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Chapter 108: Movie Premiere
🕑 Added 2024-12-08 17:36:13 +0000 UTCOf course, Tom's case wasn't completely over; the police had filed an appeal. They believed the judge's verdict was unreasonable. Even though Tom hadn't participated in the murder directly, he had subjectively intended to join the criminal activity, and they argued that he shouldn't have been let off so lightly.
However, the decisions of the jury and the judge had already been made, and at least until the appeal process was complete, Tom had gained his freedom.
Ethan found a place for him near the company, and his current job was Ethan's personal driver.
Of course, that was just the surface; privately, Ethan needed Tom to help him train in gunmanship and combat techniques, and to ensure his safety.
With Tom, a killer without hesitation, as his bodyguard, Ethan's sense of security rose several levels.
Every day, when Ethan met with Anne Hathaway, Tom's shadow accompanied them.
At the same time, CAA agent Carl had been frequently visiting Ethan, despite recently signing many new clients, his mind remained focused solely on Ethan. He didn't want to end up like Mike, who couldn't distinguish priorities and got his contract terminated by Ethan.
At this moment, Carl was holding several new work invitations and talking enthusiastically to Ethan: "Look, Ethan, here's an offer for a movie!"
"What movie?" Ethan tore the peel off an orange, patiently cleaning the white membrane.
"The first one: Monster!" Carl said, raising the A4 paper in his hand like an insurance salesman. "This movie needs an art director. I think, Ethan, with your aesthetic, such a job might be a bit of an overqualification for you. Plus, it's a crime film, and the director is a newbie... You know, it's probably going to be a terrible movie."
Monster? Hearing the title, Ethan raised an eyebrow, recognizing it as the film in which a female star won an Oscar for Best Actress.
After a moment of thought, Ethan's memories were stirred.
He recalled the name: Charlize Theron. The first time he saw her was in the Dior "J'adore" perfume ad. He had to admit, she was sexy, elegant, and captivating.
Later, when watching Mad Max, if it weren't for the comments, he wouldn't have recognized that the woman with half of her face covered in black was Charlize Theron.
She had such a versatile appearance, it was no wonder she was known for her chameleon-like transformations in each role.
Ethan admired the actress greatly, but didn't contradict Carl's assumption. Instead, he asked, "What's the second movie?"
"The second one is interesting. The Human Stain starring Nicole Kidman. Oh my God, I love her in Moulin Rouge. This movie has a big budget, 30 million dollars, produced by Miramax, and it's a drama. Sounds like it could win awards, and with Nicole Kidman, the box office should be solid."
Carl babbled on with his opinions, but the next moment, Ethan shook his head. "Not interested."
"But it's Nicole Kidman!" Carl exclaimed.
"Please, Carl, I admit she's beautiful, but she's 35 now, almost old enough to play my mother." Ethan frowned. He didn't have a preference for older women.
"Hey, I was talking about her fame... Wait, what did you just say?" Carl widened his eyes.
"Did I say something?" Ethan smiled, finishing a segment of his orange.
"Alright, seems like you didn't say anything," Carl muttered, not daring to think further. He quickly moved on to the third movie: "The next one is Paycheck, directed by John Woo. His films have been doing well in Hollywood lately—gunfights, explosions, doves! I've seen a few of his, and they're likely to be successful. They need an assistant cameraman."
Carl continued to introduce several more films to Ethan, but he showed little interest in any of them—either they were low-budget films or the roles were too marginal.
None of these films had any significance to him, so after Carl had gone on and on, Ethan finally made a decision: "I'll go with The Monster."
The Monster? "Ethan, are you really sure about this?"
"Of course, I'm absolutely certain."
"Alright, since you've decided on Monster, would you be interested in any other films later on?"
"If there's something, just let me know."
"Got it."
Carl left to continue his work, and Ethan was invited to the premiere of Chicago in New York.
It's common for movies to have a few small-scale screenings before their large-scale release, primarily for media, industry professionals, and veteran movie fans.
If it's a movie like Chicago that aims to make a splash at the Oscars, then attracting veteran film critics and lobbying the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscars' organizers, becomes extremely important.
After so many years of Oscar ceremonies, the "Oscar push" process has been thoroughly understood by industry insiders.
Miramax, the company behind Chicago, is one of the leaders in this field.
Harvey Weinstein is famously known as the "man behind the Oscars," and although he hadn't yet reached his peak at this point, he had developed a set of effective methods for pushing films to win.
Ethan knew his tactics, and future analysts have broken them down into four steps: overseas prestige, media manipulation, lobbying voters, and discrediting rivals.
Overseas prestige involves submitting films to major international film festivals, especially for non-American films. These films often have little recognition, even if they are hits in their home countries, and the Academy voters are often unfamiliar with them.
Therefore, it's crucial to build a strong reputation through awards, as having a list of accolades to back up a film's name makes it much easier to convince voters.
Once the film has built a reputation by attending film festivals, the next step is to manipulate the media, arranging for press releases in authoritative movie outlets and magazines, paying big money for advertising slots, and having the film crew appear on popular TV shows.
The goal is to ensure that the Academy voters become familiar with the film through the media.
After securing a foothold with the media, the real work of lobbying begins. Many public relations firms specialize in this, as the production team doesn't know the identities of the 9,500 Academy members, what kind of films they prefer, or how to approach them.
But public relations companies know all of this. The Guardian once humorously noted that during Oscar season, from mid-October to December 31, the Academy members can be seen at upscale restaurants, enjoying free lunches and dinners, always accompanied by sharply dressed publicists who carefully explain every important point of the movie.
This combined strategy ensures that by the time voting comes around, Academy members are heavily inclined to favor the film.
In 1999, Harvey Weinstein used this very "unwritten rule" to make Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan to win Best Picture, a result that earned Shakespeare in Love the nickname of "the weakest Oscar winner."
Clearly, his PR skills were formidable.
Later, Parasite also won the Oscar thanks to the efforts of Harvey's colleagues.
And Parasite spent 15 million dollars on PR, which was more than the movie's entire production cost of 11 million dollars.
Of course, such an investment paid off handsomely. After Parasite won the Oscar, its North American box office grossed 45 million dollars.
Therefore, with this kind of backing, Chicago was all but guaranteed to win an Oscar. Its musical format, popular with the American audience, was enough to secure a nomination for Best Picture.
But Ethan wasn't aiming for a nomination or even a Best Picture win. These awards, no matter how prestigious, had little to do with his work as a cinematographer.
All the attention would be on the actors and the director, while no one would care about who the cinematographer was. People assumed that the cinematographer was just a tool for the director, a means to achieve the director's vision.
So, what Ethan wanted was the Oscar for Best Cinematography, to raise his status within the industry.
Without it, when he formed his own crew in the future, no one would recognize him. How could he convince actors to join his films, if not by speaking with two legs and a mouth?
With that thought, Ethan leaned back in his chair, the movie about to start.
But his mind wasn't on the screen. Instead, he listened faintly to the conversations around him, like the two people sitting to his left.
One was Nikita, an editor for Film Review magazine.
The other was Russell, a reporter for The Hollywood Reporter.
Both of these Hollywood insiders had been invited, showing that Miramax's "Oscar push" process had already begun.
Ethan smiled as the movie began, the music playing.
The light and shadow on his face shifted constantly, from blue to red.
The sound of the movie's music, dialogue, and the scribbling of notes from the media filled his ears.
Everyone remained quiet, absorbed in the film, responding with admiration and laughter as the scenes played out.
A good movie is like a puppeteer, and the audience is the puppet. Every action and sound is controlled by the camera, editing, and music, all according to the director's intent.
Ethan took a glance at the notebooks of the two people beside him. They were filled with scattered notes, and they were both maintaining a constant smile.
It seemed they were satisfied, and after the movie ended, Ethan was equally pleased.
His careful attention to the film's cinematography had paid off, and it had significantly enhanced the viewing experience, making it even better than the original
