Kowloon Tong, located in the northern part of Kowloon, is a rare low-density exhibition area in Hong Kong, mainly bungalows and villas, with a quiet environment, including 6 Tak Wan Road, there is a building with the signboard of Hong Kong Salon Film Co., Ltd.

Salon Films is the exclusive distributor in Asia for Panavision, one of the world's top three camera manufacturers, and the largest film equipment rental company in Hong Kong.

"Mr. Shen." In a warehouse with a lot of space, Weng Weiquan pointed to a big guy in front of him and said, "I think it's more appropriate for you to use this camera." ”

Weng Weiquan is not tall, relatively thin, and wears glasses, looking like a weak scholar.

However, his resume is not ordinary.

Weng Weiquan was born in 1949, studied photography at the Art Center College in Los Angeles, California in 1969, and received a bachelor's degree in 1971. Huang Zongzhan sponsored him to hold a solo photography exhibition.

In 1974, Yung went to Indonesia to do a cinematography for a documentary, in 1975 he became a teacher in the Department of Communication at Baptist College, and in 1976, British independent television came to Hong Kong to shoot a documentary about drugs, and hired him as an assistant producer and photographer.

This documentary was filmed for more than a year, Weng Weiquan lived with drug addicts in the Sai Wan area for a long time, and collected a lot of information about drugs by way of candid filming, which led to the idea of making a film about drug trafficking.

But whether it is a movie about drug trafficking, or a pseudo-documentary film style, it is something unprecedented in Hong Kong, so Weng Weiquan couldn't find investment, he planned to raise his own funds to shoot, and happened to hear from a friend that Shen Chong was ready to invest in a new film, so with the attitude of trying it out, he submitted a personal resume and shooting plan to Oriental Charm Film Company, but he didn't expect to be notified of the investment soon.

Shen Chong was very interested in documentary-style filming techniques, and he had planned to serve as the producer of Weng Weiquan's films, but in recent months, he has been running around, busy coming and going, and he really has no time, and it is not good to delay any longer, so he has to hand over the production work to Zeng Lizhen again, so that Weng Weiquan and him can start shooting a new film at the same time.

As for Yu Yunhang's "Murder List", Shen Chong picked two newcomers from the company's reception room to serve as assistant producers, responsible for budget control, and as for the rest, he delegated power and let Yu Yunhang be responsible for himself.

Weng Weiquan is studying photography, so he needs Zeng Lizhen's help, and Yu Yunhang is a high-achieving student who graduated from the ucLa film department, after returning to Hong Kong, he first worked as an assistant to Hu Jinquan, and then worked as a director in TVB, and has filmed many dramas.

Huang Zongjun has been nominated for the Oscar ten times, twice won the Oscar for Best Cinematography of the little golden man, in the fifties and sixties, a Chinese, can win such an honor, is undoubtedly a generation of photography masters, he added Weng Weiquan's blue eyes, it can be seen that Weng Weiquan's photography level is absolutely first-class, so Shen Chong followed him to choose the camera together.

"Mr. Weng has good eyesight." A middle-aged man stood aside and introduced: "This super-speed-1enses-announced is Panavision's latest product, with high saturation and bright feet, and is the best choice for experts. ”

"Okay, then rent this." Shen Chong couldn't tell whether it was good or bad, he only knew that Panavision was a top camera brand, and many Hollywood blockbusters had its logo on the end credits, just as common as the Intel logo on laptops.

"Which one is Mr. Weng going to use?"

"I use this." Weng Weiquan picked up a small portable camera and said: "This one is lightweight, can be carried on the shoulder, can be handheld, and is convenient for shooting in crowds." ”

Shen Chong took it curiously, fiddled with it for a while, smacked his lips, and said, "It's not light, if you run it for a day, you will definitely have to get tired and lie down." ”

"It's good to get used to it." Weng Weiquan said: "I don't always carry the film. By the way, Boss Wang, what camera support systems do you have? ”

"Yes, there are many types." The middle-aged man was Wang Changzhi, the owner of Salon Film Company, who took out a picture album, turned to one of the pages very attentively, and said, "What do you think of this?" ”

Weng Weiquan looked at it, nodded and said, "This is good, Italian Neti, good thing." ”

But he immediately frowned again and asked, "But this rent?" ”

"Gatony is the best camera support manufacturer in the world, built from top to bottom with exclusive patents, sturdy and sturdy, and can be rotated at any angle, which is a perfect match for Panavision." Wang Changzhi said with a professional smile: "If the thing is good, the price will naturally be a little more expensive, and you get what you pay for." ”

"As long as the goods are good, the price is easy to say." The more and more money he makes, the more generous Shen Chong becomes, he is not stingy with anything that can improve the quality of the movie, "Mr. Weng, don't worry about the budget, rent everything you need for filming, and I will say hello to Sister Zhen." ”

With Shen Chong's Ken, Weng Weiquan let go of his hands and feet and made a big purchase, Shen Chong followed behind, inquiring about the price of some equipment, and secretly staggered.

Panavision's camera is only rented and not sold, although the rent is very expensive, but it is still affordable, like another camera predator aRRI's product, without a lens, without a live radio microphone, the price is more than 2oo Hong Kong dollars...... And the slightly better lens is priced at more than one million Hong Kong dollars.

In addition to the camera, there is also film, a film costs more than 1ooo Hong Kong dollars, can only shoot 4 minutes, if you shoot 1o minutes of footage, there is 1 minute to finally use, that is, 1:1o film ratio to calculate, to shoot a 9o minute movie, film alone needs more than 2o more.

It's no wonder that some people say that in the film era, as long as the camera was turned on, all it burned was money.

Therefore, in Hong Kong, if a film director has a film ratio of more than 1:5, he will basically not be able to find investment...... (Note 1)

Shen Chong filmed "Buried Alive", just one scene, the equipment requirements are relatively simple, Weng Weiquan wants to make a documentary-style movie, which needs to be filmed in the downtown area, which is very difficult and requires a lot of equipment.

In addition to cameras and films, there are also lighting and lighting equipment, recording and radio equipment, power supply equipment, camera control equipment, and a lot of other equipment.

Especially Wang Changzhi, the boss of Salon Film Company, is very familiar with all aspects of film equipment, manufacturers, models, power and other parameters, as soon as he opens his mouth, he is not ambiguous, which makes Shen Chong admire. (Note 2)

"Mr. Wang, except for Alai in Germany, Aaton in France, and Panavisin in the United States." Shen Chong stood aside, watching Weng Weiquan select equipment, and chatting with Wang Changzhi: "What other famous camera manufacturers are there now?" ”

"There are mainly these three manufacturers of cameras, Alai and Panavischen are the mainstream, and Atong is mainly used for documentaries, and less for filmmaking." Wang Changzhi thought for a while and said: "But the last time I went to Germany, I heard that there is a small company in Austria, which produces cameras with very characteristics and has a good reputation in Europe, but the output is very small, so you need to place an order first." ”

"Oh?" Shen Chong was very interested in this information, and hurriedly asked, "What is the name of this company?" ”

“moviecam。” Wang Changzhi said: "Mr. Shen, if needed, I can find a friend in Europe to help place an order." ”

"Then don't bother Mr. Wang." Shen Chong smiled and said, "Can you give me the contact information of this company?" I'm going to go to Europe in some time, and I'm going to see it for a long time. ”

……

After getting the equipment, you also need to get the crew members.

Weng Weiquan was going to shoot "The Rules", and the photographer had to find someone else, Shen Chong moved his golden finger this time and searched for a celebrity directly from his memory - Huang Yuetai.

Born into a family of filmmakers and his father was also a famous cinematographer, Wong is one of the most accomplished cinematographers in Hong Kong's film industry, having won the Best Cinematography Award nine times, including two triple titles, an unprecedented record.

Shen Chong admires him, not only for his cinematography skills, but also for the fact that he founded the Hong Kong Society of Professional Cinematographers (HKSC), the first officially registered non-profit independent professional organization in the Hong Kong film industry, and has been able to keep this organization alive and professional.

Huang Yuetai's style is changeable, eclectic, and can match the plot of the movie and adapt to changes, which is also the reason why Shen Chong gave up Du Kefeng and went to him.

In the future, Christopher Doyle, known as "Asia's No. 1 Photographer", Shen Chong met him at the Gengxin Shi Yàn Theater, he was originally a crew member, but the ship left and people stayed, so he worked in Taipei, doing art work such as sets in the small theater. (Note 3)

Christopher Doyle had no photography experience at this time, and his extremely personal photography style did not match "Buried Alive", so Shen Chong did not bring him from Taipei, but signed him to the Taiwan branch in charge of Zhang Aijia to be the director of photography for Hou Hsiao-hsien's first film.

Huang Yuetai is now a contracted photographer of Shaw Brothers, and followed Liu Jialiang to shoot several movies such as "Shaolin Thirty-Six Rooms", "Chinese Husband", "Crazy Monkey", etc., which is considered to be a little famous, but in the mode of Shaw Brothers indoor set and assembly line film, the photographer is just a blue-collar worker and is not taken seriously.

So as soon as Shen Chong came to the door and said, the Shaw family quickly agreed to borrow.

The photographer is there, the leading actor is also there, and a few more handymen are found to do the drama work, Shen Chong's grass stage team will be set up, and when Jin Shijie gets the script, he can start filming.

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Note 1: The number of equipment and films, based on the price inference of the last ten years, the price of professional equipment has always been stable...... If you have a more accurate number, please leave a message.

Note 2: Wang Changzhi won the Academy Award for Professionalism in 2oo7 and is now deceased.

Note 2: Christopher Doyle was in Taipei around 1979 and participated in the establishment of the Lanling Opera Workshop.

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