Chapter 7： start up
Hollywood film production is like an assembly line, rigorous and lacking in artistic atmosphere.
Every film with a high investment is a difficult task that requires multiple scrutiny and cannot tolerate the slightest mistake.
As for the artistic atmosphere, what is that?
Most Hollywood film companies and distribution companies don't know what an artistic atmosphere is.
So it was with Ryan, and so it was with Helen.
Generally speaking, there are two main positions in Hollywood film shooting: producer and director.
The investment in "The Blair Witch" was pitifully low, so naturally there would not be a number of producers, directors, and assistant directors, so the producer and director were all served by Ryan himself, and by the way, a screenwriter was also added.
Helen acted as the casting director and field manager, and Heidi acted as her assistant, plus part-time chores for logistics.
It can be said that except for some necessary positions, the entire crew is almost all employees of Star Brokerage Company.
There was no other way to do this. First, it could be kept secret. Second, the entire crew only had a budget of 40,000 U.S. dollars, so they had to save money.
Excluding the daily expenses, the combined remuneration of the three protagonists was less than three thousand dollars. The most expensive member of the entire crew was a senior makeup artist with a weekly salary of four hundred dollars, and it was still for Helen's sake.
By the way, this makeup artist is also the only official employee of the crew.
None of the remaining photographers, lighting engineers, scene managers, prop artists, etc.
Ryan had already calculated that Helen and Heidi could be the stage managers and props masters, and he himself would be the cameraman and lighting engineer. Anyway, he could do whatever he could to save money.
This is how "The Blair Witch" was filmed in the previous life.
At the same time, Helen contacted a small rental and sales equipment company, and rented audio tapes, Hi-8 cameras, 16mm cameras, etc., a few simple shooting equipment at a very low price.
In just a few days, the preparations for the crew were completed, and the launch of "The Blair Witch" was ushered in.
On March 1, 1994, Ryan came to the United States to start filming for the first time in his life.
According to the customs of some Hong Kong directors in the previous life, the first thing to do when the film is turned on is to start the movie and worship God.
Fortunately, there is no opening ceremony in Hollywood. There are less than ten crew members in total, and the filming started quietly in a small town near New York.
There was no press conference, no fans watching, no cheering, everything seemed very quiet.
To be honest, such a crew is much simpler than some independent films, and it looks ridiculous.
"Well, I admit it's worse than I thought."
"Wrong, it should be said that it is terrible. I have never seen such a bad crew."
"It's literally worse than a script."
"Okay, you two, be quiet, you are the leading role anyway."
"Hell star, I doubt the movie even got a chance to be screened."
"It's not bad to be able to release video tapes. I will definitely buy a few boxes and give them away when the time comes."
The three leading actors in the film whispered.
With a tiny investment, a crude crew, a novice director, and three young actors with no acting skills, no matter how you look at it, it looks like a garbage movie that is about to be born.
In the scene before her, Jessica Chastain was a little discouraged, it was more like a farce than a crew.
But the three of them are not really good actors, or even small actors. They usually act as background cloths and dead bodies, and there is Helen, the manager, present, so no one dares to say anything.
Otherwise, Ryan will be replaced immediately.
However, less than a minute after turning it on, Ryan encountered some small troubles. He directly put down the camera in his hand and walked in front of the three leading actors.
"I'll say it again, you are students of the university's film department, not actors, let alone on set."
"Don't fiddle with your poor acting skills in front of me, remember what I want is naturalness, a university film student who plays in his true colors."
The three leading actors looked at each other in blank dismay. They don't need acting skills?
Hell, the video shot in this way is sure to be watchable!
The most difficult and also the easiest part of "The Blair Witch" is that the three leading actors in the film do not need even a little bit of acting skills. Only in this way can they appear more real.
Let the media and movie fans feel that this is a real event, not a filmed film.
So Ryan doesn't need them to put on poor acting in front of the camera.
The success of "The Blair Witch" in the previous life, in addition to the viral publicity, is also due to the real performances of the three leading actors in the film.
Ahem, or in other words, he has no acting skills at all.
The filming started again, barely better than before, but Ryan stopped again.
"Helen, the props I need must be real and not fake. If you are not prepared, you can ask Heidi to buy them immediately."
"It all had to look natural."
Ryan glanced at the props prepared by the crew, and frowned slightly.
Since I want the media and movie fans to believe that this is a real event.
Then there should be no falsehoods on the props, and the observation power of the media and movie fans must not be underestimated.
"It was my fault."
Helen was slightly taken aback, then took the initiative to admit her mistake, and said, "I'll let Heidi prepare the props again."
After Helen had spoken, Heidi could only re-prepare the props with a face of reluctance.
The next filming went smoothly, and the three leading actors all entered their roles, or it was a performance without any acting skills.
Anyway, Ryan doesn't need them to perform well, as long as there are no logical flaws in their expressions, so the filming proceeded very quickly.
The filming budget of the entire crew is only 40,000 US dollars. Excluding daily expenses, rental equipment, props, actors' remuneration, etc., there is almost nothing left, and there is not enough money to polish each shot repeatedly.
What's more, the camera in his hand is simply indescribable, and the effect of the video shot with the hand-held camera can be imagined.
During the break, Helen walked over with a bottle of drink and handed it to Ryan, "You can take a proper break. If the budget is not enough, I can lend you some, or use it as an investment."
Ryan's shooting plan is full of arrangements, and there is hardly any rest time.
Maybe the crew members wouldn't complain too much, but Helen couldn't sit idly by.
"I just hope to catch up with the schedule and strive for the film to be released before May."
Ryan was a little unconcerned. In his previous life, when he was filming in UU Reading , he often rotated continuously, shooting non-stop for 24 hours. Similar to the shooting just now, it was already very easy.
"As soon as the summer season comes in April, let alone how much resources the distribution company will give to this film, just competing with those big productions at the same time is not a good choice."
"On the contrary, March and April are the off-season for the entire North American film market. Few major productions are released, which is very beneficial to the release of films."
He sees this very clearly. Instead of competing with all the big productions in May, it is better to dominate March and April.
Helen nodded, agreeing with his point of view very much, "Well, I will communicate with other personnel, but you also need to relax properly."
Ryan nodded, agreeing.
In fact, this is also a mistake made by his previous filming experience. The Hollywood production crew is not the online movie production crew in the previous life. There are obvious differences between the two. It is okay to have a faster pace, but it is necessary to leave enough rest time.
That is to say, the production team couldn't be smaller, and he is a producer, part-time director, screenwriter, and investor, and the only manager of the production team is Helen, otherwise, there will be some troubles.
Subsequently, Ryan changed some shooting plans to try to make it easier.
At the end of the day, the crew's shooting plan was less than one-third of the original plan, which made Ryan somewhat helpless.
Calculated in this way, it will take about a week for the entire film to be shot.
Three days later than his original plan, more than half slower.
Don't think that three days is too fast. According to the shooting speed of previous Hong Kong directors, such a film would be considered slow in three days. Some directors can finish shooting in a day or two at most.
Every film with a high investment is a difficult task that requires multiple scrutiny and cannot tolerate the slightest mistake.
As for the artistic atmosphere, what is that?
Most Hollywood film companies and distribution companies don't know what an artistic atmosphere is.
So it was with Ryan, and so it was with Helen.
Generally speaking, there are two main positions in Hollywood film shooting: producer and director.
The investment in "The Blair Witch" was pitifully low, so naturally there would not be a number of producers, directors, and assistant directors, so the producer and director were all served by Ryan himself, and by the way, a screenwriter was also added.
Helen acted as the casting director and field manager, and Heidi acted as her assistant, plus part-time chores for logistics.
It can be said that except for some necessary positions, the entire crew is almost all employees of Star Brokerage Company.
There was no other way to do this. First, it could be kept secret. Second, the entire crew only had a budget of 40,000 U.S. dollars, so they had to save money.
Excluding the daily expenses, the combined remuneration of the three protagonists was less than three thousand dollars. The most expensive member of the entire crew was a senior makeup artist with a weekly salary of four hundred dollars, and it was still for Helen's sake.
By the way, this makeup artist is also the only official employee of the crew.
None of the remaining photographers, lighting engineers, scene managers, prop artists, etc.
Ryan had already calculated that Helen and Heidi could be the stage managers and props masters, and he himself would be the cameraman and lighting engineer. Anyway, he could do whatever he could to save money.
This is how "The Blair Witch" was filmed in the previous life.
At the same time, Helen contacted a small rental and sales equipment company, and rented audio tapes, Hi-8 cameras, 16mm cameras, etc., a few simple shooting equipment at a very low price.
In just a few days, the preparations for the crew were completed, and the launch of "The Blair Witch" was ushered in.
On March 1, 1994, Ryan came to the United States to start filming for the first time in his life.
According to the customs of some Hong Kong directors in the previous life, the first thing to do when the film is turned on is to start the movie and worship God.
Fortunately, there is no opening ceremony in Hollywood. There are less than ten crew members in total, and the filming started quietly in a small town near New York.
There was no press conference, no fans watching, no cheering, everything seemed very quiet.
To be honest, such a crew is much simpler than some independent films, and it looks ridiculous.
"Well, I admit it's worse than I thought."
"Wrong, it should be said that it is terrible. I have never seen such a bad crew."
"It's literally worse than a script."
"Okay, you two, be quiet, you are the leading role anyway."
"Hell star, I doubt the movie even got a chance to be screened."
"It's not bad to be able to release video tapes. I will definitely buy a few boxes and give them away when the time comes."
The three leading actors in the film whispered.
With a tiny investment, a crude crew, a novice director, and three young actors with no acting skills, no matter how you look at it, it looks like a garbage movie that is about to be born.
In the scene before her, Jessica Chastain was a little discouraged, it was more like a farce than a crew.
But the three of them are not really good actors, or even small actors. They usually act as background cloths and dead bodies, and there is Helen, the manager, present, so no one dares to say anything.
Otherwise, Ryan will be replaced immediately.
However, less than a minute after turning it on, Ryan encountered some small troubles. He directly put down the camera in his hand and walked in front of the three leading actors.
"I'll say it again, you are students of the university's film department, not actors, let alone on set."
"Don't fiddle with your poor acting skills in front of me, remember what I want is naturalness, a university film student who plays in his true colors."
The three leading actors looked at each other in blank dismay. They don't need acting skills?
Hell, the video shot in this way is sure to be watchable!
The most difficult and also the easiest part of "The Blair Witch" is that the three leading actors in the film do not need even a little bit of acting skills. Only in this way can they appear more real.
Let the media and movie fans feel that this is a real event, not a filmed film.
So Ryan doesn't need them to put on poor acting in front of the camera.
The success of "The Blair Witch" in the previous life, in addition to the viral publicity, is also due to the real performances of the three leading actors in the film.
Ahem, or in other words, he has no acting skills at all.
The filming started again, barely better than before, but Ryan stopped again.
"Helen, the props I need must be real and not fake. If you are not prepared, you can ask Heidi to buy them immediately."
"It all had to look natural."
Ryan glanced at the props prepared by the crew, and frowned slightly.
Since I want the media and movie fans to believe that this is a real event.
Then there should be no falsehoods on the props, and the observation power of the media and movie fans must not be underestimated.
"It was my fault."
Helen was slightly taken aback, then took the initiative to admit her mistake, and said, "I'll let Heidi prepare the props again."
After Helen had spoken, Heidi could only re-prepare the props with a face of reluctance.
The next filming went smoothly, and the three leading actors all entered their roles, or it was a performance without any acting skills.
Anyway, Ryan doesn't need them to perform well, as long as there are no logical flaws in their expressions, so the filming proceeded very quickly.
The filming budget of the entire crew is only 40,000 US dollars. Excluding daily expenses, rental equipment, props, actors' remuneration, etc., there is almost nothing left, and there is not enough money to polish each shot repeatedly.
What's more, the camera in his hand is simply indescribable, and the effect of the video shot with the hand-held camera can be imagined.
During the break, Helen walked over with a bottle of drink and handed it to Ryan, "You can take a proper break. If the budget is not enough, I can lend you some, or use it as an investment."
Ryan's shooting plan is full of arrangements, and there is hardly any rest time.
Maybe the crew members wouldn't complain too much, but Helen couldn't sit idly by.
"I just hope to catch up with the schedule and strive for the film to be released before May."
Ryan was a little unconcerned. In his previous life, when he was filming in UU Reading , he often rotated continuously, shooting non-stop for 24 hours. Similar to the shooting just now, it was already very easy.
"As soon as the summer season comes in April, let alone how much resources the distribution company will give to this film, just competing with those big productions at the same time is not a good choice."
"On the contrary, March and April are the off-season for the entire North American film market. Few major productions are released, which is very beneficial to the release of films."
He sees this very clearly. Instead of competing with all the big productions in May, it is better to dominate March and April.
Helen nodded, agreeing with his point of view very much, "Well, I will communicate with other personnel, but you also need to relax properly."
Ryan nodded, agreeing.
In fact, this is also a mistake made by his previous filming experience. The Hollywood production crew is not the online movie production crew in the previous life. There are obvious differences between the two. It is okay to have a faster pace, but it is necessary to leave enough rest time.
That is to say, the production team couldn't be smaller, and he is a producer, part-time director, screenwriter, and investor, and the only manager of the production team is Helen, otherwise, there will be some troubles.
Subsequently, Ryan changed some shooting plans to try to make it easier.
At the end of the day, the crew's shooting plan was less than one-third of the original plan, which made Ryan somewhat helpless.
Calculated in this way, it will take about a week for the entire film to be shot.
Three days later than his original plan, more than half slower.
Don't think that three days is too fast. According to the shooting speed of previous Hong Kong directors, such a film would be considered slow in three days. Some directors can finish shooting in a day or two at most.
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