1novels Chapter 5 Styling
Chapter 5 Styling
The reason why "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" became a classic is partly due to the music composed by James Wong.
In Tang Long's view, James Wong can be called the number one musician in Hong Kong, while Joseph Koo and Hu Weili are slightly inferior.
He was able to create "A Man Should Be Self-Reliant" using the General's Order, and he could also create a brothel version of the General's Order.
The lyrics are suggestive in every line, yet not explicit; they are both sensual and meaningful.
Of all the celebrities and big names in Hong Kong's arts and entertainment circle, only Wong Jim lived a truly authentic and insightful life.
Of course, this is just one person's opinion, Tang Long's subjective view.
After leaving Tsui Hark's film studio, he asked an acquaintance to contact a senior teacher at a TVB actor training class.
As the nephew of Tang Jia, a former martial arts choreographer at Shaw Brothers, he still has some connections at TVB.
In order to quickly master some acting skills, I will be studying for the next period of time, except for New Year's Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Tang Long has been receiving one-on-one training.
He spent a total of HK$50,000 on this.
Without a sufficiently high salary, no one would sacrifice their Spring Festival holiday to teach you.
"Teacher Jin, I'm starting my new project tomorrow. Thank you for your help during this time."
Today is the last day of February, and March 1st is the day for the blessing ceremony to mark the start of filming for "A Chinese Ghost Story 2".
This teacher, Mr. Kim, is named Kim Heung-hyun and was a student in the first class of TVB's acting training program.
He didn't become an actor, nor did he have the ability to be a director or producer; instead, he was more talented in artist training.
TVB's Five Tigers, Leung Ka-fai, and Stephen Chow, who was just starting out and won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor, were all his students.
Of course, the teacher-student relationship in the training class is not as close as that in art schools, but it is enough to prove that this teacher, Mr. Kim, is of high caliber.
"Half a month is still a bit short. If you have any questions later, you can come to me."
Receiving HK$50,000 in just half a month made Jin Xingxian feel a bit hot-tempered.
He didn't even get this much pay for leading a training course.
"Yes, I will. I hope Teacher Jin won't find me annoying."
"Of course not, but I only teach some basic things. If you really want to be able to act, you still have to think more and practice more on your own."
Chow Yun-fat and Leung Ka-fai both went through this.
Tang Long nodded; he naturally understood this principle.
Hong Kong doesn't have professional art schools, so most actors are honed through practical experience.
He didn't expect to learn any comprehensive or in-depth professional knowledge in the past two weeks.
Time was too short; he only wanted to learn some simple and practical acting skills.
Having been immersed in the film crew for so long, and even served as the male lead's stunt double, he possesses basic skills such as positioning and camera work.
I'll cram in some skills at the last minute, so I can at least handle the role of Commander Zuo.
The next morning, Tang Long dressed neatly and, carrying his script and character sketches, arrived at Song City in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon.
Since its opening in 1979, Songcheng has been used as a filming location for numerous period dramas, including outdoor scenes, street scenes, and market scenes.
The first "A Chinese Ghost Story" movie was also filmed here.
He came to the Cheng family troupe members, and the others were incredibly envious when they learned that he would be playing an important supporting role in the movie.
No one in the stunt department doesn't want to become an actor.
Who wouldn't want to be as glamorous as Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung?
They earn a lot.
At 10 o'clock, the worship ceremony began.
On the red cloth-covered altar sits a statue of Guan Yu, a roast suckling pig, three cups of tea, and three cups of vegetarian wine as offerings.
Next to the offering table was a camera covered with a red cloth.
After the host finished reading the prayer, the crew members began to offer incense in turn.
As the film's producer and executive producer, Tsui Hark was undoubtedly the first to appear.
Next came director Cheng Xiaodong, film stars Zhang Guorong, Wang Zuxian, and Zhang Xueyou, followed by Wu Ma and the heads of various departments.
Finally, there are supporting characters such as Tang Long and Li Jiaxin.
For Tang Long, this was already a huge step forward; previously, he could only stand aside and watch, just like the other members of the Cheng family troupe.
After the opening ceremony and prayer ceremony, Xu Ke personally filmed a scene, and then announced that dinner would be served.
Filming didn't really begin until the afternoon.
For the first three days, Tang Long didn't have any scenes; he just watched how the main characters acted.
Zhang Guorong has the best acting skills, but surprisingly, Zhang Xueyou, who became famous as a singer, also has very good acting skills.
On the contrary, Wang Zuxian's acting skills are just average, but she doesn't need to be a great actress; her beauty is enough.
On the fourth day, it was finally his turn to film. The first scene he filmed was the storyline where Zhang Xueyou's character, Zhi Qiu Yiye, was mistakenly accused of intercepting a prison van.
When Tang Long walked out of the dressing room, everyone in the crew couldn't help but be amazed.
Wang Zuxian and Li Jiaxin couldn't help but take a second look.
Dressed in a four-clawed, dragon-headed, winged flying fish robe, with a gilded white jade belt around his waist and holding a embroidered spring knife, Tang Long, with his tall stature, looked extremely heroic.
Cheng Xiaodong stepped forward, looked him up and down, and smiled:
"Very good. Although I had seen your promotional photos before, I am still quite amazed to see you in this outfit."
I didn't know you also had film costume design skills.
"I just figured it out on my own. I did some research to prepare for the role."
Tang Long's makeup and styling were proposed to Cheng Xiaodong by himself.
It's no wonder that he, as a supporting character, overstepped his bounds; it's just that Zhang Shuping's character design for Zuo Qianhu was a bit of an eyesore.
Cheung Suk-ping is very famous in the fields of film art direction and costume design, but he is also known for his inconsistent performances.
Zuo Qianhu's hairstyle and beard made him look like a Japanese ronin just by looking at his upper body.
When I first watched this movie, I couldn't tell at all that the character Zuo Qianhu, played by Lee Chi-hung, was a commander of the Imperial Guard.
Tang Long abandoned his armor and beard, making slight modifications to resemble Zhang Yi's appearance in the later film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes 2".
He also discarded the several goose-feather knives stuck in his back, and only held a embroidered spring knife in his hand.
Of course, historically, it was impossible for a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to wear a flying fish robe, but this is a movie after all, and making it entertaining is the most important thing.
"Your wildly imagined idea is quite remarkable. Even Zhang Shuping praised it repeatedly. It's clear you put your heart into it."
"Since you've given me this opportunity, I'll naturally cherish it."
Cheng Xiaodong did take good care of me.
Otherwise, how could a minor supporting character like you want to change the costume design set by the art director?
The friendliness shown to him these past few days has also made it easier for him to get along on set.
Wang Zuxian and Zhang Xueyou, who had previously been indifferent to him, became much more enthusiastic.
Cheng Xiaodong then called Zhang Xueyou over and explained to the two of them the scenes they were going to film next.
Seeing that the two understood, he went to check on the other filming preparations.
"Ah Long, you'd better watch out later, I don't have that much skill."
"Brother Xueyou, the moves have all been designed, there won't be any problems."
This scene marks Zuo Qianhu's first appearance, and it's meant to showcase his exceptional martial arts skills.
In this movie, he uses his martial arts skills to fight against magic.
The two then practiced their moves, and soon after, the script supervisor came over to announce that filming was about to begin.