Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 927 How can professionals compare?

After leaving the educated youth settlement, Chen Fan told Captain Yang and the others to get on with their work, while he strolled around the fields, twirling his pipe in his hand.

Outside, he's Director Chen, General Manager, Deputy Director of Tourism—working from morning till night… But back in Lujiawan, he's the most dazzling guy in the village.

This period coincides with the plum rain season, characterized by humid weather and abundant rainfall.

Chen Fan didn't use an umbrella, wear a straw hat, or a raincoat. He let the drizzle soak his clothes as he wandered from one end of the village to the other. When it was time to eat, he would eat at the home of one of the squad leaders nearby.

Two dogs and two horses ran around him, while a myna bird circled above his head, shamelessly mooching food and drink.

Fortunately, there was a proud Eurasian Hobbit, who brought three gyrfalcons and caught a few small animals from the fields and threw them over as payment for someone's food.

It's heartbreaking to be with an owner like that.

……

While Chen Fan was idling around in Lujiawan, a group of people sat in a movie theater in Hong Kong. The images on the big screen were reflected on their faces, the flickering light and shadow mirroring their mood at that moment.

Two full hours passed, the entire movie ended, and the credits were finished. After a while, Yuan Long, who was sitting in the middle, looked around, his face extremely gloomy, and said in a deep voice, "What do you think?"

No one spoke, and their expressions weren't much better than his.

Well, it's still slightly better, except for Yuanlou.

Since the Hong Kong Chinese Drama Research Academy disbanded in 71, the Seven Little Fortunes have essentially disbanded as well. They have since developed independently, and although they have supported each other when they had the opportunity, their fortunes have varied over the past decade.

Needless to say, the most successful is none other than the eldest brother, Yuen Lung, and Sammo Hung. The Hung Clan is now very influential in the Hong Kong film industry. Without the Hung Clan, half of the film crews in Hong Kong would have to come to a standstill.

This year, they went even further, not long ago establishing Baohe Film Company, and the senior brother Yuan Long has become a "big shot" who sits on equal footing with the bosses of major film companies.

Secondly, there is Yuanlou, which is now renamed Jackie Chan's.

He first left Sammo Hung's stunt team in 1976 and followed director Lo Wei. This year, he left Lo Wei again and signed with Golden Harvest. Their first collaboration, "The Young Master," grossed over HK$11 million, becoming the first film in Hong Kong's history to break the HK$10 million mark. Yuen Lau himself became the highest-paid star in Hong Kong.

In addition, after leaving Sammo Hung's stunt team in 76, he started his own stunt team, Jackie Chan's stunt team, which is now showing great potential to compete with Sammo Hung's stunt team.

This month, Zuo Dui Film Company imported a movie called "Monk Comes Down the Mountain" from the mainland. Although it made quite a splash, they didn't pay much attention to it at first. After all, everyone was very busy and didn't have much free time to listen to Taoist priests and monks.

But today, the eldest brother gathered them all together, even Yuan Lou, who was extremely busy, and dragged them all to this screening room under Golden Harvest to watch "Monk Comes Down the Mountain".

The film copy was rented from a small, independent cinema. Unfortunately, the cinema's equipment was malfunctioning and it couldn't screen the film. When the senior brother found out, he immediately spent a lot of money and even did someone a favor to successfully obtain the copy, which was quite a costly endeavor.

Before watching, everyone thought that the senior brother was making a mountain out of a molehill. Yuan Lou was even more annoyed. If it weren't for the senior brother keeping him in check, and the fact that they were both under Jiahe Group, he probably would have already walked away.

But now, after watching it, he, like everyone else, was speechless with a somber expression.

As for the reason, it's naturally because I was stunned by the action in this movie.

The others are either behind the scenes, stuntmen, or even just action actors, which is slightly better.

Both Yuen Lung and Yuen Lou are leaders of martial arts troupes, which means they must be at the forefront of martial arts design and have their own style in order to secure a place in the fiercely competitive world of stuntmen in Hong Kong cinema.

Otherwise, both the Liu family troupe and the newly established Yuan family troupe are ready to take their place at any moment.

That's why they were under the most pressure.

Of course, this doesn't mean that other people don't feel pressure; it's just that with someone taller standing above them, the pressure seems less intense for them.

Seeing that no one spoke, Yuan Long looked up at the empty screen, his brows furrowing deeply. "How did they film this?"

At this moment, junior apprentice Yuen Biao suddenly twisted his neck, gritted his teeth and said, "I can't see any trace of rehearsing the moves at all, I suspect it's not acting."

"Wow, you scared me?"

Yuan Hua looked at him through Yuan Kui, pointed at the curtain, and said with an absurd expression, "Putting everything else aside, how could we film that scene of the spear tip colliding with the sword tip without choreographed moves?"

Yuen Biao pursed his lips and frowned. "Anyway, it doesn't look like it to me."

Just as Yuen Wah was about to speak, Lam Ching-ying, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "It certainly doesn't seem like a set routine. It's possible to achieve this in a direct fight."

Before anyone could ask a question, he continued, "Brother Long could do that when he was alive. He could hit a fast-moving ping-pong ball with nunchucks, or even a match head thrown by someone. If these two are from legitimate martial arts schools in mainland China and have practiced martial arts since childhood, judging from their age and the environment in mainland China back then, they probably had a lot of real combat experience, so it wouldn't be difficult for them to do that."

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

A moment later, Yuen Biao turned to look at Yuen Lung, his face falling, and said, "If that's really the case, then they're all professionals, how can we compete?"

Originally, when "Shaolin Temple" was released in Hong Kong, Yuen Lung organized everyone to go see the movie together. After returning, they discussed countermeasures, and that's when Yuen Biao said this.

I never expected that this time, it would come out of his mouth two years earlier than expected.

They are all professional martial arts athletes. Although their skills are good, their background is that of martial arts performers in opera troupes. They pay more attention to posture and demeanor. In terms of actual combat and understanding of martial arts, they are far inferior to those with a proper martial arts background.

These people are simply hardworking and dedicated to training. They are willing to put in the hard work to learn everything from Southern Fist to Northern Leg techniques for the sake of filming. This is why they have not been eliminated from the film industry, but instead have become increasingly successful.

For example, Collin Chou, who fought back and forth with Dan Yu in "Flash Point", has stated in public on multiple occasions that he does not know martial arts and has never practiced martial arts. All his movements are performed according to the design of the martial arts director.

This is also the most common situation for stuntmen in Hong Kong: they practice the basics and then learn the moves.

As for systematic boxing techniques, such as stance training, striking methods, cultivation methods, and breathing techniques, what are those?
On the contrary, after leaving the drama academy, Yuen Lo tried to learn a set of White Eyebrow Fist that was very popular in Hong Kong at the time. However, he did not formally become a disciple, so he did not learn the essence of White Eyebrow Fist and could only be considered a half-disciple of White Eyebrow Fist. This was just right, keeping him at arm's length from the White Eyebrow Fist so that he would not be completely involved.

Now, these "outsiders" are caught off guard by the well-established martial arts moves that Chen Fan designed with the aesthetics of later generations.

Yuan Long rubbed his face vigorously, exhaled a long breath, and said softly, "We have to compete even if we can't. We can't just give up and admit defeat just because we can't win."

"Of course we can't admit defeat."

Yuan Lou finally spoke. He looked around, then finally stared at the bare screen, his eyes filled with arrogance. "This is a movie shoot, not a martial arts competition. We're the big ones, what are we afraid of?" "Exactly."

Yuen Kwai followed closely behind, grinning at everyone, "Think back to those days, Hong Kong filmmakers couldn't even make martial arts films. They had to hire people from Little Script to teach them. But when they got the people, they found out they only knew a few tricks. Later, our people designed their own action sequences, and they immediately surpassed Little Script."

Now it's just a matter of repeating the same old path.

So what if they're powerful? Yuan Lou is right, this is a movie shoot, not a martial arts competition.

We won't fight them in the ring; we'll just learn their moves and how they fight. We'll fight the way they do, or we can think of another way to fight. We'll be able to beat them eventually.”

Lin Zhengying's face was serious, and he seemed to be deep in thought as he said, "What you said is just imitating their form. The most important thing is to learn their clean and efficient fighting style."

He looked at Yuan Long and said, "Especially the sparring. It can't be like before, where any nobody could fight for three to five minutes. Look at the fight just now. The extras couldn't even last a single move against the main characters and supporting actors. They fell down without any resistance or sparring. How satisfying!"

Yuen Biao's eyes lit up as he listened. He grabbed the armrests of his chair, jumped up, and squatted down, saying excitedly, "Yes, yes, Brother Ying is right. I was just imitating that action in my mind. We haven't filmed it yet, but just thinking about it makes me feel really good. The audience will definitely love watching it if it's filmed like that."

He was the youngest of the Seven Little Fortunes, the most beloved by everyone, and therefore the most mischievous. He started the conversation, and the group began to discuss it.

Seeing everyone else excitedly discussing, Yuan Lou said with a bitter face, "You can all change your movements, but how can I change mine?"

As soon as he said that, everyone turned to look at him.

Yuan Lou continued with a long face, "I finally found my direction with 'Drunken Fist,' I hope it won't be abandoned so soon?"

Yuan Long thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly and said, "It's not that bad. Your action design is more comedic, which is very different from their orthodox martial arts fighting. The audience likes your action, so there's no need to change it."

At this moment, Lin Zhengying thought for a moment and said, "We still need to make changes, Yuanlou. Why don't you think about how to use your acrobatic moves to deal with these crisp and clean fighting moves? Perhaps it will have unexpected results."

He is a veteran of the Sammo Hung Stunt Team, having worked with Bruce Lee on films and served as a martial arts choreographer. He is considered one of the most senior martial arts choreographers in the Hong Kong film industry.

Back then, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan were the go-to punching bags, and Landlord Yuen Wah was there to do somersaults for Bruce Lee. Lam Ching-ying's role was even more important than theirs, which shows his skill.

So when Yuanlou heard them say that, he finally felt a little relieved.

He was thinking of gathering the Jackie Chan Stunt Team together for a meeting to discuss countermeasures when the door to the screening room was suddenly pushed open.

A middle-aged man, around fifty years old, wearing glasses and with a partially bald head, walked in.

The group immediately stood up and greeted him in a disjointed manner, "Zou Sheng."

The visitor was none other than Raymond Chow, the head of Golden Harvest.

He waved his hand amiably and said with a smile, "The copies have all been returned. Since you're still not coming out, I came to check on you."

He walked over to the front row, found a seat, turned around, and asked, "What do you think after watching it?"

Yuan Lou immediately asked, "Zou Sheng, have you seen it?"

Raymond Chow's expression turned somewhat serious, and he said softly, "I went to see it a few days ago; it was Guan Chang who suggested I go. After I saw it, I asked Sanmao to recommend that he also go see it, and after he saw it, he called you all over."

Sanmao is Yuanlong, who is also Sammo Hung.

Yuanlong was his stage name during his time with the Seven Little Fortunes, while Sanmao was his childhood name. He became well-known to the public because his master Yu Zhanyuan and senior sister Yuan Qiu often called him that. Later, people of higher status or age would also call him Sanmao to show their closeness.

Given Raymond Chow's status, calling him that is perfectly acceptable. Even Yuen Lo, who is so disrespectful, got arrogant after becoming famous and started calling Sanmao "Sanmao" in public and private. As a result, every time the two met, Sammo Hung would scold him, and Yuen Lo would still not repent, making Sammo Hung shake his head in anger.

After Raymond Chow finished speaking, Yuen Biao leaned forward, holding onto the back of his chair, and said, "So it was Raymond Chow who made the suggestion."

Raymond Chow smiled at him, then turned his gaze to Yuan Long and asked softly again, "You've finished watching it all. What do you think?"

In front of the big boss, Yuan Long's face showed no trace of his earlier distress. He patted his chest and said confidently, "The action design of this movie is indeed impressive, but we are not to be underestimated. We have already come up with a solution and will ensure that Mr. Zou is not disappointed."

Upon hearing this, Raymond Chow immediately burst into laughter, nodded, and said, "Good, good, it's good that you have confidence."

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Yuan Lou, "Ah Long, what about you?"

Yuan Lou immediately laughed and said, "A piece of cake. I've already thought it through. Their movement style is characterized by its crispness and efficiency, without too many set moves. We'll design in that direction as well. At the same time, I'll also design some moves specifically for this style, based on my own movement characteristics, to make them more exciting and comedic."

Zou Wenhuai was greatly relieved and nodded gently with a smile, "That's good."

The expression on his face seemed to show complete confidence in Yuanlong and Yuanlou, as if he wasn't the one eavesdropping outside the door.

Having high morale isn't enough; you also need solid work to back it up.

While the two of them were both there, Boss Zou started asking them when they would be filming.

Yuan Long was thinking about how to make an excuse to go back and discuss redesigning the fight choreography, preferably by changing the script of "The Salted Fish Turns Over" which was currently being filmed.

Just then, the door to the screening room was pushed open again, and entered was another founder of Golden Harvest, Raymond Chow.

Like Raymond Chow and Uncle Six, this man is a veteran extra in Hong Kong entertainment news.

He was holding several exquisite invitations in his hand. As soon as he walked in, he waved them at Raymond Chow and said loudly, "Invitations! A mighty dragon is crossing the river!"

Raymond Chow's expression remained unchanged. He turned to look at him and laughed, "Which fierce dragon is it now, trying to get a share of the pie in Hong Kong?"

He Guanchang walked over and distributed the invitations. "Here, one for you, one for Ah Long, and one for Sanmao."

The three of them took the invitations and opened them one by one.

Yuen Biao and the others gathered around Yuen Lung and Yuen Lou to look at the contents of the invitations.

"Tomorrow night, Peninsula Hotel, invited by Qianfan Group?"

(End of this chapter)