Chapter 450: Eye-Popping Visuals

[Chapter 450: Eye-Popping Visuals]

Drew expertly delivered a warning to Jamie Spears. For these greedy little players, an empty threat might provoke reckless retaliation, considering they often felt they had nothing to lose. So, Drew painted a picture for Jamie. If he kept his mouth shut and played it straight, Britney could remain a stable presence in the Mickey Mouse Club, and someday possibly become a superstar earning tens of millions a year. As Britney's father, Jamie would enjoy that life of luxury too. But if Jamie sought quick, petty profits and spouted nonsense, their family would find themselves back in their small town in Louisiana, struggling with no way out.

Observing Jamie as he humbly swore and backed out of the office, Tina Fey couldn't help but chuckle. Yet, as she recalled Drew's earlier words, she pondered her own level within the 'pyramid' of Firefly Films. Soon, self-doubt crept in as she realized that, no matter how much she understood, she would always just be a brick, while he was the owner of the pyramid.

"Hey, secretary, are you feeling inferior too?" came Drew's teasing voice from nearby.

Tina snapped back to reality, quickly covering her embarrassment and retorted, "What nonsense! And you don't sound anything like that playboy at all when you imitate."

"I'm not arguing about that with you. Just do me a favor and ask if there's any juice left. After all this talking, my mouth's dry."

"Didn't we finish everything? Aren't we leaving?" Tina questioned.

"Not yet. We haven't met those two Lolitas, do you really not want to see them?"

Tina shrugged and walked out of the office.

...

In the post-production studio set up specifically for Twister, a 32-inch color TV was placed in the room. Eric, Jeffrey, Michael Lynn, Stan Winston, the renowned Hollywood composer John Williams, and other key creative members were all fixated on the screen.

The TV played a one-minute and thirty-second teaser for Twister. With a heart-stopping sound of shattering glass, the audience couldn't help but erupt into applause.

"Fantastic!"

"That was freaking intense! I thought a tire was about to land on me!"

"The use of black edges in the teaser to create an eye-popping effect -- simple yet genius!"

"Run it again! Run it again!"

Listening to the stunned reactions of those around him, Eric couldn't help but break into a satisfied smile. All the hard work over the past few days finally paid off. The surprise on the faces of these professionals indicated that when ordinary people saw these shots in the future, they would surely be even more amazed.

After the trailer for Pretty Woman, the Super Bowl trailer had become an important promotional channel for major films every year. None of the prior teaser concepts from the crew had satisfied Eric, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Eric watched the completed film of Twister several times. The visual effects showing cars, yachts, and tankers being tossed around reminded him of the so-called eye-popping teaser from the 2012.

He recalled being startled the first time he saw that trailer. Although further viewings revealed that the so-called eye-popping moments were merely created by adjusting the depth of field in the shots and utilizing wide-screen black edges on small screens to produce visual illusions, he still had a fondness for that teaser. Consequently, when he observed similar scenes in Twister, he quickly generated a similar idea.

When he proposed this concept, some of the other creatives expressed doubt. However, Eric's absolute control over the film allowed him to push through his proposal easily.

Then, top-notch visual effects artists in the studio spent two days discussing solutions. They worked overtime over the next week and finally nailed down the relevant special effects shots.

To test the results, Eric didn't screen the trailer in the studio's lavish theater. Instead, he had a standard TV brought in. Judging by the reactions of those present and the effectiveness he had just witnessed, even on a small-screen TV, the anticipated impact remained intact. This trailer was undoubtedly a major success and would certainly cause quite a stir.

"I was a bit worried at first, but with this trailer out, it will definitely steal the thunder from Batman Returns," Jeffrey couldn't help but comment as he watched the trailer scenes replay on the screen beside Eric.

"I think you were a bit overly concerned to begin with," Eric replied with a chuckle. He never regarded Warner's Batman Returns as a threat. From his memory of Warner Brothers' Batman series in the 1990s, aside from the first film achieving success due to decades of built-up popularity, the sequels had increasingly larger budgets but waning reception. In fact, the four Batman movies in the 1990s had three different leads, changing directors just as frequently, yet there had been no breakthroughs despite the involvement of many major stars.

"While Twister is certainly impressive, we shouldn't underestimate Batman. The series has built decades of fanfare, and Warner invested $50 million in marketing for this film," Jeffrey began his familiar nagging tone as he looked at Eric's relaxed demeanor.

Eric responded, "Jeffrey, haven't you ever heard that the greater the expectation, the bigger the disappointment? Speaking of crazy, that recent debacle was quite the spectacle."

Jeffrey laughed and shook his head, aware of what Eric was referring to.

In the first Batman film, the intended lead actress was Sean Young. However, after she fell from a horse during filming and broke her arm, the role went to the less conventionally attractive Kim Basinger. Batman became a hit, bringing Kim, who had been a third-tier star, to stardom. One could only imagine Sean Young's feelings about it. A few months prior, she had infamously shown up in a shoddy Catwoman costume at Warner's headquarters, begging the studio to give her the role of Catwoman in Batman Returns, only to earn herself the nickname "Crazy Woman."

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