"Francis, what do you think is the problem?"

In the Industrial Light and Magic's screening room, Zhang Ran was sitting on the sofa with a faint smile on his face. Beside him was Zhang Jingchu, and opposite them were three major directors, Francis Coppola, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese.

After obtaining the research results, Zhang Ran felt that there were indeed some problems with the rhythm of the movie, so he invited Scorsese and Coppola to Industrial Light and Magic to hear their views on the movie. Coppola's level and vision are not comparable to ordinary people, and he has no participation in the production and can view the movie objectively.

Hearing Zhang Ran's words, Coppola was quite big and had a cheerful smile on his face. He admired and looked up to Zhang Ran very much, and there was a clear tribute to him, which made him very happy: "This movie is very outstanding and unique, with a large difference in style before and after. There are almost no flaws in the front part, but the second half has a lot of psychological and emotional things and a lot of thoughts. In order to leave enough space for the audience, the editing is a bit loose and it feels a bit slow!"

Zhang Ran nodded slightly, looked at Lucas, and asked, "George, what do you think?"

Lucas thought it was a very excellent movie, now it was perfect, and there was no need to make adjustments at all, so he said: "In March 1977, the film was held at the home of producer Alan Ryder. In addition to Alan, my wife Marcia and I, there were also Heik, Kyci, De Palma, and Spielberg. As the film was played, no one applauded, and there was only an awkward silence. Since the special effects were not finished at that time, the movie looked ridiculous. Marcia cried on the spot. Palma said that the Jedi part was a bunch of shit that no one could understand. Only Steven thought the film had a promising future. He told me, George, this movie was great, it could make 100 million US dollars! No film could make 100 million US dollars at that time, and everyone thought Steven was an idiot. Now I want to tell you, it was really great, it was worth 1 billion US dollars!"

A few years ago, Zhang Ran taught the Midas formula to students of Yaying. The box office of the movie exceeds one billion US dollars, and it is often necessary to follow the Midas formula. One of the most important ones in the Midas formula is to avoid pornographic and violent shots, obtain pg or pg-13 ratings, and allow as many viewers as possible to enter the cinema.

It is particularly tragic and bloody, and the rating is definitely R-level. Audiences under 13 years old cannot watch it. Viewers aged 13-17 require parents or adults to accompany them to watch it, and there are a lot fewer viewers; and according to the survey data, more than 130 female audiences said that the movie was too bloody and uncomfortable to watch, while there were only more than 10 male audiences; when the movie was released, female audiences would lose a lot. Judging from the survey data, it would be a fool to want the box office to exceed 1 billion, unless Zhang Ran deleted those bloody and tragic scenes.

However, this is obviously impossible. This bloody and tragic are very important. The more fierce the war, the more it can trigger the audience's thinking, make the audience realize the preciousness of life, and thus complete the construction of the psychological space. Only when the second half of the movie can the audience think more deeply about what human beings are and what human nature is. If such tragic shots are removed, the audience will be much less impacted and the effect will be greatly reduced.

Zhang Ran knew that Lucas was kind enough to comfort himself and said gratefully: "Thank you George! Actually, I am not worried about the box office. Even if the movie is really lost, I can still afford it. However, after the preview, more than 110 viewers reported that the style difference between the movie was particularly large, which means that I definitely did not handle the movie well enough, otherwise the audience would not find out. I hope to make the movie better."

Scorsese looked at Zhang Ran and began to talk about his own opinion: "Francis is right. The rhythm of the film is a little problem. This is mainly caused by the structure of the film. There are many mixed movies, but most of them are mixed together. There are a style in the front and a style in the back. This kind of movie with two styles in front and back is particularly difficult to do well. If it is either the top-heavy or the foot-heavy or the foot-heavy or the foot-heavy." He looked at Zhang Ran and said slowly: "You also know that the two styles will conflict. We have made some balance on the camera. The war scenes in the front use a lot of long shots to slow the rhythm of the movie; and the second half of the movie has a lot of short shots to increase the rhythm of the movie. I think the second half is a little slower, and if it is a little tighter, the whole effect will be better."

Zhang Ran nodded and said, "When editing, I also considered whether the subsequent part should be tighter, but I was afraid that the cutting was too tight and the pace was too fast, and many emotional things could not be released. In this way, what I thought about and what I really expressed would be covered up, and what I wanted would not be released."

Coppola thought about it and felt Zhang Ran’s words make sense. He nodded slightly, "You are right. If you tighten a little, your emotions may not be enough. How to cut it depends on how you choose. If you want to make the movie better, the effect will be better if the second half of the movie is tighter. But if you want to be more artistic, the rhythm is suitable now, which can give the audience space to think. The key is what you want, just follow your most realistic thoughts in your heart!"

Zhang Ran smiled at Coppola and said, "I understand!"

In fact, Zhang Ran asked Coppola and the others to watch the film not to get any accurate answers from them, but to confirm that one thing is whether the rhythm of the film is really wrong. He cut this film, and he himself did not think that the rhythm was wrong. Through conversations with Coppola and the others, he was sure that the rhythm of the film was some problems.

Zhang Ran still hopes to balance business and art. While the movie is good, he has his own artistic persistence. He does not want to be inclined to any aspect alone. In the next few days, Zhang Ran re-edited the movie, mainly targeting the second half of the movie, speeding up the pace of the movie and deleting some plots. The version cut this time was only 198 minutes. After the re-editing, the research company conducted the second trial.

During the preview, Zhang Ran was always observing the audience's reaction, especially the female audience's reaction. The audience's reaction seemed to be better than the last time. After the screening, the audience was silent for a moment, everyone applauded at the same time.

When the research report was released, Zhang Ran was completely relieved. The audience scored a high score of 96, which became the highest trial score in Tingfeng Entertainment's history. Of course, if you get a high score in the trial, you may not be able to sell the box office when it is released. For example, when the movie is hit and won applause, but after it is released, it is a complete failure. Similarly, when the movie is hit, the reputation is terrible, which makes people feel that the movie is over, but when the movie is released, it is a big box office. The high score in the trial is only a good start, and publicity and various promotions must not be missed.

As a super blockbuster, as a key film for Tingfeng Entertainment next summer, various tests and surveys will be conducted next. For example, conducting audience tracking surveys. About 6 months before the movie is released, the survey company will test the audience's awareness and interest, and compare and survey 1,000-2,000 viewers through telephone sampling every week to ask whether they "attention". If they notice it, what is the possibility of watching the movie when the movie is released.

However, Zhang Ran does not need to worry about these. There is a distribution team of Dingfeng Entertainment and a research company to operate them. Zhang Ran only needs to wait until the official promotion of the movie begins and bring the main creators of the movie to carry out corresponding promotions.

After the second trial, Zhang Ran was preparing to return to China to participate in the recording of the 10th anniversary party of the Movie Channel Level 01. He promised Yue Tao to participate in the recording of the Movie Channel program, and he must be trustworthy.

Zhang Jingchu was a little unhappy: "The wedding is going to be held in two months. I have always been in charge of the wedding. The wedding dresses are all in charge of the specific form and details of the wedding. If you don't ask, is it that I got married alone?"

Zhang Ran pressed Zhang Jingchu's shoulder and smiled and said, "I trust you so I can let you do it. Jingchu, I'm relieved to do it!"

Zhang Jingchu took Zhang Ran's hand off her shoulders and said angrily: "What do you believe me? You are simply not concerned about the wedding!"

Seeing that Zhang Jingchu was really angry, Zhang Ran raised his hand and surrendered, "It's my fault, it's my fault. However, the 10th anniversary party of Level 2001 was decided last month, and it was my nod. If I was absent, it would be unreasonable. So, when I recorded this Level 201 party, I would put aside all other things and ignore everything. I will prepare for the wedding with you. What do you think?"

Zhang Jingchu laughed: "This is almost the same!"

Two days later, Zhang Ran drove to the door of the Movie Channel building next to the Beidian on Tucheng Road. He did not enter the building directly, but called Yue Tao first and told him that he had arrived. Soon Yue Tao brought the producer with him. After a simple greeting, Yue Tao and the others took Zhang Ran into the Movie Channel building.

It is a conversation program held by the movie channel. It mainly invites the main creators of the classic old film crew to present, telling interesting stories during the filming process and recalling every detail of the past. The whole program is somewhat similar to CCTV, but it is not as routine and sensational as Zhu Jun.

While going upstairs, Zhang Ran asked the students in the class if they had arrived. After receiving a positive answer, he asked the producer to take him to the students' lounge.

When a big director like Zhang Ran comes to do a program, the program team will definitely give him the best treatment and arrange a separate lounge for him. However, Zhang Ran insists on going to the students' lounge, and the producer dares not go against his wishes, so he quickly takes Zhang Ran to the lounge of the 01 Project Book.

When Zhang Ran walked into the lounge, he found that the students in the 01 Forum Book were basically all here, and Li Xinyue and Zhou Zheng were also inside. Everyone stood up to say hello when they saw Zhang Ran coming in; students like Wang Luodan and Zhang Xinyi, who had a jumpy personality, even surrounded him and shouted excitedly: "Teacher Zhang, you are here!", "Teacher Zhang, I haven't seen you for a long time!", "Teacher Zhang, I miss you so much!"...
Chapter completed!