Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Director Zhong and Director Li accompanied Yang Ye into the studio. When the director saw them, he wanted to call a stop, but Yang Ye waved his hand to stop him.

The three of them stood aside and watched them perform quietly.

After they finished filming a segment, the director called the actors over and introduced them to Yang Ye: "These two are our young actors Liang Boluo and Chen Hong. This is Mr. Yang Ye, a famous international director. I think you all know him!"

"Hello, Director Yang!"

The two young actors were very surprised and shook hands with Yang Ye.

"Hello!"

"Urban Police" is Chen Hong's first fashion film. This movie is not worth mentioning and there is nothing much to say.

Yang Ye made a few casual comments, praising Liang Boluo for his good acting and Chen Hong for her elegance.

Chen Hong's acting is just a piece of wood. There is really nothing to praise about her, except her temperament.

After a few awkward conversations, Director Zhu said, "Director Yang, it's time for dinner. Why don't we go eat first and chat while we eat!"

Yang Yeke followed the host's wishes, and everyone went to a restaurant called Dianshizhai near the film studio.

Yang Ye looked up and saw that the name of the store was proposed by Yu Qiuyu.

Yu Qiuyu's cultural essays are very famous, but they are not brainless. He once boasted in "The Back of a Dynasty" about Kangxi's great achievement of shooting 318 rabbits in one day.

"All of this was not mutually exclusive with his (Kangxi's) passion for Chinese studies, nor with his shooting of 318 hares a day, nor with his series of major political, military, and economic actions."

He actually believed Kang Mazi's bragging and even wrote it in his book.

Don’t even think about what it means to shoot 318 rabbits in one day.

Assuming Kang Mazi went without eating or drinking for eight hours, which is 480 minutes, he would need to shoot a rabbit every minute and a half to kill 318 rabbits.

Not to mention where so many rabbits came from for him to shoot. Even if there were, shooting arrows continuously for several hours, is this something a human can do?

Could it be that Kang Mazi is not an ordinary person, but actually the Green Arrow?
Yang Ye had no interest in Yu Qiuyu, but was somewhat interested in his wife Ma Lan, who was the biological mother of Tang Monk in Journey to the West.

The group sat down in the box, and the dishes came up quickly. They were all local dishes, such as braised pork, fried shrimp, fried eel paste, eight-treasure duck, and drunken chicken...

Chen Hong was well-behaved and stood up to pour wine for everyone.

Director Zhong raised his glass to Yang Ye and said, "This is the first glass of wine. We welcome Director Yang to Shanghai!"

Yang Ye was not pretentious. He raised his glass and said, "This time, the crew of Memoirs of a Geisha came to Shanghai to shoot. Thanks to Director Zhong and Director Li for their help in communication and coordination, it was able to go so smoothly. Thank you very much!"

Director Zhong said, "Director Yang, you are too polite. Your company is coming to Shanghai to film a movie to support Shanghai's development. It is our duty to provide you with convenience!"

Everyone stood up, had a drink, then sat down and the meal officially began.

At the beginning of the reform and opening up, in order to make money, the country gave the green light to co-productions.

When Spielberg came to Shanghai to shoot "Empire of the Sun", Shanghai deliberately blocked traffic on several streets near the Bund to facilitate Spielberg's filming.

This time, Lao Si came to shoot "Memoirs of a Geisha", and Shanghai supported him with all its might.

The Japanese town created by Lao Si needed cherry trees. In pursuit of authenticity, Shanghai actually helped him move more than a dozen cherry trees from other places.

As an investor, Yang Ye said a few free words of thanks, which quickly brought everyone closer together and the atmosphere at the banquet became very harmonious.

After three rounds of drinks, Director Zhong talked about business and hoped that Yang Ye could invest in the film industry in Shanghai.

Yang Ye had this idea long ago, and said: "Shanghai is the largest city in China, and the Shanghai Film Studio is very powerful. In fact, we have long had the idea of ​​building a film and television base in Shanghai and establishing more cooperation.

Shenzhen Guangming Film and Television City has now built three streets: Guangzhou Street, Hong Kong Street, and Macau Street. When they were preparing to build Nanjing Road, I stopped them.

Because Shanghai is a popular subject in film and television dramas, Nanjing Road alone is not enough, and other places in Shanghai must be involved.

So I think that if Nanjing Road is to be restored somewhere else, it would be better to build it in Shanghai or its surrounding areas, which would be much more convenient.

I was filming in Songjiang recently, and I think the location of that Japanese town is very good. If possible, I hope to build a film and television city there."

When Yang Ye said this, Director Zhong was delighted. If he could make this happen, it would be his political achievement.

Due to the needs of economic development, Nanjing Road in old Shanghai will no longer be able to maintain its original appearance.

But this road has too much history and too many stories, and the Shanghai government hopes to replicate a Nanjing Road somewhere else.

This costs a lot of money and also requires maintenance once it is built.

Therefore, the best way is to build it into a film and television city.

In this way, not only can Nanjing Road be preserved, but it can also bring economic benefits through film and television shooting, tourism and other projects.

In fact, even if Yang Ye did not come to invest, Shanghai would still do this.

The address they chose was in Songjiang, which was later known as the "Chedun Film and Television City".

However, this Chedun Film and Television City is completely useless, it's just a toy.

Because when Shanghai was building the Chedun Film and Television City, it was scaled down in order to save money.

The reduction ratio is one-sixth of the facade.

In addition, the iconic buildings on Nanjing Road were also layered.

What does this mean? It means that if you remove one floor from a tall building, the construction cost will be greatly reduced.

For example, the real Wing On Department Store has six floors, but it becomes a five-story building in Chedun Film and Television City, which is much shorter.

Although it was filmed in the movie, no one would really count how high it is, but the visual effect can still show whether there is a sense of historical weight.

Therefore, the momentum of Nanjing Road in Chedun Film and Television City obviously fails to meet the basic requirements of realism.

If you want to truly appreciate the grandeur of old Shanghai, you can go and watch "Empire of the Sun" directed by Spielberg in 1987 and "The Emperor of Shanghai" directed by Pan Wenjie and starring Ray Lui in 1993.

Both films were shot on location, leaving behind the original images and scenes of Shanghai in the 1980s that will never be seen again in later generations.

When Pan Wenjie brought Liu Hua and Zhang Guorong to Shanghai to film "New Shanghai Bund" in 1996, they were unable to apply for filming at the original location and could only shoot at Chedun Film and Television City.

As a result, the streets in "New Shanghai Bund" were restricted by the narrow streets of the film and television base and the simple scenery, and the texture of the real scenes used in "Shanghai Emperor" was no longer there, which greatly reduced the effect.

The Suzhou River in Chedun Film and Television City is miniature. It is just a small ditch, and the famous Waibaidu Bridge on it looks like a toy.

As a result, many film and television productions dare not film this bridge because it looks too fake.

But it is not easy to shoot at the original site because it is too modern. Many movies in later generations had to give up shooting at Chedun Film and Television City because it was too simple, distorted and rough.

For example, when Guan Hu was filming "Eight Hundred", he found another place in Suzhou to dig the Suzhou River and built buildings along the river in a 1:1 ratio.

It not only increased the production cost of the film, but also caused Chedun Film and Television City to lose a lot of business.

Moreover, because this film and television city is so disappointing, many tourists are disappointed after visiting it and never come back again.

Now that Yang Ye has come to invest, he will not do such a stupid thing. He immediately talked about the plan to build the Chedun Film and Television Station, which made Director Zhong and Factory Director Li very excited.

Yang Ye also said that after the film and television city is built, he will cooperate with Shanghai Film Studio to shoot a movie in the film and television city and distribute it globally, thus making the film and television city famous.

In addition, they will introduce the crews from Hong Kong and Taiwan to come to Chedun to shoot movies and TV series, blah blah, and so on.

Director Zhong and Factory Director Li were eating Yang Ye's cakes with great joy.

I've heard that Yang Ye is famous in mainland China for throwing money around, and it turns out that his reputation is well-deserved!

Director Zhong quickly said that if Yang Ye was willing to invest, he would report to the leadership, and the municipal government would send a delegation to negotiate with Baiyang Pictures.

Yang Ye said that this matter was easy to discuss and he would send a professional team to contact Shanghai.

The meal was a great success with both the host and the guests enjoying it, with much laughter and chatter.

When the banquet was about to end, Yang Ye suddenly said, "We just talked about making a movie. Actually, I have always wanted to make a movie that is slightly autobiographical."

Director Li asked, "Is it your personal biography?"

Yang Ye shook his head: "It's just a little bit related. This story tells the story of a young man who came out of the slums and went through hardships to cultivate peerless martial arts.

As you all know, I came from the Kowloon Walled City, where good and bad people mixed together. I became famous for practicing martial arts, traveling to Japan, and challenging Japanese martial arts masters, so this movie is slightly similar to my life experience.

Many people want to know where my kung fu skills come from. Although this movie is fictional, it can provide the audience with a little bit of... imagination."

After hearing this, Director Zhong and Director Li couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

For a long time, Yang Ye's origin has remained a mystery.

People only knew that he came from Kowloon Walled City and lost his father when he was young, but how did he survive alone in such a place full of good and bad people? It's unimaginable!
If Yang Ye could make a movie with his autobiography, even if he only revealed a little bit of information, the movie would be a hit.

What's more, when has Yang Ye's movie ever disappointed people?

Director Li said: "Director Yang has another new work coming out. It's really exciting!"

Yang Ye said: "Although I was born in Hong Kong, I still hope to move the background of the story to Shanghai during the Republic of China period. I hope to cooperate with Shanghai Film Studio to shoot this movie together. At that time, I will also select several actors from Shanghai Film Studio to join the filming of this movie."

Director Li was very happy. Baiyang Pictures had previously cooperated with Beijing Film Studio, Changchun Film Studio, Xi'an Film Studio and Zhuhai Film Studio. This time it was finally their turn with Shanghai Film Studio.

Moreover, it was a big project that Yang Ye personally took charge of. This time, he made a lot of money.

In fact, Yang Ye’s cooperation with mainland film studios has given them an absolutely dominant position. Mainland film studios can only get domestic revenue, and overseas earnings have nothing to do with them!
Despite this, everyone is still happy to cooperate with Yang Ji. Even if they only get the profits from the mainland, it is enough to make their mouths water.

Not to mention that Yang Ye also has to select actors to join the filming of the movie.

Yang Ye’s previous film “Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy” was a huge hit in China, making actors Tang Guoqiang and He Qing very popular.

Whenever He Qing appears now, people call her "Little White Dove". Various film offers come to her like snowflakes, and even people from overseas have invited her to act in movies and TV series.

This time we have to select actors from the Shanghai Film Studio. If it is an important role, such as the female lead... then she might be the second Little White Dove.

Director Li asked: "If Director Yang comes to Shanghai to film, our Shanghai Film Studio will definitely support him and provide all the conveniences. As for the actors, it will be their honor to be able to participate in this film."

Yang Ye smiled slightly, raised his glass to drink, but found that the glass was empty.

Seeing this, Chen Hong, who was standing by, quickly picked up the bottle and filled it up for him, then raised her own glass and said, "Director Yang, I toast to you!"

Chen Hong was seated next to Yang Ye. When Yang Ye was bragging, she didn't say much. She just poured him more wine when she saw that Yang Ye's wine was gone.

Although Chen Hong has debuted for several years, she is still an unknown minor character and has never received any influential work.

To her, Yang Ye's name was as well-known as thunder in her ears and she looked up to him as a towering figure!

She was very excited to suddenly see Yang Ye today, but it was a pity that she was just a small actor. The director and the factory director were here, so she had no right to speak.

It was not until Yang Ye said that he was planning to make a movie and select actors from the Shanghai Film Studio that she instantly realized that this was her chance!
However, she was born into a red family and had a sense of nobleness and pride. Being able to take the initiative to toast Yang Ye was already her limit. As for some flattering words, she couldn't say them.

Yang Ye thought to himself, not bad, very smart. It's worth the effort I put in to dig a nest.

He happily clinked glasses with Chen Hong and drank the wine in the glass!

Director Zhong was very good at observing people's expressions. When he saw Yang Ye finish drinking the whole drink, he immediately cheered loudly: "Director Yang has a huge capacity!"

Yang Ye smiled and shook his head, saying: "Actually, I've almost drunk enough, but the beauty toasted me, and I couldn't refuse her kindness, so I had to drink!"

"I think Miss Chen Hong is a very good actress. If Director Yang wants to cast a film in mainland China, why not consider it?"

Yang Ye nodded and said, "Miss Chen is indeed very elegant."

After saying that, he took advantage of the alcohol to look at Chen Hong carefully.

Chen Hong felt a little embarrassed by Yang Ye's scorching gaze and couldn't help but lower her head slightly.

Yang Ye suddenly clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "This is really a case of searching everywhere for something, but it comes without any effort. Miss Chen, the more I watch, the more I feel that you have the right temperament for the heroine of my movie. I wonder if you are interested in playing the heroine role?"

Chen Hong was ecstatic and bit her lip as she said, "If Director Yang is willing to train me, I will definitely go all out!"

"Okay, then it's settled. We'll sign a contract later. The filming time will have to wait until I finish the preparations. I'll notify you in advance so you can reserve time."

"Thank you Director Yang!"

When everyone present saw that Chen Hong had become the heroine of Yang Ye's movie, they raised their glasses to congratulate the two!

"congratulations!"

"thanks, thanks!"

After everyone had a drink, Chen Hong suddenly remembered something and asked, "Director Yang, can I ask what role I'm going to play? I want to prepare in advance and do some homework!"

Yang Ye shook his head: "This role has no name, so there is no need to prepare anything!"

"No name, no preparation required?"

"Well, the leading actor and heroine of this movie don't have names!" (End of this chapter)