Chapter 325: Chapter 284: Cultural Export Plan_2

Until their upper echelons are willing to undertake comprehensive reforms, these will only amount to surface level changes, futile and incomplete.

Arthur feels there’s no need to participate, but of course, if they wish to order battleships, Arthur would certainly welcome it.

About the query for buying grains, Arthur unreservedly agrees. The current floods in East Asia are severe, reaching to millions of refugees, which also have a significant impact on the price of grain.

Not to mention, it’s only normal to increase the price of grain by about ten percent on the original basis, right? Don’t underestimate this event, it could bring no small income to Australasia, and also provide an opportunity to replace the old grains in the strategic grain reserves.

In addition to these developments, at the end of August came the great news that Edison successfully invented the sound film, dragging movies into a new era.

Of course, the so-called invention essentially means the developed technology of sound film was now commercially viable.

In fact, as early as 1900, the world’s first sound film had screened in Paris.

Yet, after all, the technology was not mature at the time, commercially viable sound films were not wholly feasible, and therefore the impact was naturally not great.

Arthur values sound films because since its inception in 1910, sound film became a global phenomenon in just over 20 years, making Hollywood, USA the most influential cultural and commercial center in the world.

Of course, what allowed the United States to surpass the European countries in sound film was the skeptical attitude of many European filmmakers and critics towards new technology.

They were worried that too much dialogue would reduce the special aesthetic of silent films, so sound film did not capture as much attention in Europe as it did in the United States, which allowed Hollywood to successfully become the symbol of world cinema.

The birth of sound film signifies the upcoming era of massive development in the film industry.

Arthur naturally understands the importance of movies. They are not only an extremely important means of making money, but also an important tool and method for foreign publicity, transmission of culture, and enhancing international influence.

When it comes to cultural output, nothing can compare to film. Traditional books, music, and art can only influence a small part of the population, and progress is slow.

But films are different. In just over one hour, a film can easily radiate its influence across the world.

A few years ago, Australasia had a film factory, and even broadcasted silent films.

But Arthur was not interested in these silent films, so after watching them once, he no longer cared.

After the birth of sound film, Arthur inquired about the current development of the Australasian film industry from Butler Kent, and overall it was quite good.

Contrary to Arthur’s opinion, Butler Kent was quite interested in silent films, so the royal financial group had invested quite a lot of funds in several movie factories.

Currently, there are three major film factories in Australasia, namely the Royal Film Studio, the Victoria Film Studio, and the Australasian National Film Factory.

From these names, it is clear that all three film factories have the backing of the Royal Financial Group, and the controlling stakes are mostly over 60%.

This is somewhat understandable, after all, without the help of the Royal Financial Group, it would be impossible for the 8 million people in Australasia to support the three film factories.

The development of the film industry at this time was nowhere near as vast as it would be in later generations, before the birth of sound film, these silent film factories could easily go bankrupt if they didn’t have good work.

Now that sound film is born, Australasia’s cultural output to foreign lands can also begin.

Of course, there’s another important purpose, which is to create a set impression in the minds of Australasians through a variety of movies, namely that all immigrants are Australasians and Australasians should unite.

Encompassing all immigrants in Australasia under a new ethnic group is the best solution to the immigration issue in Australasia.

The good news is that the Australasia region used to be a colony and was even a barren land before.

This also meant that if Arthur wanted to rewrite the history of Australasia through various films, it would actually be quite easy.

For instance, nobody would argue with Arthur over the interpretation of the Australasian ethnicity. This allows him to integrate all immigrants into the Australasian ethnicity as much as possible, solidifying unity among the domestic populace.

No matter if you’re from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, or Russia, now there is a common term for all — Australasians.

Don’t underestimate literary works and movies for their subconscious influence on the public.

With the help of movies, Arthur was confident he can make all Australasians unquestioningly believe in the concept of their ethnicity within ten years. At least over half of the Australasian immigrants would be united under this overarching ethnic framework.

Therefore, some European writers, authors, and novelists are also within Arthur’s talent recruitment range.

Australasia had already attracted over a hundred literary talents from Europe. Coupled with about ten or more literary talent Arthur garnered on his trip to Europe, as well as the talent cultivated by all universities in Australasia’s Literature Department, they were enough to write various stories about the ethnicity. The best ones can then be adapted into scripts, filmed into movies, and broadcasted nationwide in Australasia.

The public is usually easily swayed. With such significant influence, it’s safe to believe that in a few years’ time, if outsiders were to claim that certain immigrants are not Australasians, these immigrants would be reluctant.

The good news is, early sound film technology was quite simple. For Australasia’s current state of technology, developing the sound film technology is not difficult.

Put simply, the most basic sound film involves playing the sound as the film is being projected to achieve synchronised audio and visual effects.

Implementing this technology isn’t hard. At its simplest, one can use a phonograph to play the sound, although this requires some coordination between the audio and visuals.

A slightly more complicated method would be to use two types of film with different photosensitive properties—one for recording images, the other for sound. Then, through a series of techniques, the sound and images can be combined on a single copy of the film, ready for screening.

During a screening, the projector also has a sound system that can reproduce the sound as the images are projected, creating a sound film effect.

Objectively speaking, neither of these technologies is difficult, and both can be used for commercial sound film technology.

Arthur handed over these two sound film technologies to the three major film studios, each with a budget of 100,000 Australian dollars.

Arthur’s only request was that they research sound film technology as soon as possible, write a great number of historical scripts about the Australasian ethnicity, film these into sound films and broadcast them extensively throughout Australasia.

For this, Grant’s Propaganda Department will coordinate with these three film studios. The Propaganda Department is responsible for domestic and overseas publicity, and they control all Australasian newspapers and media.

The Propaganda Department, in cooperation with those writers, along with some novelists who are good at making things up, could absolutely rewrite the history of Australasia.

With the three film studios working diligently on the side, they aim to turn these stories into scripts as soon as possible, then shoot them into films and showcase them on the big screen.

At present, the main audience is still within Australasia. But some films may also be considered for screening in Europe and the United States.

As for other areas, like Asia and South America, Arthur has temporarily given up on them.

After all, even a very rudimentary film requires money to buy a ticket and watch it.

For regions where most people still lack the disposable income to watch films, it’s better to leave the opportunity to Europeans and Americans.

The good news is that there aren’t strenuous restrictions on films at present. As long as they don’t blatantly satirise the local government or propagate thoughts and conceptions that are not recognized or duly forbidden in those localities, then the films generally won’t be restricted.

Perhaps for some Island Nation directors, this is good news. Since present-day movies are not strictly classified by age, theoretically, the films they shoot can be screened anywhere.

It’s a shame that they couldn’t enjoy such prosperous times; otherwise, the Island Nation’s films could have global reach, albeit with a less than ideal reputation.