My Hollywood System

Chapter 144:

[Piece De Resistance, 1917, steals the show at Cannes!

Dream Vision Studio’s latest masterpiece directed by Lucas Amspoker, 1917, stole the show at Cannes International Film Festival. Having won the Prix Du Scenario, as well as the Prix de la mise en scène, as well as the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the film is rocking waves around the world as fans get hyped at yet another Dream Vision Production.

World War I ended almost a century ago, and there can now be no one left who remembers it. Most of the world’s current population probably has no idea why it was fought and what the conditions were like. 1917 has no interest in addressing the former question but is passionately devoted to describing the latter in visual terms that sweep you into the story and carry you along as if on wings, albeit ones that occasionally stop flapping and leave you in a bloody, muddy hell.

The brutality and urgency of the war were masterfully portrayed the film’s plot and format, which could scarcely be simpler: Two young lance corporals, Schofield (Elijah Thomas) and Blake (Renly Warren), stuck with 1,600 other British soldiers in trenches on the Hindenburg Line on April 6, 1917, are dispatched to deliver a letter by General Erinmore (Clark Reed). The missive, to be handed personally to Col. Mackenzie (Michael Robert Elrod), commander of the 2nd battalion, contains orders not to proceed with a planned advance from the front because of intelligence confirming that it’s an enemy trap. The journey entails a high-risk overnight trek across dreadful, pock-marked terrain until very recently occupied by the Germans, which means booby traps and other dangers certainly lurk along the way.

The simplicity of the setup for cinematic purposes possesses an undeniable elemental appeal, and Amspoker and Dream Vision cinematographer Jeffery Houslton have set for themselves the challenge of telling it seamlessly, without any jumps in time or visible edits, in order to depict the entirety of the men’s journey without skipping over a thing.

Schofield is a serious, fair-complexioned, rangy lad of the type often associated with young Englishmen of the time, while Blake is shorter and black-haired, more a fireplug of a guy. As they head out on their perilous mission, the fairness of the spring day is overtaken by mud and overcast skies, and accompanied by music that too laboriously stresses the ominous. It’s a lifeless, barren landscape, one festooned with barbed wire.

The two men find that the Germans have indeed abandoned their trenches, although it’s quite noticeable that their subterranean structures are far neater and better constructed than those of their British counterparts. Even the German rats are bigger and healthier than what the Brits are used to. As Houlston’s camera glides, swoops, pivots, turns, and seems keen to investigate all the space between heaven and hell — even as it mostly seems like they’ve reached the latter already — the incidental wages of war are everywhere to be seen.

But the new film outdoes them all in terms of absolute immersion in an inescapable environment, one dominated by misery and the continuous threat of death by any number of means. And while for some time it’s hard to take your mind off the complexity of what the cameraman and director have achieved here, at a certain point you begin taking it for granted and become more involved in the specifics of the journey’s completion.

There are a few moments of sad respite with a young woman and baby who is not her own and, with all the chaos, one fleetingly wonders how it’s possible for such a journey to end at its desired destination. Still, the manner of storytelling remains at one with the aesthetic approach of the entire project, which is to show and not tell, and the fate of all the men ultimately rests in the hands of the colonel the two voyagers were sent to find.

This film continues with the pattern that Will Evans has shown in his endeavors in Hollywood, by introducing completely new faces directly onto the big screen. He has yet, never failed to deliver with his skill of finding talent, as the new actors, Elijah Thomas and Renly Warren, who are now promoting the film in talk shows like Tuffin, and Bobby McTaggart’s shows, were able to enrapture the audience with the maudlin, yet thrilling masterpiece, enhanced by their phenomenal acting talent.

Their story is now taken by many aspiring artists around the world, as an inspiration for them to achieve their own dreams. Many of these artists are now lining up DTA’s front gates to land a shot just as similarly as they did.

It is rumored that the film would easily break 300 – 400 million USD, at the box office, as is the estimate, that an anonymous source from Dream Vision Source claims, for the film made by the film’s production studio.

We recommend the audience to give this movie a go, as it reinvents military and war histories in a way that has never been done before.

A solid 9/10 is a well-deserved rating for this masterpiece.] – Insider Hollywood, Anthony Macy.

There were many such articles that praised and showered accolades for the film. It was already generating a Buzz on Social media. Fans were looking forward to watching the movie. Will had amassed a fan following of his own, and movie-goers were lining up to watch movies written and produced by him.

As for Will himself, he was in a meeting with Amanda and his marketing team, for [1917].

Mark, one of the first people to have opposed Will’s risky moves in the industry, while being part of the company executives, had now become one of his most staunch supporters. He was leading the marketing team for [1917]. “We are continuing with hiring your ‘keyboard warriors’ to generate a level of hype behind the film as usual. While the traffic generated by the films showing at Cannes was on an unprecedented level, we are still going ahead and organizing more events and talk shows with film’s leads, Elijah and Renly have already been to Tuffin and, if I remember correctly, they will be hosted on The Late night show with Bobby McTaggart, which aires tonight.”

Amanda, who was sitting at the head of the conference table nodded and said “That’s good. We want to spare no expenses for marketing this movie. We want to maximize revenue generated for this film, and by getting access to cheap social media marketing, and invites to Talk Shows, the film should be able to exceed our expectations yet again, at the Box office.”

Will, who was sitting beside her, nodded and said “And let’s not forget our plans outside major cinemas in Hollywood, will generate the word of mouth necessary between the casual cinema-goers. Apart from this, does anyone have any other ideas for increasing the reach, and hype behind this movie?”

Mark nodded and said “If Mr. Robert Elrod could promote the movie, on his social media handles and maybe on some shows, then this will boost the hype and awareness for the film.”

Will shook his head and said “I could ask him to post a short post on Sparrow, but I don’t want to disturb him any further, during his vacation.” Apart from that, he wanted to get started on a major project with him soon, so he wanted him as fresh as possible. His vacation with Susan Levin, was doing wonders for him, based on the last time they had talked.

Amanda quickly carried the meeting and brought it to close soon after that, having discussed the budget that they needed to allocate for the marketing of [1917].

****

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a round of applause for Elijah Thomas, and Renly Warren! Everybody!” Bobby McTaggart said, as he hyped the audience in his studio.

Elijah and Renly walked down the foyer, from behind the curtains and onto the set, as they shook hands with the host of the show. They were dressed in immaculate Navy Blue Three-piece suits. They were here to promote their debut film [1917].

“Please, have a seat! Welcome to our show, Elijah, Renly. It must be really exciting having debuted in such a fantastic masterpiece for the both of you. I mean, Will Evans followed in his trend of hiring new talents for his movie productions, how’s it like being called an unknown for the both of you?” Bobby said, as he led them to their seats on the sofa, that was placed under the spotlight in the studio.

“It’s really life changing, to be honest. We are unknowns, in the industry, and what Will Evans has given us, this life changing opportunity, we were initially overwhelmed.” Elijah said, as Renly nodded beside him.

“Yeah, one moment we were giving yet another audition for a movie, we didn’t even know each other, and in the next few months, we’re going through military boot camp, and shooting a big movie in England. It was surreal.” Renly added.

“I would imagine it would be. Your stories are now being portrayed as inspirational tales, for aspiring actors around the world, alongside the stories of Robert Elrod, and Natalie Bergmann. What would you say to these actors?” Bobby asked.

“Well, I’d say keep working hard for your dreams, and wait for any opportunity that life presents to you. Once you do get that opportunity, knocking at your doorstep, don’t let it go. Oh, and join DTA. You never know, Will might cast you in a movie like [1917].” Renly said in reply.

Bobby laughed and said “There’s a high chance of that happening huh, Will likes to cast new talents in his movies, so joining the DTA might just be the way to go for new talents in Hollywood. You play Lance Corporal Schofield, and Blake in the movie, and the cinematography suggested that you gave long shots, some suggested nine minute shots in single takes. How did that feel for the both of you?”

Elijah took the lead on the question “Well, it was similar to performing a piece of theatre, on Broadway. Everything was so chaotic, yet they’re all playing a symphony of roles, and it all felt like it was real. Well, except the giant cameras. But, everything from the smoke explosions, bullet ricochets, traps etc was real. There was a point, I remember, where the camera operators were dressed in soldier uniforms as they carried the camera ahead of me, as I ran across a field where other soldiers were charging. They had to mount the camera quickly on a wire which carried in a single take, and they ran and joined the extra actors on the battlefield. It was all very realistic.”

Renly nodded “Yeah, there was a scene where a plane from the era was used to film a crash, our reactions were quite real in that moment, because we genuinely thought that the pilot would crash on top of us. They kept that raw reaction in the film. It was a very good learning experience. We enjoyed the filming. Director Lucas Amspoker, and the cinematographer Jeffery Houlston deserve much of the credit for making it all happen. As does Will Evans for coming up with the idea behind the project.”

Bobby caught onto that and said “Yes, Will Evans has made a very big splash in Hollywood, after his debut in this industry. Where do you think he will try his luck next?”

Elijah furrowed his brows, as he shook his head “We can’t really say, he’s a talented artist. But he is also unpredictable. Whatever it will be, we’re certain it will be another magnificent entry by him.”

The show continued for quite some time, after that with Bobby cracking jokes, and creating an overall fantastic vibe while building more hype behind [1917].

…

//DreamNote//

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