Density

Chapter 126 Density

"No, thank you," David glanced at the mechanical clock on the wall, "It's getting late. I should be leaving soon after I finish showering. Want to come along?"

"Will you scrub my back?" Nicole asked with a smile. "If you scrub my back, I'll shower with you."

The modern shower gel category originated in the mid-20th century. Early products focused on basic cleansing, but it wasn't until the 70s that skincare ingredients such as milk protein and milk fat were gradually added, and the milk shower gel subcategory was officially formed.

The earliest mass-produced milk shower gel product was the rich foam milk shower gel developed and launched by the Japanese brand, Niu Niu Shi Lian (Niu Brand), in 1972.

However, the brand most familiar to Chinese consumers, and also David's favorite, is Safeguard. What surprised him, however, was that this classic brand was actually founded in the United States in 1963, and only officially entered the Eastern Chinese market in 1992.

"Can you smell it?"

David asked with great interest as he applied the classic brand of shower gel evenly to the other person's smooth back.

This brand of shower gel is a milky white liquid with high fluidity and low viscosity. Its appearance and texture are very similar to diluted fresh milk, and it won't stick to your palm like ordinary thick shower gel.

David can easily create a cloud-like, dense foam with just a gentle rub. The foam is smooth, non-sticky, and has a faint milky scent.

"What?"

Nicole turned her head, somewhat confused, and then a thin line of foam was applied to the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, David, when do you ever get so bored?" Nicole turned her head away, wiping the remaining foam off with her hand. "You didn't just want to talk to me about the scent of this shower gel before you left, did you?"

"So what would you like to talk about?"

David started applying the cream from Nicole's shoulders and neck, working his way down. The contours of Nicole's shoulder bones rose gently like outstretched butterfly wings, the lines clean yet without any harshness. Following the shoulder line downwards, the natural grooves of the entire spine were faintly visible.

Without a single ounce of excess fat pulling at the contours, the lines at the waist are subtly tapered, then gently extend along the curves of the hips and buttocks. Every turn from the shoulders and back to the waist and hips is fluid and graceful, like an elegant curve that has been meticulously copied.

Nicole ignored the other person's imitation. "I heard from Naomi that your film 'Dances with Wolves' is over three hours long, is that true?"

"Huh?" David almost missed the other person's abrupt change of topic. "It's true, what's wrong?"

"Don't you think that's a bit too long?"

"That's true to some extent, but the subject matter of that movie is rather unique," David replied after a moment's thought. "If we didn't make it this long, the audience might feel that the money wasn't well spent."

Why?

"Because its plot density is too low, if it doesn't have enough runtime—"

Under normal narrative pacing, the most suitable length for mainstream commercial films is concentrated in the range of 90-120 minutes. Jackie Chan's classic action films and Stephen Chow's classic comedy films are basically around 100 minutes long.

However, epic blockbusters and complex suspense films can be extended to 120-150 minutes, leaving enough space to lay out multiple storylines and a grand worldview. For example, "Inception" and the "Avengers" series are in this range and can be widely accepted by the market.

Films shorter than 90 minutes are often perceived as too short by the average viewer, leading to a feeling that the content is thin and the ticket price is not worthwhile. Therefore, films between 60 and 90 minutes are defined as "special films" within the industry and do not fall into the standard category of regular commercial films.

Nolan's first feature film, "Following," is only about 69 minutes long, far below the standard of 90 minutes for a typical commercial film.

Therefore, it didn't belong to the mainstream commercial films aimed at mass theaters, but rather to independent experimental works targeting film festivals. Unsurprisingly, it won the Best First Feature Award at the 1998 San Francisco International Film Festival.

The reason for this perception is that when audiences go to the cinema specifically to watch a movie, they directly link the duration of the film to the ticket price. Films shorter than 90 minutes will make them feel that "the cost of the round trip is far higher than the duration of the film," thus making them feel that the ticket price is "not worth it."

When the film length exceeds 150 minutes, most ordinary viewers will experience significant physical and mental fatigue, and may even leave halfway through. Even if the content is of high quality, it will significantly raise the threshold for watching the film, reduce the number of screenings in theaters, and affect the reach of the film.

Unless the film's production quality is far superior to others, it's unlikely to break this convention.

卡神的《铁达尼号》当年在全球公映的原版片长为194分钟，98年引入东大陆公映时也採用了这个一刀未剪的完整版本，后续2012年的3D重映版、2023年4K修复版也都严格沿用了这个时长。

With such an incredible length, it's no wonder it's been hailed as the benchmark for the most successful super-long commercial film in film history, achieving such high box office returns.

"And you, what's your favorite length?" Nicole suddenly asked a strange question, but David didn't mean to misunderstand; he was just thinking about how expressive Nicole's face was.

Her lips curled up sharply, revealing her neat, white upper teeth, paired with David's bright, full red lips that he deliberately didn't let her remove her makeup; she was smiling a little too happily.

"A little over two hours, preferably not exceeding 130 minutes, ideally between 120 and 130 minutes."

At this moment, her eyebrows and eyes were completely relaxed, the corners of her eyes naturally curved with her smile, her gaze was clear and gentle, without the slightest restraint, and her fingers were also relaxed and stretched out, without any tension.

David wondered if he was overthinking things, and that the other person might genuinely be asking the question seriously.

"Yeah, why can't it be a little longer?"

Sitting sideways on the light wood floor, her back gently leaning against the clean, warm beige wall, Catherine advised, "I feel like I don't have enough screen time in the movie. After filming one scene, I'm not involved for several days."

"Isn't this better?"

David said, "If you have too many scenes and have to film every day, it must be exhausting. I envy your work rhythm."

Catherine gently raised her right hand to her chin, her fingertips lightly touching her lips, as if deep in thought. "But I'm feeling a bit bored. How about we film my scenes first? There aren't many anyway, and I can call it a day after that."

"Hmm, shall we film your scenes first?"

"Yeah, how about it, David?"

Catherine deliberately went barefoot, her legs relaxed and crossed in front of her, one leg naturally extended forward, the lines of her calf smooth and flowing. The slit in her fitted black dress revealed the delicate skin from her thigh to her ankle, perfectly highlighting the soft curves of her legs.

"If you really wanted to make this request, you could have just told me directly," David advised. "There's no need to strike such an alluring pose. Doesn't your asymmetrical sitting posture get tiring after a while?"

"Hmm, you found out."

Hearing this, Catherine had no choice but to change to a slightly more normal sitting posture.

While the original posture looked relaxed and casual, and had just the right amount of elegance, the asymmetrical sitting posture would keep the pelvis in a tilted state with uneven force.

Not only will it cause tension and stiffness in the muscles around the hip joint, but over time the spine will also develop compensatory scoliosis to maintain body balance, leading to lower back pain.

"Come, come sit down." David reached out and pulled her up from the ground.

"What, are you going to show off your massage skills again?"

Catherine lay prone on the padded bed, supporting part of her upper body with her arms, raising her legs and crossing her lower legs naturally, with the soles of her feet pointing towards the ceiling.

She turned to ask, "Is it the same as last time?"

"Yes, but it's slightly different."

David lay almost completely beside Catherine, his upper body leaning forward so that his chest was almost touching her back, his center of gravity completely lowered.

One arm crossed forward from under the other person's armpit, and the palm firmly pressed against her left forearm to stabilize the body's posture.

"You can put your legs down; you don't have to be facing the ceiling like this."

f

David pressed down on the other person's raised legs with one hand, "Like this, raise your legs a little higher, keep them suspended in the air."

Catherine's eyes widened slightly, her lips parted naturally, and her face showed a look of surprise and confusion, as if she didn't quite understand what the other person was doing.