Chapter 320: The Marvelous Amy

From the beginning of March, fans of Robert Downey Jr. noticed that he recommended a book in his latest blog update.

"Just got back from vacation to Los Angeles, was wandering down Sunset Boulevard and stumbled upon a very interesting graphic novel in a bookstore. It seems to be adapted from a certain character, about a marvelous girl, very, very intriguing."

This was a blog post written by Robert Downey Jr. himself, of course, also a result of Murphy and 20th Century Fox's collaboration.

Besides the text on the blog, Robert Downey Jr. also posted a cover photo of the graphic novel, with a line of text that was particularly striking—"The Marvelous Amy."

"This is it, this bookstore has it."

Two girls walked into a bookstore in downtown Los Angeles, the one with black long hair said to the girl with blonde short hair, "Daisy, they have that graphic novel by Robert Downey Jr. here."

"Let's go find it."

Daisy led the way into the bookstore's novel sales area, quickly found the graphic novel on a shelf, and flipped through it. It indeed told the story of a marvelous girl, "Seems pretty good."

"Yeah, I've read it, it's not bad," the black-haired girl nodded in agreement. "Just don't know which character it's adapted from, the original model for Amy must be a super genius."

A boy with glasses nearby was drawn over by their conversation and couldn't help but come over to ask, "Excuse me, can I know what book you are talking about?"

"This one." Daisy picked up the book and shook it in front of him, "The Marvelous Amy."

"Thank you."

The boy with glasses politely nodded to the two girls, took a copy of the same book, stood there reading it for a while, then walked over to the checkout.

Daisy looked towards the checkout, "Let's go too."

She planned to go back and read it, and if it really was good, she would recommend it on her own blog and discussion groups.

Meanwhile, many well-known bloggers in North America were recommending this graphic novel called "The Marvelous Amy," which even made it into the supplement of the New York Times.

As part of 20th Century Fox, a book recommendation segment on Fox TV also highlighted "The Marvelous Amy."

During the show, the host made a special recommendation.

"We often say that what a person becomes as an adult is largely influenced by their childhood, and here's a girl who had an extraordinary childhood. That extraordinariness comes from having parents who were authors, who wrote a graphic novel called 'The Marvelous Amy,' and the protagonist is reportedly modeled after their daughter, Amy."

"Though they chose to keep personal details private to avoid the influence of the book on their personal lives, we can still see from the graphic novel that the marvelous Amy is a genius-like girl."

"Amy excelled from a young age, was a straight-A student, learned to play the violin at five and placed in the top three in a state amateur competition; started playing volleyball at ten and continued through high school, only stopping when she entered Harvard University; graduated with dual master's degrees in Psychology and Sociology, and even kept a dog..."

"Right up until she got married, the marvelous Amy was always a winner in life."

The female character in the book was very appealing, and after being promoted through media, online platforms, and various programs, the graphic novel gradually gained sales. Although it didn't top the North American bestseller lists, it sold over a hundred thousand copies in a month, attracting many book fans.

Some even created a dedicated blog for the marvelous Amy.

Online, people compiled various attributes of Amy, who always turned in excellent report cards, was an amateur music master, her violin skills comparable to a professional, and at sixteen, won a state youth volleyball championship, a brilliant graduate from Harvard University.

As the graphic novel's sales figures rose, book fans and other internet users, driven by some online discussions, kept asking—who really is the prototype for the marvelous Amy?

Many called the publishing house, part of the News Corporation, but the response was always the same: a strict confidentiality agreement with the original authors prevented any disclosure of information.

The more mysterious, the more it intrigued and provoked curiosity.

At some point, a blog suddenly appeared online that drew considerable attention, solely dedicated to uncovering—where exactly is the marvelous Amy?

Lacking original literary support and characterized by an anti-Hollywood sentiment, "Gone Girl" needed to employ additional promotional tactics to achieve impressive box office results upon its release.

In marketing, Murphy and Kara Faith, in collaboration with the departments at 20th Century Fox, had a comprehensive plan from the outset, now being executed, and feedback from the market was promising.

However, Murphy's main focus remained on finishing the post-production of "Gone Girl."

After the initial editing, he first took out the opening and closing

 scenes for re-processing, these first and last frames, both featuring Charlize Theron as Amy Dunne.

After modification, they would be single-frame images.

Compared to the rest of the film, single-frame images rarely attract attention, but the first and last frames of a movie can leave a profound impression on the audience, Murphy used very similar images for both the beginning and end, serving a significant purpose, and representing the overall direction and theme of the story.

Murphy also added post-production voice-over by James Franco to the beginning and end frames.

"When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. I imagine breaking her lovely skull, sifting through her brain, trying to find an answer, the primary answer to any marital issue: What are you thinking? How do you feel? What have we done to each other?"

This monologue, easily stirring suspicion and echoing the earlier content, was placed by Murphy at the beginning.

The latter part also had a corresponding monologue, "I wake up next to her, scrutinizing the back of her head, trying to decipher Amy's thoughts. For the first time, I don't feel like I'm staring at the blinding sun. I've finally caught up with my wife's madness because I can feel her changing me: from a wet-behind-the-ears kid to a so-so man, now at least a protagonist—in our endless marital battle, there are still people cheering for me, I can live with that. Hell, at this point, I can't imagine life without Amy; she's my perpetual adversary."

Having sorted the beginning and end, Murphy and his editor, Jodie Griffiths, continued to refine the main content of the film.

Previously, Murphy had shot ample material for selection during editing, his usual method of shooting ensured there were enough shots available, typically shooting a long shot as the main shot, then various close-ups, reaction shots, cut-in shots, and cutaway shots.

Shooting was to serve editing, and Murphy filmed this way, obviously planning to use classic editing techniques. Most scene segments typically started with a long shot for introduction, followed by a medium shot containing the main plot, and ended with a close-up that isolated an actor or performance.

Sometimes, he also added an establishing shot, usually placed before the panoramic shot to inform the audience of the background of the narrative.

Because of their frequent collaborations, Jodie Griffiths was more attuned to Murphy's intentions, Murphy delegated to him, and his experienced editor provided some different editing perspectives.

During fine editing, Murphy granted Jodie Griffiths greater authority to handle the rough cut material rather than sticking around as the director himself. A skilled and cooperative editor could independently organize, oversee the material, find highlights, and consider breakthrough methods to enhance the director's work and save time.

Moreover, Murphy was never stingy in sharing his concepts with Jodie Griffiths.

In their active discussions, if a director shared more about film shooting, narrative structure, and creative flexibility, it wasn't just meaningful for the editor but also greatly aided the editing work.

Compared to the much faster-than-planned shooting, the post-production of "Gone Girl" could only be described as crawling, the importance of editing to a film is undeniable, and especially crucial for this film. Given ample time, Murphy didn't want to rush.

From February to early May, the post-production gradually neared completion, and Murphy accepted 20th Century Fox's invitation to attend the premiere of "Kingdom of Heaven."

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