1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

"The evil master on the first floor of the Seven Star Pagoda, Jin Fengjin, is a martial arts wanderer from Korea. He is skilled in whip kicks and is said to have once kicked a big black bull to death. He is known as the Wind-Chasing Divine Leg!"

"Xiong Xinxin, you go first!"

Yuan Heping checked the script and had already arranged and designed the storyboard. The first fight scene was against the Korean ronin Kim Bong-jin, and the protagonist Yang Yuqian and Li Lianjie were going to fight him.

"Alright!" Upon receiving the order, Xiong Xinxin darted out with a sword step, eager to try, having long since overcome the awkwardness and stage fright she had when she first joined the group.

"Our Seven Star Tower challenge has eight major fight scenes. The scenes are tight and the tasks are heavy, so we must fight quickly in the first two challenges and try not to drag it out, otherwise the rhythm will be sluggish!"

Cheng Xuemin reminded them from the side that although he had discussed it with the Yuan brothers and Huang Jianzhong before, the eight fight scenes in the Seven Star Tower challenge were of utmost importance.

A good performance means success; a bad performance means failure.

Therefore, we must go all out to film these eight fight scenes well and design them to make them stand out.

But the length of a movie also needs to be considered!

Nowadays, a typical movie in China is around 90 to 100 minutes long, and even if it exceeds the allotted time, it will not exceed 110 minutes.

Therefore, the duration of their Tai Chi practice must be controlled to around 100 minutes, with a maximum of 120 minutes.

Otherwise, it would exceed the standard length of a Hollywood film, and if submitted to the Bolin Film Festival, it would definitely be discounted.

Once this tone was set, the length of the eight fight scenes in the Seven Star Tower challenge had to be carefully controlled.

In the first two rounds, Cheng Xuemin and his team planned to fight quickly and pass the level as easily as possible, which also reflected the progression of the challenge from easy to difficult.

"Yes, Ah Xiong!" Yuan Heping replied from the side, and then tried to explain the details of the movements to Xiong Xinxin, but Xiong Xinxin said with a bitter look, "Master Yuan, can you not call me Ah Xiong?"

“That works too, Ah Xin does sound better!” Yuan Heping was taken aback when he heard this, knowing that this guy was very resistant to people calling him Little Bear, Xiao Xin, or Ah Xiong or something like that!

When they arrived, they started calling him "Ah Xin," which made the kid very happy. However, his teammates had gotten used to calling him "Xiao Xiong" and "Xiao Xin," so Yuan Heping and the others couldn't change their way of addressing him.

Seeing that the other party was indeed very happy, Yuan Heping continued, "You are a Korean ronin who is skilled in leg whips, but you are extremely unethical. Taking advantage of the time when Yang Yuqian came in and introduced himself, you launched a sneak attack without even saying a word, and your leg techniques were extremely tricky and ruthless!"

"But Yang Yuqian is no pushover either. He didn't even use Tai Chi. He easily defeated you with just a few palm flips!"

"But you still refused to admit defeat. Just as Yang Yuqian turned to move on to the next level, you suddenly launched another attack. Yang Yuqian easily defeated you again, kicking you through the window. Your fate is unknown!"

"Is it that bad?" Upon hearing this, Xiong Xinxin's lips twitched violently. So, is he, the little villain, only destined to be tortured by the protagonist?

Even a sneak attack can kill you!
"Did you understand?" Yuan Heping rolled his eyes. "Who cares about how miserable he is? I'm just asking if you can fight him."

"I understand, I understand!" Xiong Xinxin grinned. It's just being abused, right? He knew all too well about that.

Previously, he, along with Ji Chunhua and Sun Jiankui, had provoked Little Li quite a bit, but in one-on-one combat, he was always the one who got beaten.

Now that it's officially on stage, I'm still getting brutally beaten, but I've become numb and used to it.

"Okay, Yang Yuqian, come here too!" Yuan Heping nodded and beckoned Li Lianjie to come over as well, but his face had already turned into a smile.

Clearly, after spending the last few days getting to know each other, the Yuan brothers felt more and more that this young Li was an absolute gem.

If the two brothers were to take this to Hong Kong, they would definitely make a fortune. Therefore, the Yuan brothers treated Li Lianjie much better than they treated Xiong Xinxin.

Of course, it's also possible that there's an inherent prejudice against the Korean ronin played by Xiong Xinxin.

"Ah Jie, later you and Ah Xiong..."

“Ah Xin!” Xiong Xinxin corrected him stubbornly again.

"Ah, right, right! Ah Xin, Ah Xin!" Yuan Heping was speechless. Was it really necessary to be so serious about such a small detail?

He then continued, "Later, the two of you will have to coordinate and fight each other like this..."

Yuan Heping is truly exceptional in martial arts instruction and designing choreography routines. Cheng Xuemin and the others watched as he gestured animatedly as he spoke, demonstrating to Li Lianjie and Xiong Xinxin how they should coordinate their movements later!
Which action to perform in which position, or which expression to use while performing that action.

Anyway, the exchange went smoothly and effortlessly, but it's unclear how much of it Li Lianjie and Xiong Xinxin actually understood and grasped.

"Well, Xiaoxin, did you understand everything?" Li Lianjie naturally had Yuan Heping's care, and Cheng Xuemin couldn't neglect Xiong Xinxin, so he asked with concern.

"Brother Cheng, Ah Xin!" Xiong Xin Xin didn't appreciate it and was still fixated on the form of address.

"Okay, okay! Ah Xin, as long as you're okay, I'll even be a gorilla!" Cheng Xuemin rolled his eyes, his good intentions were completely wasted. You really care that much about this nickname?

"No, no, no, Brother Cheng, please do as you please, I'm fine with anything!" Xiong Xinxin felt awkward and didn't dare to argue with Brother Cheng anymore.

Otherwise, he might really become the gorilla he preys on, which would be worse than Little Bear and Little Xin.

"Are you sure there are no problems?" Cheng Xuemin's expression also changed, and he said to him seriously, "Anyway, take your time, we still have plenty of time. You and Xiao Li should spar a few more times, and make sure you master the action routine that Master Yuan designed for you. Just don't mess up when you're actually on camera!"

When designing action routines for them, we definitely need to have them familiarize themselves with them several times before they can appear on camera.

After all, in this era, the scarcest resource for filmmaking was film stock, and the standards for each film were fixed. If the film ran out before the film was finished, you had to spend money to apply for and buy more, not to mention write reports explaining the situation—it was very troublesome!

Therefore, when filming movies, no one dares to come up on stage; they just start filming real shots directly because everyone is nervous.

for example!

The director next to me, Huang Jianzhong, was sweating more than anyone else on his head as he independently directed such a major project for the first time; he was nervous.

This is before the actual footage has even been shot. Who knows how nervous Director Huang will be when that time comes?

"No problem, no problem, Brother Cheng, don't worry, I'll definitely play my best and won't let you down, I definitely won't bring shame to my hometown!" Huh?
This kid said he wasn't nervous and that there wouldn't be any problems, but now he's stammering and his nervousness is making him blurt out what's on his mind.

"It's not that serious. It's just making a movie. There's no need to embarrass our hometown folks!" Cheng Xuemin patted him on the shoulder and continued to encourage him.
"Yes, thank you, Brother Cheng!"

Xiong Xinxin was the first to go on stage. Although he said he was fine, he was more nervous than anyone else. After talking to Cheng Xuemin, he went on stage and clenched his fists to encourage himself: "Xiong Xinxin, you can do it. You can definitely do it. You can't let your fellow villagers down. You know, he's the only one from Guixi in the whole crew. Everyone knows he came to Yanjing to make a movie. This is everyone's hope. I can't let them down!"
"Alright, everyone's ready! Departments, take your positions!"

Director Huang Jianzhong started speaking, and seeing that Xiong Xinxin seemed stiff and was obviously still nervous, he reassured her, "Don't be nervous, just like in our usual practice, let's go through the movements once and see how it goes!"

Although it was just a rehearsal, the cameraman still had to keep up with the action, and Xiong Xinxin and Li Lianjie had to get used to sparring under the camera's lens.

Of course, it's not turned on yet; it's not time to officially start filming. Let me emphasize again, film is very expensive.

"Alright, let's count down 1, 2, 3, start!"

As soon as Huang Jianzhong gave the signal to start, Xiong Xinxin and Li Lianjie started sparring. The sounds of their slapping and their practiced movements dazzled the onlookers, leaving even the cameraman Lao Zhou dumbfounded.

It's so fast, there's no way to capture the movement, what's the point of filming!
Fortunately, Huang Jianzhong had already called for a stop, saying, "Stop, stop, stop! You guys are shooting so fast, how can Lao Zhou's camera keep up?"

"Slow down! Slow down!"

"Didn't you say we should fight quickly?" Li Lianjie touched his shaved head and asked with a simple smile.

"But we can't go too fast, the camera can't keep up!" Huang Jianzhong emphasized again, and continued, "Alright, everyone to your positions, let's start over! You two remember, slow down!"

As Huang Jianzhong shouted "123" again, Li Lianjie and Xiong Xinxin started fighting again, this time their movements were a little slower.

However, Yuan Heping, the martial arts choreographer standing nearby, frowned and shouted, "Stop, stop, stop! The movements just now were wrong. Also, A-Jie, you didn't hit the target properly. You must get the movements right!"

"Come again!"

"stop!"

"Go on, come again!"

After repeated rehearsals and adjustments, the fight scenes between Li Lianjie and Xiong Xinxin finally satisfied Yuan Heping and Huang Jianzhong.

"Alright! Xiao Li and Xiao Xin, you two did a great job. Now take a short break, and we'll start filming in a bit!"

Seeing that they were almost done, Huang Jianzhong gestured for the two of them to rest for a bit. He then asked Yuan Heping, who was standing next to him, "Master Yuan, are they almost done?"

“That’s fine!” Yuan Heping nodded, though it was just words, his face was beaming with a smile.

It's truly a great martial arts choreographer. It's a real pleasure to train a promising talent like Li Lianjie who has real kung fu skills.

The fight between the two of them just now was so smooth and impressive, it was truly eye-catching and incredibly beautiful.

"How's it going? Can the camera keep up?"

Zhang Yimou was chosen by the Tai Chi production team and was directly in charge of filming with one camera after joining the crew. He was extremely flattered and also felt like he was walking on thin ice, trembling with fear.

While he was still immersed in the rapid fight scenes between the two actors, frantically adjusting the camera in his hands, sweating profusely, he suddenly heard a question beside him. He instinctively nodded repeatedly and said, "Keep up! Keep up!"

At this point, you have to grit your teeth and try to keep up, even if you can't.

This opportunity was incredibly important to the young man from the countryside. When Zhang Yimou received the notification to join the production team, he secretly vowed to help him make the film a success and to put all his knowledge and skills to good use.

Therefore, this opportunity is extremely precious. Zhang Yimou has no choice but to move forward. He must keep up with even the fastest martial arts moves, and if he can't keep up, he must do everything he can to do so.

"It's good if you can keep up, but don't push yourself too hard. You must speak up!" Cheng Xuemin really valued the National Preceptor's talent and wanted to train him properly. That's why he dared to use a newcomer like Zhang Yimou in such an important task.

"Yes, yes, yes... Ah? Teacher Cheng? I... I... I'm sure I can keep up, I definitely won't let you down!" Zhang Yimou looked up and found that the person speaking to him was actually Teacher Cheng Xuemin, who had personally selected him. He was flattered and didn't know how to respond.

I'm so incredibly excited! This is Teacher Cheng, who personally selected me to join the group; he's my true mentor.

"Don't be too nervous!" Cheng Xuemin patted Zhang Yimou on the shoulder and continued, "I've seen your performance in 'The Loess Plateau,' and it was excellent. I heard that you personally designed and filmed many of the shots!"

"Not bad, not bad. That's exactly why I transferred you to the Tai Chi production team!"

"The Loess Plateau," which was released at the end of last month alongside "The Herdsman," has also garnered considerable acclaim and success. Cheng Hsueh-min did not have the chance to watch it at the previous screening.

But afterwards, I still took my wife, Feng Jiayou, to see it again, and the filming was very good.

The male protagonist in the film is Zhang Yimou, a man from northern Shaanxi.

Of course, Cheng Xuemin already knew all this. Back when Cheng Xuemin went to the Northwest to film The Herdsman and passed through Xi'an, the provincial capital, he was received by Director Wu Tianming of Xi'an Film Studio, and Zhang Yimou, the male lead, accompanied him.

Moreover, many scenes in "The Loess Plateau" were filmed on location, including Cheng Xuemin's hometown, so you definitely have to watch it carefully to see what his hometown looks like on the big screen!
Therefore, Cheng Xuemin must have seen this movie, and he wholeheartedly approves of Zhang Yimou's acting skills and cinematography.

"Huh?" Zhang Yimou was taken aback again, then rubbed his hands and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Thank you for your high regard, Teacher Cheng. I...I will definitely do my best!"

"Alright, get ready, Director Huang is about to get serious!"

Cheng Xuemin patted Zhang Yimou on the shoulder to encourage him, and then went to cheer on Xiong Xinxin, as well as Li Lianjie.

Little Li is now a hot commodity in the eyes of Hong Kong people, and Cheng Xuemin has to be careful not to let the kid get away with it.

……

Please vote with monthly tickets and subscribe to the full chapter! (End of this chapter)