raknovel Chapter 98 Times Have Changed, Master Tape and Blind Testing Feedback
Chapter 98 Times Have Changed, Master Tape and Blind Testing Feedback
Chapter 98 Times Have Changed, Master Tape and Blind Test Feedback (Guaranteed 10,000 words per day starting tomorrow)
BJ, at a Golden Globe nomination celebration and press conference for "The Promise" held at a five-star hotel.
Chen Kaige, dressed in an elegant modified Chinese-style Zhongshan suit, sat upright in the center of the dais.
However, when a young reporter in the audience got the chance to ask a question, the air in the room froze instantly.
"Director Chen, first of all, congratulations on 'The Promise' being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe Awards. But recently, a parody short film called 'A Story Triggered by a Steamed Bun' has become very popular online, and many viewers have even said that the logic in the short film is clearer than that in the original film."
As a director, how do you view the way this kind of online parody deconstructs your work?
Upon hearing the words "a steamed bun," Chen Kaige's face visibly darkened as he sat on the stage.
A fierce flame instantly ignited in his eyes. As the only Chinese director to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes, his artistic dignity, his cultural expression, and the dignity he had built over three years at a cost of hundreds of millions of yuan were utterly trampled on by the "prank" of an unknown netizen.
Chen Kaige abruptly adjusted the microphone: "I've noticed the so-called short film you mentioned. I can tell everyone here very seriously and responsibly that I have officially retained a lawyer and am preparing to file a lawsuit against this author!"
We cannot allow this to happen... I think a person cannot be this shameless!
When the words "People can't be this shameless!" were uttered, the reporters in the audience instantly turned red with excitement, and the flashbulbs went off ten times faster than before.
Chen Hong, sitting next to him, had cold sweat all over her palms.
She instinctively reached out to tug at Chen Kaige's sleeve, but faced with the director's rage, her hand froze in mid-air.
Chen Kaige ignored his producer and wife's hints, straightened his back, and glanced at the young reporter who asked the question: "The judges of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have decades of professional aesthetic and industrial vision. What does it mean that they nominated 'The Promise' for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film?"
This shows that on the truly mainstream international film stage, the world's experts can understand the greatness and artistic value of "The Promise"!
But what about some of our own people? They'd rather sit in front of their computers and praise a low-tech parody short film, using an extremely superficial and vulgar mentality to deconstruct the efforts of Chinese cinema to go global.
This is not only a disservice to me, but also a tragedy for the entire Chinese film industry's blockbuster strategy.
The press conference, held to express gratitude, ended hastily in an almost absurdly tense atmosphere.
However, Chen Kaige never dreamed that in this era when Web 2.0 was just beginning to emerge, most netizens simply didn't buy into his reputation as the "Golden Palm Master".
His words became the hottest buzzword on the entire Chinese internet at an almost viral speed the very night the news was published.
The cultural discourse power of the traditional elite class has been shattered in the face of overwhelming BBS posts and netizens' spontaneous parodies.
The popular post on Tianya, titled "Let's take a look at that epic Eastern film that claimed to have invested 300 million yuan, moved Hollywood, but ultimately lost to a steamed bun," quickly rose to the top of the list.
"Hahaha, I agree with the original poster! Director Chen was furious at the press conference today, saying he'd sue Hu Ge. Can't people be this shameless? I think it's more like people are this narcissistic! If you can't handle losing, don't make big-budget films."
"To be honest, the Golden Globes even nominated it for Best Foreign Language Film. Do the Hollywood judges have some kind of misunderstanding about traditional Chinese steamed buns? Or do foreigners just like watching these kinds of visual gimmicks with flying gods?"
The tech-savvy "big shots" on Mop.com have taken deconstructionism to its extreme.
Someone perfectly spliced stills from the movie "The Promise" with the legal program "Today's Talk," adding parody lines to each character.
Man Shen became an "illegal pyramid scheme leader," Wu Huan became a "psychologically twisted robber," and Qing Cheng was a "typical case of a femme fatale." The comments below were all filled with "233333" and "The author is talented; even lurkers have been brought out."
The movie's online forum was dominated by netizens' rhyming verse: "The Promise is good, The Promise is amazing, a steamed bun for Christmas; the director is furious, he filed a lawsuit, entertainment to the death is what we see today."
The aura of a Golden Globe nomination was completely overshadowed by this bottom-up "steamed bun frenzy".
Looking at Chen Kaige's face, slightly distorted with anger, on the webpage, and the dense, sarcastic comments below, Lin Ruiyang, far away in Los Angeles, sighed helplessly.
"Lin, what are you looking at?" Tom, who was resting next to her, came over.
"Nothing much, just watching a drama about the old-era authority being swept away by the tide of the new era." Lin Ruiyang closed the webpage with his mouse.
He knew all too well the tragedy that Chen Kaige suffered.
As leading figures of the fifth generation of directors, they are accustomed to playing the roles of cultural prophets and spiritual mentors, and are used to being looked up to.
In their logic, movies are offerings placed on a pedestal, and ordinary people can only worship them.
But they forgot that times have changed.
Using legal means to sue an online prankster is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito; it won't harm the mosquito at all, but will instead burn all the feathers off your own body.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." Lin Ruiyang stood up and straightened his clothes.
"The master tapes have been sent to the confidential film archive. The blind screening report from the distribution department should be out by now, right?"
"It's already been sent to your email."
As Tom spoke, he tossed a can of energy drink over.
Lin Ruiyang caught the file and sat back down at the computer, opening the Fox internal system. Soon, a document labeled "Test" appeared.
The "Screening Report" document appears on the screen.
This is the result of an internal blind screening secretly organized by Fox's distribution department a few days ago.
In Hollywood, major studios often organize "recruited audience tests" in specific regions to assess the commercial potential of their films.
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The audience members who participated in the test did not know who the director was or the final release date of the film. They simply watched the entire film in the manner of a normal commercial movie and then filled out a questionnaire.
For any commercial film, this report is as important as a formal premiere. It does not notify the media or invite professional film critics; it only looks at the most core and authentic market feedback.
Lin Ruiyang moved the mouse, his gaze immediately locking onto the core data matrix at the top of the report.
In the most prominent column, the "Top-TwoBo" score shows a near-perfect upward curve: 91%.
This means that among the randomly selected audience members who participated in the blind test, over 90% gave it an "Excellent" rating.
The ratings included "cellent" and "Very Good".
In the commercial evaluation system of major Hollywood studios, a blind test approval rating of 80% for a regular commercial film is enough for the distribution department to celebrate. And 91% is a dominant figure in Fox's test database of mid-budget films over the past five years.
Next came a more detailed audience breakdown. Among young women aged 18 to 34, the film's approval rating was so high it seemed like cheating. Among urban executives and white-collar women over 45, Meryl Streep's portrayal of the fashion mogul Miranda received an unbelievable 63% approval rating.
Next came the audience comments section, where the distribution department specifically selected dozens of the most representative reviews: "I originally thought it would be a run-of-the-mill trendy movie, but it turned out to be much more interesting than I expected."
"Miranda reminds me of my boss."
"Anne Hathaway is very cute."
"The Paris part was fantastic."
"The outfit is ridiculously beautiful, I want to buy the same one!"
"My decision to resign at the end was somewhat unexpected, but I like the ending."