Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 173 Pursuing Color
"...Pepsi is neither too much nor too little. You can drink as much as you want for 12 ounces, and it costs 5 cents. You can drink twice the amount. Pepsi--the drink that belongs to you."

In the Courier newspaper, as the radio drama ended, CBS began to insert follow-up commercials.

For some industries, the Great Depression and the crisis are also turning points.

Pepsi was born twelve years later than Coca-Cola, which also caused it to be crushed in the beverage market for a long time.

At the same time, during this period, more than one hundred beverage companies participated in the competition in the cola market.

"Amendment No. 18 (Prohibition of Alcohol Act)" restricted the manufacture of alcoholic beverages, but instead provided a huge market for other beverage products, especially affected by the Great Depression, the distressed people needed spiritual sustenance, cola and coffee It was also during this period that it flourished.

Of course, even in the coke market, there is still a serious gap between the rich and the poor.

As powerful as Coca-Cola, it has always occupied a leading position.

Others such as Pepsi, or Affy-Cola, Ami-Cola, Alla-Cola, Bulema-Cola, Cabo-Cola, etc. are all under Coca-Cola, competing for the market.

Among them, Pepsi stands out by its low-price strategy.

As advertised in radio advertisements, at this time a 6.5-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola cost 5 cents, but if you used that money to buy Pepsi, you could get a 12-ounce Double Coke.

It was by taking advantage of the background of the Great Depression and the economic downturn that Pepsi succeeded in attracting the hardworking people who wanted to taste the taste of carbonated but had little money, and successfully took advantage of the price advantage to steal Coca-Cola's part of the market among the American labor class.

At the same time, it narrowed the distance between itself and Coca-Cola, and established its position as the second largest cola brand.

Of course, Pepsi wasn't the only brand that rose to prominence during the Great Depression.

Another well-known industry is condoms. Affected by the economic shock, people need to avoid anxiety and find cheap means of happiness, but they don’t want to have children. After all, in this period, many people can’t even support themselves, let alone have children. up.

As a result, the condom industry flourished.

Times are tough, but there is always a way to make money.

Whether it's the beverage market, the security market or the newspaper industry where Ke Lin works.

There is no doubt that the Great Depression was a bad time, but it was also a time that gave birth to pain and vitality.

……

"Then, I'll leave the rest to you, Old John."

In Cleaning's cheerful soap advertisement, Colin checked the time on his pocket watch, got up and said to Old John in the newspaper office.

"Leave it to me, sir."

In front of the typesetting machine, Old John nodded while finalizing the words on the comics.

"Sir, your umbrella."

When he came to the door, he put on his coat and hat again and took the umbrella from Little John. Colin turned his head and glanced at the busy workers in the newspaper office. Then he opened the door of the newspaper office and came to the street facing the heavy rain.

"Maybe I should buy a car?"

Standing in the heavy rain with an umbrella, Colin couldn't help thinking.

The Great Depression was definitely a bad time for the auto industry and the oil industry.

However, for those who want to buy a car, it is a good time to buy a new car for half or more than in the past, and the price of gasoline is also cheaper than expected.

The stock price of oil fell to less than US$3, which is only the estimated price in the stock market. In fact, the market price is lower, and some selling prices with obvious declines directly fell to the price of US$0.4.

Of course, if such a price is not acceptable, Ke Lin can buy a second-hand car.

During the Great Depression, many middle-class bankrupts first mortgaged their cars.

If he wants, he can even spend a hundred dollars to buy a luxury car that is [-]% to [-]% new.

beep --

When Colin was thinking about buying a car, the sound of a car horn from behind interrupted his thinking.

Turning his head, looking at the familiar figure in the car, Colin stepped forward and got into the car.

"Long time no see, Colin."

The Fleetwood Series 75, a luxury car that Cadillac produced only 48 examples.

And right now, what Ke Lin got into was one of them.

In the luxury car, Hughes held a cigar and greeted Colin who got into the car.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Closing the umbrella and leaning it against his hand, Colin looked at Howard Hughes, whose skin color was much darker than a month ago, nodded and said: "It seems that your cruise trip has been fruitful."

"really."

Nodding his head, taking a sip of the cigar in his hand, Hughes said with a little excitement in his tone.

"The sea is indeed a good place, and I can now understand why Herman Melville praised the connection between man and the sea so much in Moby-Dick. I have been to the sky and the earth, but I seldom set my eyes on the sea..."

It is not difficult to see from Hughes' description that this trip to the sea left a deep impression on him.

"In the past, I always thought that the sea was quite monotonous, but it wasn't until this voyage that I discovered that the sea is wider than I thought before. During the voyage, we passed countless islands and saw the world's largest Animals have experienced dangerous storms, especially in Greenland, those huge and magnificent icebergs, the huge and beautiful scenes created by the mighty forces of nature, give people an illusion of insignificance."

When talking about Greenland, Hughes's expression was obviously lost.

It seems to be recalling the shock when I saw the iceberg.

"So, you've got footage of the iceberg?"

After watching Hughes in a daze for a while, Colin opened his mouth and redirected the topic back to the movie "Titanic".

Don't forget, the main purpose of Hughes' trip to Greenland is to shoot the movie.

"Speaking of which."

After recovering from Colin’s reminder, Hughes lowered his head and took a puff of his cigar, then paused for a few seconds before saying: “The photographer team did capture the shocking scene of the iceberg, and we also confirmed it in the screening room of the ship. The effect of shooting."

Although Hughes' tone didn't fluctuate much, Colin still sensed something from his reaction.

Sure enough, under his gaze, Hughes in the car changed the subject, shrugged and said in a helpless tone.

"However, I'm not satisfied with the finished product, so I plan to reshoot it all."

Such a 'willful' approach would be unbelievable for someone else.

But for Howard Hughes, it was not unacceptable.

After all, when filming "Hell's Angels" before, he had already done the practice of cutting up the silent film and remaking the sound version.

Of course, on the surface, Colin still cooperated with the inquiry.

"why?"

Hughes took a puff on his cigar, glanced at Colin in front of him, and then slowly replied.

"Because of Superman and Mickey."

Hearing Hughes' answer, Colin immediately showed a surprised expression on his face.

He had expected various reasons for Hughes to reshoot, but he obviously didn't expect that his decision this time would actually be involved in the animated short film he co-produced with Disney.

"After I came back from Greenland, I planned to start filming right away, until I saw your short film. The colors in the short film made me lose the idea of ​​shooting a black and white film. Compared with the gorgeous world of the short film , Black and white movies are too monotonous and dull, we are obviously in a colorful world, why go to the cinema to watch a black and white movie.”

Colin obviously did not expect that color animation would have such a huge impact on Hughes.

It even changed his mind about movies.

"After watching "Superman and Mickey" in a private movie theater, a thought has been lingering in my mind, that is, if animation can be made into color effects, why can't movies, there is no doubt that color movies are the future Just like the era of sound films replacing silent films, people are always looking for better things, since color films will become the trend of film development, why should I continue to shoot black and white films?"

The craftsmanship of color technology has always existed in the film industry, but because of its cumbersome craftsmanship and high cost, it has always been just an embellishment of Hollywood scenes.

In many film productions, this technique is often only used in a few scenes, such as weddings or dances.

However, color movies in the true sense need to wait until a few years later, with the development of dye transfer and cementation technology, before they become popular. Before that, black and white movies are still the mainstream of movies, just like the development of sound movies in the silent film era. , when the sound technology appeared, film practitioners once worried whether the existence of sound would make the film fancy and distract people from the film's story.

Before that, Hughes wanted to make a full-color film, which was obviously quite time-consuming and expensive.

Moreover, no one can guarantee that movies made through color craftsmanship will make money.

Such a time-consuming, labor-intensive and risky approach, how can ordinary people not think about it at all, but Hughes is obviously not an ordinary existence, just like what Roy Disney once mentioned in his letter , he is a maverick existence.

Therefore, after deciding to make the film into a color version, Hughes was ready to sail again on a ship.

Even if the film in his hand uses color transfer technology, it can show colors.

However, for Hughes, this purely crafty technology could not achieve the true color film in his mind.

Only by comparing the gorgeous icebergs on the spot can he perfectly present the colors in his mind bit by bit.

"So, you have already confirmed the sailing time?"

If Colin was really the producer of the movie, he might feel extremely headache about Hughes' crazy approach.

But fortunately, he is just the provider of the script.

Even the purpose of giving the script of "Titanic" at the beginning was just to use this method to build a relationship with the other party, so as to achieve their own goals with the help of contacts.

There is no doubt that this plan is progressing very smoothly.

On the contrary, for the production of "Titanic", he is not as concerned as Hughes.

Just, no matter what.

For Hughes' idea of ​​daring to make the first full-color film in the era of black and white films, Colin still sighed a little.

"It's not that easy to find technicians who can use the color process, so I'll have to wait a while and maybe go back to Los Angeles to see how the hangar is being built."

Although attracted by the magnificence of the sea, Hughes did not forget his sky dream.

During the period of sailing at sea, his aircraft repair shed in Los Angeles has almost been built.

"Compared with planes and ships, the traffic situation on the ground is really bad. If I can't find a suitable plane in New York, I don't want to take the train back. The long journey is really a torment. "

Having said that, Hughes couldn't help complaining about the traffic problem.

He is used to the convenience of airplanes and the unimpeded access of ships at sea, so he has obvious views on transportation such as trains.

"Maybe you can try to develop more convenient means of transportation, such as civil aviation aircraft, or you can solve this problem."

Among Hughes' complaints, Colin said casually.

"It's a good idea, I'll give it a try if I have time after I'm done shooting the movie."

Colin's seemingly 'casual' reminder gave Hughes good inspiration.

Holding a cigar in one hand, he raised his eyebrows.

In this way, the two exchanged ideas about filming in the car.

Hughes spoke most of the time, and he obviously has his own unique ideas for the movie "Titanic".Especially after it was determined that it would be made into a color film, Hughes felt that his passion for film seemed to come back to him.

"We're making history!"

Here's what Hughes says to Colin in the car, and at the same time demonstrates his ambitions in making films in color.

After the topic of the movie stopped for a while, Colin asked him a question.

"Securities manager?"

In the luxury car, Facing Colin's question, Hughes clicked his mouth, smoked a cigar and said, "Now is not a good time to enter the stock market."

Even for Hughes, the stock market during the Great Depression was too dangerous, although he was rich.

But he has no plans to invest money in the stock market. After all, even if he is also losing money, he can at least see something when he uses it to shoot movies, but if he puts it in the stock market, the money may be swallowed up without even a wave. clean.

'Financial swamp' is Hughes' definition of the current stock market.

At the same time, as an industrialist, Hughes has some instinctive resistance to the stock market.

(End of this chapter)