Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 392 Computer Effects

  After finishing the MV, Ronald returned to Portrait Records with the material he had filmed. Here is the latest editing equipment that lawyer Hoffman rented for free through personal connections, which he got from the producer of the SNL program group. Just unpacked, the latest device that has not been officially listed.

  Ronald's preparation is right here. He uses the new machine to quickly edit and complete the MV. After the crossover, he can get the right to use the episode.

   In Portrait Records' office, Diane and Donna stopped Ronald, opened the bag they were carrying, and took out two thick printouts.

"Here are the two scripts I told you last time. Both producers have sent me an invitation to call back to audition again. I'm a little bit at a loss as to which one should I choose." Diane took the two scripts in the Hand, handed it to Ronald.

  Diane was obviously a little anxious. Instead of waiting for Ronald to finish the MV, he and Donna came to him in advance to ask him for advice.

   "What did Bert say?" Ronald picked up two scripts and flipped through them.

   The first thick script was "The Mermaid". Two brothers, heirs of the New York Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Terminal, one of them is named Ellen. When they were playing on a yacht as a child, they met a little mermaid and rescued him after falling into the water.

   Years passed, the adult mermaid used magic to transform into a humanoid, and went ashore to meet Alan for seven days. Unexpectedly, a few days later, the mad scientist caught the mermaid, and Alan rescued the mermaid. In the end, in order to love the mermaid, he gave up life on earth, grew gills, and returned to the sea with the mermaid. .

  This script is obviously based on the classic "The Daughter of the Sea" by Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.

   But the ending of the story is completely opposite. It is not that the little mermaid can't bear to hurt the prince and disappears, but the prince of mankind (who owns a vegetable and fruit wholesale terminal in New York and can live like a prince) abandons the secular life and returns to the sea with the little mermaid. There are also subtle environmental themes.

   "Director Ron Howard, he wants me to play The Little Mermaid." Diane pointed to the script.

   Ronald raised his eyebrows and heard that Ron Howard had pushed back "all over the place", it seems that he is more optimistic about this movie. "How much are they going to invest?"

   "More than 10 million. A live-action movie invested by Disney." Diane said proudly.

  "Um..." This production budget, in Disney's studio, is already a big production. President Ron Miller apparently did not give up his plan to transform into a live-action film, and continued to move forward on his own determined path.

  Ronald raised his head and looked at Diane. Diane didn't wear makeup today. She was wearing a white shirt under a thick coat. There seemed to be a golden brooch on the shirt.

   "And this one is a Universal project with a budget of more than 10 million." Diane took the second script and handed it to Ronald.

   The cover of this book reads "Untitled Project", Ronald opened it for a quick look, it is a classic gangster story.

  The female rock star from a small town was snatched by the gang leader. The ex-boyfriend of the retired soldier came back and attacked with his current boyfriend and manager, and snatched the female singer back.

  Then the ex-boyfriend organized the men in the town to stand up together and resisted the counterattack called by the gang leader. In the end, the female singer and the agent continued their journey to fame, while the ex-boyfriend continued to wander.

   The script is very thin, with only about fifty pages of detailed content. There are no details in many places, just half a page or one page of the script, and the words like gunfights, duels, group fights, etc. are written in general.

   "Why do I look a little familiar, the storyline is like, like... 'North African Spy'?" Ronald asked Diane, a little confused, raised his eyes. The ex-boyfriend broke up with the heroine, and by chance, he saved the heroine and her current lover, and finally fulfilled the new boyfriend and went far away.

"Well, they also said that it was the prototype of the story of 'North African Spy', but it added a lot of modern rock content. Burt said that it would be better for my career to take over this movie." Diane's eyes were bright, As if waiting for a compliment from Ronald.

   "Well, if he said so, it's this one. Hello, new Ingrid Bergman." Ronald smiled at Diane. Teenagers to girls are the most difficult hurdles for actresses to overcome. It seems that Diane has transformed well under Burt's plan.

   But he immediately frowned, is this kind of gangster-themed movie really selling? Ronald has always felt that today's teenage audiences don't necessarily like these kinds of films. Whether it can be done or not will be known by watching the box office release of "The World's Urchin" next month.

   "But I want you to give me some advice, Ronald. You are an accomplished director, and I think your opinion is more valuable." Diane clasped her hands together.

"Don't let Bert hear that. Well, but I'll have to wait for the evening to read the two scripts carefully and give you my opinion tomorrow, okay? I'm busy getting used to the new editing machines now. I have to help edit this MV before I can switch to..."

   "Really? You want to take a closer look? Of course you can. But don't make me wait too long, both movies are about to start." Diane was very happy and interrupted Ronald's explanation. It would be nice if Ronald could give her advice anyway.

   Ronald patted two scripts and put them in the bag Donna brought. Diane has starred in two consecutive Coppola films and seems to have made a name for herself in Hollywood.

   The scripts sent to her now are all full versions, no longer the kind of excerpts that only have their own scenes. This shows that Diane has been qualified to pick the project, rather than being picked by the project. This time, there are different movie projects competing for her to star.

  Two big Hollywood productions for her to choose, if the next "urchin" and "Betta fish" can be sold well, half a foot has firmly stepped into the ranks of first-line female stars.

   "I'm going to learn the operation of the new machine, why don't you and Donna go back first? I'll ask the assistant to call a taxi for you."

   "Okay, remember to come back early in the evening, my mother hasn't seen you for a long time." Donna dragged Diane, and the two walked to the door to wait for the car.

   "Is this the machine?" Ronald stepped on the bag with two scripts and entered the room.

   "Which script do you think Ronald will let me choose?" Diane and Donna whispered.

   "I don't know, but I like that mermaid, very interesting."

   "Isn't rock star bad? I think rock star is very exciting."

   "It's not bad, haven't you acted in a rock movie?"

   "That movie was so bad at the box office, it doesn't count."

  …

"It's this editing machine, equipped with an ADO special effect machine. This is the first machine in America that can generate special effects with a computer." The technicians sent by SNL to buy a new machine company for training are waiting for Xiang Luo. Nader introduced.

  The editing table still looks like a traditional horizontal editing machine, but a large metal table is added next to it, and there are various knobs and switches on it.

   "ADO (Ampex DigitalOptics, Ronald saw the logo on the panel.

   "Yes, this is the latest digital video effects machine. We are the first company in America to make this kind of product." The staff began to memorize the introduction in the sales brochure.

   "How does this thing work?" Ronald interrupted the endorsement and directly asked him how to use it.

   "Get the tape in first, then here are several special effects." The staff introduced him to the use of the ADO special effect machine.

   "...First enter the X-axis data, and the Y-axis data, so..., and then you can..." The staff worked on the sample tape, and then pressed play.

  The entire monitor screen was peeled off like an onion, and then the entire screen was flipped over like a book, and finally stopped at the upper left corner, becoming a picture-in-picture.

   "Huh?" Ronald exclaimed in surprise.

   "This is the special effect I just made. Let me show you the demo tape, which has various special effects displayed." The staff put in a videotape, and then showed it to Ronald on the monitor.

   "This is the effect of turning pages, this is the effect of upside down, this is the effect of rotation, this is to turn the picture into a sphere, and then there is this, which can make several **** collide with each other."

  The staff showed Ronald a demo with the ADO special effects machine.

   "Can this machine be used for the special effects of the movie if I rent it?" Ronald came up with the idea of ​​a special effects machine. Could it be used for the title of "Night of the Comet"?

   "Yes, yes, but you need to convert the film to tape before you can edit it with the ADO special effects machine."

   "What if you don't use pre-filmed film? Just use this ADO to make some special effects fonts?"

   "That's very cheap. If it's only a few dozen seconds of the title, it's about 5,000 yuan, and then it's converted into film, which doesn't exceed 10,000 US dollars."

   "Okay! Can the effect be like this?" Ronald rubbed his hands and asked the staff while pointing to the special effect font on the sample tape.

"No problem, the old-fashioned special effects machine used old-fashioned analog circuits to distort the picture, and then cooperated with a film optical printer to achieve the effect. Lucas used the one used in Star Wars. It does the simplest traverse and elimination. For the effect, the working hours cost tens of thousands of dollars. His subtitles cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to make.

Our ADO uses digital circuits to do special effects, so we can directly let the computer use mathematical formulas to complete the same effects of zooming in, zooming out, flipping, etc., just input the parameters, and there is no need to use the film optical printer to synthesize it. There is also the deformation of this sphere, which is even more difficult for analog circuits to achieve. "

   "Okay." Ronald was very happy, "Then you teach me, let's use the MV material to achieve the effects you said."

   "Our digital special effects machine has not been officially launched. There is only one in America. This MV of yours will be the first time that computer-generated special effects appear in commercial video."

   "I still have a movie's subtitles to do some effects, can you give me something cheaper? If possible, I'll put all the special effects that ADO can do in the MV, which is equivalent to advertising for you."

   "Is that so? I can call the company's sales director. They may be willing to make movie titles for you for free. Our company also hopes to enter the film production market."

   (end of this chapter)