Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The box office of "Ghost" continues to be strong.

People inside Hollywood began to circulate a rumor that was said to have leaked from Warner Bros.

As Warner Bros. has always paid great attention to the return on investment, they hired some management consulting companies to analyze the impact of important genres, directors, stars, etc. on the box office.

This year, they concluded that romantic love movies are returning and the influence of female stars on the box office is rising rapidly. The male stars of "Pretty Woman" and "Ghost" did not score high in the popularity q analysis, and the story and director's ability did not get high scores in the internal evaluation.

So after excluding all possible options, the "reasonable" conclusion is that romantic comedies have returned to the mainstream market again after many years and have been loved by the audience. Female stars have gradually returned to the center of attracting audiences and are no longer the foil of male stars.

The most important evidence for this analysis is the theater exit market survey of ceasres. When answering the question of what is the biggest reason to watch these two movies, most viewers chose the two actresses Julia Roberts and Demi Moore.

In Ronald's hand was the detailed report that CEASRES had made for "Ghost".

This movie

In Hollywood movies, only in the early silent and black-and-white era, female stars were the biggest box office attraction. The reason why female stars like Greta Garbo became famous was that she was one of the few women whose box office attraction could be compared with that of male stars in the future.

At that time, Garbo's

However, since the maturity of genre films in the late 1930s, male stars have gradually replaced female stars in terms of box office attraction. Starting with Clark Gable, the names of male stars gradually climbed to the top of movie posters

Audiences are no longer satisfied with seeing close-ups of beautiful women to feel happy. They require more twists and turns in the plot and exciting pictures to get pleasure. The screen has also begun to increase the number of fists, bullets, and pillows, which have made men the protagonists in the most popular genre films.

Is it the turning point of history again? Female stars are starting to gain a large number of fans again. The new genres led by Ronald and Cameron (such as business war and action genres that highlight female roles) have given female stars more important positions.

"This report makes a lot of sense..." Diane also took the consulting report and was very excited. It praised Ronald's role in the creation and development of new female films.

"I don't know. I didn't think so when I was shooting those movies." Ronald took a sip of coffee, this time it was Japanese coffee. The Japanese are very careful in making products. Not only are the coffee beans carefully selected, but they are also equipped with various special coffee pots and other supplies. The detailed picture brewing process allows any ordinary housewife to make delicious coffee according to the picture.

Although there are still flaws, Ronald can already drink it. "Richard, you should try this coffee too..."

This consulting report analyzes various factors in great detail. The answer that really interests Ronald is the ranking.

Many viewers also filled in the supplementary plot in the underlined text at the back. Many people say that the special effects in the movie make them feel good, which is more touching than many movies that deliberately use special effects as a selling point.

Especially at the end, the evil ghost dragged Carl, played by Tony Goldwyn, into hell by the Grim Reaper holding a sickle, and Sam, played by Patrick Schweitzer, ascended to heaven in the milky white holy light descending from heaven.

Most American audiences have been taught about heaven and hell in their family education. Many people were frightened by their parents when they were young, saying that they would go to hell if they did bad things.

The links about heaven and hell in "Ghost" pulled out the childhood memories of many audiences from the forgotten corners, so many people mentioned these two clips in particular.

"Hey, it turned out that these two special effects clips are the most touching, and I didn't expect it." Ronald felt that this was the most inspiring part of the consulting report. The three special effects teams of "Ghost" spent the most energy and time not on these two plots, but on the shot where Sam's soul left his body and came back to see his body lying in Molly's arms.

Because there were two Sams, it took a lot of time to align the two shots, and because the early shooting was not done well, it was reshot.

In fact, after evaluation, the three special effects supervisors found that the two scenes of going to hell and going to heaven were not very suitable for the current computer-generated special effects. In the end, they found animators to use traditional painting techniques to draw the black smoke of the death god and the milky white holy light.

If the models and computer special effects of Industrial Light and Magic are high-tech. The two special effects that moved the audience the most in "Ghost" are genuine "low-tech".

"I called the three special effects supervisors and said it would be a pity to disband such a team."

…

Richard Edlund, Catherine Keen, and John Van Vliet, the three supervisors who jointly completed the special effects work of "Ghost", were invited to Ronald's home.

The three of them had not seen each other for a long time and exchanged greetings for a while. Richard Edlund is good at light effects, Catherine Keen is good at keying and alignment, and John Van Vliet is good at making objects or human bodies move.

After the end of "Ghost", they all started to take on other film jobs. But no film was as exciting as "Ghost".

First, Ronald trusted them and fully authorized them, discussing the technical route and nodes in detail beforehand. Later, he also understood that some of their shots could not be completed due to technical difficulties, and would rather reshoot the pictures to match the special effects.

Second, such a movie requires close cooperation between the three parties. The small businesses that followed were just a link in the assembly line. Compared with being a nominal special effects director and producing the final scene that moved the audience, the sense of accomplishment brought by "Ghost" is much greater.

"Everyone, I have good news..."

Ronald walked into the study, saw the three special effects directors, rubbed his hands and sat down.

The three looked at each other. Did Ronald have a new project for them to participate? This was very happy. Ronald paid generously and the transfer time was not a day off. He was a very good boss.

"Mr. Li, do you have any new projects that need our service?" Van Fleet was the closest to Ronald among the three, and he spoke on behalf of the other two.

"Haha, there is no project for the time being. I invited you to come here to share the money." Ronald took out three checks and handed them to the three of them.

"This?"

The three directors took the checks and looked at the numbers on them. They all suspected that they had read them wrong. They quickly counted secretly. There were indeed five zeros after the single digit. The special effects industry is not like star actors. There is no such thing as dividends after the event, right?

Everyone paid the money and delivered the goods at the same time. The price increase was based on the high box office of the special effects blockbusters they participated in. The biggest help Ronald's "Ghost" gave them was the signature in the subtitles at the end.

"Isn't this against the rules?" Van Fleet was an honest man and didn't know how to express his gratitude.

"He meant that Ronald, you are really an outstanding producer and director in the industry. We have been in this industry for so long,

"Well, thank you, boss. However, are there other considerations for inviting us together this time?" Richard Edlund has been in the industry the longest. He knows that if it was just a bonus, he would not call all three of them.

"Haha, you are right. "Ronald nodded at him. "First of all, I am a person who recognizes the value of special effects. There is something wrong with the current Hollywood system. If a movie is a hit, people who have made important contributions should be given financial recognition, rather than letting them ask for a high price for the next movie and then ruin that movie. "

Ronald gave his reasons. After a star wins an Oscar, he will be out of favor for three years. This is largely because the asking price has increased. They can only select those bad movies that hire stars at a high price but are bad in other aspects.

The same is true for special effects companies. Except for Industrial Light and Magic founded by George Lucas, other successful special effects teams can easily go bankrupt immediately. This is because after a special effects hit movie, they are immediately asked to copy these things on bad movies at a high price. As a result, a large number of special effects are used in bad movies. If the box office is not good, the value of special effects will not be widely recognized by the industry.

Therefore, Ronald thinks that the special effects team should be given due recognition for the big box office. Don't let them take on a large number of bad movies in order to update equipment and retain talents.

Several people nodded vigorously. This director knows the pain of special effects companies too well.

"

The three nodded. Ronald is really one of the few directors in Hollywood who understands special effects production.

"So, I plan to keep this team for a long time and provide overall special effects solutions for more movies."

"Huh?" The three raised their eyebrows when they heard it. Van Fleet was willing to do it. As long as he had a movie project to work on, he didn't care about anything else. Catherine was a little worried. She mainly did detailed film restoration work. How much of the movie special effects would she need? Is the business volume enough? Edlund wanted to hear Ronald's proposal. Many successful directors had the idea of ​​setting up their own special effects company, but only Industrial Light \u0026 Magic succeeded.

"This is what I plan to do..."

Ronald said his idea. He didn't want to acquire the three companies. Daydream's special effects business couldn't support a large company. His idea was to invest in the three companies. Daydream and his friends wanted to shoot some low-cost productions. This special effects company could provide high-quality and low-cost special effects services to fill the usual business.

When there is a big production that requires a lot of special effects business, let the three companies give priority to the best special effects engineers and join the big production.

This way, the three companies can be flexible and mobile. They can be divided and combined, just like a group of sparrows. They usually look for food on their own, and then they will come together to fight together when there is a big project.

This relieved the concerns of the three special effects directors. After discussing with their partners, the three agreed to Ronald's request to buy shares. The engineers of the three companies formed a "Ronald team". Their

…

"Ghost" has arrived

Paramount was very excited about this new record, and the celebration party was very grand. Ronald received countless active approaches from actresses there.

In the consulting report that was circulated, the ranking

Who wouldn't want to get in touch with such a director?

Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to get in touch with him. Ronald was surrounded by several familiar sexy female stars, such as Kim Basinger, Annette Bening... These bitches relied on their acquaintance with Ronald, and immediately interrupted him no matter what he said, and did not give others a chance to interrupt.

"I have to go first, sorry, I miss my son..." Ronald was surrounded by a group of beautiful women with different characteristics, and he felt very good, but this kind of celebration was crowded and he couldn't expose too much.

"My child, loving your family is a good quality..."

The speaker was Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest. The suburb where he lived was the poorest and most unsafe suburb in Los Angeles. He did a lot of charity for young men and women there, and was also a frequent guest at major Hollywood charity galas, often begging for alms.

"Ah, thank you, Father Boyle. I donated to your project." Ronald took out his checkbook.

"No, my child, your movie is also very helpful to us." Father Boyle smiled and stopped him. This was not a charity gala.

"Really? I'm very happy." Ronald made a note to donate to such a real good man. He thought the priest was just being polite.

"I'm telling the truth. Your movie Ghost is a great way to get young men and women closer to God. I have more young people coming to my weekly sermons, and they have become more pious."

...

"Why does Father Boyle say Ghost makes people more pious? Is it because the special effects of heaven and hell are good?"

Ronald returned home and wrote a check to the priest while chatting with Diane.

"Look, I saw the Christian Science Monitor today, and there is a review of your movie on it."

"Does this kind of newspaper also have reviews?" Ronald took the newspaper with a smile. The more he read, the happier he was. It seems that the church really likes his movies.

The above is an interpretation of "Ghost" by an evangelical priest. First, he gently let go of the inconsistencies between the movie and the Bible. "Compared with the orthodox understanding of what happens after the soul leaves the body, some elements in the movie are accurate and some are wrong. These elements themselves do not pose a big problem for a believer. The problem lies in the overall tendency of the movie."

Then he began to brag about the movie's accurate interpretation of the spirit of the Bible.

For example: There are good guys and bad guys in the movie. When bad people die, such as murderers and embezzlers, their souls come out of their bodies, and within seconds, terrible black messengers of God emerge from the ground, growling and roaring, and take the poor guys screaming to hell. In fact, this is an accurate and completely orthodox view. There are dozens of records in the stories of the Desert Fathers and the lives of various saints to support this view.

For example, he commented that the film's representation of the Holy Light and heaven is very accurate and consistent with the Bible. Any devout believer should be happy for such a picture.

His biggest criticism of the film is that Sam and Molly did not get married. In fact, having the couple happily married would only strengthen the bond of love between the two and make the emotional power of the film stronger.

"Hahaha, no wonder the box office in the South is rising rapidly this week. I don't know why the small towns in the South suddenly like the New York love story."