This director lacks vision.

Chapter 272 Delayed Youth
On April 12th, the weather cooperated, and a light drizzle began to fall.

Jiang Yifeng, who plays Jiang Ning, walks in the rain with a scruffy beard and a dejected and weak appearance.

Since suffering nerve damage, this former soldier has been living in seclusion in this small town.

It's called seclusion, but it's really an escape.

The gloomy sky and the continuous drizzle mirrored his mood—dark and damp.

After the first shot was filmed, Jiang Yifeng went to the camera position to review it, and then shook his head: "Larry, the lighting is too lifelike."

As I mentioned before, I wanted a cool color palette, a narrow perspective in the composition, and to capture a sense of oppression and decadence.

The photographer who was in a high-speed chase was Larry Fang, a Chinese-American photographer.

He rose to fame with the classic American TV series "Lost" and later served as the cinematographer for several films, including "300," "Now You See Me," and "Kong: Skull Island," demonstrating his considerable talent.

Therefore, there will be many ideas.

Upon hearing Jiang Yifeng's words, he explained, "If we film it according to your requirements, it will give people a distorted feeling."

While emotions can be heightened, the realism of the image will be diminished.

Jiang Yifeng said, "Just do as I ask. The best photographers are those who don't need to be noticed."

Upon hearing this, Larry Fang immediately shut up and did as Jiang Yifeng asked.

Jiang Yifeng knew very well that John Wick was a commercial film.

The biggest factor in the success of this movie is the "pretending to be weak to eat the strong" trope commonly used in online novels, where the protagonist's arrogance and subsequent face-slapping moments are incredibly satisfying.

Therefore, the earlier part of the story needs to be filmed in a more depressing manner to slightly suppress the audience's emotions, so that the emotional outburst later on, when the dog seeks revenge, can be completed in one go.

As for authenticity, it wasn't Jiang Yifeng's first consideration.

Some viewers, summarizing the success of John Wick, like to say that the film succeeded because of the realism of the action and gunfights. Those who couldn't be killed would be finished off with a shot, and the fighting wasn't flashy, but it fit the assassin's persona, so it felt very real and the audience could easily immerse themselves in it.

Little did people know that the most realistic film in the John Wick series was the first one.

The first film was considered "realistic" because the budget was too low.

With a budget of 2000 million, there's simply no room for extra ideas. Keanu Reeves is too old to fight anymore, so the action scenes have to be "realistic."

At the end of the first original film, the protagonist had a hand-to-hand fight with the gang leader. Some people praised the ugly action scenes, and some popular YouTubers even said that the crew of The Fast and the Furious lowered themselves to learn action moves from Yuen Woo-ping. The way they lowered themselves was just ridiculous.

Not to mention that the original movie had many awkward plot kills. The gang had multiple opportunities to kill the protagonist, and even captured him, but they didn't kill him.

The male protagonist could have killed the gang leader, but he didn't, ultimately causing the death of his friend who had saved him multiple times.

These failures are reflected in the box office performance of The Fast and the Furious.

The first John Wick film only grossed $8600 million worldwide, while the similar film Taken grossed $2.26 million worldwide.

Kingsman, released around the same time, grossed $4.14 million worldwide.

When audiences go to the cinema, their primary need is entertainment; no one seeks realism, so the more realistic a film is, the lower its box office returns.

The original John Wick production team was aware of this, so in subsequent installments, they continuously incorporated various action sequences, designed long action shots, and combined cold and hot weapons to make the pace faster and the violent aesthetics more exhilarating.

Each film is more distorted than the last, yet the box office keeps rising.

By the time John Wick 3 arrived, there were fewer knife-throwing battles and library fights, and gunfights were reduced. American media described the film as a "video game full of violence" and "simply an entertainment film for people to escape reality."

This rating is certainly not high, but the third installment of John Wick was a box office smash, reaching 3.27 million US dollars, and the series IP was truly established.

That's the movie market; audiences vote with their money, choosing what they like to watch.

Jiang Yifeng, being in China, has a better foundation in action scenes and possesses exceptional physical abilities, allowing him to fight more beautifully. Therefore, he should learn from the best aspects of "Batman Begins" and then improve and integrate them with his own unique characteristics.

Otherwise, if they had simply copied John Wick, they might not have even made 8000 million US dollars at the box office, since he has an Asian face.

No matter how much Keanu Reeves has faded from the spotlight, he was once a top Hollywood star.

The first day of shooting required adjustment not only for the photographer but also for everyone involved.

Jiang Yifeng was mentally prepared, and the crew was indeed quite lucky.

The rain stopped after a day, and the next day the sky was clear and blue, which was just the right time to take some heartwarming photos.

Jiang Yifeng took over Larry Fang's handheld camera position and personally filmed some heartwarming and beautiful moments for "Big Yellow".

Dahuang is a local dog kept at the Mushroom House. It's chubby, fluffy, and very cute.

It was brought from China by the male protagonist, Jiang Ning, and it was his only companion and warmth during his decadent life in a foreign land.

It was Da Huang's death that ignited Jiang Ning's desire for revenge, prompting him to train again and return to the martial world.

In this part of the story, Jiang Yifeng omitted his ex-wife's storyline, partly to incorporate a bit of the Pacific Rim background, and partly to make the plot sound more outlandish.

The popularity of the chase on the internet owes much to the viral memes such as "If you mess with my dog, I'll kill your whole family" and "Give me back my dog's life."

Many movie commentators, when making videos about this film, start with the line, "This man is called Xiao Shuai. He wanted to kill the whole family just because someone killed his dog."

This is done to attract viewers.

Therefore, Jiang Yifeng did a more thorough job in this regard.

The protagonist seeks revenge because of his dog, not because the dog was a gift from his ex-wife.

Therefore, Jiang Yifeng also plans to copy the song "Foxtail Grass on the Slope" and make a promotional video for it.

Jiang Yifeng has the talent of a wild beast, and Da Huang listens to him very well, making filming go very smoothly.

The tense plot that followed was filmed in just one and a half days.

Next up is the action scene.

This was Jiang Yifeng's first time filming in this area, and he also had to act, so there were many things he needed to explore and test, which slowed down the progress.

Fortunately, with the help of a professional martial arts choreographer team, especially Li Zhongzhi and others, who are not only proficient in traditional martial arts movements, but also have a great deal of knowledge about modern firearms combat.

As soon as Jiang Yifeng explained the concept of gunfighting, he understood it and was able to put it into practice.

this is very important.

After all, Jiang Yifeng is just a director. He has a talent for violent aesthetics, has many ideas, and the images in his mind are very exciting and violent.

However, to actually film the scene and achieve the effect Jiang Yifeng wanted, Li Zhizhong and others were needed to plan and execute it. Many scenes required the cooperation of multiple people and repeated attempts.

Filming impressive action scenes is indeed exhausting and puts a lot of strain on the actors. Even someone as physically gifted as Jiang Yifeng would feel tired after continuous high-intensity filming.

Fortunately, there are both hardships and joys. Filming action scenes can also provide different experiences and allow you to see different scenery.

On the morning of April 20th, while filming a sniper scene atop a church, Jiang Yifeng stood at the spire and saw the most beautiful view of the town of Český Krumlov.

As the sun rises, its rays illuminate the sky, and mist rises from the river, transforming the entire town into a fairytale wonderland.

It's a pity that the tallest church in Český Krumlov is only this tall. If there were taller buildings, the view from above would definitely be more beautiful.

After filming this scene today, all of Český Krumlov's scenes will be finished.

Next, we'll be filming in Prague for a few days, then moving on to Slovakia and Romania, and finally to Constanta, a coastal city in Romania.

The protagonist's path of combat involves dismantling a human trafficking gang along a line from Central to Eastern Europe.

The town of Český Krumlov was one of the gang's transit points, located inside the town's church.

The filming process was quite arduous, and although Daddario's role wasn't large, he stayed with the crew throughout.

She wanted to spend more time with Jiang Yifeng to deepen their relationship.

But they discovered that things were not so simple.

When the film crew arrived in Prague, Qin Lan and Yang Mi came to visit the set.

The yangqin duo also used the guise of tourism to spend a week on the film set.

Qin Lan finally grasped the true essence of the skill. Seeing that her condition had improved, she beamed with joy and was willing to do anything.

When the film crew entered Slovakia and arrived in Trenčín, Li Xiaoran came to visit.
When they arrived in Bucharest, Romania, Fan Bingbing came again.

Finally, they arrived in Constanta on the Black Sea coast, where the three hot girls visited the set together.

The constant visits from beautiful women on set made Daddario both angry and anxious, yet he was helpless.

Every time she protested, Jiang Yifeng suppressed her with guns and whips.

The collar around his neck tightened more and more, and Daddario felt uncomfortable, yet he had no desire to leave Jiang Yifeng.

Finally, Jiang Yifeng uttered a classic scumbag line: "You are the first white woman I have ever fallen in love with."

D'Addario was actually quite touched and was happy for several days.

At 3 p.m. on June 3, Jiang Yifeng was dressed in a suit and looked very handsome.

He had an RPG-7 slung over his shoulder, fired a shot, and Daddario asked, "Didn't you hit it?"

Jiang Yifeng put on his sunglasses and said calmly, "Let the shells fly for a while."

This is the last scene of the movie.

After killing the assassin played by Wang Baoqiang, the male protagonist finds the gang leader who is escaping in a speedboat.

One rocket launcher and that'll send this boss to his grave.

This scene serves both as a way for the male lead to show off and as a tribute to "Let the Bullets Fly".

After filming this scene, the entire chase sequence was completed.

Jiang Yifeng also breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he had been filming abroad for almost four months and had been in a high-intensity creative state, which was quite tiring.

He immediately said, "I've chartered a cruise ship. Tonight, everyone can go on the cruise ship and have a blast to celebrate the wrap-up of the movie!"

Upon hearing this, everyone cheered.

Daddario was also very excited. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Naza running over.

Behind her followed a row of beautiful women.

Besides Zhang Tianai and Dilraba, there is also a 6-member group from Crown Girls Group.

Daddario was quite helpless, but if he couldn't beat them, he had no choice but to join them.

Jiang Yifeng chartered a cruise ship with a total of 5 decks.

The rest of the crew explored the lower three floors, while Jiang Yifeng stayed on the upper two floors.

Enjoying the finest seafood while admiring the beautiful Black Sea scenery, surrounded by beautiful women, watching the Crown Girl Group and hot singing and dancing performances, and playing the Russian roulette game in the evening—this is the life a big boss should have.

Jiang Yifeng spent a week traveling in countries around the Black Sea before returning to Yanjing on the afternoon of June 11.

Daddario didn't leave; he followed Jiang Yifeng to China.

This girl is addicted.

Jiang Yifeng couldn't help but reflect on whether he had been too harsh in his treatment.

But let him come if he wants. Anyway, D'Addario is quite independent, so Jiang Yifeng doesn't need to worry about him too much.

Originally, Jiang Yifeng planned to start filming "Youth" after returning to China, and release the film together with "The Grandmaster".

It seems there's not enough time, and there's too much to do.

Not only are there many things to handle at the company, but there's also post-production work for three TV series: "Youth With You," "Stranger Things," and "John Wick."

Although a professional editor and post-production team completed most of the work, Jiang Yifeng still had to set the tone and quality.

In addition, Jiang Yifeng also wants to go and check on the filming of Pacific Rim Season 3.

Guo Fan has been preparing so meticulously that it's been a bit slow; it's been over two months and filming still hasn't started.

Moreover, after filming two TV series in a row, Jiang Yifeng was a bit tired and wanted to take a break.

Therefore, filming for "Youth" was postponed until August.

The actors at the Youthful Days training camp suffered the most from this situation.

Encouraged by Jiang Yifeng, Han Jianu became highly motivated and, with the help of professional teachers, subjected them to rigorous training.

These actors are just waiting for Jiang Yifeng to select the cast so they can quickly start filming "Youth" and end this grueling training camp.

As a result, after Jiang Yifeng returned to China, he made a bold statement that the project would be postponed and the training would continue for another two months.

This is so agonizing.

(End of this chapter)