I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Hammer leaned against the wall, feeling a little dizzy.

He strongly suspected that his body might not be able to take it before he finished watching the movie!

Chapter 123 A Music Producer with Ambition

As it turns out, Hammer was wrong.

The script for this movie is not ordinary; rather, it has some unexpected twists and turns.

After watching the movie, and waiting for the final production list to appear, Hammer remained silent.

"So, all of this was a dream the protagonist experienced, a dream about the past?"

He couldn't help but ask Lu Ban.

"Hongye died many years ago, and her spirit wanted to atone for her mistakes, so she helped the protagonist kill herself?"

Is this island real, or just a mirage in the fog?

"If the entire island is engulfed by the flames ignited by the last red leaves, how will the protagonist survive?"

There are many questions about the hammer.

When he saw the ending, Hongye's memories flashed back to those cruel and tragic scenes. He saw Hongye burning herself to dispel the fog on the entire island, and he saw the first ray of sunlight pierce through the fog and illuminate Lu Ban, who was shrouded in pale flames. Compared to the excitement of seeing the ending, he felt more melancholy.

It was just a short film of a little over an hour, but for some reason, Hammer felt as if he had really gone on an adventure with this witch, and a faint sadness was hard to dispel.

He didn't wait for Lu Ban's answer. Instead, he went to the corridor by the window in the studio, slowly lit a cigarette, and tried to let the pungent gas flow through his lungs to relieve his emotional turmoil.

However, when the smoke entered his respiratory tract, Hammer inexplicably recalled the feeling of being shrine shrouded in mist on the mountaintop. He coughed violently several times before stubbing out his cigarette and returning to the screening room.

He noticed that his assistant was also in a daze, completely absorbed in the film.

Seeing the state of the two, Lu Ban realized that there was definitely a problem with his film.

However, this problem is not serious enough to cause a heart attack and death like Sadako's videotapes.

It's more like an infectious disease, a contamination of memes, that makes viewers feel as if they are actually in the scene of the film.

For example, the opening ocean scene can make you feel tightness in your chest and shortness of breath.

The unpredictable fog at the mountaintop shrine makes one feel as if their lungs are burning and they want to cough.

When playing "Hyakunin Isshu", you may feel like you can't move, can't speak, and can't even close your eyes.

Of course, the sounds coming from the four corners were nothing special; they were just stereo sound edited by Lu Ban.

But in Hammer's opinion, this is absolutely awesome.

Think about it, when watching a movie, you can feel the same environment and experience the same emotions as the characters. This sense of immersion is probably comparable only to having a brain implant.

In the past, Hammer felt that as long as the movies he watched could move him, get his blood pumping, or terrify him, that was enough.

But now, Lu Ban's movies don't evoke feelings through visual or auditory perception; they're based entirely on personal experience. Even the simplest scenes and emotions can create huge waves in my heart.

"Director Lu... Mr. Lu, I feel like I have so many inspirations in my head right now. Your work is truly amazing. This is the first time I've ever seen such an immersive film. Believe me, I can create a suitable score for your work very soon... No, please let me compose the score for your film!"

Perhaps because of the great impact he had received, or perhaps because music producers are inherently more emotional, Hammer suddenly felt that he had an unshirkable responsibility to create the soundtrack.

In the film industry, the quality of the score sometimes depends on the director's vision. Many directors have their own in-house team, including cinematographers, special effects artists, and composers. Just like that animation master from Japan, if he didn't have his own in-house composer, would his animations still be able to move people's hearts?

So, after watching Lu Ban's movie, Hammer made up his mind that he would take care of the soundtrack for the film.

While the fact that the other party gave him too much was partly the reason, Hammer is still an ambitious music producer. Producing records for young idols is not enough for him. His ultimate goal is to create timeless soundtracks for truly world-class blockbusters.

"Uh, I haven't said where I need background music yet..."

Lu Ban offered a reminder.

"...Okay, let's see where we need background music now. Just tell me, I can handle any style..."

Hammer immediately responded.

"Well, for example, here, I think we could add some Japanese-style, melodious music, like the opening music of a play, do you understand?"

Lu Ban spoke to the video that had been rewound, showing the scene of "Lu Ban" and the others entering Song Island.

"……I see!"

Without saying a word, Hammer immediately went to the electronic keyboard, made some simple adjustments, and played a melody.

It has an antique charm and a poignant, Japanese-style feel.

Moreover, Lu Ban discovered that the melody seemed to be a variation of a shrine maiden's humming.

"Amazing!"

Lu Ban clapped his hands.

“I was thinking that we could use a main theme to run through the whole film, and apply different variations to different scenes, interspersed with other melodies.”

Hammer suggested that some movies would have a rich and varied soundtrack, with different instruments for different characters, while other movies would use a main melody and use variations to express different emotions.

"Then, during the scene where we go up the mountain, I think the performance of this instrument will be quite good."

Hammer pulled out another oddly shaped musical instrument. The bowstring looked like a violin, but he couldn't find any strings.

He played a note on the lower part of the piece.

A chilling, eerie sound rang out, like the sound effect of a ghost appearing in a horror movie, evoking memories of watching movies with Lu Ban.

"This is a water harp, a special effects instrument used to create terrifying sounds."

Hammer explained enthusiastically and quickly composed two independent melodies.

He now felt that good works could indeed inspire creative desires. Several melodies were constantly swirling in Hammer's mind, like whispers in his ear that lingered for a long time. It was as if if Hammer didn't compose them, these melodies would gnaw at his brain like insects, causing his consciousness to collapse.

Hammer thinks that perhaps those great musicians who composed timeless masterpieces overnight also had similar feelings.

The soundtrack work went smoothly, and three days later, Lu Ban received the soundtrack he wanted. During this time, Lu Ban was not idle. Instead, he reprocessed the rough cut sample, refined the shots and expressiveness, and then spent two days blending the soundtrack into it. By the end of the second week, Lu Ban already had a sample that could be watched directly.

"Next, we need to find a website to submit it for review."

Lu Ban muttered to himself as he opened several video websites.

Chapter 124: Is there really such a good thing?

As mentioned before regarding the revenue from exclusive streaming on the website and across all platforms, for Lu Ban, since the performance of Hammer and others has shown him that this film possesses some kind of extraordinary power, he no longer needs to worry about whether the film will flop.

All you need to do is upload it and you're done.

Therefore, Lu Ban chose to play the video on all platforms.

These parent-child video websites all adopt a combination of membership-based playback and single purchase. That is, paid members can watch these movies for free, while a few movies require additional payment, and non-members can only watch them by paying.

Therefore, the number of effective clicks, that is, the number of viewers who watch for six minutes, is a crucial factor in determining Lu Ban's revenue.

As soon as Lu Ban opened the website backend and added the WeChat account responsible for operations in this area, he heard a notification sound.

[Mahua]: Are you the one from the old video website who was "unmoving"? Is that you?

[Motionless]: That refers to myself.

Lu Ban exchanged a few words with the other party and told him his thoughts.

[Mahua]: Online movies on all platforms... Actually, I suggest you sign an exclusive streaming agreement. With all platforms, the movies are just added to our movie library, and viewers have to search precisely or rely on intelligent recommendations to see what they want. But with exclusive streaming, our website will have corresponding promotional partnerships.

That's what the operations team advised.

Although he hadn't watched Lu Ban's videos, considering that he was a popular content creator whose videos were all incredibly popular, he was naturally a target for video websites.

Now, Lu Ban is even coming to Aishouyi Video Network to submit his videos, which suggests that he may have a conflict with Jiuri Video Network!

After all, if this movie becomes a hit, the traffic brought by the entire platform and the exclusive broadcast will be incomparable.

[Still motionless]: No need for that. I think each video website has a different audience, and a multi-platform approach can reach a wider audience.

[Mahua]: Do you have any intention of signing a guaranteed minimum exclusive broadcasting agreement? That is, we will offer you a guaranteed minimum price, and the excess will be settled according to the revenue sharing.

The operations team persisted and even offered a guaranteed minimum return agreement.

The so-called guaranteed minimum is actually similar to a betting agreement. The video website will pay Lu Ban a certain amount of money directly, and no matter how many views his movie gets, the money will go into his pocket.

If the movie flops and the revenue from effective clicks doesn't exceed the pre-paid amount, then Lu Ban's earnings will come to an end.

If the movie becomes a huge hit, the excess revenue will be paid to Lu Ban based on the normal number of views.

Not many production companies can secure such agreements. After all, the success or failure of online dramas and movies can hinge on a single moment. Unless they have endorsements from famous figures or have produced a number of high-quality works, video websites will not easily offer guaranteed minimum agreements.

[Still Motionless]: Is there really such a good thing? How much money do you guarantee?

Lu Ban thought for a moment and realized that if the other party could guarantee a minimum of one million, then whether it was an exclusive broadcast or not wouldn't matter.

"Hmm? Now that I think about it, I could just have Ms. Song buy my movie for one million!"

Lu Ban realized this too late.

However, thinking that he couldn't keep taking advantage of the same person forever, or rather, he couldn't keep troubling Song Yunyan, Lu Ban decided to rely on himself.

Moreover, he also wanted more people to see the film and remember Hongye.

This can be considered a small consolation for the priestess who tried to become a guardian of ordinary people.

"If all else fails and the box office isn't enough, we'll ask Ms. Song to make up the difference!"

Lu Ban felt that he hadn't fallen to such a state.

While I was thinking, the other party's operations team responded again.

【Mahua】: Our guaranteed minimum is generally based on the quality of the finished product, mostly between 200,000 and 300,000.

Online movies have very low production costs. Anything over a million is considered a big production, and a minimum guarantee of two or three hundred thousand can basically recoup most of the costs. In the words of the operators, it's no different from doing charity.

[Still Motionless]: What kind of quality do you expect for that one million guarantee?

On the other side of the computer, the operations team member was stunned when they saw this sentence.

"A minimum guarantee of one million? Is this an attempt to discourage me?"

It's worth noting that the most popular online movie last year earned around 20 million yuan in revenue sharing. That was a spin-off series starring big IPs and proper movie actors. While Lu Ban's videos all have high view counts, with the most interactive video exceeding 10 million views, those are all short videos, which are different from movies.

There have been examples in the past where a series of videos that circulated online received high views and widespread praise, but when made into a movie, they were poorly received and criticized.

Most importantly, if such a minimum guarantee is offered, the person in charge will bear the cost responsibility. If Lu Ban's movie flops and doesn't earn that much money, then he will be the one who suffers in the final year-end accounting.