Chapter 459： Highlight effects

"If you want to make a blockbuster movie, you must start from the following five points!"

Taking advantage of the time to switch slides, Tang En drank two sips of water, and then continued, "First, there is no pressure on the budget. The explosive strategy is to put all the eggs in one basket, that is, to concentrate on big things, to bet everything, There must be an adequate budget.”

"Second, the script must be carefully polished. This topic will not be discussed. Different projects have different standards. The review of the script depends on the ability of the producer. Whoever sees the difference, there is no standard answer."

"Third, betting on added value. This problem is very big, I try to put it simply, look at the slides, here I have divided the play into three points, namely star value, director value and film value. Star value and director value everyone. It’s easy to understand that with big stars and big directors joining, it is often more attractive to fans. So what is the value of the film?”

Speaking of which, Dunn paused for a moment and broke away from the ppt content, ""Jurassic Park" is a novel, and if it is remade into a movie, it will naturally attract everyone's expectations, which is the accompanying film value; another example is "Spider" "Man" is an adaptation of a comic book hero; another example is "Unsinkable" is an adaptation of a true story... These super hit movies have similar characteristics and have great movie value! "The Lord of the Rings" released last winter and The Chronicles of Narnia, the same is true."

Dunn's words did not make it through.

The so-called video value, in terms of the concept 15 years later, is IP!

Popular novels, popular games, popular toys, old movies, old TV series, real events, historical stories... These can all be adapted into popular movies, all of which have IP attributes.

Even if Dunn had reached the point, the executives in the first row nodded thoughtfully, as if they understood something.

Tang En was a little funny, and thought to himself: "I have basically got all the popular IPs in the future. You want to understand now, it's too late!"

However, his expression was very restrained, even a little serious, "The fourth point is very important, I hope all producers and directors will pay special attention, and of course students who want to join this industry in the future. Fourth point , called the highlight effect!"

"Highlight special effects, as the name suggests, is to produce special effects shots with bright spots, which is especially critical! In Hollywood, many colleagues asked me why some movies, invested more than 100 million US dollars, made a lot of special effects shots, and still failed in the end. ? Here, I can tell everyone, because their special effects shots are as plain as water, lacking waves and lacking highlights!”

Dunn did not name his name, but many filmmakers in the audience blushed.

Almost everyone has made this mistake.

Dunn's guidance is really generous.

"Jurassic Park is a well-recognized special effects blockbuster, but in this film, there are only 500 special effects shots. Why is it so impressive? Because Director Spielberg has kept improving in the special effects production of dinosaurs, and dinosaurs are the whole film. The biggest selling point, the biggest attraction, can’t be sloppy. It is better to reduce the number of special effects shots and increase the precision of special effects.”

"Titanic, for example, everyone must remember the big ship splitting shot? At that time, some people suggested that they should just get by. But I didn't agree. The special effects shots in those 5 seconds cost a budget of 5 million US dollars. It turned out very well, it was almost the most shocking shot of the whole film!"

"Another example is "Spider-Man". There is a set of scenes between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin fighting in Times Square. Someone suggested that I film the scene on the spot, but I couldn't create an explosion on the scene, and the effect was not good. I specially rented an abandoned airport and restored it. The entire Times Square, and then in the double combination of the real-life explosion and the special effect explosion, this presents such a wonderful fighting scene."

"The so-called highlight special effects are scenes that can make people reminisce for a long time, and even make people worth buying a ticket to watch again. A large-scale production movie is like the sea, and the highlight special effects are the magnificent waves! If you are used to seeing the sea, you will definitely agree to it. More interested in waves, tides, tsunamis."

These words are the real core.

Dunn pointed out the details of making special effects blockbusters, which is the key to the attention of many top filmmakers and company management in the audience.

Sure enough, many people were suddenly enlightened, and there was a bit of agitation between their eyebrows.

This is just the beginning of a special effects blockbuster, everyone is in a groping stage, Dunn gives the result directly, which is of course the best gift to Hollywood.

Dunn's eyes, intentionally or unintentionally, glanced at Alan Horn, the president of Warner Bros.!

The fourth theory just now was proposed by Alan Horn in a previous life, and he is also the biggest executor of Hollywood's explosion strategy!

Especially after Alan Horn was dug into Disney, he has become a fanatical blockbuster film maker. Disney gave up all small and medium-budget films, and only produced 13 films a year, 13 commercial blockbusters!

Under the leadership of this kind of thinking, Alan Horn led Disney to occupy half of the box office market.

Coincidentally, Alan Horn's eyes also stared at Dunn closely, revealing a kind of frenzy that was almost worshipping.

Tang En suppressed the joy in his heart, calmed down, and continued: "Finally, the fifth point, movie marketing. Marketing is a very interesting thing, and I want to spread the information of a movie to the society. Every corner of the film, the cost is fixed, whether the investment is $10 million or $100 million."

"It's obvious, since marketing doesn't discriminate, why don't we focus more on big productions? How much is the current Hollywood commercial blockbuster? $50 million? $70 million? Too little Yes! To create a hit, to create a sensation, marketing is essential.”

"In the marketing of popular movies, we must hold high and strive to ensure high returns for these products at all costs. We must find the best marketing team and create the biggest publicity campaign. According to the current movie environment, if we want to truly form a hit movie effect, the cost of publicity must not be less than 120 million US dollars!"

The $120 million announcement fee?

The big guys in the first row all took a breath.

This kid Tang En is not afraid to scare people to death by talking big!

In this era, the production cost of 120 million US dollars is already unprecedented. You have to spend 120 million US dollars for marketing. What is the difference between this and stealing money?

If you lose, you will lose your head!

Dunn Pictures is Dunn's private company, and he can play with confidence. But if these managers play such a big hand, if they are reckless... I am afraid they will lose their jobs.

...

Dunn's speech, the scheduled time is 2 hours.

He spent 80 minutes explaining the correctness and practical application of the theory of explosions, and the rest of the time was to answer some questions from students and filmmakers on the scene.

No one wanted to miss such a precious opportunity to ask questions, and the atmosphere in the auditorium began to rise.

The first question was a female student, "Hello, Mr. Walker, I am honored to have the opportunity to ask this question. I... I listened to your lecture and understood that the explosion strategy can build a brand, but it will also put the company in the In the midst of great risks, how can we avoid risks?”

Tang En stood at the forefront, full of momentum, fully controlling the field, and said with a smile: "You said that the explosion strategy can build a brand, very good! This shows that you have understood the true meaning of the explosion strategy. If you want to create a successful explosion , First of all, you have to have a good idea, and then go all out to plan the release, luck will also bring great help.”

"In fact, pre-judging the potential value of a product is like a big gamble, betting on whether the product is worth a high investment and whether it can become a hit to get high returns. Many investors are brave enough to try, but some managers are weighing Missed opportunities in the risks posed by big bets.”

"More importantly, the current film market is not only in North America, but the global market has been fully opened! Every country has different national conditions and cultural barriers. If a film is to be popular all over the world, large production and high cost are required. It is the best way to open the doors of those countries! This is not only an increase in the revenue of film companies, but also an increase in the value of the entire Hollywood brand!"

The applause was very warm, especially the audience in the first row, who recognized Dunn's statement very much.

Hollywood's brand value is everyone's collective interests.

"Hello, Mr. Walker, I'm Emma Jones, a teacher at the School of Film and Television..."

Suddenly, there were bursts of applause from the audience.

Obviously, this Jones teacher is very popular with the students.

Dunn respected, "Hello, Mr. Jones."

Ms. Jones was holding a notebook in her hand. It seemed that she listened very carefully and took notes. She slowly said, "Mr. Walker, when you were talking about the theory of explosions, you mentioned such a paragraph, which is to take limited Concentrating resources, at all costs, let the film sprint to the head and become a hit, thus setting off a sensational effect and attracting fans to enter and should not rashly involve the long-tail market of fresh water."

"This sentence is very well said, and I am full of admiration for it. But I don't quite understand the two words, this... This should not be a professional term in the business or film industry now, long tail market, what does it mean? Is it a new concept that you specifically proposed?"

Dunn had a headache.

Sure enough, it's the teacher. It's really hard to deal with such fine work.

The long tail market, of course, is a market triggered by the long tail theory. In 2004, the term "long tail" appeared for the first time in business journals, and it was not until 2006 that the book became popular.

As the topic unfolds, it gets more complicated.

"The long-tail market... is actually a theory that competes with the theory of explosive models, that is, the long-tail theory. That is to abandon the explosive models and pursue the tail benefits of the normal curve, that is, more average product returns."

"I personally don't agree with the long tail effect, because giving up the explosion is tantamount to giving up the most potential market, giving up the top talents, and giving up the support of the marketing team. And the future business laws and movie situation, the market , talent and marketing teams are equally important.”

"I plan to publish a book that will elaborate the viewpoints of the explosion theory, so as to facilitate the research of teachers and students, and the reference of colleagues in the industry. By the way, I will also mention the long tail theory. I won't go into details on this issue. Okay, next question."

Tang En responded humbly, and then saw someone in the second row raised their hand, which was very familiar.

The second row is the seat of a Hollywood filmmaker. This man wears black-rimmed glasses and looks gentle, but also has a bookish look.

"Hello, Director Walker, I'm Jeffrey Abrams, a Hollywood filmmaker..."

(Sanqi Chinese)