Heads Up Hollywood

"What is a high-concept movie? In short, there are three words: look, hook, book. Look refers to a good appearance, that is, beautiful and handsome men; hook refers to a wonderful plot, which can be fascinating and arouse the interest of the audience; Book means that the filming technique of the film is sophisticated, the storyboarding is reasonable, and the narrative logic is clear."

"In the words of Mr. Barry Diller, one or two sentences can explain the plot of the whole movie clearly. Many people are questioning that the high-concept movie concept that dominated Hollywood in the 1980s, in the 1990s, Especially after the new millennium, it doesn't seem to be working, is it? Of course not! Let's see the results."

""Titanic" is a love story of a noble girl and a poor boy who sinks a ship; "Spider-Man" is a story about an ordinary boy who turns into a superhero to save New York and uphold justice; Discussion on the value of saving a life by one life..."

On the PPT slide behind Tang En, more than a dozen popular movies in recent years appeared, "Have you seen it? Whether it's "Independence Day", "Face Changing", "Star Wars", "Mission: Impossible", these movies Regardless of special effects, it still conforms to the theory of high-concept movies, look! hook! book!"

"So here, I want to tell everyone that high-concept films have not been eliminated. This is still the golden rule of commercial films. It is a subject that all filmmakers and film school students must study seriously! Except for a few special cases, no matter in the past Or in the future, commercial films must revolve around high concepts."

"I know that many academic teachers and classmates scoff at high-concepts, thinking they are too simple, too stupid, and lack of thought. I even heard that the film school of New York University calls this type of film kiss_movie. Don't get me wrong , not the meaning of the kiss movie, these are the four acronyms K-I-S-S, which is Keep_It_Simple_Stupid!"

As soon as this remark came out, the audience burst into laughter.

Tang En glanced at the first row of the audience, and found that Cameron, Lucas and others were laughing heartily, but Michael Eisner was sitting upright with a flat face, completely uninterested in Tang En's remarks.

After a little relaxation, Tang En continued: "But I hope everyone can understand a concept. If you want to play with depth and philosophy, please make art films. High-concept films are commercial films! What are commercial films? Commonly known as commodities! There are no commercial films. The responsibility of popularizing art to customers and the existence value of commodities is to attract customers to spend money to buy!”

"In other words, if your interest is in commercial films, then congratulations, you have a chance to make a fortune. It goes without saying that compared to art films, commercial films have more market value and can make more money! There are many artists who provide When I saw the word 'money', I scoffed at it, thinking it was a blasphemy to art, but I want to tell everyone—"

At this time, Tang En pressed the remote control pen, and the PPT behind him immediately showed the next picture, with a line of shocking sentences appearing on it.

Tang En read it aloud: "Making money legally is the most dignified way of life in this era!"

Immediately, the audience burst into thunderous applause again!

It's a regal cry!

It is also the theoretical basis for the career pursuit of many aspiring young people.

Tang En glanced at the first row again. These are the elites from Hollywood, and we must pay attention to their attitudes.

This time, even Michael Eisner nodded and applauded in strong agreement.

"So, do you understand? Making money is not shameful, but a glorious mission. Of course, the premise is that your income must be legally taxed."

Tang En paused and continued to change the slides, "So when shooting a commercial film, your project must not be based on artistic value, and you have no obligation to create art! On the contrary, in order to make money, what filmmakers often have to do is to create art , make history, and make something extraordinary.”

"To make money, you have to appeal to an audience, and to appeal to an audience, you have to have an original, imaginative concept for a film. A low budget can never be an excuse for a poor script, and that's... high concept theory The practical demonstration. Here, please let us give warm applause to thank the pioneer of film theory, Mr. Michael Eisner!"

Michael Eisner did not expect Dunn to mention his name suddenly, and was a little shocked.

But when he heard the surging applause, he stood up excitedly, waved to the guests, teachers, and classmates present, and his face could not help showing a bit of pride.

...

Does Dunn understand film theory?

Of course it's bullshit.

Tang En's speech was drafted by Bill McNick himself and revised by many industry insiders in the production department.

Of course, this is the "secret" of Twain's commercial film after all, and it is a unique weapon. It is necessary to show the originality of the speech by adding some production concepts of commercial blockbusters that will be popularized in the future through foresight.

High-concept films are popular and recognized concepts of commercial films. For example, characters with distinctive personalities, obvious conflicts and solutions, these three easily identifiable "paragraphs", and a theme that can be summarized in one or two sentences have always been the production formula of later Hollywood commercial films.

Tang En's speech used "high-concept" citations, which could more quickly drive the audience.

After Michael Eisner received the full applause and sat down, Dunn's speech continued——

"I repeat again, high concept is important, it's the foundation of a commercial film, as important as the foundation of the George Lucas building."

Dunn tried his best to make his speech as interesting as possible. Of course, these were designed.

"But here comes the problem. Some producers use high-concept thinking to make movies and succeed; some producers use this kind of thinking to create, but fail. What is the problem?"

As soon as this rhetorical question came out, it immediately aroused the curiosity of everyone in the audience.

Including the first row of these famous Hollywood figures, all of them opened their eyes wide and listened carefully.

They wanted an answer, a Dunn Walker answer.

Tang En smiled slightly, pressed the remote control pen, and the slides changed again. A background picture of "George Lucas Teaching Building" appeared on the big screen, and the scene was a little restless.

George Lucas was naturally quite proud, "This Twain really puts gold on the face of his colleagues!"

Tang En said: "Let's take the building as an example. As I said just now, the high-concept theory is only the foundation of the George Lucas Building. It also needs the building body, decoration and teaching equipment to put this teaching building into use. So everyone also It is clear that the foundation of a film relies on high concept, but if a film wants to make a profit and sell well, it needs more elements.”

"In the 1980s, Mr. Eisner led Paramount and Disney back to life twice. 90% of the movies he invested in were profitable. He promoted the high-concept theory. Besides, what conditions did he set?"

This was originally a question from Tang En. Unexpectedly, there were enthusiastic students rushing to answer: "Low cost!"

Tang En smiled and held out a thumb, "That's right, as I said just now, Mr. Eisner strictly controls the budget cost. On the basis of high concept, lowering the cost will greatly increase the success rate of the film." Yes. Through this logic, we can solve many problems.”

"Why is "Alien 2" a big hit? It's a combination of high concept, special effects, and sci-fi; why is "Mission: Impossible" a big hit? It's a combination of high concept, superstar, and fast editing; why is "Batman 1" a big hit? The combination of concept and brand; "Jurassic Park" is a combination of high concept and big production, star director, special effects, brand and other concepts, which will create a box office miracle."

"Subsequent "Independence Day," "Titanic," "Men in Black," "Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace," "Spiderman," "Unsinkable," and so on, all had similar results. Embodied. On the basis of the high concept, adding bricks and tiles, enriching elements, and thus achieving great success.”

"There are some movies... I won't give examples here, I don't want to offend people. Hehe, some movies are beautifully decorated, have superstars, top producers and director teams, huge investment, and big productions The scene, but still failed, why? Because the foundation is not laid well, their concept is not high enough!"

"Of course, the topic of today's lecture is not to pick on other people's faults, but to explain some of my personal film ideas. Many people have asked me this question, why do the films I make always sell well at the box office? And they are super blockbusters I think this question is not only interested by many students, but also by many colleagues in the industry."

Tang En paused for a moment, and glanced at the audience who were listening carefully. This feeling is really good.

"So, what method can I use to make the film super popular?"

Tang En put it off and smiled slightly, "The answer is complicated but also very simple. On the basis of the high-level concept, I want to propose a new concept-the explosion effect!"