Chapter 327: Extra Death Reapers
Chapter 327: Extra Death Reapers
By late April, Firefly’s three film projects had almost all begun simultaneously, and all were scheduled for this year’s summer season. This move violated the normal release cycle of many films. After all, in this era, many Hollywood movies, after finishing production, generally took anywhere from several months to over a year before release. As a result, many media outlets questioned Eric’s scheduling decisions.
However, Eric made no response whatsoever to these criticisms, because Firefly still operated very differently from the Seven Major studios.
After all, compared to the massive Seven Majors, Firefly was still much smaller. Large film companies had to arrange release schedules for dozens of movies each year, so naturally some films were repeatedly delayed due to various conflicts. Firefly, however, was different.
After merging with New Line, Robert Shaye had already suspended New Line’s low-budget production plans. Therefore, Firefly only had three release projects to arrange for the first half of the year: The Silence of the Lambs, Sleeping with the Enemy, and Ghost.
Basic Instinct was being distributed by Universal, so Firefly did not need to worry about it at all. Meanwhile, Ghost was once again being co-distributed with Disney. Under these circumstances, Firefly’s distribution pressure became even lighter, and operations became far easier. They could begin preliminary promotional work almost simultaneously with production.
By the time the films released, promotion would already have been running for three months. Compared to the one-month promotional periods many major studio films received, Firefly’s campaigns were already extremely sufficient.
At the same time filming began, Eric’s novella The Matrix, which was only a little over fifty thousand words long, quietly hit bookstore shelves. Michael Claus had barely spent any effort promoting it, yet the book easily climbed to the top of the bestseller charts.
Along with that came a wave of criticism, because the book had clearly been written in too much haste. Eric had only spent a little over a week writing it during scattered spare moments. Many details had not been fully thought through, and the novel felt more like a collection of vaguely connected fragments.
As a result, many newspapers criticized the book for possessing an ingenious concept but being crudely executed in terms of detail, accusing Eric of simply fooling readers. Some newspapers even claimed he was merely cashing in. Regarding this viewpoint, even readers who disliked the book laughed it off. With Eric’s current wealth, how could he possibly care about such insignificant royalty income?
Of course, many people in Hollywood realized Eric’s true purpose in writing this book. Compared to Jurassic Park and Resident Evil, this novel was clearly aimed at becoming a film as well. And after carefully studying the book, many people also recognized The Matrix’s enormous cinematic potential.
Even though they knew the chances were slim, people continued approaching him regarding the film rights. Even James Cameron, who was currently preparing Terminator 2, developed a strong interest in the novel and specifically called Eric in New York to discuss some of the ideas presented in The Matrix.
Naturally, Cameron tactfully refrained from bringing up the film rights in the end. Eric also had no intention of handing The Matrix over to Cameron to direct. Although the idea was tempting and interesting, The Matrix differed greatly from Cameron’s filmmaking style.
Cameron’s films were not lacking in deeper thought. The Terminator series, for instance, could be said to express strong concern over humanity’s endless expansion of nuclear armaments. And Avatar in Eric’s previous life used the Na’vi defending Pandora to express concern over humanity’s relentless exploitation of natural resources and the inevitable backlash from nature.
However, although his films carried underlying themes, Cameron always pursued the most spectacular visual effects and explosive action sequences, none of which were the core appeal of The Matrix.
The buzz surrounding The Matrix continued to spread. No matter how the outside world evaluated it, Eric remained completely unaffected. Meanwhile, filming for Ghost proceeded steadily across various districts of New York.
“Stan, the Grim Reapers I need are actual Grim Reapers. The kind wearing black cloaks and carrying scythes, not just a few blurry black shadows. But based on what you said, the final effect will probably just look like a few shadowy blobs.”
Night had just fallen over New York. On a closed-off street, staff members were busily preparing for filming. Eric was discussing effects work with Stan Winston. “And speaking of shadows, there’s another major problem. Sam has already become a ghost, so logically, he shouldn’t cast shadows anymore. He also shouldn’t make footsteps. The footsteps are easy to handle, but what about the shadows?”
Stan Winston pondered for a moment. “That’s simple enough. Use shadowless lighting, then adjust the exposure in post-production. But filming that way will be troublesome.”
“I’m not afraid of trouble. As long as the details are right,” Eric said decisively.
At that moment, the set manager in charge of staging walked over and informed Eric that everything was ready.
Several extras completely covered in blue full-body skintight suits came over to stand before Eric and Stan Winston. These people were the terrifying “Grim Reapers” appearing in the film. However, not only did they lack any frightening qualities, they actually looked rather ridiculous.
Stan Winston and Eric stepped forward together to personally inspect the extras’ costumes. “Eric, I think the Grim Reapers don’t need to look too realistic. If they become too realistic, it’ll turn into a horror movie. A few shadowy forms are just right.”
“No, Stan. I mean realistic effects, not horrifying effects.”
“If Grim Reapers become realistic, wouldn’t that naturally be horrifying?” Stan Winston asked stubbornly.
Eric shrugged helplessly. “You just need to create the effect I want. I’ll handle everything else.”
Stan Winston shrugged back. “Fine, as you wish. Actually, this mainly depends on post-production rendering. Digital Domain’s render farm hasn’t been fully built yet.”
“Then borrow Pixar’s. They already have an existing render farm. Even though it’s used for rendering 3D animation, the principles should be similar. Talk with John Lasseter about it. If that doesn’t work, then rent Industrial Light & Magic’s.”
After Eric and Stan Winston finished checking the extra Grim Reapers, Eric made an OK gesture toward the assistant director, and filming resumed once again.