I became a son-in-law in the United States

Chapter 36 When it's going to rain, a mother wants to marry off her daughter.

"A sound...movie..."

Upon hearing Luther's words, the others were stunned and couldn't believe it for a moment.

It's important to understand that in 1927, the world was still in the silent film era, meaning there was no sound, and subtitles were added at the end.

If it's unavoidable, the cinema will arrange for a narrator to occasionally chime in with a comment or two during the screening.

In those days, there were people who specialized in this kind of work, called announcers, or "interpreters" in China and "benshi" in Japan.

Their purpose is to explain complex plots to viewers with limited knowledge.

Don't underestimate it; this job paid well and was considered quite respectable in the society at the time.

This is the most prominent feature of the film industry in this era: no need for dialogue skills, no need for voice, just need to act out the character's expressions.

But now, with Luther's proposal of sound films, others have suddenly become restless.

Sure enough, Reynolds was the first to come to his senses.

"Mr. Luther, how can a movie have sound and image?"

He did express his curiosity.

Luther paused for a moment before explaining to everyone:

"Actually, it's not difficult at all. For movies, we shoot normally, but at the same time, we need to record the sound onto a record. Then we put them together in post-production. As long as the picture and sound are accurately synchronized, that's fine."

The technology is just that; it doesn't sound too difficult, and even a small company like a box office movie company could easily do it.

The difficulty lies in changing people's mindset.

Sure enough, as soon as Reynolds finished speaking, a director next to him spoke up. His name was Louis, and he was also a veteran employee of the box office film company. Many of the company's comedy films were written by him.

At that moment, faced with Luther's vision, the old director scratched his head and said with an incredulous look:

"I'm sorry, I can't adapt at all! The characters only need to act according to the director's instructions, why do they have to speak?? How can those characters speak?"

After he finished speaking, the middle-aged screenwriter standing beside him, also looking troubled, continued to press for answers:

"If that's the case, then do we still need to write lines for the characters?"

Screenwriters in this era were not as versatile as those in later generations, who wrote everything from script outlines and dialogue details to project proposals themselves.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 10 ...

At this stage, screenwriters only need to clearly describe the general story, the characters, and the basic plot.

As for what happens next, the director and actors will interpret it according to the story themselves, and no lines are needed during the performance.

This is why the silent film era had such a high output; because there were no lines, the pace of the film was unconsciously accelerated.

Now, when Luther suggested adding spoken dialogue, almost everyone felt a clear sense of unease.

They hadn't experienced it before, and they felt it was incredibly difficult.

"No, absolutely not, this job is impossible to do at this rate." Louis shook his head, seemingly overwhelmed by the difficulty.

To maintain precise synchronization between the visuals and audio, recording separately afterward is definitely not feasible; the only solution is to record simultaneously on-site.

That would make it much more difficult.

If we want to record live, should we keep the venue quiet?

Should the male and female actors be the ones saying the lines?

If there's even the slightest mistake, we'll probably have to start all over again.

We're all just trying to make a living; who can stand this kind of torment?

If we filmed according to Luther's method, my output would drop instantly, and I'd be lucky to make two films a year.

The other two screenwriters also shook their heads:

"Mr. Luther, this is really putting us in a difficult position. Hollywood is all silent films now, there's no sound at all. Why should we be the first?"

"Yeah, even the big studios don't do that, so why should we?"

The meaning couldn't be clearer: as a small production company, Box Office Films only needs to follow the trend; there's no need for them to lead any trend.

This not only significantly increases the workload, but also doesn't guarantee that you'll get anything good in the end.

Luther didn't refuse directly, but smiled and said:

"Everyone, this is my decision, and it's also the company's future direction. If you feel you can't handle it, then leaving now isn't a bad thing. You can go to other companies, go to Hollywood, go to places that need to produce a lot of silent films."

"You all know very well that sound films and silent films are completely different things. The former is undoubtedly much better, and the experience for the audience is much better. But you know this, yet you are still willing to go back to making silent films. In my opinion, this is laziness, cowardice, and complacency. Box office films don't need employees like this, and you don't need colleagues like this. I can say this today: even if you all leave, I will still push forward with sound films."

These words were quite provocative, and Luther was also very annoyed by anyone slacking off, so the whole room fell silent instantly.

He knew perfectly well that history did not consider personal preferences; it would only follow its own laws and move forward.

Even if everyone is not used to sound movies, they will still appear when the time comes.

We've reached a turning point. Even if box office film companies don't do it, other producers will.

If I remember correctly, this October, a Hollywood film company called Warner Bros. will release the first sound film in human history, "The Jazz Singer".

The movie caused a sensation worldwide upon its release. Although the production quality was only average and the acting was awkward, the fact that it had sound and even singing made it incredibly profitable.

However, not everyone thinks this way. Overcoming habits and prejudices is ultimately very difficult for people.

A moment later, several managers stood up.

"Well, Mr. Luther, good luck."

"Sorry, we have families to support, so we can't hang out with a rich kid like you."

"Movies should be silent. If there's sound and image, can it still be called a movie? It would be more appropriate to call it an opera."

"Fuck your sound movies! Go to hell, you German!"

"I quit! I'm going to Hollywood!"

Accompanied by farewells and curses, the conference room was quickly emptied.

Reynolds was covered in sweat and kept wiping it with a towel.

"Mr. Luther, those who just left were our core creative team: a director, two screenwriters, and a cinematographer..."

Seeing so many people leave, Reynolds felt like the sky was falling and that the company was going to go bankrupt tomorrow.

"Mr. Luther, what should we do?"

Luther remained calm, unperturbed. He thought it best for these people to leave now, lest they cause trouble when the project started.

He paused, sat down in his chair, and said with a relaxed expression, "If it's going to rain, it'll rain; if a mother wants to marry off her daughter, so be it."