Chapter 61: Promotion Suggestions

"Mike, let's use high-speed slow motion for the opening scene."

Standing in the editing room of Rock Studios, Duke stared intently at the footage on the monitor. "Fade in between shot seven and shot eight, insert shot twenty-three of the explosion…"

After Mike Dawson directed two assistants to complete the edits, Duke crossed his arms and watched for a while before saying, "The wide-angle shot forty-five with the sunset should come before shot twenty-three. Yes, that's the effect we want!"

With the collaboration on "Speed," editor Mike Dawson had developed a better rapport with Duke and had become more convinced of Duke's editing style, especially since he had just received his first Oscar nomination for "Speed" for Best Editing, the only nomination for the film at the 65th Academy Awards.

Having gained the industry's most authoritative recognition, Mike fully accepted Duke's post-production philosophy. Take the opening segment, for example: nearly four minutes of the scene was composed entirely of slow-motion shots, seemingly at odds with the film's fast-paced nature, yet the final cut yielded a completely different effect.

The slow motion highlighted General Hammer's stature and the film's heavy theme. The scene took place in a cemetery, where General Hammer intended to hold the government accountable for the forgotten old soldiers, and as he bid farewell to his deceased wife, he witnessed a soldier's funeral, where the deceased received the honor of a flag draping. The pouring rain in slow motion further emphasized the immense anger within General Hammer.

"Next…" Duke's voice broke through again. "Mike, let's showcase our specialty: quick cuts with short shots, limiting all action shots to under three seconds."

Duke was still Duke, and Mike Dawson couldn't shake the feeling that it was indeed the case.

Mike's thoughts were unimportant to Duke. After some adjustment, they had found their collaborative rhythm, and their editing efficiency had greatly improved compared to "Speed." They completed the first cut in less than ten days.

However, the rough cut exceeded five and a half hours. Without a more time-consuming and intricate editing process, it would never achieve Duke's desired effect.

The final cut would surely be longer than the 96 minutes of "Speed." Duke aimed to keep the film around 110 minutes, especially concerning Christopher Lee's role, which he didn't want to shorten for the sake of accommodating Sean Connery like before. This Mason was much more fierce and wasn't the type of traditional gentleman spy that seemed so false.

Duke also tried to simplify some peripheral storylines. This film, focusing on action and thrilling excitement, only needed to maintain basic plot logic.

In commercial films, many logical elements are overlooked for various reasons, not because of flaws. For instance, in "The Rock," Duke could easily create a two-hour film exploring the emotional relationships and psychological changes between Mason and his daughter, but in this movie, non-thematic scenes needed to be trimmed to highlight the central theme, provided that the basic logic flowed smoothly.

This was also one of the main conflicts between commercial films and professional film critics. Critics often believe that commercial films intentionally neglect the plot for the sake of explosions and fights, while directors must omit slower-paced details to cater to audience enjoyment and commercial success, delivering maximum satisfaction within limited time.

As for whether commercial films can align with critics' ideal scenarios, leading to financial losses and the bankruptcy of investors, those vampires waving the banner of art never consider such matters.

If there were a relevant online rating now, Duke believed that "The Rock" would probably only achieve a rotten tomato score of just over sixty percent, while he was confident that the audience popcorn score would exceed eighty percent.

Duke genuinely didn't care about professional ratings. Critics indeed held professional discourse power, but he wasn't making films for awards. When Roger Ebert inexplicably rated "Speed" ten out of ten, Duke felt no joy. Likewise, he wouldn't be disheartened if the professional media average score barely reached seven; these scores paled in comparison to the profits the film could bring him.

Moreover, within a decade or so, the discourse power of film criticism would not rest in critics' hands. Just think of the last few years when many top critics in North America were forcibly dismissed by the media they worked for.

Also, since the massive backlash following "Star Wars," critics' influence on box office returns has been declining sharply. If Duke remembered correctly, the film "The Shawshank Redemption" was virtually lauded to the heavens by them. After winning the Oscar, it was re-released amidst boundless sympathy, yet its total box office and attendance still fell flat. It took the production and distribution companies over a decade to recoup their costs.

As for director Frank Darabont? Such an acclaimed film didn't significantly improve his situation; he remained a second- or even third-tier director. How many in Hollywood even remembered his name, let alone regular audiences?

This was Hollywood. While professional acclaim could not be completely disregarded, commercial success was far more crucial!

Who could claim that directors like Frank Darabont, Sam Mendes, and Rob Marshall—who received Oscar nominations or awards for their debut films—held a higher position in Hollywood than Michael Bay, who had never been nominated?

In this era, films had become commodities; this was an undeniable fact. Before producing a film, one must first find its positioning and target potential consumer groups. The films Duke chose were not for awards nor to consider professional acclaim; the primary consideration was commercial success.

According to his plan, his next film would be a collection of clichéd elements typical of summer blockbusters.

As he had mentioned before, as long as commercial success was assured, he had ample time to hone his skills and later transition. Even if that transition failed, he could return to his explosive blockbuster path.

Post-production required even more patience than filming. The meticulous editing of "The Rock" could only be described as tortoise-paced; aside from editing, some special effects shots needed compositing. The Pentagon provided footage of F-18 Hornets taking off and flying in formation, and Duke had to select suitable shots and integrate the fighter jet formations into the scenic backgrounds of Devil's Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Of course, what drained Duke's energy the most were the action shots.

"Every fifteen minutes, I want an action scene."

Sitting at a break table, Duke explained several key points about editing action shots to Mike Dawson. "All action scenes need to convey a grand scale without losing control. We'll use short shots and high-speed slow motion to counteract the drag that longer sequences might cause, and we should minimize female character scenes. The overall tone of the film is tense and masculine."

"I have a question, Duke."

Charles Roven, sitting across from him, spoke up. "I just saw the F-18 footage provided by the Pentagon. Those are Blue Angels aircraft, not Marine Corps planes."

"It's a minor issue." Duke adjusted the cap on his head. "While operations are primarily led by the Marine Corps, the film won't specify which forces carry out the final bombing; the Air Force could also conduct airstrikes."

The cap Duke was wearing, which he called his lucky cap, featuring the logo of the Los Angeles Raiders, caught Charles Roven's interest. He pointed to the emblem and asked, "Is this your team?"

"Sort of," Duke replied.

American football was the sport Duke participated in the most during school, but he had rarely followed it in the past two years due to work.

"Have you heard?" Charles Roven continued, "The Raiders might be moving out of Los Angeles, possibly returning to Oakland."

"Why didn't I know about this?" Duke was taken aback, then realized he hadn't been keeping up with sports news lately. "When did this happen?"

"It's not confirmed yet." Charles Roven pondered for a moment. "It's said that after the Super Bowl, the Raiders will be sold."

"Oh…" Duke automatically overlooked the latter part of Roven's statement. "The Super Bowl!"

"The Super Bowl!" He suddenly clapped his hands together. "How could I forget that!"

Mike Dawson and Charles Roven looked at Duke in confusion.

"Charles, I'm a novice when it comes to promotion," Duke admitted. In this era, promotion relied heavily on traditional media, and Duke genuinely had little understanding of it. He rarely interfered with promotion, following plans laid out by professionals. But now, his tone carried a hint of confidence. "Can I offer a suggestion to Warner about the promotion plan?"

According to their signed contract, Duke's accounting team could participate in the promotion and check the related expenditure and accounts. However, as the director, he had no authority to intervene in promotions and only needed to cooperate with the reasonable plans set by Warner Bros.

This was not a result of compromise but a Hollywood norm. Duke knew himself well; he was not an all-knowing genius. Even though he had once studied some theory, he lacked practical operational experience. In terms of actual combat capability, he could not compete with Warner Bros. professionals.

Perhaps in the internet age, he could have slightly more influence in this area.

"A suggestion?" Charles Roven frowned.

After nearly half a year of working together, he had gained some understanding of Duke. He would not allow others to infringe upon his rights, and similarly, he wouldn't overstep his bounds in areas that didn't belong to him. He was the type of director that producers in Hollywood appreciated.

"Yes, a suggestion!" Duke emphasized.