Chapter 52: Show Yourself
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How important is editing to a film? Before the advent of editing, “film” was just a series of life segnts. “The Factory Gate” captured workers entering the factory’s gate, and “Arrival of the Train” captured a train arriving at the station, both with fixed shots from start to finish with not much of a story to speak of. After the initial curiosity had waned, this “little trick” was deed dull and boring. Who would want to watch “The Sprinkler” and see how a gardener plays with a hose? It would be better to water one’s own garden instead.
Then “The Great Train Robbery” appeared, the first true movie, composed of 14 different shots. The collision between these shots constructed a complete film content. Without any spoken or written language, people could understand it was a story of a gang of robbers robbing a train and ultimately being shot by the police in pursuit.
With a story and a plot, audiences grew interested and were willing to pay to watch movies. The developnt of film advanced rapidly, and the ways of shooting as well as the techniques of montage increased. But ultimately, editing is so important because it allowed film to soar and brought it to life.
A Hollywood blockbuster almost always uses over 200 hours of film, and “High School Musical” used close to 20 hours of film. Although it is the sa story, it can be edited into two completely different versions. If we convert these 20 hours of film into fras, with 24 fras per second, the basic unit would be “millions.” It is through the ordering, collision, and combination of these million tiny cells that an entire film is made.
Adding one cell or missing one makes a world of difference. A few extra fras, a few extra seconds, and the film could appear cumberso and dragging; missing those few fras, and the film could beco chaotic and disorganized, with characters in the picture even experiencing “drifting.” The editor’s job is to arrange these cells properly, neither too many nor too few, aiming for seamless editing while also matching the rhythm of the film, expressing the film’s story and feelings in the best way possible.
During the shooting phase, the director and the cinematographer are a couple; when it cos to the editing phase, the director and the editor are a couple. Whether their “marriage” is a happy one directly determines whether the film is good or bad. The two must “click” in terms of temperant, tacit understanding, aesthetic views, etc. Otherwise, it might well end in divorce, with the reason for divorce being dostic violence.
Quentin Tarantino, the director of “Pulp Fiction,” once said, “When I was making my first movie, I knew one thing – I needed a female editor. A female editor knows how to take better care of the film, care for . They are not as competitive, won’t try to beat at every turn. They provide with the care and help I need to finish the film.”
The teacher of the editing class Professor Wang Yang agreed wholeheartedly. In keeping with this tradition, Wang Yang also thought it made sense; female editors should be more patient, and for “High School Musical,” won’s grasp of youthful vitality should be better than that of rough n.
After a week of non-stop interviews, Wang Yang finally found the right person, Margaret Goodspeed, a middle-aged white woman in her forties with black-frad glasses. She had extensive editing experience with many films, including “Four Rooms,” and had a good temperant. During the interview conversation, she also clearly understood what “High School Musical” needed – to be light, youthful, sunny, and to actively pursue what one wanted to do.
At the editing room, Margaret was looking at the editing computer’s screen, where a psychological shot of Troy Burton was playing. She controlled the mouse in her hand, ready to remove a few fras from this sequence. Wang Yang, beside her, urgently exclaid, “NO, NO, NO! Margaret, you can’t cut these fras, I need them!”
“You need everything,” Margaret said with a slight smile, looking at Wang Yang. “Our first cut was 200 minutes, and what we need to do now is to bring it down to under 100 minutes.” She went on to explain, “Kid, I know how you feel, directors are always greedy, if it were up to them, they wouldn’t want to remove a single fra. But why do directors need editors? Because so shots have to be removed, and if the director can’t do it, then that’s what we are for.” That said, she clicked on the editing software and removed those few fras.
Wang Yang sighed helplessly, scratching his head and said softly, “Alright.” But soon after, his eyes widened and he protested, “No, no, that sequence absolutely can’t be cut! If you keep cutting like this, there will be nothing left.” He was pained to see that Margaret was adamant about cutting and pleaded, “You can’t do this… please, oh my God… it’s over!” After a mont of silence, he suddenly said, “Margaret, go back to that part we were at before, I’ve thought it over, we can’t cut it like that.”
Editing is such a process, with directors and editors continuously “haggling,” trying out various combinations of shots, shuffling fra after fra, putting back what was previously cut and then cutting it again. Hence, editing is much more tedious and boring than shooting, especially for directors who often feel tortured, watching the material they worked so hard to capture on set being cut away like trash; naturally, it is an unpleasant experience.
On set, the director is the biggest; but in the editing room, the editor holds the primary say. Even big directors like Jas Caron or Steven Spielberg don’t dictate in the editing room, as Margaret said, directors need other people’s help when it cos to choosing shots.
anwhile, the film’s promotional work was also underway. A couple of days ago, the “High School Musical” official website released the release date and plans, as well as the list of 500 schools for the first week of screenings, which have high movie theater attendance, of course, beneficial for box office numbers. However, students from so schools not on the list were quite angry, protesting on the official website and even claiming “High School Musical” was engaging in discrimination.
But Wang Yang and the company were well prepared, announcing a nationwide campus campaign “Show Yourself,” set to start in March and end on April 20th. By uploading a video of themselves dancing or singing to the campaign’s official website, anyone could participate. The top ten in votes would receive lavish prizes and a chance to attend the “High School Musical” premiere in Los Angeles for free; additionally, even by just participating, there was a chance to beco one of the 100 lucky individuals to join the premiere, take a one-day tour of Hollywood, and receive a free return plane ticket.
This activity was estimated to cost around two million dollars, with the total movie promotion budget rising to seven million dollars. But the two million were absolutely well spent. First, the campaign would quell the students’ anger; second, it would engage more students and schools, coinciding with the release of “High School Musical” to kick off a wave of song and dance, which was most important.
How to get students interested in participating in the activity? Prizes were secondary; the focus of the promotion was that one slogan, “Show Yourself, and reveal the beautiful side of your youth!” But if you want to win, you’ve got to start practicing your song and dance now; and during the voting, rember to campaign for votes from your classmates.
Wang Yang was very confident in this promotional campaign because of the success of “Paranormal Activity.” The “Who Got Scared The Worst?” campaign made him realize that everyone actually desires to “show” themselves and share their brilliance with everyone else.
The release date for “High School Musical” was announced, but the dia’s response remained lukewarm, with only a few online outlets reporting on it. If it weren’t for Wang Yang’s popularity, there might not even have been that much coverage.
His popularity also attracted so covetous looks. Over at “Idle Hands,” they seed to want to stir up so drama. During an interview with the dia, Producer Andrew Richard said, “I haven’t changed my opinion, that girl is going to regret it, oh co on, don’t ask about that anymore. Anyway, I guarantee ‘Idle Hands’ will be an excellent film, its story is too interesting.” Director Dennis Rodman Fred said, “The sa release schedule? I’m not worried about that. Although our movies are both aid at teenagers, I’m not looking to compete in the ring. Wang Yang is a very thoughtful young man, I wish him success this ti too.” One played the villain, while the other played the good guy.
Wang Yang and the company did not respond, as this kind of topic was not a good publicity opportunity. “High School Musical” needed healthy and uplifting topics, not disputes. Of course, it would be a different story if “Star Wars: The Phantom nace” challenged them to a showdown.
However, the most important thing was still to handle their own promotion, such as the “Show Yourself” campus event and the little program teaching dance.
“Yang, no TV stations are willing to work with us unless we pay a certain amount of advertising fees,” Mark Slant said calmly, in a tone that suggested “this is all within my expectations.” He added, “It would need at least fifty million a month.”
Fifty million? Wang Yang rolled his eyes, stood up with his phone in hand, and walked toward the balcony of the apartnt, saying into the phone, “If it’s that expensive, forget it. Follow Plan B, we’ll upload it to the official website, and also get it played on those campus TV stations.” This little program could not only shape idols but would also promote the “Show Yourself” event. Mark Slant knew this and replied, “OK, then let’s get ready for the production.”
After ending the call, looking out into the night sky, Wang Yang dialed another number and chatted with a smile, “Hey, Jessica. You, Rachel, Zachary, you guys got a new job, yeah, that program I told you about before.” Leaning on the railing, he continued, “Oh, I’m not directing it. Does that kind of show even need a director? I don’t know, I still have to deal with editing. Today, I almost got into a fight with Margaret, ha, just kidding…”
After a long conversation, Wang Yang put his phone away, went to the kitchen, and opened the fridge looking for so soda and snacks to watch an NFL ga. Because of labor disputes, his favorite NBA was still in a lockout, and it was unclear when the season would resu. But the fridge was completely empty, without a single item stocked. Wang Yang scratched his head, then prepared to head to the nearby supermarket to grab so groceries.
Michael Pitt had already moved out and was sharing a small apartnt with George Harry. He had found a part-ti job and attended auditions when there were opportunities, working hard towards his next role.
Walking down to the street beneath the apartnt, Wang Yang had only walked a short distance when he felt soone following him. He turned around warily, only to see a blonde middle-aged white man trailing him—it was that paparazzo again! Wang Yang, a bit helplessly, called out to the paparazzo, “Buddy, you’ve been following for quite a while now.” Many paparazzi had followed him, but only once or twice. This guy, however, was practically on his tail every day.
Seeing that he’d been spotted, the bearded white man simply stepped forward, lifted the cara around his neck, and snapped a picture of Wang Yang, saying with a smile, “It’s my job. My na is Cole.”
“Hard at work, aren’t you?” Wang Yang said, walking a bit further. Watching Cole closely follow him, Wang Yang felt a bit bored and asked, “Why do you keep following ? I’m not so big star.” Because of the paparazzi, he had been reluctant to date Jessica recently. Rolling his eyes, he said, “You should be following Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, or Tom Willing.”
Cole, keeping up with his pace, replied, “Yang, you’ve been very popular lately, you are a star now, and everyone is paying attention to you.” He spread his hands and added, “18, almost 19 years old; multimillionaire, no girlfriends? Who would believe that?” Wang Yang laughed, “So you’re saying you want to get a photo of with my girlfriend?” Cole shrugged, “Actually, boyfriends would do as well.”
“Of course, it would be even better if I could get sothing more explosive,” Cole added. Wang Yang, intrigued, asked, “Like what?” Cole said with a smile, “Like going ho with two hot girls, smoking weed, peeing everywhere, or fighting in the streets—all of those would be great.” Wang Yang laughed out loud, “Then you must be hoping I’ll hit you.” Cole nodded, “Yes, I indeed hope so.”
“Let’s not talk about those kinds of photos. Do you know how much a photo of you and your girlfriend being intimate would be worth?” Cole pointed the cara at Wang Yang and took another shot. Wang Yang asked out of curiosity, “How much?” Cole laughed, “I don’t know, buddy, this is the first one, and it’s worth its weight in gold! Maybe I could trade it for a nice little car.”
“Well, you keep at it then,” Wang Yang said, picking up his pace. Falling behind, Cole called out, “I think I’ll get it soon, your birthday is coming up in a couple of days, isn’t it?” Wang Yang looked back at him with annoyance and said, “Please, can’t you let have a peaceful birthday?” Cole imdiately captured his annoyed expression with a satisfied smile and said, “Finally, sothing worthwhile, this one should be worth 300-500 US dollars.”
Wang Yang couldn’t help but laugh and gave Cole a thumbs up. Now he really was “showing himself,” albeit reluctantly. But Cole was probably going to be disappointed because Wang Yang had no plans for a big 19th birthday party- just a simple gathering with good friends would do.
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