Rebirth: I'm filming extra scenes on the set

Chapter 127 Kung Fu superstar, Jet Li.

"Director Chen, isn't Chen Cheng too arrogant?"

"Yeah, once this guy arrived at the crew, he took over all the other actors."

"Isn't this obviously not taking us seriously?"

The crew of The Warlords.

Several assistant directors from Hong Kong came to the office of chief director Chen Kexin.

Chen Kexin made a pot of tea for several assistant directors and said, "Didn't we say it during the meeting? Chen Cheng will be in charge of the auditions for the following actors. Besides, he is also the first assistant director in the crew, so you shouldn't feel unbalanced."

"We don't have any imbalance, but this guy is too disrespectful to us."

"Stop complaining. Although Chen Cheng is relatively young, he still has the talent. He has been in the crews of "Curse of the Golden Flower", "Resurrection of the Dragon" and "Painted Skin", all of which are big productions. Moreover, he also represents China Film Group. Forget it, forget it, don't worry too much."

As the chief director, Chen Kexin could only turn a blind eye.

He actually doesn't like working with directors from the mainland. One reason is that they are not familiar with each other and the cooperation is not smooth. Another reason is that he may think that the level of directors from the mainland is not very good. However, as the chief director, he has to learn to compromise a lot of times. Moreover, one of the producers is China Film Group, so for the sake of the overall situation, he will not say anything.

However, although Chen Kexin did not say anything, some other assistant directors and Hong Kong behind-the-scenes producers did make a lot of small moves.

But for now they haven't gone too far.

"Lianjie, you know the assistant director Chen Cheng, right?"

Zhang Jinzhan, one of the assistant directors, said to the leading male actor Jet Li.

"I don't know you, what's wrong?"

Jet Li’s status is there.

It was normal for him not to know some people: "You should ask him if he knows me."

This is a joke, but it is true.

domestic.

There are probably very few people who don’t know Jet Li.

If it’s within the circle, then basically no.

"Haha, I heard that this Chen Cheng used to be a martial arts instructor."

"Oh? Such a young martial arts instructor?"

"Yeah, I just don't know if it was blown or what."

"You guys don't want me to fight him, do you?"

Jet Li saw what Zhang Jinzhan was thinking.

However, Jet Li has always had a strong and direct personality.

Without thinking too much, he said directly: "Okay, I'll go meet this Chen Cheng."

Say it.

Jet Li went straight to Chen Cheng's office.

The other behind-the-scenes staff knew that there was something interesting to watch, and they all said, "Jet Li is going to torture Chen Cheng, everyone come quickly."

moment.

Suddenly, a large number of people came to watch the show.

As soon as Chen Cheng walked out of the office, he saw Jet Li walking towards him.

Just when he was about to say hello to Jet Li, he said first: "Director Chen, others say you are good at martial arts. I am itching to show off my skills. Why don't we have a competition?"

Chen Cheng didn't know what Li Lianjie meant, so he shook his head and said, "That's all just nonsense. I'm no match for you."

"Whether it's nonsense or not, we'll know after we compare it."

Say it.

Jet Li kicked Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng stepped aside.

Jet Li was a little surprised when he saw that he missed the kick, and then he suddenly slammed into Chen Cheng.

This is the Tieshankao in Bajiquan, also known as the close-fittingkao.

If an ordinary person were hit by this collision, he would definitely be knocked to the ground.

But Chen Cheng's 80-point physical fitness is not exaggerated.

Plus Chen Cheng’s double strength.

Seeing Jet Li's collision, Chen Cheng did not dodge or evade, but stood there steadily.

Only a bang was heard.

Chen Cheng didn't move at all, but Jet Li was knocked back a few steps.

"Good boy, you have two hands."

Jet Li was very happy.

Just when everyone thought that Jet Li was ready to take action again.

Jet Li suddenly burst into laughter: "Director Chen, yours is real kung fu, which school did you learn from?"

Chen Cheng responded coldly: "I don't have a teacher, I just practiced blindly on my own."

It’s not that Chen Cheng doesn’t like Jet Li.

Chen Cheng still has a good impression of this superstar.

But anyone would feel unhappy if they were kicked out by others as soon as they go out.

Seeing Chen Cheng's cold reaction, Jet Li realized that he had been a little abrupt just now.

But he was open-minded and didn't take it personally. He said, "We can discuss this some other time. That's all for today."

"Go away, go away, you guys still want to watch the fun."

After glaring at assistant director Zhang Jinzhan, Jet Li left.

Zhu Xiaohua, who had already joined the group, gave Chen Cheng a thumbs up and said, "Brother Cheng, you are awesome. You are really awesome."

"What a great thing! Come on, I'll introduce you to the other actors."

Chen Cheng was calm inside.

Chen Cheng didn't think much of the brief exchange with Jet Li just now.

Although in the eyes of many people, Jet Li is very good at kung fu.

But in reality.

In the eyes of insiders, Jet Li's kung fu is indeed good, but his actual combat skills are actually average.

He is more of a performer.

But even if it's just a performance, it's pretty cool.

The only person in China who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Jet Li in terms of martial arts is Jackie Chan.

But even if it's Jackie Chan.

When it comes to the free and easy and brilliant martial arts, it is hard to compare with Jet Li.

of course.

Chen Cheng is not belittling Jet Li.

Everyone has their own strengths.

You are great at martial arts, but you may not be a good performer, and you may not be recognized by everyone.

The movements you make may not be as handsome as Jet Li's, and may not be as powerful as Jet Li's.

This is especially evident in the film industry.

……

"Teacher Wang, Teacher Gu, Teacher Wei, this is my classmate, and he also plays the role of Xiaogouzi in the play. I hope the three teachers can give me more guidance in the following scenes."

Since I have called my classmate Zhu Xiaohua into the crew.

Chen Cheng would not just abandon him to the crew.

He is now the first assistant director, so it would be great if he could introduce more connections to Xiao Gouzi.

When several teachers saw Chen Cheng coming, they all said, "Director Chen, what are you talking about? Your directing skills are well-known in the industry. We will need your guidance when we shoot the movie."

"Let's talk about it together."

Although Chen Cheng is the first assistant director, he is not one to put on airs.

Not only does he not put on airs.

This time, Chen Cheng called Zhu Xiaohua over to take his classmates to meet several veteran actors.

On the other hand, I also wanted to talk about the script with the three teachers.

"Three teachers, I think everyone has read the script."

"finish watching."

"What do you think of the script?"

"Director Chen, we have some ideas, but our views may be slightly different from yours. Why don't you tell us about it first?"

Teacher Wei Zongbao, who plays Mr. Chen, said. Chen Cheng put the script aside and said, "You three teachers, your roles are literary, and they are mainly together. The roles you play are three ministers in the court, with high positions and power. So, in terms of momentum, when you act against the male lead Pang Qingyun, you must not be overwhelmed by Pang Qingyun."

"In addition, I want to tell the three teachers something. Although Jet Li has filmed a lot of fighting scenes in the past, many people think he is a kung fu superstar. They think he is only good at fighting scenes, and his drama scenes are average. But in fact, Jet Li's drama scenes are also not bad, and even exceed many people's surprise."

In his previous life, Jet Li won the Best Actor Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in "The Warlords".

This also broke many people's preconceived impression of Jet Li.

Even Jet Li said this when he won the Best Actor award.

You think I can only perform martial arts scenes, but my literary acting skills are no worse than anyone else.

Not only am I no worse than anyone else, I'm also at the top of the industry.

Although Jet Li is a mainlander, he has been in Hong Kong for many years and represents the interests of Hong Kong.

At the same time, Chen Cheng was not responsible for Jet Li's role.

Chen Cheng is more responsible for the roles played by the mainland actors he recruited.

and so.

When facing Jet Li in the future, Chen Cheng called three veteran actors over.

Let’s talk about a play.

Secondly.

I also want to give them a reminder.

Don't underestimate Jet Li's literary acting skills.

"Director Chen, what you said really gave me a heads-up."

Wang Kuirong, who plays Jiang Gong, also said: "The three of us will have a lot of scenes with Jet Li later. Although it is a literary drama, there are many inner thoughts in it. Director Chen, please tell us about these scenes."

“These scenes sound complicated, but they are actually simple. We can understand them as long as we grasp the three characters and Jet Li’s personality.”

What is the director going to do?

In addition to teaching everyone how to act, the most important thing is to make the characters understand the script.

As long as you understand the script thoroughly, then even if your acting skills are average, the performance will not be bad.

But if you don't understand the script thoroughly, even if you have the best acting skills, you may not perform well.

This is why some actors, although they have good acting skills, perform poorly when they change to another drama or movie.

The answer is that in some films, these characters have thoroughly understood the script, while in some films, these actors have not yet fully understood it.

Chen Cheng continued: "Jet Li's Pang Qingyun has ideals, ambitions, courage... He is excellent in all aspects. However, Jet Li is still too young for the three teachers' San Gong. This youth is not only young in age, but also young in politics. Jet Li's Pang Qingyun can fight and use people, but he does not understand politics."

"I don't understand this, and it's reflected in many places. For example, Mr. Chen, played by you, Teacher Wei, has always wanted to win him over, and even wanted to keep him, but Pang Qingyun just pretended not to see it. In the script, Mr. Chen took Pang Qingyun to see the Queen Mother. Not only did Pang Qingyun not thank Mr. Chen, but she also asked the Queen Mother to reduce taxes. If the Queen Mother doesn't agree, it means that the Queen Mother is not a good person. If the Queen Mother agrees, the court will have no money, and this will make things worse. In addition, even if the Queen Mother agrees, it will make Pang Qingyun a good person, and no one will thank the court."

"Or, in fact, Pang Qingyun is not ignorant of politics. In fact, he understands it very well. However, he is an idealist. He does not want to be in the same boat with the three ministers. He wants to build his own ideal country. Therefore, for his ideal, he can kill anyone, including surrendered soldiers. He will even kill his sworn brothers. Although this is not his original intention. However, his ideal is too ambitious. So ambitious that he wants to change this world. But this world, this country, is not so easy to change."

"So, the three teachers who are going to play the roles of the Three Lords must first of all suppress Pang Qingyun in terms of innate momentum. One reason for suppressing Pang Qingyun is that your official positions, positions, connections and strength are all stronger than Pang Qingyun's. But this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that in your eyes, Pang Qingyun is just a young man, just an object you can use, just a bargaining chip for you."

After discussing the play with the three actors, the three veteran actors were all impressed.

"Director Chen, I didn't really understand what the letter of surrender means. Now that you've said it, I feel more confident."

"Haha, Director Chen, it's much simpler when you think from a director's perspective than when we think from an actor's perspective."

"Don't worry, Director Chen. We three old guys will definitely not let you down in these scenes."

All three of them made promises to Chen Cheng.

They could see why Chen Cheng was looking for them.

On the one hand, Chen Cheng naturally sought them out to discuss the play.

But on the other hand, they also saw the conflicts between the mainland and Hong Kong sides of the crew.

Not to mention that Chen Cheng was under a lot of pressure in the crew.

These mainland actors are also under great pressure.

If Hong Kong actors were to overshadow them in the acting field, they would be even more ashamed.

To break the situation.

Then we need to make a breakthrough in acting and let them see that mainland actors are no pushovers.

……

"Producer Zhang, are you busy recently?"

After discussing the play with the three veteran actors, Chen Cheng called producer Zhang.

This producer Zhang was the one Chen Cheng met when he was on the set of Curse of the Golden Flower.

At the wrap party, Chen Cheng joked that if he couldn't make it, he could go the producer route.

This is not.

When Chen Cheng called, producer Zhang laughed and said, "Chen Cheng, do you want to be a producer? Sure, come on, I need someone like you."

Chen Cheng smiled and said, "Producer Zhang, I would like to pursue a career in film production. However, I can't leave for the time being."

"I know you got a great crew. I'm jealous. The Warlords, superstar Jet Li."

Producer Zhang said admiringly, "I don't have such good luck as you. After Curse of the Golden Flower, I only worked in a few small crews."

no way.

This is not because Producer Zhang is incompetent.

In the circle, the roles you get often have nothing to do with your abilities, but with your resources.

Chen Cheng was also lucky as he was spotted by Han Sanping of China Film Group.

Although Han Sanping also thought that Chen Cheng was a talented person, he also wanted Chen Cheng to cooperate with them.

But in general, if Chen Cheng did not have the resources of Han Sanping, Hengdian Film and Television alone would not necessarily have so many crews joining. Even if they joined, they would have to join some small crews like Producer Zhang.

"Stop talking about it. Big crews have their own problems. You know, this is a co-production."

"I see. Those guys from Hong Kong bullied you."

"I'm the first assistant director, so they don't dare to bully me. However, most of the people on this show are from their side, so I always feel uncomfortable when doing things."

"I can't help it. This is how co-productions work. I took on a co-production before, and I had a fight with the producer in Hong Kong."

"Damn, you're the crew that started the fight."

“Hahaha… I’m ashamed to say that even though we did fight, we still had to work together disgustingly afterwards.”

"It's okay. We have to fight them and show the momentum of our mainland producers."

"Well said. By the way, Chen Cheng, you're not calling me to chat, are you?"

"Why, I can't chat with you yet."

"That would be great. But I'm thinking that you're the first assistant director and you have to take care of everything. You're probably very busy. Do you have time to chat with me?"

"Haha, Producer Zhang, that's what you said. Okay, let's get serious. Um, I want to ask, are you free during this period?"

"how?"

"You know, our investment in The Protagonist is quite large, and there will be many big scenes in the later filming. You are an expert in personnel coordination and dispatch. So, I just want to ask if you can come and help me when the time comes."

"Of course I can help you. I'm free too. But, there must be someone in charge of this in your crew."

"Yes, there are, but I don't think they can handle the big scenes in Hong Kong."

This is not Chen Cheng looking down on Hong Kong.

Industry specializing in surgery.

There are indeed many advantages on this side of Hong Kong.

But their disadvantages are also obvious.

For example, when filming historical dramas, I often feel like a history novice.

That's okay.

After all, movies are fictional, and sometimes they are not based on historical facts. It is normal to shoot whatever comes to mind.

But when it comes to big scenes, this is not the specialty of Hong Kong producers.

in particular.

Several scenes in The Warlords required several thousand actors.

In memory.

The Warlords was inspired by these big scenes.

The film could have been shot in 10 days, but it took more than a month, which even angered the producer.

Chen Cheng also prepared for a rainy day and was well prepared.

When those guys were no longer able to do the job, Chen Cheng sent in professionals.

He used to be in the crew of Curse of the Golden Flower.

Not to mention one or two thousand people.

There are tens of thousands of people there, and everything is fine.

(End of this chapter)