msmithbooks Chapter 133 "Tangshan" Filming Completed
Chapter 133 "Tangshan" Filming Completed
After filming wrapped up for the scenes in 76, the crew immediately moved on to another location.
The color tone in the lens gradually transitioned from that dull, oppressive rust red to a nostalgic 80s-style bluish-gray.
The camera focused on Fang Deng as an adult for the first time.
On the tree-lined path of the campus, Yang Mi wore a faded floral dress, held a few books in her arms, and had a cold and aloof look in her eyes that was out of place with the cheerful atmosphere around her.
This girl started picking at her fingers and daydreaming a month in advance for this role, and now she has a really solid grasp of this gloomy and unapproachable demeanor.
Gu Heng handed this shot directly to Lu Yang because he was about to leave the set.
In Gu Heng's own words: Rather than letting other animals take advantage of my Mimi, I'd rather do it myself.
Anyway, since this character is the kind of person who starts something and then abandons it, I didn't feel any psychological burden playing the role.
Lu Yang, holding the telescope, was as excited as if he'd been injected with adrenaline.
"Director Gu, please take this shot back half a step. Yang Zhi needs to show... well, his potential as a scumbag right now."
Lu Yang directed the operation from behind the camera with remarkable ease.
Gu Heng glared at him: "Are you trying to say I'm just playing myself?"
Lu Yang shrank his neck and chuckled.
After finishing filming the campus scenes, the crew immediately headed to Sichuan.
The scenes in Sichuan didn't involve many large-scale explosions, and very little explosives were used.
The film mainly focuses on dialogue, with the core story revolving around Fang Deng's journey as an adult, participating in the Wenchuan earthquake relief efforts as a medical team member, reuniting with her mother, and resolving her inner conflicts.
It all comes down to Yang Mi's acting skills.
To be honest, Gu Heng was a little hesitant at first, but this girl really went all out this time and did not disappoint him at all.
Perhaps due to the profound impact she had on herself at Sangzao Middle School, Yang Mi developed a completely different understanding of disaster, life, and family.
In the scene where the mother and daughter reunite in the ruins, Jiang Wenli suddenly kneels down, and Yang Mi's tears instantly flow, crying so heartbreakingly.
It can be said that this is Yang Mi's most outstanding and nuanced performance since entering the entertainment industry.
But while filming, Gu Heng never forgot the core purpose of his painstaking efforts in making this film.
All the scientific knowledge related to earthquake precursors, self-rescue in ruins, and how to avoid aftershocks was cleverly crammed into the shots and lines without seeming out of place.
A month later, filming for "Aftershock" quietly wrapped up in Sichuan.
There was no fancy or extravagant celebration; the entire crew simply found a large restaurant in the area and had a big wrap party.
During the meal, Jiang Wenli held Yang Mi's hand and kept praising her, and Uncle Daoming also raised his wine glass to toast Gu Heng for the first time ever.
This old man is usually extremely aloof on set, and the number of young directors in all of China who would take the initiative to toast him can be counted on one hand.
The day after the wrap party, the main group left, but Gu Heng stayed behind with Yang Mi alone.
The car drove all the way to a remote industrial park at the border of Beichuan and Mianyang.
Looking at the warehouse in front of her, Yang Mi was somewhat bewildered.
"When making a movie, you always need to prepare more of these large props," Gu Heng said with a casual laugh.
After inspecting the progress of the supplies, the two flew directly to Beijing.
It was already January 2008.
There's not much time to waste; he has to finish editing the film as soon as possible and then release it nationwide!
Upon landing, Gu Heng didn't even return to the courtyard house. He went straight into the editing room of Vision Entertainment, locked the door tightly, and hung up a sign saying "No Trespassing."
Completely ignoring the messy things happening outside, he led Lu Yang and a few miserable editors into a seclusion that lasted day and night.
Lu Yang finally understood what it meant to be exploited by a thug in a suit.
Every day, she stayed up until her eyes were bloodshot, looking like a rabbit, watching Gu Heng cut out those exquisite but unusable films produced with tens of millions of dollars in investment without batting an eye.
This isn't editing a movie, it's cutting flesh!
During the month they were in seclusion in complete darkness, the entertainment industry outside was in an uproar.
Mr. Chan, a photography enthusiast from Hong Kong's entertainment circle, single-handedly caused a complete upheaval in the entertainment industry across Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
The servers of all the major portal websites on the internet are almost crashing due to the overwhelming number of netizens watching the drama unfold.
All those innocent young women and model couples have had their true colors exposed, and the younger generation in Hong Kong's entertainment circle is facing a complete extinction.
Everyone in the industry was on edge. Female celebrities were terrified and called their ex-boyfriends overnight to question them about whether they had kept any records.
On the other hand, everything was peaceful at Vision Entertainment. Su Qing acted swiftly and decisively, investigating the conduct of all the company's artists and only breathing a sigh of relief after confirming that there were no scandals.
However, all of this had absolutely nothing to do with Gu Heng in the editing room.
After a full month of intense work, and with everyone on the verge of exhaustion, the film was finally edited.
With his messy hair and scraggly beard, Gu Heng pushed open the door and immediately had Su Qing invite Han Sanping, the bandit leader of China Film Group, as well as all the leaders from Tangshan to come and inspect the goods.
The screening room was completely silent.
When the more than 100-minute movie ended and the lights came on, several leaders from Tangshan sat in the front row with red eyes, speechless for a long time.
Han Sanping exhaled a long smoke ring, forcefully stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, turned and stared intently at Gu Heng, his eyes filled with shock and fervor.
This commercial blockbuster, which so perfectly blends national sentiment, disaster scenes, and the extreme tension of humanity, is unmatched by any other film released in the same period!
Gu Heng rubbed his bloodshot eyes: "Third Uncle, I want this film to be released nationwide on March 1st. I'll have to trouble you with the censorship."
Han Sanping waved his hand, instantly exuding the thuggish air of a gangster boss: "Submit for review? Submit for review my ass! This document is already on my list. I'll personally take the tapes and run the process; you'll get the green light right away!"