Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 17: Filming of "No One" Begins

An assistant director came up and explained today's shooting plan to Shi Lei in detail. The plan was very detailed and the preparations were very thorough. It could be said that the shooting would go on just as well with or without him.

Shi Lei was also relieved and told the assistant director directly: "Shoot as planned."

"Director, please." The assistant director invited Shi Lei to sit in the main seat.

Shi Lei was not pretentious. He sat on the director's seat and followed the director's process, asking whether the photography, lighting, sound recording, etc. were ready. After confirming that they were ready, he started shooting directly.

Soon after taking a take, Shi Lei didn't say anything about it, but asked the assistant director directly: "What do you think of this take?"

The assistant director looked at Shi Lei in surprise. After confirming that Shi Lei was really asking him, he said cautiously, "Not very good. This actor is in the wrong position."

"Okay, you go and give some instructions, and then we'll do another one." Shi Lei nodded and said.

The assistant director nodded and walked over...

In the next few days, Shi Lei filmed according to the assistant director's instructions, and only gave guidance when the film really didn't pass.

Even though he is only a senior, he is a graduate of a professional school and can see a lot of problems.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the assistant director pretended to be a bad director in order to give him a sense of accomplishment and let him take action.

He didn't mean to delve into it. He was just filming for a few days anyway, so whether it was intentional or he really didn't have the ability, it had little to do with him.

Time passed quickly, and seven days passed in the blink of an eye. Shi Lei completed the task and said goodbye to Zhang Jizhong.

Zhang Jizhong hasn't come to check on us in the past few days. I don't know if it's because he believes in his ability, or because the assistant director goes to report every night.

Anyway, Zhang Jizhong didn't put any pressure on him.

Zhang Jizhong also wanted to hold a farewell banquet for Shi Lei, but Shi Lei politely declined. However, Zhang Jizhong insisted, and after Shi Lei repeatedly refused, he finally attended.

Both parties were very satisfied with this cooperation. "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" gained extra popularity and Shi Lei earned 100,000 yuan in seven days.

On January 1, Shi Lei led Liu Tao, who had already finished filming, to Hengdian. Ning Hao had already gone there to prepare, and the actors were also in place, and they were just waiting for a good day in a few days to start filming.

Under the leadership of Ning Hao, Shi Lei inspected the crew. The crew was well prepared, all the scenes had been set up, and the actors and martial arts were also ready.

But there was one thing that was beyond Shi Lei's expectations.

"Brother Hong, why are you here?" Shi Lei asked in surprise.

In fact, he was thinking, "What the hell?" How did Sammo Hung get here? Sammo Hung is a big shot in the Hong Kong circle, and he can't suppress him at all.

Humboldt's coming here was trouble for him.

"Haha, Director Shi is young and promising. He has organized such a big plan. I'm worried that they can't handle it, so I have to do it myself! Don't worry, everything will be done according to the contract, and you don't have to calculate my remuneration." Hong Jinbao laughed heartily.

"Haha, thank you Brother Hong for supporting "No One in My Eyes"."

Shi Lei exclaimed in his heart again, you say no, how can I not give it to you?
Although they are reluctant in their hearts, they still have to follow the necessary social etiquette. After the filming is completed, the remuneration will be given in the form of a red envelope.

After the two of them flattered each other for a while, Shi Lei said goodbye and left.

That night he took the initiative to treat the entire crew to a big meal.

On January 1, Shi Lei held a grand opening ceremony and invited major media outlets to report on it.

According to the custom of the Hong Kong circle, after paying homage to various great gods, the next step is to answer reporters' questions. Compared with the overall pessimism some time ago, the media now feels that Shi Lei still has a chance of success under the influence of "Hero".

With 10 million dollars and the support of Humboldt, it is possible to succeed.

After interviewing Shi Lei for a while, the reporters turned around and went to interview Hong Jinbao.

Shi Lei had expected this, but he was still very unhappy.

Originally he was the biggest star in the entire crew, but now it’s Samuel H. Wing that’s the biggest star.

Shi Lei secretly took a few deep breaths and thought to himself: "Forget it, forget it, as long as the movie can make money, it's fine." His original plan was to become famous in the circle with "Empty Room" and become famous outside the circle with "No One in My Eyes", but now the plan has changed a little.

For martial arts films, Samuel Humboldt served as the action director. Even if "No Man's Land" was a success, Samuel Humboldt would get most of the credit. In the eyes of people in Hong Kong circles, it was even all Samuel Humboldt's credit.

Alas... I need to make another commercial film to build my own reputation.

Whatever, just go slow! As long as the film can make money, that's fine.

If you want to use the director's fame to attract audiences to the cinema, it is not enough for two movies to do that.

...

After the interview with the reporters, we officially started shooting. On the first day, we only shot a few unimportant shots. It was not difficult and went very smoothly.

The second day was mainly literary drama, which also went smoothly.

Zhou Zhaolong plays a blind man (becomes blind), who either has his eyes closed or has a pair of grey eyes open. There is no need for complex eye expressions, just common facial expressions, so it is not difficult.

There were no problems when Dong Xuan (Ni Yan) and Chou Zhaolong (Cheng Xiazi) acted opposite each other.

There were no problems for the next ten days or so, and the filming entered the most complicated fighting scene stage.

Things turned out just as he expected. When filming the fight scenes, Hong Jinbao stood behind him and gave him all kinds of suggestions and also gave various suggestions to the actors.

Shi Lei was prepared for this. Although he kept complaining in his heart, he did not show any displeasure on the surface. Instead, he secretly decided not to allow Hong Jinbao to join his crew in the future.

In fact, Hong Jinbao is professional in filming martial arts scenes, and the quality is better than if he personally directed them.

His original plan was to listen more to Chou Zhaolong's opinions on the martial arts scenes, and now that Hong Jinbao was personally directing them, it was not bad.

If things had continued like this, he wouldn't have minded, but unexpected events still occurred.

"Director Shi, this set of moves isn't powerful enough. Can you change it?" Hong Jinbao pointed at the script and showed it to Shi Lei.

Shi Lei complained in his heart, but his expression showed a thoughtful look, and asked: "Brother Hong, how do you think it should be changed?"

Hong Jinbao chuckled, called a few people in, and started to demonstrate.

What was supposed to be a clean and swift kill with a sword turned into the enemy's weapon being knocked away by the sword, and then kicked away with fists and feet.

After the set of moves was finished, Shi Lei shook his head and said, "Brother Hong, these moves can indeed show the hero's toughness. If the movie is only released in China, it would be better if it was changed like this. However, it is different in North America. North Americans like clean and neat fights. If it is a battle with a small boss, it's fine. But it's so strenuous to kill a few minions. North American audiences won't feel too satisfied."

This is an old routine in China. Before fighting the boss, the protagonist has to put in some effort to kill the minions and also needs to suffer some injuries, so as to reflect the difficulty of the protagonist.

But the style of "John Wick" is to kill to the end. The protagonist can be slightly injured before fighting the boss, but it cannot be a serious injury. The killing action may not be cool, but it must be clean, neat, smooth and seamless.

Seeing that Hong Jinbao was still hesitating, Shi Lei continued, "Brother Hong, I care more about the North American box office for this film. This is the key to our entry into Hollywood. As long as this film is successful, there will be "No Man's Land 2" and "No Man's Land 3."

Hong Jinbao was somewhat skeptical of Shi Lei's words and stood there in deep thought.

He also didn't know whether Shi Lei's analysis of North American audiences was correct. His previous actions did not gain a foothold in Hollywood. Shi Lei provided a new idea, which might be worth a try.

But he was still a little hesitant.

The purpose of his coming here in person was to use the popularity of "Hero" to help the Hong Clan rise again.

"Arrogant" has a lot of investment, and he wants to come here to watch.

But Shi Lei was right. The target of this film was overseas, so his previous approach might not work.

Forget it, just listen to Shi Lei. Anyway, this movie is invested by Shi Lei. No matter whether it works or not, just take it as experience.

He can organize another film based on the feedback from "No One".

"Alright! Keep the original action as is."

(End of this chapter)