Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 248 Finishing

"Cut!" Wu Yuchen suddenly called for a stop.

Jiang Wen turned around and saw Wu Yuchen shouting at him, "Your expression during the last line is wrong!"

Jiang Wen touched his face, then walked back to Wu Yuchen and watched the surveillance footage with him: "No problem?"

Jiang Wen felt that his performance was spot-on.

Wu Yuchen pointed directly and said:
"Still no problem? Keep your expression under control, don't act like you've been reborn! This is a forced outburst, a last-ditch effort, you're prepared to die. I want a more melancholic feel, I'd rather you be expressionless right now than be all hyped up like this!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wen immediately said, "No, Director Wu, it's precisely because he knows he's going to die that he undergoes this transformation..."

Wu Yuchen interrupted him: "From Lu Jianxing's perspective, it's like this: he can transform, but only halfway. His scenes and emotions must serve the overall film and Shen Lian. Shen Lian is the protagonist!"

The scene of killing the boss can provoke the audience's emotions and serve to build up those emotions, but it cannot completely ignite those emotions, because it must be done by the protagonist, Shen Lian, and the release of those emotions should be reserved for the final battle scene.

Jiang Wen wanted to say something more, but Wu Yuchen waved his hand and said firmly, "There's no question about that. It's impossible to disrupt the story's rhythm and the overall tone of the movie just for Lu Jianxing."

He added this scene to flesh out Lu Jianxing's character. In a previous life, the director of *Brotherhood of Blades* later gave an interview discussing some regrets during filming, namely the low budget. Actually, the script for *Brotherhood of Blades* gave each of the three brothers their own storyline, aiming to showcase how ordinary people resist the control of their own destinies in a particular era. However, due to lack of funds, almost all of Lu Jianxing's scenes were cut, and Jin Yichuan's scenes were also largely cut, with only the parts related to Ding Xiu remaining.

Wu Yuchen isn't short of funds, and he could easily add a lot more screen time to these two, but he won't actually do that. At most, he'll give Lu Jianxing a little more screen time to balance things out with Jin Yichuan and Shen Lian, making his character more fleshed out and giving him his own voice, but his screen time can't be too much, overshadowing Shen Lian's. In a commercial film, the hierarchy must be clear.

Jiang Wen saw that Wu Yuchen's attitude was very firm and knew that he could not persuade Wu Yuchen, so he could only go back to the set and reshoot the last scene.

After the scene was over, Wu Yuchen smiled and said to Liang Guanhua, "Teacher Liang, thank you for your hard work!"

Just now, Jiang Wen choked Liang Guanhua for a long time, and he really did choke her; there are still red marks on her neck.

"It's nothing, it's all part of it~" Liang Guanhua had already switched to his usual cheerful smile, looking quite adorable.

Wu Yuchen praised Liang Guanhua, saying, "Teacher Liang, your performance was really good. I'll definitely look for you again if there are suitable roles in the future!"

"Then I must thank Director Wu! Please feel free to call me anytime if you need anything!"

Liang Guanhua said happily that he would be finishing filming today, and to receive Wu Yuchen's words, which made him remember him, was undoubtedly the best affirmation.

Wu Yuchen, on the other hand, was thinking of going back to Qian Yanqiu to ask if he had finished writing "Detective Dee". If he had, Miracle Films would directly invest in the series.

……

Jiang Wen's next scene involves him wielding a knife to kill Zhao Jingzhong, after all, this guy is the culprit who caused the three brothers to fall into their current predicament. However, Zhao Jingzhong has already led his men to kill Shen Lian himself, so Jiang Wen doesn't run into him. Instead, he encounters Wei Ting, Wei Zhongxian's adopted daughter, and a large group of his men, and the two sides engage in a fierce battle in the snowy night.

However, Wu Yuchen didn't film the specific details of the snowy night battle. He'll just show the beginning of the encounter, then flash back to other locations, and it'll be over when he returns. The reason is the same: they can't give Lu Jianxing too much screen time; having the same amount of screen time as Jin Yichuan is enough, and he can't pose a threat to Shen Lian.

In the scene, Jiang Wen is seen standing with his sword on his hip, his silver official robe stained with blood, panting heavily. There are many corpses lying on the ground, while Yu Nan, opposite him, is charging at him again with her sword.

Just as Jiang Wen was about to draw his sword to meet the attack, more than a dozen arrows pierced through Yu Nan. Jiang Wen turned his head to look around and saw that a large group of Imperial Guards armed with crossbows and embroidered spring knives had already surrounded him.

Looking at the large group of people surrounding him, Jiang Wen revealed a miserable smile. Even though he was determined to fight to the death, he was like an ant in front of these important figures.

He wanted to draw his sword and fight again, but a large net caught Jiang Wen, and he was like a fish that could not break free, at the mercy of others.

……

Inside the house, Jiang Wen was pinned to the ground, while a few meters in front of him stood two figures, one standing and one sitting. The standing figure was Ni Dahong, who played Han Kuang, a minister of the Donglin Party who oversaw the autopsy of Wei Zhongxian and sought to use Wei Zhongxian's arrest as a pretext to completely eradicate the eunuch faction. The seated figure was none other than Deng Chao, who played the newly enthroned Emperor Chongzhen.

At this moment, Jiang Wen's head was pressed to the ground, and he couldn't even lift his head. Deng Chao, dressed in official robes, gently raised a finger, and the two men escorting Jiang Wen then lifted his head, allowing him to see the situation before him.

These are all details that Wu Yuchen specifically optimized, designed to subtly instill in the audience the sense of helplessness and sorrow of a small person whose every move is controlled by a powerful figure, leaving them completely powerless. Lu Jianxing's killing of his superior was an attempt to lash out, but instead he faced even more ruthless suppression, further amplifying this feeling in the audience.

Sitting high in his chair, Deng Chao looked down at Jiang Wen, who was kneeling before him, and asked indifferently, "Lu Jianxing, did you let Wei Zhongxian go?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Who ordered you?"

Jiang Wen, looking lifeless, said, "No one instructed him, no one conspired with him; it was all done by Lu Jianxing alone."

At this moment, Ni Dahong suddenly spoke up: "Nonsense! How dare you!"

At this moment, Jiang Wen turned his head and looked at Ni Dahong, a mocking smile on his face: "The position of centurion left to me by my father has been blocked for ten years. The imperial court can't give it to me, so I can only ask Wei Zhongxian for it."

Clearly, Jiang Wen was determined to take the blame himself, while simultaneously satirizing the corrupt Ming Dynasty. This was also Wu Yuchen's way of using Lu Jianxing's words to satirize the crumbling Ming Dynasty system, highlighting how Wei Zhongxian was considered more trustworthy than the court by many officials.

Ni Dahong pointed at him, her face contorted with anger: "You..."

At this moment, Deng Chao raised his hand again, gave Jiang Wen a cold glance, and ordered his men to take Jiang Wen away.

Ni Dahong immediately clasped his hands and respectfully said to Deng Chao, "Your Majesty, please hand Lu Jianxing over to me for interrogation. I will definitely pry open his mouth and bring all those involved with Wei the eunuch to justice!"

Deng Chao didn't look at Ni Dahong, who was bowing, but looked towards the door: "I have already killed hundreds of people. Even Yuan Chonghuan built a shrine for Wei Zhongxian. Do you want to kill him too?"

Yuan Chonghuan was Han Kuang's student, so Han Kuang had no answer to his words.

Then Deng Chao turned to stare at Ni Dahong: "You want to leave me with no one I can use?"

Ni Dahong immediately bowed down again: "Your subject would rather die than do that!"

Deng Chao then withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "Don't let Lu Jianxing implicate anyone else. Kill them."

"Pass!"

After Wu Yuchen shouted this, he also breathed a sigh of relief. After this scene, most people could wrap up filming. The next scene to shoot was Jiang Wen's beheading scene, and then there was only the final battle left.

……

In Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, at the Ulanbutong Scenic Area, lies a place of beautiful scenery, lush vegetation, and wildflowers. It was once the imperial hunting grounds of the Qing Dynasty. Now, Wu Yuchen has brought his film "Brotherhood of Blades" to Xiaohongshan within the scenic area to film the final battle scenes.

However, this time the crew was much smaller, with only the three main brothers, Ding Xiu, and the main villain Zhao Jingzhong coming along.

Wu Yuchen didn't immediately start filming action scenes; instead, he filmed the scenes with Jiang Wen and Wu Jing first. Actually, Jiang Wen and Wu Jing were already dead. Their scenes were small, mainly depicting Shen Lian's imagined three brothers riding horses across the grasslands.

Naturally, they chose the most beautiful valley. Wu Yuchen and the photographer sat in the car and filmed following three galloping horses. The actors' performances were not difficult, but the key was to maintain the distance between the horses and the car for dynamic filming, and the car had to be driven steadily. This scene took a whole day to film.

After filming wrapped, Jiang Wen and Wu Jing finished shooting their scenes. When they returned home that evening, Jiang Wen insisted on taking Wu Yuchen to drink mare's milk wine, but Wu Yuchen refused. Jiang Wen's scenes were finished, but he had to continue filming the next day!
Jiang Wen had no choice but to toast with Wu Jing, but he also complained to Wu Yuchen, "Director Wu, it's not fun filming with you."

Wu Yuchen knew what he meant and said with a smile, "If I let you have your fill, my later scenes will be all messed up!"

Jiang Wen pursed his lips. He knew that made sense, but he wasn't the director. He came here to vent his emotions through the role of Lu Jianxing.

His original plan was to let Lu Jianxing erupt before his death, complete his personal transformation, and then perish. He also wanted to have a shot of Lu Jianxing laughing and crying while looking up at the execution ground, and then play a scene of Lu Jianxing's fantasy before he was cut down with a single blow.

Wu Yuchen accepted his suggestion, but only a little at the beginning. He suppressed the rest, preventing Wu Yuchen from expressing himself freely. Wu Yuchen felt frustrated because he couldn't vent his anger.

Jiang Wen then added, "Director Wu, Chinese martial arts films are all about romanticism. You're quite cruel, leaving no hope at the end."

Jiang Wen had read the script. On the surface, Shen Lian survived and eventually went south to reunite with Zhou Miaotong. At the end, a scene depicting the three brothers' imagined happy moments was even filmed. However, in reality, this fantasy was false, implying that the illusory beauty was easily shattered, just like the Ming Dynasty, which collapsed at the slightest provocation. Soon, the Tartars would invade, leaving the land barren and no one to enjoy a good life again.

Wu Yuchen laughed and said, "The audience won't think as much as you do. They'll be satisfied with getting revenge and seeing the male and female leads reunited!"

On the surface, "Brotherhood of Blades" has a relatively good ending. The three brothers suffered enough in the whole movie. If it had been given a blatantly tragic ending, the movie's box office would have been terrible. Director Wu is still very considerate of the audience's feelings.

Jiang Wen felt that Wu Yuchen was very inefficient in this respect; he considered box office and audience appeal too much when making movies, and many aspects that could have been more profound were only superficially touched upon. He himself never cared much about box office revenue when making movies; he only cared about making things enjoyable for himself.

Jiang Wen had a less-than-satisfying experience filming "Brotherhood of Blades," so he decided to go out and see if there were any other good scripts for him. He didn't believe everyone was like Wu Yuchen; in front of most directors, Jiang Wen still had a lot of influence.

……

After Jiang Wen and Wu Jing left, Wu Yuchen stayed behind with Zhang Guorong, Zhao Wenzhuo, and Duan Long to film action scenes. This time, they needed to find more than a dozen people to play Tartar cavalrymen. They directly recruited local nomads who all knew how to ride horses, so they just picked them directly.

The fight scenes are divided into two parts: one is a one-on-one fight between Shen Lian and Zhao Jingzhong, and the other is a fight between Ding Xiu and many others.

This design is quite interesting. Based on Ding Xiu's previous behavior, he is a very self-centered person and definitely wanted to kill Zhao Jingzhong with his own hands to avenge himself. However, when he saw Zhao Jingzhong colluding with the Tartars, he took the initiative to confront them alone. In other words, for him, killing the Tartars was a priority before seeking revenge.

Therefore, although it wasn't explicitly stated, his action hinted at his background and identity, suggesting a connection to Qi Jiguang's army. Furthermore, this scene of him voluntarily stepping forward to fight the Tartars greatly improved Ding Xiu's image in the eyes of the audience, leading many to no longer view him as a villain.

In terms of sheer spectacle, Ding Xiu's solo fight against over a dozen cavalrymen was more impressive, and his achievements were far more remarkable. However, the main character here is Shen Lian, and the fight scene between Leslie Cheung and Zhao Wenzhuo was more brilliantly designed.

This scene was meticulously designed by Yuan Heping's team, and of course, it was also in accordance with Wu Yuchen's requirements. Shen Lian used the three brothers' goose-wing knife, goose-feather knife, and mandarin duck short knife as weapons to fight Zhao Jingzhong, and finally killed Zhao Jingzhong with his own goose-feather knife.

However, this fight scene is naturally more exciting than the original. In the original, their fight took place in the woods, but in reality, the terrain didn't play any role in the fight at all. The two fought as if they were fighting on the grass outside, which was just a pure clash of weapons.

This time, Yuan Heping, the world's number one action choreographer, was different. He used all sorts of conditions in the forest, such as the trees, the fallen leaves on the ground, and the interplay of light and shadow between the trees, to make the fight scene even more exciting than the original. Wu Yuchen was very satisfied with the results.

It was ten days later when the film crew finished shooting and returned to Beijing from the scenic area.

(End of this chapter)