The scriptwriter from the editing department left with doubts and puzzlement. Why did Miracle Director want to write a script that no one could understand? But that didn't stop him from quickly organizing the script for Adriaan. All the scriptwriters in the Bosworth Pictures department knew that this was a good job. The scriptwriters from the other two film companies, and even other big companies, were envious of them.
There were usually two situations. Adriaan would give an outline, and they would fill in the details before he reviewed it. They would revise it until he was satisfied. The other situation was that he would write it himself, but because it was written in a hurry, it would be messy, and they would have to organize it into a standard script format. But no matter what, they would make a profit. The scripts that were filled in according to the outline either sold well or had a good reputation. As for the ones that he helped organize, Adriaan didn't hesitate to write their names in the scriptwriter column.
Not to mention, there were also generous rewards. Because the Bosworth scriptwriters had been squeezed a lot, they also had their own tricks up their sleeves when it came to making up stories. Some of the scriptwriters who had left Bosworth were also favored by many producers, which was enough to make others jealous. Speaking of which, the status of a film scriptwriter in Hollywood was lower than that of a TV scriptwriter. A film scriptwriter would either finish the script and sell it to a producer or a film company, or sign a contract to complete the required script.
But a TV scriptwriter was different. Many popular TV dramas were made up as they were filmed, and they had to consider the wishes of the audience. Not long ago, ABC did a survey on its website asking whether Raymond should break up with his current girlfriend. The result was 73% support, so the remaining three episodes of the supporting actress were cut. Plus, they more or less owned part of the copyright, so the scriptwriter had relatively more power. Many small-time actors would try to get the scriptwriter to write more scenes for them.
Alright, let's not talk about this topic. After organizing the script, they were ready to start work on the actors. Adriaan had to finish it in two months. There was no such thing in this year's plan. It was completely an impromptu idea. Originally, he had completed most of the projects that he had been busy with, such as "Shakespeare in Love" and "Elizabeth" that would be released in the second half of the year. There was also "The Matrix" that was waiting for the summer break and the movie that he had been preparing for Monica for a long time after the summer break. The reason why he suddenly wrote a new script and was ready to start shooting was not only because of the previous encounter, but also because some people had started to complain.
The 70th Academy Awards ceremony was approaching, and the most popular film was undoubtedly "Titanic." It had a global box office of nearly 300 million, and it had an unprecedented 15 nominations. No one would look down on James Cameron anymore, not to mention Adriaan, who was an investor and had participated in the screenplay and production. With such a huge box office, even after deducting all kinds of expenses, there was at least a net profit of hundreds of millions. No one laughed at him for having too much money. Moreover, because of the stimulant of the Oscar nomination, there was another wave on the ship that had reached the end of the road. Although it was not a big one, it was enough to make many people jealous.
Some people liked it, and some people hated it. Although Adriaan had once again proved his accurate judgment because of "Titanic," he had not been nominated at this year's Oscars. It was rare that he had not been nominated at this year's Oscars. This was not surprising. He only had one film released last year, which was Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut," and Kubrick's film was not favored by the Film School. Moreover, the screenwriter of "Titanic" refused to sign his name, so it was natural that he had not been nominated.
Therefore, people who hated him took this opportunity to attack him. Some said that the Oscars were finally fair, some said that he had exhausted his talent and was going downhill, and some said that Adriaan was worthy of his careful analysis of Kubrick's work. Even if he could not get a nomination, he had learned it well.
The first part was nothing important. It was just some exaggeration used by some media to attract attention. But the last part attracted a lot of comments. As time went on, "Wide-Eyed, Warning" was repeatedly compared to Kubrick's previous works by many people. Like those movies, the film also received more and more favorable reviews. At least in terms of the use of color and soundtrack, there was little difference.
If this was Kubrick's work, people would just add all kinds of praise, but the problem was that it was Adriaan, who had won the Oscar for Best Director at the age of 30, and was too young for the director industry. What's more, he had a lot of achievements in screenwriting and production. He was also a super rich man and a rising star in the media industry.
Such a person could make a blockbuster film and make a film that Film School liked, but to make a film like Kubrick — the so-called "deep excavation of human nature", "anti-human nature of the system" and so on — was something that many critics who thought the art of film was sacred and inviolable were unwilling to believe. Even after the film was released, it was confirmed that Kubrick, who was paralyzed, gave the film a thumbs up during the screening. There were still many people who didn't want to believe it.
"Adriaan can totally modify this film. It doesn't have to be so jerky, and it should be just right. That way, he won't be nominated at all." A critic wrote this, seemingly out of kindness, but in fact, people with a discerning eye could see what he was saying. These people were inexplicable.
Adrian didn't care at first. These people just wanted to have a good time with their mouths. They spared no effort to protect their idol, and they couldn't bear to hear any bad words, including the mention of who was going to replace him. Although this was quite childish, after all, this was not the patent of young people, and not every critic could look at things objectively.
He was too lazy to respond and refused all interviews. If he ignored these comments, they would soon disappear, until he met Naomi Watts.
Speaking of this beautiful woman, who was born in England and grew up in Australia, really had a rough life. She had been a model and a small office worker, but she couldn't find her own position. Finally, she seized the opportunity to become an actress, but after a few years in Hollywood, she achieved nothing. She could only play side characters in various TV series and movies, and in the end, she almost collapsed. It wasn't until she played the female lead in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive that she became famous, and became the best example of late bloomers.
Yes, David Lynch, not David Fincher. The surname was different, and the style of the director was also very different. Although Fincher liked to shoot movies with deep themes, and the editing was fierce and impactful, it was still understandable. Lynch, who became famous earlier than him, was different. His earliest work, Eraserhead, was an inexplicable and difficult movie. Only Twin Peaks, which was changed from a movie to a TV series after several twists and turns, could be understood a little. Others, such as Blue Velvet or I Wild at Heart, which Cage participated in, were all things that made people's teeth hurt.
And in recent years, he had become more and more reckless. Last year's Lost Highway made many critics who originally supported him unable to stand it, and they strongly criticized him. As a result, David Lynch began to reflect, and a few years later, he produced Mulholland Drive, which was said to require a very high IQ to understand. Unfortunately, he didn't have this opportunity now.
That's right, the script that Adriaan was currently writing was Mulholland Drive, and it would be completed in two months, just in time for the Cannes Film Festival. Didn't they like to talk? Then I'll use the facts to tell them that I can shoot any theme.
This wasn't because I was angry, but because I happened to encounter it, and then I thought of a lot of interesting things. To be honest, although there were many beautiful women in Hollywood, and Naomi Watts was a little old, she was still considered one of the best. If she was willing to go all out, she might not be reduced to the way Adriaan saw her, and it was because of this that he was tempted.
No matter how persistent a person was, they would change after repeatedly hitting the wall, and then reach out to help her when she was at her weakest and most in need of help. It would be easy to subdue her. Therefore, Adriaan, who followed behind her that night, put on a pretty good show. It wasn't completely an act. Half of what Adriaan said was sincere. He did think that she was very outstanding. A woman who could continuously persevere was always very attractive, and people couldn't help but want to hold her in their hands and then train her to be what they wanted to see.
In addition, he did see her videotape during the auditions for several supporting female roles in Killing Moment, but he didn't care at that time. When he saw her for the first time that night, he felt a sense of familiarity. Although he had memories of his previous life, his impression of her in this life wasn't bad either. Since that was the case, what was wrong with using Mulholland Drive to make her famous and then giving some people a slap in the face? What's more, he could … He quickly thought of a good plan that could kill several birds with one stone.
As for David Lynch, who cared about what he thought? Anyway, he had already copied so many, and he didn't care about one more. Moreover, Adriaan really didn't have a good impression of him. This guy's characteristics had already been mentioned before. He was strange and liked to do unconventional things. The editing of each movie was quite messy, so messy that people couldn't tell what the story was at all.
Although Adriaan didn't like Kubrick, he still somewhat respected him. Although Kubrick's story was slow, the plot was long, and there was a lot of inexplicable dialogue, at least there was a complete story, and it also played a big role in promoting film technology. For example, the special effects of Space Odyssey 2001 caused a lot of sensation at that time. Both Lucas and Cameron were affected by this movie.
However, Lynch completely abandoned the logic that a story should have. At first, there was a story framework in his works, but later on, he completely cut some unrelated scenes together. It was like all the sentences in a novel were messed up and then reorganized without any rhyme or reason. Every word was known, but when they were connected together, they didn't know what they were talking about.
However, after all, a movie was not a novel. There were pictures and sounds in a movie, so Lynch's movies were filled with a lot of bloody and erotic scenes. He used this to attract the audience and let them imagine. As everyone knew, imagination was powerful. The audience would always fill in the incomplete story according to the direction they wanted and make a circle. Moreover, no one would think that they couldn't understand it, just like the emperor's new clothes.
This was what Adriaan hated the most, especially after producing or plagiarizing so many movies. He was more and more insistent on his point of view: a good movie must first have an attractive story. Movies, paintings, music, the first purpose was entertainment. Only after satisfying the needs of entertainment could they sublimate and talk about art. Going beyond entertainment to talk about art was just neglecting the essentials.
That was why even though Lynch didn't give up on his tricks in 'Mulholland's Path', only adding in a specious main storyline, he immediately received cheers and applause. Then, all kinds of guesses and interpretations came out one after another. Here, there, and there, there seemed to be a deeper meaning.
In his previous life, whether it was from China or the United States, he had read a lot of these movie reviews. What was funny was that these people with an excessive sense of superiority didn't understand that such a movie could be made by a student majoring in directing, and that Lynch could make as many movies as he wanted. When they were talking about the meaning of the movie under the sun, Lynch was probably hiding in a corner, looking at them with pride or disdain.
Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. The editing department only spent a day to sort it out. Adriaan also began to ask people to start preparing. The things needed for this movie were too simple.
There was a knock on the door, and then Charlize appeared at the door. "Sir, there's a lady outside who wants to see you. She said she has an appointment."
"Actually, you can say it over the phone, or just let her in, Charley." Adriaan raised his head and smiled. Although Charlize called him sir formally, the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, with a trace of mockery and helplessness, which made her look stubborn and cute.
"I thought it would be more formal." Charlize shrugged, and there was indescribable mockery in his tone. However, Adriaan didn't want to argue with her at this time, so he immediately waved his hands. "Alright, dear, let her in."
The beautiful assistant snorted, turned around, and left, as stubborn as ever. Soon, there was a knock on the door again, even though the back door was not closed when Charlize left.
"Come in, Naomi. I've been waiting for you for a while." Adriaan stood up and made a gesture to invite her in.
Naomi smiled a little cautiously, then came to the desk and sat down. She was wearing a white suit today, and she looked very energetic. Her slender eyebrows, tall nose, and rosy lips were all exquisite. Obviously, she had specially dressed up. With her big wavy hair hanging softly on her shoulders, her slender legs wearing a pair of flesh-colored stockings, and five-inch high heels, she exuded the sexy charm of a mature woman.
"Sorry, I'm a few minutes late." She smiled apologetically.
"It's okay. Waiting for a lady is a virtue." Adriaan smiled. "You're really beautiful today."
There was undisguised admiration in his tone, which made Naomi's mouth curve slightly. "Thank you. You can call me Naomi, Eide."
"Okay, Naomi." Adriaan nodded, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes. Then, he handed a document on the table to her. "I asked you to come here today because I have something to talk about. Take a look at this first."
Naomi took it. Her body trembled slightly when she glanced at the cover. How could she not know what he gave her? Fortunately, she quickly controlled her emotions. She took a deep look at Adriaan and then flipped through the document. For the next few minutes, the office was very quiet. Other than Charlize coming in with coffee once, Naomi had been reading the script.
She didn't read fast. She always flipped the page after carefully savoring it. Although sometimes she frowned and showed a puzzled look, she didn't raise her head to ask anything. This made Adriaan, who was sitting at the desk, look like he was reading the document, but he was secretly looking at her. This made him very satisfied.
"I'm done." After closing the script, Naomi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Eide, I didn't understand this story, except that the heroine hired a killer to kill her gay lover."
"That's normal. I didn't intend to let people understand it." Adriaan smiled. "You can take it back and spend two days reading it carefully. I need you to figure out the heroine's state of mind, and then we can discuss the story."
"You mean … you mean the heroine?" Naomi said hesitantly, and her breathing quickened a little.
"Yes, as I said, you are a very potential actress, so I arranged such a script. You will play the heroine, and I will direct it myself. We will finish shooting and editing in two months, and then participate in the Cannes Film Festival in May. If they are willing, maybe they will award me another Palme d 'Or." When he said the last sentence, Adriaan was quite understated, but no one could doubt his current achievements.
So Naomi lowered her head, and her shoulders trembled slightly. She couldn't be blamed for losing her composure. In just a little more than a week, her life had changed dramatically. Now she was going to play the heroine in a movie directed by Director Miracle. It was self-evident what it meant.
"You won't let me down, will you?" Adriaan asked softly.
"No, absolutely not." Naomi raised her head and said in a rather firm tone. Although her eyes were slightly red, no tears fell down. Then she stood up and said, "I will take it back and study it carefully."
"I look forward to your opinion." Adriaan also stood up and said in an encouraging tone.
Naomi hesitated and suddenly lowered her voice, "By the way, Eide, I … can I treat you to dinner tonight?"
Adriaan raised his eyebrows in surprise and didn't answer.
"It's just some simple food in the apartment. You know I'm also … I just … want to express my gratitude …" Naomi's voice became lower and lower, and her eyes looked away, revealing a trace of shyness.
"I'll be happy to say yes." Adriaan smiled, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes again. "But I'm sorry, I have to attend a cocktail party tonight, so why don't we talk about the script next time? It's only a few days."
Although a little disappointed, Naomi still smiled and nodded under his gentle gaze.
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