v2 Chapter 903： No movie without popcorn

When actually shooting, Duke still gave the camera assistant a certain degree of autonomy. After all, people are not machines. The other party only needs to follow his requirements in the general direction of shooting. ○

Moreover, the temporary still photographer was also a clever man. While shooting according to Duke's requirements, he never shot from the angle of the main camera.

The stills can be different from the original film scenes. It is not necessarily the position of the film director, but the stills. This is not mandatory, or even must be different, because the movie is a dynamic lens to show the plot, and the stills are actually a picture. Explain the plot, and the stills can be modified and cut after all.

Therefore, as long as the stills can show the plot, the medium-range close-up is the best picture, but it must be the same as the movie picture, that is, the sentiment should be the same. The movie should highlight what the movie should highlight. If the movie is a small and fresh movie, how can it be cold, hard, and bitter when the stills are shot?

There is also the green screen special effects that Duke will use on a large scale. Some key scenes are shot against the green screen in the studio. There is no background painting at all. What about the still shooting?

Such scenes are often key scenes. It is impossible to have no publicity stills. There is only one solution, which is to capture still frames on a later HD machine, but still frames can basically meet the needs of news releases, but the picture quality It's much worse.

In addition to stills, what pictures can be used for movie promotion and marketing? The working photos of the crew behind the scenes are actually very interesting and spreading, but they also have to be "designed". Not all the behind-the-scenes wear a coat. The photos of the director in front of the monitor are so visible. The important thing is to have content. There is content worth spreading.

This shot was over and it was time to get off work, but after Charlize Theron and Daisy Ridley took off their makeup and changed into everyday clothes, they did not leave the studio, but returned to the set and stood with Duke. together. Let the temporary still photographer take a lot of photos, which are promotional work photos.

The same is used for publicity and marketing, but the work photos and publicity stills are different. The publicity stills require that the actor must be a performer and conform to the characters in the play. If the actor does not perform, especially in modern dramas, and the actor in any scene There is no difference between the promotional photos taken, if it is in the scene of the filming. The photos taken without the role status are all work photos, because the still photos are "a faithful reflection and record of the movie."

And the work of the crew is to promote the film, not the actors.

This is the end of the day's work, and Charlize Theron has found it while Duke is packing his workbench.

"Is there time?" She stood opposite Duke, with a charming smile on her cold face, "to have dinner together?"

"Sorry..." Duke shook his head slightly. Looking at the entrance of the studio, Scarlett Johansson just walked in. "I promised Scarlett that I will go to inspect the theater she invested in in the evening together."

As if eyes were growing behind his head, Charlize Theron turned his head, just in time to see Scarlett Johansson walking toward this side, her bright eyes narrowed into two thin long lines, and she sighed slightly. .

With age. Charlize Theron increasingly felt that the original choice was too wrong, but now there is no chance to make up for this mistake.

She knows very well that if something is missed, it is missed, and she can't find it back.

Charlize Theron did not want to see Scarlett Johansson, before she came over. Said to Duke, "See you if you have time."

Duke didn't say anything, he just nodded slightly, his eyes gradually retracted, and the leaving Charlize Theron and Scarlett Johansson passed by, without saying hello to each other, as if they didn't know each other.

As if not seeing Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson walked up to Duke without mentioning her, took his arm, and walked out of the studio together.

"This is our first large-scale cinema chain to open in Los Angeles."

Walking on the long narrow road of Warner Studios, Scarlett seemed very happy, "Our investment can finally see a return."

"Honey," Duke corrected, "this is your investment."

According to the relevant laws of the United States, people like him cannot be involved in the cinema industry.

Scarlett knew this, and took the initiative to change the topic, "Have you heard that the North American Theater League is preparing to start a new round of popcorn price increases."

Nowadays, popcorn is almost a symbol of movies and movie theaters. As the king of movie theater products, the profit of popcorn is far beyond the imagination of outside the industry. It is not even said that small popcorn is the hero who saves the movie theater. For over.

There are generally two types of popcorn in the current theater. One is the "butterfly" popcorn with multiple irregularly shaped "wing" shells. This kind of popcorn tastes more crispy and is more common in theaters; the other is the "mushroom" popcorn. They It is more like a sphere or ellipsoid, with a cottony taste and relatively uncommon.

Since the invention of the first popcorn machine in 1885, due to its portability, popcorn has become the preferred snack for customers participating in outdoor activities and visiting circuses. The convenience of popcorn is that it can be mass-produced without relying on the kitchen. Production, and another common snack-potato chips can not be done, so it is at a disadvantage in the competition.

However, at that time there was one and only one type of entertainment venue that did not show popcorn-movie theaters.

At that time, the cinema was very high-end and formal, popcorn, a small snack, could not enter the eyes of movie audiences, and theater operators did not want to bring the messy and rich fragrance that accompanied popcorn into their tidy theater. At the same time, since the movies at the time were silent films, the noise of chewing popcorn would also seriously affect the viewing experience.

But technological and economic development has changed everything.

The most important innovation in film technology is the addition of synchronized sound.

After 1927, people can hear the characters in the movie without having to read the movie's subtitles all the time. This opened up the film market to a new audience-most of whom were poor illiterate and young children.

These audiences will not be attracted by the magnificent design of the theater. For them, soiling the carpet of the theater because of some interesting snacks does not seem to be very troublesome. At the same time, as the movie enters the sound era, the noise caused by popcorn is not so obvious.

Soon, the U.S. ushered in the Great Recession, and many theaters were in decline. Those who lingered and were not optimistic. All people in film-related industries were suffering-except for those who proved that popcorn is a gold mine of butter Street vendors.

Popcorn became the cheapest luxury for people at that time, and it also became the first snack that people secretly hid under their coats and brought them into the cinema. In such dark days, people could sell popcorn on the street. Make a living and even make a fortune.

An East Coast cinema line made an attempt-they sell popcorn in the smaller theaters in the line, and the five high-end cinemas still do not sell any snacks in order to keep the environment clean.

As a result, theaters that sell popcorn are all profitable, while five high-end theaters are in constant deficit.

In the end, the managers of the theater realized that popcorn is the key to the profitability of the theater. Popcorn has really saved the business of the theater, so that an entrepreneur in the era of the Great Depression gave this advice-find Go to a suitable place to sell popcorn, and then build a cinema next to it.

Now it can be said that there is no movie without popcorn.

Today, decades later, for many people, the movie-watching experience without popcorn is incomplete, and for movie theaters, popcorn has the same significance as in the past.

Movie fans often complain that the price of the products sold in the theater is too high, but the popcorn in the sales, the audience often ignores its cost and pricing. Most theaters have a gross profit margin of more than 85% in terms of sales. The profit from selling products generally accounts for 50% of the theater's total profit, which far exceeds the profit in the box office.

Because film producers and distributors have invested a lot in film production and distribution, they have reason to take more from the box office income. However, the high rent of movie theaters, large area air-conditioning costs, constantly updated surround sound and Seats and digital 3D systems, etc., each is a huge expense.

In order to survive, movie theaters can raise their ticket prices, but they will lose audiences. Therefore, for movie theaters, selling products is the only option worth relying on. Although the revenue from selling products only accounts for 20% of the theater’s total revenue, they Accounted for 50% of the theater's profits.

And all theaters will be bundled sales, popcorn has another feature, that is to make the population thirsty, so if you buy the "standard" popcorn, most of you have to buy a drink.

Generally speaking, before watching the movie, the audience is not weighing between not buying snacks and just buying a few snacks. Their way of thinking is: not buying snacks, or buying a bunch of snacks.

Therefore, there are two types of movie theater customers-those who are willing to buy a lot and those who are very price sensitive.

When a movie theater sets the price of the product to a level that is acceptable to almost all customers who are willing to buy special purchases, even if they continue to reduce the price, it will not attract more customers to buy and sell the product, because for price-sensitive customers In other words, only when the selling price is even lower than the supermarket price, will they consider buying, obviously it is not worthwhile to do their business.

Therefore, the theater only needs to refer to the prices accepted by customers who are willing to buy special purchases.

This is also an important reason why the North American Theater Alliance dared to propose collective price increases for theater products.

Anyone who invests in the cinema industry cannot ignore the role of selling products.

It is precisely because of the high profits of selling products that theaters can lower the price of movie tickets, make profits through selling products and services, achieve differentiated pricing, and allow more audiences to enter the theater.

Therefore, it can be said that it is this combination of air and starch that allows the cinema to continue to operate. Without popcorn, there is probably no cinema—at least not as it is now known. (To be continued.)

ps: 　　 ask for monthly and recommended tickets!