Before editing, "film" was just a slice of life, "Factory Gate" filmed the scene of factory employees entering the gate, and "Train Arrives" filmed a train entering the station, and it was a fixed shot from beginning to end, and there was no story to talk about. After the first curiosity, this "little trick" is rated as dull and boring, who will see how the gardener plays with the water pipe in "Watering the Gardener"?

Then, "The Great Train Robbery" appeared, the first real film, which consisted of a total of 14 different shots, and the collision between the shots constructed a complete film content. It doesn't take any words to understand that this is the story of a gang of robbers who rob a train and are finally chased and shot by the police.

There is a story and a plot, and the audience becomes interested and is willing to pay for the movie. Cinema is developing rapidly, with more and more ways to shoot shots and more and more montage techniques. And at the end of the day, editing is so important that it makes the movie take off and makes the movie come alive.

A Hollywood blockbuster almost takes more than 200 hours of film, and "Youth Musical" also spends nearly 20 hours of film, which can be edited into two completely different versions despite being the same story. If the 20 hours of film are replaced by the number of frames, the film is 24 frames per second, then the basic unit will be "million", and it is the sorting, colliding, and combining of these more than one million small grids that constitute the whole movie.

And one more grid, or one less, is a world of difference. If there are more frames and seconds, the film will likely appear clunky and dragged, and if there are fewer frames, the film will become disorganized, and the characters in the picture will even "drift". What the editor has to do is to arrange these little grids well, no more or less, not only to pay attention to seamless editing, but also to conform to the rhythm of the film, and to express the story and emotions of the film in the best way.

In the filming stage of the film, the director and the photographer are husband and wife; in the editing stage, the director and the editor are husband and wife, and whether their "marriage" is happy or not directly determines whether the movie is a good movie or a bad movie.

Quentin Tarantino, the director of Pulp Fiction, said, "When I was making my first film, I knew only one thing, and that was that I needed a female editor. The female editor knows how to take better care of the film and take care of me. They weren't that competitive and didn't try to beat me, they would give me care and help me finish the movie. ”

The teacher who taught Wang Yang's editing class thought so, and in the same vein, Wang Yang also felt that it was very reasonable, female editors should be more patient, and for "Youth Singing and Dancing", women's grasp of youth and sunshine should also be better than that of men with thick lines.

After a week of non-stop interviews, Wang Yang finally found a suitable candidate, Margaret Goodspeed, a middle-aged white woman in her forties, wearing a black-framed glasses, she has editing experience in many films, including "Four Rooms", she has a good temper, and in the interview conversation, she also knows very well what "Youth Musical" needs, brisk, youthful, sunny, and actively pursues what she wants to do.

In the editing room at this time, Margaret looked at the screen of the computer dedicated to editing, and a mental shot of Troy Burton was playing on the screen, and she controlled the mouse in her hand to eliminate several of the scenes in this group of shots. Wang Yang next to him hurriedly shouted: "No, no, no! Margaret, these pictures can't be cut, I need them!"

"You need everything. Margaret smiled slightly, looked at Wang Yang and said, "Our first cut version has 200 minutes, and what we have to do now is to cut it to less than 100 minutes." She explained: "Young man, I know your feelings, directors are always greedy, and if they can, they are not willing to delete a grid." But why does the director need an editor? Because there are some scenes that need to be deleted, but the director can't do it, so it's up to us. With that, she added a little bit to the editing software and removed the images.

Wang Yang sighed helplessly, grabbed his hair, and said softly, "Okay." But soon, his eyes widened again and he shouted: "No, no, this set of shots must not be deleted! Seeing that Margaret insisted on cutting it, he said bitterly, "You can't do this...... Please, oh my...... It's over!" After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, "Margaret, go back to the part just now, I thought about it, I can't cut it like that." ”

Editing is a process where directors and editors are constantly "haggling", experimenting with all sorts of shots, arranging frame by frame, deleting and putting back and forth, and then deleting again. Therefore, editing is much more cumbersome and boring than shooting, especially for directors, many times they will be mentally tortured, and they will naturally feel uncomfortable when they look at the satisfactory materials that were finally filmed on the set, and they are cut like garbage.

On set, the director is the biggest, but in the editing room, the editor is in charge. Even big directors such as James Cameron and Steven Spielberg will not be dictatorial in the editing room, as Margaret said, directors need help from others in the selection of shots.

At the same time, the promotion of the film is also underway, and two days ago, the release date and plan were released on the official website of "Youth Musical", and the list of 500 schools in the first week of the screening was also announced. However, some students from schools that are not on this list are quite angry, protesting on the official website, and even saying that "Youth Musical" is discriminating.

However, Wang Yang and the company have already prepared, announcing an event to "show yourself" for campuses across the United States, which will start in March and end on April 20. As long as you upload the video of yourself dancing and singing to the official website of the event, you can participate in the event, and finally vote for the top 10, they will get rich prizes, and you can also go to Los Angeles for free to attend the premiere of "Youth Musical", and as long as you participate in the event, you will have the opportunity to become one of the 100 lucky winners, no prizes, but you can also come to Los Angeles for free, participate in the premiere, Hollywood day tour, free return ticket.

The campaign is estimated to cost around 2 million, and the total budget for the promotion of the film has risen to 7 million. But the 2 million is worth it absolutely, this activity can calm the anger of the students, and secondly, it will make more students and more schools participate, and cooperate with the release of "Youth Song and Dance" to set off a round of singing and dancing craze, which is the most important thing.

How can we get students interested in participating in the event? The prize is secondary, and the focus of the publicity is the slogan: "Show yourself, show your youthful side!" But if you want to win the prize, you have to practice singing and dancing from now on, and remember to canvass for votes from your classmates when it comes to judging.

Wang Yang is very confident in this publicity campaign, because of the success of "Agility - Ghost Shadow Record". The "Who's the Worst Scared?" event made him realize that everyone is actually eager to "show" and share their excitement with everyone.

The release date of "Youth Singing and Dancing Youth" was announced, and the media still reacted coldly to it, only some online media reported it, if it weren't for Wang Yang's popularity, I'm afraid there wouldn't even be these.

His popularity has also aroused some coveting, "Idle Hands" has been eyed, they seem to want to create some topics, producer Andrew Richard said in an interview with the media: "I haven't changed my opinion, that girl will regret it, oh okay, don't ask me this again." All in all, I promise that "Idle Hands" will be an excellent film, and its story is so interesting. Director Rodman Fried said: "Same schedule? I'm not worried about this, even though our films are all aimed at teenagers, I don't mean to fight in the ring." Wang Yang is a young man with a lot of ideas, and I wish him success this time. "One sings blackface and the other redfaces.

Neither Wang Yang nor the company responded, this kind of topic is not a good publicity opportunity, "Singing and Dancing Youth" needs a healthy and upward topic, not any disputes. Of course, if Star Wars: Phantom Crisis jumps out and says "let's PK", that's a different story.

However, the most important thing is to do a good job of self-promotion, such as "show yourself" campus activities, such as the small show that teaches people to dance.

"Young, no TV station wants to work with us unless we pay a certain amount of advertising money. Mark Slunt said in a calm tone, "This is all expected", and he added: "At least 50 million a month." ”

Fifty million? Wang Yang rolled his eyes, he stood up with his mobile phone, walked to the balcony of the apartment, and said to the mobile phone: "Since it is so expensive, forget it, according to Plan B, we will upload it to the official website ourselves, and broadcast it on the TV stations on those campuses." This small show can not only create idols, but also promote the effect of "show yourself" activities. Mark Slunt knew this and replied, "Okay, then it's time to get ready for the production." ”

After ending the call, looking at the sky entering the night, Wang Yang dialed another number and chatted with a smile: "Hi, Jessica." You and Rachel and Zachary have a new job, yes, the show I told you about before. He leaned against the railing and continued, "Oh, it's not me who is the director, this kind of show doesn't need a director, right? I don't know, I'm still busy editing." I almost got into a fight with Margaret today, ha, just kidding......"

After chatting for a long time, Wang Yang put away his mobile phone, went to the kitchen to open the refrigerator, and wanted to get some soda and food to watch an NFL game. But the refrigerator was empty, there was no stock, Wang Yang scratched his head, and prepared to go to the nearby supermarket to sweep some goods back.

Michael Pitt has long since moved out and shared a small apartment with George Harry, and he is now taking a part-time job to audition as soon as he can, working hard towards his next role.

When he came to the street below the apartment, Wang Yang walked a short distance, and then he felt that someone was following him, and he looked back vigilantly, only to see a middle-aged white man with blond hair following behind, and it was the paparazzi again! Wang Yang shouted to the paparazzi a little helplessly: "Dude, you have been with me for a while. "There were a lot of paparazzi who followed him, but only once or twice, and this guy followed him almost every day.

Seeing that he was exposed, the white man with a beard simply walked up, picked up the camera on his neck and took a picture of Wang Yang, and said with a smile: "This is my job." My name is Cole. ”

"Good work. Wang Yang said a word, walked a little longer, and looked at Cole, who had always followed closely beside him, Wang Yang felt a little bored, so he asked: "Why do you want to follow me all the time, I'm not a big star." Because of the paparazzi, he and Jessica have been afraid to date lately, and he rolled his eyes and said, "You should follow Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, or Tom Welling." ”

Cole replied as he followed in his footsteps: "Young, you've been very popular lately, you're a star, and everyone is paying attention to you." He spread his hands and said, "18 years old, almost 19 years old, multimillionaire, no girlfriend? Who can believe it?" Wang Yang smiled: "So you want to take a picture of me and my girlfriend together?" Cole shrugged his shoulders and said, "Actually, a boyfriend can also be." ”

"Of course, it would have been nice to have a more explosive shot. Cole added. Wang Yang said with interest: "For example?" Cole smiled: "For example, carrying two hot girls home, smoking marijuana, peeing everywhere, or beating people in the street, these are all good." Wang Yang snorted and said, "Then you must want me to beat you." Cole nodded, "Yes, I do." ”

"Not to mention that kind of photo, do you know how much it would be worth if you could take a picture of you and your girlfriend making out?" Cole pointed the camera lens at Wang Yang again and took one. Wang Yang said a little curiously: "How much?" Cole smiled: "I don't know, man, this is the first one, it's definitely worth a thousand gold! Maybe I can rely on it and change to a good car." ”

"Then come on. Wang Yang said, and his feet sped up. Cole, who was lagging behind, said: "I think I will be able to shoot it soon, it's your birthday in a few days, isn't it?" Wang Yang glanced back at him and said angrily: "Please, can't you let me have a good birthday?" Cole immediately took a picture of his impatient expression, and smiled with satisfaction: "It's finally a bit of a gain, this one should be worth 300-500 US dollars." ”

Wang Yang couldn't help laughing and gave a thumbs up to Cole, he was really "showing himself" now, forced. But I'm afraid Cole is going to be disappointed, because he doesn't plan to do anything about his 19th birthday party, and the good friends will just get together when the time comes.

(To be continued)