Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 577 Of course, filming stunts would involve someone actually jumping off a building.
Marie was a junior official at the Nice tourism bureau, which is responsible for promoting the city's tourism image and coordinating tourism resources. In France, it's officially called the French Tourism Development Agency.

The film will be shot on the Bay Place in Nice, and there will be many real pedestrians on site. It is not easy to obtain the filming permit.

The reason why the Nice Tourism Development Agency granted this filming permit is quite simple.

Because the film crew was coordinated by Gu Ming, who had won an award in Cannes, France, and had considerable connections with the French, making him practically one of their own, Nice agreed to film in Place de la Bay based on his past reputation.

In the afternoon, Mael arrived at the apartment building just in time. From a distance, he could see that the apartment building was already cordoned off, and the film crew was shooting.

"Sigh, what's the point of foreigners working so hard? They might as well sleep comfortably until the afternoon like me, and then have a passionate date at the beach in the evening. That's what it means to know how to live a good life."

Mael approached with a yawn, looked up in the direction of the camera, and clearly saw Jackie Chan squatting on the bed on the second floor of the apartment building.

“de zut!”

Mael was startled and grabbed a nearby actor: "What are you doing! Are you filming an actor jumping off a building! He'll get hurt... Ouch!"

Mael took a deep breath of the Mediterranean sunshine.

Cheng Long jumped out of the second-floor window and landed accurately on the elastic awning on the second floor, turning around and landing.

"Oh my god..."

Mael's worldview seemed to have been somewhat shaken, but he soon saw that Cheng Long had actually turned around and run upstairs again.

"What is he going to do now!"

Zhen Zidan, whose arm was being grabbed by Ma'er, looked helpless.

"What are you saying, Frenchmen! Let me tell you, don't be afraid, this is just a movie shoot, it's not a real suicide, no one will die!"

And it's only two stories high, Zhen Zidan thought, why not let him come?

Jackie Chan went back to reshoot because he felt the jump was not good and the shot was not effective, so he needed to start the jump again.

However, Zhen Zidan was unable to explain this to Ma'er.

Fortunately, the translator arrived quickly, and the two sides were finally able to communicate. Mael stared blankly at Jackie Chan jumping down again, his mouth agape. After three or four repetitions, the shot was finally filmed.

"Oh my God, oh my God..."

Besides those two words, Mael can no longer say anything else.

After Cheng Long finished filming, Gu Ming appeared at the second-floor window, and Ma'er calmed down a bit.

There was at least one person whose name he had heard of.

Mael knew the rules of filming and wouldn't disturb the shoot at this time; he simply stood outside the camera's view and looked up from outside the set.

Seeing Gu Ming jump down as well, Ma'er thought that it might be the same scene as before, where he would jump onto the awning like Cheng Long and then bounce down.

Just as Gu Minggang jumped down, the extras below suddenly took down the rain shelter.

Mael almost fainted.

Filming accident! This must be a filming accident! If someone dies in Nice, that would be a huge problem!

Seeing Gu Ming land on his bottom and then get back up, Mael rushed over.

"Hey Rexette! Are you alright?"

"I, uh... you there, could you translate this for me?"

Gu Ming looked at Mael rushing towards him and couldn't help but scratch his head.

Filming was still going on! Suddenly a passerby rushed in, so the shot was wasted and we had to reshoot.

After the translator finished explaining with gestures, Mael's worldview was completely shattered, and he stared blankly at Gu Ming and Cheng Long.

"So this isn't a filming accident, you guys are really jumping off a building." Gu Ming corrected: "Mr. Mael, let me correct you on one point. This isn't jumping off a building, it's filming. We have sufficient safety measures to ensure we won't get injured."

Jackie Chan chimed in, "This is perfectly normal in Hong Kong. It's only two stories high. When I filmed Project A, that was much taller!"

He and Chin Ka-lok both jumped over the clock tower spire. Compared to that clock tower, the two-story building was nothing.

Even so, Mael muttered to himself, somewhat incredulous.

At least in France, no one would work that hard.

"You said there were safety measures, but I haven't seen any safety measures."

Cheng Long shrugged: "Isn't there a canopy?"

Mael looked at Gu Ming.

Gu Ming shrugged.

"It's just that... my butt is fleshy!"

Mael hesitated, then took out a handkerchief from his briefcase and kept wiping his sweat.

"God, I'm starting to regret it now. I wonder if lending the Bay Square to you guys for filming will cause any trouble."

"No, it won't happen." Gu Ming reassured Mael: "We'll just get a few bikers and some Italian Mafia, have a fight in the Bay Square and do some stunt driving. There won't be any trouble."

Mael hesitated, wanting to curse but holding back.

At this moment, when Mael looked at the actors in front of him, it was as if he were looking at a group of mentally ill people.

"God help you, please don't let anything happen to you in Bay Square!"

……

……

Special effects that leave foreigners speechless are commonplace in Hong Kong. This is why Hong Kong action films are among the best in the world today. Only Hong Kong people dare to jump and fight, bringing audiences an exceptionally strong sensory experience.

Later, Hollywood relied on computer-generated special effects to bring another kind of sensory stimulation, which was cheaper and more abundant, and thus suppressed Hong Kong films.

Taking advantage of the cloudy afternoon weather with perfect lighting, the crew was able to go to the Bay Square to film some outdoor scenes.

However, the envisioned battle scene with the biker gang is not possible to film for the time being, as there is not enough time today.

Throughout the journey, Ma'er, the tourism official, kept saying that he hoped nothing unexpected would happen. Gu Ming was getting tired of hearing it, so he simply stopped looking at Ma'er and started talking to Cheng Long.

"Brother Long, is everything alright on your end?"

Jackie Chan, who had long been annoyed by Mael the Frenchman, immediately replied, "Absolutely no problem. We've found a real stuntman here, Ko Shou-liang, who loves car stunts all his life. We absolutely have to get him to film this scene."

Gu Ming quickly recalled.

Ko Shou-liang, then there's really no need to worry.

This is a Hong Kong heartthrob who has filmed many car stunt scenes. He is well-known in Hong Kong and has also made cameo appearances in many movies, such as the cold-blooded killer who fought against Lung Wu in "God of Gamblers".

This guy later even performed a stunt of leaping over the Great Wall.

Gu Ming has indeed looked for some people in Japan who are interested in stunt driving, but a team has not yet been formed.

In the film, Ko Shou-liang will play a biker gang leader who races in the Bay Square before being defeated by Gu Ming and Cheng Long and forced to flee in a sorry state.

No one listened to him, so Mael could only mutter to himself.

"It seems I'll have to contact the best surgeon in Nice for you!"

(End of this chapter)