"Liuzi, how confident are you about this?" Fushun's legs were shaking as he sat on the bench.
Wu Changyun glanced at him and replied, "To be honest, I'm not very sure, but I know what is right."
The previous script was completely unusable, forcing Wu Changyun to create a new one. From the perspective of the 1970s, the success of Fist of Fury provided Wu with significant inspiration. Set in the Shanghai Concession era, the plot, which highlighted national sentiments, was easily relatable to Hong Kong audiences and fundamentally different from traditional martial arts action films.
Due to limited costs, Wu Changyun had to confine the action sequences to a small environment. In order to make the action look less monotonous and more diverse, he could choose warehouses, factories or even workshops with complex internal environments.
Wu Changyun didn't want to make a Jackie Chan-style comedy action film. Since he already knew the audience's taste, there was no reason why he couldn't do it on his own.
Wu Changyun was reconsidering the script when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
"I'm the assistant director in charge of filming. I'd like to ask, are we still filming today?"
The man in front of him looked a little immature, seemingly young, and dressed a little casually, not like a senior director. After hearing this, Wu Changyun found the form for the crew leader and found the column for assistant director.
"Du Qifeng?"
This name is so familiar. Wu Changyun thought about it for a moment and suddenly said in surprise: "Could it be that Du Qifeng?"
The director of "Infernal Affairs", "Gunfire" and "Big Event" was indeed only 18 years old. At that time, Du Qifeng was still working at TVB.
Wu Changyun looked at Du Qifeng in front of him with a mixture of surprise and delight. At the same time, in the pavilion not far away, Liu Xiao was blowing a small fan and looking at Wu Changyun with a smile. The people in the entire crew were basically put together by him, especially the assistant director who had never even made a movie before.
"Clap? I think you're going to clap your ass off." Liu Xiao spat on the ground. Without his permission, this occupied space would naturally have to be returned, and by then there would be no space left.
Wu Changyun asked briefly and found out that Du Qifeng was very interested in making movies, but he wanted to be an actor more.
"What kind of actor are you?" Wu Changyun couldn't help but complain in his heart.
According to Du Qifeng's life trajectory, he joined TVB after taking the art exam in 1974 and then became a disciple of Wang Tianlin. Therefore, Du Qifeng at this time was concerned about how to become an actor.
Wu Changyun and Fushun had a brief discussion and decided to let Du Qifeng realize his potential no matter what.
First, Wu Changyun promised money. He gave Du Qifeng the portion of his money that Liu Xiao had originally promised him, allowing him to temporarily leave TVB and devote himself entirely to his own films. Due to budget constraints, Wu Changyun didn't have the time and financial resources to make a large-scale, high-budget film. They were now pursuing a quick and precise production, and the shortened production schedule was great news for Du Qifeng, who was working part-time.
With these two conditions as a prerequisite, Du Qifeng agreed to Wu Changyun's request. With the future super boss in charge of the filming, Wu Changyun felt more confident, but it was a pity that the boss was not in his full form yet.
The next step was to revise the script. Since the background had to be changed, the current location was undoubtedly unusable. The filming environment was based on Shanghai during the Lease period, and similar locations were not difficult to find in Hong Kong.
"The story of a government fighting against the invasion of foreign powers with the Shanghai Concession as the background is not an unfamiliar subject." Du Qifeng was holding a notebook in his hand, writing and drawing on it.
"What are you talking about? What Shanghai Concession?" Fushun asked in confusion.
"Also, I don't want the protagonist to be a plot bulldozer who becomes stronger when facing stronger opponents and weaker when facing weaker ones. I hope the audience can see reflections of themselves in the protagonist. The protagonist should be close to people's hearts." Wu Changyun looked at Du Qifeng's expression and continued, "For example, we want to create a strong protagonist, but he must not be perfect. He should have seven emotions and six desires, and perhaps have some bad habits and bad habits like ordinary people."
"It sounds a bit like Stephen Chow's style, but it's not common to see it in an action movie. I wonder if the negative image will be hard for the audience to accept," Du Qifeng said as he picked up his pen.
It's not common now, but what about the 1980s? Thinking back to the protagonist of "Infernal Affairs," the robber played by Andy Lau, reality really slaps us in the face.
"An action film that gives the audience a strong sense of immersion." Du Qifeng said.
"Yes, but not entirely. To be precise, it's a stunt action movie."
Wu Changyun has made sufficient mental preparations. This movie will have dangerous stunts in advance. It is not the leap in Sammo Hung's "Eastern Condors" or the fall from the clock tower in "Project A", but Wu Changyun's first action movie in 1973.
There is another very important person in Wu Changyun's heart, that is Huang Zhengli, the ideal candidate to play the villain.
Fortunately, it is 1973 now. A year later, Huang Zhengli would have been discovered by a scout to make a movie. He took the initiative and took advantage of Huang Zhengli's low value at present to save a lot of money on the actor. He almost got a super villain for free.
Wu Changyun thought about it and thought that if he could set up a film company on his own, he could sign actors like Huang Zhengli under his own company. An excellent villain actor is a panacea, and he could also collect actor rental fees. Moreover, he could do the same with many other actors.
Wu Changyun realized that his idea was very dangerous. He always wanted to spend a small amount of money to invite big names. What if they found out the truth later? No, they would never know it, and they were not recognized as big names now.
"By the way, I still need to find someone." Although Wu Changyun had the framework of the script, it would still be difficult to implement it. It would be better to ask that genius for help.
"Who is it? Liuzi, why do I feel like you're a little weird?" Fushun saw that Wu Changyun's expression was sometimes thoughtful, sometimes snickering, and his emotions were fluctuating.
"You don't understand." Wu Changyun didn't bother explaining to Fushun. He remembered Huang Bingyao, a legendary screenwriter. The Lucky Stars series and Fight Back to School were both incredibly popular, perfect for filling the gap in the script's humor. Most importantly, Huang Bingyao was currently employed by the Hong Kong government's Ministry of Health, saving him a significant amount of money on scriptwriting.
"What's wrong with him?" Du Qifeng couldn't help laughing when he saw Wu Changyun snickering.
"I don't know, I'm possessed." Fushun spread his hands helplessly.
Even without the need for high production budgets, Wu Changyun was able to gather all the greats to help. In his previous life, Wu Changyun was just a bit player, but fortunately, he was strict with himself and learned a lot about film. This is how he was able to discover these hidden masters in the Hong Kong of the 1970s, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Now no one cares about Liu Xiao anymore, which can be regarded as a blessing in disguise.
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