Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

In 1983, when John Woo was filming a gun battle movie in Thailand, the crew used real guns and live ammunition for the sake of convenience, resulting in an actor being shot in the thigh.

After returning to Hong Kong from filming in Thailand, John Woo was fired by Golden Harvest, and the gun battle film was shelved and not released to the public.

John Woo subsequently joined Cinema City, but was not valued and was sent to the Taiwan branch, where he made two flops, "The Comedian" and "Two Tigers".

After returning to Hong Kong in 1985, John Woo became very embarrassed.

Some people say that John Woo's movies are no longer in line with the trend and are outdated.

John Woo was very sad, he felt that he still had the ability to make good movies.

Finally, he proved himself with "A Better Tomorrow".

After the huge success of "A Better Tomorrow", Golden Harvest quickly brought out the action film that had been shelved for three years.

It was named "Heroes Without Tears" and the five words "Director John Woo" were typed as big as possible on the poster to ride on the popularity of the film.

John Woo is so proud!

Today at the Academy Awards ceremony, he was even more proud.

He won the Best Film, the highest honor at the Academy Awards.

Producer Xu Feng, supervisor Xu Ke, director John Woo, starring Ti Lung, Zhang Guorong, Wang Zuxian, Li Zixiong, and guest star Yang Ye all took the stage together.

In fact, Yang Ye also has another position, which is... producer. Since he is on stage, he should be the first to give the acceptance speech.

However, Yang Ye felt that such a moment should be reserved for John Woo, so he simply said thank you and handed the trophy to John Woo.

John Woo quickly waved his hand to decline the seat, as it was not his turn yet.

So producer Xu Feng and supervisor Xu Ke each said a few words, and finally it was John Woo's turn.

Holding the trophy, John Woo felt mixed emotions. He calmed down for a while before saying, "In 1985, after I returned to Hong Kong, some friends advised me not to make movies anymore, saying that I was not keeping up with the trend.

The trend at that time was exaggerated comedy, and they asked me to go home and watch video tapes to see what was popular. I was very angry. Xu Ke was also there at the time, and he was even more angry than I was.

He pulled me aside and said he had decided to talk to the company and let him be the producer and I be the director. He supported me in making "A Better Tomorrow". This was the movie he originally wanted to make, but he gave the opportunity to me!

My boss was very supportive of me. He told me, John, some people out there say that you are box office poison, but I don’t think so. I think you just haven’t found your style.

He said, "You can do this movie "A Better Tomorrow" with all your strength, I fully support you. If you want money, I will give you money; if you want people, I will give them people!"

I am very lucky. When I was at my lowest point, I had my wife who always encouraged me, and my good brothers and my good boss who always supported me.

I am also honored to work with great actors like Ti Lung, Leslie, Xiaoxian and Ah Xiong.

We created A Better Tomorrow together, and this honor should belong to all of us. Thank you!"

"Clap clap clap clap!"

The audience applauded enthusiastically!

This acceptance speech contains touching stories of brotherhood and the story of Bole and his steed. Who wouldn't be moved?
The bosses of TVB, Golden Harvest and Cinema City were very unhappy.

John Woo and Ti Lung were the ones eliminated by them, but Yang Ye treated them as treasures and gave them strong support, eventually gaining two powerful generals.

What does this mean? It means they are blind!

No wonder Baiyang Company can dominate Asia, Yang Ye has a good vision.

……

A total of twenty awards were given out at this year's Academy Awards, and Baiyang Company won five major awards including "Best Screenplay", "Best Photography", "Best Director", "Best Actor" and "Best Film".

Although it was not the most, it still won the three most important awards, and only missed the "Best Actress" award to Cinema City, which can be said to be a great victory.

As for the celebration banquet, it was naturally a grand occasion.

Just like last year, a top-notch banquet with 50 tables costing RMB 20,000 per table was held at the Fulinmen Restaurant, letting people see what luxury is!
During the dinner, everyone toasted each other and naturally praised Yang Ye's vision as the boss.

The director of "Autumn Fairy Tale" Ann Hui Sum is a newcomer and cannot attract investment.

John Woo, the director of "A Better Tomorrow", is a flop.

It is Yang Ye’s keen eye and strong support that have made today’s grand occasion possible.

Everyone's admiration for Yang Ye is like the surging river, endless, or like the flooding Yellow River, unstoppable.

In addition, when Yang Ye was interviewed at the Academy Awards, he boasted that he would spend 3 billion to create an unprecedented film series.

The people in the company even felt that following Yang Ye, they had a bright future.

After all... Yang Ye has never been defeated, and everyone is full of confidence in him.

No matter how much he brags, people will believe him!

……

After Yang Ye accepted a round of toasts from everyone, he said he couldn't drink anymore, so everyone stopped forcing him and toasted each other, tasting the delicacies on the table.

Yang Ye pulled Xu Ke aside and said, "Old Xu, I heard that you are planning a movie. What is it... one man and two wives... what is it?"

Xu Ke was surprised and said, "We're still in the process of preparing, the script hasn't even been written yet, and you already know about this?"

"Has your Nan Sheng mentioned this to A Feng?"

"Oh, I want to make an urban comedy with a low budget, called "Diary of a Real Man"."

The original time and space of "Diary of a Real Man" is an urban comedy starring Chow Yun-fat, Sally Yeh and Wang Zuxian, telling the story of a man with two wives.

This is not a great movie. Yang Ye simply felt that the subject matter was suitable for him, and he wanted to express something through this film.

Yang Ye said: "How about I act?"

Xu Ke was a little confused: "Ah? The box office of this movie may not even be enough to cover your salary!"

He couldn't understand why Yang Ye would like such a movie? It's impossible!

Yang Ye said: "I don't want any pay, in the end it's making money for the company anyway. I'm tired of action movies, I want to try something else. Besides, I really like your subject matter... you know!"

Yang Ye blinked at Xu Ke, and Xu Ke immediately understood.

Why did Xu Ke make this weird movie?
Because he wanted to hold Shi Nansheng in his left hand and Sally Yeh in his right hand, have multiple wives and realize a man’s dream!
Of course, he can't realize it in reality, so he can only make a movie to fulfill his fantasy.

Yang Ye has already practiced polygamy, but he is not satisfied and he wants to make it public.

He decided to star in this movie because he wanted to use it to tell the world his attitude towards life.

Xu Ke smiled frivolously and said, "Okay, if you're willing to play the leading role, I'd love to have you. I'll finish the script as soon as possible!"

Yang Ye smiled and said, "Okay! Okay!"

Xu Ke said: "You can choose between the two heroines. I don't care!"

Xu Ke originally wanted to ask Sally Yeh to star in this movie, after all, he had to provide resources for his lover.

However, since Yang Ye took the initiative to jump out and play the role, Sally Yeh cannot be the female lead.

"Yang Ye is too good at seducing women. What if he gets my Sally into bed with him..."

Damn it, Xu Ke shuddered at the thought of it, maybe he should let another woman play the role!

…After the celebration banquet, Yang Ye continued to devote himself to the filming of “Terminator 2”.

The biggest challenge now...is to nuke Los Angeles.

Yang Ye worked with the Ziqi Company to study documentary footage of nuclear explosions, and then created an adjustable micro-fiber mushroom cloud that can precisely control the shape of the cloud.

Before leaving Los Angeles, they took an aerial photo of Los Angeles as a reference, and then used this photo to create a picture of the ruins after the explosion as the final effect.

After that, we started making miniature models of trees, vehicles, buildings, etc. During the final shooting, we used air cannons to carry out blasting.

In addition, Lin Qingxia will be scanned by laser and her terrified expression will be recorded by computer.

Then a life-like model was made, and freeze-frame footage of her being destroyed by a nuclear bomb was taken to integrate her into the scene of the nuclear explosion.

Finally, the various shots were combined to create a truly nightmarish scene.

These things are extremely detailed and complicated. There is no shortcut and you can only work on them slowly.

However, it is still early and there is no problem with releasing it in the summer, so the promotion started first.

While Yang Ye and his team were working on the nuclear explosion scenes, the production of another film by Baiyang Pictures, "A Chinese Ghost Story", was also nearing completion.

"A Chinese Ghost Story" was filmed for a total of eight months, which was a very long period.

Some people say that Hong Kong films are all made quickly, shooting a movie in a week or something like that. That’s true, but most of them are shoddy and bad films.

The shooting period of truly masterpieces is not short, for example, Jet Li's "Once Upon a Time in China" took a whole year to shoot.

The special effects of "A Chinese Ghost Story" in the original time and space were very crude, relying entirely on props. For example, the grandma's tongue was just a piece of dyed sponge.

Computer special effects were not used until the third film.

And now, with the existence of Ziqi Company, special effects were used directly in the first film.

From the visual effect point of view, it is much better than the "A Chinese Ghost Story" in the original time and space.

To this end, more than two million Hong Kong dollars were spent on special effects production.

At Ziqi Company, while Xu Ke was thinking about the special effects of "A Chinese Ghost Story", he couldn't help but go to visit the filming of "Terminator 2".

After watching it, the old monster felt a little cold in his hands and feet.

"The effects of your Terminator 2 are too strong. How can I beat it?"

Yang Ye said: "Your "A Chinese Ghost Story" cost 2 million US dollars, which is considered a big production in Hong Kong. But our "Terminator " cost million US dollars, which is a world-class production. If the effect is not awesome, won't I have wasted my money?"

Xu Ke said helplessly: "The key is that we have also scheduled it for the summer season!"

Yang Ye said: "Let's stagger the filming schedule by one month. Yours in July, mine in August. I'll let you go first."

"It can only be this way!"

The visual effects of "Terminator 2" are so strong that if "A Chinese Ghost Story" was released after it, the contrast would be very tragic.

In fact, the box office of "A Chinese Ghost Story" series in Hong Kong was not very good, but it had a huge influence overseas. Wang Zuxian even became famous in Japan and South Korea for the role of Xiaoqian.

Wang Zuxian is now a member of Girls' Generation and is already very popular in Japan and South Korea. "A Chinese Ghost Story" will only make her even more popular!
Yang Ye saw that the time was almost up, and he still had to go to the recording studio to help Deng Lijun record "Castle in the Sky", so he said: "Old Wu, you keep an eye on this, I'm leaving first!"

Now they are only at the stage of making miniature models, and it is not time for actual filming yet, so there is no need for Yang Ye to keep staring at it.

However, John Woo was very interested in these things and often stayed in Zi Qi Company for a whole day.

After seeing these things, Xu Ke couldn't move his legs and decided not to leave.

Yang Ye was too lazy to chat with two grown men, so he went out and asked Li Zhi, "Have you finished writing the lyrics for Huang Zhan?"

Li Zhi said: "I called him half an hour ago and he said to wait for him for half an hour..."

"Damn it, it's procrastinating again. It can't be done until the last minute, right?"

Yang Ye complained and said, "It just so happens that Huang Zhan's company and the recording studio are on the same road. Let's go and find Huang Lao Xie to urge him to submit the manuscript in person!"

After driving all the way to the "Huang Helin" advertising company, Yang Ye went upstairs and broke into Huang Zhan's office and asked face to face: "Uncle Zhan, how long are you going to delay this?"

There was another young man in Huang Zhan's office, and Yang Ye recognized him as Ni Zhen at a glance.

Not long after Ni Zhen returned from studying in the United States, he was introduced by his father Ni Kuang to work as a copywriter in Huang Zhan's advertising company.

But Yang Ye was too lazy to pay attention to this guy and just pretended not to see it.

Huang Zhan said with a smile: "Your work cannot be sloppy. I have written several drafts and was just about to ask Ah Zhen to send them to you. I didn't expect you to come in person. Can you pick one?"

Yang Ye picked up the manuscript paper and read it through, then picked out one of the drafts.

When Ni Zhen saw this, he was delighted because he had written the manuscript.

Unexpectedly, Yang Ye slammed the manuscript on the table and said bluntly: "Uncle Chan, did you mix something weird into your manuscript? I won't pay you for this."

In fact, Ni Zhen still has some talent, and the manuscript is well written, but compared with Huang Zhan's mature writing style, it is naturally incompatible, and Yang Ye is not blind.

Huang Zhan said awkwardly: "This... is the wrong place!"

Ni Zhen's face turned red. He mixed the manuscript in, naturally hoping to catch Yang Ye's eye and get to know Yang Ye.

He didn't expect Yang Ye to be so dismissive, which made him feel insulted.

Yang Ye picked again and said, "Let's take this one. Let's go!"

Yang Ye stood up and left without even looking at Ni Zhen. Ni Zhen had hoped to get to know Yang Ye, but he had to give up!
Seeing Yang Ye slam the door shut, Ni Zhen immediately complained in frustration: "Uncle Chan, isn't this guy too arrogant?"

Huang Zhan said without comment: "He has the capital to be arrogant!"

Then he added: "Don't let me help you do this kind of shit in the future!"

It feels bad to be slapped in the face. Huang Zhan feels bad, and Ni Zhen feels even worse.

Yang Ye walked to the door like a gust of wind, and a girl in a red dress with long flowing hair just walked in. The two passed each other and almost bumped into each other.

The girl was tall, with a strand of soft black hair brushing against Yang Ye's shoulders, giving off a faint girlish fragrance.

Yang Ye sniffed the fragrance of the girl's hair, turned around and said, "Miss, please wait a moment!"

The girl stood still when she heard that, turned around, glanced back, and immediately said in surprise: "You are Young Master Yang!"

Yang Ye nodded and smiled, "It's me! What's your name?"

The girl quickly said: "My name is Michele, Li Jiaxin!"

Yang Ye asked: "Michelle, do you want to make a movie?"

"Make...make a movie?"

"Yes, I'm planning to shoot a movie, and I haven't found a suitable candidate for an important role in the movie. Just now, we passed each other and I took a quick glance at you. I suddenly felt that you are the role I'm looking for!"

Li Jiaxin was ecstatic. Being able to star in Yang Ye's movie was like pie in the sky.

Although this happened a little too suddenly and a little too inexplicable.

Just a passing encounter and the role was decided?
If the person standing in front of her was not Yang Ye himself, Li Jiaxin would have thought she had met a lunatic!
"I do!" Li Jiaxin said without hesitation.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she must seize it! (End of this chapter)