Diego, longer than expected, and the budget exceeded by $20,000.

Including actor salaries, prop expenses, costume fees, makeup costs, food, accommodation, and post-production, the total investment was approximately $85,000.

If his salary as director and lead actor was included, the investment would be over $500,000.

In fact, after filming this movie, he didn't believe that the original director, Oren Peli, could have completed it with only $11,000.

Even if all the actors were non-professionals, filming took seven days, and post-production issues such as subtitles, sound mixing, and digital format conversion would cost more than $50,000.

However, a low investment is a good gimmick. When the movie is released, he will claim it only cost $20,000.

After the completion of "Paranormal Activity" Version Two, Link took the crew back to Los Angeles.

After handing the apartment keys to Monica, he took the videotapes back to Guessing Pictures' editing studio and began editing Version Two.

Editing the same movie for the second time was smoother, and he spent three days creating a rough cut.

However, when watching Version Two, he noticed a very obvious problem: Monica's performance in the second shoot was much worse than the first.

It wasn't so obvious when looking at individual shots, but when watching the completed film after editing, many small problems were magnified, and the differences became apparent.

From her expression to her lines to her actions, she didn't perform as naturally and casually as when she was acting opposite him. Her interaction with the male lead, Jeremy Northam, wasn't intimate enough. Although they looked well-matched, they were only superficially compatible.

Link sat in the editing room, repeatedly watching Version One and Version Two.

After watching it several times, he came up with a solution.

Cut out Monica's performance from Version One and put it into Version Two.

This idea was bold, but also highly feasible.

In this movie, the male lead's role is similar to that of a cameraman and director, often standing behind the camera filming the female lead.

Except for the sleeping scenes at night, he rarely appeared on screen with the female lead during the day; mostly, it was just his voice.

No sooner said than done.

He continued to immerse himself in the editing studio, editing the two movies. The studio had a bathroom and a bed. Except for meals, he spent all his time in the editing room.

It took him four days.

After rough and fine editing, he finally perfectly merged the two versions together, forming Version Three.

Adding post-production sound effects and mixing, Version Three was almost complete.

However, when watching Version Three, he discovered a strange thing that made his hair stand on end.

In Version Three, it seemed like there was really an extra, non-existent person in the villa, wandering around the male and female leads, constantly creating a terrifying atmosphere.

This was even more obvious in Monica's performance. Her eyes and actions had an unspeakable sense of weirdness in the new version.

The horror was more intense than Version One and Version Two, as if it were real.

When he watched the finished film alone in the editing room, he always felt like something was standing behind him, and his back felt faintly cold.

When he suddenly turned his head to look, there was nothing there.

This is the charm of movies.

Individual shots are unremarkable.

When these shots are edited and produced, pieced together to form a complete movie, many elements in the movie are magnified, creating a magical effect.

When shots containing love elements are combined, emotions are magnified, and the plot becomes sweet, sad, and touching.

When shots containing comedy elements are combined, emotions are magnified, and the movie makes people cry while laughing, or laugh while crying, or laugh out loud.

Horror movies take this effect to the extreme. Although they can't make people laugh, cry, or feel moved, they make people's hearts beat faster, stimulate people's endocrine system, and affect people's psychological and mental state, which is a deeper level of stimulation.

When a horror movie reaches its peak, it can even affect people's perception and cognition, making people's perception of the surrounding environment disordered.

For example, when he was watching Version Three, there was nothing behind him, but stimulated by the movie, his perception feedback seemed to indicate that there was something, giving people an extremely insecure feeling.

The stronger this mental stimulation, the higher the quality of the movie.

"Link, why did you call me here?"

"Version Two has been edited. Come and help me see if there are any bloopers. I'll cut them out."

"No problem, this is a piece of cake."

Link felt very uncomfortable after watching Version Three twice, so he called Chris Bauer to keep him company.

The movie began to play.

At the beginning, Chris Bauer crossed his arms, puffed up his strong muscles, and watched the movie leisurely.

After watching for more than twenty minutes, until the night of the 13th, Chris Bauer began to cover his eyes with his hands, and goosebumps appeared on his bare arms.

"Sizzle, it's too scary, Link. Is this version not right? Why is it so scary? It really feels like there's a ghost in the house."

Chris Bauer not only covered his eyes, but also planned to plug his ears with tissues.

"Don't scare yourself. You created those sounds. Don't you know what's going on?"

"It's different, completely different. During filming, I only made noises outside, but now there's not only sound in the movie, but also pictures. Anyway, I feel very scared."

Chris Bauer touched the back of his head and couldn't help but turn his head to look behind him.

"Don't be afraid. There are two of us. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Okay, I'll persevere a little longer."

Chris Bauer persevered until the night of the 17th, and then he refused to watch it anymore, even if he was paid. He was worried that he would be scared to death in his apartment at night.

Link had to call Daniel DeVito and ask him to bring two brave staff members to the editing room to help.

More than ten minutes later, Daniel DeVito came in with two staff members from the production department.

Watching a horror movie with five people reduced the horror effect a lot, but it was still very terrifying.

When Daniel DeVito watched the movie, he clenched his hands tightly into fists, and a layer of fine sweat appeared on his forehead.

The two staff members also looked back three or four times during the movie, just like Chris Bauer.

One of them couldn't help but scream three times and turned his head away, not daring to watch anymore.

"Link, is there something wrong with this movie?"

Daniel DeVito wiped the sweat from his Mediterranean forehead with a tissue. Seeing that there was also sweat on his glasses, he took off his glasses and wiped them. His head, which was slightly larger than average, looked even more comical.

"What's wrong?"

"Could it be too scary? Five men, watching together with the lights on, also feel very uncomfortable. The lights in the movie theater are very dim, and the sound effects enhance the sound. The horror will be even stronger. Many viewers may not be able to handle it."

"You underestimate the audience too much. Audiences who like horror movies are relatively brave. They like to find stimulation by watching these kinds of movies. The stronger the stimulation, the more they like it. We just need to grab this part of the audience and meet their needs. We don't have to worry about box office revenue."

"When are you planning to release it?"

"Don't worry. We'll have a meeting tomorrow to discuss the publicity work before the movie is released. This movie is relatively novel. If we want the box office to be profitable, we must use our brains in publicity."

"Okay."

After Daniel DeVito and the others left, Link continued to look for flaws and refine the movie's visuals alone in the editing room.

The creepy feeling came again when he watched it alone, and his body felt cold.

This is the disadvantage of being a horror movie director.

Ordinary people can cover their eyes and turn their heads away when they see something scary while watching a horror movie.

But horror movie directors have to stare at it.

Facing the fear directly.

It's just that the aftereffects are a bit big.

Thanks to 'Leaving Grade Rice Worm' for the reward, plus one update. Thank you.