new kung fu king

Chapter 511 The New Wave of Seven Nine

During the more than a month since he left Hong Kong, Wang Xiaohu was most concerned about the construction of the "Floating Heavenly Palace" in "Myth".

In front of Wang Xiaohu, Lucas, and Grant was a field the size of a football field. A scaffolding more than 4 meters high rose up on the field, and dozens of workers were busy welding on the scaffolding.

"Boss, what are they doing?" Lucas asked puzzled.

Wang Xiaohu smiled and said: "To build a special effects studio, you should know that our special effects need to be carried out in a closed environment, and currently there is no one in the world that can meet the scale of my shooting, so I can only build it myself."

Lucas curled his lips, he really wanted to tell Wang Xiaohu that these special effects can also be done in the studio of "Star Wars".

Wang Xiaohu smiled, did not explain to Lucas, and walked into the studio along the construction passage.

After Lucas followed Wang Xiaohu into the studio, his first feeling was resignation. Under the illumination of hundreds of headlights in the studio, there were figures everywhere, including people carrying boxes, and installation photographers. There are car tracks and scaffolding, all in all a very busy scene.

After Lucas got used to the sight in the shed, he was stunned by the building in the center of the shed!
If it was said that just now Lucas conceited that the special effects of "Myth" could be completed with a set of equipment and sets of "Star Wars", now, he wants to take back these words.

In the entire special effects studio, a building exuding faint light stands two meters above the ground, which is as solemn and magnificent as a palace in ancient Greek mythology, which brought great visual impact to him.

It is not so much a building as a group of buildings. Except for the main hall in the middle, there are four smaller buildings on each side. They are in harmony with the main hall. From the perspective of Lucas It was found that these four buildings are scattered at different heights due to their different terrains, implying the meaning of surrounding the main hall. Although the four side halls are also very exquisite, they are far less awe-inspiring than the main hall.

"My-god! Have I returned to the ancient Greek era? I actually saw such a majestic building." Lucas said to himself.

"George, please correct me, it's not ancient Greece, it's the Qin Dynasty in ancient China, the historical environment where our movie takes place." Wang Xiaohu patted him on the shoulder with a smile and said, "Dude, the building you just saw is based on It is a small model made out of the blueprints of the palace built by the emperor of the Qin Dynasty. This architectural style was very popular in ancient times, and it is called a terraced building in our Chinese language."

"It's unbelievable." Lucas said, and couldn't help speeding forward, he wanted to see more clearly.

However, Lucas was reminded to "be careful" by Wang Xiaohu after walking less than five steps. He stopped and took a look. A layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back, because there was a tunnel about 50 cm deep under his feet. , Seeing these tunnels, Lucas was surprised again from ear to ear.

Except for Lucas's feet, about 50 meters forward, there are neatly visiting ancient warriors who are all dressed in black armor, with combed hair, or holding strong crossbows in their hands, or holding long swords. The long "big gun" (actually Ge.) is either riding on a horse or standing on a chariot driven by four horses, with a solemn and majestic expression.

This is not enough, Lucas saw that many staff members were still assembling these fighters.

"Boss, is this the terracotta warriors you mentioned?"

There is no word for terracotta warriors in English, and Lucas also transliterated it. It sounds awkward, but it does not prevent Wang Xiaohu from being able to understand. He nodded and said, "Yes, these are the soldiers who guarded the emperor of the Qin Dynasty!"

Wang Xiaohu is now very satisfied with the speed of everyone’s setting. Judging from the construction progress on site, the "Suspended Heavenly Palace" has not been completed yet. When the palace with "Efang Palace" as a reference is completed, there should be "white marble" in front of the palace. In the paved square, bronze statues of the Twelve Golden Men and other auspicious sculptures will be visited on the square, and a "volleying" "white marble" step will lead to the palace in a long way.

Of course, only the main hall and four side halls have been built at the scene, and the steps will take some time to complete.

"It looks the same as the real thing, doesn't it?" Wang Xiaohu said to Grant who followed behind him.

"Indeed, boss, you Hong Kong people are far superior to Industrial Light & Magic in setting." Grant said with admiration. In fact, he was also petrified by such a majestic palace set.

"How much does it cost to set up such a realistic set?" Lucas suddenly asked.

Before Wang Xiaohu could answer, Wang Jiaxin brought Zhang Yuan over, and after a long distance, Wang Jiaxin said, "George, these things don't cost much, such as this palace, don't be intimidated by its appearance, It's just a model, and if you look closely, it's not as perfect as it looks."

Zhang Yuan added with a smile: "It's very rough and ugly. It's just that we can't see it clearly from a distance, and the lights on it are very dim, which creates such an illusion."

Lucas rolled his eyes as if he was defeated by you. This time he has fully experienced the Hong Kong filmmakers' local materials and "fooling people" methods, but everything looks good, at least he will Experts are fooled into believing it is true.

"What about these fighters? How did you make them?" Lucas was like a curious baby now.

"The inside of the terracotta warriors and horses is made of plastic foam, and the outside is painted with two layers of glossy black paint." Wang Xiaohu told the truth, and after looking at Zhang Yuan, he said with a smile: "Of course, these still need lighting when shooting. Cooperate."

Zhang Yuan scratched his head in embarrassment, Brother Hu said everything he wanted to say.

At this time, Yuan Heping, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and others also came here.

"Ah Hu, how about it, can you basically fool me?" Sammo Hung said.

Wang Xiaohu nodded and said: "It's okay for these few to fool around underground, after all, they are all blurry in the camera, as long as there is a reference object, it's OK, but the models in mid-air should not be so stingy, just do it." It’s more exquisite, otherwise it’s easy to pass through.”

Sammo Hung frowned in embarrassment, and finally pulled Wang Jiaxin over, "Old Wang, tell Ah Hu the question you asked me this morning."

"Oh?" Wang Xiaohu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "There are also things that the king of Hong Kong sets can't handle."

Wang Jiaxin grinned and said: "Actually, it's not a big deal, that is, those models are too heavy for us to fix them in mid-air, and I heard that you guys have to stand on them to shoot scenes, so I and three Mao raised it."

After Wang Jiaxin finished speaking in Cantonese, he translated it to Lucas and Grant in English. Lucas shrugged and said, "Actually, it doesn't need to be that complicated. Our post-processing method can easily solve it, but the boss is too demanding. Let's spend more time, yes, such a huge scene will take at least half a year."

A year ago, Lucas did not dare to boast so much, but since the reshoot of "Star Wars", he and the industrial light and magic team have not only completed the reshoot work, but also studied how to improve the synthesis of real shots and special effects At present, the machine has made great progress, which can be seen from the greater breakthrough between the "Star Wars" that Wang Xiaohu has seen and the original screen.

Generally speaking, Lucas didn't squander Wang Xiaohu's money, at least he was improving the equipment to make the special effects images more realistic and delicate, right?

Wang Xiaohu said with a sigh of relief: "Old Wang, the problem you raised is no longer a problem. Our experts can help solve it."

In fact, Wang Xiaohu now particularly hopes that Lucas can invent the computer processing method of "source sequence", because after having that thing, he will not have to bother to make so many models of terracotta warriors and horses as he is now, and they can be produced by computers. Even get a picture and clone and copy hundreds of
Of course, this is just his own fantasies in his heart. He is not a master of computer stunts. Many things still need to be developed and expanded by Lucas and others. Worrying can't solve the problem.However, this also reminded Wang Xiaohu that he had to select a few computer talents to install in Industrial Light & Magic, otherwise he would need Lucas and others to help each time, in case there were differences in cooperation in the future, or Lucas, Spielberg and others have other ideas?

The studio currently built by Wang Xiaohu is fundamentally different from other studios for filming. First of all, from the appearance, this studio is several times larger than other studios. "Maze" and "Trap", there is still a lot of space left, so Wang Xiaohu divided it into several scenes. After all, it was hard to set up, and after shooting "Myth", I can shoot other movies.

Secondly, in terms of function, the studio with all the closed exterior walls is dark and lacquered, but many lamps are installed on the roof, walls, and ground as needed, and the height and angle of the lamp racks on the roof can be adjusted.

In addition to the comprehensive lighting, the most important thing is the layered scene frame, orderly camera track, trampoline for various purposes, wire track, etc., all of which can be adjusted at any time according to the needs of film shooting.

In Asia and even in the whole world, only Wang Xiaohu is willing to spend such unreasonable money. This is the first special effects studio he built, and it will be of many uses in the future.

After returning from the studio, Wang Xiaohu arranged for Lucas and Grange to rest, and then returned home to enjoy the happy life of "wife and children on the bed".

It will take about a month to build the special effects studio of "Myth". When the two terracotta warrior consultants from the mainland encountered disagreements, they needed to call the professors from the mainland to resolve them.

This busy work continued until mid-January 1979, when the Spring Festival, the busiest time for Hong Kong movies every year, came.

With the luxurious and rich studios of Xiehe Film and Television City, this year’s Hong Kong movies have greatly improved in terms of picture quality. After all, Xiehe Film and Television City has considered almost 80% of ancient costumes and fashion sets in a comprehensive way. There are rockeries and temples. There are temples, and you just want to take pictures of the small bridges and flowing water houses in the south of the Yangtze River. Xiehe Film and Television City can also meet your requirements.

This year's Spring Festival file is similar to the summer file. Apart from Sammo Hung taking the time to film "The Fat Dragon Crossing the River" to pay tribute to Bruce Lee, there are no other films released.

On the contrary, the Shaw Brothers, who are gradually withdrawing from the film industry for external publicity, have produced a lot of films. For example, director Chu Yuan filmed Gu Long's classic martial arts novel "Peerless Twins", which won 16 million Hong Kong dollars within 400 days of its release.

Wu Siyuan's company released three films to the film market at the beginning of this year, namely "Golden Sword" and "Butterfly Change" directed by Tsui Hark. At the same time, it parodied a sister of "Drunken Master" "Laughing Fist". , "Laughing Fist Strange Tricks" earned more than 19 million Hong Kong dollars after 544 days of release.

This made Wu Siyuan even more excited, because after more than four years of hard work, the current Siyuan Company has become the third relatively large-scale film production company in Hong Kong besides Concorde and Shaw Brothers. In addition to being able to compete with the other two, Wu Siyuan imitated the development line of Xiehe and also worked hard to cultivate Tsui Hark.

Wang Xiaohu didn't care about these things, he still went back and forth between the film and television city and his family every day, and by the way, he also paid close attention to the signs of the new wave directors.

If "Jumping Ashes" and "A Little Soldier" are the preludes of the New Wave, Tsui Hark's "Butterfly Change" is a combination of martial arts, detectives, mystery, horror, and spectacle, making traditional martial arts films sci-fi and futuristic. If it was evaluated as a "futuristic martial arts film" by "Movie Biweekly", then Wang Xiaohu got this theater plan, Xu Anhua's "Crazy Robbery", Weng Weiquan's "Rules", Xian Qiran's "Enemies", Yu Rentai's "Inside the Walls and Outside the Walls" is a further symptom of the triumphant new wave as a whole.

These four directors are all representatives of the new wave in Wang Xiaohu's memory. It is because of their appearance on the Hong Kong film stage that the truly glorious ten-year journey of Hong Kong film began.

"Hey, I still have to suffer!" Wang Xiaohu knew that the box office of these four films was not ideal, and they were all arranged between the Spring Festival and summer holidays. Because it was a small investment, and the four directors were not as famous as Tsui Hark, So they still have a long way to go.

Wang Xiaohu thought about it, and in the end, he extended the screening period of the four films by a little for one week. Don't underestimate this one week, it might increase the box office results a lot. At least it can make them recover the cost and improve their self-confidence, right?
(End of this chapter)