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Chapter 254: Advertising Creativity
🕑 Added 2025-03-25 18:23:06 +0000 UTCAlthough this scene was called an iconic moment, it wasn't because of Scarlett's performance.
Rather, it was due to how the scene looked after combining with special effects. Just imagine—what kind of shocking experience would it be if your eyes could see all the codes of the world and the life data of every individual?
However, shooting this scene was actually quite simple. The crew covered the car window with a green screen while Scarlett moved her hand in various motions. Then, they removed the green screen and filmed her reaction again.
Sometimes, filming is just this straightforward and dull. Compared to what the audience sees in the final cut, the crew only gets to witness the lighting setups and props.
The street scenes were quickly wrapped up.
Next came the truly challenging segment—Lucy's showdown with Mr. Zhang, the antagonist. Since this part didn't exist in the original film, it was entirely created by Ethan and the screenwriters.
To shoot this sequence, they first approached the military, hoping to secure access to aircraft and armored vehicles.
Because in the storyline, Mr. Zhang, played by Choi Min-sik, was reimagined as the head of a multinational drug cartel, and with the cyberpunk backdrop where mega-corporations controlled everything, it made perfect sense for him to have his own private army.
In the plot, after one of his subordinates is killed, Mr. Zhang realizes Lucy has slipped out of his control and become a superpowered entity.
He gathers intelligence on Lucy's abilities through various means. Desperate to obtain such power for himself, he orders his special forces and aircraft to eliminate her.
The school is bombed from above, but Lucy remains unscathed.
By this point, her brain capacity has reached 90%.
She possesses invisibility, teleportation, mind control, telekinesis—practically making her a god.
Seeing that conventional weapons are useless, Mr. Zhang sends in his own superpowered individuals to assassinate her.
Of course, they stand no chance against Lucy. When her brain capacity reaches 100%, she merges with the universe itself.
To film this sequence properly, Ethan assembled the largest production scale in his career.
A total of 500 extras, 100 soldiers, aircraft soaring above, and armored vehicles on the ground.
Each soldier was equipped with cybernetic implants. When they arrived on set, everyone was left in awe—it truly felt like a glimpse into the future of warfare.
"This is amazing! Absolutely amazing!" Quentin repeated excitedly before turning to Ethan. "Can I keep one of these cybernetic pieces? These things are just too cool! I really want one for my collection."
Ethan nodded. "Of course, but you'll have to pay for it."
"No problem! That's no problem at all!" Quentin formed a circle with his thumb and index finger, then said in perfect Mandarin, "Awesome!"
In fact, many of the crew members felt the same way. The sheer presence of these cybernetic enhancements in large numbers made everyone appreciate the allure of machinery.
Even some of the less-attractive men looked significantly cooler when wearing the cybernetic gear.
Because of this, Ethan specifically instructed the assistant director to ensure every piece of cybernetic equipment was accounted for after filming. He didn't want anything "accidentally" going missing.
After all, in America, the habit of "accidentally taking" souvenirs had a long tradition.
Many American households had a so-called "curiosity cabinet" or "treasure chest," filled with rare or unique trinkets that they could show off when neighbors came over.
During wartime, soldiers often took unusual artifacts from the battlefield as personal trophies—sometimes even splitting a single item among their comrades.
This habit wasn't exclusive to common folk. It had been passed down from the Age of Exploration and persisted through history.
Even when the White House was being built, many people took home pieces of construction debris as keepsakes. President Lincoln, noticing this, simply had the debris made into walking canes and sold them—effectively turning them into official memorabilia.
This behavior extended to high society as well.
For example, Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep once visited the White House and "accidentally" pocketed a towel bearing the presidential seal.
That, too, could be considered a trophy of sorts.
Because of all this, Ethan never placed too much faith in moral restraint when it came to Americans.
His concerns proved justified when, after the scene wrapped, the assistant director discovered that seven cybernetic pieces were missing.
A subsequent investigation recovered five of them from actors who had hidden them inside their clothing, trying to sneak them out.
The remaining two were found among the crew. One had even been disassembled and stuffed into someone's underwear.
The sight was both hilarious and baffling. One could only wonder if that person found it uncomfortable to walk around like that.
Ethan, of course, had zero tolerance for such behavior. He immediately fired the culprit and kicked them off the set.
By October, filming for Lucy had officially wrapped. Compared to Inception, the production speed was significantly faster.
This was because Lucy relied more on CGI environments, whereas Inception required extensive practical sets and location shoots.
There was no need to build as many physical sets for Lucy as there had been for Inception.
With filming completed, promotional efforts began appearing in the media.
"Look at this… Lucy is scheduled for a June 2010 summer release," Milon muttered, holding a newspaper while speaking quietly into his phone.
After graduating last year, he had started an internship at Supreme Creative, since his major was outdoor advertising design.
Judy, on the other hand, had joined a consulting firm as an office clerk.
Milon skimmed through the newspaper while chatting with Judy. "Do you want to see this movie when it comes out?"
"Of course! It's an Ethan film—don't you want to see it?" On the other end of the line, Judy's surroundings were noisy.
"It's not that I don't want to," Milon frowned slightly. "I'm just worried it might not reach the same heights as Inception."
"Why do you think that?" Judy asked curiously.
"Because there are so many rumors online about Ethan exploiting his employees and disregarding creativity. I wonder if he stopped caring about the audience after winning Best Director."
This kind of thing wasn't uncommon in Hollywood. Some people, after achieving great success, started making bad movies just to make money, squandering their talent entirely.
Milon didn't want Ethan to make this mistake, but the online discussions all claimed that Ethan disrespected screenwriters and was acting recklessly.
"And think about it—Inception took so long to film, but Lucy had an even bigger budget and finished shooting in just a few months. I'm really worried about its quality."
Judy's voice carried a hint of helplessness. "So what? Milon, don't you trust Ethan? We've never missed a single one of his movies—are we really going to skip this one?"
"I… I don't know." Milon hesitated, glancing at the forum discussions on his computer, feeling even more frustrated.
"Are you not enjoying your job at the company?" Judy asked curiously.
"No… it's not that." Milon shook his head. "The work environment is good, and the benefits are great… Alright, fine, I'm a little upset because my proposal got rejected by my boss."
"What happened? Tell me in detail." Hearing her boyfriend's low mood, Judy patiently listened.
Milon explained, "Recently, McDonald's approached our company for a billboard advertising campaign. I participated and submitted a few design drafts. My supervisor really liked them—he said they should impress the client. But today, he suddenly told me my ideas didn't make it, and McDonald's chose someone else's."
"Isn't that normal?"
"Yeah, but when I asked around, I found out that no one else's ideas were selected either. That means my supervisor lied to me… I don't get it—did he secretly take my concept and present it to the client himself? There was no one else involved except him."
"Uh… that does sound suspicious. Why don't you report him?"
"Forget it. I'll just wait for the billboard to come out and see for myself." Milon closed the forum and couldn't help but complain. "I originally joined this company because of Ethan, but now I feel like the people online might be right—he doesn't respect creativity at all! This company doesn't respect creativity! My work was stolen, and I got no explanation!"
"Hmm… Hmm." Judy nodded, then said, "You sound like a resentful wife complaining about her husband right now."
"Am I wrong?"
"Maybe not, but shouldn't you wait for the results? What if your supervisor didn't actually steal your idea?"
"Then whose idea could it be? He told me my concept was good enough to impress the client, then said it was rejected. And no one else worked on this project because they were all busy with other tasks."
"Okay, okay, I won't argue with you. I have things to do—talk later."
After leaving University, Judy had become much more efficient, no longer as prone to petty arguments as before.
Meanwhile, after Milon hung up, his supervisor suddenly approached him. "Milon, come with me."
"Alright, Mr. Charles." Milon stood up, adjusted his tie, and walked into the office.
Inside, he saw a scaled-down model of a billboard along with several fellow advertising interns.
"What's this?" Milon asked, confused.
His supervisor, Charles, sat down and said, "This is the creative billboard we designed for McDonald's. The boss wants you all to learn from it. Come on, take a seat."
Milon and his colleagues sat down, feeling even more puzzled. He didn't understand what there was to "learn" from it—after all, the design was supposed to be his.
Or had Charles modified it beyond recognition, making it unrecognizable?
Just as Milon hesitated, Charles pulled away the covering on the billboard, revealing the final design.
A massive red background, a short tagline, and McDonald's iconic golden "M" logo.
But the "M" had been enlarged and only showed its leftmost stroke, resembling a directional road sign.
"Turn right…" Milon read the tagline aloud, momentarily stunned.
Because this billboard was completely different from his idea. His original concept involved using the "M"'s shadow to simulate an amusement park entrance, with a family of three walking through to create a warm, family-friendly atmosphere.
But this billboard took a completely different approach. Not only was it stripped down to the absolute essentials, but its underlying message also puzzled him.
At that moment, Charles spoke up. "I know you fresh graduates have a lot of creative ideas, and many of them are fantastic. Some of you even complain that clients don't respect creativity or fail to understand your concepts."
"But have you ever considered that the way you think might be the opposite of what the client actually needs?"
Charles pulled out a few sheets of paper and displayed them. "These are some recent advertising concepts submitted by everyone here—complex, intricate, visually overwhelming. They look creative, but they all lack one crucial element…"
The group stared at him in confusion, unsure what he was getting at.
"Demand. It's about demand, guys." Charles explained, "The purpose of advertising is to create demand! That's the core of advertising creativity. It's not about telling customers what they should do… It's about showing them what they need."
"Take this billboard, for example. It's extremely simple, but it generates demand. When a driver sees it on the road, they immediately understand—there's a McDonald's if they turn right."
"Without the sign, they might not even realize they were hungry. But this billboard reminds them, using a method that seamlessly integrates with their daily habits."
"This is what advertising creativity is about. This is what makes a great ad."
Charles held up another sheet. "We ran a survey near some McDonald's locations. After installing this billboard, foot traffic at these stores doubled. That's right—doubled. Instant results."
Milon and his colleagues exchanged glances, seeing the shock reflected in each other's eyes.
"At Supreme Creative, our goal is to make the most exciting, the most interesting, and the most demand-generating advertisements. I hope you all remember this—otherwise, no matter how hard you work, it will all be in vain."
"Mr. Charles, can I ask—who came up with this concept?" one intern suddenly asked.
"Who's idea?" Charles smiled. "It was the boss's."
"Mr. Jimmy?"
"Haha, no comment. Stop asking and get back to work!"
Milon returned to his desk deep in thought. After some contemplation, he went back to the forum where people were discussing Ethan and replied to a post:
"I think things might not be as Victor claims. Maybe he was fired simply because he wasn't competent enough. After all, before he joined, Ethan had already made plenty of classics. Let's wait until Lucy comes out before making any judgments."
