Made in Hollywood

A tall secret agent sneaked into the dilapidated factory building and kicked open the door of an office. Just before the gangsters in the office could react, he rushed forward and neatly knocked the guys to the ground. .

This man is agile like a leopard, and he shoots fiercely like a hungry wolf. He doesn't make any sloppy shots, nor is it fancy at all. Every punch and every kick goes straight to the heart of the person, the throat, the face, the back of the head and the other. The heart and other parts of the body are the most vulnerable.

"Jimmy, you did a great job!"

The action scene was filmed for two days. Duke briefly edited it. After watching it, he said to the action director who accompanied him in the drawing room, "It's already eight percent of the effect I imagined..."

Hearing him say that, Jimmy Carter couldn't help asking, "Do I need to reshoot?"

"No." Duke shook his head and patted him on the shoulder again, "Enough for this movie, keep working hard."

In the past two days, whether it was Liam Neeson or his two stunt doubles, they all showed excellent conditions. Duke simply revised the shooting plan and took the lead in shooting various action scenes of the film. In the process, most of the time was shot by Jimmy Carter, and Duke was only responsible for reviewing and giving some opinions in due course.

The director is the coordinator of a crew, and it is also a basic job for the director to mobilize the role of everyone in the crew.

Shooting action scenes is never easy, not to mention Liam Neeson is over 50 years old, bumps and bumps are inevitable, and he even sprained his ankle in a chase scene. Fortunately, the injury is minor and will not affect the next shooting too much.

The filming of the action scene lasted for half a month before it came to an end temporarily. There were also some action shots that required shooting on location in Paris.

After entering December, Duke began to shoot some literary dramas. Strictly speaking, there are not many scenes of the rest of the people. This is more like a one-man show by Liam Neeson.

"I don't know who you are..."

The set was set up as a room, and Liam Neeson was holding a Nokia phone and performing a one-man show. His expression was as calm as possible, but the anger in his eyes was burning in his seemingly plain words. Hiding a father's endless anger at those who kidnapped his daughter, "I don't know what you want. If you want ransom, I can tell you. I have no money."

He stood up slowly. Issued the final warning, a sleeping lion seems to be able to choose someone to devour at any time, "But I still have some special methods, which I have learned in my long career, which is exactly the nightmare of people like you, If you let my daughter go, then this is the end of the matter, and I won't be looking for you. I won't track you down."

When the lion finally showed his fangs, "If you don't let it go. I'll find you and kill you!"

"Cut! This is over," Duke said to Liam Neeson. "Good job!"

The exciting and tense action scenes in this film are the key, but the strong father's love is also essential. Without the affectionate support of the father and daughter, everything the male protagonist did in his rage would not have been possible. Get any support from the audience, because that's no different from a vicious thug.

However, when the family is threatened and the daughter may disappear completely at any time, a father who loves his daughter has a basis for everything he has done in order to find his daughter. , highlighting the justice of this rescue operation.

Don't underestimate this justice. Although it may not be recognized by many Americans in reality, it is an important factor in attracting audiences in the film.

In a film, some elements can be changed at will, while others cannot.

It's December, the awards season has kicked off, Duke is busy shooting new movies, and his PR team is not idle at all times, except for Raduk to attend some parties after filming, Panny? Kelly also often operates alone, with ample funding and decades of experience, the veteran PR manager, frequenting the Beverly Hills and Hollywood areas.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does have all sorts of restrictions on PR, but in practice? The bottom line of this game of fame and fortune has been pulled down continuously, especially since the Weinstein brothers launched the gold dollar offensive, the taste of Oscar's public relations has already changed.

In the early 1990s, Oscar PR costs for a film were only a few hundred thousand dollars, and rarely more than half a million dollars.

now what?

After entering the new century, don't throw three or five million dollars in this game of fame and fortune, and don't even think about the nominations for several key awards. Without a budget of tens of millions of dollars, the most important awards are destined to pass by. .

According to the academy, public relations is the embodiment of the will to free competition, and in this highly commercialized society, what is the biggest capital supporting competition? Undoubtedly money.

Duke is very clear that with his future film production plans, he will be farther and farther away from the increasingly niche Oscars in the future, and "The Return of the King", which gathers the advantages of the trilogy, is the best chance, or even the only chance.

Therefore, he is not stingy with money in the slightest.

What's more, compared to the director's bonus from the trilogy, this investment is really nothing.

Panney Kelly and the public relations departments of Warner Bros., the first guarantee is the nomination, and the nomination is the most basic ticket.

"From the analysis of the response of the films that have been released so far and the public relations efforts of various distribution companies, we mainly have these competitors."

In the living room of the eye-shaped villa, Penny Kelly said about the PR and award-winning dynamics during this period, "Sofia Coppola's main goal is nominations, and Hollywood has never seen an example of a woman winning the best director. Shouldn't be."

"Sophia can be put aside." Duke has always had a close relationship with Sophia, of course he knows this.

"That leaves two main competitors," Panney Kelly continued, "and one is Clint Eastwood, whose Mystic River is very much to the academy's appetite, but Warner Bros. The brothers invested in production and distribution, and without the support of the producer and distributor, he has little hope of winning."

Duke and Crete Eastwood which is more important to Warner, in fact, do not have to choose.

"According to our team's analysis, your biggest competitor should be Peter Weir."

Hearing Panney Kelly's words, Duke asked, "Is it 'The Rage'?"

"It's "Raging Sea" which will be released in November!"

Ivanka sat next to Duke without saying a word. At this time, she asked curiously, "I remember that the box office and word of mouth of this film are very mediocre. Can it become our competitor?"

"There's another thing you haven't noticed, Evie," explained Penny Kelly, "The release of Brawl Stars is Miramax, and Harvey Weinstein is already working hard for the film. For the award, the production cost of the film is as high as more than 110 million US dollars, and the North American box office is only 60 million US dollars. If there is no Oscar blessing, this film will definitely lose money.”

"Miramax, Harvey Weinstein..."

Duke whispered and laughed, "They can't succeed every time, and Miramax has missed a lot in recent years."

"Yeah." Penny Kelly agrees with Duke's point of view, "The limelight of Miramax at the Oscars in recent years has been completely suppressed by DreamWorks."

As Duke said before, no one can guarantee the ownership of the heaviest statuettes, not even the Weinstein brothers.

The Weinstein brothers will also fail when other big companies, like DreamWorks, starting with American Beauty and Gladiator, ramp up their Oscar investments.

The Weinstein brothers are very powerful at the Oscars, but they are not invincible people. After being in Hollywood for so many years, Duke actually sees clearly why the Weinstein brothers always win the Oscars. Of course, there are Jewish people. ancestry and some relationship factors, but most importantly, they are more willing to invest around the Oscars and awards season.

Sometimes there is fairness in this society. For example, if the corresponding resources are not invested, in most cases, it is impossible to get enough returns.

"We have an edge over Rage of the Seas, but watch out for them too."

As a veteran publicist in Hollywood, Panney Kelly knows very well that anything can happen until the last minute, ""Fight the Sea" also has its own advantages. Their release time is closer to the awards season, and their professional reputation is also good. , and then their box office is much lower than ours."

Speaking of the box office, Panney Kelly showed a somewhat helpless expression. Since "Titanic", the high box office has become an obstacle to winning the Oscar for many times.

The academy advertises popular art, but how many people in the United States would believe their advertisers? On the contrary, the more popular the film, the more they will be rejected by them.

"We have a great advantage, but we can't take it lightly." Penny Kelly is still very cautious.

Duke also agrees with her point of view. Although the Academy does not cramp as often as the Grammys, they who do not have cramps often choose niche types of films.

There can be no slack in public relations work at all.

However, while promoting yourself, you must also pay attention to your competitors. Duke thought for a while and asked, "Is Peter Weir the director of 'The Truman World'?"

Hearing Duke's prompt, Panney Kelly's eyes lit up immediately, "It's him."

"It is said that the Academy has always disliked the film with its heavy sarcasm. Parney, we can remind the conservatives of the Academy again at the critical moment of voting that Peter Weir once directed such a film as "The Truman World." Movie.(To be continued..)

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