Chapter 79 Great White Shark and the Ocean

After finally stopping his smile, Spielberg, who was standing next to Su Yunchong, gave him an apologetic look.

"It's okay. This model is indeed not very good. Sometimes when I get angry, I will call it a 'giant white scum'." Spielberg waved his hands, then walked over to help the staff fiddle with the great white shark model.

Seeing how harmonious and friendly he was with the staff, with no airs of a director at all, Su Yun nodded secretly: I've always heard that Spielberg was a rare moderate among the tyrants on the set during filming, and seeing him today, it's true.

Of course, the reputation she had learned from Kubrick and Kurosawa Akira was also a factor in the courtesy: Spielberg is a well-known fan of Kurosawa Akira, and the Showa-style Ultraman in Japan was very successful. The two combined are a strong complement to the two shortcomings of the current chaotic Great White Shark crew.

Because the great white shark model was paralyzed in the water tank, Su Yunren, who was short, couldn't get too close to it to avoid danger, so she could only stand outside as much as possible to observe the problem of the model from all angles.

These three great white shark models are indeed large, with the largest one estimated to be more than seven meters long. The movement of each shark model requires at least a dozen people working together with a robotic arm to control it. No wonder it was still a mess after several months of filming.

Seeing a large group of staff busy cleaning, repairing, blowing, spray-painting and other maintenance work on the great white shark model in front of her, Su Yun raised her voice and called out to Spielberg: "Steven, can I go and see the footage that has been shot?"

Spielberg responded, and then walked back from the great white shark with the help of the staff nearby, wiping the water off his body with a towel as he walked: "I'll take you to see it. William Gilmore, the producer of Universal Studios, is coming to see the footage that has been shot so far."

After watching the edited parts, before Su Yun could even sigh, producer William glared at Spielberg with dissatisfaction: "This is all you've shot in this period of time? And you want to continue to apply for additional investment from me to go to the beach to shoot real scenes again?!"

"Yes, it would be more realistic if we shoot it in the sea," Spielberg answered very seriously.

"Then do you know how much money 'real' costs? Last time you had no experience at all and dared to launch a shark model into the water, and as a result I had to hire a diving team to recover it for you! Let me tell you, Steven, this film has been delayed four times from the original schedule, and the expenses have increased three times!" Producer William was so angry that he almost rolled his eyes, "Shooting in a water tank would be faster and more cost-effective!"

"Of course I understand, but I am also really confident in this film," Spielberg replied.

Producer William glared at him, then took a long breath before speaking again: "I'm sorry, I can only give you two choices now: one is to tell me you want to quit now, and we will find a way to get the money back; the other is for you to stay here and honestly finish the film according to the final budget... I believe you can do it."

Spielberg, who knew that the world would not give him preferential treatment anymore, subconsciously glanced at Su Yun who was ignored beside him, and then sighed helplessly: "I want to stay and finish this film."

"Okay." Producer William finally got the response he wanted from Spielberg, and immediately stopped making things difficult for him. Instead, he turned around and walked away quickly, preparing to return to the company to report.

"We'll be busy from now on." Su Yun's eyes went dark when he thought of the messy material.

"Thank you for your hard work." As the director, Spielberg knew that the current materials were a mess, and the painstakingly made great white shark model looked like a joke - but there was nothing he could do. Due to technical and financial limitations, this was the best anyone could do at the moment.

"I'm just kidding." Su Yun stood on tiptoe and patted him lightly. "I once heard a saying: If you can do something in the early stage, don't leave it to the later stage; if there is something that you can't do in the early stage, please leave it all to the later stage."

"It's not completely hopeless, just a little troublesome." Su Yun concluded.

After confirming the problem, the two officially plunged into the intense filming work, and quickly completed most of the special effects shots featuring sharks.

However, no matter how good a pot repairman is, when faced with a rotten pot, he can only barely repair it to the point where it can be used again, rather than making it as good as new. This type of deep-sea horror film, which is based on reality, is highly dependent on real-life special effects. Even if Su Yun uses the system's cheat code to render the effect, it ultimately lacks the natural simplicity of real-life special effects.

So after watching this special effects shooting clip, Spielberg was silent for a long time, and then he came up with a solution: "Reduce the shots of the shark appearing in the early stage as much as possible, and let it appear in the second, no, third act."

Su Yun discussed it with the staff and re-edited it, and indeed found that it looked much better: sometimes, partial unknowns are more appealing to the mind than full revelations.

The effect of trying to cover up something is always better than showing it directly to others.

Interestingly, this was originally a helpless move due to technical incompetence, but was later praised by many people as an excellent way to create suspense...

However, the truth of the matter was just a cover-up.

However, even though the current crew is really poor, Spielberg did not intend to just get by with it. He went back to several companies around the world and, with the additional investment from Su Yun, he was able to make up the budget for the location shooting.

Because the exterior scene was chosen at a relatively famous scenic spot: Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Su Yun was looking through the introduction to the scenic spot while checking the description in the script. When she saw the enthusiastic introduction of the beautiful scenery of the island and the high sand content of the local seabed, which was very suitable for the real-life shooting of the shark model, she nodded with satisfaction: I will just take it as a side trip. It just so happens that the hot summer sun has begun to release heat to the earth...

But traveling alone is not very fun.

Thinking of this, Su Yun walked over and pulled on Spielberg's sleeve, looking up with a cute and obedient look: "Is there a scene in the script where a little boy is dragged into the sea by a shark?"

"Yes, did you introduce him?" Although she was still young, she had seen many rules and unspoken rules in society. When Su Yun opened her mouth, Spielberg almost guessed what she was thinking.

"I have a friend who played Martin in the movie Artificial Intelligence with me. His image and time are quite suitable. Let him come over to shoot for a few days?" It was just a minor role, and Su Yun thought she was confident of it.

"OK, ask him to adjust his school and vacation schedule and come over." Considering Su Yun's contribution and investment to the crew, Spielberg was very happy to give her such a minor role.

So, two days later, when the entire crew moved to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, Tom was also sent there by his stepfather Seth.

"I leave it to you. Please take good care of Tom for me." Seth looked down at Su Yun.

"I can take care of myself!" Tom stood aside awkwardly.

"I called you specially and asked for a role for you. Is this how you treat me?" Su Yun pursed her lips.

Tom panicked now, and stammered, "No, no, I just think I can take care of myself, so I said that..."

Seeing that he was so anxious that he forgot to cover the cavities in his front teeth, Su Yun couldn't help but laugh: "I was just kidding you, but mainly I need you - it's boring and tiring in the crew, and it's a rare opportunity to go out on location, and it's a tourist attraction, so of course I have to find my good friend to come over and play with me."

Tom's smile just started to rise after hearing these words, but Su Yun's next words broke his smile: "Oh, you're starting to lose your teeth? No wonder you were slurring your words just now!"

"That's why Tom has been feeling so awkward lately, because Marian always laughs at him whenever he talks - of course, Marian also lost a tooth yesterday." Seth whispered to Su Yun.

Su Yun nodded, held back her laughter, and took Tom and his son into the hotel, found Tom's room, let them settle down, and then went back to the room next door to pack her things.

After putting her luggage away piece by piece, Su Yun went out again and followed Spielberg to visit Gregory Peck.

The original novel of "Jaws" ended with a tribute to the plot of "Moby Dick", with the great white shark dying of excessive blood loss after being stung by a fisherman. However, Spielberg thought that such an ending was not enough to capture the audience, so he discussed with the screenwriter to pay tribute in another way: let Quint, one of the three protagonists, appear in the theater showing "Moby Dick".

But the copyright of the movie "Moby Dick" belongs to its star Gregory Peck.

Thinking of this veteran superstar who is known as a true gentleman in Hollywood, Su Yun has some yearning and expectations for him: since both parties are easy to talk to, and Spielberg was particularly sincere in bringing the previously filmed footage for him to review, this little bit of copyright should not be difficult to obtain, right?

After all, Spielberg is the negotiation giant who was able to acquire all the copyrights of Ready Player One!

Unfortunately, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Although Gregory received the two men very warmly, he rejected their request to use his video materials.

Unexpectedly, they were turned down by Gregory. After the two of them helplessly returned to the deadlock of this piece of material, they had to discuss the character creation of Fisherman Quint again.

"In the script, isn't the reason why the fisherman Quint hunts sharks everywhere because he was one of the crew members escorting the nuclear bomb to Hiroshima, and when the ship sank due to an accident, most of his companions were killed by sharks?" Su Yun pointed out one point, "But normally, sharks will not actively attack people, especially great white sharks, unless they are more aggressive or provoked."

Spielberg signaled the staff to drive away the curious locals who were asking questions around the shark model, and then turned to look at Su Yun: "So?"

"The life span of great white sharks is usually over 70 years, and they basically live in the deep sea. But in the movie, they suddenly appear near the coast to hunt humans. Maybe they were stimulated by something?" Su Yun pointed to the script. "You know, marine pollution is always accompanied by biological mutations. This is a profound topic that urgently needs to be explored."

Especially for a country surrounded by the ocean, protecting the ocean should be an eternal theme.

"Are you trying to say that the great white shark in the movie hurt people for no reason because it was contaminated? So the fisherman Quint is also trying to atone for his hatred and mistakes in the past?" Spielberg thought for a moment and propped up his chin with one hand. "It's really interesting. This not only explains the motives of the fisherman Quint, but also explains why the shark suddenly went crazy and mutated."

Although this was a just attack, the consequences were so severe that even the scientists who made them successful could not help but regret this terrible power.

To this day, various uses of this terrible power still permeate people's lives.

People can no longer live without it, but they should also always be vigilant and respectful.

"In addition to highlighting the humanity in the original plot, it also has an artistic core." Su Yun said, and then cast his eyes again to the sparkling sea under the sun, "After all, the ocean belongs to all of us. No matter what, we should do our best to protect it."