Made in Hollywood

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The white-painted editing room was eerily quiet. Duke leaned forward, his hands resting on the table, intently watching the two scenes that had just been edited together on the monitor.

"Mike..." he said to the editor next to him, "change shot 178 and try shot 175."

"This..." The experienced but little-known editor hesitated, but he followed Duke's instructions and replaced the shots he needed.

When the screen was replayed, Mike Dawson frowned and reminded, "This does not conform to editing logic!"

On the monitor, the scene of Jack driving a sports car chasing the bus is playing. In the previous shot, Jack just stepped on the accelerator to accelerate, and then the picture changed to the first view of the car. Only a small part of the front of the car and the lightning-like backwards could be seen. pavement.

The shot No. 178 just now is different. After Jack accelerates, it is a very traditional overtaking scene.

"Leave eight seconds of shot 175... no, four seconds is enough, and the remaining four seconds are a transition between Jack's face close-up and the wheel!"

Hearing Duke's completely illogical editing requirements, Mike finally couldn't help but say, "Editing is like making a jigsaw puzzle, every screen transition should have its logic, and your requirements don't follow the rules at all. !"

"Then let's break this logic!"

Standing up straight, Duke waved his hand gently, "Mike, in an action scene like this, the coherence of action energy can completely replace logic! Don't you think the car chase scene presented from the first perspective is more immersive? The camera changes between Jack's serious face and the spinning wheels, which can better highlight the urgency and danger of the incident, thus bringing more psychological stimulation to the audience!"

"I just want to pass the quick editing and the configuration of the lens," said this, Duke's face once again appeared the same frenzy, "Let the audience feel like they are on the scene!"

"I admit that what you said makes a lot of sense."

To complete the work at hand according to Duke's requirements, Mike drank half a cup of coffee in one gulp and said, "This week, we completed the first cut of more than 20 minutes of footage, although I watch it every day, I can still feel it. The urgency of it, if I hadn't known the result long ago, I would have been gripping my heart, but..."

Seeing the forty-something editor seemed a little embarrassed, Duke made a gesture that he didn't mind, "Just say it directly, Mike, we are working partners."

Mike organized the vocabulary a little bit, "The thirty-odd minutes gave me another feeling that this is not a movie, but a super-long MV or commercial!"

"That's right!"

Duke slapped his palm as if he had met a bosom friend, "This is what I want!"

"Think about it, Mike..." he said frantically, "from the moment the audience sees the film, they will be so nervous to suffocate because of this fast pace, and they won't catch their breath until the end! What I want is Hollywood. The film has never been as fast-paced with short shots as the main body!"

"But it's easy to cause the audience to leave the stage because of exhaustion."

The editing room door was pushed open and Robin Grande walked in.

"It's true!" Duke raised a finger. "So, we need to control the length of the film, and it's better to limit the film to about 95 minutes!"

Robin Grande has also seen the first cut of Duke's passage more than once, and he nodded, "Is this the style you want?"

"Dazzling sports shots, sharp editing style, and hot special effects scenes." Duke took a few steps back and forth, and then said very seriously, "This is the effect I want!"

This can be said to be the safest way to make a film successful. In this day and age, even if Hollywood films are leading the world, they are still slow-paced, fast-paced, thrilling and dazzling enough, even if the story and logic are obviously flawed, Still a great sale guarantee.

While such a film is bound to be spurned by professional critics, what does that matter?

In the middle of the afternoon, Duke left the studio and drove back to his home in Santa Monica, where he prepared his formal dress and waited for his mother to return.

Christmas is just around the corner. Every time this season is the busiest time for celebrities, Duke will be accompanying his mother to a party tonight.

This is the Christmas thank-you party convened by the Spielberg family. It was placed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. When Duke brought his mother to the party, he looked out in the huge banquet hall, sparsely placed. There were more than 20 oak round tables, during which there were many familiar characters on the big screen. Even those relatively unfamiliar faces, Duke recalled the information he had collected, and he could vaguely remember that they were the top executives of big Hollywood companies.

Under the guidance of the wait staff, Duke followed his mother to the second empty table from the left in the third row, and sat in the pre-arranged seat.

Duke did not know the Spielberg family well, and all he knew was the siblings Steven Spielberg and Anne Spielberg, neither of whom knew him.

Introduced by his mother, Duke went to the far left and right adjacent tables to say hello, and waited quietly for the banquet to start. If you are rude, you will lose the mother's face.

"Hi, Leah."

A middle-aged woman suddenly appeared from the front row. From her appearance, it could be seen that she was Jewish. Duke knew her and handed her a script some time ago. She is the famous Steven S. Spielberg's sister, Anne Spielberg, is also a well-known screenwriter and producer.

"Hello, Annie." Leah nodded to her.

Anne Spielberg seemed very enthusiastic and sat directly at the table, she suddenly turned her head and looked at this side, "You...you're Duke? Ah, I'm so sorry, I didn't recognize you last time. You come."

"It's ok."

Duke's words were polite and even polite. He was not a fool. He could hear that Anne Spielberg's words were mixed with some other meaning, which was definitely not the tone of a warm host entertaining guests.

"Leah, your generosity is really surprising."

Annie Spielberg turned her head again, "Listen to Amanda, you invested ten million dollars in Duke's films, oh...what a great mother."

Amanda is George Lucas' eldest daughter, Duke knows that, but what's up with $10 million?

He turned his head and looked at his mother, Mrs. Leah said calmly, "It's just a small matter."

"Really?" Anne Spielberg stood up, the sarcasm in the smile even a child could see, "Looks like you're confident you'll get your money back, maybe you can, maybe Duke's first movie Movies can create miracles, I hope your movies can sell 100 million US dollars at the box office, hehe..."

"You..." Duke was about to say something, but was pulled down by his mother, so he could only watch Annie Spielberg walk away triumphantly, and then a faint word rang out in his ear, "Words are the weakest and most powerless. Counterattack."

"I see, Mom," Duke asked earnestly. "What she said..."

"That's right," Mrs. Leah nodded lightly, "I invested ten million dollars in "Speed ​​of Life"."

Hearing his mother's confirmation, Duke immediately understood a lot of things, why George Lucas rejected him at first, and then supported him; why the producers agreed to convert his remuneration into an investment; why he could get Some power that other rookie directors can only dream of; why Robin is secretly suppressing veteran industry insiders like Kone…  

Because his mother is the largest investor in the film, and also accounts for a full two-thirds of the investment, she naturally has a great right to speak.

Why would a mother invest in the extremely risky film industry? There is only one answer, create opportunities for herself, even if she doesn't actually have much confidence in herself!

"Mom..." Duke didn't know what to say.

"I had a deep conflict with Anne when we were young."

After saying this, I don't know if it was for Duke, Leah Rosenberg looked over, "You'll make me proud?"

"Yes, Mom." Duke said solemnly, "I will definitely be your pride!"

After saying this, Duke returned to his body because the pressure gradually eased after the filming ended. He added another reason for success. If he failed, it would not only cause his mother to suffer huge financial losses, but also make her a The laughing stock of people like Anne Spielberg.

He does not allow such a situation to happen, and he will not let such a situation happen!

At the same time, Duke also learned how realistic Hollywood is. His mother purchased a one-year bank loan in the form of mortgage, not only invested 10 million US dollars, but also signed a guaranteed minimum share agreement with Lucasfilm, regardless of the film's performance. If it can't be completed or released, she has to pay Lucasfilm $2 million to ensure that the other party will not have any losses in this project, and once the film is released, Lucasfilm will enjoy the North American box office of the film. ten percent.

In the guarantee and share, Lucasfilm has the right to choose the highest among them.

Yes, Hollywood seems so unfair that Lucasfilm didn't put a dollar into the film - the rest came from various film funds - and got a chance to sit back.

But this is Hollywood, and Lucasfilm's connections and channels are worth the money.

It was an unpleasant night because of Anne Spielberg's relationship. Words really don't have the power to embarrass Anne Spielberg. Every time I see my mother, I can't look up. The movie was a big hit. Success is the most powerful weapon.

The three-day Christmas holiday passed in a hurry. After a short break, Duke put all his energy on the post-production of "Speed ​​of Life and Death". After the new year, the first cut samples were announced and the samples were obtained. Preliminary endorsement by George Lucas.

But this is only the first step in a long post-production process. Subsequent fine-cutting, actor dubbing, and soundtrack editing will also take a lot of time and energy. If you want the film to be a quality product instead of rough garbage, the post-production process requires a lot of time and energy. Cutting corners and saving time and effort is simply not possible.

Duke plunged into the 'speed' studio and didn't care about other things at all, even the bank mailed credit card bills, all of which were left behind by him, from mid-December to mid-February, a full two After a few months, the post-production of the film was initially completed.