The importance of big data centers is self-evident, and big data is the foundation of artificial intelligence and big data of future technology.

Although until Zhou Fangyuan's rebirth, real artificial intelligence is still far away, it can be expected that artificial intelligence, just like the human brain, needs to absorb a lot of knowledge and data to form its own thinking foundation. People can continue to improve their thinking through learning, and the same is true for artificial intelligence.

Just when Zhou Fangyuan was inspecting the big data center, on the other side of the distant Pacific Ocean, "Warcraft 2" was officially released.

Although I want to synchronize the world, it is really not easy, and now it is autumn, which is an important period for the autumn file of the United States, so "Warcraft 2" can only be slightly staggered with China, of course, it is not long, only about a week.

This time, Yuanfang Group has invested a lot of money for "Warcraft 2", renting more than 30,000 large billboards and dozens of newspapers throughout the United States to build momentum for the movie.

These expenses alone are as high as $20 million, not to mention other publicity expenditures. The purpose of spending money so crazy is not only for the box office, but most importantly, to plot for next year's Oscars.

Although there are people singing about the Oscars every year, whether it is "political correctness" or "declining influence", for domestic audiences, the Oscars have long become a standard and an authority.

The Oscar's influence in China has been a source for a long time, and as early as the Republic of China, a large number of Chinese films introduced have included many Oscar-nominated films. After years of exposure and the expansion and development of Hollywood films, the Oscar's recognition in China is much higher than that of the three major European film festivals, even if it always represents the United States rather than the world.

According to relevant information, in 1929, Jinling's most luxurious "National Theater" opened, and on the first day, "The Seventh Heaven", which was nominated for three Oscars, was screened. And what is the criterion for awarding the Oscar, which is "a kind of film standard"? It does not seem to attach as much importance to film art and authorial style as European awards such as Cannes, but it also seems that it has no intention of blindly catering to the public's aesthetics.

In the words of Lily Tomlin, who was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress, the Oscar is "a classic of vulgarity in the United States", and some people summarize the Oscar "nomination depends on strength, and winning the award depends on luck".

Or perhaps, as Yan Min, who specializes in Oscar research in China, said: "The Oscar Award is nothing less than a barometer of American films, and the results of each selection are not only a summary of the performance of American films in the previous year, indicating the trend of American films in the coming year, but also quite shows the evolution of art film genres, genres and technological sophistication of Chinese films under the influence of social trends and public tastes." ”

Between the applause and the applause, the Oscar maintains a delicate balance in its own way, and every choice it makes, behind the "unexpected upset" or "expected" and so on, implied, played and exported the values of the Oscars, Hollywood, and the Chinese society.

The aesthetic system of the Oscars comes from its unique judging mechanism. The professional name of the Oscars is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards", and this "academy", also known as the "jury", is made up of industry insiders who have achieved a certain amount of success.

Up to now, the academy has more than 9,000 people, and the threshold of industry professionals ensures professionalism, and the huge base (especially actors) takes into account the marketability.

The selection method of the Oscars is borrowed from the political election of the United States, that is, the preference voting system. Among the many film awards in the world, only the Oscar and the Producers' Guild Awards adopt this system, which is why the Union Award for Best Film is often regarded as an outpost of the Oscars.

The specific operation of the preference voting system is to select the first, second, and third films in the hearts of the participating films for each award...... Among these films, the first place with a preference of more than 5% will be nominated, and more than 50% of the films will stand out and receive the corresponding awards. Except for the Best Picture award, which can be participated by all members, the rest of the awards can only be voted for by the "judges" of the corresponding industry, for example, the voters for Best Cinematography are all photographers, and the voters for Best Director are directors...... This leads to the fact that some professional awards will be more "exclusive", and some cross-border newcomers will be relatively disadvantaged in the selection.

On the other hand, this mechanism also leads to the fact that the "Oscar for Best Picture" as a full vote is often conservative and correct to cater to the taste of the college public. Films that are too stylized, personal, or too dark and intense usually don't make it to the end.

Therefore, the choice of the college is often linked to the composition of the college.

In 2016, 94 percent of the college's 7,000 members were white and 77 percent were men, according to the data. The average age is over 60 years old. And 15 and 16 for two consecutive years, the Oscar actor awards did not have any black shortlisted.

In the midst of the doubts of "Oscar is too white", the college is also trying to change and balance this status quo. In 17 years, the college announced the list of new members invited, and the number reached 928. Of the new members, 38 percent are of color and 49 percent are women, bringing the proportion of members of color to 16 percent and 31 percent, respectively. At the same time, the members of the academy have also clearly begun to "rejuvenate". Specifically, it is manifested in their increased acceptance of independent, niche, and marginal films, rather than the usual thick and thin, and their preference for epic films and drama films.

The current mainstream cultural and social environment is also one of the important factors affecting film awards. The most typical example is "Ghetto Millionaire", which won the best picture at the 81st Oscars. At the same time, it was "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Conversation with Nixon", "Milk", "The Reader" and other strong opponents who were nominated for best picture that year, but in the end "Slumdog Millionaire" won.

"Millionaire in the Slum" swept the 81st Oscars and won 8 statuettes.

The reason for its award is closely related to the context of the time, "Slumdog Millionaire" was released at the time of the 2008 financial crisis, and this optimistic and inspirational film of the little people's counterattack is tantamount to a shot in the arm and a placebo in the recession.

In addition, the Oscars have an unspoken rule: public relations.

Every industry has unspoken rules, not to mention an annual Hollywood summary conference like the Oscars. Not to mention winning awards, getting nominated can double fame and fortune, not only can the box office of the film be quickly pulled, but the value of the actor will also be doubled. No one will miss this opportunity to "make a name" for themselves, just watch Netflix's efforts for "Roma" in 18 years.

In addition, in July 17, Netflix poached the famous strategic publicist Lisa Tabacka (who participated in the public relations of 7 Oscar Best Pictures) to join in preparation for the "Olympics". At the same time, Netflix also spent a lot of money on "Roma" - more than $20 million in public relations fees, which is almost the same price as the amount it bought for the distribution rights of "Roma".

Netflix may not love art movies much, but the nomination and award of "Roma" is of great significance to Netflix, it gives Netflix confidence in the film industry, and shows Hollywood's recognition of this foreign intruder.

Netflix's big spending isn't unique. Back in 2009, Columbia Pictures spent $25 million on public relations for The Social Network. In addition to these "sky-high prices", the Oscar PR fee for a movie generally ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

So, how did such a vigorous and powerful Oscar PR affect the vote?

With hundreds of Oscar nominations per year, many Academy members don't have the time and energy to watch them all, giving producers and distributors the opportunity to take advantage of them.

The first thing to do is to expand the popularity, mailing DVD films, chartering screenings is a normal operation, inviting celebrities to the scene to build momentum can add more points, it is not strange for producers to linger on all kinds of drinking parties to brush up on the sense of existence, and it is also essential to grab eyeballs in famous media such as "Variety" and "Hollywood Reporter".

There are also some more "high-level" means. For example, the DVD is sent with some small gifts, as well as a high-end dinner and luxurious accommodation after the screening, and even invites the judges to private parties, creating scandals and smearing opponents......

"Crash" is said to have cost $250,000 just to make a DVD for the judges.

This "Oscar public relations" is not the patent of the moment, but developed with the development of the Oscars, which can be said to have a long history, when the earliest Oscar public relations appeared, the mechanism of the whole academy voting had not even been established.

At the second Oscars held in 1930, Joan Crawford, the most famous actress of the silent film era, won the Oscar for Best Actress for "La Die", a result that caused huge controversy and a crisis of confidence. The reason is that before the awards, Joan Crawford invited all the members of the then "Central Selection Committee" to his home to entertain refreshments.

In order to impact the Oscars, Joan Crawford changed the image of the sweetheart of the United States in "The Lady".

Joan Crawford directly defined "public relations" and "Olympic Games", which also made the Oscars at that time have to deal with the crisis, abolish the Central Selection Committee, and vote on all members of the academy instead.

And it was Harvey Weinstein who really carried forward the Oscar PR. He was once known as a master of the Oscar game, working on films that were nominated for more than 300 Academy Awards and won more than 70 times, and his PR tactics seem to have had an impact despite Weinstein's downfall.

Several of the Oscars' famous "unjust cases" have Weinstein's shadow.

The reasons behind each of the Oscars' choices are complex and varied, and according to Oscar's own defined purpose, it "recognizes and upholds the excellence of the art and science of cinema" and intends to "connect the world" through film.

In other words, the theme of the Oscars includes pure film art and technology, as well as responsibilities and obligations for the public, as well as tolerance and moderation that balances the diversity of the world and exports the culture of the United States.

As for Harvey Weinstein, this is also a remarkable figure.

This man is the owner of TWC and the founder of Miramax. Harvey is one of the most influential figures in the world of cinema today, and over the past 25 years, he has led the Miramax company to produce and distribute a large number of classic films, which has earned him a reputation as "the savior of modern cinema".

In the '70s, Weinstein and his younger brother Bob co-founded Miramax Films as an independent film distribution company in Hollywood. Due to the advent of the new Hollywood era, Miramax started with the positioning of digging up independent films, which is why Weinstein has the reputation of "the savior of modern films".

It wasn't until the rise of independent film studios such as A24 that more excellent independent filmmakers could be seen on the silver screen, and Harvey Weinstein was the forerunner of such studios. It can be said that the Oscars later favored independent films, also because Weinstein opened up the market for independent films a long time ago - after all, the Olympic Awards are a reference to the commercial nature of films. It was Weinstein who subtly changed the traditional aesthetic taste of the Academy School.

In addition to being very good at reading scripts, Weinstein also tapped a very incredible director - Quentin Tarantino, since Quentin's debut film "Reservoir Dogs", Quentin has collaborated with Weinstein in almost every film.

Take the 71st Oscars in 1999 as an example, "Shakespeare in Love" was able to kill such a pure Oscar movie as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Life is Beautiful", two excellent World War II movies.

You must know that the most favored by the Oscar judges in the last century was World War II films, because many of the Oscar judges at that time were old artists who had participated in or experienced World War II, and had World War II plots. In addition, the Oscars have always been based on mainstream value orientation, and in the 90s, the Soviet Union collapsed and the United States became the only superpower, and the ideology of the Rice Emperor was high at that time.

"Shakespeare's Love History" is such a small love movie, and it is really surprising that it can defeat "Saving Private Ryan", which is "small to big". Taking a step back, even if it can win the Oscar, which has always favored mainstream values, with a small probability, Weinstein's public relations tactics are so strong that he even allowed Gwyneth Paltrow to win the actress, defeating Cate Blanchett and Emily Watson in "She's Lonelier Than Fireworks......

What a hell of a life.

Because of Weinstein's success at the Oscars in the last century, some people even say that "the Oscars are a game in Weinstein's pocket". The first time he played this kind of PR game was "My Left Foot" in Lewis's first best actor, and it has been out of control ever since.

The reason why he became a gold medal producer has a lot to do with his success at the Oscars. If you are a person who often pays attention to the politics of the United States, or a person who likes to watch political dramas, you may be aware that Weinstein's public relations methods are too much like a politician's political campaign methods.

It will always be the three major things: public relations lobbying, soft grinding and hard bubbles, manipulating the media's public opinion guidance, and finally, smearing opponents openly and covertly.

Weinstein himself was indeed a political activist, much like the politicians, following some of the presidential campaign tactics that followed his Olympic campaign path. Everyone in Hollywood knows that Weinstein is a strong supporter of the Democratic Party, he has donated money to Oguanhai's campaign, has been very close to politicians for many years, and is a guest of Oguanhai's family, and even Trump said that he and Weinstein have known each other for many years. Therefore, some people say that Weinstein's current ability to be pulled down from the status of the god of Hollywood is related to the current change in political winds.

However, this person's ability is not bad, but his character is extremely poor, which is not difficult to see from his fall from the horse and the wall falling down and everyone pushing him in the future.

But regardless of his character, if "Warcraft 2" wants to win the Olympic Awards, it can't be said, and it has to rely on this person's mediation in it.