booktalesy Chapter 329 What kind of work will it bring to the world?
Chapter 329 What kind of work will it bring to the world?
Chapter 329 What kind of work will it bring to the world?
A top-notch independent recording studio on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The early autumn sun shone through the huge soundproof glass onto the expensive mixing console. The pre-production filming of "Inception" had already wrapped up amidst the snow and wind in the Alps, and the crew had now moved on to the most crucial post-production phase in Hollywood.
For a groundbreaking sci-fi epic aiming to revolutionize both visual and psychological experiences, editing only completes the skeletal assembly. What truly infuses the film with soul and subconsciously instills fear in the audience is the soundtrack.
Shin Kitahara personally extended a collaboration invitation to Hans Zimmer, a legendary figure in the Hollywood film scoring industry.
By 1999, Hans Zimmer had already won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for *The Lion King*, and had demonstrated his profound skill in seamlessly blending grand epic scale with electronic synthesizers in blockbusters such as *The Thin Red Line*. Rumors about *Inception* were already rampant in the industry: a $160 million budget, Leonardo DiCaprio's reduced fee for the role, and unprecedented physical filming techniques—these impressive specifications piqued Zimmer's interest in the project.
Lacking sufficient personal understanding of Kitahara Shin, the Asian tycoon director who had crossed over from other fields, Zimmer harbored a degree of professional scrutiny from a veteran musician before attending the meeting. Hollywood has too many wealthy producers who like to interfere with music; laymen directing experts often ruins the entire soundtrack.
When Jimi entered the recording studio with several assistants, Kitahara Shin was sitting alone in front of a top-of-the-line electronic synthesizer, looking down at the densely packed musical scores and track notes.
"Director Kitahara, I've heard so much about you." Ji Mo stepped forward and extended his hand. He was wearing a casual jacket, and his eyes revealed the keen insight unique to musicians.
Kitahara Shin stood up, shook hands with the other man, and said in a gentle yet professional manner: "Mr. Zimmer, it's a pleasure to have you here. I've heard your string arrangement in 'The Thin Red Line,' and you handled the sense of oppression of life and the passage of time perfectly. That's exactly the element I needed in this new film."
With a few simple opening remarks, he went straight to the core of the professional field, which made Ji Mo's scrutiny lessen.
He pulled up a chair and sat down, getting straight to the point: "I've seen the rough cut your company sent. The visual spectacle is stunning, but I need to know exactly what kind of auditory experience you want to convey to the audience in this film about 'dream infiltration'? Suspense? Thriller? Or the pacing of a traditional action movie?"
Kitahara Shin shook his head, rejecting these conventional options.
"The core concept of this film is the huge difference in the flow of time between dreams and the real world. Five minutes in reality is an hour in the first layer of a dream, and ten years in the third layer." Kitahara Shin walked to the mixing console, pointing to the audio waveform on the screen. "We need a sound, a sound that can convey a vast sense of space..."
The sound should evoke a sense of time stagnation, even resonating in the audience's chest. It should be like the siren of a giant ship sailing through thick fog—dull, grand, and striking directly at the subconscious.
Ji Mo stroked his stubble, his mind racing. This kind of abstract requirement was a huge challenge for a composer.
Just as Zimmer was pondering which orchestral instrument to use to simulate this oppressive feeling, Kitahara Shin sat back down in front of the synthesizer.
"I have a preliminary idea." Kitahara Shin's slender fingers rested on the black and white piano keys. "In the movie, the main characters need a specific piece of music as a signal to 'kick' them." I chose the classic old song "Non, jeneregretterien" by French singer Édith Piaf.
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Ji Mo was slightly taken aback. This French chanson, released in the 1960s, had a light and upbeat rhythm, completely contrary to the "heavy and oppressive feeling" that Kitahara Shin had just described.
Kitahara Shin noticed Ji Mo's confusion. He opened the audio processing software next to him and imported the intro of "No Regrets" into the audio track.
"When music from the real world enters a dream, its frequency and rhythm will be distorted because time is stretched infinitely." Kitahara Shin explained the physical logic while holding the fader on the mixer, slowing down the playback speed of this upbeat old French song by a full ten times!
Immediately afterwards, he layered wind instruments and extremely low-frequency electronic bass effects onto the synthesizer and then slammed down the piano keys!
"BRAAAM——!!!"
A deep, booming sound, like a huge metallic copper pipe coming from the bottom of an abyss, instantly burst out from the top-of-the-line monitor speakers in the recording studio!
The sound seemed to possess a physical form, piercing directly through the air and violently reverberating in the eardrums and chests of everyone present! It was immense, majestic, and carried a sense of inescapable destiny, perfectly embodying the grandeur and terror of a dream collapsing.
Ji Mo was so startled by the low hum that he jumped up from his chair, his eyes wide open!
"God—" Ji Mo stared blankly at Kitahara Shin in front of the synthesizer, goosebumps rising all over his body.
This is simply a brilliant idea!
Slowing down a light, upbeat wake-up track tenfold, and then amplifying its low frequencies, transforms it directly into the theme sound effect for the entire film! This creates a perfect, closed loop in the musical structure! This "BRAAAM" sound completely breaks away from the lukewarm nature of traditional symphonic music; it's filled with a rugged and minimalist industrial mechanical aesthetic, perfectly matching the sound of *Inception*.
That hardcore science fiction vibe.
The last vestige of arrogance in this top Hollywood film score maestro's heart was shattered as he looked at the Asian director before him, replaced by a fervent admiration and awe, as if he had encountered a kindred spirit or even a senior. He never imagined that a director who controlled billions of dollars would possess such terrifying skill in music synthesis and sound design.
"This sound effect—it's the soul of the entire film!" Zimmer paced excitedly in the control room, his mind erupting with inspiration. "It's perfect! I completely understand your intention. We need to lay the groundwork with the subtlety of orchestral arrangements, and then tear it apart with this minimalist electronic bass!"
Seeing the composer fully immersed in his role, Kitahara Shin smiled with satisfaction.
For the next month, the recording studio became a battleground for the two to exchange ideas.
Their division of labor was clear and efficient. Kitahara Shin was responsible for controlling the overall rhythm, determining the precise frame number of each "BRAAAM" sound effect, and ensuring that the music could perfectly match the folding of the city and the explosion of the snow mountain in the scene. He used his keen hearing, honed in the Asian music scene, to make the most demanding fine-tuning of the parameters of the electronic synthesizer.
Hans Zimmer took full responsibility for the grand orchestral arrangement. He assembled Los Angeles' top symphony orchestra, and to create a sense of urgency about the passage of time, he incorporated a large number of ticking sounds, similar to the ticking of a clock's second hand, into the background.
The two had in-depth discussions when creating the core soundtrack for the film's end credits song, "Time".
"The ending doesn't need to be dramatic. Cobb, the protagonist, has endured all the hardships and madness; he finally returns home and sees his children. Whether the spinning top falls or not, he has let go of his obsession." Kitahara Shin sat by the mixing console, eyes closed, listening to Zimmer's initial melody, and gave the final keynote. "This score should abandon all electronic accents. Begin with the purest piano, with strings gradually joining in, building layer by layer, and finally ending quietly like the receding tide. It should carry a sense of melancholy and relief, as if all artifice has been washed away."
Ji Mo understood the profound meaning of those words. He revised the score, and when the cello and guitar melodies intertwined and rose in the recording studio, the epic and lonely feeling that struck people's hearts brought tears to the eyes of all the mixing engineers present.
Together, the two created a soundtrack destined to be a landmark in film history.
The successful completion of the soundtrack work marks the official start of the final sprint of post-production for "Inception".
The past six months have flown by in the busy editing room and color grading room.
When the last frame was color-corrected and the last audio track was successfully locked, the master tape of the entire film was finally sealed in a sturdy safe.
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The next challenge is the pre-release review and release date setting.
Unlike the stringent and lengthy film censorship mechanisms in Asia, the North American market operates on a film rating system (MPAA). Kitahara Group's North American branch had long established a highly sophisticated public relations team. Thanks to the film's lack of excessive gore and nudity, and its sophisticated core storyline, the team, through effective public relations efforts, successfully and efficiently secured the ideal "PG-13" rating.
This means that this massively budgeted production will be aimed at the broadest possible audience. The film's release date has been strategically set for the last month of the 20th century, in anticipation of the new millennium.
For a regular movie, by this stage, they would have already started buying up screen time and releasing trailers everywhere, trying to bombard the audience's eyes with all sorts of amazing shots.
However, Kitahara Shin adopted a completely opposite publicity strategy.
With his established reputation for terror on the global film scene, the participation of a global icon like Leonardo DiCaprio, and the industry-shaking event caused by the visit of a veteran Hollywood director to the set, Inception already boasts an outrageously large audience.
Not long ago, Christopher Nolan, the up-and-coming director who gained fame in the independent film scene with "Following", openly expressed his admiration for Makoto Kitahara in an in-depth interview with the long-established Hollywood magazine "Premiere".
"On the set in Burbank, I saw the ultimate form of the future of the film industry." Nolan's gaze was firm and his tone revealed deep awe during the interview. "Director Kitahara's nested concept in script structure and his obsessive pursuit of physical filming taught me an extremely important lesson. I can assert that this upcoming film will redefine what the perfect fusion of commerce and art is."
This kind of endorsement from a genius director in the industry is more effective than any other endorsement.
Therefore, Kitahara Shin decided to adopt the ultimate method of "hunger marketing". He ordered all the lengthy plot trailers to be cut, and the entire pre-launch publicity campaign only released a single, concise, and mysterious concept poster to the global market.
In early November, this poster appeared simultaneously on giant GG billboards in Times Square, New York; Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo; and the Champs-Élysées, Paris.
The poster was unusually clean.
The background features silhouettes of city buildings that are strangely folded 180 degrees. In the center of the image, on a wooden table, a metallic spinning top is spinning rapidly, leaving a blurry afterimage of light and shadow around it.
At the top of the poster are the names of Leonardo DiCaprio and other superstars.
At the very center of the poster, the film's title is printed in a cool, sans-serif font:
【INCEPTION】(Inception)
Below is only a brief and baffling tagline: "The dream is real."
The poster, once released, instantly sparked a global media storm.
European and American movie fans stared at the folded city and spinning top on the poster and went into a frenzy of speculation.
"What kind of movie is this? An alien invasion? Or some kind of apocalyptic disaster film about gravitational anomalies?"
"Inception"? That name is too eerie. Is it some kind of high-tech spy story about invading other people's dreams through brainwaves?
"Look, Leonardo DiCaprio's name is at the top! My God, since Titanic, he's finally landed a big production, and it's even being directed by Shin Kitahara! This collaboration between the two is absolutely explosive!"
Meanwhile, in their Asian home base, fans in Japan were so excited they couldn't sleep all night.
For over half a year, Shin Kitahara has been away from his home country, with all the attention focused on North America. Now, this nationally renowned director is finally returning with his latest masterpiece. While the average viewer may not understand the complex science fiction concepts, they firmly believe one thing—any work by Shin Kitahara is an absolute guarantee of top quality.
In an instant, the buzz surrounding this mysterious film surged exponentially, both at physical cinemas' pre-sale windows and in the entertainment sections of major newspapers. Everyone was filled with anticipation for its impending release at the end of the century.
Meanwhile, Hollywood's competitors are having a tough time.
Warner Bros., Paramount, and other giants who were fortunate enough to visit the set back then have already wisely adjusted the release dates of their blockbusters to avoid a head-on collision with "Inception".
Meanwhile, small and medium-sized production companies and some senior executives who had no way to visit the site and only had a superficial understanding of the project were sitting in the conference room, looking at the poster with only one spinning top, as anxious as ants on a hot pan.
"What on earth is this? A $160 million investment, and they didn't even put a big explosion scene on the poster. Is Kitahara Shin just trying to scare us?" A vice president of a competing company wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his eyes revealing undisguised anxiety.
"No matter what he's up to, his previous film, 'Shutter Island,' has already devoured our thriller market, leaving nothing but bones." Another manager looked worried. "We're about to enter the 21st century. If he releases this film at this time and it becomes another global phenomenon, then we can declare bankruptcy in next year's financial report."
The entire global film market has been kept in suspense by Kitahara Shin's subtle and restrained publicity strategy.
Fans are anticipating a visual feast, while industry insiders fear a devastating industrial blow.
Before the clock struck midnight, all eyes were on the man who controlled the Kitahara Group, across the ocean. Everything was in place; a dream-making extravaganza that would soon sweep the globe was about to begin.