Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Hahaha... Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The formal welcome dinner ended with everyone drinking the Moutai in their glasses.

On the first day of this visit, Jack Valenti, president of the American Film Association, achieved unexpected results. After obtaining consent, foreign film crews can come to shoot on location.

This time when he returns to Hollywood, Valenti will publish large advertisements in newspapers such as The Hollywood Reporter and Variety to let interested filmmakers come and try.

"Do you think many people will come? The conditions are really good. The film talents here are not expensive and the professionalism is enough, but the skills and equipment are a bit outdated." After returning to the Great Wall Hotel, Jack Valenti and Ronald and Gregory Peck drank coffee and talked about the prospects. Some older members of the delegation rested first.

"It's very beautiful here. We will visit the Great Wall tomorrow. This scenery, which is completely different from America, will definitely make a good movie." Gregory Peck has always been a friendly person, and his movies are sought after here.

"I think it will. Orson Welles once told me that as long as we can film here, this gimmick can make any movie a big hit in the American cinema market." Ronald remembered what the old director said to him and used it to prove Valenti's wise decision.

"I feel that our other proposal, to import five Hollywood movies every year, is also very likely to be achieved. After that, we will go to the south to investigate the movie box office market in commercial cities.

There are one billion people here, and the market potential is very surprising. They are also developing very fast. This time we came here, there are already five-star hotels. A few years ago, we could only stay in old-fashioned hotels like motels."

"But the price they offer is very cheap, right?" Ronald asked Valenti.

"Now they can only accept single-film buyouts. I want to promote the system of splitting or copy money. Do you know? Last year, their annual box office champion had 680 million viewers." Jack Valenti said a surprising number of viewers.

"How much?" Ronald almost fell off the sofa. The number of viewers of a movie is equivalent to all Americans going to the cinema three times?

"Think about it, Ronald. As long as they are familiar with your name now, you will be a star director here in the future, just like Gregory. Why is he treated so highly here? It's because he is the first Hollywood star that the audience here has seen after decades.

Use your imagination. The ticket price here is not expensive. Some remote areas even accept eggs in exchange for movie tickets. But after the economic development, if we can get a share of one cent per ticket, it will be a scale of millions of dollars. What if it is ten cents?"

"This?" Ronald dared not think about it. This number has far exceeded his expectations. He will lobby several studios to sell their films to be shown here. Even if it is free or even at a loss, it will be fine.

...

"Ronald, if you don't become a director, you will be an excellent photographer." Gregory Peck praised while holding his photo on the Great Wall. Ronald took a photo of his deep eyes and made him look very handsome.

After the talks and visits in the capital, the delegation went to the largest city in the south to continue exchanges. On the plane, Ronald distributed the photos he had taken in the past few days and printed them urgently to the members of the delegation.

There are shots of them visiting the Great Wall, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and other attractions, as well as exchanges with film artists, visits to the women's volleyball team training and team party, and shots of everyone learning to eat roast duck.

People here always say that culture and sports are inseparable. Ronald also watched the performance of the martial arts team arranged by the host and fought with the folk wrestling masters next to the Temple of Heaven.

He found that the wrestling habits here are very similar to the moves he knew before, and the purpose is also to quickly knock the opponent to the ground, rather than relying on the back to score as in the game. Ronald also exchanged addresses with the representatives of the wrestling team and made an appointment to communicate in the future. They also often receive foreign guests and are very familiar with these procedures.

"Is there a Kodak quick printing shop here?" Gregory Peck was surprised to get the photos so quickly.

"No, they have great hand-printing masters, who print better than Kodak and are comparable to professional technicians in Hollywood." Ronald said.

"I like them. They remind me of many old friends. Hollywood was also full of such geniuses back then."

In the south, they were able to communicate more deeply with the artists here. In the past, this place was also a major film town.

"Who directed this movie?" Ronald asked Xiao Yan, a young translator assigned to him.

"It's Director Xie."

"Oh, can I meet him and talk to him?" Ronald watched "The Wrangler" produced a few years ago, which was arranged by the reception of the film studio. Ronald saw a little bit of Hollywood shooting techniques from it, one main and two over-the-shoulder, close-up reaction shots are used very skillfully.

"We arranged for you to communicate with young directors. Director Xie is busy with his new film and went to the scene to collect materials. He can't come to receive friends for the time being." Xiao Yan replied.

"Okay, what other arrangements are there?" Ronald felt that Xiao Yan's English must have been practiced by learning New Concept English, and there was a sense of familiarity. In addition, the two were of similar age, so they could talk together.

"What we have arranged is to communicate with Director Xie's assistant director and deputy director Huang, and then we can visit the translation studio. We also left some time for you to taste special food, go shopping and visit Yuyuan Garden."

Director Huang is a woman and is very envious of Ronald for being a full-time director at such a young age. Director and assistant director here is not only a job, but also a professional title.

The two talked about the shooting mechanism of Hollywood. Director Huang was very interested when he heard that Ronald's good friend Cameron was shooting movies in which the female characters were very independent. She expressed that she would like to watch his movie if she had the chance.

The translation studio is a place that specializes in dubbing foreign movies. Unlike the Soviet Union, the movies here will have actors re-dubbing Chinese lines for the characters so that ordinary audiences can understand them.

Ronald watched their work for a while and found it very interesting. The translated lines are obviously well written, both in terms of mouth shape and performance of the lines, they are all seamless.

Gregory Peck, who came with him, was even more excited than Ronald. After watching the dubbing clips of the movie he starred in, he even told the dubbing actor Qiao that the audience here understood his movie better than the audiences in America, and it was all thanks to the translators and actors.

"Click, click", Ronald was guest photographer, taking photos of actors Gregory Peck and Joe. Suddenly the Kodak film he brought was not enough. He pulled Xiao Yan, gave him some dollars, and asked him to buy some film.

He discovered that what Xiaoyan bought was not Kodak or a Japanese brand, but a simply packaged local film. There are various parameters equivalent to Kodak above.

"You can help me develop it." Ronald also wanted to see the performance of this film.

He handed over the dollar bills.

The effect is really good. The black and white film is almost the same as Kodak. The quality of the color film is slightly lower, but it is enough.

After the visit, Ronald asked Xiao Yan to take him to Yu Garden.

"Ronald, uh. I have to tell you, I took your US dollars and can exchange them for exchange coupons. The real purchasing power of this token is much higher than our currency. So I used my own The performance of this film is very good, reaching the advanced level of Kodak in the 1970s. I can return the remaining money to you, but can I use these coupons? Buy a camera."

"You're very honest. There's nothing wrong with that." Ronald waved his hand, indicating that he didn't want Xiao Yan's money. "To me, it doesn't make any difference. I still need US dollar exchange coupons to buy things here."

"Hey, let me treat you to Xiao Long Bao. I know there is a restaurant on Huaihai Road that is the most delicious."

Xiao Yan is very happy. His father works in a film factory. If he wants to join the factory to take over, he also needs professional skills. If he has a camera, he can slowly learn photography.

There were also many foreign guests in the foreign-related restaurant. The waiter was well-informed and brought a basket of xiaolongbao and placed it on Ronald's table.

"Hey, wait, the juice inside is very hot." Xiao Yan hurriedly told Ronald, who had already picked up the chopsticks, to be careful.

"Oh...it's really hot."

Ronald exhaled, this was much better than the one in Chinatown.

"This is a southern snack, turtle jelly, to remove heat. Eat more, because you just burned it." Xiao Yan ordered another snack for Ronald.

"Well, you should eat some too. This turtle paste tastes good."

Ronald ordered another order and then asked to pay.

"It's all paid in advance." Xiao Yan said with a smile. He took advantage of Ronald, so he invited him to have some snacks to express his feelings.

"Do you have any movies that reflect the lives of ordinary people?"

After eating the special snacks and visiting Yuyuan Garden and the Bund, Ronald asked if he could watch some movies that reflected the lives of ordinary people.

"Yes, there was a movie with a high box office last year called 'The Bridge'

"Xiao Yan, where did you take the foreign guests? Don't violate discipline." The factory director pretended to have a straight face.

"No, no, the foreign guest wants to see the Bund and Yuyuan Garden. He is a photography expert and he also used our domestic film. He said that the film is very good."

"You kid, don't be naughty. Your father said I can beat you." The factory director touched Xiao Yan's head.

"Foreign guests want to see a realistic-themed movie, and I wonder if I could tune in to the movie 'The Bridge Takes the Opportunity'.

"Hey, you have a good idea. Let's arrange for Assistant Director Huang to accompany you. You are all young people and can hold a symposium. Write a summary of what we talked about so that everyone can listen."

"Assistant director Da Qiao and Huang accompanied Ronald to watch.

Xiao Yan wanted to translate for Ronald, but he made a shushing gesture.

"This international friend is still quite good. Just look at the body movements and watch the performance without any lines." Assistant Director Huang was surprised by Ronald's high level.

Ronald watched this movie, which was somewhat similar to the movie "Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears" that he introduced. It was also a romantic drama about urban young men and women.

The male protagonist is a bicycle repairman, and the female protagonist is a tailor who makes a living by cutting clothes for people in the alley.

The male protagonist is interested in the female protagonist, and both of them are older adults. But the heroine is always a little melancholy, and seems to be away from the pursuit of the hero. And I would go to visit my uncle and aunt on a distant farm every week.

Director Bai of this film seems to have been trained in Hollywood, just like Director Xie. The anxiety and mystery of the heroine's journey are fully expressed with close-ups of her footsteps.

Ronald concluded that the technique of creating suspense is in the same vein as Hollywood. Director Bai also likes to shoot the legs of beautiful women.

In the second act of the movie, the strange behavior of the heroine is finally revealed. It turns out that she is an unmarried mother! She went to the farm to see her son who was fostered at her uncle's house.

"So you can also shoot unmarried mothers? It seems that love dramas are indeed interlinked. Among all kinds of human emotions, only love can transcend the barriers of race, language, and culture to a certain extent."

Ronald glanced at Deputy Director Huang. It seems that whether in the East or the West, urban youths get married late.

At the end of the movie, the heroine went from being loved by the hero's mother to being disgusted after discovering that she had a child out of wedlock. Later, the heroine's son was bullied by the bully kid in the alley and went to the hospital. The hero's mother came out to scold the bully kid and loved the heroine's son.

The two of them got along well. The heroine told the hero why she had a child out of wedlock by showing him her diary.

Two young people fell in love on a farm, but after the girl got pregnant, the boyfriend went abroad to reunite with relatives in America, abandoning the heroine and her unborn child.

Under dim lights and heavy rain, the heroine was taken to the hospital by her uncle on a flatbed cart, and gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Heavy rain, dim road, and Director Bai's atmosphere were very successful, making the audience fall into deep sympathy for the heroine.

"Clatter! Crater!" One after another, lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the heroine's suffering face.

"This?" Ronald stood up all of a sudden, "How did you do it?"

He saw the lightning on the screen, which was very bright, surpassing the effect that all the lamps in Hollywood could achieve, and it was exactly the same as the lightning in life.

"What method did you use? What lamp? I want to introduce this kind of lamp to you!"

"This?" Deputy Director Huang suddenly realized that the foreign devil could speak Chinese.

"You should ask Xiao Yan, that was invented by his father."

7017k