hollywood melon man

Chapter 234 Dawn of Technology

Taking advantage of his free time, Little Gilbert and James Cameron came to IMAX's headquarters in Toronto to visit their company.

"This is the latest generation of IMAX projection technology we have developed. It can accommodate more screen content with an ultra-wide screen and more details."

The technical director of IMAX personally received two super directors from Hollywood. This is a quite good opportunity for IMAX.

"This is our latest IMAX camera developed. The technology has been proven. With our projection technology, you can enjoy an unparalleled picture experience."

Faced with IMAX director Macaulay's gushing, James Cameron was more pragmatic. He interrupted: "Is there a screening room? Let's see the effect."

"Of course, please come with me, both of you." Macaulay led little Gilbert and James Cameron into one of their company's own screening rooms.

Little Gilbert was not surprised when he saw the spacious big screen. After all, he had watched too many IMAX movies in his previous life and didn't feel anything at all.

However, this big screen shocked James Cameron a little. He praised: "Watching movies on such a big screen must be very enjoyable."

Macaulay also introduced: "This projection system is not only an innovation in photography and screen screen technology, but also an auditory experience. We specially designed the sound system of the theater, and the experience is absolutely great."

Coupled with the eager eyes of film companies such as Universal Paramount, Warner and Disney once again reached a cooperation to promote "Harry Potter" together.

The films started to be shown soon, mainly some documentaries shot by IMAX company, which were not long, about 20 minutes.

After watching it, Macaulay asked: "How is it? Is the effect of this picture good?"

Since Gilbert Jr. obtained the rights to "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," he has teamed up with Warner Bros. and Disney to promote the series of novels.

And because of Gilbert Jr.'s relationship, the two companies have become more and more closely cooperating. This close cooperative relationship puts other Hollywood companies under tremendous pressure.

Sheena Boone nodded, understanding.

Also, there are some problems with the frame rate of the camera. It is higher than the frame rate of ordinary cameras, but it is not very stable. "

Little Gilbert frowned and said: "Sheena, you are responsible for this matter. Find out the conditions that Don Murphy offers to Hasbro. We will increase the price appropriately and win the copyright."

According to the current situation, there is a high probability that the stalemate will continue, and maybe half of it will be the same company.

"I think it's very possible," said little Gilbert.

"Okay," Macaulay was not embarrassed after being interrupted, and quickly went to find a movie to show.

Although IMAX technology has not yet reached the commercial stage, it has gradually matured. Little Gilbert has been exposed to the forefront of the film technology revolution and will not let himself fall behind.

The two found a good viewing position. Before the movie was played, James Cameron asked: "Do you think it is possible to use this technology in movies?"

Macaulay gave a thumbs up and said: "Director Gilbert, you are really an expert. Yes, these problems you mentioned exist objectively, and we are currently solving these problems.

If the two companies didn't belong to different media groups, I'm afraid someone would have sued in federal court in the name of antitrust.

James Cameron said: "I am very interested in your system. I happen to be working on a 3D photography system recently. Can I cooperate with your company?"

Little Gilbert felt that he seemed to have a hobby of collecting stamps from movie series. When he had all those well-known movie series in his hands, the feeling was even more enjoyable than opening a bank party.

"Stop talking nonsense," little Gilbert interrupted: "Let's watch a movie first and let's experience it."

"So cheap?" Little Gilbert was startled, then asked: "Are there any additional terms?"

This is the king of the world. He wanted to cooperate with IMAX. Of course Macaulay was very excited and immediately agreed.

"Indeed, a producer named Don Murphy has been in contact with Hasbro as early as last year. It is said that they have almost reached an agreement on the terms." Anna said.

"What about the other news?" Little Gilbert asked Anna again.

Hasbro has no intention of selling the rights to "Transformers" for the time being, but they are willing to sell the rights to "G.I. Joe".

In fact, both Warner and Disney wanted to work alone with Gilbert Jr. on "Harry Potter" at the beginning, but Gilbert Jr. was up for grabs, and neither party was willing to give in.

"No problem, we are happy to cooperate with a great director like you. It is our honor."

For the IMAX company, making documentaries is not what they want, so how much money will it cost?
What they want is to build an IMAX system, including the entire process from photography equipment to projection terminals.

But having said that, both companies are currently thinking of acquiring Gilbert Jr.'s Melon Film Studio.

"What about the combination of IMAX technology and 3D technology?" James Cameron asked again.

Sheena Boone on the side said: "I know this Don Murphy. He mainly cooperates with Paramount Pictures and also has some relations with DreamWorks."

The trajectory of fate has changed slightly. The project that originally belonged to Warner alone is now being interfered with by Disney.

It’s not that he wants to grab all the money-making projects, but it’s a pity not to get “Transformers”.

"This requires experimentation and improvement." Little Gilbert replied.

IMAX has great ambitions, and winning the Academy Award for Science and Engineering this year means that they have been recognized by Hollywood.

Little Gilbert frowned and communicated with Anna: "Is someone trying to snatch the copyright of "Transformers" from us?"

Annahui reported: "We settled the matter with the tabletop game company very smoothly, and the other party readily agreed to sell the copyright, and the price was only US$200,000."

Little Gilbert's idea is very simple. A series that can make six or seven movies must have excellent commercial results.

After finishing his visit to IMAX, Little Gilbert returned to Los Angeles and continued to participate in the promotion activities of "The Matrix".

At this time, assistant Anna received two pieces of news. The first was that the contact with Hasbro was not going well.

"There are no additional terms, they just hope that this board game can be quickly promoted, just like "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which is now on the top of the bestseller list in North America." Anna said.

Little Gilbert said: "The current resolution of your IMAX screen is not high. When I look at the edges of the screen, the entire picture quality is blurry.

It is hoped that a mature photography system will be born in the near future. "

The two companies jointly hold shares in Cantaloupe Film Studio. Although they are not a company from a commercial perspective, there are already signs of this.

Of course little Gilbert was not in a hurry. Why was he anxious? It's someone who wants to acquire Xigua Studio. Judging from the current situation, the longer he waits, the higher the value of Melon Studio will be.

Of course, these are all digressions.

When one of the world's two most powerful media conglomerates joins forces to promote an inherently high-quality novel, the power it exerts is unparalleled.

Since its release in North America, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" has sold 3.5 million copies in North America, successfully ranking first among North American bestsellers of the season.

The most important thing is that the novel has a very high reputation. Not only children love to read it, but even adults are attracted by the gorgeous magical world in the book.

Such successful promotion has made Warner and Disney more aware of the brand value of "Harry Potter".

J.K. Rowling's second and third novels are currently being written, the series promotion work is going very well, and Warner and Disney are already discussing the possibility of film and television adaptation of the novels.

Little Gilbert himself is also considering whether to direct the "Harry Potter" series himself.

However, the "Harry Potter" series is about to launch. After finishing "The Matrix", he is also busy with "Chicago". In addition, he also has to focus on the preparation work for "Lord of the Rings", so he really has no way to divide his time.

But he can definitely be a producer and keep an eye on the progress of the "Harry Potter" project so that the project can go in the direction he wants.

Since the board game manufacturer was willing to sell the copyright, and it was only for $200,000, little Gilbert no longer hesitated and directly ordered Anna to get it.

Sheena Boone asked: "Are you going to do a cyberpunk story?"

"No," Little Gilbert shook his head and said, "The time is not yet ripe and the technology cannot meet the requirements. We need time." Sheena Boone was about to say that there are many good actors under her banner, but Little Gilbert said this. Out, she immediately took it back.

"By the way," Little Gilbert asked Sheena Boone: "Is that Vin Diesel still under your command?"

"Yeah, I've done a few dramas for him. He's currently a second- and third-tier star with a promising future," said Sheena Boone.

"I have an idea, it's a racing theme, the investment won't be big, I think he's very suitable to be the leading actor." Little Gilbert said.

Sheena Boone's eyes lit up: "Will you direct this project yourself?"

"I don't have time, but I think this is a project with great potential. You go and get Vin Diesel. If possible, the studio will start this project this summer."

What little Gilbert is talking about is "Fast and Furious". In the same way, if a movie series can be filmed for eleven movies, it proves that the movie series is profitable enough.

Little Gilbert doesn't want to miss out on this money-making project.

As for the "Cyberpunk 2013" board game, little Gilbert has a rough plan in mind, and he will try something different.

The story of CDPR in the previous life was well written. Although it is a cyberpunk story, it is sufficiently immersive.

One might say that cyberpunk's stories aren't very engaging, and the few movies it's had have not done very well.

Little Gilbert analyzed the reason and felt that although the picture style was very attractive, it added a lot of Japanese culture and it became an imported product.

The original cyberpunk culture was actually a purely Western concept born in the 1980s. Later, the islanders were obsessed with this culture and quoted it, forming Japanese cyberpunk culture.

But it doesn’t matter if there are Japanese elements. The important thing is how to make it attractive.

Little Gilbert felt that it didn't need to be as vague as "Blade Runner", but needed a Cyber ​​Arkham-style story to bring this theme to fruition.

CDPR's plan is actually very good. The purpose of V in the main story is very clear. What he does is only for two purposes. To become famous in Night City, become a big shot, and then save his own life.

There is no great goal, such as cyber awakening and saving humanity in Night City, but such a story about personal destiny seems touching enough.

But if little Gilbert were to take action, he would choose to start with the story of David in "Edgewalker", then go back to the story of Johnny Silverhand, and then move on to V and insert the story of "Shadows of the Past".

After this process, at least five or six movies can be made.

Of course, the above thoughts are just his imagination as a game fan. If we really want to advance this project, we must do a lot of market research and preparation.

If you start this project rashly without adequate preparation, you are very likely to face the risk of failure. This is not what little Gilbert wants to see.

Putting all the above aside, the promotion of "The Matrix" continues.

Starting in April, Gilbert Jr. began appearing on talk shows with Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, and Hugo Weaving.

Interestingly, when the host asked about the inspiration and source of the story of "The Matrix", little Gilbert replied: "In fact, the idea of ​​the whole story at the beginning came from the book of the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. "Simulacra and Simulation".

It describes a surreal experience based on simulacra, and tells how society and reality are replaced by symbols, and will eventually be decomposed into the virtual world.

I asked every actor to read this book thoroughly before participating in the film, and finally completed the filming of "The Matrix".

A line spoken by Lawrence himself comes from the first page of the first chapter of this book. "

The audience at the scene listened to it in a foggy atmosphere, and felt that it was so profound that they could not understand it. But in order not to show any cowardice, I pretended to understand and then clapped along.

What's even more interesting is that after the recording of the program ended, "The Matrix" also sent an invitation to Jean Baudrillard, asking him to attend the premiere of "The Matrix", and Jean Baudrillard readily agreed.

I don't know how Jean Baudrillard would feel after seeing "The Matrix". It probably won't be too good. After all, for commercial reasons, "The Matrix" only touches on philosophy and won't go into depth.

It is estimated that Jean Baudrillard will not have anything nice to say by then, so Warner and Disney will need to work hard in this regard.

In addition to these normal publicity and distribution work, because "Armageddon" and "The Matrix" directed by Michael Bay were released on the same day, the two films began to fight openly and covertly during the publicity and distribution stage.

"Armageddon" is a project packaged by Michael Ovitz's International Artist Management Company, in cooperation with Sony Columbia Pictures, and DreamWorks also participated in the investment.

DreamWorks also has a project of its own, "Crash", in collaboration with Paramount.

However, the project "Crash" was launched in July and is not a competitor to "The Matrix", so there is no need to target it.

The project "Armageddon" is controlled by Sony Columbia Pictures. According to Spielberg, if it were controlled by DreamWorks, he would definitely change the schedule and not meet with little Gilbert.

But it's a pity that Sony Colombia's island executives were brain-burned, and Michael Ovitz got some inexplicable information, saying that "The Matrix" was too brain-burning and incomprehensible.

This gave Sony Columbia Pictures full confidence in "The End of the World" and allowed Michael Bay to talk wildly to little Gilbert.

The two sides are tit for tat in terms of publicity. Today you are on this show, and tomorrow I will be on this show. Today you are doing publicity in this city, and tomorrow I will come to this city to do publicity.

Michael Bay is a rogue. Wherever the crew of "The Matrix" goes, he will take "The End of the World" with him.

Michael Bay privately told Michael Ovitz: "My purpose in doing this is to eliminate the influence of "The Matrix" and let our film replace "The Matrix" and become the focus of discussion among the audience."

Michael Ovitz thinks Michael Bay's idea is good and strongly supports it.

It’s just that they forgot one platform, which is Internet propaganda.

Today's Internet propaganda is not as powerful as it was later, but as long as it is used properly, it can still achieve good results.

Based on the nature of the film, Gilbert Jr. has attached great importance to online promotion very early and achieved good results.

If there is a hot search term now, the top few search terms will definitely be related to "The Matrix".

However, regardless of the popularity on the Internet, in terms of popularity of the two films in reality, "The Matrix" is slightly better due to the appeal of Little Gilbert.

Michael Bay is crazy, but in terms of fame, he obviously can't compare with Little Gilbert as he has no representative works.

This fact made Michael Bay very depressed because he found that no matter how hard he tried, the audience always thought that he was not as good as Gilbert Jr.

Michael Bay has not lost his fighting spirit. He still firmly believes that this stereotype will be reversed after "Armageddon" defeats "The Matrix".

Another very interesting thing is that the well-known "Oprah Show" in the United States invited the crew of "The Matrix" to appear on the show.

However, when faced with the invitation, little Gilbert refused and refused to appear on the show.

Since its launch in 1986, "The Oprah Show" has been the flagship talk show, and the program's congratulator, Oprah Winfrey, has become one of the most well-known hosts in the United States.

But the main topics this program focuses on are sex, abuse, difficulty losing weight, lack of self-confidence and other real-life issues that are closely related to the lives of ordinary people.

The program attempts to provide people with guiding advice through discussion and analysis of typical cases.

Especially weight loss has become the biggest topic when there is no topic. Oprah believes that discrimination against obese people is one of the latest prejudices in the United States.

In addition, family life is also one of the focuses of "The Oprah Show". Topics such as financial management, safety, decoration, etc. are often discussed in the program to provide people with help and reference.

The "Oprah Talk Show" programs are highly topical, often involving controversial or sensational events, or some confusing psychological issues.

Therefore, the program often invites a psychological expert to help guests solve their confusion and provide some constructive suggestions.

Since the show was broadcast, it has also interviewed the world's pop king Michael Jackson, as well as pop queens Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and others.

But to be honest, the main audience for "The Oprah Show" is housewives, which is exactly not the audience for Little Gilbert's movie.

Therefore, this is also the main reason why little Gilbert rejected this show.

(End of this chapter)