Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 470, Section 468: Advancing on Three Fronts Simultaneously

The excitement and joy of wrapping up filming for "The Pursuit of Happyness" in San Francisco had not yet completely subsided when Wang Sheng and his core team returned to Los Angeles.

It was early March 2003, and the air along the Pacific coast already carried a hint of early spring warmth.

Over the next few days, Wang Sheng's work was clearly divided into three main lines, like a trinity of precise gears, meshing and turning under his control.

First Line: "The Pursuit of Happyness" - The Reconstruction of "Happiness" on the Editing Stage

In Burbank, a top-tier post-production company owned by Disney, a dimly lit screening room became Wang Sheng's makeshift "battlefield." The air was thick with the smell of caffeine and focused concentration. On the huge screen, a rough cut of "The Pursuit of Happyness" was playing.

Thanks to the advanced workflow of "shooting and editing simultaneously", the rough cut of the film was already completed when filming wrapped, with a runtime of about two hours and ten minutes.

This efficiency amazed even the vice president in charge of post-production at Disney, who said it broke the record for post-production startup for feature films of similar scale.

But Wang Sheng knew that rough cutting was just the skeleton; the real flesh and soul needed to be injected in the fine cutting stage.

The screening ended and the lights came on.

Wang Sheng sat in the director's chair, flanked by Michael Caheng, a senior editor from Disney, and the co-producer (and post-production coordinator) appointed by Shanghai Film Group and Shengying Group. Sarah Miller and Robert Geller also participated in the discussion.

“The overall structure is fine, and the narrative flows smoothly,” Wang Sheng said, his tone leaving no room for doubt. “But the pacing could be sharper, and the ‘needle-like’ feeling of emotion needs to be strengthened.”

He picked up the laser pointer and pointed it at the image frozen on the screen.

"In the opening scene, Chris's embarrassment in selling bone density scanners could be edited a fraction of a second faster to create a sense of urgency that he is constantly being chased by life, where even breathing is a luxury."

"The scene where he spends the night in the subway station toilet," Wang Sheng emphasized, "Jamie's performance was very nuanced, but the camera lingered on it for a frame too long. What I wanted was that tension where the audience was almost suffocating, their emotions building to a peak, only to be forcibly suppressed by him. Shortening that frame made that sense of suppression more 'abrupt' and more heartbreaking."

Editor Kahen was taking notes quickly. He initially had some instinctive resistance to the young director's intervention, but after several rounds, he found that all his "industry conventions" and "classic rhythms" were pale and powerless in the face of Wang Sheng's almost predictive and precise demands.

Wang Sheng seems to always be able to find the editing point that will make the audience's heart clench or bring tears to their eyes.

“And then there’s the part where he finally gets the job and is applauded in the crowd,” Wang Sheng continued, “a montage of flashbacks to all the hardships he had endured before, with the order rearranged.”

Place 'being kicked out by the landlord' after 'sleeping in the toilet', and place 'chasing after the stolen scanner' before 'wife leaving'.

In this way, the escalation of emotions becomes more destructive, making the final victory all the more hard-won and all the more exhilarating.

He even gave specific advice down to the second regarding the timing of the music and violin melodies, requiring the soundtrack to be "more restrained, even leaving blank spaces" in certain key passages, so that the actors' performances and the ambient sound effects could carry the emotions.

“Wang, wouldn’t this adjustment… make the film seem too ‘brutal’? Do we need to consider the tolerance of a wider family audience?” Robert Geller on the other end of the video call raised a concern.

Wang Sheng shook his head, his tone firm: "Robert, the power of this film lies precisely in its authenticity and cruelty."

We want the audience to feel how Chris was almost crushed by life, so that when he finally stands up, that 'happiness' will have overwhelming power.

Restrained emotional expression is more valuable than excessive emotional manipulation. Believe me, the ultimate impact will prove everything.

His confidence and clear vision ultimately convinced everyone. The direction of the final cut was thus determined—a more compact, profound, and emotionally impactful realistic inspirational film.

Second line: "Spy House" - Countdown to filming start

Meanwhile, in the conference room of New Line Cinema, preparations for the "MR. & MRS. SPY" project entered the final sprint stage.

Although Wang Sheng focused his main efforts on the later stages of "Happiness," he still had to personally oversee the key moments of this large-scale commercial production with an investment of 60 million US dollars.

The casting process is now complete. After several rounds of friendly negotiation, Matt Damon secured the lead role of John with a lucrative contract that included a share of the box office revenue. He was drawn not only to the script's ingenuity and New Line's promised resources, but also to the potential of director Wang Sheng, a rising star in the "100 Million Yuan Club." Kate Beckinsale also signed on smoothly. Her beauty and action skills, showcased in *Pearl Harbor* and the upcoming *Underworld*, made her the perfect choice for the role of "Jane."

The official photos of the two leads and the initial chemistry report (assessed through reading the script together and action training) are both satisfactory.

The action choreography team, composed of core members recommended by Jackie Chan and Hollywood stunt coordinators, has already designed several prototype action scenes that blend family comedy with fierce fighting.

After reviewing the film, Wang Sheng only made one core request: "The fight scenes should be entertaining, but they should serve the relationships between the characters and the comedic situation. John and Jane's fight should have a humorous feel, like a couple arguing, where they want to kill each other but can't bring themselves to actually hurt each other."

The art director brought in design sketches for the main scenes, including the smart mansion that would become the "main battlefield."

Wang Sheng offered suggestions for revisions to several key details, such as the abstract painting style of the hidden arsenal, which should be more "minimalist but with a touch of the bizarre," and the rhythm of the light changes when the smart home system goes out of control should be more "dramatic and ironic."

All contracts, insurance, venue rentals, and equipment lists were processed at breakneck speed with the help of the legal and production departments.

New Line Cinema has tentatively set the start date for filming on March 24, the day after the Oscars, with locations in Los Angeles and Vancouver, Canada.

Wang Sheng demanded that all pre-event preparations be completed to the point where he could "call for action" at any time before attending the Oscars.

Third line: Saw – A low-cost, ingenious marketing strategy for horror films.

Amid the Hollywood clamor of March, there was also a restless undercurrent from the underground – Saw was set to have a wide release in nearly 1500 theaters across North America on March 14.

New Line Cinema's marketing department initially did not have high expectations for this small film with an investment of just over one million US dollars, and only planned a standard marketing budget for a B-grade horror film.

However, based on his understanding of the viral spread of the original timeline film, Wang Sheng put forward several key suggestions, which were adopted by New Line and had an unexpected warm-up effect.

First, he suggested abandoning the traditional large-scale television advertising blitz and instead focusing limited marketing budgets on the target audience—teenagers and core horror movie fans.

Viral spread online (prototype): Carefully edited short videos, no more than 30 seconds long, were posted on a limited number of large online forums and university BBSs. The content did not directly show gore, but focused on the core setting of the film—Jigsaw's cold recorded instructions ("I want to play a game…"), and close-ups of the extremely terrified expressions of the trapped people.

This kind of suspenseful, conceptual marketing is extremely low-cost, yet it quickly sparks curiosity and discussion among specific groups.

R-rated marketing strategy: Wang Sheng emphasized that the film's R-rated positioning must be clearly and unequivocally promoted as a selling point. "This is not a heartwarming story for children; it's a survival game that challenges the limits of psychological endurance."

The direct and blunt advertising slogans, ironically, attracted young viewers seeking thrills.

Campus midnight screenings: A week before the official release, New Line Cinema partnered with select theaters in major college towns across the United States to host dozens of "midnight scream screenings." The ticket stubs were designed in a crude "survival manual" style.

This targeted campaign successfully cultivated its first "seed audience" and generated positive word-of-mouth among students. The preview screenings were almost always sold out, and discussions on social networks (primarily forums and instant messaging software at the time) quickly gained momentum afterward.

"Dare you watch it?" Challenge: Wang Sheng even suggested a somewhat wicked publicity idea—to set up simple "lie detector" props (of course, fake) at the entrance of some cinemas, claiming that they could test whether the audience was "brave" enough to watch the whole film.

Although the final implementation was rather symbolic, the concept was reported by local media, adding a touch of buzz.

Karen Lee, head of marketing at New Line Cinema, was surprised to find that the pre-release buzz and online discussion surrounding this low-budget film far exceeded that of many mid-budget genre films.

She had to readjust resources, adding more screenings and promotional materials for "Saw" last weekend.

Wang Sheng did not get too involved in the specific promotion and distribution of "Saw," as he knew that the film's quality and concept alone were enough to ignite the market.

He simply added just the right amount of fuel to the fire at a crucial juncture, using a few brilliant ideas from the future.

(End of this chapter)