1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 276 Cut-off
In the early years, photographic equipment was backward, and in order to prevent overexposure, the camera had to be covered with a piece of cloth and the photographer would crawl inside to take pictures.

Then the news spread to the film industry. The crew was worried that the film would be scratched by the parts inside during shooting, but there was no way to prevent it. So they came up with the idea of covering the machine with a red cloth to "suppress evil" and seek psychological comfort.

Hong Kong people are superstitious. This simple ritual has evolved to the present day and has been given various meanings such as ensuring safety and making a lot of money, and it has become increasingly mysterious.

Those particular film crews in Hong Kong would ask a master to calculate an auspicious date before starting filming.

If the sun is shining brightly that day, it is called good luck. If it rains heavily, it is said that water brings wealth. In short, you have to wish for good luck.

When the filming officially starts, an incense table and an altar must be set up, and a compass must be used to calculate the direction of worship. All crew members burn incense and worship in turn, but there is no fixed rule as to which deity to worship.

After filming starts, actresses are absolutely not allowed to touch the camera equipment.

Because they are considered "yin people", it would be unlucky if they touched the equipment or sat on the cameraman's chair.

Wireless takes this set of rules the most seriously.

In addition to the opening ceremony, there is also a closing ceremony. Even though the series has already been completed, they had to choose a good day before announcing the disbandment of all the cast.

“Mr. Zhai, when we shoot a supernatural film like Mr. Vampire, we must perform rituals to borrow the light from our good brothers, otherwise it will be very fierce if we make them unhappy!”

Liu Zhenwei was calmed down, and the cameraman next to him came over to explain things to Zhai Yuan in a very confident tone.

"Pick! At the foot of the emperor of Sijiu City, the national destiny suppresses all monsters and demons. What good brother dares to show his head here?"

Zhai Yuan pouted and said, then patted the other person on the shoulder: "Work hard, and after we finish filming this movie, I'll give you a big red envelope!"

Real money is the most practical. Once this promise is made, no one will talk about ghosts and gods anymore.

Seeing that he had won everyone over with just a few words, Zhou Xuejun walked up to him with a smile and said, "National destiny suppresses all monsters and demons. Xiao Zhai's words are profound. The feudal dregs such as the opening ceremony should indeed be abandoned. We mainland filmmakers have never done this, and I have never heard of such a process in the West. It's all nonsense."

Zhai Yuan smiled noncommittally: "Let's wait and see."

In the 1980s, mainland films had not yet been commercialized. Directors and studios made films to fulfill the high-level mission of mass entertainment. Naturally, they would not and could not engage in these empty rituals.

After the movies are commercialized, big directors will incorporate this system into the publicity and promotion process, and the scale of the promotion will be much more impressive than that of Hong Kong filmmakers.

The crew is complete.

They rented two vans to take them to the filming location.

Zhai Yuan sat in Zhou Xuejun's Hongqi car and said, "Old Zhou, come with me to buy a car when you are free this afternoon. It is not appropriate for you to always be the driver."

"You don't have a registered unit in the mainland, so you need to go to the Material Bureau to get an invoice and fill out forms to buy a car. You'll probably also need a letter of introduction from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, which will take a lot of time."

Zhou Xuejun held the steering wheel without looking away, and said with a smile: "I can drive the government car to take you for a ride. Don't be shy and afraid of causing trouble for me. There is nothing inappropriate. This is my job to receive foreign guests!"

Zhai Yuan agreed with a smile, glanced at Moon Lee who had put on exquisite makeup, and sighed softly.

I thought to myself that I bought a car not because I was afraid of causing trouble for Zhou Xuejun, but mainly because it would be inconvenient to have an extra light bulb around me.

Zhou Xuejun didn't feel like a light bulb, and said half-jokingly: "The news that you invested in Xie Jin's "Furong Town" has spread. It's amazing that you gave 300,000 Hong Kong dollars without hesitation. As a result, many people came to your door with scripts in the past two days, asking me to make an appointment with you, the God of Wealth."

Based on the current exchange rate, 300,000 Hong Kong dollars is actually less valuable than RMB.

However, the Hong Kong dollar has noble foreign exchange attributes and its actual purchasing power is much higher than that of the RMB.

In this era, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are marketed overseas to contribute to foreign exchange.

As soon as Zhai Yuan threw the money around, the film studio received it and immediately gave 300,000 yuan to Xie Jin, and also gave him an additional subsidy of 5,000 yuan.

It caused quite a stir in the mainland film and television circles.

"If there is a good book, I can buy it. Show it to me later."

Zhai Yuan said this without much interest, and then asked, "Hey, Lao Zhou! Do you think it would be less troublesome if I buy a car with Hong Kong dollars?"

…………

The filming location of "Mr. Vampire" is in Gubei Water Town, which took more than an hour to drive dozens of kilometers.

The truck carrying the equipment arrived yesterday. When Zhai Yuan and his team arrived at the destination, Liu Zhenwei had already led the crew to set up the scene.

"Handle the camera carefully, extras are getting ready to enter the stage, let's take a panoramic shot of the street first..."

At the shooting location, Liu Zhenwei wore a fisherman's hat, put his hands on his hips and shouted.

The town itself is ancient and quaint, with the streets simply decorated and extras walking around in coarse cloth clothes, making it seem as if we have really returned to the early Republic of China era.

The extras were nearby residents, and the scene was shot in a cafe, so they served as background panels.

The pay is five yuan per person, and a box lunch is provided.

It was only when Zhai Yuan came to the mainland to film that he realized that boxed lunches are not quite the same as other boxed lunches.

In the past, I often heard rumors that mainland movie stars were discriminated against. It was said that the lunch boxes of Hong Kong actors on the set were full of fish and meat, while the lunch boxes of mainland movie stars were just vegetarian.

In fact, he recently asked the director and found out that in co-productions, everyone takes care of themselves. Hong Kong film producers have sufficient funds, so their actors' lunch boxes are more substantial, while mainland film studios provide meals according to unit standards. The two sides have completely different systems.

But it doesn’t matter to Zhai Yuan.

Everyone is treated equally, all eat vegetarian food, and if they want to eat something good, they can buy it themselves. There should be no controversy this way, right? "Sai Feng, go to the car and change your clothes first. It will be your turn after this scene is finished."

Zhai Yuan arrived at the scene and greeted the director and actors, and Liu Zhenwei asked Moon Lee to prepare in advance.

Moon Lee responded and walked towards a van covered with black tape that had been used as a makeshift dressing room.

Zhai Yuan followed and said seriously, "Okay! Let me see if the clothes you prepared are suitable and whether they are made according to my standards."

As a result, just as he and Moon Lee approached the van and had not yet gotten in, they were stopped by Barbara Yung and Wong Siu-fung who were guarding the door.

"Hey! The women's locker room is a restricted area, men are not allowed in!"

"I'm here to be the art director, what are you doing?!"

Zhai Yuan acted in a businesslike manner, but unfortunately, Weng Meiling and Wang Xiaofeng didn't buy it and smiled as they stopped him outside.

Li Saifeng turned around and made a naughty face at Zhai Yuan, then got into the car and closed the door without mercy.

In front of the car door.

Zhai Yuan argued with the two female goalkeepers, but was still not allowed to enter the car to do the art directing work as he wished, so he had to turn around and leave angrily.

After walking around the set for a few times, the staff members were busy with their own things and no one paid any attention to him.

Zhai Yuan felt bored and strolled to a house not far away.

At the door of a residential building.

An elderly lady was leaning against the door frame, looking in the direction of the crew.

Zhai Yuan approached and said hello in a very social way: "Old lady, can I borrow two stools from you to rest for a while?"

The old man was also very easygoing: "Wait, I'll move it for you."

Zhai Yuan quickly followed into the yard to help, and soon came out carrying two chairs.

"This chair in your house is quite old."

"That's right! It was handed down from my grandmother's generation, so I think it would have lasted until the Qing Dynasty. A few years ago, someone offered ten yuan to take it away, but my family doesn't need that little money, so I kept it as a keepsake..."

The old lady was also a chatterbox. She kept talking for a while and then asked Zhai Yuan, "Young man, are you here to make a movie with them too?"

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, I do some odd jobs on the set."

The old lady said, "My son and daughter-in-law have also gone to join in the fun, dressed in strange clothes. Look, they are the two squatting in front of the vegetable stall."

Zhai Yuan looked over there and saw the street arranged like a bustling market, with vendors and pedestrians coming and going. A middle-aged couple pretending to be customers were bargaining in front of a vegetable stall.

At the same time, Liu Zhenwei also grabbed the megaphone and gave orders to the whole audience.

"Attention all units, the first shot of the sixth scene of "Mr. Zombie", Action!"

……

The streets are bustling with people and vendors calling out their wares.

The pedestrians were either wearing long gowns or western clothes, and a few children were playing and walking around.

Uncle Jiu (Lin Zhengying) and Wencai (Hui Guanying) enter the painting one after the other.

Wencai: "Master, can I not go with you to see Master Ren?"

Uncle Jiu: "Why, do you have a grudge against him?"

Wencai: "No! I don't even know what he looks like, but I have never drunk foreign tea in my life. I am afraid that I will make a fool of myself and embarrass you, Master."

Uncle Jiu: "Okay, then you don't have to go."

Liu Zhenwei played with a medium shot, and after he finished speaking the lines he did not say "Cut" so the actors continued to perform.

Uncle Jiu walked a few meters away alone, muttering to himself, "I've never drunk foreign tea before, it would be so embarrassing if I make a fool of myself... No, I still have to take Wencai with me, so that if I make a fool of myself, he can take the blame!"

……

Taking into account the fact that this is a sequel, Zhai Yuan's version of "Mr. Vampire" has a slightly younger look and makeup than the original, but the unique features of straight eyebrows and mustache are still retained, and the overall image is still very recognizable.

The transition scene of several dozen seconds was shot three times in a row.

There was nothing wrong with the actors' performance. Passersby were not professional enough and often looked at the camera curiously, but other than that there were no unexpected situations.

Liu Zhenwei shot a few more close-ups of the market, and the first scene was completed successfully.

The staff moved the camera to a nearby restaurant and transformed the interior layout into the style of a Western-style coffee shop. However, due to the tight time schedule and heavy workload, they basically only took care of the areas where the camera could shoot, and left other locations unchanged.

Zhai Yuan saw the large army moving to a new position, then stood up and said goodbye to the old lady.

The old lady frowned and muttered, "It's finished so quickly? I don't see what's so good about it!"

(I’ll say it first because it’s short and weak. I’m staring at Big A and have no time to write today…)
(End of this chapter)