Hollywood Tycoon [US Entertainment + Business War]

Although the distance from Burbank, the headquarters of Galaxy Films, to San Francisco, the headquarters of Industrial Light & Magic is not short, but John Woo is feeling very nervous at this time.He had to admit that he had been convinced by Jed that to make a movie in Hollywood, you had to treat yourself as a blue-collar worker.Titles such as film artists belong to the future self, not the current self.At the same time, Wu Yusen also held his breath, don't think that I can only shoot action movies, I must make this fantasy adventure movie to a high level this time.

Just as Wu Yusen was secretly cheering himself up, Lucas from Industrial Light & Magic also received a call from Jed, hoping that he could help Galaxy Films to create some fantastic special effects scenes.In this regard, Lucas has nothing to object to.First, this company has Jade's shares, and second, this is also the business of Industrial Light and Magic.

However, Lucas was very dissatisfied with Jed, the hands-off shopkeeper. Lucas still feels a little heartbroken when he thinks about it.Fortunately, Jed didn't just rely on a patent to fool Lucas. The Pioneer Film Technology Research Institute under his name has made a lot of good things one after another to enrich the technical strength of Industrial Light and Magic.It's a pity that Jed has been reluctant to let Lucas take a share, otherwise Lucas would go to the Pioneer Research Institute to take a share even if he borrowed money.

When John Woo came to Industrial Light & Magic, his first impression was, is this still the earth?Lucas has always had a certain persistent fascination with alien culture, so the decoration of the entire industrial light and magic company is based on the theme of the universe and space.

In order to let Wu Yusen understand the technical strength of Industrial Light and Magic, Lucas also specially showed the liquid robot special effects they made for "Terminator 2" and the dinosaur special effects they made for "Jurassic Park". Compared with the version broadcast on the movie, it is more improved.Especially with the improvement of particle special effects technology, the light and shadow effects of computer-simulated scenes are more realistic.Even if the audience knows that these scenes are not on earth, it can make them feel that somewhere in the universe there must be a place like the one shown here.

And after Wu Yusen watched Lucas's demonstration to himself, the shock in his heart could no longer be expressed in words.While the colleagues in Hong Kong are still trying their best to realize the director's ideas in reality, the colleagues in the United States have fully realized every whimsy of the directors with computers.No wonder some people say that people are more popular than people. Now John Woo has completely understood Jed's intention to film "Jumanji" by himself.In addition to freeing him from the shackles of being an action film director, he wanted to let himself understand how far American film technology has developed.

"Mr. Lucas, I have the following vision for the scene of this movie. I wonder if Industrial Light and Magic can help me realize it?" Wu Yusen has completely entered the state of director at this time, and begins to break down the script into sub-shots, and then Discuss with Lucas the difficulty of implementing these scenarios and the desired effect.

Lucas, who couldn't shoot the film, developed an almost paranoid love for the set design.When John Woo asked about the effect of the scene, he said: "Mr. Wu, there is no effect that ILM cannot achieve. When we designed the scene for "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan", we used a technique called ' Source sequence' technology, and now we have perfected this technology. Using 'source sequence' technology, we can realize any scene in front of the green screen in the studio."

"Why did Industrial Light and Magic use a green screen instead of a blue screen?" John Woo suddenly discovered this problem.

"We also use blue screens. When the scene is a distant view, we will use blue screens, because the sense of depth presented by blue screens is very good. However, our current special effects technology is more used for close-ups or even close-ups. Green screens The effect will be better. Because the fluorescent green is easy to distinguish from the foreground in computer imaging, so we will not have black edges when keying.” Lucas suddenly said proudly, “We are now considering eliminating the blue screen, Because our computer engineers told us that they are about to achieve a more special scene technology, which can key and re-model the scene without the curtain.”

Lucas's words made Wu Yusen's unbelievable expression a little numb. It didn't take long for Hong Kong filmmakers to introduce blue screen technology, and Americans came up with more advanced green screen technology.And at present, it seems that green screen technology is very likely to be eliminated or reduced to a supplementary technology.Wu Yusen couldn't help shaking his head, and said with a wry smile: "We Chinese have a saying that 'reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles'. Today, after chatting with Mr. Lucas, I realized how much I used to be 'watching the sky from a well'!"

Leaving aside the discussion between John Woo and Lucas on how to shoot "James of the Brave", Galaxy Films is preparing the final publicity work for Jed's personal directorial debut "The Shawshank Redemption".This time, neither Galaxy Films nor Jade used any disgraceful publicity methods, but very formal ones.Posters, promotional videos, commercials, actor interviews, etc. Of course, Jed also used his own programs "Oprah Show" and "Late Night Show" to promote "The Shawshank Redemption".But judging from the current feedback information, the general audience's reaction to this movie is relatively flat.

Seeing the briefing provided by Jia Fei, Jed could only smile wryly.I remember when I was reading online novels, I talked about the need to shoot the American drama "Prison Break" first, and then take the opportunity to shoot "The Shawshank Redemption".But after Jed came to Hollywood, he realized that this was pure nonsense! The success of "Prison Break" has nothing to do with the theme of "Prison Break". What the audience likes to watch is "high IQ crime" and "government conspiracy theory".

If it weren't for the fact that the current shooting technology could not meet the needs of "Prison Break" for the time being, Jed would have ordered the filming of "Prison Break" to start long ago.The main reason is that the main TV station in the United States is still NTSC standard, not ATSC standard. ATSC is the digital TV standard adopted by later generations in the United States. Only when this standard is met, Jed is willing to make "Prison Break".

You know, for an action blockbuster like Prison Break, it would be a waste of creativity not to shoot in high-definition format.And ATSC will not be popularized in the United States until the new century at the earliest, so Jed only temporarily ordered someone to write the script, and is not in a hurry to shoot.After all, in addition to the first season of "Prison Break" which really achieved a double harvest of word-of-mouth and ratings, the second season to the fourth season has been suffering from the infamy of "the dog's tail continues the mink". Jed did not allow such infamy to appear anyway. of.

Formally due to limited technology, coupled with the fact that the degree of connection between the two works is average, Jed did not believe that making "Prison Break" would make "Shawshank's Redemption" popular.However, seeing the current status of "The Shawshank Redemption" being ignored by the audience before it was released, Jed is also a little troubled.

"At present, my suggestion is to do a limited release first. If the box office results are really not satisfactory, we can only wait for the film to win some awards in the future before releasing it on a large scale." Jia Fei looked at Jed with some regret.He was originally not optimistic about the box office of this script, but Jed insisted on filming, and also filmed "The Blair Witch" first for this script.But from the current point of view, Jia Fei is a little worried that the box office may not even be able to cover the production cost, so the film is destined to lose money.

Fortunately, the box office performance of "The Blair Witch" is very satisfactory. Not only was it a great success in the North American market, but it was also regarded as a classic in the Japanese market.Paramount has contacted itself and decided to launch the videotape of this movie simultaneously in the North American and Japanese markets at the end of the year, and it is expected that there will be a good income by then.Therefore, even if "The Shawshank Redemption" loses money, Galaxy Movies can still afford it.The only hope now is that "The Shawshank Redemption" can win a few awards, and don't let the company have nothing.

By now, Jed had to listen to the professionals.After all, Jia Fei has been focusing on film distribution for 20 years, and his experience is much better than his own.What's more, even if Jed pinches his nose and wants to release it in full, the theater companies dare not agree to it. If the movie is smashed, who will he cry to?Yes, you, Mr. Jed Sherman, are indeed the ace writer in the United States, the gold medal screenwriter in Hollywood, and even the title of rising star director, but there are really only a few of your works, okay?

Despite the success of "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List", don't forget that the name "Spielberg" is also signed on the director's column. Woolen cloth?Businessmen are very realistic, and it is for your sake that they can give you a limited screening opportunity.In this regard, Jed had no choice but to grit his teeth and nod in agreement.

On September 9, "The Shawshank Redemption" was released in limited release in 23 theaters across the United States.Even though it was a limited release, film critics were all there.For Jed Sherman, most film critics are still quite interested.In particular, the original work of this movie comes from Stephen King, the king of American horror novels. According to a recent report interviewing King, Stephen King has obviously seen "The Shawshank Redemption". He said that this movie not only completely reproduces his own work I want to express my own connotation, and even the rendering of some scenes has surpassed the original.

With the blessing of the original author, the premiere received the support of many Stephen King fans.This time Jed did not attend the premiere, but waited in his office for the investigator's return.Although Jed knows that "The Shawshank Redemption" won't win too much box office, he doesn't want to lose too much.

The filming of "The Shawshank Redemption" lasted more than two hours, reaching 144 minutes, which is obviously the length of a Christmas movie.Generally, the standard length of an American commercial film is about 10 minutes, which is convenient for directors and screenwriters to fill the limited time with all kinds of explosive points and climaxes, and the longer the film, the easier it is for the audience to lose patience.Fortunately, Jed's storytelling ability is quite outstanding. Although the film sometimes has a flat narrative, it does not make the audience lose patience.

"Oh my god! This movie is boring." A girl snuggled into the boy's arms and complained in a low voice, "How could Jed make such a boring movie? His last movie, "The Blair Witch", scared the hell out of me. "

Perhaps in the eyes of film critics and Stephen King fans, "The Shawshank Redemption" is a very sincere work, but it seems a bit boring to ordinary audiences.But fortunately, in the first week of its release, "The Shawshank Redemption" won nearly 3.2 US dollars in revenue per theater, which actually increased the number of theaters willing to show in the second week.

"I must say that the second great movie of the year was born," Roger Ebert, film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote in his column. Pay tribute, because shooting such a film full of humanistic care is doomed to fail in Hollywood. It is said that after trying to dissuade him for many times but failed, his general manager threatened him that he must make a commercial film before starting to make this film, so We have seen the psychological horror film "Blair Witch" full of various meanings of exploration. After the film ended, Mr. Sherman spent more than three months shooting this film in the Texas desert. Perhaps This movie is too esoteric and boring for ordinary audiences, after all, a lot of shots are used to describe the boring life in the prison and those obscure but philosophical dialogues. In this film, Mr. Morgan Freeman played Rui De seems to be a wise philosopher, but he lives in a prison and he doesn't seem to have much diploma. But with his perception of life, he appreciates the truth that we can't understand. And under his truth, Andy and Old Boo has two endings. Andy played by Mr. Tim Robbins has taken his acting skills to another level. I think he should probably thank Mr. Jed Sherman, because I heard that Mr. Sherman's The standard is famously harsh. Compared with Andy finally breaking out of the 'system' and rushing to freedom in the rain, Lao Bu is undoubtedly a tragic figure. He was released by the 'system', but he couldn't leave' The system'. In the end, he had to end his life under the unexpected ending. Compared with Andy's cry in the rain, the body hanging in the dark cabin is more like a wake-up call."

The "New York Tribune Herald" reporter Judith Kleist changed her previous bitter criticism, and couldn't put it down for this movie. "If Forrest Gump in "Forrest Gump" represents Americans, then Andy in "The Shawshank Redemption" and even all of them represent different people on the earth. The original author Mr. Stephen King and the director Jay Mr. De Sherman drove the most iconic people on the entire planet into this prison and then used a magnifying glass to show us their strengths and weaknesses. If you are bored with this movie, please go home Watch this movie when you're ten years older."

Likewise, Andrew Sarris was better for Jed Sherman on the New York Observer. "It's no wonder that Mr. Spielberg will admire Mr. Sherman so much, because they are the same people in their bones. They are full of compassion for the whole world and full of concern for all human beings, so we are honored to see "The Shawshank" today. Redemption is a classic!"

However, as Sarris' "lifelong enemy", Pauline Kael mercilessly accused Jed of "mystery" in "The New Yorker".She sarcastically said in the film review: "The movie I hate the most in my life is the movie that deliberately mocks the audience's IQ. The director of this kind of movie is usually famous very early, and then you find that his works are becoming more and more irrelevant to the public, as if he has become a filmmaker. He is a self-admired work of art. Such a movie, no matter how exquisite the lens is, how perfect the plot is... But it is essentially out of the definition of the movie. In "The Shawshank Redemption", the director tried to tell a huge narrative, but unfortunately, He had to use 'mystery' to trick the audience because he found he couldn't handle the story himself."

Amid the clamor of film critics, "The Shawshank Redemption" still stimulated theater companies with a box office of 2.4 US dollars in a single theater in the second week.Finally, in the third week, "The Shawshank Redemption" ushered in its full release, but the box office results this time made theater companies and movie theaters dumbfounded.The average score of a single hall dropped to less than US$5000, while the total box office was only US$10,000+.

Seeing such box office results, "Variety Show", which has always been at odds with Jade, quickly published this news, and mocked Jade in the report as "exhausted".However, for the first time, Jed Sherman, who has a temper, did not have a big war of words with "Variety Show" this time, but chose to keep his mouth shut, which surprised the media across the United States.

At this time, Jed was admiring a set of programs designed by Pioneer Computer and Network Technology Development Co., Ltd. under his name in his office. He named this program "blog" and believed that it would be an important cornerstone of the future network. .

"Mr. Sherman, this thing is nothing more than a personal web page generation system, is it really that great?"

"Of course!" Jed replied proudly, "A personal homepage may not have much influence, but what about a hundred or a thousand? Our blogging technology not only allows users to generate their own personal homepages, but also Allowing them to push interesting content to us. Think about it, if we have thousands of columnists across the United States regardless of age, job, race, gender, etc., do you think our media has no influence? Now we apply for two domain names, blog.net as the official technical site of the blog program, providing download and technical support; blog.com provides blog application and content push support for personal self-built blogs. According to the standards of newspapers, let our network The editor finds the most interesting and controversial content from the vast sea of ​​articles every day and recommends them to the homepage and sub-channels by category!"