Chapter 70 Wu Bin, Martial Arts Instructor
Lin Yong gently pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing that everyone was still reading, he found a stool and sat down.
Zhu Jinming glanced at him, and Lin Yong nodded slightly, indicating that what Liu Hongmin said was true. Zhu Jinming smiled and continued to listen to the lines spoken by the two veteran actors.
These lines have been revised several times and read much more smoothly.
Soon, the reading ended and everyone looked at Lin Yong.
Lin Yong stood up and said, "Good news. The desert that Hong Min described really exists and has already grown in size. When Linxiang County heard that we wanted to go there to film, they welcomed us very much. They also said that they could help us build the set if we needed it. In other words, if we wanted, the entire film could be shot there."
Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but cheer. Especially for the two veteran actors Xie Tian and Cheng Qiang, going to the desert to shoot was indeed a test for them. If it was in Hunan Province, the situation would be much better.
“Let’s thank the Red People for providing us with a new filming location!”
"Whoosh whoosh-"
Everyone immediately stood up and applauded. They had called Liu Hongmin over just to check for omissions and ensure that the core of the film remained unchanged. Unexpectedly, Liu Hongmin brought them such a surprise.
Liu Hongmin stood up quickly and said, "I just mentioned it."
Lin Yong waved his hand and asked everyone to put their hands down.
"Hongmin, you don't know how much benefit your words will bring to us. I won't even talk about the health of my two old colleagues. I can save at least 20% on the cost of the film."
Zhu Jinming also said: "That's true, Comrade Liu, you deserve everyone's applause."
"Today's reading was very successful. There is still some time before filming starts, so maybe we can rehearse a bit, since there are quite a few fighting scenes in it."
Lin Yong nodded, "I think it's okay."
"I'm going to go to Hunan Province first and negotiate with them to build a Kucha City. Hongmin, do you have any information about Kucha City?"
Liu Hongmin shook his head. "If you really want to build an earthen city, I can introduce you to my professor, who has done some research in this area. However, I think we don't need to build the entire Qiuci City, just an earthen wall. As long as the camera angle is right, the last scene can be completely ruled out. However, there is one thing. Guo Yuanzheng and Lu Shisi met a caravan on the road. The caravan needs a team of camels. Can Hunan Province get them?"
Lin Yong: "I'll look for it when I get there!"
Liu Hongmin: "If there are no camels, you can find some donkeys or mules. Only relatively large caravans on the Silk Road used camels, while small caravans basically used donkeys and mules."
"Donkeys and mules are easy to find." Lin Yong said, "Hongmin, why don't you help them to the end, or be our historical consultant?"
Liu Hongmin was stunned for a moment, "Brother Lin, I don't have the time! How about I introduce someone to you?"
"What are you introducing?"
Lin Yong said: "You are the author of the original work and you are a history student. Is there anyone more suitable than you?"
Zhu Jinming also advised: "That's right, Comrade Liu, this movie is very important to us. I think it is also very important to you. If you come to be a consultant, it will be good for your future."
Liu Hongmin thought for a moment and said, "If it's just in Beijing, then there's no problem." Zhu Jinming: "Well, I'll let the art department make the costumes. We'll rehearse and try on the costumes at the same time. If everything goes well, you don't have to go to Hunan Province."
"Okay!" Liu Hongmin agreed.
In the next few days, Liu Hongmin went to the Beijing Film Studio to watch the rehearsals. After watching for a few days, Liu Hongmin couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Why don't we find a martial arts instructor?"
In the mainland, movies rarely shoot fighting scenes these days. Even if there are fighting scenes, unless they are highly professional, martial arts instructors are basically not needed. The martial arts instructor industry only became popular after the hit movie Shaolin Temple.
Zhu Jinming also felt that the fighting scenes were a bit weak, and he had originally planned to just make do with it. After all, the core of this film is not fighting scenes, but since Liu Hongmin suggested it, it is not impossible to find a martial arts instructor, which would cost at most a hundred or eighty yuan.
Therefore, Zhu Jinming asked the Beijing Film Studio to contact the Beijing Wushu Team. The Beijing Wushu Team was very cooperative and sent a coach over.
"This is Coach Wu Bin, he is the deputy leader of the Beijing Wushu Team."
Zhu Jinming shook hands with Wu Bin and then explained the situation to Wu Bin. Wu Bin designed a martial arts move on the spot without any hesitation after hearing Zhu Jinming's request.
Military fighting requires simple movements, so Wu Bin only adjusted the two veteran actors' force generation methods, and the two quickly mastered the fighting movements. Of course, more practice is needed to become proficient, so Wu Bin needs to be seconded for a few days.
In their spare time, Wu Bin and Liu Hongmin, two people with nothing to do, got together.
Wu Bin heard that Liu Hongmin had been to Hong Kong and had seen a Hong Kong film crew filming, so he asked Liu Hongmin many questions.
He has many martial arts athletes under his command, and has been seeking opportunities to shoot TV dramas. A few months ago, Li Lianjie was selected by Zhang Xinyan, the director of "Shaolin Temple", and has joined the group for training.
This drama is a co-production, with most of the crew being from Hong Kong and the actors being mostly from the mainland. I heard that there were often frictions within the crew because of the different treatments in the two places.
Liu Hongmin explained the treatment in Hong Kong and said, "If you want to seek equal treatment, it is basically impossible. Although Great Wall Film Company has a domestic background, it is a Hong Kong company after all. Unless you can find someone who has a say, they will not take the initiative to increase costs."
How could Wu Bin know anyone he could talk to? The only rich person he knew was Liu Hongmin.
"Hongmin, you made so much money in Hong Kong, why don't you make movies?"
Liu Hongmin was stunned for a moment. This proposal was very attractive!
It’s not that he hadn’t considered making a movie before, but at that time he only earned a few hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars, which was too little money and not enough to invest in a movie.
But now it's different. He hasn't asked Sanlian Publishing House to pay him the royalties for the second edition of Less Package! Both the traditional Chinese version and the Japanese version of Less Package have sold a lot more than before. Only the Korean version has sold about the same number of copies as before.
More than two million Hong Kong dollars is definitely not enough to shoot a movie in Hong Kong, but it is more than enough to shoot a movie in China!
After the release of "Shaolin Temple", martial arts movies will sweep the world. By then, as long as Jet Li is signed in hand, it will be a cash cow! Even if Jet Li cannot be signed, it is not impossible to bring out a few martial arts stars!
What's more, he now has a future superstar in his hands, and it would be a waste not to make use of him.
It seems that I have to put "The Ming Dynasty 1566" aside for now and write Shao Baosan first.
(End of this chapter)
