March 10, 1981.

After more than 5 months of intense work, all the post-production of the film "The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty: Origin", including editing and computer CG special effects, has been completed. With a total cost of HK$45 million, the blockbuster can be regarded as the largest investment among local films in Hong Kong.

This movie has too many firsts - the first new martial arts movie style, so the new martial arts movie is mainly through photography, martial arts action, computer CG technology, etc., to bring a new style of visual impact. For example, light skills look better, and internal force, sword energy, and moves look more reflective of the spirit of the original martial arts.

Before "The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty: Origin", all movies around the world used traditional models and makeup-based special effects, and computer CG special effects have stayed in the laboratory stage and have not been used in specific commercial films. As the first movie to use computer CG special effects, "Datang" is destined to go down in history!

There are so many firsts, which shows how simple this movie is!

In the screening room of Baolong Film Company, film director Tsui Hark and producer Gu Long have been waiting for a long time with the main members of the crew.

Zhang Shaojie and Richard. When Taylor entered, Lin Qingxia, Wu Dairong, Wan Ziliang, Donnie Yen, Cheng Xiaodong, Yuan Heping and others, as well as the internal members of Baolong Film Company, were talking and laughing, looking relatively relaxed.

This is the first time that important members of the crew have gathered together to watch a copy of the movie before the release after the movie is completed.

Zhang Shaojie greeted everyone and said in a sincere tone: "It's been hard work for everyone in the past few months!" ”

Everyone present was stunned, and felt puzzled by Zhang Shaojie's sudden compliment.

"Why do I want to thank you, because you are my benefactor," Zhang Shaojie said teasingly, "Say it, and I'm not afraid of everyone's jokes!" Everyone Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers have hundreds of millions of assets, and the cost of millions after investing in a single movie seems to be at ease. However, when I have a big heart and only have a deposit of 20 million, I want to make a movie with a scale of 30 or 40 million, and I don't even have to do it myself, and I bear all the costs of the movie by myself, instead of financing and co-production! ”

"In order to invest in this movie, I gritted my teeth and worked for half a year, even during the Chinese New Year, I didn't rest, I wrote manuscripts every day, earned some manuscript fees, and deposited them in the bank. Always be ready and give the money to the crew! In fact, the speed at which the crew spends money is indeed efficient, and it cost me 45 million in half a year! Everyone knows that this figure does not contain water, and it really spent so much money, unlike some crews who dare to claim 5 million when they invest 2 million"

"Now that the filming is over, I can give you the bottom, and I only have 500,000 yuan left in my bank cash deposit! According to the rate at which the crew can spend 6 million a month, this amount of money can't even last for three days! So, until the movie was completely finished, I couldn't sleep well all day, worried about not having enough money, worried about the movie being unfinished! Now, the movie is over! For me, there is no news, and there is nothing better than this news! Because, I am finally free, I can finally sleep well, and I finally don't have to worry about what to do if I don't have enough money."

After listening to the explanation, everyone was amused by Zhang Shaojie's humorous tone.

At the same time, everyone couldn't help but admire Zhang Shaojie even more. Speaking of hard work, Zhang Shaojie is the hardest to provide 45 million capital within half a year to supply the crew for extravagance.

The burden of a total investment of 45 million Hong Kong dollars is on the shoulders of the 18-year-old boy in front of him! What's even more miraculous is that he single-handedly made so much money without borrowing or financing, just relying on his own labor to supply film investment.

Isn't that a miracle what?

Everyone feels how small they are in front of Zhang Shaojie. Some people feel ashamed of complaining about their hard work when filming, and some people even think that Zhang Shaojie's image is magnificent, and more people think back to the filming experience in the past few months, and for a while, everyone is full of emotion!

"Alright, alright! Let's watch the movie, everyone! Tsui Hark said, "It's also the first time I've seen a copy after the post-production is completed."

The staff of Baolong Company closed the curtains, turned off the lights, and the screening room was dark.

Although everyone is the main creator of the movie, they all know the filming process of the movie well.

But after the movie was officially released, everyone felt that the visual impact of this movie was majestic

On the horizontal plane, several five-toothed boats, riding the wind and waves, rolled forward along the canal. On the ship, the style of ancient Chinese warships is displayed in detail. Dozens of sailors stepped on the "oars", the kind of huge man-powered pulp, constantly swirling in the canal, pushing the high-speed sailing.

Floor ship, deck. Every sailor, helmsman, soldier, all the details of the action are very delicate and vivid!

After Yu Wenhua and his debut, the style revealed through the film's ingenious shooting techniques and special effects lenses is really amazing

In fact, just in the first minute of this movie, Tsui Hark and the crew members spent more than ten days and reshot hundreds of times. We have accumulated a large number of high-quality films and materials, and repeatedly selected the best shots from them and edited them together.

This kind of refinement and pursuit of perfection in details. In the past, it was only what Hollywood directors pursued, and Hong Kong movies were often made very "informal", so the viewing surname in the details could not compete with Hollywood blockbusters at all.

In addition to the crew's excellence, the special effects technical team also has a serious attitude that everyone had before.

The special effects of "The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty", from the technical level, are far from reaching the level of the later "Harry Potter". However, the special effects technicians of Industrial Light & Magic are all full of sincerity to do the special effects scenes of this movie. The seriousness of the attitude makes the limited technology just right to make the picture of the movie exciting.

Yuan Heping saw the play in the Shilong Dojo and Donnie Yen and Lin Zhengying not long after the beginning, and a smug smile appeared on his face, because the fight scene full of rhythm and beauty was designed by him himself.

Cheng Xiaodong was also very excited about the elegant light skills that he showed in the chase of Lin Qingxia and others, such a light action full of beauty and creativity, even if Cheng Xiaodong really witnessed the scene in the movie, he couldn't help but feel his blood boiling and full of a sense of achievement.

The special effects personnel of Industrial Light and Magic, in the way of computer CG, showed the "ice" in the "Xuan Bing Jin", showed the brilliant sword of "sword fighting", and showed the huge power and momentum caused by the internal force aura.

Zhang Shaojie gradually felt excited, although the special effects of this movie were not as good as the later Hollywood superhero movies in terms of special effects. However, the viewing surname is not inferior to the brilliant and gorgeous ability battle scene in "X-Men - Wolverine Prequel".

Moreover, in the movie bridge, the constantly sensational bridge is also made. Almost every few minutes, the film has to use details to sensationalize. Especially the scene of Fu Junzhuo's sacrifice is even more bloody.

After outlining its image to perfection, and then cruelly sacrificing it, this kind of lethality. In the movie, it can be described as the king of sensationalism.

Of course, this kind of sensationalism through the death of the characters must also be relaxed. If the protagonists are all dead, obviously the audience can only scold the mother.

But the death of an important character who is not the protagonist, the expectation of revenge is to make the audience have more resonance.

At the end of the movie, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, played by Wan Ziliang and Wu Dairong, took Su Su and rode away from the battlefield, and the magnificent picture finally came to an end.

After the internal test screening, everyone in the company was dumbfounded.

It's gorgeous! The whole movie is incredible, and in everyone's mind, it is simply a futuristic technology that can only be made! Even Hollywood's Star Wars isn't as gorgeous as this movie!

And this movie was completed by Hong Kong filmmakers!

China has never lacked, comparable to the theme of Hollywood blockbusters, what is lacking is enough cost, as well as enough technology to fully express the magnificent imagination of fantasy, Xianxia, science fiction and other themes. It's just that a lot of high-quality imagination has been ruined by inferior technology and cost.

"The Legend of Double Dragons of the Tang Dynasty" is a movie with amazing imagination and grand scenes. If you follow the shooting techniques of a third-rate director, you can naturally only be reduced to an ordinary hip-hop martial arts, and it will not be as gorgeous and exquisite as an epic like now!

Lin Qingxia said enviously: "The final scene, the combination of magnificence and beauty, is so beautiful!" ”

"God, Tsui Hark is really a genius, and he can actually shoot this kind of epic stroke." This is Cheng Xiaodong's admiration.

Tsui Hark also said modestly: "It's everyone's joint effort!" ”

Gu Long said with a smile: "I think this movie will completely change the shooting concept of the entire Hong Kong martial arts movie!" There are too many elements, Cheng Xiaodong's new concept of light power scenes, Yuan Heping's martial arts movements, industrial light and magic's advanced special effects technology, plus Tsui Hark's new elements, completely integrated into one. This work, even if you are in the industry, will be deeply attracted! ”

In addition, the technicians of Industrial Light & Magic were also touched by the visual impact of the finished film.

Everyone also felt that the cold technology, integrated into this movie, seemed to be no longer able to find traces of carving, as if all the special effects shots were integrated with the movie!

It is worth mentioning that this movie attaches great importance to the lens picture. In terms of film music, it is also extremely good.

For example, when Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were practicing, the background music was the later famous "Stealing Gong", which first appeared in "Tai Chi Zhang Sanfeng" in the 90s, and was often used in martial arts movies such as "Huang Feihong" and "Fang Shiyu".

This background music is Zhang Shao's masterpiece, and he invited Hu Weili, a master of Hong Kong film scores, to organize folk artists to use classical Chinese instruments such as erhu, pipa, and drums to play together.

Of course, Zhang Shaojie naturally registered the music copyright of "Stealing Gong".

It must be known that at the beginning of the 21st century, film soundtracks all over the world generally no longer ask the soundtrack artist to create the original background music, but select from some famous music copyright libraries around the world, select the appropriate background music, and pay the copyright fee to the copyright owner.

Because, the most direct function of film soundtrack is to mobilize the audience's emotions, create atmosphere and control the rhythm of the film.

Having the soundtrack improvised, sometimes you can create a classic, but most of the time, you can't control the effect of the background music.

So, later the director directly chose - canned music!

The so-called "canned music" is that some companies that own a large number of music copyrights clearly mark the price and divide all the music owned by the company into different styles and types for people to choose.

Any movie, TV series, as long as you pay for it, you can choose the most suitable background music and add it to the movie.

Because of the large quantity and reliable quality of canned music, it is sold according to the category - soothing when it should be soothing, depressing when it should be depressed, and breaking out when it should be explosive.

With the convenience of "canned music", film directors and producers no longer have to worry about finding music that fits the mood.

Because the copyright companies of "canned music" in the world have thousands of music copyrights, and at most they own tens of thousands of music copyrights. So many music copyrights include the music styles of major countries and nationalities around the world. Film directors, just pick the right moment from these ready-made music, there is no need to ask the soundtrack to create the original music.

Later, many soundtrack artists lost their jobs because of this, and some soundtrack artists kept complaining that "canned music" was like fast food, and original music was like well-cooked food. Delicacies lost to fast food in the market-oriented competition, which was a regression in art.

Zhang Shaojie also agrees that "canned music" is a step backwards in art.

However, Zhang Shaojie also knows that "canned music" represents the industrialization of film music, while original music represents the handicraft industrialization of music production.

Industrialization triumphs over handicraft workshops, this is a historical necessity.

Therefore, from now on, Zhang Shaojie is preparing to establish his own "canned music" copyright library in advance. After all, Zhang Shaojie also knows that having a large number of "canned music" copyrights in hand is also a reflection of the industry's right to speak!

As the film ended, in the screening room, after the applause stopped. I don't know who took the lead, and it started to sound again

Zhang Shaojie knew in his heart that this movie was integrated into everyone's hard work, and he couldn't tolerate everyone, so he was not proud of it!

"Shaojie, in terms of the theatrical screening of "Datang", Boss Zou of Golden Harvest Company has arranged it. On March 14, it will be screened in midnight on Friday night, and 20 theaters will be arranged for screening on March 15. Later, the number of screenings will be adjusted according to the actual box office of the movie! Gu Long said, "In addition, Taiwan's cinema chain has also negotiated cooperation, and when Taiwan's Ministry of Culture reviews the content of the film, Taiwan's cinema chain will arrange at least 50 cinemas to screen "Datang"! ”

Zhang Shaojie couldn't help but underestimate: "Boss Zou is unreliable, and he said before that he arranged the sessions according to the standards of "Modern Bodyguard". As a result, as soon as it was released, only 20 theaters were arranged, which was half less than the number of shows of "Modern Bodyguard"! ”

Gu Long said helplessly: "This is also no way. Golden Harvest must first consider its own company's films, and it can't squeeze out Golden Harvest's own company's film screenings in order to arrange the number of "Tang Dynasty", right? ”

(To be continued)