Bab 101: Chapter 101: Old Wu Steps In
Wu had seen Lin Mingyang's movies, and he also knew that most of the movies in them, the scripts were written by Lin Mingyang himself. These scripts, from the intention to the conception, are standard Hollywood manufacturing. Previously Lin Mingyang by the Hollywood media with a variety of "genius" name, Wu has always felt that this component of the hype, and Lin Mingyang's formal contact, so that he changed his previous perception.
"I think this movie does not represent your style of violent aesthetics, so under the existing evaluation system in Hollywood, the movie's score is not high is also a normal thing. But I love the movie and feel a sense of intimacy with it every time I watch it."
John Woo sensed that Lin Mingyang did not need to deliberately compliment himself, so he felt curious, he had successful works in Hollywood before "Windtalkers", but why Lin Mingyang only liked a work that he "was not successful".
Seeing the doubt in John Woo's eyes, Lin Mingyang further explained: "Broken Arrow, The Changing Face, and even Spy Kids 2, all these movies are just your own movie skills laying out a completely Hollywood story. Your camera style cuts are simple and clear, and an action is often broken down into several combinations, which is very much in line with Hollywood's appetite, but when you are contributing your directing skills to Hollywood, people can hardly tell that this is the work of an oriental director."
"What really got me interested in Windtalkers was the revival of your Eastern perspective in this movie. The representation of the Indians in the movie is noticeably subtle, vivid, and more humane than the American GIs. It is rumored that the ancestors of the Indians came from China, and there is a scene in the film where an Indian soldier poses as a Japanese, so I would venture to guess that the impressive and progressive character development in this film is that of Adam, the Indian Wind Whisperer. In a way it could be said that you used this Asian-like face as a spokesman for the Orientals who were fighting for their place in Western society."
"The story line of the movie basically revolves around this main thread. From the beginning of hostility and distance to the end of communication, life and death, the movie shows how the American minority won the right to life and the right to nationhood with their own dignity and their own valor. For a person with a face similar to that of an Indian, it is natural for you to pour into that face your feelings about the sweet and sour of breaking into Western society. And I'm a Chinese-American myself, so the movie's reflection of integration and communication among the various ethnic groups in the United States has an innate affinity for me."
Lin Mingyang did not know that his own judgment based on his own personal imagination had already made John Woo feel a sense of "meeting an old friend in another country", but Lin Mingyang noticed a detail, John Woo was leaning on the sofa at the beginning, but now he was sitting upright, obviously his own words just now had played a small role! .
Seeing that the time was ripe, Lin Mingyang began to consciously lead the topic towards the Legend of the Dark, "I heard that you are a devout Christian?"
"I was born in the mainland, but I grew up in Hong Kong. You know that Hong Kong has always had a serious problem with triads before the handover, and many of my peers who grew up with me have joined triad societies, but not me. Since I was a kid, I have never fired a gun, never fought a fight, and even when I killed a fly, I would say sorry." Recalling the past, John Woo laughs, these have not prevented him from becoming the "master of violence" in the Hong Kong movie industry.
"So you have a taboo on religious heresy theme of the movie?"
Lin Mingyang's temptation Wu Yu-sen did not quite understand, "What heresy are you referring to?"
"Werewolves and vampires." Lin Ming Yang simply picked up the topic and said, "You know, I've gotten into a little bit of trouble lately, there was a movie that was in the middle of filming and I pissed off the director."
"So you want me to take his place?" Wu Yusen immediately understood Lin Mingyang's meaning.
If it was before, Wu Yusen would have refused without hesitation, but Lin Mingyang had left a very deep impression on him during the previous chat. He even suspected that having a bad relationship with someone like Lin Ming Yang would be a failure in itself for that departing director. So when he was about to refuse, Wu instinctively hesitated, which became a breakthrough for Lin Ming Yang to convince him.
"Although a small portion of the movie has already been completed, the rest of the plot is the main line, leaving a lot of room for you to play. Moreover, this is an uncompromising action movie that unfolds with the female protagonist as the lead character. Whether it's in terms of the type of movie or the subject matter of the script, it seems like you haven't made anything similar before, and I think this will be a good attempt."
Lin Mingyang's suggestion was prescient, but Wu still couldn't make up his mind when it came to the question of rejecting or accepting it.
"The story of Legend of the Dark is about a dark and unknown underground world outside of humanity, synchronized with modern society. There are two rival races active there: vampires, who are aristocratic and mysterious and elusive, and werewolves, who are ferocious and savage by nature, and they have been fighting for centuries to gain the right to rule the underground world. To humans, they are nothing more than ghosts and legends on the street corners, but in reality, the fierce confrontation between the two sides has never stopped, and they have been fighting throughout their lives, vowing that one of them will fall and never stop. The vampire and werewolf tribes, each with their own arsenal, produce large quantities of murderous weapons, technology changes, vampires and werewolves change, they both use modern weapons, so the movie will have a lot of gun battles, not just mere physical combat!"
Lin Ming Yang knew that John Woo liked to make the kind of movies that involved gunfights, guns were a living presence in his movies, an outgrowth of the characters' psychological thinking. As for the pistol confrontation, it was a cool action that John Woo loved. In the introduction of the plot, Lin Mingyang deliberately highlights the content of the movie's gunfight, in order to attract the interest of the "master of violence".
However, Lin Mingyang tried his best, but John Woo's face still did not show any sign of being impressed. When Lin Mingyang was showing the script to John Woo, he inadvertently slipped out a still from his folder, which happened to fall at his feet.
Wu helped Lin Mingyang pick up the photo, originally wanted to return it to him, but the photo of Kate Beckinsale in a black shiny leather jacket of the cold look is very visual impact, Wu Yu-sen froze, ready to hand back the photo of the hand so fixed in mid-air.
At this moment, John Woo recalled his own masterpiece "Heroic" in the pony, although Zhou Yunfa and Kate Beckinsale style between the imagination can be said to be a world of difference, but John Woo hard from Kate's cold eyes recalled the pony sitting in the ballroom burned money to light a cigarette picture, he has a very strong premonition, played by Kate Beckinsale Catherine will be like pony on the screen as the classic, a character image destined to become a colorful addition to the vampire and werewolf genre of movies.
Wu held his chin in one hand and held this stills in the other, looking at it over and over again for a long time before he moved his gaze away from it fondly, "Kate Beckinsale, I seem to remember that she has acted in quite a few movies with you?"
Lin Mingyang detected some vague but positive signals from Wu's eyes, "We're also co-stars in this movie, but this time she's the real lead!"
"She will maintain this acting state in the photo throughout the entire movie?" Woo asked immediately afterward.
"For the most part!"
Woo frowned, "For the most part?"
"Because in certain write-up scenes, there will be some emotional collisions between her and me, and at this time she will occasionally reveal her tender side." Lin Mingyang explained.
"Buried in the dark and tender?" Wu quickly flipped through the entire script, then nodded thoughtfully, "They were once human beings, but under the darkness of the night, people see only their bloodlust and ferocity, but not the uncertainty and confusion hidden under the sharp teeth and claws. Behind the fire-breathing pistol, there is numbness and pain; the roar of killing can't cover up the inner vulnerability and loneliness. I think the tragic colors of the characters' hearts behind this story are even more fascinating!"
Wu's unique grasp of the plot surprised Lin Mingyang. Although Wu was known as the "Master of Violent Aesthetics", his movies actually focused on depicting the relationship between the characters and their inner emotions underneath the veneer of violence. Having figured this out, Lin Mingyang also understood why Woo would have such an opinion of the script.
"If I take on the role of director for this movie, then you will be completely reduced to a supporting role, and I know that Lakeshore Films spent a lot of money to hire you as the male lead in this movie, so before I make any decisions, you have to think it over yourself." John Woo was saying the ugly words up front.
However, Lin Ming Yang took a long breath of relief, "Getting paid more than others and then acting in the least amount of scenes, I think this is the sign of a Hollywood actor on his way to success!"
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John Woo eventually succeeded Wiseman as the director of Legend of the Dark, Lin Mingyang announced that he had reduced his own salary by 2 million dollars, then Kate also took out 1 million dollars from her own salary, Lakeshore Films finally bit the bullet and took out another 5 million dollars, and just like that, just as soon as he took over the job, John Woo had an extra 8 million dollars in his hands for the filming budget.
Before arriving in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, Wu Jusen heart has not been bottom, although he has sketched out the outline of the entire film in his mind, but the stretched shooting funds are simply not enough to create the kind of goods he needs to create a real interior. Finally, in Budapest through the vicissitudes of life, with a strong ancient flavor of the city's architectural complex, he found some inspiration and shooting materials.
Wiseman left those shots basically can be used, Wu decided to continue Wiseman's stylistic orientation of the film, but involved in some of the fighting, gun battle scenes, Wu decided to re-shoot. Since he took over the director's chair, he had to deeply imprint Wu's violent aesthetics on this movie.
Back then, John Woo was full of ambition and ready to break through in Hollywood, when he didn't even speak English. Fox invested in his first Hollywood production, The Ultimate Bullseye. John Woo believed at the time that the Americans hired him to make a movie because they wanted to see his Hong Kong style, so the movie became a Hong Kong movie wrapped in English. The word-of-mouth was very poor at the test screening, and the audience watched the slow motion, freeze-frame shots without knowing what was going on, and even laughed. John Woo did the first compromise is to re-edit, the film re-edited 7 times, only through the censorship.
Learned the lesson of failure, John Woo in the United States had spent two years not shooting, to study how Americans live, to understand their thoughts, duties, happiness and fear. It was not until he thought he had studied the Americans thoroughly that he started shooting his second movie Broken Arrow.
All Woo could do at that point was complain, "Hollywood heroes have too many rules, they can't be shot many times and never die," while adding, "Now that I know the rules, I won't break them next time."
In a serious study of the plot of "Legend of the Night", John Woo found that this type of film action processing and he imagined a completely different, his set of subdivided action shots, to slow motion to show the characters in the completion of the action of the expression of the lens expression can be very well used in the shooting of this film. And the protagonist in this movie is no longer human, so he can have no fear of designing gun battle scenes, both sides of the war, whether it is a werewolf or a vampire, to be hit by a shot or two is not so easy to die, except of course the use of special bullets.
After the surprise discovery of this point, John Woo brought Lin Mingyang to discuss the shooting of action scenes in this movie. In terms of the design of the gunfight, John Woo is an absolute connoisseur. As for the fighting scenes, Lin Mingyang, who has his own martial arts background in Bajiquan, put forward opinions that are also very valuable.
At the end of the movie, Michael, played by Lin Mingyang, will transform into a half-werewolf, half-vampire and start a big battle with the vampire leader Victor. In the design of the final fight scene, Lin Mingyang proposed to incorporate the Baji Boxing close to the body and leaning against the fighting stance into the action performance, but John Woo put forward a different view.
"Felix, have you thought about it, this is not a war between humans, you are half werewolf and half vampire, and your opponent is a vampire, and all of them have more power than humans. There's a saying in martial arts called 'one power over ten', which says that people with great strength will have a great advantage in a martial arts fight, so I think that in a fight between a vampire and a werewolf, the movements should tend to be simple and direct."
"Although Baji Quan is a combat-oriented boxing art, the subtleties of the movements contain quite a few techniques for transporting energy and generating power, and the movements will be a bit complicated when truly utilized in filming. Especially when two monsters are dueling, this kind of inclusion will seem a bit cumbersome."
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