[Chapter 930: Who's Kidding with Me?]
Nokia undoubtedly inherited the unique craftsmanship of Europeans. In Eric's hands, the two music phone prototypes were made of plastic, but the silver casing exuded a high-end metallic feel.
Moreover, these two phones did not adopt Nokia's traditional, unchanging classic shape. Instead, they resembled the elongated design of the Nokia Vertu. Due to the technological limitations of the time, the devices appeared wider than the Nokia Vertu, yet the overall design still exuded a sense of style. In addition to basic communication functions, the phones featured buttons that allowed for a much more convenient music playback system compared to the Fireflyer, even enabling simple search operations.
Despite the $600 starting price positioning them firmly as high-end models in the current mobile phone market, Eric remained confident that these devices would attract a significant portion of the young white-collar demographic under thirty.
Putting on the headphones, Eric sampled a piece of music, satisfied as he neatly packed away the two phones.
With people around in the restaurant, Eric could not continue testing whether the phones could conveniently purchase and transfer music from the Yahoo Music Store. However, after a brief trial, he had no doubts about the music transmission capabilities of these phones. Undoubtedly, Nokia's R&D prowess was hardly inferior to that of Firefly Electronics.
After chatting a bit more with Caroline and Melanie, Eric finally began his meal. Yet, his mind couldn't help but wander, contemplating when and how he should intervene in or even take over Nokia's management.
Nokia lacked for neither technology nor talent nor channels, yet it had experienced a spectacular decline fifteen years after reaching its peak. This was surely no accident, but rather a long process of transformative collapse, where a seemingly small issue could lead to considerable fallout. Waiting until disaster struck to act would undoubtedly be too late.
Firefly Investment was still firmly in possession of a 51% controlling stake in Nokia. Therefore, as long as Eric wished, he held the absolute power to make the adjustments he desired within Nokia.
Nevertheless, he knew it wouldn't be wise to act on this in the coming years. Nokia had just ascended to the position of the world's leading mobile manufacturer, and the current management team had a very thorough development plan in place. Interfering in the company's management at this stage would definitely create friction between the management and Eric, the major shareholder, and would hinder Nokia's momentum toward further growth.
Even with this music phone, as Eric advanced the project, he sensed some discontent from Nokia's management. High-level executives there remained focused on perfecting simple, easy-to-use function phones, deeming a phone's entertainment functions as frivolous. Until their past decline, they had proudly upheld this belief, ultimately causing this giant in the mobile industry to plummet from greatness at a staggering speed.
Only when Caroline and Melanie finished their lunch did they look over, intrigued by the silence that had enveloped him for a while. Eric snapped back to reality, smiled, and quickened his eating pace.
If he couldn't clarify his thoughts right now, he would simply have to consider them slowly. After all, Nokia had just entered its prime, with plenty of time and opportunities ahead of them. At least he knew that Nokia's CEO, Jorma Ollila, had a contract that wouldn't expire until next year; any actions Eric wished to take must wait until at least after that.
Eric felt a twinge of regret; he could not recall the name of Nokia's last CEO, who had hastened their plunge into decline. If he had, even with opposition from everyone, he would have promptly kicked that guy out of Nokia. After all, someone who could drive a company holding over 40% of the global mobile market to bankruptcy in just a few years was a "talent" who should be swiftly dealt with.
After lunch, Eric instructed the two women, "You need to send a memo to Nokia. Since they intend to implement the first and second generation Fireflyer-like 1G and 2G storage versions, the release date should be postponed from January to April, scheduled for one week after the second-generation Fireflyer is launched. Also, while Nokia's primary markets are in Europe and Asia, this phone's target market should be the United States, since only the U.S. currently has a relatively complete network music store. There's no rush for Europe, and for Asia, let's hold off on promotion for now. While the music copyright regulations aren't strict there, it isn't necessary for us to dive into that yet; it would only be a loss."
Once he confirmed that both women had noted his words, Eric left the restaurant to return to work in the studio.
...
Over the next couple of days, the simple set for the rehearsal of Wannabe was completed, and just as Eric was about to gather the Spice Girls to begin rehearsals, a weighty piece of news arrived from the U.S.
After three long months of protracted negotiations, Viacom finally reached an acquisition agreement with CBS Group, with the final deal valued at $36 billion.
With this, the four major television networks in America -- ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX -- all fell under the umbrella of large conglomerates. Although General Electric, owning NBC, couldn't technically be considered a media group, this still marked a significant milestone in the wave of consolidation within the American media industry.
Canada's Seagram Group was in acquisition talks with Europe's Polygram Records, but this could only be regarded as an extension of the consolidation wave, as neither the success nor failure of this merger would significantly reshape the landscape of the American media industry.
The completion of the media group consolidation indicated that, under such monopolistic conditions, a media company, unless utilizing unconventional merger strategies, would no longer have the possibility of developing into a media group from scratch. The American media industry had once again entered an oligopolistic era.
When Eric heard this news, he was reminded of his conversation with New Line Cinema's CEO, Robert Shaye, a few years prior. Although his influence had stirred up many storms in the following years, the overarching trends of history hadn't fundamentally changed. Luckily, Firefly had successfully completed its own preparations before all this unfolded.
...
Today marked the third day of formal rehearsals for Wannabe.
Over two days, Eric had watched and guided the girls of the Spice Girls as they performed for the entire music video. While the music industry had never lacked female singing groups, it was the Spice Girls that truly brought this girl group format to the world stage.
Thus, originally in history, even though many believed the Spice Girls exuded coolness during their initial rise with both music videos and live performances, with the perspective gained from Eric's over ten years of experience, he found the dance performances in the music videos to be abysmal. Naturally, drawing from his memories, Eric directed the choreographer to design some classic dance moves for the girls.
In the open set at the Pinewood Studios, dozens of curious eyes, including the five girls of the Spice Girls, watched as Eric donned a Steadicam system, their faces etched with expressions of surprise.
Caroline and Melanie helped Eric check a few connections on his gear when Simon Fuller walked over and saw Eric, dressed in a shock-absorbing vest and adjusting a lightweight camera with a counterweight, looking incredulous. "Eric, are you planning to shoot this music video yourself?"
Eric nodded, looking at the astonished Simon Fuller, and smiled, "Is there a problem with me doing it myself?"
"No, oh, sure, of course not," Simon hurriedly shook his head, joking. After all, who would dare say no if Eric Williams wanted to be the cameraman for the music video?
Noticing that Simon was momentarily at a loss, Eric added, "Everyone here is required to have signed a confidentiality agreement, right? Please remind them not to leak this until the music video is completed."
Eric's visit to the UK had frequently made headlines in local media. Under Simon's efforts, the establishment of the Spice Girls had stirred up significant buzz as well. However, the public only vaguely knew that Eric was set to produce the group on a song. Other details had been tightly guarded.
Upon confirming with Eric that he would personally take on the role of cameraman, Simon's first thought was to call a newspaper; this was massive news.
However, hearing Eric's specific request, Simon had to abandon that idea: "Alright, Eric, I'll make sure of it."
"Then let's get started," Eric nodded, moving to the edge of the set and signaling for the music video director, who Simon had invited but would ultimately not find a way to contribute.
As the stage manager's voice rang out, all the extras quickly took their positions.
The five girls of the Spice Girls stood at the starting point. The director, who had effectively lost all authority, looked at Eric, waiting for him to give the "OK" gesture. The accompaniment for Wannabe began playing. To maintain strict confidentiality, only the backing track would be used during rehearsals or formal shooting. Despite everyone having signed confidentiality agreements, there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't leak something out of greed; British paparazzi were renowned for their relentless pursuit of news. If any lyrics leaked ahead of time, it would create quite a stir.
As the music played, the five girls entered the frame, laughing and joking. Eric focused on the monitor, slowly moving along with the girls as they danced.
To master long takes, the key lies in quickly establishing focus amidst the constantly shifting chaos of the framing to present the creator's intended visual language.
The script for the Wannabe music video was written by Eric based on his memories, with the storyline revolving around five exuberant girls causing a ruckus in a club.
Perhaps it was because Eric was personally wielding the camera, but within less than a minute of starting the first rehearsal, one of the girls accidentally tripped, forcing a pause in filming. Watching the girl designated as "Baby Spice" glance at him with a nervous, almost tearful expression, Eric felt the need to soothe her himself.
To refine his long-take cinematography techniques, Eric had allotted a full two weeks for filming this music video, so there was no rush. After comforting Baby Spice, he instructed everyone that further shooting should only stop in case of serious issues.
As the music played again, there were indeed minor hiccups throughout, but the shooting proceeded without further pauses. Eric's eyes remained glued to the monitor as he carefully followed the girls' dance steps, rapidly calculating how to shoot a particular scene more cohesively.
Originally thinking this would be an opportunity to achieve the first "one-take," the music ran for about three minutes. This segment ideally involved a romantic couple dancing excitedly with the five girls; however, Eric suddenly recognized that one actress in a pink dress on the left side of the frame looked eerily familiar. Instinctively, he glanced up and was taken aback.
Although she had dyed her hair a light blonde and the pink dress seemed out of place, the slightly darker skin tone, deep eye makeup, and signature aloof expression -- wasn't that Victoria Beckham? Oh no, wait, she was still Victoria Adams for now. Perhaps, she would forever remain Victoria Adams.
WTF!
Who was kidding with him?
Eric felt a strange yet humorous sensation wash over him.
He definitely wouldn't interfere in the casting for the music video; that mattered only to the MV director. It only dawned on him now that, okay, he had another unexpected twist thrown into the mix.
The music continued, and the five girls kept performing, but everyone noticed that Eric had halted next to the girl in the pink dress for several seconds. Victoria Adams sensed this too, as she turned to look at Eric. Her body, which had been dancing atop the chair, abruptly stopped. She wanted to step down but hesitated, unsure if she should.
She had just seen Eric was determined to operate the camera himself, and naturally, she couldn't help but wonder if this significant figure would take notice of her. Yet she knew deep down, it was likely just a fantasy.
Excluding the five Spice Girls, there were several actresses in the MV more attractive than her. So now, when Eric Williams stood still, scrutinizing her for several seconds, Victoria felt her heart race, her body tingling with inexplicable excitement and nervousness.
Only when Eric noticed Victoria Adams had completely halted her movements in his direction did he snap back to attention, naturally adjusting the camera to point elsewhere.
Outside, Melanie noticed this detail and snatched the cup of coffee Caroline had been meticulously cradling, taking an unapologetic sip and saying, "See? I told you."
*****
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