The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 73 Omnipotence and Submission

set.

The martial arts instructors from the Cheng family stunt team repeatedly trained the Indian villain actors on the key points of the action sequences. Jackie Chan was also fully prepared. He looked at Shen Qing, who was not far away, and said, "Director, let's give it a try."

Shen Qing nodded, and the martial arts instructors from the Cheng family began to clear the area.

Jackie Chan and the Indian villain took their positions, and Lee Chung-chi of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team shouted from the side, "Three, two, one, action!"

……

Jackie Chan tried three times, but failed each time; his moves were still too difficult.

The Cheng family stunt team changed three different stuntmen, but all of them failed.

It's already noon, and we still haven't filmed a single scene.

They didn't even turn on the camera.

If rehearsals don't even happen, turning on the camera is just a waste of film.

During lunch, the members of the Cheng family stunt team advised Cheng Lung that he should just tell the director to stop filming like this. Even if he trained for a few days and managed to do it, there were still a lot of these difficult actions to perform later, and the filming schedule and budget would all get out of control.

Or just use a few close-up shots and fast cuts to make do.

Cheng Long gave his brothers a good scolding.

While they were discussing this, the assistant director came over and said that the director had already found a stunt double, so there would be no rehearsal in the afternoon, and they could go straight to filming.

As soon as the assistant director left, the Cheng family troupe exploded.

With the Cheng family stunt team around, the director hiring outside stunt doubles made the members of the Cheng family feel a bit embarrassed. But no matter how embarrassed they felt, they had to keep it to themselves; they couldn't blame others for their own lack of ability.

Furthermore, even if we were to find an outside substitute, it would be better for the eldest brother and the Cheng family team to handle it, as it would make them appear more professional.

We may not be able to do some of the more difficult shots, but we can find people who can. Since you've hired us, we'll definitely do a great job for you.

As a result, nobody knows who the director hired as a stand-in.

And what's this about? They even rehearsed, and then just turned on the camera and started filming the actual movie?

Who is this stunt double? The director trusts him that much.

In the afternoon, Jackie Chan and his stunt team arrived at the film set. Many people were looking around, trying to see which one might be the stunt double the director had found.

As a result, the director himself put on the same outfit as Jackie Chan, but a size too big, and walked onto the set.

In front of the monitor, the assistant director sat down in the director's chair.

"I'll give it a try. You can take a few close-up shots later," Shen Qing said to Cheng Long.

The assistant director clapped his hands, signaling that all the Indian villains were in position, and all irrelevant people were cleared from the set. Shen Qing and her co-star took their positions.

Shen Qing nodded to the executive assistant director.

The assistant director picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "All departments, prepare."

Then the voices of the directors from each department were relayed to the executive assistant director.

"Filming in progress!"

"Recording started!"

"Scene 3, shot 1, take 1," the script supervisor said, clapping the clapperboard.

With a snap, the clapperboard fell.

The assistant director shouted, "Three, two, one, action!"

……

Shen Qing, who possessed the strength of Jackie Chan at his peak, passed the test on the first try.

Then Shen Qing returned to the directing team, where the assistant director had already given up his spot. A few more close-up shots of Jackie Chan were filmed, and the fight scene was finished.

Those members of the Cheng family troupe who had previously worked with Shen Qing were fine, as they knew Shen Qing was quite skilled. However, the martial artists who were working with Shen Qing for the first time were somewhat bewildered.

This is the first time I've ever seen a director personally act as a stunt double for the lead actor in fight scenes; it's unheard of. Is a director more professional than the stuntmen when it comes to action scenes? Where can anyone go to argue with this?!

Cheng Long felt even worse because he had never felt so acutely that he was getting old as he did today.

For Anne Hathaway, it was quite a shock.

She has seen many of Jackie Chan's movies and is very impressed by many of the action scenes.

Cheng Long's rehearsal in the morning went awry, and she was already starting to have a bit of a shattered illusion about him. But then she thought that the moves were too difficult, so it was understandable that they needed to rehearse for a few more days.

As a result, the director himself became Jackie Chan's stunt double that afternoon and got it right in one take, which was a bit of a challenge to her understanding.

With this afternoon's scene as a model, it will be easier to handle any action scenes that are difficult to shoot later. If you encounter any problems, just ask the director!

……

"Pramod!"

"Here you are, Director."

During a break in filming, Shen Qing beckoned the local Indian gangster on set to his side.

"I'd like to ask you about two kinds of medicine."

Shen Qing spoke English throughout the entire conversation.

Which two medications?

"One type is Indian God Oil. Does this stuff really work? Is it sold nearby? Where can I buy it wholesale if I need to buy in bulk?"

Pramod racked his brains for a long time, then shook his head and said, "No, I've never heard of such a drug."

"Never heard of it?"

"Never heard of it."

Shen Qing was a little puzzled. How could Indians have never heard of Indian God Oil?

Never mind, he'll ask another local about the aphrodisiac later.

"What about Gleevec?"

"Yes, I have this. It's several times cheaper than the original, and I have the channels to get it. If you order a lot, director, it can be even cheaper."

"Tell me more about it..."

……

Anne Hathaway asked her assistant, "Have you ever heard of a medicine called Indian God Oil?"

The female assistant shook her head and asked, "What kind of illness is it treating?"

Anne Hathaway shook her head: "I don't know either. I overheard the director asking about this medicine. It seems to be hard to find. It's probably an Indian secret recipe. Regular hospitals probably don't have it, otherwise the director wouldn't have been unable to find it."

"Should I inquire about it?"

"Okay, if I find out, I'd like to buy some as a gift for the director. He has a lot of resources, some of which are very important to me; I need his friendship."

"Okay, leave this to me."

……

"Click!"

Shen Qing said into the walkie-talkie, "All departments, hurry up and prepare! We still have two more sets of shots to film today!"

"clear."

"receive."

Shen Qing stood up and wandered around. As he passed the lighting group, a few words he overheard made him stop in his tracks.

Several of the lighting crew members sat on the steps chatting with their backs to Shen Qing.

"The director even uses Indian aphrodisiac oil?"

"It's absolutely true. I heard Anne's assistant ask me that the director needed it."

What is Indian God Oil for?

"You don't even know this?"

"Old Wu gave him a little科普 (popular science) explanation."

"Um, do you know Viagra?"

"I know, the director needs to take Viagra."

"That's perfectly normal. A director of that stature has so many women throwing themselves at him. If he uses that thing too much, it won't work anymore, right?"

"How about we go find some of this Indian herbal oil and give it to the director?"

"Are you stupid? What are you going to say about sending this kind of medicine? Director, I know you're impotent, so I specially found this medicine for you? Isn't this just blaming the wrong person?"

"Too."

"But is this Indian herbal oil really effective?"

"What, your words don't work either?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"No, no, I'm just curious."

"Let me tell you, this Indian herbal oil has nothing to do with India. It's produced by a Hong Kong company, just using India as a gimmick."

Shen Qing silently returned to the director's group, feeling helpless. She would have to tell the assistant director later that all sorts of messy rumors couldn't be spread on set.

He casually asked a local Indian shady character about Indian herbal oil and Gleevec, since he was definitely going to make a movie called "Dying to Survive" someday. Little did he expect that this would become the rumor that he was having problems with his male sexual function and was desperately seeking aphrodisiacs!

It's truly unreliable even from 800 li away!

……

After finishing work that evening, Cheng Long went to Shen Qing's director suite to discuss the script. The two talked for more than an hour, and when Cheng Long was about to leave, Shen Qing called him back.

"I've been thinking about the scenes with Jing Tian. The original concept was a bit disconnected, and the connection between her and the protagonist, A Long, wasn't strong enough. I'd like to make some changes."

Lu Zheng of Wanda spent 4000 million yuan to buy 2% of the Greater China copyright from Shen Qing. Normally, a movie needs to gross 1.2 million yuan to recoup about 4000 million yuan, so this premium is still very high. The purpose was just to squeeze Jing Tian into the crew.

At the time, Shen Qing casually assigned Lu Zheng the role of the male lead A Long's niece in China. The story was that at the end of the film, news of A Long's feat in India would reach China, making the niece very proud. Then, when A Long returned to China, the niece would simply pick him up. The role was small, but Lu Zheng didn't object.

If it were a regular director, Lu Zheng would probably have to haggle, but with Shen Qing as the director, the other party had no objections to Shen Qing's arrangement.

Given Shen Qing's status, Lu Zheng didn't have much leverage to negotiate with her.

Shen Qing is not Thomas Tull of Legendary Pictures, and Magic Pictures is not Legendary Pictures, even though the two companies have very similar names.

Unlike Legendary Pictures, Magic Pictures was not acquired by Wanda.

Jing Tian was able to have such a large role in Zhang Yimou's film "The Great Wall" because the production company of "The Great Wall" was Legendary Pictures, and Wanda acquired 100% of the equity of Legendary Pictures. At that time, Wang Jianlin was full of ambition and wanted to join one of the six major Hollywood studios.

As a result, "The Great Wall" was a huge flop, and Thomas Tull, the founder of Legendary Pictures, was fired by Wanda.

In short, despite Lu Zheng spending a lot of money, he doesn't really have the right to demand that Shen Qing give Jing Tian a significant role. However, the niece character still doesn't quite fit into the plot.

"Then let's change it to a daughter?" Cheng Long said.

Shen Qing nodded: "That's what I meant too, but what about the emotional entanglement between the daughter and the father? How should that be set up?"

Cheng Long pondered deeply, then shook his head and asked Shen Qing, "What does the director think?"

Shen Qing said: "I designed the male protagonist, A Long, to be a wanderer. He is full of curiosity and the spirit of Chinese chivalry. He likes to travel all over the world and likes to fight for justice."

"He had a girlfriend when he was young, but they broke up. He didn't know she was pregnant at the time. His girlfriend knew that Ah Long's exploration of the world was relentless, that he didn't want to be tied down by family matters, and that Ah Long was a great boyfriend who would bring endless excitement and novel experiences, but he wasn't suited to be a father."

"After the breakup, I originally planned to secretly abort the child, but in the end I couldn't bear it and chose to raise the child alone. Ah Long's story of sending a little girl from Pakistan back to India has caused a sensation around the world. When the news reached China, her daughter was deeply moved and told her mother how wonderful it would be if he were her father."

"When the girl's mother saw that the father her daughter admired was actually her biological father, tears welled up in her eyes. She told her daughter the truth. In the end, the girl's mother managed to contact Ah Long and told him that she had another daughter. The final scene showed the mother and daughter welcoming Ah Long back to China from two airports."

Upon hearing this, Jackie Chan's eyes lit up, and he said, "This is a great idea! Let's film it like this!"

Shen Qing nodded.

……

Recently, "The Warlords" and "Assembly" were officially released one after another. The box office of both films on the first day was around 1500 million yuan, which is less than the more than 2000 million yuan of Shen Qing's "Taken 2".

There is a lot of discussion about this on the Chinese internet.

Chen Kexin, Li Lianjie, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro ultimately couldn't defeat Shen Qing.

Even Feng Xiaogang, the king of Lunar New Year films, couldn't beat Shen Qing.

It couldn't even beat the domestic box office, and its overseas box office was so low that it couldn't even see Shen Qing's back.

"New talents emerge in every generation, each leading the way for hundreds of years. I truly understand this saying through Shen Qing. This kid is amazing!"

"The key is that he can write his own scripts, which is far weaker than Zhang Yimou's. Shen Qing can not only write scripts, but he can also act; he's practically flawless!"

"The perfect person in the entertainment industry!"

In short, there's a lot of praise, and it seems to be being elevated to a pedestal.

Of course, there are also haters, but as soon as these haters show their faces, they are immediately attacked and torn to shreds by Shen Qing's supporters.

For example, some people actually criticized Shen Qing for being inadequate in bed and went everywhere looking for medicine to restore his virility, but no one believed them at all. Everyone who saw this kind of message immediately started criticizing.

……

That day, Shen Qing was filming in India when she received a call from director Zhang Yimou, who said that he needed Shen Qing to perform at the Olympics next year and asked if she was available.

"This is the most important matter, and I'm available anytime," Shen Qing stated without hesitation.

"Okay, thank you for your support."

"You're too kind. This is a matter of national importance, a good opportunity to showcase the country's image and break down foreign prejudices. It's my honor to be able to contribute."

"It should just be recording one song. I'll contact you when it's time for rehearsal."

"well."

……

It's been a month and a half since I arrived in India, and before I knew it, we were filming our last scene there.

This scene alone required thousands of extras, a rare large-scale production for Shen Qing's films.

There are two barbed wire fences in the middle. On one side, thousands of extras play Pakistani people, and on the other side, thousands of extras play Indian people.

Anne Hathaway plays a female reporter standing in the crowd, with her assistant carrying a camera beside her.

Jackie Chan's character, Ah Long, successfully retires and crosses the barbed wire controlled by Pakistan, heading towards the barbed wire on the Indian side.

The extras on both sides shouted his name together.

"Ah Long! Ah Long! Ah Long..."

The little girl gripped the barbed wire with both hands, watching the man's departing figure, her face growing increasingly reluctant and anxious.

"Uncle..."

This parting might be the last time she sees him. The uncle she trusted at first sight, the one who bought her food, rescued her from the underground brothel, and sent her back to her country from afar—he will disappear from her life.

"Uncle... Uncle..."

A miracle suddenly happened.

The little girl, who had never uttered a sound since birth, actually cried out.

At that moment, the area on both sides of the barbed wire fence gradually quieted down, and everyone looked at the little girl.

Then came the applause, and even louder cheers.

Cheng Long turned around in disbelief and saw that it really was the little girl he spent every day with calling him. He smiled with relief, but as he smiled, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

The little girl's mother covered her mouth and cried, then smiled through her tears. The little girl ran through the crowd towards Cheng Long, her face beaming with an innocent smile.

Cheng Long also turned around and ran towards the little girl.

The two, one big and one small, finally reunited, and Cheng Long lifted the little girl high in the air.

"Click!"

……

The scene was filmed more than ten times. At first, the little girl's performance did not meet Shen Qing's requirements. Shen Qing guided her several times, but it was still not quite right. In the end, it was the little girl's mother who personally comforted her and whispered to her for a few minutes. After that, the scene was filmed again, and it actually exceeded Shen Qing's expectations. The effect was surprisingly good.

He couldn't help but lament that, despite possessing the combined abilities of four top directors, he was sometimes less skilled at directing actors than an uneducated Indian woman.

Before returning home, Anne Hathaway made a special trip to apologize to Shen Qing. She never expected that her attempt to help Shen Qing find medicine would lead to the exposure of the director's privacy. By the time she finally learned what Indian God Oil was, the news that the director needed medication had already spread throughout the film crew.

"I'm sorry, I've caused trouble for the director. I didn't know it was that kind of medicine."

Shen Qing sighed helplessly and said, "It's okay, you didn't do it on purpose, and I don't need that kind of medicine."

The problem is that there's no way to shut people up. The production crew is made up of all sorts of people, and who wouldn't go back and brag to their friends from all walks of life? You can't just sew their mouths shut, can you?

Explanations were useless; he felt that even Anne Hathaway wouldn't believe his explanations.

For example, if Yang Mi were to stand up and say that her feet don't smell, would she be able to convince all netizens?

A very small number of netizens might even say, "I don't believe it unless I smell it."

Most netizens who believed in the past will continue to believe in the future.

After filming in India, we'll move on to Beijing to shoot the scenes in Jing Tian.