Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 94 Umbrella Kicking Scene

After a while, Hu Xiaobei came to the lighting engineer Lao Ma and said seriously, "Lao Ma, this shoot requires extremely high lighting requirements.

The main light source should come from the left at a 45-degree angle, and the intensity must be precisely controlled to highlight the subject without being too glaring.

The auxiliary light around the waterfall creates a hazy feeling to highlight the effect of the flowing water.

Also, the locations of the prop umbrellas need to be individually lit to make the delicate texture of the umbrellas clearly visible, but without exposing the wirework..."

He glanced at the corresponding responsible personnel one by one and gave careful instructions on the details.

Lao Ma listened carefully to the details of the revision and nodded repeatedly in response: "Consultant, don't worry, I have written down all the key points.

"I will do as you say and ensure the lighting effects are perfect for the shoot." Then he started to ask the lighting team to make fine adjustments.

It’s not that Hu Xiaobei’s lighting skills are higher, but that in a state of spiritual perception, he can more intuitively perceive light and shadow problems.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Hu Xiaobei did not hesitate and officially started filming the plot.

He held the walkie-talkie in his hand, his eyes focused and determined, directing the filming of this highly anticipated highlight in an orderly manner.

With his order, the entire set was instantly filled with a tense atmosphere.

In the panoramic picture, An Xiaoqian is dressed in white, like a fairy descending from a fairyland to the edge of a waterfall.

Her face was cool and beautiful, her skin was as white as snow, and her eyes were like stars falling into a deep pool, deep and quiet, exuding an otherworldly temperament, as if all the troubles in the world were insulated from her, and the entanglements before her were nothing but passing clouds.

Meng Guangmei was dressed in a plain Taoist robe. Against the backdrop of the splashing water vapor of the waterfall and the surrounding rocky scenery, although it was not bright, it exuded a sense of coldness.

Her brows were furrowed, a hint of greed flashed in her eyes, jealousy burned fiercely in her heart, and her gaze was like a sharp sword, as if it would pierce into Little Dragon Girl's body at any time.

Li Mochou's figure was as swift as lightning, and her continuous palm strikes created a whistling sound in the wind. The corners of her Taoist robe fluttered in the wind, as if a plain cloud was rushing towards Xiaolongnu.

Xiaolongnu's figure was as light as a feather, and she swayed sideways like a willow swaying in the wind. Her steps were as delicate as Lingbo Weibu, and she easily avoided the fierce attack.

The moment the two men crossed each other, the water splashing from the waterfall was shaken by the "energy" and flew everywhere, forming gorgeous rainbows under the refraction of sunlight, adding a touch of fantasy and magnificence to this duel.

Hu Xiaobei watched the footage in the camera and compared it with the scene he perceived. After reshooting two or three times and correcting the details, he finally met his requirements.

Hu Xiaobei looked at An Xiaoqian in the close-up shot, and a barely perceptible emotional fluctuation flashed across her eyes.

Although Xiaolongnu seems to be detached from the world, she feels helpless towards Li Mochou and is tired of this endless entanglement.

Everything before her reminded her of the peaceful days in the ancient tomb, when the time she spent with Yang Guo was what she longed for.

Therefore, he became even more impatient with Li Mochou's provocation, but because of his own indifferent nature, he disdained to argue with her.

The corners of her mouth were slightly raised, with a cold and stubborn look that kept people at a distance, as if silently expressing her determination and the firmness and fearlessness in her bones.

In the close-up shot, Meng Guangmei's eyes were sinister and cold, and her slightly narrowed eyes were chilling. Although there was no crazy anger in her eyes, it was chilling.

She looked at Xiaolongnu's cold appearance, jealousy and resentment intertwined in her heart, and the neglect she had suffered in the ancient tomb and the ups and downs in her love life later emerged one by one.

Although her face was as gloomy as water, her tightly pursed lips and slightly trembling jaw faintly revealed the greed and unwillingness suppressed in her heart.

It is a kind of deep resentment that has been precipitated by time and hatred, like a deep stream, seemingly calm but actually turbulent.

As the plot progressed, the simple chase and fight scenes were quickly filmed, and the next scene was the umbrella kicking scene.

Hu Xiaobei frowned slightly, thinking to himself that he must make this chase and umbrella-kicking scene into a classic in the play and perfectly present the corresponding action beauty.

The filming was relatively simple at the beginning, with Xiaolongnu and Li Mochou each using their own moves and fighting back and forth.

Some prop umbrellas also became the facilitators of their mutual attacks, being kicked and hit. Watching this scene on TV, it looked seamless, but it was not the case in the real shooting.

The lens is just a flat surface and cannot capture a three-dimensional scene.

Therefore, the real fighting scene where Li Mochou kicks out a prop umbrella and Xiaolongnu takes it does not exist.

The entire fight scene was divided into sections, and there was even a situation where one person was shooting while another was idle.

For example, we would first shoot Li Mochou’s umbrella-kicking scene, then her dodging and evading the attack, and then we would use the same process to shoot Xiaolongnu’s scene.

This involves the color of the prop umbrella kicked out by the attacking party each time, as well as the shooting angle, which must match those of the receiving party.

Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the relevant processes and mark them in the early stage of shooting, so as to avoid any inconsistencies in the subsequent editing.

The most difficult part of this umbrella-kicking scene is that Xiaolongnu kicks three umbrellas and then steps on three more umbrellas to move forward.

Then, he performed a split in the air while suspended by a wire, and finally performed an action scene in which he slowly moved the umbrella behind him with his left foot.

Under Hu Xiaobei's customized training, An Xiaoqian underwent more than a month of closed martial arts training.

Some of the difficult moves required in the fighting scenes were not a difficult task for her at that time.

The difficulty lies in how to express it, which tests the director's skills.

The umbrella-kicking scene in the original version was very good. There were no problems with the routine movements, the prop arrangement, or An Xiaoqian's own performance.

The biggest problem with the original version actually lies with the director.

First of all, the fast and slow shots do not match, and many of the prop umbrellas look like pure props and do not show the real operating logic.

There were too many and too large bloopers, flaws and holes, which resulted in this scene not being able to achieve the desired effect.

Hu Xiaobei has the help of spiritual perception, so it is impossible for a mistake like the foot not touching the umbrella to appear under his control.

Hu Xiaobei has quietly solved many problems before they occurred.

For example, when shooting a fast shot of a parachute kick, use a high-speed camera to capture the instantaneous action, and place a metronome or other rhythm tool next to it to match the actor's movement rhythm with the shooting rhythm.

As for the slow motion part, it needs to be slowed down proportionally according to the rhythm and movement range of the fast motion, so that the entire shot switching is natural and smooth.

In addition, when shooting the umbrella kicking action, it will be shot from multiple angles, such as the side, front, top, etc.

Use wire ropes and other auxiliary equipment to control the movement trajectory of the umbrella to make it more realistic.

For example, if you want the parachute to rotate a certain angle in the air before falling, you can use wire ropes to achieve precise control.

And you can place fans and other equipment next to it to simulate the impact of natural wind on the umbrella's movement.

Then there is the issue of post-production editing. For parts where fast and slow shots do not match, you can adjust the speed curve of the shot to make them blend better.

If the fast motion ends too suddenly, making the switch to slow motion feel abrupt, you can extend the end of the fast motion appropriately to allow the action to decelerate naturally before transitioning to slow motion.

You can also add fast-paced percussion music during fast shots, and when you switch to slow shots, the music rhythm will slow down accordingly.

And some detailed sound effects are highlighted, such as the sound of an umbrella spinning in the air, to cover up the unnatural feeling of camera switching.

After solving these problems one by one, all that remains is the on-site shooting.

With Hu Xiaobei around, the same content will basically not be reshot more than three times.

(End of this chapter)