Pushing open the door to the editing room, Ronan was immediately hit by a strange mixture of sour odor and various food smells. He couldn't help but pinch his nose to retreat, but seeing the woman working diligently at the workstation, he gritted his teeth and walked in.
The space behind the door had almost turned into a garbage dump.
Leftover takeout boxes, crumpled tissues, discarded packaging bags, empty cola bottles, and more were piled up in a mess, waiting to ferment and stink.
Ronan looked back at Jessica Felton.
The woman no longer had the appearance of a Latin goddess; her greasy brown hair was tied messily, with enough oil to fry an egg, and her white tight T-shirt was stained with who-knows-what, almost turning into a rainbow. The denim shorts on her legs seemed stiff and rigid...
"Don't make a sound!" Jessica Felton heard the noise behind her, but didn't turn her head. "Put things down and get out immediately."
Ronan understood, he was being treated as a food delivery person.
"Jessie!" Ronan took a few quick steps and came to stand behind the editor. The smell of hair oil hit him like a wave, almost making him stumble on the spot. He quickly stepped back and asked, "Has this place not been cleaned for days?"
He remembered this was the same outfit she wore on the first day.
Jessica Felton didn't change her expression, still busy with her work in front of the film splicer. "It's too noisy. Anyone who comes to clean, I chase them away."
Ronan glanced at her T-shirt and asked, "How many days has it been since you washed your clothes?"
He remembered this was the outfit she wore on the first day.
Jessica Felton didn't change her expression, still busy with her work in front of the film splicer. "I've worn all my clothes once. A few days ago, I found some clean clothes to change into. This set is the cleanest..."
Ronan nodded. What could he say to a subordinate who was completely absorbed in her work? He slowly said, "It's my fault. I should arrange for a full-time personal assistant for you."
"I'll talk to you after I finish this edit." Jessica Felton cut off the conversation directly.
Ronan didn't speak anymore, subconsciously moving away from the female editor. He made up his mind to hire a full-time maid for her. He couldn't bear the thought of the editing room turning into a garbage dump again, not even for the sake of his own nose.
He agonized in pain and regret for ten minutes. Jessica Felton finally finished her work.
Ronan saw her stretch and yawn, her inflated chest covered in grease stains. He shook his head again. Once this woman entered her working state, she didn't care about anything else, not even herself...
He went to the window, drew back the curtains, opened the window, and the fresh air rushed in, dispelling the stale air, instantly refreshing his spirits.
Taking a deep breath of fresh air, he turned back and said, "Jessie, take a break. I'll get someone to clean up."
"No need." Jessica Felton said again, "I'll have a drink of water and continue."
Ronan guarded this important entrance for fresh air and said, "Alright, listen to me. Rest for two hours, then take a shower."
As he spoke, he pointed at Jessica Felton's T-shirt.
Jessica Felton, still immersed in editing, was not brainless. After a moment of thought, she nodded slowly.
Ronan made a call, and soon someone came to clean the room. He quickly learned what had happened in the past few days.
Since he saw Jessica Felton in this editing room, the female editor had not left the room. Food was delivered to her, and she slept in the adjacent rest room. When her clothes got dirty, she just threw them aside, never thinking about washing them. When she ran out of clean clothes, she simply picked the cleanest set from the dirty clothes pile.
People had raised objections, but she brushed them off impatiently, and Ronan had instructed not to disturb her work.
In the end, it evolved into this.
Of course, Jessica Felton's work performance was outstanding.
While cleaning up, Ronan took the time to watch Jessica Felton's edited footage. The progress was unexpectedly fast, with the rough cut almost complete.
Unfortunately, James Huang was not here.
The director hadn't been deeply involved in post-production. After filming "The Human Purge," he only took a few days off before diving into the early planning of "Death Comes."
The script for "Death Comes" still needed revisions.
Outstanding employees deserved preferential treatment.
Ronan hired a 24-hour maid from a domestic service company specifically to take care of Jessica Felton to prevent the editing room from turning into a garbage dump again. He would often come here, and if others could endure it, he couldn't.
"You are two completely different people when you are working and when you are not."
Looking at Jessica Felton, who had changed into clean clothes, Ronan shook his head. "I can't tell which one is you."
Jessica Felton didn't care at all. "When you're devoted to your passion, it's easy to overlook other things, like many gaming enthusiasts who can play games for months without doing anything else but eating and sleeping."
Ronan nodded. "It's important to pay attention to things outside of work."
He was busy all day dealing with work, studying, and learning, and he hadn't slept before midnight, but he hadn't become like Jessica Felton.
Was he not dedicated enough?
Jessica Felton's response was to pull out a chair and sit back at the workstation.
Ronan didn't want to smell the sour smell of a colleague anymore and said, "If you keep going like this, you won't find a boyfriend."
"What do I need a man for?" Jessica Felton was indifferent. "To give me trouble? Editing is much more interesting. Why should a man find trouble for himself?"
Ronan finally realized that this was a woman who had devoted her limited life to the infinite career of editing.
So, he immediately changed the subject. "You edit fast, and the rough cut is almost done."
"Have you seen it?" Jessica Felton, upon hearing about the editing, immediately became serious. "I'm planning to start the fine cut the day after tomorrow. Do you have any suggestions?"
Ronan said directly, "The plot arrangement and editing pace should be more compact. The beginning of the film isn't very good; it needs to be re-edited."
Jessica Felton asked, "How should it be edited?"
"The beginning should use a newsreel-style edit to introduce the background story of the entire era." Ronan had this idea when he saw the rough cut. "The film should make the era background clear from the beginning."
Jessica Felton closed her eyes, seemingly editing the scenes in her mind. After a while, she said, "Won't this be too straightforward? The story will be revealed right at the beginning."
Ronan raised his finger and shook it. "That's exactly the effect I want. The film should be simple and easy to understand."
Jessica Felton, coming from an academic background, inevitably had some stylistic influences from her education. However, her mind was not rigid, and she quickly understood Ronan's meaning. She said, "I might have been overthinking it. This is just an entertainment film."
Ronan said, "Exactly." He added, "The role of the Black character has too little screen time. Increase his scenes."
The Black character in the film was important, and during the shooting, he had discussed with James Huang that the Black character was a standard representative of Black Lives Matter.
"Alright," Jessica Felton immediately agreed. "I'll make the adjustments."
As she worked, she said, "Regarding the action scenes, I want to use more short shots and quick editing to change the pace and stimulate the audience's emotions."
Ronan didn't object. "Try editing a section first."
It seemed that last time he went to Jessica's apartment, she was studying short-shot editing.
However, he wouldn't use it rashly. Sharp short-shot editing was more suitable for pure action films, such as those directed by Michael Bay, which were representative of this style.
The rough cut was completed quickly, and the fine cut began immediately afterward. Various departments of post-production started to collaborate closely, and the sound studio found several existing soundtracks that were very suitable for the film's atmosphere. Ronan paid to secure the rights to use them.
This aspect cost very little; in this day and age, a few thousand dollars were enough.
James Huang also put down his work and joined the post-production process.
With Ronan, Jessica, and James working together, the differences in the film's concept were not significant. This allowed the editing work to proceed smoothly, without the need for the producer's authority to enforce decisions.
From mid-June to early August, after nearly two months, the post-production of "The Human Purge" was 90% complete.
The remaining work was mostly adding titles and subtitles, which wasn't urgent.
Screening meetings were also put on Ronan's schedule, and he personally visited many distribution companies to extend invitations.