Rebirth in America

After the filming of the film was completed, Bart asked Morris: "When will it be released?"

Morris replied: "We still need to edit the soundtrack, prepare advertising, and finally contact the theater chain to finalize the release time. I think it should be released within two or three months."

After Alex heard it, he had an idea and said: "Need a soundtrack? How about we score the movie. Well, it's best to add some music scenes at the end of the movie."

Morriston said excitedly: "Yes, we can put some filming behind-the-scenes as easter eggs and play them after the story of the film is over."

Bart and the others also thought it was quite interesting, and everyone was talking about what extras they wanted to put in the back. There was so much they wanted to put in that it was difficult for Morris.

"How about we just shoot a scene where Joey and Riley sing and dance! Just use the songs from our recently released record, which can also be used as a promotion for the record. What do you think?" After Alex finished speaking, He also talked about how to shoot this music scene in detail.

What Alex imagined was that the back of a western cowboy appeared in front of the camera under the sunset. The music started, and the cowboy walked into a western town accompanied by the music, where another cowboy was waiting for a duel with him. This cowboy was obviously dressed as a villain. In the tense atmosphere, the two men drew their guns and shot at each other almost at the same time. The badass cowboy gets fucked to the ground and the good guys defeat the bad guys.

At this time, when the camera lifted up to reveal the cowboy's face, people discovered that the cowboy was Joey. At the same time, a close-up of the villain cowboy lying on the ground was revealed, which was Rayleigh. Just when the audience didn't know what was going on, many people poured out of the houses in the small town, singing and dancing. At this time, Riley, who had fallen to the ground, also got up and sang with Joey.

This is not over yet. Halfway through the previous song, the camera turned around and it turned out to be Joey and Reilly's fantasy while watching a western movie at home. They pretended to be a cowboy showdown at home, but they woke up their mother, who angrily told them to quiet down. They were quiet for a while, and then started making noise again after their mother left.

During the commotion, the camera switched to singing again, this time singing another song. Sing it until the end, and then it goes black.

"You're so smart! Alex, you're great, you have such a wonderful idea!" Morris clapped his hands happily after hearing this.

Bart, Richard and others also nodded. They thought this part would be very interesting to shoot. Who hasn’t played a similar game when they were young, especially those born in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s? Almost all of them grew up watching Western movies and are very familiar with things like playing Western cowboys. It’s sure to bring back memories in people’s hearts.

Morris is a person who does what he says. He quickly went to find other people to arrange the work, and found all the people in a short time. The filming location was still on Corin Island, where there happened to be an amusement park modeled after a western town, and even the actors in the town were ready-made.

The filming progressed very quickly, and it was completed in one day. As for the music and other things, it could be added later. After doing some calculations afterwards, the filming cost did not exceed US$30,000. On the one hand, there were only a few actors and a small crew, labor was cheap, and the Carpenter brothers paid every penny of their salary.

The most important expense is the film, which accounts for 60% of the total amount. Morris planned to use the money from the unfinished painting to produce promotional posters, and he also planned to use it to compete at the Venice Film Festival. If it can win awards, it will be of great help to the box office.

When shooting this Easter egg, Morris always asked the photographer to save film. He said: "Save some, save some. We don't have too much money."

After Alex heard this, he noticed something again and said, "Mr. Morris! I think you should put advertisements in the movie so that you can get sponsorship fees."

"Product placement? What is that?"

Not only Morris couldn't understand, but others didn't understand Alex's words either. Movies at this time rarely had the concept of product placement, so Alex gave them a detailed introduction. Soon, Morris and the others understood.

"Oh, so you are talking about the sponsors of the movie! Aren't you one of the sponsors? I have put the name of Carpenter Electronics Company in the credits list."

Bart's money is half investment and half gift. After all, Morris's independent film production is very risky and may lose everything. There are also free sponsorships, but they are usually in big-budget films. No one will come to sponsor an independent film like theirs that is not famous.

"That's not the case. The product placement I'm talking about should be the appearance of designated products in the movie and cleverly displaying them to the audience in some way."

Alex then retold the classic product placements he had seen in later generations. Morris is indeed an experienced filmmaker, and he immediately realized that there was a lot to be done in this.

"It seems a little late to think of product placement now." Morris touched his chin and said distressedly.

After hearing this, Alex was speechless. He knew that Morris was right. The movie has already been shot, and if they still want to implant it, it's too late.

"But..." Morris recalled as he said, "It seems that a floor wax oil dealer came to me yesterday. They wanted me to shoot a commercial for them after filming the movie. I didn't reply to them at the time. What do you think? How about inserting a commercial for floor wax oil into our movie?"

"Floor wax oil? Do you want them to try product placement?"

"Yes, after what you said, I do have an idea."

Alex scratched his head. He was a little worried. This advertisement for floor wax oil was not easy to place. Suddenly, he had an idea: "Yes! I think we can do this. Aren't we filming a cowboy easter egg? Let's just add an extra easter egg, and it will be an advertisement for this floor wax oil manufacturer."

"Really? Come and listen."

"My easter egg looks more like an advertisement than product placement. This is how I thought about it, using the theme of Western cowboys to make an advertisement for floor wax oil."

"Then the advertising creativity must be very good to get those businessmen to pay for it."

"Listen to this idea. The first shot is in a gloomy room, there is a wall clock, the hands on it are ticking. The second shot is a hand holding the bars like a prison, At this time, music from a Western movie plays. At the same time, there are footsteps approaching, and the camera pans to the door."

Morris and the others listened intently, feeling that a gunfight was about to break out. Some even couldn't help but ask: "Is it the police chief or the gangsters who are coming in?"

"The door was opened, and the dark space suddenly became brighter. A housewife carrying a mop and bucket came in!"

"Ah?" Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

"It turned out that the hand belonged to a dirty child. He was dressed in cowboy clothes, just like Joey in our movie. His mother used an upside-down chair to shut him under the table. He first used wax oil on the floor, and then Let him out again. Joey grabbed the pillars of the chair and shouted, 'Let me out! Let me out!'" Alex described vividly.

Everyone seemed to have seen Joey's naughty look with their own eyes, so they all laughed: "Haha! It sounds quite interesting."

Morris also smiled and said: "Then let Joey's mother clean the floor, then put the child out, and say the advertising slogan, as long as it is mentioned. Is that so? I really do have you, Alex."

Alex smiled and said: "I have already thought about the advertising slogan, so I just said that if you use such-and-such brand of floor wax oil, you will no longer have to worry about your children staining the floor of your home."

Morris clapped his hands and praised: "Okay, I will go find the floor wax oil company now. After they listen to your plan, they will definitely adopt your advertising idea."

"Wait a minute, we're not selling advertising ideas, we're selling ads! How much do you plan to sell this ad for?"

"Uh, $50,000?"

"How can they be so cheap? They have to sell it for at least 500,000 yuan."

"So much?" Morris was shocked by Alex's appetite. He thought that an advertising fee of 50,000 US dollars would be good, and it was for the sake of Alex's advertising creativity.

"How much? I don't think it's too much." Alex thought this idea was cheap. If he had an advertising company, he would have to sell it for millions of dollars.

Morris thought for a while and said, "If it's $500,000, I'm afraid the other party won't be willing to pay that price. After all, our film production cost is only $30,000. If it's a big production, it might be able to sell it at this price." .”

Alex thought about it and felt that Morris's concerns were reasonable. This movie hasn't been released yet, so I don't know how many people will watch it. Those producers are not idiots, so it's impossible for them to have confidence in this movie with no stars, no fame, and no investment.

He thought for a while and said, "That's it. Our advertising fees are based on the number of box office. If the box office exceeds one million, then at least one or two million people will have seen our movie. In this case, the number of people who have seen their advertisement will There should be that much, at least US$500,000 should be given to us.”

Morris thought about Alex's plan and thought it looked good, so he immediately contacted the floor wax oil company. After signing some confidentiality clauses to prevent the other party from stealing the idea, they told each other about the advertising idea.

When the "Colorful" floor wax oil company heard about it, they thought the idea was great, so they offered to buy it for $50,000. This plan failed to get Alex's approval, and then Morris proposed a plan that linked box office to advertising costs. Now everyone has no objections, and they also added that for every 1 million more box office, the advertising cost will be 500,000 more.

The ad was so simple that it took the film crew less than ten minutes to shoot. After the clip was edited, the "Colorful Floor Wax Oil" company liked it very much after watching it, and spent another US$50,000 to buy the rights to broadcast the advertisement on TV stations. UU reading www. uukｎshu． net The money was divided equally between Morris and Alex, each with half.

After the film was finally edited, Morris called everyone over to watch it again. Everyone thought the film was very interesting to shoot, at least not like the mainstream films on the market today.

"By the way, Mr. Morris, what's the name of this movie?" Alex suddenly thought of a key question. The name of their movie has never been determined. Some people want to call it "Joy", some people want to call it "Little Fugitive", and some people think it would be better to call it "Runaway Kid".

Morris thought for a while and said, "How about calling it 'Little Fugitive'?"

If you think about it carefully, this name sounds good. It is both a gimmick and able to highlight the plot characteristics of this film. Joey mistakenly thought that he had killed his brother Reilly, so he ran away from home. It's really very appropriate.

Eventually, the film, titled Little Fugitive, was sent to the Venice Film Festival by Morris. At the same time, they seized the time to print promotional posters and began to contact movie theaters everywhere.

Alex and the others can't help with what happens next. However, this filming of the movie gave the Carpenter family a good opportunity to go out and have fun. Not only did they stay on Corin Island for almost two weeks, they also participated in a movie shooting.

At the same time, Bart also became interested in Morris' work. Whenever he had free time, he would follow Morris and ask questions. If he hadn't been busy with research and development work at Carpenter Electronics, he would have followed Morris to the Venice Film Festival.