Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Chapter 90 Chung Chu-hung temporarily fills in (Please subscribe)

(I was a bit stressed writing yesterday, and my brain is a bit foggy and malfunctioning today. I struggled with one chapter for ages. I'm definitely not a natural typewriter. There should be two more chapters to go, enough to reach 10,000 words.)

After Zhang Shi'an silenced the entire audience, whatever he said went, and no one reacted.

Under Zhang Shuai'an's direction, the stuntmen completed the reshoot of this scene.

Zhang Shuai'an didn't make any special adjustments, but he emphasized the logical relationships between the characters and the entertainment value of the group fight scenes.

Zhang Shuai'an does have some experience. Before his transmigration, he was a motion capture actor who often filmed group scenes for many games, anime, and web dramas. Through this exposure, he has developed some unique insights.

This has nothing to do with whether or not there is a motion camera; it's purely a matter of concept.

The various fight scenes in later generations evolved layer by layer from the 1970s to the 1980s and then to the 1990s. It's just that there were fewer and fewer professional action actors later on, and idol actors themselves dragged down the action design, so it returned to fake fighting and standing still everywhere.

"After your direction, the action scenes are indeed much more exciting."

Chiu Chun-keung remarked with a touch of admiration, "And it makes the scene more logical; the audience can quickly understand what it's about. On-jai, you're a genius."

The train station scenes were filmed smoothly, and Xu Wenqiang, played by Zhang Shuai'an, followed Ding Li, played by Lü Liangwei, to the Zhabei slums.

In the original novel, Xu Wenqiang was just an ordinary college student who even served three years in prison, so it's hard to explain where his agile skills came from. Later, in the film version of "Shanghai Bund" starring Leslie Cheung, his character was changed to a young military officer.

The character of Zhang Shuai'an in this version is a combination of two parts: he served in the army before, and later went to a university in Beiping for further studies on the recommendation of a superior.

The subsequent filming proceeded smoothly. Unlike "Young Detective Bao Qingtian," there was no need to rush the filming this time, so many details were polished.

Not long after, they filmed a scene between Xu Wenqiang and his old classmate Fang Yanyun.

Zhang Shuai'an is chatting with Lin Jianmin, the actress who plays Fang Yanyun, to build rapport, since they are old classmates in the drama and need to develop some chemistry beforehand.

Zhang Shuai'an didn't have a deep impression of this actress, but from his interactions with her, she seemed to be a relatively talkative person.

After shaking hands and getting 20 star points, I learned that she was the winner of the "Miss Beach" pageant on RTV (Rediffusion Television). She had acted in many movies and TV series, but had not become famous.

In 1976, he switched to TVB and devoted himself to performing in "Enjoy Yourself Tonight". "The Bund" was the first TV series he filmed after joining TVB.

For the next two weeks, filming went exceptionally smoothly, and the progress of all three groups was very encouraging, with virtually no mishaps.

At this rate, we should be able to finish filming in about a month.

At the end-of-month meeting, Zhao Zhenqiang and Zhang Shuai'an gave a report to Shao Yifu.

Shao Yifu was also very satisfied with the filming progress. After watching the first episode edited by Zhao Zhenqiang, he immediately decided to make this drama the opening drama of 1980.

The filming went very smoothly for the next two weeks.

When filming the scene where Xu Wenqiang flees to Hong Kong and gets to know Ah Di's family, Jing Daiyin accidentally broke her leg on set and had to be hospitalized for a period of time.

Jing Daiyin said, "It's okay, we'll find a doctor and get some medicine. We can grit our teeth and get through it. We can't delay the filming schedule."

""

"Your injury is quite serious." Zhang Shuai'an stepped forward to examine it. "You should take it to the hospital. If it's not treated in time, it will leave a scar, which won't look good."

Hearing this, Jing Daiyin stopped insisting.

"Someone, take Ah Yin to the hospital for treatment." Zhao Zhenqiang called over a staff member and asked him to drive Jing Daiyin to the hospital, while also having a female makeup artist from the film crew accompany them for easier care.

Huo Yaoliang said, "What do we do now? She injured her bone. Even if it's not serious, she'll need at least two or three months to recover."

"We have no choice but to replace her." Zhao Zhenqiang felt that Jing Daiyin's performance was quite good, and it would be a bit unfair to replace her now, but in order not to delay the subsequent progress, he had no choice but to replace her: "Fortunately, she didn't have many scenes, so there's still time to replace her."

Zhang Shuai'an then spoke up, "I have a friend who would be quite suitable for this role. Having her make a cameo appearance in a few episodes shouldn't be a problem."

Zhao Zhenqiang nodded without hesitation and said, "Okay, then call them over to take a look."

Zhang Shuai'an called He Jiatong over: "Go call the Zhong family and tell Ah Hong to come to the Clearwater Bay film set as soon as possible. There's a role they need her to fill in for."

"No need to call the Chung family," He Jiatong replied. "I saw her in another studio on set. I'll just go over and talk to her."

"Huh?" Zhang Shuai'an was taken aback. It seemed that Cherie Chung wasn't filming at this time, but now was not the time to think about that. "Okay, go and call her now."

A few minutes later, Chung Chu-hung jogged over, looking at Zhang Shuai-an with a surprised expression: "Ah-an, what did you call me for?"

Zhang Shuai'an asked with some curiosity, "What are you doing here?"

"On the day of the family gathering at your house, I got along quite well with Sister Zi, and now we're friends."

Chung Chor-hung said with a smile, "She recommended me to play a role in the TV series 'Salt Smuggler,' and I came because I wanted to hone my acting skills. Filming is almost finished now."

"You and her—you actually became friends?" Zhang Shuai'an thought about what happened that night and felt puzzled. Are the feelings between women so subtle?

"Is that not allowed?" Chung Chor-hung retorted.

It's not impossible, after all, you two have a bond from the past.

Zhang Shuai'an licked his lips, not continuing the topic, but getting down to business: "I have an actress here who is injured. Her role is fully booked and she has to finish filming in the next few days. Can you fill in for her?"

Chung Chor-hung asked, "What role?"

Zhang Shuai'an explained, "Playing my wife, this role has—"

"No need to explain, I'll act it out." Chung Chu-hung interrupted Zhang Shuai-an and nodded in agreement. "Do you have a script? Let me see it."

Zhang Shuai'an took her to find Zhao Zhenqiang: "This is my friend, Chung Chu-hung."

"I know her, she's a former Miss Hong Kong." Chiu Chung glanced at Cherie Chung and said with a smile, "Actually, I wanted to cast you in a TV series back then, but something came up and I couldn't. Today is a good opportunity to make up for it."

As soon as he heard the voice, he had someone bring him Ah Di's script.

He looked Chung Chu-hung up and down again: "How come you even took care of the clothes and makeup? Did you expect this all along?"

Chung Chor-hung replied, "No, I had a cameo role in the film crew next door. I played a country girl during the Republican era."

"That would be even better."

Zhao Zhenqiang clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Adi is also a country girl. She is innocent, kind, gentle, and considerate, giving people a very warm feeling."

"At the time, Xu Wenqiang had just fled to Hong Kong and rented a room in her house. The two spent every day together, and she soothed Xu Wenqiang's wounded heart with her sincerity. Eventually, the two got married."

"Unfortunately, fate is cruel. Once you enter the world of martial arts, there's no turning back. Xu Wenqiang's whereabouts were discovered by assassins sent by Feng Jingyao, and Adi's entire family was killed by the assassins."

As Chung Chor-hung listened to Chiu Chun-keung's narration, combined with the lines in the script and her own relationship with Cheung Sau-an, she quickly became immersed in the story.

After a short preparation, filming resumed on the story of Xu Wenqiang and Adi's family.

It must be said that Cherie Chung's figure and appearance don't really fit the image of a village girl, but her acting skills make up for it.

She wasn't from a wealthy family; her parents ran a small business, and she had two younger sisters and a younger brother. She worked while studying.

She could really empathize with girls like Adi.

Her scenes with Zhang Shuai'an went exceptionally well, as if Xu Wenqiang and Adi were actually living, breathing people on screen, rather than part of the story.

Whether it's a chance glance between the two, a daily conversation, or even an unintentional physical gesture, it allows anyone who sees it to clearly understand the girl's inner state.

This precision in acting actually comes from real-life experiences.

However, when expressing her feelings, Cherie Chung deliberately chose a less precise performance, making the love seem passionate but not overbearing, which made Xu Wenqiang and even Zhang Shuai'an feel a rare warmth.

It only took three and a half days to finish filming Ah Di's scenes, and the quality of the work was quite high.

Zhao Zhenqiang even had the illusion that the performances of Cherie Chung and Zhang Shuai'an elevated this plot to the level of a movie.

(Cherie Chung, who looks a bit like a country girl)