Huayu: Director started with art films

This is a vast grassland, like a huge velvet carpet, stretching all the way to the horizon, blending perfectly with the sky at the horizon. When the breeze blows, the grass rises and falls like waves, one after another.

At this time, it was the entrance to a huge horse farm that was temporarily built.

Li Yishu, Han Sanping, and the two directors Li Jun and Wang Fulin who were in charge of the war circus, as well as a group of actors including Bao Guoqiang who played Cao Cao, Huang Haibing who played Zhang Liao, stood in two rows to take photos for reporters.

After the reporters finished taking photos, one of them immediately asked, "Director Li, how many people and horses were used for this grassland filming?"

"That's a good question!"

Li Yishu looked at Li Jun with a smile and said, "Director Li Jun, tell us how much manpower and material resources we used to shoot the scene of Cao Cao's expedition to the Wuhuan."

Before coming, Li Yishu had already told the two directors and Han Sanping in advance.

"Red Cliff" cost a huge amount of money. If you want to have high box office after its release, you have to increase the exposure rate. In this regard, we should learn from Hollywood. When they are shooting big productions, they will let reporters visit the set and pass on some news to reporters to attract the continued attention of fans.

"it is good!"

Li Jun said cheerfully: "This time we filmed the grassland drama, and a total of 1.2 people were mobilized, including more than 9872 people in the crew logistics, more than professional medical staff, nearly extras, horses, and a troop of nearly people, which is the last cavalry unit in our country."

1.2 people! Nearly extras.

Upon hearing this number, hundreds of reporters at the scene were shocked.

This was just a drama of Cao Cao's eastern expedition to the Wuhuan. It did not involve the Battle of Chibi, but he mobilized tens of thousands of people. By the time the real Battle of Chibi came, wouldn't there be 70,000 or 80,000 people?
"Director Li, using so many extras, isn't this a huge test for the crew?"

"Yes, it is indeed a great test, not only for me personally, but also for the entire crew. The number of extras is nothing. Our director Li Jun has filmed the "Great Battle" trilogy before. Not to mention tens of thousands of people, he has directed hundreds of thousands of people!"

After praising Director Li Jun next to him, Li Yishu changed the subject: "Of course, the biggest problem is the horses. Everyone knows that horses understand human nature, but they are livestock after all. It is really difficult to avoid problems with nearly 10,000 horses. However, we have also equipped more than 100 medical staff to be ready to provide treatment at any time."

"Then Director Li, can you tell us how many people will be used when filming the Battle of Red Cliff?"

"It's hard to say, but I can assure you that this film will be the one with the largest ancient war scenes, the largest number of mobilizations, and the most spectacular filming scenes in China and even the world!"

"..."

The public interview lasted only half an hour.

After the event was over, Li Yishu did not let the reporters leave immediately. Instead, she arranged some staff and led the reporters to walk around the huge horse farm and military camp and take some photos so that they would have enough material to publish when they returned.

After dealing with a group of reporters, Li Yishu brought the main creative team back to the director's tent.

The play about Cao Cao's eastern expedition to Wuhuan is divided into three parts.

One paragraph is that Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan in the north. After entering the city, he heard that Yuan Shao's other two sons Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang had fled to the grassland and colluded with Wuhuan. He discussed with his advisers whether to attack or retreat, and finally decided to continue the attack.

The second part is about Cao Cao and Zhang Liao riding on the grassland and defeating the 200,000-strong army of the two Yuans and their ally, the Wuhuan overlord Tadun.

The third paragraph is Zhang Liao's personal show. He led thousands of light cavalry to break through the Wuhuan camp at Bailang Mountain, fought against the Wuhuan overlord Tadun, and became famous outside the Great Wall.

There are three parts, and the estimated duration of the film is about 20-25 minutes.

The reason why it is so long is mainly because we don’t want the first half of the movie to be too boring, and we can use the war scenes to attract the audience’s attention.

Li Yishu discussed with Li Jun and Wang Fulin and decided to shoot Zhang Liao's solo show first, because the number of people mobilized is relatively small, and it also allows the herdsmen in Inner Mongolia to cooperate with each other.

In this way, when the army fights fiercely later, we won't be in a panic and get thrown into disarray.

"Okay, let's shoot Zhang Liao's scenes first."

Li Yishu turned to look at Huang Haibing and said with a smile: "Haibing, do you have confidence?"

Li Yishu is quite familiar with Huang Haibing. In his previous life, he followed the crew of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties". Huang Haibing played the loyal and righteous Qin Shubao, which was very impressive. There was also the later "Pingzong Xiaying". It can be said that in the first few years of the millennium, Huang Haibing was the undisputed number one in mainland TV dramas.

"I have confidence, Director Li!" Huang Haibing nodded excitedly: "I have been training for this day for more than half a year!"

"Ha ha!"

Wang Fulin laughed and said, "Director Li, Hai Bing is indeed very hardworking. After he finished filming Jin Yong's The Book and the Sword last year, he has not taken any roles since then. He has been training in horse riding at the Yanjing Horse Farm. When we started special training again this year, his horse riding skills improved rapidly."

"That's right, an actor should be dedicated to the role and be responsible to the audience. It's worth my choosing you!"

Li Yishu is very satisfied with Huang Haibing's hard training. When casting last year, there were also many competitors for Zhang Liao.

After all, "Red Cliff" is a ensemble drama, and Zhang Liao has a scene where he kills the Wuhuan overlord Tadun in the White Wolf Mountain battle. It can be said that his roles are no less than those of Guan, Zhang, and Zhao.

But in the end, Li Yishu chose Huang Haibing, who was just a junior, and rejected some veteran actors from the mainland and star actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

On the one hand, he knew that Huang Haibing was a very hard-working person.

On the other hand, it is because Huang Haibing signed a contract with Li Yishu’s Wen Yi Shidai agency last year.

If you don't praise your own people, how can you praise others?

"Director Li, please rest assured. I will continue to work harder!"

Huang Haibing nodded seriously. The actors at this moment still had some integrity and faith in acting.

Unlike later actors, who came here purely to become stars and make a lot of money.

"Well, during this period of time, you don't need to train. Just ride a horse occasionally, but don't get hurt."

Even horses can stumble and people can make mistakes. Li Yishu doesn't want Huang Haibing to have problems riding a horse just when they are about to start filming.

Han Sanping nodded. "Yes, at this critical moment, we should try not to have any problems. Some dangerous circus scenes should be handed over to professionals. Otherwise, if they get injured, the subsequent filming will be in big trouble. Director Wang, please remind everyone later not to do difficult actions. For some dangerous circus scenes, let the stunt doubles do it."

The crew trained the military commanders for several months. They did not ask them to do everything by themselves. This is different from ordinary dramas. Riding a horse is very risky. If someone breaks an arm or a leg, will the crew continue filming?

"Okay, Director Han, I understand."

Wang Fulin nodded. The actor who played Guan Yu, Lu Shuming, broke his leg while riding a horse and it took him three full months to recover.

Fortunately, it was a TV series, so when not shooting the panoramic view, I could shoot the upper body, and I could also shoot Cao Wei and Eastern Wu.

But if he gets injured this time, I'm afraid he'll have to change roles.

The group discussed for two hours.

That afternoon, Li Yishu got in a car with the crew's location director and headed to a small hill.

The Inner Mongolian grassland is not an endless prairie. There are also some mountains, but compared with the famous mountains and rivers in the mainland, they can only be regarded as small hills. But these small hills are enough to shoot the scene of killing Tadun at Bailang Mountain.

Early the next morning.

One thousand men from a cavalry company and two thousand herdsmen from the surrounding areas rode their horses to the small hillside that had been determined yesterday.

At this time, the props team, makeup team, and set team had already arrived.

After all the extras arrived, they were given armor one by one.

The situation with the herdsmen was much simpler, as they all wore their own Mongolian costumes, but the props team took out some Wuhuan accessories recorded in historical books and gave them to wear.

According to the investigation and understanding of historians, Wuhuan was originally a branch of the Donghu tribal alliance. The academic community generally believes that its language is the same as that of Xianbei and belongs to the Mongolian language family in the Turkic language family.

Although the two are not direct ancestors and descendants, they have intersected in history, and there is also genetic evidence that the Mongolian genes do contain genes from the Wuhuan people in ancient tombs.

The crew of several thousand people were all busy. Li Yishu was also extremely busy. Not only did he have to work with Li Jun to arrange the track for shooting the charge scene, but he also had to discuss the play with the actors and communicate with the extras about the upcoming performance.

It was not until 9 o'clock that thousands of people finished their breakfast and rested for more than ten minutes before the filming of the first scene officially began.

In this scene, Zhang Liao led thousands of cavalrymen to charge up Bailang Mountain, while the Wuhuan led their troops to rush down the mountain.

When filming this kind of scene, it is naturally impossible to have both sides charge forward recklessly.

To be photographed separately.

First, take a picture of Cao's army charging, then take a picture of Wuhuan's charge, and then take a panoramic picture, with the troops of both sides charging at each other and a large-scale battle.

Then a close-up shot of the fight between small groups of troops was taken.

Anyway, war scenes are the most troublesome to shoot. It was also Lee Yi-su's first time shooting and he didn't have as much experience as Lee Jun, so he didn't act as a director. He just used his vision that transcended his time to provide guidance on how to shoot this war scene.

"Thirty seconds, all departments in place!"

Li Jun shouted into the intercom, then looked at his watch, counted down, and said, "Three seconds countdown!"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"First scene, first scene, start!"

As the board players retreated, Huang Haibing played Zhang Liao, who was dressed in armor and holding a big sword, standing in front of the thousands of soldiers, pointing forward and shouting: "Charge!"

In an instant, thousands of cavalry troops squeezed their legs together, and the horses under their crotch were like wild horses that had broken free from their reins, charging all the way up the mountain.

Five cameras were filming simultaneously, on the left and right, front and back, and there was also a tall jib that filmed from a height of more than ten meters.

"Crack!"

Li Jun kept staring at the monitor. After making sure that there was nothing wrong with the scene, he immediately asked someone to call the troops back and regroup. He then asked several photographers to carry cameras to the middle of the troops and shoot the charge scene at close range.

It took us half an hour to shoot this scene.

Then came the charge from the Wuhuan side.

Compared with the formation of the cavalry company, the Wuhuan troops composed of a group of herdsmen seemed a bit of a mob.

But this is a good way of portrayal. If the Wuhuan were strong enough, they would not have been chased all the way by Cao Cao, or even had their Wuhuan king Tadun killed by Zhang Liao himself at Bailang Mountain.

By the time the charging scenes of both sides were finished, it was already 11 o'clock in the morning.

It’s okay that the extras were tired, it’s mainly the horses that couldn’t take it.

Li Yishu asked everyone to rest, fed the horses, and let the extras take a break.

Han Sanping walked into the tent and said with emotion: "This is my first time filming an ancient war scene, and I found it was really torturous."

“Haha, actually when I was filming ‘The Great Battle’ it was fine, I didn’t feel that complicated.”

Li Jun looked at Li Yishu and said with a smile: "It's mainly because the chief director has many ideas and good thoughts."

The filming of "The Decisive Battle" was much rougher, almost simulating the original three major battles, so it looked a bit rough during the filming.

Moreover, unlike Li Yishu who has advanced shooting techniques, Director Li Jun's thinking mode is still stuck in traditional shooting ideas.

For the scene of the two armies charging, there weren't so many fancy ideas. It was just hardcore, with both sides charging, and then filming at close range.

Unlike Li Yishu, who not only used a crane for high-altitude shooting and multiple cameras, he also asked a Mongolian photographer with good riding skills to ride on a horse and carry a camera to shoot the frontal charge.

"Yes!" Han Sanping looked at Li Yishu with admiration: "Director, your filming skills are really amazing. I was watching the monitor just now. If you edit this, the circus will definitely shock the audience."

"Haha, young people have a lot of ideas."

Li Yishu smiled and said that many of these techniques were summarized later. There are not many ancient war dramas filmed these days, so it is normal not to know them.

Several people chatted and laughed, and suddenly Li Jun asked: "By the way, how are we going to shoot the next scene where both sides charge? Directly charge at each other?"

"no!"

Li Yishu shook his head and said, "A direct collision can easily cause casualties. My idea is to set the camera angle perpendicular to the collision direction when filming. This will cover up the misalignment of the collision. From the lens, it looks like the two sides collided with each other."

Li Jun is an experienced director. When Li Yishu said this, he immediately imagined the camera sense and nodded: "This is a good idea! It is realistic and there will be no casualties."

"There is also the scene where Tadun is beheaded. This kind of dislocation hedging method should also be adopted. However, Tadun has to fall off his horse and watch Zhang Liao lead his troops to charge. This scene is absolutely wonderful..."

Several people started discussing.

Suddenly, a stagehand came running in: "Director, He Qing is here."

"Director Li, you take a rest first. Director Han and I will go meet our Cai Wenji."

Li Yishu asked Li Jun to take a rest, as he was old and didn't have as much energy as them. (End of this chapter)