Movie tycoon

Chapter 349 Only with boldness can a big scene be shot (one more)
The next day, all the weapons, armor and other props borrowed by the crew of "Looking for the Qin Dynasty" from Xi~an Film Studio have been shipped.

Originally, the production team could also be brought from Hong Kong, but after calculating the cost of air transportation, it is not as cheap as leasing the equipment from the mainland.

TVB TV has always liked to be careful when filming, or to put it another way, haggling over every detail.For the expenditure of each mosquito money, the plan is very detailed and reasonable.

For the filming of "Looking for the Qin" this time, in order to compete with ATV's "Qin Shihuang", TVB paid a lot of money, and it was unprecedented to be able to come to the mainland to shoot scenes.You know, in the past, relying on its own Shaw Brothers Studios, no matter what kind of film it was filming, Wireless would like to wander around in its own studio.In order to save expenses and reduce funds.

Seeing that the props are ready, the cavalry seconded by the garrison are also ready to go, but the problem is that director Xiao Sheng drank too much last night, and his head is still dizzy. Standing and swaying, there is a feeling of vomiting.For this reason, Xiao Sheng was very emotional, Puta um, the mainland baijiu is so strong that I am still "airsick" --- camera-sick!

But this drama has to start. At this time, Xiao Sheng pulled out Chen Xiaotang, who was the leading actor, and begged him for help: "Tang Zai, I am not mean to you——now your uncle and I are in trouble, you To help or not?"

Chen Xiaotang has just finished putting on her makeup. She looks like a replica of Gu Tianle's look in "Looking for the Qin Dynasty". She is wearing a coarse cloth armor and has a "char siew bun" on her head. She looks very mighty and coquettish.

"Look at what you said, Director Xiao, if you have any orders, just say it, as long as I can do it, it is absolutely obligatory!" Chen Xiaotang laughed.

"Okay, I told you—you're going to shoot today's scene!" Xiao Sheng said reassuringly.

"I choose, what?!" Chen Xiaotang almost jumped up.

"Why such a big reaction? Didn't you just say that it is imperative? Oh, I have a headache, and I drank too much at the latest... You just work hard, if you don't understand something, just ask me, I will be a temporary director! "

Chen Xiaotang was speechless, what do you mean, because my head hurts from drinking too much, so I quit the job?Dizziness, my head hurts too!
"Ahem, well, I can see from your appearance that you will really be obliged--I'll go and squint for a while--this is a rare opportunity to exercise, Ah Tang, I won't give it to him if he's not an ordinary person, don't thank me Grab it yourself!" Xiao Sheng patted Chen Xiaotang on the shoulder and encouraged him.

Chen Xiaotang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he seemed to have taken advantage of it.

In fact, Xiao Sheng was also helpless, he himself was suffering from a hangover, and the filming work of the entire crew could not be delayed. Looking at the entire crew, only Chen Xiaotang had the experience of being a director, so if he didn't leave it to anyone else.

Having said that, although Chen Xiaotang worked hard for a capable person, it was a rare training to be able to manage such a large-scale war scene.

This is the scenic spot where the ancient battlefield of "Looking for the Qin" was filmed.

Looking around is the endless yellow sand, the sky and the earth are vast, and there is a roaring sound where the strong wind passes.In the future, CCTV's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other classic TV series will be filmed here.

"Get ready... go! Run... run, run, run... hurry up!"

The rail cars laid on the yellow sand ground were spinning rapidly, and two groups of photographers and three machines followed closely from three angles to take pictures of Zhao Guo's army "thousands of troops" charging.

Chen Xiaotang, dressed in an ancient costume, watched nervously on the monitor.One machine took the distant view, one machine captured the faces of weapons and soldiers, and one machine slapped the dusty horseshoes.

"Okay, stop!"

Chen Xiaotang stood up from behind the monitor, holding a loudspeaker in his hand, and shouted happily: "This one, pass! The next one is ready——Liu Jialing, you and I will play against each other!"

After hearing Chen Xiaotang's cry, Liu Jialing, who was dressed as the ancient female assassin "Shan Rou", hurried to the front to bury her seat.

Chen Xiaotang followed the cameraman and explained carefully the shooting angles and the main points of this set of shots, and then glanced at the big director Xiao Sheng who was snoring nearby, and couldn't help sighing, people are more popular than people - helpless, had no choice but to Fart bumped and ran over to bury him.

Shooting begins——
Xiang Shaolong, played by Chen Xiaotang, was sent here by the time machine, just in time to see the army fighting, he couldn't help being stunned: Oh, Shite!What exactly is this place? !

"There are enemies here!" An enemy soldier saw Chen Xiaotang standing on the hill in a daze, and rushed towards him.

"I choose!" Chen Xiaotang hurriedly backed away.

The soldier raised his sword and slashed at him viciously.

Close-up shot: Chen Xiaotang, who was in a dazed state, really didn't know if he was dreaming.

As soon as the camera turned, the soldier's face suddenly twisted, and he fell to the ground with his eyes closed.

Look again, the female assassin Shanrou played by Liu Jialing appeared in front of Chen Xiaotang.

Chen Xiaotang: Thank you for saving my life, may I ask where is this place and what era is it?
Liu Jialing: I haven't asked you yet, but you asked me first—let me ask you, who are you and why are you here?

Chen Xiaotang: I am——
Just as he was about to speak, he saw dust and smoke flying in the distance, wind and smoke billowing, but it was the armies of the two countries colliding and fighting together.

Next is the scene of the battle.

Not to mention, the army on the mainland is really a good tool for war, especially these cavalry soldiers, who acted like ancient soldiers with both form and spirit.You will never find such a conscientious and disciplined "dragon army" in Hong Kong.

Chen Xiaotang has watched the classic CCTV TV series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" in his previous life, and he has always admired the majestic war scenes filmed in them.

This time director Xiao Sheng was lazy and asked him to be the director, so he didn't use his strength to be cruel.

So there are scenes of being trapped, tripping, and people turning their backs on their backs!

Fumbling and rolling, the cavalry units that were originally thought not to be trained were horrible.

At this moment, they finally understand the cruelty of these Hong Kong people, damn it, they are even more ruthless than their own leader, Captain Li.

In the camera, the horses neighing in the horse pit, and a soldier was stabbed to death in the pit by a spear.Not far away, one side was defeated, and a hundred horses all retreated.The victor behind is chasing after him, the sky is full of dust, and ten thousand horses are roaring together——
I don't know how long it took.

"OK! That's it--this group of shots is finished! Everyone rest, let's eat and eat!"

"Whoo! Haha..."

Those actors who were acting as soldiers of the army got off their horses and cheered together. It was a very happy thing for them to have food.In such a monotonous place full of yellow sand, it is too boring to take several shots repeatedly.

When watching a movie, such a big scene like this is very enjoyable. There is a scene of cavalry and infantry coming or going, even with the realistic and deafening sound in the movie theater. Before I can see what is going on, the camera has passed .Only a burst of audio-visual shock and blood-boiling feeling were left behind.

But when it comes to the process of shooting these shots, it is simply an extremely boring thing, and its cumbersome level is enough to make people collapse and commit suicide.

First of all, a local actor with excellent equestrian skills must be hired; then a actor prop master will prepare nearly a dozen or twenty pieces of large and small props, from the body armor to a small piece of beast embroidery on the saddle.All the details have to be conceived in order to get the "ancient" feeling. A little sloppy makes people feel like a group of tourists riding horses to take pictures in the historic scenic spot.I think that when Guan Yu passed five passes and killed six generals in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", there was also a great idea of ​​wearing a time-traveling watch on his hand and galloping across the battlefield of the Qing Dynasty.

The most troublesome thing is the actual shooting process.No matter how tacitly they cooperate, the director and the cameraman are two people after all, with two heads thinking about things.One is directing on the scene, responsible for communicating with the actors, and the other is watching the effect behind the monitor. Often, the director thinks that he has fully explained and described his requirements, but when the cameraman executes it, it is difficult. Turns out that's not the case at all; that's not the worst part.There are dozens of extra actors in one shot.As long as there is a mistake, all the shots have to be cut and redone.These simple and uneducated extras, if you tell him about the artistic feeling, he will definitely not understand.I can only tell him how to do it mechanically, but if the explanation is too detailed, there will be problems in performance again, and it is easy to lose instinct, which is very unnatural.

This is still within the scope of human control, not to mention the dozens of horses who can't understand human language!Do you know which marathon is thin today, which horse is stubborn, and which horse will be surprised by the camera equipment halfway through the run?
Therefore, shooting blockbuster movies with ancient war themes is compared with shooting general urban movies, gangster movies, literary romance movies and other themes.The difficulty is often multiplied, and the cost is surprisingly high.

Fortunately, this "Looking for the Qin Dynasty" invited cavalry troops stationed in the local area to perform the ancient cavalry. These people are well-disciplined and well-trained. The most important thing is that the horses under the seat are all excellent breeds, so there is no need to consider whether they are loose on the spot .

As long as you shoot a long shot, for those people's soldiers who don't know how to act or have received professional training, fighting a war is simply easy.

At this time, Chen Xiaotang finally understood why Lao Mouzi liked to ask the armed police or garrisoned troops for help in his previous life when he was already filming big movies. Being able to show a bearing that is different from ordinary people, to put it accurately in terms of words, is enough "magnificence"!
After such a morning of filming, Chen Xiaotang, as a temporary director, has a deeper understanding of the role of director.

How should I put it, although Chen Xiaotang has also worked as a director, he has filmed the TV series "Southern Emperor and Northern Beggar" and the movie "The End of the World".But these two dramas are basically "small fights".Not to mention that there are only a handful of actors in "The End of the World" and you can count them with your fingers. Even the total number of actors in "The Southern Emperor and the Northern Beggar" is only a few dozen. Unlike now, a single war scene is used hundreds of people.

If it wasn't for Chen Xiaotang's "stealing from a teacher" when Fatty Wang Jing was filming "The Lord of the Demon Cult", and learned some skills in integrating human resources and shooting big scenes, he really wouldn't be able to handle scenes with so many actors.

In fact, after Chen Xiaotang made this temporary guest director in a very difficult way, he thought the same as director Xiao Sheng, that is, without considering the collision with the big star actor's schedule, first mention the difficult scenes. Prioritize filming at the front, finish filming it as much as possible, interspersed with some actors' performances that need careful consideration at most.

This can greatly shorten the time for actors and some small supporting actors to join the group, and save a lot of money, because the remuneration of these actors is calculated on a daily basis; will be greatly reduced.

At the end of the day, various expenses include props, recording equipment, art input, venue rental, horses, actors, and make-up workers' salaries and labor.In addition to the loss of film, the loss of large props such as rail cars and ceiling wires, as well as the equivalent remuneration for scouting, photography, beauty fingers, sound recording personnel and actors... In short, as long as a big scene is shot, the cost of a day Probably around one hundred thousand or so.

This huge cost is not what worries Chen Xiaotang the most.The most irritating thing is that nothing can be photographed after spending money.Before Chen Xiaotang crossed over in his previous life, he often watched the entertainment news in Hong Kong where the performers in Hong Kong worshiped gods and prayed to Buddha and burned incense to offer suckling pigs when they turned on their phones. ?Now that I am in this line of work, I realize that it is really difficult to become unsuperstitious in that environment.

Sometimes I can’t shoot a scene a day and spend so much money in vain. It’s either that the extra actor made a joke, or another worker accidentally got into the painting; Let's have a small situation... In short, what goes wrong is not smooth, and there is no way to explain it with scientific laws.

But sometimes, it doesn't make any sense at all. When it is correct, it can take six or seven big shots a day.Obviously the same crew and the same way of working may not be able to get a shot yesterday, a waste of money; but the next day only took half a day to shoot, and the work yield was three times that of yesterday, as if caught by evil.Under such circumstances, is it okay for a director not to believe in gods and Buddhas?
Otherwise, explain it? !

(End of this chapter)