Hollywood Tycoon [US Entertainment + Business War]

"Please don't disturb those souls who rest in peace."

This is an email from the National Jewish Association. In order to deliver it in the fastest way, they sent this letter by telegram.The content is very brief, but it made Spielberg deep in thought.And Jed had just arrived in his rest room when he also heard about the email.Although Jed is an atheist in his bones, he is still a little hesitant now, whether to shoot this true story in the most realistic scene.Originally, Jade also thought that such a historical work should of course be filmed in a place where he had actually experienced it.

But he hesitated now. The darkness in Auschwitz did not end with its disappearance. On the contrary, the pain and despair immersed in the building became more and more obvious with the accumulation of years.Jed also believes that if the film is really filmed in Auschwitz concentration camp, it will be the most important thing for the actors, director and crew, for the deceased who unfortunately died in the concentration camp, or for the survivors or the families of the deceased. Said it was too harsh.

Although Jed believes that "tragedy is the destruction of valuable things for people to see", it is indeed too cruel to tear open a wound that has already scabbed and no one wants to touch it.Thinking of this, Jed took a deep breath and knocked on Spielberg's door.

No one knows what Jed and Spielberg talked about in the room all night, because the film started from the beginning of preparations, and neither Spielberg nor Jed refused to have a recorder take a side shot of the film. During the filming work, there was no accompanying reporter for interviews, so the filming process of this film has always been a mystery in film history.Neither Spielberg nor Jed described the shooting process in detail in their respective memoirs.But when the two recalled this shooting experience, the words they used most were "pain" and "salvation".

Since both Jed and Spielberg agreed not to film at Auschwitz, the crew had to build the scene nearby.Fortunately, the film not only received the support of the National Jewish Association, but also the German and Polish governments paid close attention to the film.With the support of a lot of manpower and material resources, a simulated concentration camp was basically built in less than a week.Although this concentration camp was modeled after Auschwitz, because it is a brand new building, neither the director nor the actors found it difficult to integrate into the scene.In terms of shooting techniques, Spielberg accepted Jed's suggestion and used black and white film and hand-held cameras to shoot, thus making the whole movie look like a real memory.

In fact, Jed had already prepared for the painful filming process of this movie, but he didn't expect the reality to be so cruel.Although the German government deeply reflected on that period of history, Eastern European countries did not reflect on "Nazism" and "anti-Semitism" for some reason when they were in the Soviet camp.In Krakow, Poland, where "Schindler's List" was filmed, the crew would be harassed by "anti-Semitic" elements from time to time.When I went to the crew every morning, I often saw some anti-Semitic signs and slogans around the crew, which made the already heavy-hearted crew even more sad.

Jed had to appeal at a crew meeting: "The purpose of our shooting this movie is to let those people know how horrible things have really happened in history! And these tragedies were at the beginning because they thought they were Harmless slogans started, so we have to ignore their harassment and finish the movie. When the movie is released, when they see the movie, if they have a conscience in their hearts, they will Confessional."

In fact, the pain of the crew members is far less than Spielberg's pain, because the whole movie is tantamount to re-presenting that terrible tragedy.However, the person who directed this tragedy was replaced by the victim Spielberg, which is tantamount to tearing the scars in Spielberg's heart and sprinkling a handful of salt.Because Jed has known for a long time that Spielberg's emotions may not be able to persist, he not only arranged for Spielberg's family to accompany him on the set, but also arranged for a psychologist to intervene with Spielberg at any time.When encountering some extremely cruel shots, Spielberg could only entrust Jed to shoot them, because he felt that he no longer had the courage to face those shots.On the contrary, since Jed hadn't experienced it himself, the filming went smoothly.

"Today's shooting made me feel very painful." Jed wrote in his private diary, "I can't bear to watch this shot today. I even want to delete this shot. But Spielberg The sir told me it was a true story and I had to make it out. I had a doctor playing a Nazi torture an actor playing a Jewish old man over and over again. Even the actor playing the doctor couldn't stand it. But I told him, You have to shut down your empathy on camera because you play someone who has no empathy and if you show your empathy on camera then you are insulting that history! He did as I asked Did it, he tortured the old man and kept humiliating him, and finally forced him to shoot the scene naked. This shot prevented me from looking at the monitor, and even the crew avoided the shoot. After the filming was over, The actor who played the doctor said he needed a psychiatrist and a priest, he said he was sorry for what he did today and he wanted to repent. I went to see the old man and he said if his performance was a warning to future generations, Then it's worth it."

Since the filming of "Schindler's List" left very little information, Jed's private diary has become the first-hand information for studying the filming process of this film.Some later researchers pointed out that Jade's private diary has always been very positive, but only when he was filming "Schindler's List", the words in the diary during that time were very depressed.Some people think that it is precisely because Jed participated in the filming of "Schindler's List" that his future works have a touch of compassion.Unlike his earlier works, apart from criticism and irony, there is rarely any sympathetic emotion.

Because the film is shot in black and white, there are greater challenges to the actors' makeup and costumes.After all, in color movies, different colors can express different emotions, and the difference between colors can well distinguish characters and scenes, as well as the characteristics of each character.But in black-and-white film, photography can only distinguish all this through shades of color and changes in light and shadow.In order not to let the characters be submerged in the sea of ​​people or scenes, the costumes of each actor must be carefully selected.Fortunately, the work of the photographer Janusz Kaminski and the art director Allen Starsky has been quite effective. They not only solved the problems encountered during shooting, but also taught the crew who were not good at black and white films. Adapt to black and white film.

"I think we should let the little girl's red dress color come out." Jed said in a crew memory, "In this way, we will make the audience feel that there is a little more bright color in the low tone of the movie. The child represents hope, and red Represents energy. Use the strong contrast of red and black and white to make the audience pay attention to everything we want to convey.”

"Jed, don't you think it's too cruel?" Spielberg asked wearily. "We all know that this little girl will eventually be caught, and then die miserably. And you will end up with this little girl. The body truck passing by the camera, isn’t it too cruel? The whole movie is already very heavy, why should we destroy the last glimmer of hope?”

Spielberg's problem actually represents the problem of most of the crew. Many people think that Jed set the tone too cruelly when filming this movie.Film is an art. Although art comes from life, it is higher than life.In the eyes of many people in the crew, we have to leave a glimmer of hope for the audience. If there is no hope in the end, then this movie will be too cruel for the audience.Movies are not documentaries, and movies don't have to be completely real.Jed asked back, "Everyone, do you think there is hope for those who were imprisoned in concentration camps?"

After the meeting, Spielberg invited Jed to join him for a meal in his room.Because Spielberg's wife has been on the crew during this time, Spielberg will invite some crew members or actors to him for dinner from time to time.While eating with Jed, Spielberg asked, "Jed, what's next for you?"

Jed thought for a while and said with a wry smile: "Very busy! After the filming of "Schindler's List" is over, there will be promotions for the two films "Jurassic Park" and "Sleepless in Seattle". I was specially invited to be the publicity officer for "Jurassic Park". Immediately after that, the TV series under Dongfeng Production will renew their contract with the TV station. I may have to go to South Korea, because the TV series I am a screenwriter in South Korea will also start broadcasting. It ended up coming back to promote Schindler's List, and then there was the Philadelphia Story, which I wrote for Universal. I was like, what am I keeping myself so busy for?"

"Jed, have you ever thought about when you started shooting your first film?" Spielberg asked, "In my opinion, your experience and talent have surpassed many directors of the younger generation. You are now short of a work that is truly your own. Jed, you know? How I look forward to meeting you in Hollywood."

"Yeah, I will reduce my screenwriting work and novel writing work after the end of this year." Jed did not hide his arrangement from Spielberg, "The creative studio of Dongfeng Production is already fully capable of producing TV scripts." Well, I just need to be in charge of checking. Muse Culture has also recruited excellent novel authors. I will hand over the creation of "Tomb Raider" and "Halo" in the last two years, and " The main story of Resident Evil will be written by me, but the spin-off novel will be written by others. As for the script of the movie, basically there will be two to three movies a year."

Hearing Jed's arrangement, Spielberg nodded. "If you control the quantity, you will have the opportunity to improve the quality of the script. After all, the script is the foundation of the movie. Without a good script, there will be no good movie. ——By the way, I heard that Mr. Cameron plans to ask you to cooperate Make a movie? I also heard that the movie cost a lot?"

"Yes. There are no secrets in Hollywood." Jed didn't have to hide his cooperation with Cameron. Even Jed didn't know why Cameron approached him.But he was sure that Cameron should have found many people to cooperate with before finding him.It is estimated that most people are frightened by his huge budget, so there should be few people in Hollywood who don't know that Cameron is troubled by co-production. "I am optimistic about that movie. Although the budget is a bit huge, I asked him to cooperate with Industrial Light and Magic. In this way, it is estimated that part of the cost will be left. I will cover the rest for him. For this reason, I also established a A production company, maybe in the future." Jed teased.

"I heard that Fox and Paramount are wooing you?" Spielberg asked, "I have also received a message from Universal's senior management. They really hope that you can join Universal. The cooperation method is the same as mine. You have With an independent production company, you can shoot your favorite movie and participate in box office dividends, but your movie must be handed over to Universal for distribution.”

"I'm actually so popular." Jed smiled wryly.Murdoch repeatedly invited, and Lei Shidong hinted in the media from time to time, coupled with Universal's current enthusiastic invitation, he has actually become the object of invitation of major Hollywood film giants. "Mr. Spielberg, I don't like being constrained, so I won't go to any company. But I still hope to maintain a good cooperative relationship with Universal. After all, in the film industry, there will be cooperation one day .”

Of course Spielberg understands Jed's thoughts. In fact, Spielberg regards Jed as a person like himself and does not want to be kept in captivity by Hollywood giants.This is also why Spielberg formed DreamWorks later. In the end, DreamWorks became independent from Paramount and officially became the new giant of Hollywood.There are no secrets in Hollywood. Spielberg naturally knows that Jed has established a complete production and distribution organization in the television industry, and the film industry will naturally follow suit.

Spielberg appreciates Jade's talent and knows that his talent is free. If it is restrained, it will be an unfortunate thing for the film industry and himself.Therefore, Spielberg no longer lobbied for Universal, and at the same time, he had no plans to invite Jade to join his future company.He is well aware of Jed's character, who is both controlling and ambitious. Such a person can only become the leader of the company.However, Spielberg will certainly not tolerate another leader of his company. Rather than break up at that time, it is better not to make this plan.

Spielberg suddenly thought, when his company and Jade's company compete in the future, who will be the winner at the box office and critics?Thinking of this, Spielberg suddenly felt impatient.

From the start of filming "Schindler's List" to the completion of filming, the entire crew only took two months.During the period, Spielberg also paid attention to the production process of "Jurassic Park", while Jed needed to meet with Universal to discuss the promotion work of "Jurassic Park".After the filming was completed, Jed returned to Los Angeles early to start planning for the release of "Jurassic Park".Spielberg, on the other hand, chose to go on vacation because this shooting was a terrible memory for him.

"These posters and promotional videos are not the style I want!" Jed looked at the promotional materials of "Jurassic Park", and immediately rejected them all. "Do you think such a poster can attract yourselves? I need enough creativity to support this promotion, because this is a great movie, so its promotional materials must also be excellent!"

Jed took out his promotional outline, "The first step, we want to tell everyone in the world that we have resurrected dinosaurs and built a live dinosaur park for everyone to visit. So gentlemen and ladies, use your Make all kinds of promotional posters and promotional videos for this non-existent dinosaur park with the greatest imagination! After everyone is interested, I need you to let people know that something happened to this dinosaur park through various news channels or other communication channels. Someone got eaten by a dinosaur, or the dinosaur escaped from the park and is attacking other countries. Whether it's fake or something, I want everyone to panic on this news. When someone starts to really care, My guys, this is the time for everyone to promote the movie. Let's tell them how realistic the dinosaurs we made! How twisted the story we filmed! Let the whole world be in Mr. Spielberg and Jurassic Park Shake the feet of the dinosaur!"

In fact, Jed's propaganda method is not uncommon in later generations, but it is very unique in this era.Constantly create topics to attract the attention of the media, and finally, under his own control, attract the attention of the media to the movie "Jurassic Park".This is actually to make followers have a mentality of habitual consumption. Have you seen why the "Harry Potter" series of movies can set records at the box office every year?It is because a large number of old viewers habitually come to buy tickets to watch.And why TVB has been able to dominate the ratings in Hong Kong for many years?It's not that Hong Kong viewers are used to watching TVB.

Jade's publicity method is to let everyone get used to "Jurassic Park" in the shortest possible time, and then when it is actually released, there will be an impulse to consume.