Chapter 171: The Red Carpet Facilitator

In fact, Murphy's core concept for post-production editing is quite simple: not to confuse the audience, distract them from the plot, or make them feel annoyed and depressed. Instead, the overall plot framework should be straightforward and easy to understand, pleasing the majority of the audience.

This is also the essence of why movies can become widely popular.

Spending over ten days on the initial cut, Murphy had the special effects department start adding effects. Since the zombies were primarily created through makeup, the effects mainly came from two aspects: Jessica Chastain's prosthetic leg and darkening the tone of all shots.

In all scenes featuring Jessica Chastain's amputated leg, her right leg was wrapped in a green screen. Replacing the green screen with a wooden leg, an M4A1, or a Gatling gun was not difficult, a very simple post-production technique in Hollywood, easily achievable since the early 1990s.

The latter involved using DaVinci Resolve to adjust the daytime shots to look like they were taken at night.

Similarly, this wasn't a difficult task.

While the special effects department was adding effects, Murphy and Lars Behrendt continued with the editing work, preparing two versions of the edit for theatrical release, a North American version and a European version, aside from versions for VHS and television broadcasts.

The former was mainly for North American cinemas, with relatively restrained blue shots, while the latter was aimed at European cinemas, with a larger scale of blue content.

Besides, Murphy prepared a version with an even larger scale, featuring not only explicit shots of the male and female leads, Jessica Chastain and Robert Downey Jr., but also extensive explicit scenes with other female actors.

This version was specifically prepared for screening at the Cannes Film Festival.

At Cannes, known for its liberal content standards, explicit scenes are too common. Without some large-scale explicit content, one might be embarrassed to claim participation in the Cannes Film Festival.

Murphy clearly remembered how a film, "Love 3D," with its astonishing explicit content and 3D format, refreshed the public's perception of the Cannes Film Festival. On its premiere day at Cannes, the screening was delayed by 30 minutes due to the excessive number of attendees. The film was reportedly in high demand, with queues for entry even more crowded than New York subways during peak hours.

Since the turn of the 21st century, the scale of films participating in the Cannes Film Festival has grown year by year.

Homosexuality, bisexuality, incest, S&M... none of these are taboo. Some Cannes-specific "small films" even live broadcast scenes of women giving birth, unmatched in audacity!

Perhaps this is what some consider cinematic art.

"Our goal in participating in the Cannes Film Festival screening is clear,"

said Erica Stanberg, not mincing words during a break in the employee recreation room on the first floor, "to use the festival to increase the film's visibility and attention, and sell it for a better price!"

Murphy and Lars Behrendt exchanged glances, unsurprised by these words. Even Miramax, known for producing art and independent films, ultimately pursues commercial profit.

"Have some overseas screening rights already been pre-sold?" Murphy asked.

"Our target is not just the overseas theatrical market." Erica Stanberg smiled, explaining, "Harvey and I believe that 'Planet Terror' cannot surpass 'Saw' in box office performance."

She looked at Murphy, who nodded in agreement, understanding that the box office miracle of 'Saw' was rare and not something that could be expected every time. For most Hollywood films, achieving three to four times the production cost in box office revenue is considered very successful.

Miramax could not expect this film to generate fifty times its production budget in box office revenue, unless the Weinstein brothers and the entire company were delusional.

"Other revenue channels are also crucial for 'Planet Terror.'" Erica Stanberg continued, "Participating in film festivals, screenings, or exhibits can increase potential buyers' awareness of the film and receive positive feedback from audiences or media, greatly helping the film to earn more profit."

"Unfortunately..." Lars Behrendt shook his head, jokingly saying, "I, the editor, won't have the chance to walk the Cannes red carpet."

Murphy and Erica Stanberg laughed.

"You could always pay your way," Erica Stanberg joked, "Buying an invitation and crashing the Cannes red carpet isn't impossible."

Murphy knew about crashing the red carpet but buying an invitation?

"Can you actually buy an invitation to Cannes?" he asked.

"Of course," Erica Stanberg wasn't joking, "If you're a star supported by Cannes Film Festival sponsors or other film industry professionals, getting an invitation is easy. Even if you're not, you still have a chance to attend Cannes Film Festival and appear on its prestigious red carpet."

In Murphy's previous understanding, the Cannes Film Festival was a lofty event. He thought crashing the red carpet was the limit of Cannes' commercialization, but the opportunity to walk the red carpet could also be purchased.

"Erica," he was intrigued, "could you elaborate?"

"These are all solvable with money," Erica Stanberg didn't hesitate, "First, regarding the seats along the red carpet that are easily captured by media and TV cameras, a first-class seat requires 20,000 euros, a slightly inferior one 15,000 euros, and an even lesser one 5,000 euros."

"The price for walking the red carpet is even higher," she continued, "generally over 100,000 euros. However, if you're a spokesperson for an official Cannes sponsor, it can usually be arranged for 10,000 euros."

"There are also other public events at Cannes," Erica Stanberg, with her extensive experience, said, "For example, some events sponsored by brands, where you just need to purchase a certain amount of that brand's products to get a chance to walk the red carpet."

Murphy knew this "certain amount" wouldn't be small.

"Other events like the Chopin Night, the closing ceremony, or premieres of popular films, as long as you're willing to spend money, you can get a red carpet invitation at Cannes," Erica Stanberg shrugged, "Once you participate in a film festival, you'll understand. These are almost openly for sale. And it's not just Cannes; the Venice and Berlin Film Festivals are similar."

She added, "The Cannes Film Festival requires 15 to 20 million euros in funds to be held once. If the organizers didn't find ways to raise money, this festival would have been over long ago."

For ordinary people, spending such a large sum to walk the Cannes Film Festival's red carpet is obviously not worth it, but for stars, it's a rare opportunity.

According to Erica Stanberg, the money-making schemes launched by the film festival mainly target stars wanting to crash the red carpet.

In her words, at many international film festivals, there aren't just film sales agents but also "red carpet facilitators" who not only seek opportunities for stars to walk the film festival red carpets but also package the stars and spend high amounts for them to participate in red carpet shows.

Even Cannes has some companies or organizations that offer similar services, allowing ordinary people to buy their way onto the red carpet.

This "high-end" service also astonished Murphy, wondering if stars could enjoy a discount; otherwise, spending so much just for a photo by photographers and a mention in the media seems wasteful. It might be better to directly buy an interview, avoiding the hassle and fatigue of travel.

As a director mostly hidden behind the scenes, he couldn't fully understand the thoughts of actors and stars.

Talking with Erica Stanberg provided Murphy with useful information—Cannes has a taste for the extreme.

A film with a heavier taste tends to attract more attention at the Cannes Film Festival, sparking debates among the media, audience, and international film buyers. These debates often bring more commercial benefits to a film than harm.

In subsequent edits, Murphy loosened the scale for the Cannes screening version, incorporating all explicit shots filmed that didn't conflict with the overall plot into this version in an appropriate manner.

After completing the minor special effects work, he gathered the actors for dubbing. Since a large part of the filming used live sound recording, there weren't many scenes needing dubbing, mainly focusing on the parts with James Franco, Robert Downey Jr., and Jessica Chastain.

Additionally, Murphy continued with the old method for the film's score, selecting suitable tracks from existing music, paying a certain copyright fee, and having professional sound editors add it to the final score, focusing mainly on metal rock and electronic music, especially for the final battle scene to enhance the atmosphere.

After completing these tasks, Murphy edited two trailers and handed them over to Miramax's marketing personnel. The film's promotion would be handled by Miramax's professionals, with the director only needing to cooperate.

The post-production process took a full two months. After completing the three different versions, the samples were handed over to Miramax for the Weinstein brothers to make the final decisions.

This meant that Murphy's edited versions weren't necessarily the final ones shown in cinemas.

In the last two weeks of April, Harvey Weinstein and Murphy met frequently to discuss some scenes of the film. Without the leverage to demand final editing rights and not being a perfectionist, Murphy adjusted some shots according to Weinstein's requests based on their discussions.

As May approached, Miramax's North American promotion for "Planet Terror" was just starting. Murphy, Erica Stanberg, and several other crew members, carrying copies of the film, boarded a plane to France.

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