Chinese entertainment starts with Hong Shixian

Chapter 223 Role Switch, Qi Hui Plays Yuchi Zhenjin (5th Update)
"Draw!" Qi Hui thought to himself.

It's rare to get two chances to win a prize in one go.

[Congratulations, host, you have acquired the skills: Mastery of Xinyou Blade Technique and Mastery of Bodhidharma Sword Technique]

Qi Hui was slightly surprised. As expected of Zhao Wenzhuo, he knew so much, even the Xinyou sword technique.
Oh, I think he later played Qi Jiguang?

"I've heard Yang Zhigang mention you before; you are indeed a handsome man," Zhao Wenzhuo said with a smile as he looked Qi Hui up and down.

Back when he was on the set of "Ultimate Decoding", he held Yang Zhigang's wooden gun and admired it for a long time.

Through conversation, I roughly learned what happened.

After a simple scene reconstruction, Zhao Wenzhuo realized that Qi Hui was not on the same side as these martial arts athletes.

Their martial arts are a sport, focusing on aesthetics and fitness.

But Qi Hui's skill with the wooden spear was clearly designed to kill; it was a genuine killing technique.

It's not unjust for Zhen Zidan to lose; in fact, it would be strange if he hadn't lost.

How could their fancy moves compare to the army's offensive methods?

Looking at the post he made on Weibo, Zhao Wenzhuo felt it was true more and more.

Could Qi Hui have actually learned something useful in the army?

After a brief chat, Zhao Wenzhuo, accompanied by Shi Nansheng, took a stroll around the neighborhood.

The two old friends chatted and reminisced about the past.

Zhao Wenzhuo is not young anymore and is almost past his prime; he is no longer as enthusiastic about his career as he once was.

After the two left, the scene returned to calm. Qi Hui smiled and continued reading the script.

In fact, the feud between Zhao Wenzhuo and Zhen Zidan goes far beyond this, and it's almost going to extend to the next generation.

Zhen Zidan's son is named Zhen Wenzhuo, and Zhao Wenzhuo's son is named Zhao Zilong.

It seems they're all aiming for each other.

Not only that, the two often competed with each other. When Donnie Yen filmed a short video of himself kicking a bottle cap, Vincent Zhao would kick three at once.

Later, when Zhao Wenzhuo kicked the knife, netizens who loved watching the drama frantically tagged Zhen Zidan.

However, Zhen Zidan doesn't seem to have responded much.

……

Martial arts training also takes place while the script is being read aloud.

The most important highlight of Tsui Hark's movies is the various fight scenes.

Just like Jackie Chan's humorous fighting and kung fu comedies, without these elements, it loses its flavor.

As the three male leads, Qi Hui, Lao Ling, and Lin Gengxin all have to participate in the training.

All three have action scenes to film; the only difference is how many.

There's a lot of pre-production work involved in getting a movie made.

Qi Hui and his two companions, armed with wooden swords, trained with martial arts athletes, though none of them were professional martial arts actors.

So Tsui Hark didn't impose any strict requirements, as long as the fight scenes were watchable.

The other actions are performed by a stunt double.

This is not a bad thing. Using professional stunt doubles can ensure the safety of the actors and will not affect the production schedule in case of accidents.

And the stand-in can also earn a salary, so why not?
Feng Shaofeng is not a professional martial arts actor, but his action scenes, although flawed and heavily reliant on wire work, are still passable.

If Lao Ling works hard, his acting will be no worse than Feng Shaofeng's.

As Qi Hui thought this, he continuously swung the wooden sword in his hand, and the sound of swords cutting through the air rang out as he quickly demonstrated his swordsmanship.

The Xinyou sword technique includes both single-sword and waist-sword techniques.

The single-edged sword is the kind used by Ding Xiu and Lu Wenzhao, also known as the Miao sword.

The name was changed later. Cheng Zongyou, a martial arts master in the Ming Dynasty, also wrote a book called "Selection of Single-Blade Techniques".

The waist knife was naturally the same kind of knife used by Ding Baiying and Shen Lian.

Qi Hui had just acquired a new skill, and of course he couldn't resist trying it out.

Of course, these are all for performance purposes; they lack real combat ability and are just for show.

Not far away, Xu Ke was stunned when he saw Qi Hui moving nimbly and his swordsmanship flowing continuously.

Turning my gaze, I noticed that Ling Xiaosu, who plays Yuchi Zhenjin, the number one martial arts master of the Tang Dynasty, was rather stiff.

His movements weren't very graceful, but he was putting in the effort. With a few days of practice, he should be getting the hang of it. Xu Ke stroked his slightly graying beard, his eyes gleaming.

After thinking for a moment, he decided not to disturb the three's training, but instead turned and left to check on the female lead, Yang Tianbao.

In his films, actresses are of paramount importance.

He filmed many iconic scenes featuring Hong Kong actresses, such as Brigitte Lin drinking, Joey Wong getting dressed, and Maggie Cheung twisting her waist.

He was confident in his skills in photographing female beauty.

I figured Yang Tianbao wouldn't be too bad off in my hands.

Then...then Xu Ke realized he was wrong.

In the distance, Yang Tianbao was twisting and turning with the dance instructor, but his movements were extremely stiff, like a robot.

Xu Ke was shocked. Could it be that this actress had never even studied dance?

Thinking of this, an ominous premonition inexplicably enveloped him. Wouldn't this AB make things difficult for him?
……

In the director's office, Xu Ke paced back and forth, a worried look on his face.

Replacing the female lead is impossible; it's hard to find an actress from Hong Kong Island who is good-looking, has a good figure, and is willing to play a courtesan.

However, judging from the current situation, the female lead may be in trouble.

The key issue is that the male lead is also facing considerable trouble; Yuchi Zhenjin's martial arts skills are a bit worse than he expected.

"Headache..." Xu Ke said with a pained expression, "Should we change the actor?"

"What do you mean, change the actor?" Shi Nansheng asked, walking in from outside.

“The contract has already been signed. Changing actors now would require paying a penalty for breach of contract,” Shi Nansheng said.

Xu Ke's special effects are known for being expensive, so if he breaches the contract, it will definitely be another huge expense.

It's very likely that we'll exceed the budget.

“This is what I’m thinking.” Xu Ke thought for a moment and said, “The actor who plays Di Renjie, that Qi Hui, let him play Yuchi Zhenjin. He’s very good at martial arts… well, he’s also very good at acting.”

A thought suddenly struck him: he had an urge to combine Yuchi Zhenjin and Di Renjie into one character.

Of course, it's just a thought.

If that were the case, Di Renjie would be too outrageous, not like a normal person at all.

"You mean the actors have been changed?" Shi Nansheng quickly understood what her husband meant.

However, he also raised his own question: "Is Ling Xiaosu capable of playing the role of Di Renjie?"

"Also, will Qi Hui agree?"

After all, it's hard for people to accept that the male lead, who was originally the male lead, suddenly becomes the second male lead.

Xu Ke turned around with his hands behind his back, thought for a moment, and then said, "Let's see Ling Xiaosu's acting skills first, and give him a trial run."

"As for whether Qi Hui is willing or not... I've looked at their files, and they have a very good relationship, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"If all else fails, increase their pay!"

Shi Nansheng frowned. If this were in Hong Kong Island, it would be fine to do this without any problems.

But it's different in mainland China, especially since there's a Huayi Brothers above them.

“How about this,” Shi Nansheng said, “Let’s try it out on the set according to your idea first, and talk to them.”

"However, let's not make it clear yet."

"We still need to get Huayi's approval for this matter."

Xu Ke nodded in agreement: "I understand."

"Then you should inform the others, and I'll call Ling Xiaosu over for the audition right away," Shi Nansheng said, waving his hand.

With that, he walked outside.

"Okay." Xu Ke called his assistant and asked him to bring the executive director, several assistant directors, action choreographer, art director, and so on over for a meeting.

Besides communicating with them, we also wanted these people from Huayi to tell Huayi about things in advance.

Otherwise, his idea of ​​changing actors would be seen as acting on his own initiative and being disrespectful to his superiors.

He has no reason to hide this.

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(End of this chapter)