Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1397: Computer Effects B-Movie
"Has the deal been reached? Great, you've done a great job for us in Hollywood. Well, I already have some potential projects here. When you come back, you can sort out the past movies. If there is a suitable one, we will buy the distribution rights in China and send it over there for review..."

The day after the Oscars, Michelle Cannold made an international call from China. The call quality was a bit poor and the price was a bit expensive, but it couldn't stop Ronald and his two eager hearts.

Although the box office market there has dropped significantly compared to the early 1980s when Hollywood films were first discussed for distribution in China, cinemas in major cities are also outdated and in urgent need of updating.

However, the Chinese market has several super advantages that no other international market has. People like Ronald, who are interested in this, will be really drooling at the sight of this big cake that is about to be baked.

Michel Cannold didn't believe it at first, but during the negotiation process, he gradually discovered that the people there had a characteristic that was very different from the bureaucrats in other third world countries: they were more pragmatic.

The biggest advantage is that in such a big country and such a big film market, there is only one company that negotiates the import of films. In other words, as long as they give their approval, your film can appear on screens across the country.

Another good thing is that they can allow the original version of the film to be released, and there are two major dubbing studios in the north and south that can provide dubbed versions of the film. Both subtitled and dubbed versions can meet the needs of two major audiences: those who have language skills and those who want to watch the dubbing of their own country.

Don't underestimate these two advantages. There is no such convenience anywhere else in the world.

For example, in Europe, there are several film distribution circles divided by language. London is the distribution center for English films, which can radiate to Ireland and some English-speaking African countries. The Cannes Film Festival is the distribution center for French films. In addition to France, a large number of French-speaking African countries also accept films released there.

The Venice Film Festival is the distribution center for Italian films. Many places in southern Europe, including the former Yugoslav countries, Spain and Portugal, as well as some Italian communities in Latin America, buy films from there.

The Berlin Film Festival is the distribution center for German-language films, and its influence covers Eastern Europe and some markets that were originally in another camp.

The total population of these market circles is equivalent to that of China alone, which means that their potential is unlimited.

In such a large market, there is only one distribution company that can be connected. After the profit-sharing agreement is in place, all that is left is to wait for the money to be collected. Because in the interests of their own company, they will also monitor the box office and urge the payment.

Although the agreed profit-sharing ratio is not high, only 13 to 15 percent, you don't have to worry about any supervision and distribution marketing. As long as it passes the review and is released, you can just count the money.

Even if the current ratio and box office share are still small compared to the three major European language film circles, but looking at the potential for population and economic development, it is very necessary to invest in building good relationships now. After all, their head office will not change. After a dozen years, when the box office is up, whoever helps them now will be a friend and will be rewarded in the future.

Judging from the filming process of Panda Adventure, as long as they pay attention, the efficiency of doing business is much higher than that of Hollywood. This time the import is handled by a head office, not a single leader, so the long-term return is guaranteed. Ronald decided to support it well...

……

"Paul, how was Oscar's party? Was it a great party?"

In the afternoon, Paul W. S. Anderson, the British director, was called to Ronald's house to chat. He received the Oscar tickets Ronald gave him and went to the scene. Fortunately, this year's awards ceremony was held in a new venue, so there were extra tickets.

"It felt pretty good. Many British practitioners won awards, but I wasn't very familiar with them and didn't go to their parties afterwards."

Paul W. S. Anderson smiled. Before he made this debut film, he wrote scripts for ITV. He was not in the same circle as those British filmmakers who originated from the stage.

Ronald also smiled. The winner, Emma Thompson, and the two winners of the Best Play Award were all from the traditional London theater circle. Many of them graduated from Oxford and Cambridge and had performed traditional British classics such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Dickens since childhood.

Hollywood, on the other hand, grew up from the grassroots. They don’t select actors based on their understanding of Shakespeare’s plays, but on whether they look photogenic. The film philosophies of the two sides are fundamentally different.

Paul W. S. Anderson obviously took the Hollywood commercial route. The actors in his debut film all have very distinctive looks, especially the young male lead, who is very handsome and has the style of a young Michael Caine.

"I have quite a few action movie scripts here, such as the sequel to Black Belt Elite and a script about bombs on public transportation. If you are interested, give me a filming plan. My daydream is to work with a talented director like you."

Ronald understood Paul W.S. Anderson's thoughts and extended an olive branch. He had many films waiting for directors who were capable of shooting action movies and were not averse to shooting B-level commercial films.

“I’d love to, but after watching some of the production processes of Mr. Spielberg’s Dinosaur and talking to Mr. Cameron about his new film, I still want to make a movie that incorporates computer special effects.

Compared with this kind of movie, I think the visual expression of traditional action movies will be very problematic."

Ronald raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that Paul W.S. Anderson had similar views to his own. The special effects images with computer participation were visual wonders that the audience had never seen before. When this kind of thing came out, it would definitely give traditional movies a dimensionality reduction blow for a while.

Who would have thought that the scenes in science fiction novels could be presented so realistically on the screen? The original science fiction novel adaptation movies, such as "Dune" directed by David Lynch, were very boring. They could only use the actors' movements to simulate the science fiction scenes, and add some cheap piu piu piu lasers.

The final effect of the special effects in Dinosaur and the movie that Cameron prepared was that the audience could not distinguish which was the special effect and which was the real shot. In just ten years, the visual presentation of Hollywood movies seemed to have been updated for a century.

But there is a problem with such movies, which is that they are very expensive.

Cameron's last special effects-heavy film, "Terminator 2," grossed over $ million, but that included the sky-high salaries of Schwarzenegger and others.

Spielberg's film also cost nearly 2 million to produce. If you add Industrial Light & Magic and the special effects team that Ronald participated in, and convert it into market prices, and deduct the stars' salaries, the money spent on special effects is higher than that of Terminator .

Ronald himself has never made a movie like this, so how can he be confident in letting a director from Britain shoot it?

"It's good that you have such ambitions, but special effects movies are still very expensive nowadays..." Ronald wanted to say that you still need to practice, and only when you have achieved some results can we make expensive movies for you.

"Of course, I don't have such ambition to come to Hollywood to shoot such an expensive movie. But with the budget of a B-level movie, you can also make a good special effects movie. In "Shopping", I actually used some special effects. B-level movies can also use cheap special effects to achieve a spectacle that the audience has never seen..."

Paul W. S. Anderson talked about his own ideas. After watching the big productions of big directors, he has been thinking about how he can shoot such a cutting-edge technology movie with little money.

This period of time opened his eyes, and it would be difficult for him to go back to shoot action movies with glass-breaking and car chases.

Ronald was silent. This was a risk. He would not invest so much money in such a big gamble for a new director.

But if I don't invest in him and let him make a film in Daydream, I will probably lose this director with great potential. After all, there are not many directors who can, are willing to, and like to make commercial films. And most of them want to make artistic films to prove themselves after becoming famous.

As he thought about it, Ronald's brows relaxed. He remembered a movie that was just right for Paul W. S. Anderson.

"I didn't expect you to like this cutting-edge special effects technology. I've met many directors who are unwilling to update their knowledge and play it safe. You've given me a big surprise. I happen to have a movie that's perfect for you..."

Ronald went back to the study, rummaged through the safe, took out a script, and handed it to Paul W. S. Anderson.

"If you are willing, you can sign an agreement with us, so that you can write a shooting plan for this movie. After I get the plan, if you have proven yourself in terms of technology and shooting skills, but your special effects technology still needs to be evaluated by us, then you can go to investors for a roadshow and raise funds for shooting."

"I'd love to. What kind of movie is this? Does it have a lot of special effects?"

Paul W. S. Anderson felt that he had met his mentor. The producer who gave him this opportunity must have vision and ability. If he had not reached a certain level of artistic and technical skills, how could he have discovered his talent in commercial films?
"This is a movie adapted from a game. You may have seen Street Fighter produced by our company. This movie is also a group fighting movie, but it has more special effects background than that movie because this is a magical story..."

What Ronald wanted to give to Paul W.S. Anderson was the movie adaptation of "Mortal Kombat" produced by Midway Games.

Because Midway Games wanted to make a movie like Ronald in Street Fighter to boost the sales of the game, they also told Daydream Pictures the plot of the second part of the game.

The story goes that Earth is protected by a mythical figure, Raiden, and the Emperor of Another World, through an evil agent, Shang Tsung, wants to invade Earth.

The two sides have always sent out several martial artists to hold a martial arts tournament to determine the winner. If Raiden wins, he can protect the earth from being invaded by evil forces. If Shang Tsung wins, he can absorb and imprison the martial artists' souls, turning the earth into a place of slavery like the other worlds they have invaded.

On the Earth side, there are Liu Kang, the successor of Shaolin Temple, Johnny Cage, the action star who practices real kung fu, Sonia, a special forces soldier, and others. On the villain side, there are some very strange creatures, such as Wedge who can breathe fire, Absolute Zero who can spray ice, two warriors who look like ninjas, and reptiles, which were originally human creatures that turned into lizards when fighting, and also a powerful evil warrior Goro with three heads and six arms.

Judging from this plot, the righteous warriors only need to cooperate with traditional martial arts guidance, while the villains, such as fire, ice, lizards, and three heads and six arms, must be presented through computer special effects.

The good thing about this movie is that it doesn't need too many special effects, and there are many characters, which makes the plot of each person thin. In this way, even if one person's fighting action or special effects are not so satisfactory, as long as the overall plot is compact, the audience can quickly forget those unpleasant parts and immerse themselves in the plot again.

To be honest, this kind of movie is indeed one of the best choices for a novice director to try out computer special effects movies.

After getting Paul W. S. Anderson's contract, Ronald officially asked him to start the preliminary research and preparation for "Mortal Kombat". In addition to this young and promising director, this movie can recruit a group of young actors like "Street Fighter" and may even shoot a sequel. For a small production company like Daydream, it is a perfect project.

……

"Ronald, the film has been edited. Orson Welles is a genius..."

Just as I finished this, Walter Murch called. He had completed Orson Welles' 58 editing suggestions and re-edited the film using the film footage discovered by Universal.

"Okay, I'll send someone to pick you up. I can't wait to see Orson's true level..."

Since Ronald accepted the commission from Orson Welles, he had the opportunity to watch the black-and-white film Touch of Evil on TV several times in the past few years. In his opinion, this film was not a very good creation, and the quality was quite different from Hitchcock's black-and-white film Mental, which was shot a year later and had a similar theme and the same heroine.

But Walter Murch praised it so much, saying that the film edited according to Orson Welles' original intention was better than "Psycho" and more advanced than its time.

Ronald became curious and immediately sent someone to bring Walter Murch and the edited work copy to Los Angeles.

It was afternoon when the movie was shown at Ronald's house. Ronald and Murch were the only ones watching the movie in silence.

The movie has indeed been greatly improved, especially the removal of the opening subtitles and soundtrack, which immediately brings the audience into the suspense of a time bomb about to explode, and after the explosion, they begin to worry about whether the male protagonist can find out the truth.

To be fair, this kind of opening is much more attractive than the opening of Hitchcock's "Psycho" where the heroine is nervously driving. After all, the explosion scene and the spectacle of the long lens are much stronger than the suspense created by Hitchcock with close-ups and actor performances.

It’s just a pity that the Universal executive at the time didn’t recognize the value of the film and thus wasted a groundbreaking work that could go down in film history.

The projectionist soon played the last reel of film, and the bad policeman Quinlan, played by Orson Welles himself, the conscientious detective Menzies, and the male protagonist Vargas arrived at a land full of oil derricks and began to look for each other.

Menzies was wearing a wireless microphone, Vargas was holding a recorder, receiving the content of the radio, and Quinlan was unaware of all this...

"Oh, shxt!" Ronald saw three people chasing each other under a bridge. In the dry bridge arch, the voice carried an echo of the bridge arch.

"I told you, Orson Welles was thirty years ahead of everybody."

"How did this bastard come up with that?" Ronald's mouth opened in surprise. Finally, Quinlan heard the faint echo of his own voice in Menzies's voice, and realized that Menzies used a tape recorder to try to make him confess.

In this scene, the three characters did not say any dialogue about the recording conspiracy, but the audience, like the protagonist Quinlan, understood from the changes in the sound effects that they were recording. The final climax of the decryption was actually achieved through sound processing rather than any performance or lines.

It can be said that there are no people in Hollywood today who have such ingenuity, it is so seamless that the audience can fully understand it without feeling it is contrived.

"I have to send out invitations to all the actors who participated in the show that year to watch it and see what kind of masterpiece it would be if Orson Welles' opinions were edited..."