Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

"Ready, blast!"

The air cannon that had been prepared long ago was fired immediately, and the miniature model of the city of Los Angeles was destroyed in an instant.

Once you build a pile of building blocks, you will inexplicably have an urge to knock it down.

This is the situation now. The city that took a lot of time and effort to build was destroyed by a cannon. It brought Yang Ye an inexplicable pleasure, which was even more satisfying than firing a cannon!

Hey, isn't this also firing a cannon?
strange!

High-speed cameras quickly recorded everything, but that's not enough.

It was also necessary to film the bread being broken, study the trajectory of the fragments, and then use digital technology to recreate this movement.

We also had to shoot close-up shots of Lin Qingxia being destroyed by a nuclear bomb, which required using infrared to scan her facial expressions, making a model, and then using stop-motion animation.

Finally, all the shots are combined together to create the final nuclear explosion effect.

After everything was finished, Yang Ye announced: "Terminator 2...Filming is complete!"

"Clap clap clap!"

There was warm applause in the studio. Everyone felt relieved and their faces were filled with enthusiastic smiles.

Although the movie has not been released yet, during the filming process, they created one magical shot after another, making everyone believe that this will be a groundbreaking masterpiece!
……

At the wrap-up party, Yang Ye said to John Woo, "Old Wu, although all the shots have been shot, we can't relax yet. You have to help me keep an eye on the post-production. After this is done, I will fully support whatever movie you want to make."

Wu Yusen was overjoyed. This was what he had been waiting for. He quickly said, "I will definitely do my best!"

Yang Ye then said to Zhang Yimou: "Mouzi, what do you think of this movie?"

Zhang Yimou thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "I don't know how to describe the feeling I got during the filming process. If I use two words to describe it, it would be... shocking!
I used to think that making a movie was just about writing a script, finding a few actors, and then carrying a camera to shoot.

I didn’t expect there are so many incredible methods to shoot so many amazing shots. I… admire you!”

Zhang Yimou didn't know what to say, so he just clasped his fist towards Yang Ye.

Yang Ye patted his shoulder and said, "Mouzi, you have a very keen sense of color. In time, you will become an extremely outstanding photographer.

But I can see that your ambition is more than that. You are not content to be just a photographer. You hope to be able to operate a project by yourself, right?"

Yang Ye hit the nail on the head and Zhang Yimou had no choice but to nod his head vigorously and admitted it very frankly.

"Correct!"

“Very good!” Yang Ye slapped the table and praised: “Since you have talent and ambition, I will provide you with a stage to display your talents. Do you have any subject you want to shoot?”

Zhang Yimou was very excited. He did have a subject he wanted to film, but just as he was about to blurt it out, he suddenly hesitated and stopped abruptly.

Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Yang Ye asked suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Yimou said: "I do have a subject in mind that I want to shoot, but... after you finished shooting such a cool "Terminator 2", I feel that the subject matter... is very rustic. So, for a moment, I hesitated."

Yang Ye said: "If you want to succeed in art, the secret is just two words: confidence! You must have strong confidence in your work and what you want to express. Otherwise, your artistic career will end here. There is no need to bother."

Zhang Yimou was so ashamed when he heard this that he poured himself a glass of wine, drank it in one gulp, and said, "There is a writer named Mo Yan in the mainland who is good at writing magical realist novels. He has a novel called Red Sorghum, which I think is very suitable for adaptation into a movie."

When Yang Ye heard this, he thought, as expected, some things have to happen.

The movie "Red Sorghum" is simple, crude and full of wild power. Zhang Yimou won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival for it.

It also made Gong Li famous overnight and influenced Jiang Wen's life. The shadow of this film can be seen in Jiang Wen's later films.

For Yang Ye, it is not impossible to support Zhang Yimou in filming "Red Sorghum".

But... Zhang Yimou had sex with Gong Li because of this movie, and Yang Ye couldn't tolerate this.

When it comes to sleeping with Gong Li...of course it should be me!
Well, if he wants to shoot, let him shoot. I will intercept him when the time comes.

Yang Ye said, "I've read this novel. You say it's rustic, it is indeed very rustic, but it is just like you, it grew out of this land. If you think it's rustic, you think you are rustic. It's easy to be fashionable, but it's hard to keep your original heart. I support you in filming it!"

Yang Ye is three years younger than Zhang Yimou. He speaks in an old-fashioned manner and with some inspirational words. However, Zhang Yimou did not feel uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, he was very grateful to Yang Ye for pointing him out.

After all, Yang Ye’s achievements are there.

"Thank you, boss!" Zhang Yimou said happily.

Yang Ye thought for a moment and said, "Let's co-produce this movie with a mainland film studio. They will provide the resources and the convenience of filming. We will pay the money, and we can spend as much as we want, as long as we make a good movie and don't waste it."

In fact, it doesn't cost much. Even if you spend as much as you want on this movie, it won't cost more than one million, but the investment company can at least make back ten million.

Zhang Yimou was from the Xi'an Film Studio. He asked, "How about cooperating with the Xi'an Film Studio?"

Yang Ye nodded: "No problem, then you can go directly north next week, but you have to be quick, sorghum should not be grown by many people now.

So if you want to make this movie, you have to grow sorghum yourself and hire someone to take care of it. If you are late, you can only wait until next year."

Zhang Yimou agreed and toasted Yang Ye with another glass of wine.

Yang Ye drank a glass with him and added: "I will go on a business trip to the mainland in a few months. I will help you check it out then!" What checkout? Of course, it's Gong Li's checkout!
……

The amazing thing about the movie "Red Sorghum" is that it breaks the rule that even movies that win awards abroad are not watched by anyone in China.

Kaizi Ge's "Yellow Earth" was the first film to win an award at an international film festival after the reform and opening up, with a box office of 809 yuan.

Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" directly made 4000 million, and it was a double hit in both word-of-mouth and box office.

The most amazing thing is that this movie also sold well overseas. For example, it sold more than 4 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong.

Don't laugh, it's already very high.

Many people in later generations would criticize "Red Sorghum" for vilifying the Chinese.

In fact, it is not just later generations. There were people who criticized like this at that time, and they criticized very vigorously. However, they were all elderly people.

Many senior professors believe that Red Sorghum caters to the low tastes of some audiences, such as the vulgar scenes of skinning people, urinating in wine jars, and men and women having sex in sorghum fields.

But... the older people criticize it, but the younger generation desperately defends it.

Young people love this movie so much that they would shout “Sister, go forward boldly…” when walking on the street.

That era was the most open era in the country's history. It was shortly after the reform and opening up, and everyone was eager to learn about the world. The bustle of various exhibitions was like the crowded subways in later generations.

Even body art, which was once labeled "obscene and vulgar," can now be performed on stage with justification.

The first "Oil Painting Human Body Art Exhibition" opened at the National Art Museum of China, and the queue of people to see the exhibition stretched two stops away.

……

As Yang Ye's blockbuster "Terminator 2" is coming, other film companies are trembling with fear and are adjusting their schedules.

There's no way around it. This blockbuster movie cost 500 million Hong Kong dollars, and its cost alone is enough to equal the annual local box office of Hong Kong films. It's damn scary.

In fact, the original "Terminator 2" was not that popular in Hong Kong. It took in HK$1991 million at the box office in 2793, ranking ninth in the year.

It was beaten by Stephen Chow's "Fight Back to School", Chen Long's "Project Flying Eagle" and Chow Yun-fat's "Once Upon a Time in China".

But that version was shot by foreigners, while Yang Ye's version was shot by Chinese, which is two different things.

Jiang Zhiqiang said: "I heard that many movies have been moved to July to avoid "Terminator 2"."

When Xu Ke heard this, he immediately looked worried. Everyone was avoiding Yang Ye, but they came towards him.

Xu Feng said, "I think we should move A-Long's "Project A: The Sequel" to June 6th, the first one to be released; A-Rong and Xiaoxian's "A Chinese Ghost Story" to July 28th, the middle one; and A-Ye's "Terminator 7" to August 18th, the last one to be released."

Everyone thinks this is a good idea. With two big guys protecting it in front and behind, "A Chinese Ghost Story" huddled in the middle feels very safe.

Xu Ke was very satisfied with the schedule, but suddenly said, "By the way, Young Master Yang insisted on starring in my film 'Diary of a Real Man', which also has to be scheduled for the summer!"

Jiang Zhiqiang didn't know about this yet, and asked curiously, "I haven't heard of it. When will the filming start? Is it that soon?"

Xu Ke said: "He said it will be finished in a month and will be released directly then!"

Jiang Zhiqiang was a little confused. So fast?

……

A black car stopped outside Kai Tak Airport.

Yang Ye wore sunglasses and leaned back in his chair, listening to music.

Wang Zuxian sat in the passenger seat, holding the script of "A Real Man's Diary", reading it with great interest.

In this script, Yang Ye is called Yang Ye, and his two wives are simply called Joey and Mingcai. I’m too lazy to change it.

In the script, Yang Ye was busy dealing with his two wives and made all kinds of embarrassing mistakes, which made Wang Zuxian laugh out loud.

"Brother Ye, you are so embarrassing. Are you sure you want to make this movie?"

"I have nothing to do anyway, why not have some fun!"

"Where are we going later?"

"After picking up Akina, you're going home. Where else can you go?"

"That's so boring. How about we go eat seafood? Do you have any more of your lobster from Grain Ship Bay?"

"What a foodie, he's kept in the sea!"

"Akina is here!"

Akina Nakamori did not bring an assistant. She walked out of the airport alone, pushing a suitcase and wearing sunglasses, in a low-key manner.

Wang Zuxian quickly opened the car window and waved at her vigorously!
When Akina Nakamori saw Wang Zuxian waving at her, she quickly quickened her pace.

Yang Ye looked through the car's windshield at Akina Nakamori from a distance... She's lost weight! (End of this chapter)