"Pray that this crazy girl doesn't catch any strange viruses. Why can't she ever keep her pants on?" Phil complained to Leon while swiping on his phone screen. "By the way, why did you go to such trouble to come to Montana to shoot the MV? The cost isn't small."
"For the quality of the new song," Leon replied.
The original MV provided by Inspiration Refresh was rough and empty, no matter how you looked at it.
The black singer swaying to the rhythm didn't look like a cowboy at all; he looked more like a slave who stole the plantation owner's clothes for cosplay.
For this reason, David Guetta, the producer of the beat, recommended a friend to Leon: Richie Simon.
An expert specializing in cowboy culture.
He served as an art consultant for the video game Red Dead Redemption and currently lives in Montana.
"That place is full of cow dung, fake cowboys with revolvers pretending to be tough guys, and tourists pretending to be interested in natural scenery." Phil complained incessantly. Areas with scarce streetwalker resources were worthless in his eyes.
Cowboy culture was already in decline, and now it was also hit by woke culture.
This culture, once regarded as the spiritual totem of the United States, is rapidly dying out.
Texas, once considered the home of cowboys, has long been unworthy of the name.
Conservative, rough, loving alcohol and guns are traits of rednecks, not cowboys.
But Montana still retains the purest cowboy culture.
Unlike the Native Americans who play clowns to attract tourists, the cowboys here really herd cattle and are ranch owners with land.
As soon as the plane landed, Leon led the shooting team to take the rental company's business van straight to the shooting location.
A private ranch near Yellowstone Park.
As soon as the convoy arrived at the destination, they could see a group of middle-aged men gathered together from a distance, smoking and chatting.
Cowboy hats covered most of their faces, but Leon was sure this was a group of real cowboys.
Their shirts looked like they had never been washed, and there was cow dung on their boots.
"Welcome to Montana! The Cowboy State, a land watered by blood and wine!" As soon as Leon got out of the car, a cowboy wearing glasses greeted him enthusiastically.
Among this group of people, only his boots had no cow dung, and he looked gentle without any rough temperament.
"I am Richie Simon, David's friend. It's an honor to serve as the art director for this MV!" Richie took off his hat, and the two shook hands.
While shaking hands, Leon looked around and found that the group of cowboys didn't seem to welcome him.
"Look~ Such a big star actually comes to the countryside~"
"Keep your voice down... this guy seems very popular. I've seen him in magazines... Street Jesus?"
"Haha! Street Jesus?! This guy looks exactly like those bastards from animal protection organizations, both are sissies!"
Although the cowboys intentionally lowered their voices, the harsh voices were still heard by everyone present.
Richie squeezed out an awkward smile. "These guys mean no harm; they usually talk like this... When they say you are a sissy, they actually mean I love you..."
Speaking of this, he quickly shut up; the more he explained, the messier it got.
Leon didn't care about this at all. Having participated in many political rallies, he could fully understand why this group of cowboys was not interested in stars.
Montana has long been a deep red state. There are not many permanent residents here, and most of them are stubborn and conservative.
Except for sports competitions, they are almost uninterested in anything in the mass media.
"It doesn't matter, Mr. Richie." Leon handed over a cigarette. "Your understanding of cowboy culture is very important for this MV."
Saying that, he waved his hand and called the director Mike over. "Mike changed the script several times, but never got a satisfactory effect."
Richie pushed his glasses and showed an extremely confident smile. "If possible, I want to take you around here so that you can understand this magical land better."
"Why not?"
The group walked out of the ranch along the path.
"Fxxk! I don't understand why I have to run to this godforsaken place just to shoot an MV?"
Phil cursed non-stop while walking. His body had long been hollowed out by wine and sex, and it was difficult to adapt to this kind of hiking.
Originally, Leon didn't want to go to such trouble, traveling long distances with a film crew of more than ten people. The travel expenses were a considerable expense.
And he had to pay Richie an extra $20,000 consulting fee, which could have been avoided.
Just find a small ranch in the countryside of New Jersey for shooting.
Or even simpler, use a green screen directly and solve the whole process with special effects.
But now the East Coast entertainment industry is undergoing a drastic change.
After Diddy was arrested, those celebrities closely related to him began to keep a low profile.
The former King of the East Coast was undoubtedly JAY-Z and his good homie Diddy.
The music kingdom created by the two has reached the time for iteration.
If Leon wants to replace JAY-Z, he must comprehensively surpass the other party, whether in music achievement or commercial level.
This also means a comprehensive competition between Apocalypse Music and the Roc Nation kingdom.
Although JAY-Z has been burned out due to being implicated by Diddy, Roc Nation's business has never stopped.
Rihanna's sixth studio album will be released in September.
Def Jam poured resources into her, and she maintained a strong momentum of one album a year for several consecutive years.
The quality of each album is very high, with hit songs one after another.
This album Talk That Talk integrates the resources of Def Jam and Roc Nation.
Inviting a group of big-name producers including Dr. Luke and Kuk Harrell.
If Leon wants to gain an advantage in this comprehensive competition, the quality of the second album must absolutely not be weaker than Rihanna's new album.
"I came to Montana when I was participating in Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption project and fell in love with this place immediately." Richie said, "If you want to understand cowboy culture deeply, you have to come here~"
Leon looked around while listening to Richie tell the history of cowboys.
A large number of brown-skinned Indians began to appear around, obviously they had entered the Indian reservation.
The Indians immediately surrounded them, enthusiastically promoting tourism projects such as taking photos and horse riding.
Phil teased an Indian with painted makeup on his face: "Do you provide special services here? I mean girls or something..."
As soon as the voice fell, the faces of the shooting team carrying cameras turned pale, and their scalps felt itchy.
Their understanding of Indians mostly came from film and television dramas shot by white people, where Indians were described as representatives of barbarism and ignorance.
But those Indians were not annoyed, instead, they nodded with a smile.
Just as Phil wanted to communicate deeply with the other party, he was suddenly dragged away by Leon.
"Wait~ Aren't you interested in Indian girls? I heard long ago that they are more exciting than Brazilian chicks! Irresistible like a surging tide!"
"Shut up!"
Leon glared, and the old geezer quickly quieted down.
The crew settled down in an ecologically original Indian reservation, which was the scheduled shooting location.
It was said to retain the original scenery, but in fact, the tourist gathering area was two miles away, full of mobile vendors and souvenir shops.
Leon finished changing in the nanny van.
Wide-brimmed leather hat, unrestrained cloak, revolver, big pipe, messy stubble...
The costumer repackaged Leon according to Clint Eastwood's classic look in the Dollars Trilogy.
"You look great, like a real western outlaw!" Old Mike praised.
But Richie aside obviously had a different opinion, shaking his head repeatedly. "Whether it's a gunman escorting cattle, a robber, or a bounty hunter... real outlaws won't dress cleaner than a steel tycoon."
"Also, can you tear off that stupid cloak? Sergio Leone (director of the Dollars Trilogy), an Italian bastard, the only thing he knows about cowboys is this word!"
The costumer just wanted to go up and argue with Richie but was stopped by Leon.
His eyes were full of appreciation; this is why he spent $20,000 to hire the other party.
The reason why the original MV from Inspiration Refresh made him uncomfortable was that the original singer was too sissy, so the whole style became less country.
He once suspected that the original singer was gay.
Under Richie's guidance, the makeup artist redesigned Leon's makeup to make his skin look like it had traces of long-term sun exposure.
Immediately afterwards, they borrowed a vintage cowhide jacket from a cowboy.
Leon got on the horse for the final adjustment. Richie combed through his emotions beside him so that he could find the best state: " The spirit of the cowboy is the American spirit... We struggle, work hard, pioneer... finally turning this land given by God into the most powerful country in the world!"
The more Leon listened to this passage, the more awkward he felt.
Land given by God?
"No, it was given by gunpowder and cannons." Leon pointed to a building less than two miles away—"Marias Massacre Memorial."
Just two hours ago, he learned from Richie that in 1870, the US Cavalry launched an attack on the Blackfeet tribe in Montana.
Taking advantage of the gap when the men of the tribe went out hunting, the cavalry massacred about 200 people including women, children, and the elderly.
The cause was that the cavalry claimed that a local white settler was missing here.
"This..." Richie was speechless for a moment.
He didn't want to take this job at first because he had a more important job—creating a script for a new game for Rockstar Vice President Sam Houser.
Red Dead Redemption 2.
The Houser brothers set the protagonist for the initial script, an outlaw named Arthur Morgan.
It just so happened that Leon's street reputation was notorious in the entertainment industry. Richie thought he could take this opportunity to find inspiration to enrich the character of Arthur.
In his conception, this is a redemption story of a prodigal son turning back.
Leon obviously wouldn't like this image, deliberately creating a transformation of repentance and redemption to cater to players.
He lowered his cowboy hat, rode on the wilderness path, and hummed: "I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road, I'm gonna ride 'til I can't no more."
"Can't nobody tell me nothin', you can't tell me nothin'..."
He took out the prop revolver from his waist, playing with the gun body and revealing a playful smile belonging to a villain.
"Very good... hold it! Your state is great!" Old Mike praised while directing the cameraman to follow up the distance.
But Leon no longer needed the director's guidance. He completely found his comfort zone, immersed in the Westworld in his brain.
The filming of the first plot of riding alone on a country road was completed.
The staff didn't delay for a moment and immediately began to arrange the requirements for the second shot performance.
Another actor was in place, passing by Leon, and the two lowered their cowboy hats to greet each other.
This plot was designed by Old Mike and did not appear in the original MV.
Lowering the brim of the hat is a way for cowboys to express respect to their peers during long journeys.
But through Richie's reverse inspiration, Leon and Mike temporarily changed this plot.
At the moment of meeting the other actor, he first lowered the brim of his hat and smiled at the other party as written in the original script.
Then suddenly pulled out his gun and shot the other party, continuing to ride leisurely on the western path as if nothing had happened.
"WTF... this..." Richie felt severely insulted and once had the idea of quitting the crew.
But suddenly light shone in his eyes, as if he thought of something.
The filming went very smoothly. Except for NG three times due to tourists when walking into the street shot, the rest of the shots were done in one take.
According to Leon's original high-standard shooting requirements, the crew originally planned to stay in Montana for at least two days.
But now they finished the work in just one afternoon.
"Well done~"
"I believe this is an MV that can win an MTV award~"
"Do whatever you want, unrestrained~ Young people will like this!"
The crew members surrounded Leon to celebrate.
Phil sat on the ground cursing because he couldn't stand being outdoors for a long time: "I must get the nourishment of an Indian girl immediately..."
Richie walked to Phil and sat down, teasing: "Now I know why this young man is smeared and scolded by so many media..."
"Smeared?!" Phil laughed out loud. "Compared to what he actually did, the media's description is simply holier than an angel! You guy pretend to understand real cowboys; back in the Westward Movement period, you wouldn't live for three days! You earned this 20,000 dollars easier than a streetwalker btch."
Richie lowered his head and remained silent, already understanding how to modify the script of Red Dead Redemption 2 in his heart.
"Yes, the filming went very smoothly. I can return to New York tomorrow."
Leon was on the phone with Sean. Even though most of the work was handed over to the other party, there were still many things about the show that needed to be handled personally.
The main thing was the positioning of Lil Durk and King Von in this show, what kind of persona and script to give them.
"Mr. Leon." Seeing Leon hang up the phone, Richie pushed his glasses and walked over.
"Wow, thank you very much for the guidance provided today; otherwise, the filming would not have proceeded so smoothly," Leon said.
Richie shook his head immediately upon hearing this. Today, apart from providing some historical background and costume/prop guidance, his other contributions were almost zero.
He was silent for a few seconds and then continued: "You know I am creating a script for a game, right? The Red Dead Redemption series. As a young man, you must have heard of Rockstar Company."
In the past, Leon's understanding of this game was limited to hearing the name.
However, due to the filming needs of Ready Player One, he spent a lot of time learning about popular video games.
"Of course, I remember the protagonist of that game is named John, right?"
"Yes!" Richie was a little excited. "What I'm going to tell you next may violate the non-disclosure agreement with Rockstar, but I have to admit that you gave me inspiration for the script creation of the sequel to this game."
Leon scratched his head, confused. "I am honored..."
"Arthur who wants to atone for his sins cannot defeat Micah and Dutch..." Richie muttered.
Micah? Dutch?
Leon didn't understand what the other party was talking about at all, just regarding it as a trait of a scholar.
Especially scholars who focus on research in a certain cultural field; these people are a bit neurotic.
But due to the other party's identity, he still pretended to understand.
Ready Player One involves complex IP ownership. He cannot copy it directly like filming Straight Outta Compton.
Problems that Spielberg can easily solve with his resources in the circle are big trouble in Leon's eyes.
Therefore, if the movie can really be established, some of the IPs involved will inevitably be replaced or deleted.
And Richie has a good relationship with Rockstar Vice President Sam.
This company is the most vigorous game company in recent years, and its games are highly sought after by young people.
"How did you think of interpreting cowboys like this?" Richie asked. "I mean, were you influenced by any movie or book?"
Leon didn't expect a cowboy expert to ask him a question about cowboys.
After thinking for a few seconds, he casually perfunctorily said: "I don't understand cowboys with revolvers, but in Brownsville, criminals holding extended Glocks to rob houses are common."
"Except for the filter of the times and weapon iteration, they are no different."