Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The 12-minute short film was quickly finished, and Ronald was shocked.

The story of the short film was very simple. It was about a man and a woman who escaped from the earth and went to space on a spaceship with artificial intelligence after most of the human race became extinct. The man woke up on the spaceship and was attacked by a huge sweeping robot as an enemy while walking around. The woman drove a combat robot to rescue him.

The plot of this story was incomplete, and it seemed to be only a small part of a complete big story. But the editing was very good, and Ronald, as a viewer, felt nervous.

The scenes inside the spaceship were very impressive, and it felt like the spaceship was dozens of times larger than a person.

The most important thing was that the two robots were extremely real. Ronald couldn't figure out how Jim Cameron spent $24,000 to shoot such a real robot?

Not only could it move freely, but it also fit the human feeling very well, making people feel that the robot was intelligent at first glance. In the end, it got stuck and couldn't move, which made people feel a little humorous.

"What do you think?" Seeing that no one was talking, Cameron took the initiative to ask.

"Your short film has the temperament of 'Star Wars'. The lighting level is superb, and a very simple method is used to capture the feeling of space." The photographer commented, "Star Wars was shot at Pinewood Studios in the UK. I have worked there. If you have the opportunity to shoot there, the image quality of the movie you shoot will exceed that of Star Wars."

"I think the heroine is very powerful. She can drive a combat robot to save the hero. This is rare in Hollywood movies. In today's movies, women usually show off their beauty and wait for men to rescue them. It's time for Hollywood to have a female hero." Gail praised from a female perspective.

"What do you think, Ronnie?" Cameron actually wanted to hear his opinion the most.

"How did you make this model? Is it made of plastic?"

After watching Cameron's performance, Ronald began to doubt whether he really had the talent to be a director.

"How was this shot shot? It's the shot where the male protagonist climbs on the cliff in front of the sweeping robot to avoid the robot's scanning."

"How was the shot where the female protagonist is in the cockpit of the combat robot shot? Did you build a model of the robot's interior?"

"How was the interior of this huge spaceship shot?"

...

Ronald asked more than a dozen questions in a row, and Cameron answered them one by one.

It turned out to be a plastic model. After shooting it with a camera in close-up, the editing technique was used to create the illusion that the robot was very tall.

The female protagonist was in a small room, playing with a "spaceship joystick" modified from fitness equipment, and then using lights to create a dim effect in the cockpit. Finally, the shot of her driving and the shot of the combat robot model in motion were edited together, and the audience would mistakenly think that the female protagonist was driving inside the robot.

The huge internal structure of the spaceship is actually a background painting. Cameron drew a perspective effect, and at the right angle, with dim lights, the audience mistakenly thought that they saw the ceiling of the spaceship.

The shot where the male protagonist hangs on the cliff to avoid the robot was actually edited. The male actor held the edge of a high platform to perform a feeling of fear. Then, through post-production editing technology, the robot's shots were combined together.

The robot is also amazing, and its head can rotate. It is driven by the motor of an electric toy.

The most amazing thing is that the entire short film was edited using the copy function of two video recorders. Because of insufficient funds, Cameron could not afford a professional editing machine, so he used two video recorders to edit.

At the editing point, the copying was paused, and then fast-forwarded to the content to be connected, and then the copying was resumed. In this way, a short film with such a high degree of completion was cut out.

"I think you may change something in Hollywood in the future, Jim."

Ronald said to Cameron: "George Lucas can't shoot an intelligent machine like you with a sense of the end of the world. His robot is just a clown who makes jokes. And your robot is the protagonist of the movie."

"You are exaggerating, Ronald." Cameron laughed happily. Finally, someone saw the part he put the most effort into. Although the actor subtitles of this short film show the male and female protagonists, in fact, the protagonists of the whole film should be the sweeping robot and the combat robot.

The core of the movie story is the routine of righteous robots fighting evil robots.

"Let's go." Gail suggested. Ronald also nodded. It was time to go. He hadn't gotten off work on time for a week. He should go home early today.

Pressing the rewind button, the videotape was ejected from the machine, and the TV screen automatically switched back to the signal of CBS TV. A male host jumped out, and it happened to be a political commentary program.

"Two days ago, the President of America announced that he would establish diplomatic relations with China on January 1 next year, which continued to shock the international community. We invited international experts to analyze the international impact of this incident with everyone..." A theme music sounded.

"Wait a minute..." Ronald stopped Gail from turning off the TV.

"First, let's review the TV speech delivered by the President at the White House on the 15th of the day before yesterday."

The TV screen cut to the Oval Office of the White House. The president, with a head full of silver hair, was reading a script: "First, let me read a joint communiqué that has just been signed. The United States of America will formally establish diplomatic relations with China on January 1, 1979. America will recognize... as the only legitimate government of the Chinese people... This communiqué is a further development of the 1972... communiqué..."

Ronald's mouth opened wide. Finally established diplomatic relations? Do I have a chance to go to China?

I was busy filming these two days and missed this big news. It is also because there is no TV in my apartment. Now Americans, almost all of their information comes from TV channels. CBS is the most authoritative one.

Hurry up and make money to buy a TV.

Ronald added another item to the list of things to do when he makes money.

"Why, are you suddenly interested in international politics?"

Cameron remembered that Ronald was not like the progressive young people nowadays, who liked to talk about international politics and the destruction of nuclear weapons.

"The American government recognizes that there is only one China in the world... America and China will start to send ambassadors to each other in March next year... Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same China." The president continued to speak.

"I am interested in China. Their food is delicious." Ronald said perfunctorily, and his true thoughts could not be leaked to anyone.

China's strength began to show up internationally. As a Chinese soul, Ronald was of course very excited. 5,000 years of ancient wisdom is not something you people with only 200 years of history can understand.

"I think I will have the opportunity to go to Red China to make a movie in the future. If I can make one, it will definitely sell well in America." Ronald explained.

"Then you will have the opportunity in the future. There will be an embassy next year, and you can get a visa to travel first." Gail smiled.

After making money to travel to China, Ronald added another item to the list.

The replay of the White House speech on TV ended, and at the end the president praised the great significance of establishing diplomatic relations with China, which is conducive to world peace.

"Okay, now let's see the opinions of the experts." The male host began to introduce the two guests.

Ronald raised his hand to turn off the TV, and everyone prepared to go home.

"Jim, does the new film you participated in have this kind of robot shot?" Ronald suddenly asked.

"There are no robots, but some spaceships and alien creatures need model stunts."

"Oh, movies like your short films don't actually need too many lines and dialogues. Maybe the movies you make in the future can be sold to China." Ronald said.

Cameron's eyes lit up: "You are right, action and machinery are the film language that all human beings can understand. Only such movies can be sold to non-English speaking countries."

"See you at Mount Carmel High School tomorrow afternoon?"

"See you tomorrow afternoon."