Jamie Hagen is a software engineer and a movie lover. His favorite director is Nolan, who became a fan of Nolan three years ago with The Dark Knight, and last year with Inception.

Jamie Hagen usually likes to check out Gofobo, and the site often gives out tickets for free screenings, not only to watch movies for free, but also to get free popcorn, Coke, and even movie posters and t-shirts.

That afternoon, Jamie Hagen rushed to a movie theater in downtown Los Angeles early. He grabbed tickets to a movie yesterday, but the name of the film was not announced on the website, only that he wanted to recruit audiences. Jamie Hagen knows that there should be a movie to be tested, and only the test screening will not announce the title.

In recent days, some netizens have revealed that "The Dark Knight Returns", "The Avengers", and "Prometheus" are all in test screenings. As Nolan's brain-dead fan, Jamie Hagen especially hopes that good luck can fall on him and see "The Dark Knight Returns" for the first time.

Walking to the door of the cinema, Jamie Hagen saw a long queue of spectators in the hall and hurried to the back of the line. Under normal circumstances, in order to ensure that the number of audiences for the test screening meets the standard, the filmmaker will release admission tickets that are far larger than the number of seats. Therefore, fans who are eligible for admission must arrive an hour or two early or risk the embarrassing situation of not having a seat.

Jamie Hagen reached out and patted the man in front of him and asked, "Do you know which movie was tested?" "The Dark Knight Returns", "The Avengers", or something else?"

The man shrugged his shoulders and said, "I asked just now, and the staff said that it needs to be kept secret." It would be nice if it was "The Dark Knight Returns", I especially like the fallen "The Dark Knight", and I really hope to see this sequel for the first time. ”

Jamie Hagen saw that the other party also liked "The Dark Knight" and was a fellow believer, so he happily chatted with the other party.

While they were having a good chat, a staff member came over and sent Jamie Hagen a non-disclosure agreement for them to sign. The test film has not yet been released, and there must be no leaks. After signing the confidentiality agreement, you also need to fill in a personal introduction, gender, age, occupation, etc., and even take out your driver's license and put it next to your face to take a photo. In addition, mobile phones, cameras, computers, etc. should be stored in the storage area.

After tossing and turning for half an hour, Jamie Hagen finally walked into the screening hall with the Coke and popcorn provided by Summit Entertainment, and at this moment, Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu also came to the cinema. They were all wearing masks and were not recognized.

Walking into the hall, Zhang Jing saw that the hall was already full of people, and the queue waiting for the movie had even spread to the street. The audience who got the tickets was naturally elated, while the people at the back of the line kept looking at the front of the line.

Now that the summer season has come to an end, there have been no blockbusters in the past two weeks, and there will not be so many audiences waiting in line to see the movies released, and they should be waiting for the audience to participate in the test screening. The corners of Zhang Jingchu's mouth couldn't help curling, "I didn't expect there to be so many people in the test screening, Comrade Xiao Zhang, I didn't expect you to be quite popular in the United States!"

Zhang Ran smiled and waved his hand: "Xiaochu, you don't understand." There are 500 people who came to the test screening today, and it takes time to sign confidential information and register personal information, which is why there is such a long queue, and these audiences do not know that my movie will be shown later. ”

Zhang Jingchu was a little surprised: "I don't know if it's your movie?"

Zhang Ran nodded and explained: "If you know that it is my movie, then it must be my fans." Since I'm a fan, even if the movie sucks, the evaluation and score given must be very high. In this way, the test screening loses its meaning. Therefore, the test screening cannot gather fans, and it recruits ordinary audiences. In this way, you can know the reactions and voices of ordinary audiences, and make corresponding adjustments to the movie, change what should be changed, delete what should be deleted, and make up what should be remade. ”

Zhang Jingchu suddenly realized: "So that's the case, but the domestic test screenings are basically recruiting fans, film critics and media reporters to build momentum for film promotion!"

Zhang Ran rolled his eyes and said, "You are still in the film industry, and you can't even tell the difference between a test screening and a screening." Before the release of the movie, recruit film critics and media reporters to promote the film, which is called screening. Screening and test screening are two different things, two concepts!"

Zhang Jingchu grimaced at Zhang Ran: "I know, Teacher Zhang!"

Zhang Ran chuckled: "Okay, let's go in!" As he spoke, he took Zhang Jingchu to the screening hall.

Zhang Ran is the director and producer of the movie, so naturally he didn't need to wait in line, nor did he need to fill in the relevant information, and walked directly into the screening hall of "Future Apocalypse". This is a large IMAX hall that can seat more than 500 people. The entire front rows of the hall were already seated spectators, probably 2,300 people. From a distance, it was black. Zhang Ran and the others sat in the corner of the last row of the screening room, which was relatively remote and not easy to be discovered.

Zhang Jingchu participated in the test screening of a Hollywood movie for the first time, and when she saw the audience in front of her excitedly engaged in various discussions, she was a little curious and asked: "Do Hollywood blockbusters do such test screenings?"

Zhang Ran nodded very affirmatively and said, "I will do it." ”

Zhang Jingchu asked, "Is there anything you don't do?"

Zhang Ran thought for a while and said: "Commercial blockbusters will be done, and those that don't do test screenings are basically independent films, directors like Woody Allen and Oliver Stone don't like test screenings, so they clearly require in the contract that film companies are not allowed to test screenings." In my opinion, the test screening is actually a process of communicating with the audience, allowing you to understand what the audience likes, which is very meaningful for the director. ”

By the time the audience for the test screening had basically entered, a female staff member in her thirties walked onto the stage. She held the microphone, looked at the audience under the stands, and said with a smile: "Welcome to the test screening of our film, this time it is a war movie similar to "Saving Private Ryan". ”

As soon as this sentence came out, many viewers who were looking forward to seeing "The Avengers" or "The Dark Knight Returns" shook their heads slightly, a little disappointed in their hearts.

The female staff member continued: "The film has a lot of computer special effects, and the special effects are not yet finished, so some of the scenes in it are still green screens, and the actors are still wearing motion capture suits. When the film is completed, the final film will definitely not be a limitation. ”

After the female staff finished, a small video was shown on the big screen, in which a cartoon character wearing exoskeleton armor appeared to tell everyone that he would look cool when the movie was completed in the later stage, and what he saw so far was still very rough. Approaching, the small video shows some of the finished shots compared to the unfinished ones, so that the audience can have a more intuitive feeling.

It's just that when Matt Damon, dressed in exoskeleton armor, appeared on the screen, the whole scene resounded with an exclamation. Some viewers in the crowd shouted: "Future Apocalypse! God, this is a test screening of Future Apocalypse!" Immediately, the whole scene resounded with a sound of discussion, and many audience members showed surprise on their faces.

Jamie Hagen was a little surprised when he heard that this was a test screening of "Future Apocalypse", and then the whole person became excited. With an investment of $350 million, "Future Apocalypse" is the highest-paid film of all time, and with big stars such as Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, and Scarlett Johansson, he was already interested in the movie. In April, after "Future Apocalypse" released the director's special, he was completely conquered, and he has already listed "Future Apocalypse" as a must-see film next summer after "The Dark Knight Returns".

The audience looked at the big screen in front of them, only to see the logo of Summit Entertainment released on the screen, and then the movie officially began.

Sure enough, as reminded by the staff, the production of special effects for many scenes in the movie has not yet been completed, and many shots have not even buckled the green screen, and you can often see the characters with tightropes falling on them, which looks funny, but no audience laughs, everyone's thinking and eyeballs are led by Zhang Ran's lens, and everyone enters the world constructed by the movie.

"Future Apocalypse" is the most realistic and brutal sci-fi film Jamie Hagen has ever seen, as real as a documentary. Images of the brutality of the robots against the Machine League, the screams of the human soldiers lying on the ground, and the blood and flesh of the soldiers being hit by bullets in an instant, these brutal images hit Jamie Hagen's heart so much that his hands trembled.

Watching Future Apocalypse is an unpleasant experience, but one that is fully engaging. The powerful visual and atmospheric effects make the whole film quite impactful and go straight to the heart.

The war scenes in the movie are so long that Jamie Hagen almost thought it would be fought from beginning to end. But he was clearly wrong, Zhang Ran is not Michael Bay, and it is impossible to make a popcorn movie from beginning to end. Adams, played by Matt Damon, is defeated, surrenders to Colonel Goo, and is taken to a prison built by Antarctic robots. Here, he meets his wife, Scarlett Johansson, who has been missing for three years, while they are planning an uprising to take back control of Antarctica.

"Future Apocalypse" is more than 200 minutes long, more than three hours, and there are few Hollywood movies that are this long. Because the movie is too long, if you schedule one time, other people's movies can shoot two, so the theater chain is reluctant to schedule more.

But even though the film is more than three hours long, Jamie Hagen doesn't feel the passage of time at all. When the movie ended, his chest was filled with a thickness that he had never felt before. It's not just the fulfillment and pleasure of watching a good movie, it's mixed with thoughts, shocking, lingering, and thought-provoking. He stood up and clapped his hands vigorously.

With Jamie Hagen taking the lead, the audience collectively stood up and gave the warmest applause. Many viewers present have seen the trailer and director's special of "Future Apocalypse", and they all believe that this movie will be a particularly awesome movie, but they really didn't expect this movie to be so good.

Almost all viewers have a common word in their hearts - shock, in addition to shock or shock. This is still the version of the special effects that are not completed, and if the special effects are completed, how good will the movie be!

Jamie Hagen looked at the big screen and said with emotion: "I don't know how to describe it, but I really like this movie, I think I've become a fan of Zhang Ran!

The audience next to him was Zhang Ran's fans, and he couldn't accept Jamie Hagen's words, in his opinion, Zhang Ran was much more powerful than Nolan, so he said: "Zhang Ran is the first person in the new generation of directors! Even Scorsese, Coppola, and Bergman all admire him very much, I think he is better than Nolan!"

Someone next to him sighed: "This movie is so cool, especially the ending, it's just shocking." It's a pity that I won't be able to see the finished version of the movie until next year, and I will have to wait another year, if only I could see it right away!"

Another viewer chimed in: "This is a sci-fi masterpiece that will leave a name in film history, it's just perfect!"