Counting both of his lifetimes, this was Tao Mu's first time in Africa. There are not many traces of modernization on the vast grassland. The setting sun hangs precariously in the sky, illuminating half of the sky and the surrounding areas in an orange-red color. In the distance, you can see leopards coiled on the branches of a big tree. The further you look into the distance, the more open-minded you feel.
The crew filmed at a defunct factory. The props team, lighting team and camera crew were setting up the shooting scene. Tao Mu, who had already finished his makeup, pulled the stuntman who was going to act with him later to teach him his moves, and carefully thought about the scenes he was going to shoot later. Cheng Baodong rolled the script into a barrel, walked to Tao Mu, pulled Tao Mu to sit on the prop box, and explained the play to Tao Mu with a serious face.
"The King of Soldiers: The Sword Comes Out of the Sheath" tells the story of several special forces soldiers from the TV series "The King of Soldiers" going on their first overseas mission. Although the only elements related to "Soldier King" in the entire script are the names of the male lead and several supporting roles, as long as the movie is released under the banner of "Soldier King", there will inevitably be people who compare the two works together. Cheng Baodong has some dignity to protect, so of course he doesn't want anyone to say that the TV version is better than the movie version. What's more, the filming cost of this movie has exceeded 100 million. There are very few films in China with such huge investments. Cheng Baodong also doesn't want people to talk about him as a director who is not worthy of such resources and cannot control such a large crew after the film is released. Therefore, Cheng Baodong was prepared to put in his best efforts in directing the film this time.
Without mentioning Cheng Baodong's personality and temper, if we only talk about his professional ability, Cheng Baodong is definitely one of the best commercial film directors in the domestic entertainment industry. He could seriously explain the play to Tao Mu, and Tao Mu also benefited a lot.
Because the upcoming scenes involve explosions, the blasting team is constantly testing. The explosions continued. Cheng Baodong, who was explaining the play to Tao Mu, suddenly said with emotion: "I just like to make commercial films. Many people think that the films I make have no connotation. In fact, what connotation does a commercial film have? It's enough to be exciting."
Cheng Baodong said that he has liked watching explosion scenes since he was a child. When I watched Hollywood blockbusters in the past, it was always a group of foreigners playing the heroes. The various explosion scenes are so adrenaline-stimulating. There are also Hong Kong films, and the various gun battle scenes are also very eye-catching. In contrast, films produced in mainland China are either about foot binding or scar literature, and the actors, regardless of gender, always speak in a dirty dialect. It's so annoying.
Cheng Baodong said this and asked Tao Mu: "What about you? Do you prefer to make commercial films or art films?"
Tao Mu glanced at Cheng Baodong and said, "As long as the book is good, I like it. But relatively speaking, I still prefer the ones with a faster pace."
"That's right!" Cheng Baodong nodded. "I think you are on a good path now. In fact, young people with good acting skills should act in more commercial films. Some young people, although they are talented, plunge into art films and dramas and can't get out. They still think they are very high-class. They will regret it when they can't get any roles in the future. Actors, regardless of gender, have only a few years of prime time. If they waste it, they won't be able to make up for it in the future. Good resources also need popularity to support them. Otherwise, why would the producers and investors choose you as the leading actor?"
Cheng Baodong feels that Beijing Film Academy’s current employment direction is a bit off track. It is obvious that the students have good acting skills and their looks are also acceptable, but because they are too focused on acting and art films, they have not done as well as those second-rate students of Yanying several years after graduation. Especially many female classmates. Cheng Baodong felt it was a pity when he saw it.
Fortunately, the situation improved a lot after Tao Mu entered school. A movie like "The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood" and a movie like "Fashion Storm" made many sophomores and juniors of Beijing Film Academy familiar to the audience, and their resources gradually improved. This is actually a good thing. Acting is a practical job. Only by gaining more experience in front of the camera can actors hone their acting skills. There is no use working in isolation. After a long time, I couldn't even adapt to being in front of the camera. So even though there are only 20 to 30 students graduating from Beijing Film Academy every year, there are some who quit the industry every year.
Tao Mu listened to Cheng Baodong's chattering, knowing that Cheng Baodong was trying to show his goodwill, but he still couldn't let go of his face, and smiled in his heart.
Suddenly a production supervisor came over and said that the set had been set up. The explosion team and stuntmen tested it several times and there were no problems. Let Tao Mu familiarize himself with the movement again.
Tao Mu stood up and followed the script supervisor into the set. He took the submachine gun handed over by the props team. The blaster and martial arts instructor surrounded Tao Mu on both sides and told him about his movements and actions later.
This scene tells the details of the male protagonist played by Tao Mu and several other special forces sneaking into the enemy base camp to rescue the hostages. There aren't many lines, and it's mostly fighting scenes. Various gunfights, fighting and explosion shots. Acting opposite Tao Mu were several foreign strong men who were two meters tall. His chest muscles were bulging, and when he raised his arms, they were as thick as Tao Mu's thighs. The visual contrast is particularly striking. Therefore, Cheng Baodong requested that the upcoming fighting scenes must highlight the special forces’ smooth fighting and one-hit-kill capabilities. Tao Mu's movements must be powerful and must not be soft.
"If it doesn't work, then let's really fight. Punch to the flesh!" Cheng Baodong said seriously as he looked at Tao Mu's increasingly slender figure compared to the martial arts actor.
Although Tao Mu was also a martial arts double, the stuntmen hired by the crew were all boxers. In Cheng Baodong's opinion, compared with these stuntmen, Tao Mu's skills are just for show. So he asked Tao Mu to really fight during filming. This is for the pursuit of shooting effect.
Tao Mu frowned slightly.
"Don't worry, all the staff of our crew have signed a confidentiality contract." Cheng Baodong glanced at Tao Mu and added. I'm afraid Tao Mu won't fight for real because of his image. After all, this kid is cunning and scheming, and there is still some grudge between the two of them. What if Tao Mu privately guessed that he wanted to take this opportunity to discredit Tao Mu, and under the banner of pursuing filming effects, he signaled Tao Mu to really fight, and then found someone to expose Tao Mu for being a big shot on the set and bullying the stunt actors. Such concerns are inevitable.
Cheng Baodong felt that he was really doing it for the best shooting effect, so he was not afraid to make it clear to Tao Mu: "Didn't we ask the camera crew to record the shooting footage? This is also evidence."
After these words were spoken, the originally noisy set suddenly became quiet. Everyone looked over at the same time.
The stuntman standing next to them didn’t speak Chinese very well and looked very confused.
Tao Mu was slightly stunned. He didn't expect Cheng Baodong to say that. I hadn't thought about this just now, I just thought that if a fight really came, he could withstand a few moves from the stuntman. After being reminded by Cheng Baodong, I finally understood. It turned out that Cheng Baodong meant for him to really fight and for the stuntman to hold back.
"Since it's for filming effect, let's just fight for real. Otherwise, it will definitely look different in the camera." Tao Mu is quite confident in his fighting skills. After all, he grew up in the alleys. After that, I trained in the army for so long and also trained with the special forces for several months. The physical fitness is there, even if it's not as good as that of a boxer, it won't be too different.
After all, the stuntman in front of him is just a boxer, not a dirty boxer.
Tao Mu knew that the reason why Cheng Baodong gave such an order was, on the one hand, that he was not confident in his martial arts skills, and on the other hand, he was afraid that the stuntman would hurt him, which would be difficult to explain to the Li family and would delay the filming of the movie. But everyone is here to film the show. If we have too many concerns, the show won’t be able to be filmed.
Tao Mu looked at the special actor, patted him on the shoulder, and said in English: "You are really a fighter."
Cheng Baodong's expression changed: "Isn't that necessary?"
"It's okay!" Tao Mu waved his hand calmly: "Let's try this first."
Cheng Baodong's face didn't look very good, but he still waved his hand. Five sets of cameras are ready and the lights are ready. The script supervisor held up the script board and tapped it in front of the camera. Camera No. 1 slowly moved forward. Tao Mu hid behind a pillar shelter with a pistol in his hand, breathing slightly, and heard various gunshots in his ears.
Tao Mu held a pistol and kept fighting back under the cover of the bunker. After firing a few shots, he rolled quickly on the ground and rushed into the door. This one action alone made Cheng Baodong's eyes light up. Regardless of the accuracy of Tao Mu's shots, the action alone was so standard that it could be used as a textbook.
Unlike many Hong Kong gunfight movies, where the male protagonist has endless bullets, Tao Mu's submachine gun ran out of bullets quickly after changing the magazine with one hand twice. Tao Mu faced off against the thugs played by the stunt actors, and a fist-to-flesh fight ensued. Tao Mu pressed down the stuntman's arm with his backhand and locked the stuntman's neck with a cross lock. The stuntman clenched his other hand into a fist and smashed it hard into Tao Mu's right leg. However, the male protagonist played by Tao Mu kicked him in the chin and he fainted.
"Click!" Cheng Baodong saw it in time, and reluctantly moved his eyes away from the monitor and looked at Tao Mu on the set. He found that there was a reason why Tao Mu could become so popular in just two or three years.
Not only are the fighting scenes so beautiful, but most importantly, his expressiveness in front of the camera is so amazing. In fact, real fighting skills are far from as beautiful as shown in the movies. Many actions need to be entangled together, and the scene is not only awkward but also a little embarrassing. However, Tao Mu has a talent for showing off his skills in this area. Even a move like the armbar, which may seem embarrassing to outsiders, can be beautiful and pleasing to the eye. Moreover, there was a strong sense of murderousness in his every move, like an agile leopard hunting. Even in the messy set, Cheng Baodong could feel a strong visual shock, not to mention the effect of the film after post-editing.
It was because of this that Cheng Baodong asked, "Are you okay?"
Tao Mu's face turned a little blue. He let go of the stuntman and rubbed his calf. He just asked the stuntmen to fight for real, and the stuntmen were pretty solid. Those blows hurt him a lot. Tao Mu felt that his calves must be bruised.
However, I have to finish the X that I have installed even if I have to kneel down. What's more, Tao Mu, who has a ton of idol baggage, can't kneel. He just waved his hand calmly to show that he was fine. Cheng Baodong was also a down-to-earth person. Seeing that Tao Mu looked normal, he believed it. So he asked the crew to continue filming the next few scenes - all fighting scenes.
Tao Mu: "..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
