Made in Hollywood

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"Hi, Duke. Long time no see."

The petite blonde reached out to him, and Duke shook it lightly. "Nami, you look so pretty today."

This is an independent theater near Century City. The test screening of "Speed ​​of Life" was selected here. It is probably because of an earlier relationship. When Duke walked into the lounge prepared for the crew, there was only Naomi in it. Watts alone.

Not only fans and film critics will participate in the test screening, but there will also be reporters from some entertainment media. There will definitely be a media event afterwards. Actors like Naomi Watts who are not the main members of the crew can appear here, I believe her The agent must have spent a lot of money.

"Fox really saves to the max."

After saying hello and sitting in two adjacent chairs, Naomi Watts said to Duke, "They even arranged the media and fan screenings together."

"Whether the film will be profitable is still unknown," he said.

This is a normal practice in Hollywood, and Duke is not dissatisfied. "Twentieth Century Fox will definitely be cautious."

"Have you heard, Duke." She suddenly changed into a mysterious tone and leaned a little closer, "Listen to Nancy... Oh, Nancy is my manager. Life and Death is highly rated, and it is said that the head of distribution, Townsend Rothman, thinks it has the potential to be a big hit."

"I hope so." Duke shrugged slightly.

The two said a few words, and Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and others came in one after another. Their relationship with Duke was much more unfamiliar. The two sides simply greeted and waited. Test screenings begin.

Not long after, Robin Grande personally came to inform that Duke and others walked into the screening hall together.

The theater is not big, with only more than 300 seats. The first few rows are basically entertainment media reporters and film critics. Most of them are from small and medium-sized and local media, such as the three major newspapers and several major weekly and professional magazines. The journalists and top critics of the world do not attend the previews of such unknown films.

To put it simply, the ratings of the media and film critics participating in the test screening are often closely related to the investment and popularity of the film. 20th Century Fox will not rashly open a large budget to invite those top people in the industry, even if it is an invitation. , they may not come, and Fox's petty profits for "Life and Death" will not attract them.

The film needs the media and film critics to cheer, and 20th Century Fox also has a series of related arrangements, but the media public relations work is mainly placed after the test screening. During the film screening, Fox pays more attention to the feedback of the fans behind.

Twentieth Century Fox has invited more than 250 ordinary movie fans, ranging from seventeen to forty-five years old. This is also the potential main consumer group of "Speed ​​of Life", and they will directly reflect the market acceptance of the film.

Harry Dunn, an observer at Twentieth Century Fox, and a dozen other colleagues, scattered among the fans, will use their eyes and pens to record the audience's reactions during the screening.

"Is there anyone here?"

Two white young men in their twenties came over, pointed to the seat to the right of Harry Dunn and asked, "Can you let me go?"

Dunn put his feet away and looked at them as they walked by. The two men were holding coke and popcorn, apparently treating the preview as a normal entertainment. keep talking.

"Jones..." said Allen, who was sitting on the left, with short brown hair, "Have you heard of this movie? Have you heard of the director or star?"

"I only know Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman, the director is the same as the movie title, it's the first time I see it."

The blond young man said, "I have always been more concerned about the dynamics of Hollywood, and I have never seen the work of this director named Duke Rosenberg before."

"Maybe it will be a bad movie." Allen was a little worried, "I regret it now, Jones."

"Hey, this is a free movie with just one questionnaire."

The man named Jones deliberately emphasized the word "free", handed over the popcorn, and said, "Just think of it as passing the time."

Hearing these words, Dunn smiled. This is the case with ordinary audiences today. It is really difficult to be interested in movies that lack big-name stars and well-known directors and have no publicity bombing.

There are more and more movie fans entering the arena from the back row. From the surrounding noises, Dunn can tell that there are almost no movie fans who are really interested in "Life and Death". The Hour is simply not worth the resources of Twentieth Century Fox.

"here we go!"

When the big screen was turned on, I don't know who reminded me that the surrounding noises were quiet a lot, but the sounds of smoking coke, chewing popcorn, and whispering did not disappear at all, and the audience's attention was mostly off the screen.

"I have ice on my Coke."

Jones, who was clearly only interested in eating and drinking, asked Allen, "What about yours?"

"I don't have it, I'll replace it with you."

After changing Jones' big glass of Coke, Allen took a big mouthful, grabbed a few popcorns and threw them into his mouth, "Popcorn from this theater..."

Halfway through his words, he stopped, and his eyes stopped on the big screen...

Jones next to him also made almost the same reaction. As a veteran movie fan with a long-term viewing experience, he was immediately attracted by the straight-to-themed and exciting opening.

"Boom..."

The sound of the explosion in the narrow area was extremely frightening. The elevator slid down quickly, and the pictures frequently switched between the elevator and the frightened faces of the passengers. Jones's relaxed heart immediately became tense, and he subconsciously touched his seat, as if Was worried it also turned into an elevator.

From this moment on, his heart was completely twitched, and it was always mentioned in his throat, especially in the deafening explosion, when the male protagonist was blown away by the air wave, he felt that his heart was shattered. .

"Oh, God..."

"He won't die, will he?"

There were a lot of voices of amazement and worry nearby, because the film entered a short buffer, Jones recovered a little, "This... This is the beginning of a top action movie, right?"

"This director seems to be very skilled..." Allen had long forgotten about popcorn and Coke. "Why do I feel that no matter which scene I am in, I am the most dangerous character in the film?"

"The sense of substitution, this is the sense of substitution."

Compared with his peers, Jones is obviously more researched on film techniques. "I also have the same feeling. The director uses a lot of first-perspective lenses and uses..."

"Hey, the villain isn't dead!"

Before the words just finished, Jones turned to the movie screen again, "Is there any conspiracy?"

"To shut up!"

Allen suspected that the voice of his companion disturbed him, "It is very rude to influence others to watch a movie."

Turning his head with great reluctance, Jones just wanted to stare at Allen, but he heard another earth-shattering explosion, his eyes returned to the screen like lightning, and a fire suddenly exploded in a moving bus, and the fire came from the bus. The inside rushed out, breaking through the layers of steel obstacles, and seemed to be sweeping towards the self outside the big screen, which made people tremble with fear.

The flames from the explosion covered almost the entire screen, and the roof of the bus was blown into the air, rolled down, and smashed another car into scrap metal. The broken window glass was like a goddess scattered flowers. splash...

The screen quickly switched back to the male protagonist's perspective, and Jones was a little relieved, but the vigorously beating heart in his chest showed no tendency to slow down, making his blood seem to boil.

Clearly, Jones's body was pumping adrenaline.

As a professional observer, Dunn did his best to resist the urge to watch the film attentively, so that he could bring the audience to a climax from the beginning, and after a proper buffering, he continued to keep the audience entertained. I know how long I haven't seen it.

He also really wants to be an ordinary audience around him, just watch the movie and ignore other things, but he can't, he has to support his family and must complete his work.

The pen in his hand slides quickly on the record book every once in a while to record the real reactions of the audience around him, including the indifference before the film starts, the quiet to concentrate watching after the screening, and the worry and amazement of the characters and plots in the film. and many more.

He witnessed with his own eyes that the audience panicked, tangled, boiled, moved and rejoiced with the development of the film.

"Jones, I can't help it."

Suddenly, a slightly trembling word came from Dunn's right side, and another equally trembling word responded, "I can't help it."

The people who spoke were naturally Allen and Jones. Because they drank a lot of Coke at the beginning, they had already felt the obvious urge to urinate, but they didn't want to miss the plot of the film that couldn't be slack, and they have endured it until now.

"Let's go to the toilet?" They looked at each other and made a decision, "As fast as possible, fast!"

"Please let...please let..."

Because he heard what he just said, Dunn quickly retracted his feet, and the two young men with their legs crossed quickly walked by, probably because of their awkward posture, Dunn's eyes unconsciously followed.

The two people who entered the aisle didn't seem to want to miss any part of the movie, so they walked to the bathroom backwards facing the screen!

"This……"

Dunn was a little surprised. It was the first time he had seen such a situation after working in this profession for several years!

Slowly withdrawing his gaze, Dunn no longer cared about the films shown on the big screen, and with the help of some dim light, his eyes swept through the surrounding audience very solemnly.

Those audience members forgot to drink Coke, forgot to eat popcorn, and forgot to whisper, they just sat with their heads up, even their postures were motionless, and they cast the greatest enthusiasm for "Speed ​​of Life"!