Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

In order to shoot "The Myth", Baiyang Pictures built the largest studio in Asia at Guangming Film and Television City.

If there were no Purple Air Company, it would have been almost impossible to make a movie like "The Myth" in Hong Kong in the early 1990s.

Even if you manage to take the photo, the effect will be greatly reduced.

Because the most essential "Heavenly Palace" part of the whole film requires a lot of special effects, which Hong Kong's technology is simply not capable of.

This point can be understood by just watching "The Terracotta Warriors" filmed by Cheng Xiaodong in 1990.

For the underground palace in "Terracotta Warriors", Cheng Xiaodong only dared to use darkness as a cover and shoot a few partial shots to fool people.

But the heavenly palace in "Myth" is a magnificent and vast dream space.

Night-shining pearls are used to simulate the sun, moon and stars, and thousands of troops stand in the air, as if they are marching towards the sea of ​​stars under the leadership of the First Emperor.

Such a magnificent scene is incomparable to the Terracotta Warriors.

What's more, in this scene, there are a lot of beautiful and romantic shots between Meng Yi and Yu Shu.

All of this was produced using the three-in-one method of green screen + CGI + real-scene layout.

In order to present the magnificent scene of the Heavenly Palace, there must be enough space between the lens and the green background, and the shooting space must not be reduced.

Therefore, Yang Ye built the largest studio in Asia.

It is easy to build a studio. As long as you have money and land, you can make it as big as you want.

However, the filming of the "Tiangong" part is still full of difficulties.

The first is the issue of lighting.

When filming "Mojin: The Last Dragon", in order to solve the light source problem in the tomb passage, the film used a lot of background special effects.

Various fluorescent lights, green fires and lake water are used to create the light source in the tomb passage, making the entire underground world look very strange and magical.

The "Heavenly Palace" is actually a tomb and there is no sunlight.

Therefore, when shooting, you also need to solve the problem of light source.

Yang Ye's setting is that the builders of the imperial mausoleum inlaid a large number of luminous pearls on the top of the cave to simulate the sun, moon and stars.

This setting is consistent with the description in the "Records of the Grand Historian": "Mercury is used to represent rivers and seas, and the machines are used to transport them. The upper part has astronomy, and the lower part has geography. Mermaid fat is used as candles, and it is estimated that they will not go out for a long time."

It is also unique. "Records of the Grand Historian" said "mermaid fat was used as candles". Since oil was used as fuel, it would run out eventually. Changing it to night-shining pearls would make it look better.

The problem of setting the light source has been solved, and the next step is to do the actual operation.

The indoor light source is usually displayed using a light bulb and color temperature paper. This is how it was done when filming "Mojin: The Lost Tomb".

It was a lot more troublesome when shooting the "molten steel" in "Terminator 2" because it involved water and the color temperature paper was useless.

At that time, the crew installed more than 300 light bulbs at the bottom and around the water pool, and coated all of them with warm-colored gel.

With the addition of auxiliary equipment such as reflectors and soft light films, the overall environment presents an orange atmosphere, and the task is completed brilliantly.

"The Myth" is actually also about adventure and treasure hunting, so it should be able to copy the operation of "The Ghouls".

However, the "underground palace" in "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" is relatively narrow, while the "heavenly palace" in "The Myth" is a huge space.

In order to illuminate this large space and meet the shooting requirements, a large number of high-power lighting equipment are needed.

With so many lighting devices used together, the entire "Tiangong" is like an oven. People working inside will feel extremely tired, nervous and anxious.

Fortunately, Yang Ye's team had accumulated a lot of experience when filming "Terminator 2". Although this filming was difficult, they also had corresponding ways to deal with it.

Moreover, the conditions at Guangming Film and Television City were better than the abandoned steel plant they had found on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

For example, they have enough electricity to install cooling equipment in the studio.

……

In the setting of "Myth", "Heavenly Palace" is a weightless space created using meteorites from outer space.

The actors need to perform the "zero-gravity" effect in the Heavenly Palace, and almost every shot requires "wire suspension" to achieve it.

Such high-intensity "wire hanging" is a huge challenge for actors.

Especially Yang Ye and Cui Zhenzhen, they will also "fly together" in the air, bringing beautiful and romantic scenes to the audience.

As the male and female protagonists, they have the most flying shots, and the chance of small accidents is much higher than others.

In the ending footage of the original version of "Myth", you can see Kim Hee Sun falling from mid-air and spraining her ankle due to unstable landing.

……

Finally, although the studio is large, the Tiangong has only a few props after being decorated.

A large number of scenes are wrapped and covered by green screen and completed through post-production.

Only Yang Ye knew what the "Heavenly Palace" looked like.

No one else can figure it out, and can't imagine what the result of the photo shoot will be.

They could only use Yang Ye's hand-painted book as a reference, talking, fighting, and jumping to the air, performing a non-physical performance.

As a director, Yang Ye needs to explain and demonstrate to the actors repeatedly so that they can find the feeling.

To let the actors understand what it is like to be in a state of weightlessness.

Yang Ye recruited professional divers to train several main actors to dive and experience the state of "neutral buoyancy".

What is neutral buoyancy? If an object floats in water, it is positive buoyancy, and if it sinks, it is negative buoyancy. If it is suspended in water, it is "neutral buoyancy".

This state of neutral buoyancy is extremely similar to the state of weightlessness in space.

When astronauts perform weightlessness training on Earth, they do it in a large pool, using neutral buoyancy to simulate the state of weightlessness.

The scene of "Heavenly Palace" is still being set up. In a bay in Shenzhen, Yang Ye and the beautiful girl Cui Zhen are wandering in the depths of the sea together.

This place has not been developed yet and is sparsely populated. The water is very clear and the scenery under the sea is breathtaking.

They swam through colorful corals, and schools of coral fish swam past them.

You can also see starfish, sea anemones, and all kinds of strange marine creatures.

Choi Jin-sil admired the magnificent scenery of the seabed and looked at Yang Ye beside her, feeling extremely romantic.

However, Yang Ye seemed a little unromantic. He was carrying a net bag and happily picking abalone, sea urchins and sea cucumbers.

We also caught a big grouper!

……

When Tang Jili was filming "The Myth", he rented the largest studio in Shanghai.

They were filming in the summer, with temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius every day, and the entire crew almost collapsed.

The Yang Ye version was fine, as it was filmed in winter, with an average temperature of only about 10 degrees, which was much more comfortable. Most of the actors in the Yang Ye version were doing this kind of non-property performance for the first time, and they were a little uncomfortable at first, but they got used to it quickly.

In fact, they are all fine. Yang Ye and Cui Zhenshi are the worst off.

In addition to being baked in the Heavenly Palace, they also have to endure the freezing in the cold storage.

……

The crew rented a cold storage in Longgang to shoot the scenes where Meng Yi and Yu Shu depend on each other.

The props team got some stones and branches, sprinkled some snow, laid some straw, and poured some icicles on the rock wall, and a cave was rebuilt.

The cave was very narrow and was divided into two halves by armor. Yu Shu slept inside the cave while Meng Yi guarded the entrance.

Yang Ye put on frostbite makeup, sat down at the entrance of the cave, and officially started filming.

"The Myth, Scene 28, First Shot, First Take, Action."

The camera swept across the armor and landed on Yu Shu's body.

She was wrapped in thin clothes and woke up from her sleep. She breathed out hot air and looked at the unfamiliar environment around her. She sat up with difficulty and called out, "Meng Yi... General Meng Yi!"

There was wind and snow outside the cave, and Meng Yi was guarding the entrance like a statue.

"General Meng Yi, please come in!"

Yu Shu walked forward with concern. She touched Meng Yi's shoulder, but found that Meng Yi had already frozen and fell straight down.

Yu Shu dragged Yang Ye's body with difficulty and dragged him into the cave.

"Meng Yi... General Meng Yi."

Yu Shu called Meng Yi's name sadly, covered Meng Yi's cold hands with both hands, rubbed them constantly, and blew air on them, trying to warm them.

However, Meng Yi was already frozen, as if dead.

Yu Shu slapped Meng Yi's face: "Meng Yi, you promised me to protect me, you can't die!"

"Meng Yi..."

Maybe he heard Yu Shu's call, or maybe it was the effect of Yu Shu rubbing his hands and breathing on him.

Meng Yi was moving. He was shaking and shivering constantly.

Seeing this, Yu Shu looked around hurriedly, trying to find something to keep Meng Yi warm.

However, the cave was freezing cold and empty.

Yu Shu picked up a handful of snow from the rock wall, put it in her mouth to melt it, and when it was warm, she lowered her head and fed it to Meng Yi.

……

Cui Zhenshi held a mouthful of water in her mouth and fed it to Yang Ye.

After Yang Ye finished drinking it, he smacked his lips and felt that it tasted good, with a sweet fragrance unique to young girls.

"Crack!"

Yuan Bin said helplessly: "Sir, please stop smacking your lips. You are almost freezing to death."

Yang Ye's face also turned red, and he said awkwardly: "This... do it again!"

Choi Jin-sil's face also flushed red. She took another sip of water, and when the stage manager called out "start", she lowered her head to feed the baby.

As soon as she lowered her head, she suddenly thought of how Yang Ye had just drunk her saliva, and she became even more embarrassed.

He paused and swallowed all the water.

Yang Ye was lying on the ground, waiting for Cui Zhen to feed her, but she waited in vain.

Cui Zhenshi said embarrassedly: "Sorry, try again!"

Oh, it’s just feeding water, is it necessary to keep NG?
Yang Ye suddenly thought, when Chen Long was filming this scene, he must have done more NGs than I did, right?

……

Yu Shu lowered her head and fed Meng Yi water with her mouth. Meng Yi was frozen, and the water Yu Shu fed him flowed from the corners of his mouth, but he eventually drank some.

With the nourishment of the "Jade Liquid", Meng Yi finally responded. He clenched his fists, curled up and trembled continuously.

"Meng Yi? Meng Yi!"

Yu Shu patted Meng Yi's face and rubbed her body continuously.

She couldn't help crying: "I have nothing left in this world, not even my family."

She suddenly thought of an idea. She untied her belt, lifted her bra, and lay on top of Meng Yi.

She wants to use her body to warm Meng Yi!

"Please don't abandon me. I have nothing left but you... Please don't abandon me."

……

It was freezing cold inside the small cave, yet it seemed filled with the vitality of spring.

Meng Yi woke up and he came back alive.

Yu Shu's warm body was pressed against him, and she was sleeping soundly.

Meng Yi was a little confused. After all, Yu Shu was the emperor's concubine. They were...

However, he finally sighed and held Yu Shu in his arms.

……

"Perfect, passed!" Yuan Bin shouted.

Yang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. The scene was finally finished. It was so cold in the cold storage that he almost froze to death.

Yang Ye sat up from the straw, patted Cui Zhenzhen beside him, and said, "Zhenzhen, get up!"

Cui Zhenzhen didn't move at all. Yang Ye was startled and shouted again: "Zhenzhen, Zhenzhen!"

Choi Jin-sil had her eyes closed and her face was pale. It turned out that the cold storage was too cold and she had stayed in it for too long and was frozen.

Yang Ye wanted to pick up Cui Zhenli, but found that he had no strength and he was almost frozen.

"Quick, save people!"

Seeing this, Won Bin picked up Choi Jin-sil and ran out.

Yang Ye struggled to get up and followed behind, shouting, "Send him to my room, let me rescue him!" (End of this chapter)