Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 118 You Don't Need to Advertise
Ronald came to the offices of PBS Television in New York again to meet Helen's father, Gerald Slater.

Gerald had seen Ronald's storyboard for Helen, and asked his secretary Stella to inform him to come to the office to "discuss" the details of the advertisement with him.

"Mr. Slater." Ronald was ushered into the office by Stella and greeted Gerald.

Gerald Slater gestured him to sit down, still talking on the phone:

"Yes, our PBS is an alliance of education stations from all over the world. Of course, the control over sub-stations is not as powerful as NBC, ABC, and CBS. Therefore, when shooting TV dramas, sub-stations are not actively ordered, and the budget we can come up with is not enough. They are so tall.

Yes, this makes it impossible to invest in big productions. If we make our own TV series, the budget will be insufficient, and the ratings may not be too high, unless you find the next George Lucas.

…So I suggest introducing TV dramas from continental Europe, especially Britain, because they have more advantages in language.

There is also increased investment in filming documentaries.Yes, this is our advantage. There are many documentary lovers in the local education stations under the alliance, mainly middle-aged men with good spending power. Advertisers will like it..."

After 10 minutes, Gerald finally finished talking on the phone with other high-level executives, thinking of Ronald who was sitting idle.

"I've seen your shooting script and storyboard sketches, and your level is pretty good."

"Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Slater..."

Gerald Slater raised his hand and stopped Ronald from continuing, "However, your script did not reflect Helen's advantages at all. What's going on? I thought you would know her quite well."

Ronald was stunned, "Mr. Slater, that day was the first time I met Helen, and I didn't know much about her strengths..."

"Pia told me the details later, you are not his date," Gerrard raised his hand again, stopping Ronald's excuse, "But so many days have passed, and you haven't deepened your understanding. Does she understand?"

"I've been busy shooting the first version of the chewing gum ad in the last few days..." Seeing that Gerald was about to raise his hand again, Ronald said hastily, "I'll find out more about her specialties. She has been filming movies based on acting high school, and she is familiar with her high school teachers."

Gerald lowered his half-raised hand and nodded with satisfaction, "I divorced Helen's mother, which hurt her a lot. She was not happy living with her mother, a lawyer who specialized in promoting anti-nuclear and equal rights. I can only Create conditions for her as much as possible, let her do what she likes.

Transferring her from Great Neck High to Manhattan's acting school was one of the things I did for her, knowing that Helen loved acting and music. "

Ronald nodded. Gerald's social status was higher than Elizabeth Su's father, but he was willing to spend time on his daughter's affairs, and he was a good father.

"Let me give you a hint. Helen received jazz training since she was a child. She can play the piano well and sing well."

Ronald took a pencil on Gerald's desk, drew a new sketch on the spot on the back of the storyboard sketch, and handed it to Gerald.

"This is how I think, Helen can play a young jazz singer, after playing and singing a line, pick up the chewing gum from the piano, and say that commercial line."

Gerrard finally took a look, and appreciated Ronald's urgency.

"In this way, she sits in front of the piano and aims at the camera at 45 degrees, which can show her temperament. I don't know which side of her face is more photogenic. I can arrange the position of the piano at that time."

"Both sides are fine, the left side is better." Gerrard had already tested his daughter's talent in acting.

After talking about the business, Gerald pressed the intercom and asked the secretary to bring in two cups of freshly brewed coffee, "Try it, the Brazilian product my friend gave me."

Ronald picked up a sip, and it was really extraordinary. It didn't have the sour taste of cheap coffee at all, and it had a strong aroma and a good taste.

"I heard you're in trouble at CBS?" Gerald asked suddenly while Ronald was sipping coffee.

"Yes, Darcy Maguire, the creative director of BBDO who hired me, is a woman in pants, and I seem to be involved in a power struggle within their company."

"Stress? You can handle it, can't you?" Gerald took a sip of his coffee, put the cup down, and spread his arms apart, pressing his fingers against those of the other.Staring at Ronald with piercing eyes.

"It's not a problem," Ronald said lightly. "The more small actions the other party makes, it means that someone within the competitor has discovered the excellence of my version of the advertisement. This is not a gap that can be made up by the level of shooting."

"They used a lot of tricks that are not on the stage. I still need to find an absolutely reliable place to do editing and post-dubbing. I don't know Mr. Slater..."

"You go to Stella, she will arrange it." Gerald picked up the coffee again, and picked up the top document on the table with the other hand and looked at it.

Ronald knew it was time to say goodbye.

In the TV editing room that Stella helped contact, Ronald was discussing the final cut with Spike Lee and cameraman Dixon.

"How about this voice-over narration, I specially asked the line teacher in the department to help with it. Why does Jenny, a gymnast, stop eating the old CareFree chewing gum and start eating the new Chewels chewing gum?" The price is not bad, right? ?
"It's really worth the money." Ronald was very satisfied with Spike's connections among black people, and the black line teacher charged a friendly price, and his accent couldn't tell he was black at all.

"He can imitate Shakespeare's accent, English poor Cockney's accent, New York's Brooklyn accent, no problem at all."

Standing in front of the editing machine, Ronald practiced Walter Murch's editing theory.The standing clip is really better. He has pressed the button three times in a row, and they all broke on the same frame.

The TV station’s editing machine is different from the Moviola editing machine used by Ronald in the New World production. Instead of physically cutting the film, he writes down the time code of the video master tape, and then converts the different time codes into different time codes. fragments were re-recorded together.

Some movies also use this kind of editing machine. First, the film is converted to tape mode, and then edited. Finally, it is sent to the laboratory according to the time code, so that the final negative film editor can cut the real film.

The three made a master tape after editing, copied a copy and put it in Ronald's house, and sent the other copy to Miss Maguire, the creative director.

"These are two versions of advertisements with different lengths. This version is 15 seconds long, with a history and consequences. This version is 5 seconds long, with only two lines." Ronald released the advertisement on the video recorder in the office to Darcy Marquette. Er explained.

"I feel that your long version is similar to the short version, without much content." Darcy Maguire said, pointing to the TV screen.

"Yes, so I suggest that if you have 15 seconds, it's better to play the short advertisement three times, so that the probability of being heard by the TV audience is also high." Ronald said with a smile.

"Okay, you and I will go to the meeting together. The bosses have to personally approve it before putting it into the test." Darcy Maguire picked up the video tape and brought Ronald together to appear in the company's largest conference room.

"My dear Darcy, I heard that there was another accident in your editing? Why did you hire this kind of college student to shoot? When will BBDO not be able to afford the fees of a professional production company?" Competitors, another creative director, Dan and Darcy Xi said after shaking hands.

"Because some people in the company don't respect the interests of customers and want to destroy the production of advertisements to win." Darcy Maguire did not show weakness, and his words were sharp, "It's a pity that this is in vain. Ronald and PBS have cooperation. We were able to get CEO Gerald Slater's daughter to appear."

"You..." Dan was hit by Darcy's accusation, and he stood up to refute.

"Hi, hi..." There was a voice clearing his throat from the conference table, and it was the partner who was speaking, "Don't worry, let's take a look at the advertisement samples of both parties first."

Ronald was also sitting in the armchair, curiously looking at what the other party's advertisement looked like.

There was a flash of snow on the TV, and a large outdoor billboard appeared, and an artist was drawing print ads for Chewels.

Ronald saw that the lighting and art work are very luxurious, and the cost is estimated to be not low.It's a pity that the effect cannot be seen on the TV. If it is shot on film and placed on the screen, it may be quite shocking.

An old man walked in front and asked the ad artist, "Why did you forget the word sugar-free?" Then he showed the artist a piece of Chewels chewing gum with the words "sugar-free" on the package.

"Oh, I forgot because Chewels taste so good!"

The voice-over begins: "It's easy to forget that Chewels is sugar-free, he's the only sugar-free gum on the market that tastes good."

Ronald laughed, the idea was fun and had a sense of humor.

The director of the other party was Hugh Hudson, a Briton from RSA. He saw Ronald smile and nodded to him with a smile.

Ronald also nodded.What is shown on the TV now is the version I filmed.

Elizabeth Sue flipped off the uneven bars and pulled out the old-fashioned CareFree sugar-free gum.jingle!Suddenly, like magic, it was replaced with Chewels new chewing gum.

The voice-over begins to ask, "Why did Jenny the gymnast stop eating the old CareFree gum and start eating the new Chewels gum?"

Elizabeth Sue faces the camera: "Because Chewels taste better!"

The joyful emotion of the athletic girl was easily conveyed to the audience, and Ronald was very satisfied.Although Hugh Hudson has a better grasp of the details of the shooting, the lighting and performance are indeed better than himself.

"Everyone can see that the advantages and disadvantages of these two versions of advertisements are very clear, let's not waste time, just use Hugh's version." Dan, the creative director of the other party, said maliciously, "You don't need to use your advertisement. "

(End of this chapter)