Chapter 878 Open Fire, Don't Stop
Time passed slowly into 2015. After the New Year holiday, Martin returned to the crew of "The Shallows" and started the final editing.
Under the leadership of Louise and Joel Negron, the film was finely edited, and the version presented to Martin was about 91 minutes without front and back subtitles.
Martin watched the film several times and felt that some scenes still needed to be simplified.
A few days later, the final edited version of "The Shallows" was released, and then the front and back subtitles were added. The total length of the film was only 88 minutes.
"Isn't the time a bit short?" Louise adjusted her black-rimmed glasses. She was always serious when working: "It's rare to see a movie with a main feature of just over 80 minutes now."
Martin turned off the projector, turned on the light and said: "Short films have their advantages. At least we can schedule more screenings."
Louise nodded: "I'll have someone edit the final trailer. It's less than a month away from release. Don't run around anymore and cooperate with the crew in publicity."
Martin replied: "No problem."
This is his directorial debut. He has found so many industry experts to serve as assistants, and he has made it with money. If he really messes it up, it will definitely become a joke in the industry.
The investment scale of the film is limited, and the focus of publicity is on him and Blake Lively.
In addition, with the current social situation, the heroine fighting the evil shark is also an excellent publicity point.
In the following days, Martin followed the crew to run publicity notices, and also went from the West Coast to the East Coast, participating in various media activities in succession.
The crew released the final trailer.
Various publicity and promotion are also constantly exerting force.
The film's production cost was $25 million, and the investment in publicity and promotion was also $25 million.
News, recommendations, and hard and soft advertising about "The Shallows" can be seen everywhere in large and medium-sized cities in North America.
"Director Martin's debut film "The Shallows" is about to be released!"
"Blake Lively fights the great white shark with wisdom and courage!"
"Directed by Martin Davis and starring Blake Lively, "The Shallows" is coming soon!"
"Queen S tears up the great white shark with her hands!"
In addition to regular publicity in the media, Blake Lively's social media has been the most important publicity platform since the filming of the film. The new film of the gossip queen has attracted a large number of fans.
The same is true for Martin. He also has a lot of fans on social media, but the top Hollywood stars and Internet celebrities operate differently and do not rely on social media.
Even so, with many promotional materials posted on social media, the comment area of the two was almost crowded.
"I finally waited for Martin's directorial debut. I wonder what the film will be like."
"The trailer looks good. Blake Lively, who is in a bikini throughout the whole film, is worth the price of admission."
"The film starring Martin is indeed very good, but can the film he directs be as exciting as the one he starred in?"
Many people are not confident in Martin's directorial debut. After all, actors and directors are completely different. Although there are many successful precedents of first-line actors directing films in Hollywood, there are more failures.
Since "The Shallows" has not yet held a preview, the media has mixed reviews on it.
Todd McCarthy, a full-time film critic for The Hollywood Reporter, was not optimistic. He wrote in his column: "As far as I know, Martin spends his spare time messing around with Leonardo and Nicholson, or hunting for girls. He has not learned much about directing. His first film he directed was a project with an investment of more than 10 million US dollars. I guess it will be difficult for him to grasp it."
There are also people who support Martin. For example, Variety published an interview about The Shallows, mentioning the composition of the crew behind the scenes, all of whom are experienced experts in the Hollywood industry.
"Maybe Martin is a novice, but the one who controls the whole film is the gold medal producer Lois Lane, and all the assistants are the best in the industry! Another point that cannot be ignored is that Martin Davis, a billionaire worth billions of dollars, is not only a Hollywood superstar, but also the owner of a production company. The resources he can mobilize are far more than those of ordinary new directors."
Variety magazine, which just interviewed Martin about Split, undoubtedly saw the most critical point of Martin's filming and production of The Shallows.
That is money ability.
Most things in this world, especially those related to movies, can basically be solved by money.
…………
Warner Building, Burbank.
After the group meeting, Kevin Tsujihara stayed with DC co-chairman Hamada for a private chat.
DC's Justice League plan has extraordinary significance for Warner Bros.
The two discussed some matters about "Batman v Superman", and the topic turned to the only DC superhero movie in the non-Justice League universe.
Kevin Tsujihara asked: "How far is the preparation for "Joker"?"
Hamada didn't pay much attention, but he also had a basic understanding: "Martin found a screenwriter and is writing a script according to his ideas. He originally planned to invite Nolan and David Fincher to be the director of the project, but both refused."
Kevin Tsujihara tapped the armrest of the sofa lightly, thinking of the recent reports about The Shallows, and asked: "Will he not want to direct this project himself?"
This reminded Hamada, who was not paying enough attention: "I think it's possible."
"It's too confident." Kevin Tsujihara has his own judgment: "Admittedly, Martin is a good actor and a Hollywood star with huge market appeal, but these have nothing to do with the director's level. He will completely ruin the Joker."
Hamada continued: "I watched the trailer of The Shallows. It is not difficult to see from several versions of the trailer that this is a movie with extremely simple scenes, characters and stories. Martin is just speculating. "He paused and asked, "Although the project has been authorized to Warner Bros., we still have the ability to interfere. Should we remind them that Martin can't write, direct and act in the film?" Kevin Tsujihara also didn't think highly of Martin's directing skills. After thinking for a while, he said, "Wait a minute. The Shallows will be released soon. Let's see the box office and word of mouth. The market is the criterion for judging the success or failure of a movie." Hamada said, "I will continue to pay attention to The Shallows." There is a sentence that he didn't say in his heart. He hopes that Martin Davis will fall hard this time. …………
In the garden of a mansion in the North District of Sunset Boulevard. The Oscar ballots mailed by the Academy before the New Year were scattered on a wooden table. Only a few of the blanks were filled in. For example, the first nomination for Best Actor was Martin Davis. Nicholson ran back and forth from the storage room several times, brought a bunch of targets made of metal sheets, and said to Lorraine: "You mess them up and let the servants hang them on the iron racks on the west side."
Lorraine looked at her old father, then at his two silly brothers, and asked: "What are you going to do now?"
Martin carried a box out of the storage room and said: "Guarantee the fairness and justice of the Oscars."
Lorraine didn't believe a single letter of these words: "You?"
Leonardo carried a homemade iron pipe with a handle: "When you see it later, you will be amazed at the fairness and justice of our selection of Oscars, regardless of public relations, art, or film quality..."
Lorraine turned over the disc-sized target, which had the name of the movie, as well as the names of the director, screenwriter and actor.
She handed it to the old driver at home, and the driver carried a ladder to hang the target.
There was a bracket like a bare tree, with a hook on each branch.
The driver hung a large number of signs on the hooks.
Martin opened the box, took out the special ammunition that Nicholson had ordered, and asked, "Jack, are we still using the old method?"
Nicholson walked over, picked up a round firework shell, and said, "It's a little different. This one won't explode when it's fired. If it hits the target, it will leave a colorful mark on it."
Martin picked up a few, stuffed them into his pocket, and asked, "Who will fire first?"
Leonardo took out a helmet, put it on his head, patted the homemade launcher, and said, "Of course I'll go first!"
The target was quickly hung over there, and he shouted over here.
Leonardo moved his hands and feet, came to the circular launch area marked by Nicholson, picked up the homemade launcher, and aimed it at one of the iron racks.
The bastard trio is experienced in firing this kind of fireworks, and they even sent a generous fireworks gift to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's wedding.
Leonardo was ready and shouted, "Martin, be my loader."
Martin turned on the windproof lighter, lit the fireworks in his hand, stuffed it into the barrel, slapped Leonardo's helmet, and shouted, "Fire!"
Leonardo adjusted his aim slightly, waited a few seconds, and with a muffled bang, the fireworks flew out.
Although the fireworks flew out in a parabola, the three of them were already proficient in playing with this thing, and the first shot hit the target.
With the sound of the impact, a colorful smoke exploded on the iron frame.
Nicholson picked up a telescope and observed it briefly. There was an obvious red bullet point on a metal target.
He saw the name on it and said, "Best Picture Nomination, The Theory of Everything!"
Martin is now a loader, and said to Lorraine, "Hurry up, write the name of this movie in the Best Picture Nomination column of our Oscar ballot."
Lorraine just understood what these three bastards were doing. Now she was the only one who was free, so she quickly picked up a pen to write the name of the movie.
Just as she finished writing, she heard another muffled sound.
But this time, Leonardo missed.
Martin continued to reload, shouting, "Don't stop, keep going!"
The third shot, and there was another bang.
Observer Nicholson raised his telescope and said, "Best Actress nomination, Reese Witherspoon!"
Lorraine filled in Reese Witherspoon's name in the first line of the Best Actress nomination.
Seeing Martin about to reload, she couldn't help but mutter to herself: This is really fair and just to select the nomination list.
No matter who the actor is, no matter what the role is, no matter what the movie is, no matter which company it comes from, the main goal is to treat everyone equally.
After selecting seven nominees, Martin became the shooter and Leonardo became the loader.
The muffled sound of explosions continued.
Martin's shooting accuracy is much higher than Leonardo's.
The latter can select an Oscar nomination with about two or three shots.
Martin's hit rate is as high as 90%.
Lorraine thought that if she filmed the way the three bastards selected Oscar nominations and sold them as breaking news, she would definitely make a lot of money.
But she just thought about this idea.
You know, her father Nicholson is now a benchmark for Hollywood acting, a model established by the Academy, and the mascot of the Oscars.
Martin and Leonardo are also active members of the Oscars.
Now that these are announced, the authority of the Oscars will definitely drop sharply.
After Martin finished, Nicholson took over.
The old bastard's hit rate was much worse. It took until the sun went down for the three of them to get the Oscar nomination ballot.
In order to ensure fairness, Martin asked Lorraine to seal the ballot directly and mail it out tonight.
Nicholson stretched and said, "The annual carnival is over again."
Leonardo said, "Let's try a more interesting way next year."
Martin asked, "Do you have a better idea?"
Leonardo, the old pervert, quickly came up with a bad idea: "Each of us hires a team of female models, hides the Morse code representing the candidates in their clothes, and then we randomly choose one, take off our pants..."
Nicholson waved his hand: "I'm old, I can't play these games anymore."
He moved a chair, sat down and said, "I'm also going to let go of Jennifer Lawrence."
Martin understood what he meant: "No way, you can't do it now?"
"A real man can't say no!" Leonardo added insult to injury and patted Nicholson on the shoulder: "So... You are the weakest among us!"
Nicholson said frankly: "I am 77 years old, and I can still come once a week at least." He looked at Leonardo with contempt: "You are a weak chicken with only 30 seconds, you will not be able to do it when you are 60 years old."
Martin shook his head: "Jack, you are wrong."
Leonardo put his arm around Martin's shoulders: "You finally told the truth for once."
The blow followed, and Martin said: "It's good that Leo can hold on until he is 50 years old."
Leonardo let go of his hand and pushed Martin away: "You are a complete bastard!"
The three mocked each other, and Martin saw that it was getting dark, and said: "Let's go, have dinner, and then wash your face after dinner. I will treat you today."
Nicholson and Leonardo decided to have an expensive meal to empty Martin's wallet.
After getting the Oscar votes, Martin's energy was basically focused on the promotion of "The Shallows", and he continued to run notices with the crew.
Before mid-January, Disney Studios held three special screenings for The Shallows: media previews, fan previews, and theater manager previews, and received fairly good feedback.
Of course, it is not as good as the previous films starring Martin, but it is not a bad movie either.
Disney Studios then lifted the ban on the film's reputation.
The Rotten Tomatoes freshness is over 80%, and IMDB also has an initial score of 8.2.
These at least indicate that the film will not suffer a box office disaster.