Chapter 905: The Year of the Monkey Gala Marketing Campaign

"Cut!"

Duke's shout echoed across a sand dune bathed in the setting sun. Daisy Ridley and the crew operators controlling BB-8 immediately stopped the scene and looked over. Duke waved a hand to signal it wasn't their fault and strode over to John Schwartzman.

The desert sunset offered a narrow window, and Duke had no time to waste.

"John, change the setup."

Standing behind the IMAX Camera, the "Death Star," Duke said rapidly, "Use a reflector on the opposite side. And have camera two shoot with a wide-angle lens."

John Schwartzman understood how critical the timing was. "Got it," he said quickly.

The crew adjusted rapidly. A few short minutes later, filming resumed. The image on Duke's director's monitor showed a marked improvement.

While the golden hour provided the best possible lighting for the subject's overall outline, the shadowed areas would fall into complete darkness. The highlights were strong and easily overexposed. Using a reflector bounced that excess, intense light into the darkest spots, giving the entire frame a unified, even look.

By using the golden hour light as the primary background illumination and adding a reflector, the crew made the resulting shots far more dazzling.

By the same logic, golden hour lighting conditions could make any scene look breathtakingly beautiful. The presentation of detail and the shaping of visual layers were perfectly suited for wide-angle lenses, whereas close-ups or telephoto lenses would obscure the advantages of the golden hour.

Duke remained in the Abu Dhabi desert until June before finally wrapping up the shoot. The massive crew shifted north, leaving the scorching region behind and flying to relatively chilly Iceland to film the climactic Lightsaber duel for the ending.

In the forests of Iceland, Daniel Wu took up a Lightsaber for the first time. Duke released the still photo immediately, sparking an uproar across North America. The shockwaves a Chinese Jedi Knight sent through the Star Wars fandom were absolutely no less than those caused by a Black Jedi Knight.

Duke wasn't too worried, however. It was all an illusion, fabricated to generate marketing buzz and discussion, just like that previous film.

Unlike in North America and the West, when this photo surfaced on the Chinese internet, it provoked widespread curiosity. True Star Wars fans weren't all that numerous among Chinese audiences, but plenty of people had heard of the franchise. Now that a Chinese actor was starring as a lead—and seemingly as a symbolic Jedi Knight to boot—it was hard not to draw attention, especially with certain people guiding the narrative.

At the same time, the release date for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the China region was tentatively finalized. Because December was the domestic protection month internally designated by the big scissors, and new Hollywood films were generally not allowed to premiere during the New Year holiday, Star Wars: The Force Awakens had no choice but to set its Chinese opening date for January 9, 2015.

This was more than half a month behind the North American and global release dates, and it fell right after the holidays. It would suffer both the impact of a market cooldown and the fierce competition of strong Chinese New Year blockbusters.

At this point, Duke absolutely did not underestimate the competitiveness of Chinese films on their home turf. The promotional marketing of the entertainment industry across the ocean, in particular, was in no way inferior to Hollywood's. Armed with home-field advantage, they even held a certain edge.

During the final years of his past life across the Pacific Ocean, there had been certain industry marketing tactics that he still had to admire whenever he recalled them. The most classic example was the marketing campaign to get the Monkey King onto a certain gala during the Year of the Monkey, which had practically mobilized the attention of the entire Chinese nation.

Duke still clearly remembered how an unverified piece of news had flooded social media feeds back then: "Liu Xiao Ling Tong's Monkey King Excluded from the Spring Festival Gala." And so, the entire Chinese population launched into a collective uproar of complaints.

"Spring Festival Gala production team and the big scissors department, how can you be so stupid? Even Korean stars can get on the gala, so why can't Liu Xiao Ling Tong?"

Next, hired online influencers and bandwagon-jumping internet joke writers began to chime in.

"If the Great Sage just twirls his staff on the Spring Festival Gala stage and the Journey to the West theme song plays, the whole country will be happy."

"I'd love watching the Great Sage even if he was just cracking sunflower seeds on stage."

"Do you guys remember what happened the last time the Great Sage wasn't invited to the Peach Banquet?"

"Liu Xiao Ling Tong is already 58 years old. He won't be able to play the Monkey King twelve years from now."

"All of China is waiting for the return of the Great Sage."

The individuals and companies orchestrating this incident also used major news websites to continuously release new updates.

"Liu Xiao Ling Tong States He Did Not Receive an Invitation from the Spring Festival Gala Production Team."

"Liu Xiao Ling Tong States He Is Always Awaiting the Call of the Spring Festival Gala, Ready at a Moment's Notice."

"Liu Xiao Ling Tong at Liaoning TV Spring Festival Gala Rehearsal."

The epilogue to this whole affair was that Pepsi's Year of the Monkey nostalgic commercial and KFC's Great Sage meal became the biggest winners.

It appeared to be a highly relatable "victory for the people."

However, as an industry insider, the past Duke couldn't help but catch the distinct scent of a marketing campaign. He had even dissected the incident as a case study back then, naturally to learn whatever paradigms he could from it.

Duke really liked Liu Xiao Ling Tong's portrayal of the Great Sage, and to this day, he still believed his version was the only one truly worthy of the "Monkey King" title. But taking off the Monkey King costume and looking at it from a commercial perspective, it wasn't hard to spot the masterminds pulling the strings behind this marketing play.

Liu Xiao Ling Tong starring in a Pepsi commercial was undoubtedly the result of certain people pulling strings and building bridges. Duke held a deep respect for the maneuvering of these operators.

At the same time, he had discovered an excellent method for internet promotion: establish a clearly defined enemy and channel the netizens' anger right toward them.

Across the Pacific Ocean, certain figures were already inherently blacklisted in the public's eyes. These emotions had even become something of a custom during specific times of the year. Just as the Positioning theory stated, they were never trying to change consumers' habits; they simply found the positions and switches that already existed in the consumers' minds.

In that land, every year before the New Year, the most heavily criticized targets were the Spring Festival Gala production team and the Railway Administration.

So, the emotion itself had always been there, and the villains had always been there; all that was missing was the proper manipulation.

The Liu Xiao Ling Tong incident could be called an incredibly classic internet marketing case study, and it was well worth learning from for the promotional marketing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in China.

By comparison, Star Wars: The Force Awakens lacked the participation of A-list stars with absolute box office appeal. Whether in the China region or the global market, no one could ignore the draw and conversational buzz an A-list megastar could generate.

However, Lucasfilm and Warner Brothers had targeted promotional strategies of their own.

The influence of Star Wars was unquestionable. In one statistical survey across Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, over one million people had filled out their personal information with a very special answer under the Religion section: The Force!

It was no exaggeration to say that Star Wars was a religion to many people.

And during the promotional campaign, a group of famous directors joined the ranks of this faithful following.

Lucasfilm organized an event called "Star Wars Is With You." Many directors who publicly identified as Star Wars fans not only participated but also accepted media interviews.

Afterward, Lucasfilm and Warner Brothers teamed up with the New York Times to publish a special Star Wars issue that heavily featured these director fans.

"That year, Peter Jackson was only 15: 'Watching Star Wars changed my life. It was so magical, yet so close to our ordinary lives.' — When he grew up, he directed the Hobbit trilogy."

"That year, Ron Howard was 23: 'When the movie ended, I didn't say a word. I walked out of the theater, lined up for another hour and a half to buy a ticket, and watched it again.' — He later became George Lucas's disciple and directed films like Cocoon, Apollo 13, and A Beautiful Mind."

"That year, James Cameron was also 23: 'Watching Star Wars blew my mind so much I almost wet my pants. I jumped out of my seat like, My God! Who made this? I told myself: I want to make movies like this too! Just like that, I quit my job as a truck driver.' — Seven years later, he directed The Terminator, and 17 years later, he made Titanic."

"That year, Spielberg was 31: 'It dazzled me! I loved it to death.' — He was already good friends with George Lucas, and afterward, he went on to direct a series of sci-fi blockbusters like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Jurassic Park, The Lost World, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and Minority Report."

"That year, Ridley Scott was 40: 'After watching Star Wars, I was dumbfounded. I told my producer: What are we waiting for? I can't believe something this amazing wasn't shot by me.' — He hurried to catch up, directing Alien two years later, and Blade Runner five years after that."

It wasn't just them. After Duke made several back-to-back phone calls, George Lucas, who was already in retirement, also stepped forward and began generating buzz for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in various ways.

Thus, for the sake of promotion, the relationship between George Lucas and Duke began to appear rather delicate in media reports.

"George Lucas, who created the Star Wars universe, has chosen to stand back and watch the new film from the sidelines. On one hand, the prequel trilogy has constantly suffered scathing criticism from veteran fans, putting immense pressure on Lucas, who expressed that he didn't want to put in all that effort only to receive insults from fans in return. On the other hand, during his interview with us, he revealed the real reason: creative differences."

"George Lucas wanted to tell a story he considered good, placing the narrative focus on the generational transition between son, father, and grandfather. Evidently, Duke Rosenberg, who controls the final say, did not agree, so Lucas was simply shut out..."

"Regarding all this, George Lucas likened it to a couple breaking up—since they've parted ways, they don't contact each other anymore and just live their own lives. His words carried a hint of helplessness."