The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 160 A Little Fight

Two days after the press conference, after the weekend, the crew of The Legend of the Condor Heroes officially started filming at the Shidu Scenic Area in the suburbs of Beijing on Monday, July 7.

Of course, when we say we have started filming, we actually just shot a few landscape shots. The real filming started in Zhoushan.

Zhang Jizhong raised investment and found a small island here to build a The Legend of the Condor Heroes Film and Television City - it can't be said that he raised the money, it was mainly endorsed by CCTV, but it withdrew for various reasons later, but the funds were still in place - the streets of Lin'an, the square of Zhongdu, as well as Niujia Village, Guiyun Villa, and Nandi Temple were all built.

They even built a yurt further inland to shoot the Mongolian scenes.

"It's indeed a big deal, but that's all." Xu Jiuyang, who had finished his makeup, stood outside the set, watching the scene being filmed, and muttered to himself.

He had traveled here in his previous life and heard some gossip and rumors, such as that "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and "The Return of the Condor Heroes" were filmed here, and that a Ningbo entrepreneur who was the contractor of the construction was suing his brother, claiming that he was the owner of Peach Blossom Island, etc.

Generally speaking, this place was very popular for a while because of Zhang Da Huzi's trilogy, but after the Jin Yong craze passed, it began to decline. Although it later tried to introduce some projects, such as the Knight Wax Museum, tourist interactive programs, and the Ocean Movie Theme Park, unfortunately they were not very useful.

After all, this film and television city was a product of a spur-of-the-moment decision. Since Huang Yaoshi is the owner of Peach Blossom Island, they had to find a place on the islands around Zhoushan to build a city for filming... which was difficult, and they didn't see the crew going to the northwest to build the White Camel Villa.

This is just like an adaptation. If it is not good enough, there will be almost no passers-by to support it except fans of the original work. However, passers-by make up the majority of the market for art-related products.

Who would think of taking a boat here just to see the imitation Song Dynasty architecture? There are plenty of alternatives in Wuxi and Hengdian. Not to mention the film crew, there are so many inconveniences on the island. Wouldn't it be uncomfortable for me to shoot in the mainland?

Xu Jiuyang shook his head. Although he always felt something was wrong and vaguely remembered that the film and television city was completed at the end of August in his previous life instead of now, he didn't think much about it.

These bits and pieces of memories are hard to recall unless there is strong stimulation. Maybe someone suddenly has money to speed up the construction. I should think about how to get in touch with Li Xiaoran.

Although Li Xiaoran was not around at the moment, he was shooting some scattered shots with another group and was always avoiding him. He also tried his best not to contact him all the way from Beijing to Zhoushan.

But, you play Mu Nianci and I play Yang Kang, so sooner or later we will have intersections.

So Xu Jiuyang was not in a hurry, and Gao Yuanyuan also told him not to be anxious. When paying his public grain for the last time before leaving, she almost made it clear that Li Dabai was currently in a very stable mood.

"I really... I've let Sister Yuanyuan down." He sighed a little embarrassedly, and then heard Zhang Jizhong call out: "Xiao Xu, come over and get ready."

"Okay." Xu Jiuyang responded and immediately went to the temporary locker room to change clothes.

The scenes they are filming now are about Guiyun Manor, which have relatively more literary scenes, but this does not pose a problem for Xu Jiuyang. His acting skills were still good in his previous life. Although he stopped practicing after he moved behind the scenes, and has been neglecting his skills since his rebirth, he should have no problem getting a passing grade if he works hard.

What's more, when it comes to acting in movies and TV, the actors themselves only account for one-third of the factor, and the rest depends on how the director guides and how the film is edited in post-production.

Generally speaking, as long as the director's abilities, that is, his aesthetics and technique, are up to standard, he can make the actors give a qualified performance - let alone his thoughts, which determine the upper limit and most people don't have them.

But this has a prerequisite, that is, the director can control the situation and have the final say in the crew.

At the very least, the person who has the final say must support him unwaveringly, otherwise there is no chance of doing well.

For any teamwork project to succeed, it must have a strong and authoritative core. The end result of multiple orders is a mess. This is why decades later, there are often rumors that a certain actor's acting skills have failed in the work, including but not limited to Zhang Songwen, Fu Dalong and others.
If the director cannot control the crew, the actors will inevitably have their own ideas, especially those actors who are somewhat famous. They will subconsciously shape the characters according to their own ideas, but they have no overall perspective. Doesn't the final product look strange?

As for why they do this, it is normal. Why can the traffic stars do it, but I can't?

Fortunately, although Zhang Jizhong was inexperienced and loved to play, he had no problem controlling the crew, and the Four Heavenly Kings were all willing to listen to him, so filming didn't take much effort.

"Xiao Xu, you're quite good. I thought you'd have to do ten or so NGs for the scene where you killed Duan Tiande." Zhou Jie teased after finishing work, "Want to go out for dinner together?"

"We have a fight scene tomorrow, Brother Jie, don't be outdone by me." Xu Jiuyang said without turning his head.

Zhou Jie, who was about to say something, suddenly became frosty and walked away in a huff.

Although his moves are okay, when he really needs to fight in front of the camera, he still needs a stunt double most of the time.

Unless the actor is a martial artist who often performs routines, if he really wants to fight like what is shown in movies and TV dramas, injuring a few people is a small matter.

You know, even Li Lianjie, who is known for his best action skills at the Wuying level, had to hone his skills in Hong Kong for a long time before he acquired the skills he showed in "Once Upon a Time in China", which is in stark contrast to "Chinese Hero" which he directed and starred in.

Therefore, if ordinary actors with no basic skills want to shoot action scenes, they usually practice routines first, and then the martial arts director communicates with the director to determine the shooting method, such as which shots may require the face to be shown, and then design the movements for the actors and the stand-ins to become proficient together.

During the formal shooting, the actors often play with each other first, and then the stand-ins play with each other again, and this is repeated dozens of times, and then the appropriate shots are selected for editing in the later stage.

If the fight is good, it will naturally be a long shot. If the fight is not good, it will rely on quick cutting.

However, as we all know, Zhang Jizhong may have come up with this shooting method of using a blower plus 360-degree rotation in order to save trouble, save money, or both.

It's okay to use this thing once or twice, but using it every time is just treating the audience as fools. Unfortunately, the crew didn't even want to use this more than ten years later.

Because even if a blower is used, the actors need to have some skills, at least they need to be able to set up the stand.

However, the traffic stars have too many things to do all day long, and they wish all the roles could be played by stand-ins, so that they can just show their faces. Who has the energy to exercise?

Therefore, Xu Jiuyang, who has a slender body with better flexibility and coordination, and has experience from his previous life as a foundation, is far superior to Zhou Jie in terms of set moves, even though the latter also has some fighting scenes in his own works that made him famous.

This is also why Ma Chengyu feels it is a pity. If you want to perform action well, you have to be flexible enough, but if an action actor wants to be flexible enough, he cannot be too tall. Li Lianjie is the best example.

It just so happens that Xu Jiuyang is tall enough, and his physical toughness and coordination are also exceptional. If he is trained from a young age, he may be able to break the prejudice that "tall people cannot perform good-looking moves."

At this point, Zhou Jie had not yet suffered from the harsh attacks of public opinion. He was still in a state of complacency and thought he was the best in the world. Therefore, Xu Jiuyang, who did not want to go with him, only needed to use this to confront him, and Zhou Jie would naturally leave in frustration.

(End of this chapter)