"Lieutenant Colonel, the place where the script ends ......"

Closing the script handed over by Lieutenant Colonel Lunhuo, Duke stood up and heightened his tone, "The one who destroys the alien spaceship's weapons must be a civilian, not the president or the military!" ”

"Why?"

After all, the two worked together once, and the Pentagon representative was waiting for Duke to explain.

What is the biggest reason? Of course, it's because the audience likes to see the little people save the world, because the mainstream American culture still has distinct anti-intellectual and anti-elite characteristics, because the movie can cater to the mentality of the mainstream audience and make them pay for tickets.

The little people save the world, and there are always stupid pigs at the top, which can be said to be the view that Hollywood movies are trying to promote, but Hollywood movies do this, not because they agree with anti-intellectual and anti-elite, but because it allows the audience to pay out of their pockets and obtain commercial profits.

The most typical is that in all Hollywood youth school films, more than 95% of the football team quarterbacks are villains, and the film always portrays them as simple-minded and well-limbed idiots, in fact?

The quarterback is the core of a football team, usually the leader of the team, not only directing the offense on the court, but also changing the coach's strategy on the spot.

So, in the anti-intellectual and anti-elite culture, they are like senators in Congress and successive owners of the White House, and they are the most often ridiculed objects in movies.

When it is impossible to raise those simple-minded North American audiences to the height of agreeing with their own views, as a commercial film director, it is necessary to take the initiative to lower his profile and cater to the tastes of mainstream audiences.

Duke himself understands these truths, but he cannot use them as reasons to convince the Pentagon.

So, he began to talk nonsense again, "Lieutenant Colonel, the United States is a democratic country, everyone is an important part of this free country, when the country is in trouble, the people will inevitably fight to save it, in the script, our army, the Pentagon and the president, there are too many places to show heroism, and finally the civilian pilot plane crashed into the alien spaceship, which can just show that once the crisis comes, the people and the federal government will stand together and unite together!" ”

"There's some truth to what you're saying."

As the former Soviet commissar, he still played a little role, and Lieutenant Colonel Lenho turned to another sensitive point, "Duke, the tone of the film and the fighting spirit of the army preached, the Pentagon is very satisfied. ”

Definitely satisfied, if the Pentagon is still picking on the tone of such a big Americanism main theme film, it is purely a collective rust of the head.

Just as Duke was so slanderous, Lt. Col. Lenhoe continued, "But the Pentagon wants you to take all of Area 51 out of it. ”

"Lieutenant Colonel, it's just a boo to attract the audience." Duke spread his hands and said, "We don't mean to promote conspiracy theories, we just want to attract more audiences." ”

"That's not what I meant, Duke." Lieutenant Colonel Lenho got up from his seat and walked back and forth, "My boss is a little sensitive to this. ”

Susceptible? Duke was stunned, and said in his heart that there wouldn't really be a 51 district, right?

"The Roswell affair and Area 51 have been circulating for so many years, and the public knows it's fake."

Whether it's true or false doesn't matter to Duke at all, he doesn't care about this, "If we had mastered alien technology, wouldn't we have dominated the world a long time ago?" It's just a hype boo for the film to attract more audiences to the theater. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Lunhuo stopped, didn't say anything, and looked pensive.

"In my opinion, having more audiences in theaters is definitely more good for the Pentagon than it is for us."

In order to convince the Pentagon to save tens of millions of dollars in weapons and equipment leasing fees, so that more money can be invested in special effects production, Duke really racked his brains, "Lieutenant Colonel, as far as I know, since the Iraq War, the enlistment rate of the army has been declining, and it has even reached a historical low in the past two years. ”

After a slight pause, when Lieutenant Colonel Lunhuo turned his head to look at it, Duke changed to a more sonorous tone, "You have read the script of "Independence Day", Lieutenant Colonel! This will be one of the best conscription commercials, remember the enlistment effect after the release of "Top Gun"? An excellent film promoting the army is far ten or even a hundred times more efficient than the Ministry of Defense placing recruitment advertisements in major media! ”

"Top Gun" in the 80s brought a super conscription effect, and after the release of this film, which was nicknamed the "F-14 Super Long MV", the ensuing teenagers flocked to watch it, and the box office soared, which also ushered in the highest enlistment rate in the US Navy after World War II.

Since "Top Gun," Hollywood hasn't made a high-impact recruitment propaganda film for many years, and "Independence Day" has a distinct character as a recruitment advertisement.

Duke himself doesn't care about this, he and the Pentagon are simply a cooperative relationship of interests, since he stands in Hollywood, he must consider the problem from the current standpoint, how to do it will be most beneficial for himself?

In the not-too-distant future, from the pyramids of Cairo to the skyscrapers of Chicago, from the ruined Los Angeles to the vast Pacific Ocean, from the highways on the streets of Paris to the sandy military bases in the Middle East, the world has experienced waves of alien invasions on Hollywood screens on an unprecedented scale.

When the common home of the earth is in danger, there will always be a group of "heroes" who will come forward and fight into the battlefield with flesh and blood, save the edifice from falling, and finally thwart the conspiracy of the alien thugs, defend the earth, save the people of the world, and return to the barracks with flowers and applause after the completion of the work, hiding their merits and fame.

The "heroic feats" of these American GIs on the screen have made the global audience "awe-inspiring", the hot-blooded boys "fascinated", and also made these films unconsciously become recruitment advertisements for the US military.

In fact, it is no longer news that the US military set up a stage and Hollywood sang operas, as early as the birth of movies nearly a hundred years ago, the two sides had a close relationship, but the reason why the military cooperated with the crew at that time was for teaching purposes - the film can be used as a military school textbook.

It is precisely because of this that the U.S. military during World War II was able to directly participate in the production and promotion of conscription films, and directors such as Frank Capra have made high-level conscription films, but it is as short-lived as the "Green Beret" filmed by John Wayne, a hawkish movie star who advocated the Vietnam War, in the 60s to praise the merits of the U.S. military.

In today's sense, "conscription films" refer to a number of high-investment commercial films that focus on shaping a positive image of the U.S. military after the film reflecting on the Vietnam War died down, starting with the popular "Top Gun" in the 80s.

However, now and in the future, with the renovation of film narrative techniques and visual language, the image of American GIs on the screen is getting taller and more majestic, and the comprehensive strength of the US military has been more and more vividly displayed.

At the same time, experienced screenwriters know how to weave advertising elements into the plot without leaving a trace, so as to greatly reduce the sensitivity of the audience, and today's "Independence Day" is like the future "Transformers", which fully possesses these qualities, and when the film is completed according to Duke's vision, you will find that the advertising intention is far less explicit than "Top Gun" back then.

From a business point of view, the crew's partnership with the Pentagon was a win-win deal that only a fool would refuse.

Since the smoke of the Vietnam War dissipated, the United States changed from a compulsory military system to a volunteer military system, the military needs to spend a lot of money every year to shoot conscription advertisements, but no matter how good the advertising is, it is not as incendiary as the well-made commercial blockbusters, and the film has a huge advantage compared with advertising, and its public relations and propaganda components are covered up and dissolved in a complete story, so that the audience can be imperceptibly intoxicated in the sensory bombardment and psychological adventure of suffering with the characters, and at the same time avoid the natural resistance to advertising.

From Duke's point of view, the "main theme" war sci-fi action blockbuster he produced has commercial characteristics such as a wise and brave protagonist, a passionate plot, and magnificent battle scenes, and the positive appeal generated coincides with the needs of recruitment advertisements.

Of course, Duke himself does not have an aura of retardation, even if he is incarnated as the political commissar of the former Soviet Union, he has said such a big thing, Lieutenant Colonel Lunhuo has not given any promises, and he himself does not have this power, but only guarantees that the original version of Duke's meaning will be transmitted back to the Pentagon, and he will also appropriately help the crew to obtain the possibility of sponsorship.

"Who says the Pentagon is all idiots and idiots? Is their money well pitted? ”

After sending Lieutenant Colonel Lenho away, Duke also complained a little that if the Pentagon was really as naïve as the movies or the Internet portrayed in his previous life, he wouldn't have to bother with such words, maybe he wouldn't have had the opportunity to bother with these words at all.

Over the next few days, Duke reviewed the thick stack of artwork drawn by the art and special effects teams, finalized the alien appearance and spaceship, and the drawings were transferred to the Industrial Light & Magic department, where Stan Winston began to work on the model.

In the past week, Duke has mainly focused on the model, in addition to the alien model, but also to determine the model of the city and North American landmarks, all the explosion scenes will only be shot in real time, and the film needs computer CG synthesis of the footage, has also entered the early production stage, a computer special effects department of Industrial Light and Magic, like the model special effects team, is also stationed in the Warner Studios crew, constantly communicating with Duke.

In addition, the actor audition also entered the second round, and Duke had to be distracted by the selection of the main actors.

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