Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 43 Apocalypse Now

   "Rock High School"'s test results were neither too good nor too bad. The two directors were slightly disappointed. Roger Coleman saw the results of the test screening, called a meeting on the spot, and decided to make only 10 copies, which would be played in rotation in each state.

   This old-fashioned distribution model has already been subverted by the new model of simultaneous nationwide release by hundreds or even thousands of “Jaws” theaters.

  The reason why Roger uses the old model is that he is not optimistic about the box office of the movie, so in order to save the production cost of the copy and reduce the risk, the state carousel model is adopted.

   A copy is a complete motion picture film, reproduced from the negative, which can be played many times. Instead of making hundreds of expensive movie copies at the beginning, launching simultaneously across the country, and then harvesting a box office bomb and ending at a loss. Roger Coleman's philosophy is always cost first, and if the cost is low enough, it's hard to lose money.

  Roger decided to screen in small central and southern states, such as Arizona, Georgia, etc., and then ship the copy to the next state after the screening in one state. Not only does it save the cost of copy production, but for marketing, the posters are mainly posted by local theaters, and there is no need for expensive TV and newspaper pages.

  If the box office is high enough in small states, print some more copies to release in big cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. If the box office is mediocre, then don't print it, and let this movie go through its own life process slowly.

   There was no big explosion that exceeded expectations, and it didn’t fall below the bottom line. It was still able to be released nationwide. Alan and Joe were both a little disappointed and fortunate. Ronald also didn't know whether to console or congratulate the two directors.

   Ronald went out to buy some Chinese food and brought it to the two directors. The two of them liked this modified Chinese food that suits Western tastes. Ronald himself, on the other hand, prefers the original. He often eats at Mong Kok restaurants in Chinatown.

The    test screening is the first time that the film has faced a real audience. The director's psychology is probably similar to the gambler's mood waiting for the result. Ronald began to think about "Apocalypse Now" at night. He wondered what the big director Coppola would think of the test screening of his own film. Is he also nervous?

   Coppola, it turns out, was more nervous.

   Francis Coppola has a beard and black-rimmed glasses, and his figure has grown a bit.

"Film critics and friends from the media, please don't post reviews after today's preview. Today's preview is still a semi-finished product, and it's not complete. We will go to the Cannes Film Festival next month in the hair country, and then return to China for intensive repairs. This trial screening was temporarily screened at the invitation of the Directors Guild and the Film Academy, so I urge everyone not to release film reviews before the official screening."

  When Ronald came in, he saw a lot of viewers who came in without invitations and showed a kind of membership card. I think it was the film critic Coppola said. Film critics who are newspapers and magazines in the United States enjoy this privilege. No matter what the film is, as long as you present a film critic card, you can watch it for free.

   After a brief speech by a top executive of the publisher, United Arts, the lights were turned off and the screen was pitch black.

   "嚄嚄嚄嚄..."

   There was a faint sound of the propeller, which fluctuated from left to right, strong and weak, and seemed to be coming from behind Ronald for a while.

  The audience turned their heads in amazement, wanting to see the source of the sound.

   "It's a new technology, it's called surround sound..." Ronald heard someone whisper.

   Is this new technology? Ronald thought to himself, in the original movie, the sound came from behind the screen, and the audience was used to it. Today, the propeller seems to be circling behind his head, which is really insightful.

   On the dark screen, a sad background music sounded…

  The screen gradually brightened, it was a tropical coconut forest. The orange-red dust was lifted up by the wind and pulled upwards in a circle.

  The dust is getting more and more, and the sound of the propeller is getting louder and louder.

  The landing gear of a helicopter suddenly crossed the screen from left to right.

   As if the world was awakened.

   Coconut Grove suddenly had a breeze…

   Napalm bombs fell into the coconut grove one by one, and the orange-red explosion flames rose in sequence, very similar to the color of the dust just now.

   "Wow..." Ronald was really surprised, this beginning was extraordinary. Can't help sitting upright, waiting for the movie name and subtitles to explain.

   No movie title! The subtitles didn't show up either!

   There was only a man's voice, and he began to sing softly, his voice was very special.

   "This is the end (ThisistheEnd...

  Why did you sing the ending just after the beginning?

   Some people in the audience actually boiled "Oh, this is the end of The Doors (The End)!"

   Some people started to applaud…

   Ronald didn't understand the adoration of these literary people for Jim Morrison, the frontman of the Doors. Morrison, known as a rock poet, also has many fans in the literary and art circles.

  This is the end ThisistheEnd…

   My beautiful friend Beautifulfriend

   This is the end Thisistheend

  My only friend Myonlyfriend, theend

   With poetic singing, helicopters hovered above the bombed coconut grove.

   A tail is exposed for a while, a propeller is exposed for a while, and a landing gear is exposed for a while.

   An upside-down human face began to appear on the screen, staring at the audience with confused eyes, as if asking "Who am I and why am I here?"

  The sound of the propellers is getting closer and closer to the audience…

  When Ronald felt more and more weird, the propeller turned into a ceiling fan.

  The ceiling fan was blowing hard, the camera began to slowly rotate 180 degrees, and the owner of the face began to appear in the field of vision.

  The opening music "Ending" gradually dissipated, and the audience saw the protagonist in a tropical-style room, resting on a bed with a pistol thrown by the bed.

  The protagonist finally got up, walked to the window, turned the switch on the midnight window with his hand, and there was warm sunlight outside.

   The picture is finally not that weird orange red.

   A soft voice came to mind.

   Ronald was startled, and the speaker seemed to whisper in his ear. how did you do that? There are also audience members looking under their feet to see if there are speakers hidden under the seats.

   "Saigon, Shxt, I'm still stuck in Saigon."

   It turned out to be the protagonist’s inner monologue, so the helicopter and the explosion just now were the protagonist’s memories? This opening is really brilliant.

  The protagonist turned out to be an officer of the US military intelligence department, Captain Willard. He accepted the task and went up the Mekong River to investigate Colonel Coates, who had left his command and organized a private army by himself.

  Willard formed a special team and traveled by boat, encountering all kinds of strange people along the way.

   Command the helicopter formation, let the Valkyries ride, bomb the colonel of the village, and only think about surfing.

  The cover girl of the labor force who flew in from the United States, wearing a bikini to sing for the frontline soldiers, was surrounded by soldiers, wanted to spend the spring night, and finally climbed into a helicopter to escape.

  The front-line soldiers held a fireworks show. On the other side of the beautiful fireworks, there were soldiers on duty with machine guns in the trenches.

  The team went ashore to rest and met a tiger in the rainforest...and was scared to the point of shit.

   The team that finally arrived at its destination, with the help of an American field photographer, found Colonel Coates.

  Coates has become an evil leader, taking the lives of his subjects. He wants Willard to inherit his position and career. The leading people held a sacrifice ceremony, slaughtered a bull, and the crowd cheered, as if to worship him as a god.

  Squad leader Willard seized the last chance, hacked Coates to death with a bull slaughtering knife, and led the remaining team members to leave this strange place. Before leaving, he called for bombers and blew up Colonel Coates' camp.

The music at the end of    is the ending of the gate band again. The whole film seems to tell a cycle.

"Apocalypse Now" hasn't been edited for the final time, and there are still many copies of the trial screening that have not been processed for editing. Either the screen suddenly goes black, or there is a slamming sound. The whole film does not have any subtitles by the cast and crew, and there is only one shot on the wall. Wrote the words "ApocalypseNow".

   I don’t know if I didn’t have time to do it, or if the director did it on purpose.

  The 2 hours and 20 minutes of the film is over, and the lights in the theater are turned on. The audience began to whisper.

  I don't know what others think, Ronald was deeply fascinated by this movie.

   The film seems to be telling a weird dream, the words that the protagonist Willard always whispers in his ear, and it seems that a dreamer is telling a story to himself.

   The main creative team was invited to the stage, and some audience members began to applaud enthusiastically.

   However, it seems that there are not many people applauding?

   (end of this chapter)