Chen Qiang looked at the big screen with a smile, feeling an inexplicable sense of satisfaction in his heart.
MGM president Louis Meyer sat next to Chen Qiang. He saw Chen Qiang's smile and thought Chen Qiang was very satisfied with the movie, so he spoke: "Chen, what do you think of it?"
"It's very good. Many scenes impressed me. There was also the final water ballet performance, and the scene was very grand." Chen Qiang replied.
Louis Mayer said proudly: "We prepared for the last water ballet for a long time and used hundreds of actors, many of which were professional swimming and mobilization. Esther also practiced this scene for a month!"
Chen Qiang nodded. The last water ballet performance did take a lot of manpower and it was difficult to shoot. If you want to shoot this scene well, it is inevitable that the actor will rehearse one month in advance.
In addition, the plot of the male protagonist dancing ballet is also very difficult to perform, because it is a set of coherent dance moves with multiple people, and it is also a long shot of one shot. If anyone makes a mistake, the whole scene must be remake, which tests the actor's ability. If you want to perform such a scene well, the male protagonist must practice professional dances, and the actors must also undergo long rehearsals, so that the mistakes can be reduced and ensure that they can be shot to the end.
I have to say that the actors of this era are really dedicated. They are willing to work hard for a few weeks for a few minutes of play. Compared with those popular young and fresh young flowers in later generations, they are too lazy to recite the lines. They talk about a few words on the spot, and then hand them over to the dubbing to read the lyrics.
I heard Louis Mayer continue: "Mr. Chen, if you have any good suggestions for this video, you might as well bring it up."
"I'm not a professional filmmaker, I think I'd better not talk too much." Chen Qiang replied with a smile.
"No, no, Mr. Chen, what we need is not the opinions of professional filmmakers, but the opinions of ordinary audiences. This is not an art film, but a commercial film. We have invested so much and we have to count on this film to make money for us, so I hope you can give us some suggestions from the perspective of ordinary audiences." Louis Mayer said.
"Okay. I'll just say a few words from the audience's perspective." Chen Qiang thought for a while, then spoke: "The film is really exciting, the scene is grand, and the actors' acting skills are also very good, but I think the name of the movie is not very attractive." Chen Qiang said.
"The name "mr,co-ed" is indeed a bit mediocre." Louis Mayer nodded.
From the perspective of commercial films, "Mr,co-ed" is indeed a very ordinary name. There are many similar names in American movies. Such names will definitely not be too attractive if they are placed on a commercial film. Later generations, when we go to the cinema to watch movies, and meet movie names such as Mr. XX or Miss XX, we will also think that this is a boring film, and just watching the movie name will be defeated.
The "Mrs. Minnifer" that Chen Qiang invested in before also adopted a similar naming method. When he was filming "Mrs. Minnifer", MGM did not intend to package it into a commercial blockbuster, and the script of "Mrs. Minnifer" was not suitable as a commercial blockbuster. However, "Mrs. Minnifer" itself is a very excellent movie, and the right time, place and people make "Mrs. Minnifer" the most popular film that year. It can be said that the box office of "Mrs. Minnifer" was a very unexpected. If it weren't for World War II, "Mrs. Minnifer" would definitely not have such an excellent box office.
This water-based singing and dancing movie does not have the cooperation of the right time, place and people. It is impossible for every movie to count on an "unexpected situation" to support the box office.
Historically, it was also because "mr,co-ed" was too ordinary and not attractive enough that MGM finally changed the name of the movie to "bathing  beauty", which translated it into "Hundreds of Water".
Louis Mayer had already realized that the name "Mr,co-ed" was not very suitable for a commercial film, so when Chen Qiang suggested that the name of the movie was not suitable, Louis Mayer immediately asked: "Mr. Chen, do you have any good suggestions about the name of the movie?"
"I think "bathing  beauty" is a good name," Chen Qiang replied.
Louis Mayer was slightly stunned, then smiled knowingly, nodded and said, "This name is indeed attractive. Chen, thank you for your suggestions, we will consider it seriously."
"bathing  beauty" was eventually translated as "The Lotus from the Water", but if translated literally, "bathing  beauty" means "The Beauty from the Bathing", and this name will definitely attract more audiences than the previous "mr, co-ed". Normal people will choose to see a beauty from the bath instead of a man named "co-ed".
After sending Chen Qiang away, Louis Mayer called the director of the movie George Sidney, and the two began to discuss.
"The intention of this Chinese is too obvious. "Bathing  Beauty" clearly means to praise his wife!" George Sidney said.
Louis Mayer nodded: "You are right, he does have this meaning. But "Mr, co-ed" is really boring, and the name "bathing   beauty" is indeed more attractive."
The name "bathing  beauty" is definitely not meant to describe the protagonist Red Skelton, the male lead of the movie. No one would call a comedian 1.88 meters tall "bathing beauty". So the name of the movie "bathing  beauty" obviously highlights the heroine Esther.
In the whole movie, Esther's performance can only be considered a normal person, and he is even a little sorry for the Oscar's Best Supporting Actress. Of course, it is mainly because Esther's scenes are all vase scenes, and sometimes even in the plot arrangement, she is an unreasonable and silly white sweet. Fortunately, there was a "technical" scene in water ballet at the end, and this dedicated attitude prevented Esther from having any deductions.
In the movie, the male protagonist Red Skelton has more scenes than Esther, and many scenes are even supported by Red Skelton's comedy talent alone. For example, there is a plot of fighting wits and courage with dogs. Red Skelton relies on his one-man show, wearing women's clothing and dressing up women, giving full play to the fullest. It is no exaggeration to say that the male protagonist Red Skelton is the core of the entire movie. As for the silly white sweet vase character played by Esther, he can do it any beauty.
In this case, the name of the movie should highlight the male lead Red Skelton, but Chen Qiang proposed a name that highlights the female lead, such as "bathing  beauty", which actually has a bit of a scattered appearance. This is like shooting a movie where Guan Yu slays Hua Xiong with a warm wine, and then named it "The Death of Pan Feng", which is completely putting the cart before the horse. (ps: I don't know who Pan Feng is to watch the fifth chapter of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms)
So when Chen Qiang proposed the name "bathing  beauty", MGM immediately realized that Chen Qiang was deliberately enhancing Esther's position in the movie. They naturally believed that Chen Qiang clearly wanted to promote his wife to the top.
In fact, Chen Qiang just made a name according to history.
The director of the movie, George Sidney, was very disdainful of Chen Qiang's behavior. Many directors of this era were people who really pursued the art of film. They did not lick investors like later generations, and they also hated investors to point fingers at their own movies. So when Chen Qiang said the name "bathing   beauty", George Sidney instinctively felt disgusted.
Louis Mayer doesn't think so. As the boss of MGM, he has to consider how to win a better box office for the movie.
This kind of water movie is really expensive. The exquisite sets, grand scenes and a large number of actors all cost a lot of money. What's more, many "professional" scenes need to be rehearsed many times, which also increases the cost of shooting. Therefore, Louis Meyer needs to attract more people to the cinema.
I heard Louis Mayer say, "I think the name Chen proposed is very gimmick, "bathing  beauty" is very attractive. If it were me, I would also like to go to the cinema to find out."
"Louis, you really want to use this name, right?" George Sidney asked.
"Why not? This name can bring us more audiences." Louis Mayer smiled slightly, and then continued: "Even our publicity strategy can be changed, focusing on promoting Esther's water ballet performance. Although Red Skelton's scenes are more important, I think the audience will want to see a beautiful woman in a swimsuit dancing in the water!"
The historical "Hydroops from the Water" uses Esther as the main promotional point. Almost all posters are Esther in swimsuits. As for the male protagonist Red Skelton, it has become an optional existence in the promotional period, but a name appears on the movie's promotional poster.
Film companies are very realistic. Although Red Skelton's acting skills are outstanding and his performance in the movie is also very exciting, it is not enough to attract audiences to enter the cinema. Esther is different. Beauty has always been the selling point of the movie, let alone the beauties in swimsuits. Even if it is placed in the future, many movie posters will also place a picture of a sexy beauties on the posters to attract audiences to enter the cinema. This sexy beauties are probably just a so-called soybean, and may not even have a line.
...
MGM finally adopted the name "bathing  beauty" and decided to use Esther's water ballet as the focus of the film's promotion. The film will be released in June next year, which means there is still half a year left.
Chen Qiang also spent another Christmas in Los Angeles. After Christmas, he returned to New York.
When Chen Qiang arrived in New York, it was already 1944.
The assistant sent a financial statement to Chen Qiang's desk, which was Chen Qiang's income and expenditure in the past year.
Chen Qiang's two biggest expenses are the 5 million US dollars to support the domestic war of resistance, and the other is the money to acquire cultural relics.
Chen Qiang has many sources of income. "Mrs. Minnifer" has several overseas box offices; the hula hoop still has good sales in the United States, and it has also been sold to South America, which is very popular in Brazil, Argentina, Intelligence and other countries. The bowling alleys in the United States have almost all replaced Chen Qiang's new bowling balls, and this part of the income has also stabilized; the revenue of the new tennis racket is growing in an explosive manner. After all, this is a new product that has just been launched, and it will take some time before the market is saturated.
Chen Qiang's chain gyms have been expanding, but the expansion is not fast. After all, it is a war period, and the entire industry related to sports has suffered a serious blow, and few new gyms will open. After World War II, the fitness industry will usher in explosive growth and gyms will bloom everywhere in the United States.
With Chen Qiang's current assets and the franchise fees for those dozens of gyms are not an important source of income for Chen Qiang, and Chen Qiang does not expect the gym to make a lot of money for him. Now Chen Qiang is mainly planning to prepare for the gym's explosion after World War II.
Chen Qiang's next work focus will be on the first Basketball All-Star Game.
After three months of publicity, many fans already knew about the All-Star Game of Basketball. Especially not long ago, two fans fought for the voting issue. With Chen Qiang's ability, it became a hot topic of news at the time, which also made more people know about the All-Star Game to be held in New York.
The entertainment activities in the 1940s were much scarce than those in later generations. In addition, due to the war, the entertainment and cultural industries in the United States suffered heavy damage. Many entertainment activities or sports competitions were just a loss of money. If one game was held, the organizers were willing to intervene.
Therefore, the upcoming All-Star Game has become a rare sports and entertainment event for Americans and has attracted the attention of many Americans.
Due to the decrease in sports competitions, the number of sports journalists in the United States has also decreased. In addition, it is winter, and many sports competitions have also stopped, and sports journalists do not have so much to report.
But sports reporters always have to eat. Without sports news, sports reporters have no food. Just as the basketball All-Star Game is getting hotter and hotter, so sports reporters rushed to report on the All-Star Game. Today, a certain star's votes were overtaken, and tomorrow it was a certain two stars who criticized the votes in order to grab the vote. In short, even if there is nothing in the world, these reporters have to deliberately write something out.
The All-Star voting has entered the final white-hot stage, and many crazy fans are getting crazy. With the announcement of the voting results every month, debates among fans are getting bigger and bigger, and various quarrels are emerging one after another. Fortunately, the situation where fans fight for the All-Star voting has not happened again.
Chen Qiang was planning another thing.
"The first time the All-Star Game was held. On such an important occasion, it would be great if there was a live TV broadcast on TV! Many American families have TV sets, but they don't know if the current technology can support live TV broadcasts in sports competitions..."
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Chapter completed!