Chapter 310 - 240: Zog Film Studio’s Great Failure?
It was common knowledge that while Lady Roline and Sir Gordo’s romance had no official witnesses, there was a crowd of onlookers behind the scenes so large you could barely move.
The entire film crew, regardless of whether they were on duty today, had gathered to witness the moment their "online couple" finally met in person.
"Excuse me, excuse me, make some room."
"Your head’s too big, duck down."
"Stop pushing, stop pushing! Can’t you just watch the monitor?"
"What you see on camera is never as good as seeing it in person."
"The headphones! Can I get an earpiece?"
"Quiet! I’m recording the audio. I have to ensure the quality of the capture. There’s no way I can give you an earpiece."
"Bullshit! They stopped recording audio after the first two lines of this scene. What damn quality are you trying to ’ensure’ now?"
"Everybody, move! I can read lips! Give me a good spot and I’ll tell you what they’re saying."
When the crew heard this, they immediately cleared a space for him, a spot that could only be described as the "VIP section."
Everyone craned their necks in anticipation, waiting for this self-proclaimed lip-reading master to relay the conversation.
But after hemming and hawing for ages, he failed to produce a single useful word.
It didn’t take long for someone to realize he couldn’t read lips at all.
He was yanked back into the crowd, and the prime spot at the front once again became hotly contested territory.
Seeing the crew descend into chaos, Zog, in his capacity as the boss, producer, and director, stepped forward. It was time to end this absurd farce.
"Look at every one of you. Do you look anything like the outstanding film professionals of Zog Film Studio? They’re having a romantic moment, so what’s there to gawk at? Go on, get out of here. Filming is done. Hurry up and clear the set."
Zog’s tone left no room for argument.
The crew members looked at each other, sighed, and reluctantly got up to pack up the props.
Once he saw everyone had gone back to their duties, Zog glanced around cautiously. No one was paying him any mind.
He then furtively picked up the monitoring headphones and put them on.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t hear them normally, but the restaurant was too noisy. Trying to listen with his own ears was just a chaotic mess; it was nowhere near as effective as the directional recording magic.
As he eavesdropped, a fond, goofy smile spread across Zog’s face.
...
Once principal photography was complete, the editing work also went smoothly.
The entire film was recorded with live audio, so there was no need for post-production dubbing.
As a grounded, realistic story, it didn’t require any special effects from the Redstone system either.
Zog also wasn’t the type of director who burned through film stock by shooting the same scene over and over from different angles with different interpretations, just to pick the one that "felt right" in the end.
It took less than a week to finish the complete edit, add the musical score, and move seamlessly into pre-release publicity.
Zog knew this film was unlikely to be a massive box-office smash like *Holy Mountain Journey* or *Frozen*.
*Beyond Reach* was simply lacking in entertainment value.
Sheer entertainment value was the only guarantee of a box-office hit. Of course, "entertainment" didn’t just mean comedy; it could be a visual spectacle or even something that gave the audience a good scare.
After all, most people go to the theater to relax and be entertained. Even if they know a particular film is "good" or "full of substance," their motivation to actually see it might not be very high.
It was common for a film to be critically acclaimed but not commercially successful.
This also explained why some companies always invested in terrible films that baffled most viewers. Sometimes, these movies would get absolutely savaged by audiences but still turn a profit.
Feilin’s film market today was also different from when he shot *Hunting*. Back then, it was a pure blue ocean; no matter the genre, there was an audience for it.
Now, several film companies had popped up across the Continent. In the Sutton Kingdom alone, dozens of feature-length films were getting theatrical releases each year.
While it was still a far cry from a mature film market, there was now at least some competition.
Moreover, the subject matter of *Beyond Reach* was somewhat sensitive.
It was a film with a clear message, and its star was a universally despised Tiefling.
Even though the film’s publicity materials announced that Morris was once an outstanding student at the Repin Academy, it had little effect. Most people still hated him.
For all these reasons, the final market feedback report Zog received contained a dismal box-office forecast.
By now, Zog Film Studio had developed a very rigorous process for marketing and distribution.
They had a group of former mathematics majors who ran all sorts of statistical predictions.
In Feilin’s universities, the mathematics departments hadn’t yet been subdivided into different specializations. There was no distinction between theoretical research, applied mathematics, statistics, or probability—there was only a single Department of Mathematics.
And theoretical research wasn’t something just anyone could pursue.
It was a field that relied entirely on innate talent; hard work alone couldn’t get you to the cutting edge of academia.
Besides raw intellectual talent, the second major requirement for a career in academia was family money. One had to be free from worrying about daily necessities and be able to tolerate long stretches with no tangible results.
In short, everything required was something you had to be born with.
Consequently, the mathematics department was a major source of students who changed careers.
After the Zog Group began publicly recruiting students with outstanding mathematical skills, it immediately became the second most popular career path for math majors, right after finance.
And this professional team, composed of a group of brilliant mathematics graduates, predicted the film would barely break even, perhaps earning a small pittance.
This didn’t mean that the projected market reception for *Beyond Reach* was decent.
It was simply because the film had been incredibly cheap to produce, making its costs easy to recoup.
The two lead actors were paid very little. Lady Roline was appearing as a favor, and even the score hadn’t cost much. She was the type of Zor who would record a song for free if she came across a good one.