Chapter 36: Heroes and Fell

"Salute to "The Legend of the Goddess" directed by King Hu!"

——Director Li Siming talks about "Ten-sided Ambush"

Li Siming and Zeng Zhi stayed in Shenzhen for more than half a month.

Within half a month, the two of them were no longer pretentious and used all the relationships they should use, which made the SAR government's personnel relationship thoroughly, which was quite suspicious of relying on their power. After making various guarantees to the relevant departments and making a lot of promises, they handed over the matters in Shenzhen to the three Dashangmen, Li Siming and Zeng Zhi returned to Hong Kong.

Before the Spring Festival, Li Siming and the crew members barely finished the scene of "Mudanfang". The scene in Mudanfang is a classic! The creation is gorgeous, with martial arts in the dance of blind girls, and the role of water sleeves playing drums is natural. Qi Qi also worked very hard to complete the character creation. The whole Mudanfang scene was absolutely thrilling! It is a little regretful that Qi Qi's performance is still a bit thin. It can be seen that she has worked very hard, but in Li Siming's opinion, this is already very good.

Zeng Zhi calculated that so far, he had spent 9 million yuan unknowingly. These actors are not stars, which saved a lot of total cost. With the subsequent plays and post-production, 10 million is not enough, and it seems that only overspends are available.

When spring really came, Li Siming and Zeng Zhi led the crew to the outdoor location of Yongchuan, Sichuan, and Xiaodao also rushed from his hometown to his destination.

When they arrived in Yongchuan, they noticed that there was a hazy mist in the bamboo sea, and the beautiful oriental poetic scenery made them intoxicated.

Bamboo often becomes a cultural carrier in Chinese culture. Before paper appears on a large scale, small bamboo pieces are connected together. It is the inheritance of our ancestors' culture and thoughts that our splendid culture is created. All of them have the saying "it's hard to write about".

"The Book of Rites and Music": Gold, stone, silk and bamboo are instruments of music. Musical instruments such as flutes and flutes made of bamboo constitute the most important part of Chinese national music, as the so-called "sound of silk and bamboo".

"The Book of Songs Xiao Yasi Gan": "Like bamboo buds, like pine trees." Fan Shiyan of the Ming Dynasty said: "I wish you a birthday, wish the bamboo buds and pine trees, and the sun and moon are long." It describes the foundation as stable as bamboo, and the branches and leaves are as lush as pine trees. It is used as an lyric for longevity or when the palace is completed, and it is also a metaphor for the prosperity of the family.

"Wei Family Spring and Autumn": "Ji Kang and Ruan Ji, Chen Liu, Shantao, Henan, Xiang Xiu, Ji's brother and son, King Rong of Xianlangye, and Liu Ling from Pei, were friendly to each other, traveled in the bamboo forest, and were known as the Seven Sages.

"Biography of Du Yu in the Book of Jin": "The power of the army has been lifted, like a broken bamboo, after several minutes, it will be solved." It describes victory after success, without any stop. It also describes an unstoppable momentum.

The great poet Li Bai's poem "Long Qianxing" says: "A man rides a bamboo horse and plays with green plums around the bed. He lives together for thousands of miles, and there is no doubt about two young people." This is a metaphor for the innocent feelings of men, women and children playing together.

The bamboo branches are tall, slender, graceful and graceful, graceful, colorful, green in all seasons, and proud of the rain. They are loved by the people of our country. They are one of the four gentlemen of "Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum" and one of the three friends of "Plum, Pine, Pine, Bamboo and Bamboo" in the cold year. Many literati and poets in ancient and modern my country have loved bamboo and chanted bamboo. It is said that the great painter Zheng Banqiao stayed in no bamboo, leaving behind a large number of bamboo paintings and bamboo poems. The great poet Su Dongpo left behind the famous saying "It is better to eat without meat than to live without bamboo."

There were no natural bamboos in Europe, and there were only a few types in North America. In the eyes of Western audiences, bamboo forests are typical landscapes with oriental artistic conception. This film emphasizes the visual effect. The full color of the bamboo forest is almost like a Chinese painting. The mountain here is called Tea Mountain. Among the rolling mountains, the green bamboo forests are all reflected in the eyes. The place chosen by Li Siming is a place called Fanziwan.

Since Hu Jinquan's "The Legend of the Goddess" became famous internationally for a fierce battle in bamboo forests with a very artistic conception, many martial arts films in later generations have also begun to "elegantly" and use "bamboo forest fighting scenes" to enhance the artistic conception and taste of the film. As long as he enters the bamboo forest, he turns around and becomes a knight. Although the famous "bamboo forest duel" was only ten minutes, it took twenty-five days to shoot. Master Hu's almost harsh demands on perfect images finally made this section have both a distant artistic conception and a fierce murderous intent.

In the early morning, mist rose in the bamboo forest. The green bamboo was as tall as a sentry, and the forest was empty and ethereal, like a Chinese painting. If there was no work to do, if it could withstand the temptation of the outside world, you could build a house here for a long time and be a god-like figure in Chinese painting.

"So beautiful!" Everyone couldn't help but exclaim.

"What are you doing when you are standing there?" Li Siming had to pull out the cast and crew who were intoxicated from "obsession".

Li Siming directed people to collect bamboo leaves in sacks, and then began to spread bamboo leaves evenly on the road to the shooting site. These leaves were collected from the mountains in the distance, with a total of more than 300 bags, which took a lot of effort.

This section is a climax of the fighting scene, and even the most important and distinctive part. It is necessary to create a dangerous atmosphere of the sky and earth net. Just chasing the ground is far from enough. In order to complete this scene, Li Siming asked the Yindu Organization to invite many acrobats from Sichuan. They can easily climb the bamboo with bare hands, and then turn over and jump to another bamboo. After communicating with the photographer, they took real shots on the spot to create a real effect. So Director Chen planned to let this "special forces" from ancient governments shuttle back and forth between the treetops, echoing each other, and project bamboo guns from the air to block the little sister and Captain Jin's head forward, creating the greatest sense of oppression for the fugitives.

"Our is a big deal and very creative!" Lao Liu said to Li Siming.

"Of course, if we want to do it, we should do what our predecessors have never done before!" Li Siming was very arrogant about this.

In this section, the work of the sound effects master is also very important. First, the government pursuers used bamboo guns to cast the sound effects of the Golden Captain and the Little Sister, as well as the sound of the sword cutting the green bamboo. The sound of the bamboo bursting is all details, but they must strive to be true and infectious. In the whole film, the ambush encountered by the Xiaomei and the Little Sister are the most dangerous, and they are finally put to death and then borne. Therefore, it is required to use the bamboo gun to create a "terrifying" feeling, highlighting its lethality and mystery. In Yongchuan, the sound effects master and his team cut down more than a dozen bamboos, tied a lot of eyes on it, and then waved it in the air, creating a low-whistling sound effect, which is exactly the "width, thick, and heavy" feeling that Li Siming needed. It took about eight or nine days to collect the sound sound of various bamboos. In the post-production process, select the most expressive sound effects.

This section requires a lot of special stunts, and some special stunts were originally completed by computers. Of course, Li Siming did not have a computer, so he could only try to strive for the effect he wanted through some special stunts. The knife is an expert in making swords. The sword flew up and rotated in the air and cut off a bamboo gun was completed by small knife. This was also completed by the knife after many failures. The high-speed camera captured a decent shot, and the rest was left to the editors in the later stage. The flying knife of the "Flying Knife Gate" was originally designed by Xiao Dao himself, which was to ensure that this arc knife could have the effect of rotating and flying easily and to achieve the effects needed by Li Siming as much as possible.

Although it was still very different from the effect he wanted, Li Siming had already laughed secretly. Without a knife, Li Siming would probably be a clever woman who would not cook without rice.

Li Siming and his crew filmed for a month in Sichuan, and the movie was finally finished. Being a director is very hard, and being an actor is also very hard. The director is just starting out and the actor is also just starting out, so they are all willing to endure hardships. Li Siming thought of a big star who returned from abroad in the future who had to fly first class, live four or above, and traffic jams were counted within working hours, which also required the director to be a god. For Hong Kong artists at this time, filming and working all night long is a part of life. Unlike Hollywood, they had to abide by the regulations on labor time and have to take weekends to rest and take vacations.

All the shooting was completed, and Li Siming breathed a sigh of relief. For him, this debut work was a tough tough battle, but fortunately it went smoothly. In addition to some minor coordination issues, the cast and crew cooperated tacitly. The rest of the work was post-production editing and soundtrack recording.

Editing is particularly important. For example, a shot of jumping off a building can be shot in the following ways: First, the person fell from a window and fell on a web - of course, the Internet cannot appear on the screen, and then the same person fell from a low-high place to the ground. Connect these two shots together to get the desired impression. This tragedy of jumping off the building actually does not exist, it just appears on the screen. It is the result of two films being connected. From this incident, the fact that a person fell from an astonishing height only chose two points: the beginning and end of jumping off the building were removed in the air.

The above reflects one of the functions of editing. Re-cutting is usually done with detailed editing and corrections, so that the characters' language, movements, film structure and rhythm are close to the standardization. Fine cutting should be carried out again accurately and meticulously based on repeated considerations, such as the conversion of colors, music, and scenes.

Since Glyphis created seamless editing, people have truly realized the importance of editing. Generally, a movie requires a smooth editing, that is, the conversion between shots makes the audience not make obvious jumps after watching, and their thinking will not be interrupted when watching a connected action. Another important principle in editing is that they cannot be confused. Visual chaos cannot be caused by lens conversion, but this editing technique was challenged in the 1980s, and some directors deliberately made the audience feel illusion. The so-called "movement and movement" and "quiet and quiet" are an important rule for the camera to achieve coordination. Whether an event can be extended or shortened on the screen is an important factor in whether the editor can control the progress of the film, and a highly sensitive means for directors and editors to control the rhythm and timing of the film.

Li Siming doesn't want the audience to watch a movie that is dragging on the mud, and he doesn't want the audience to see a movie that is so fast that it's too late to think and is foggy.

The editor is from Yindu Company and is a veteran, while Lao Liu and Director Chen are also experts, but Li Siming has more creativity that others cannot reach.

"Now we can be called making a movie!" Li Siming said to the editor, "In the future, we should play the role of the editor in a movie." Li Siming also said this to Lao Liu. The influence of a movie in later generations depends to a large extent on the level of editing. Therefore, we can say that the director of a movie was completed in the editing room.

Editors were not valued in this era. They were usually regarded as technicians. Hollywood was mainly engaged in this industry by women for a long time because directors believed that editing was like knitting sweaters, and women were skillfully suitable for doing this. However, with the development of film art, a film that used specific, flashback, parallel plot, slow motion, and image overlapping, which made a movie look good. This was even more true in later so-called big productions such as "The Matrix". Because of editing, dozens or even hundreds of flaws were picked out.

The requirements for editing when shooting martial arts films are particularly important, because you must make the movements coherent, handle them well, and the movements are natural and smooth, and two obviously different pictures are put together. In the coherent background music and sound effects, you will not feel that you are actually seeing several things that have been processed through different angles. And "cutting" it has the advantage of hiding the failures in real movie shooting, and add a picture in the subsequent "connection" to make your movie reach your imagination.

There is no effect. Other directors may just shoot a fight scene with a main shot and a few conversion shots, but Li Siming often shoots dozens or even hundreds of shots. Using post-production editing, the instant blink can be solidified in the form of slow motion, and the shaking of wrists when the knife is cut into the body is enhanced. The audience will be taken into a roller coaster-like journey of detail, and therefore will be truly integrated into the fierce fight. Li Siming will make the editing of this film another highlight.

The editing stand is the workbench of the editor. The table is inlaid with milky white glass, and the light can be displayed from below to see the picture on the video for editing operation. The slitting machine (also known as a synchronizer) is an indispensable tool in editing work. It can align the videos with one another so that they can move forward or backward simultaneously. The slitting machine must always be kept clean and in good condition. Otherwise, the videos will be damaged or the videos will be stained. The slitting machine is also called the slitting machine, which is a machine for connecting videos. The principle of the slitting machine is to use a scraper to clean the film on the films and then connect them with a bonding agent.

The only thing that made Li Siming dissatisfied was that he could not smoke in the editing room, and he had to nail it like a nail throughout the process and express his "high opinions" at any time.

Tang Jiaren's music was finally completed before Li Siming's filming was completed. Of course, this was done under Zeng Zhi's threat and temptation. In the end, he found that he had gained a lot from it, and the most important thing was a sense of accomplishment. Of course, Prince Zeng was not a stingy person. A check equivalent to his annual salary was put into his pocket. Later, he found that he had received far more things than these.

In the early 1980s, Hong Kong movies included two giants Shaw Brothers and Jiahe, and in addition to this, the newly emerged New Art City. After filming four movies including "Funny Age", New Art City invited the popular Xu Guanjie at a sky-high price. The so-called sky-high price refers to Xu Guanjie's pay of up to 2 million Hong Kong dollars plus the Japanese port sales bonus. At that time, it only cost 20,000 yuan to buy a 100-square-meter apartment in the center of Hong Kong. Xu Guanjie can be said to have a superstar high pay

The first place. But it is worth it. "Best Partner" created the highest box office in Hong Kong film history. It was released during the Spring Festival in 1982, breaking the box office record since its opening. It was the first movie to have a box office of more than 20 million yuan. "Best Partner" had a box office of more than 26 million Hong Kong dollars, and the ticket price at that time was only 7 yuan, which means that more than half of Hong Kong people went to the theater to watch the movie. 1982 was the most glorious year for the New Art City.

Zeng Zhi was quite envious of other people's movies.

"Amin, will our movie be popular?" Zeng Zhi asked.

"I don't know!" Li Siming answered very simply. Although this movie uses a lot of elements that others have never used in this era: good-looking and visually impactful fighting; original music that closely matches the theme can win a prize; carefully crafted costume props are definitely well-made; and Li Siming is very proud of the performances of the three protagonists. Even if the movie is not recognized, the performances of the actors will be accepted and recognized, and some plot ideas in the film are never used. The only thing he is not sure about is, is the audience recognized?

"We have been busy for half a year, and you say you don't know now?" Zeng Zhi had the heart to kill him.

Li Siming looked at Zeng Zhi with a "sense of justice" and chuckled: "Of course I think this is a good movie, but I can't judge the quality of a movie on behalf of the audience. Everything will make the market decide. If this movie sells well, it's a good movie. As for the level of my director, I don't care!"

"Our only advantage is that the taste of the audience is hanged up by us. In addition, there are no other competitive films in our schedule. If our films are not in line with the taste of the audience, the audience will be fooled!"

"Schedule? Are you quite proud of the time period that others look down on? However, from the perspective of my brother, I advise you to prepare some dry food and water."

"Why?" Zeng Zhiqi said.

"You think this newspaper reports our movies every day. If you don't talk about us every day, it seems like something is missing. As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. If the audience is too disappointed and can't control themselves, I'm worried that they will tear your boss Zeng apart. You have to prepare some dry food in advance, and then run to a place where no one can take shelter!"

"Hmph, that's all my business. You are the director. At most, I'll be scolded for being accused of being accused of being a bandit in an unknown way!" Zeng Zhi retorted.

"Then we will not be allowed to escape. Otherwise, we will not attend the premiere?" Li Siming suggested. He said he didn't care about the directorial arts, but the taste that the ten thousand men refer to was not something that normal people can calmly accept.

"No, you have to give it to me even if you want to be a deserter."

"Well? This seems to be the line I once hung on my mouth." Li Siming turned to Xiaodao and said, "Xiaodao, do you think so?"

"But when you said this before, there was another sentence you wouldn't have forgotten on purpose, right?" Xiaodao said.

"What do you mean?" Li Siming said.

"After me if you are not afraid of death!" Xiaodao said affirmatively, "Don't you 'for' me! Do you want to be a hero or a deserter?"

Li Siming was silent, Zeng Zhi was confused.
Chapter completed!