1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

For the next three days, Huo Sheng spent every afternoon in the editing room.

Old Liang pieced together the materials segment by segment according to his markings, while he sat beside him, watching the images on the monitor gradually come together.

For the first two days, Lao Liang would still come back and ask if it fit together, but by the third day, he simply didn't bother asking anymore. The positions that Huo Sheng had marked beforehand fit together perfectly, requiring no further adjustments.

Huo Sheng had the complete picture in his mind, and since the first episode was relatively short, he didn't need to improvise too much, so the entire editing process went smoothly.

Moreover, Huo Sheng has learned a lot in the editing room during this time, and he can lend a hand occasionally, helping to hand over tapes and check timecodes. Lao Liang no longer finds him a nuisance.

Prior to this period, Huo Sheng only had vague guesses about linear editing in the 1990s.

He only realized how different video editing was from what he had imagined when he actually started. It was no longer about clicking the mouse on the screen, but about manually rewinding, finding materials, and recording the final product.

Transitions are limited to hard cuts and fade-in/fade-out. Want to add filters? You have to add them during filming; you can't change them in post-production.

Many seemingly mysterious industries, once you actually delve into them, you realize that each industry is like a completely different world.

Working overtime, Huo Sheng and Lao Liang spent three days finally producing a rough cut of the first episode.

Of course, it's not completely finished yet. In post-production, actors will need to come and do the dialogue, add sound effects, and add subtitles.

However, at this point, the most troublesome part was over, and Huo Sheng could finally relax.

On the evening of the fourth day, the rough cut of the first episode was officially released.

The editing room has two monitors. One is a technical monitor used to check the footage during editing. It has a small screen and is divided into four zones.

The other is a large monitor connected to the recording machine. The screen is even larger and the colors are calibrated, specifically for reviewing films.

Old Liang rewound the tape to the beginning, pressed play, and the two of them rubbed their hands together excitedly.

The image popped up on the monitor.

It was on the day of the opening ceremony that the great miracle was filmed.

Inside the exchange, a group of people wearing red vests were excitedly watching the large screen, counting down together: "3, 2, 1—"

The numbers on the price chart started jumping wildly from 9050 points. Cheers erupted, some people buried their heads in their hands and wept, and some knelt on the ground.

It instantly immerses people in the thrill of the stock market's ups and downs.

The surveillance footage continued to play, showing Ding Hai leading his sons to the top floor of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange building, where they jumped off one after another.

The scene then flashes back to Hong Kong in the late 1960s.

Inside the stock exchange, the British sat arrogantly on the platform. Fang Jinxin and Chen Wanxian argued vehemently, but the meeting ended in discord. Fang Jinxin stood at the exchange entrance and addressed the crowd: "The Chinese Securities Exchange is officially established."

……

Forty-five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

Huo Sheng saw "The Great Era" again after six or seven years.

It was a strange feeling. Although everything was being carried out step by step according to his plan, there were always some unexpected differences.

Some things can't be figured out just by looking at the answer; you still need to try repeatedly and simulate the combinations in your mind over and over again. Otherwise, you won't know how others achieved that effect, nor will you know if you can achieve a better effect yourself.

This time, Huo Sheng's skillful screenwriting work provided a safety net, allowing Yuan Yingming and Wei Jiahui more time and energy to refine their work and showcase their talents.

Furthermore, Vivian Chow's acting has become more refined, and the transitions between certain scenes have become even more striking.

It is precisely this subtle difference that makes Huo Sheng so intricately connected to this drama.

It is no longer a distant masterpiece from the last century. Rather, it is an inseparable part of it, reflecting and complementing it.

As a spectator, Lao Liang leaned back in his chair and subconsciously lit another cigarette.

He has worked in the editing room for decades and has seen at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand, films. He can tell good from bad at a glance.

He was certain that "The Great Era" was a good show, and that Huo Sheng and his team had put a lot of effort into making it.

I wish I could see the next episode right away. I wonder if Law Wai-ling managed to escape in the end.

Both of them were somewhat moved and sat there in silence for a while.

After a while, Huo Sheng stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Old Liang, rewind the film. I'll call Producer Wei and Director Yuan over to take a look."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and left.

When Wei Jiahui and Yuan Yingming arrived, Lao Liang was already ready.

The two were anxious the whole way, but Huo Sheng didn't reveal a single word. After all, no matter how much he boasted, seeing is believing.

"Let's begin."

Wei Jiahui pursed his lips tightly, extremely nervous.

Old Liang nodded, pressed play, and the monitor slowly played the image from the first frame to the last frame.

After the broadcast ended, the conference room was quiet for a few seconds, with only the hum of the video recorder's cooling fan, as if it were breathing.

After working non-stop for several days, Yuan Yingming's throat was a little dry, and he said hoarsely, "This was... edited while filming?"

After asking the question, she chuckled to herself, "How come it looks even better than the normal cut?"

Wei Jiahui didn't speak, staring at the monitor for a while before turning to look at Huo Sheng, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

"That's it!"

He exclaimed excitedly, "Ah Sheng, this is exactly the effect I wanted! This is 'The Great Era'!"

Huo Sheng nodded and smiled, "As long as Brother Jia Hui is satisfied."

"So, does that mean we can really deliver the film by the end of March?"

Yuan Yingming rubbed his face, somewhat incredulous.

"Yes," Huo Sheng said.

"Can we snag a slot during the anniversary celebration?"

"Yes," Huo Sheng said again.

Yuan Yingming took a breath and slowly exhaled, finally putting his mind at ease after several days of anxiety.

He turned to look at Wei Jiahui, then at Huo Sheng, and grinned.

"OK."

He said, "That way, even if we lose, I'll accept it wholeheartedly."

……

Good news soon reached the production team.

Everyone seemed to have received a shot of adrenaline. Saying they'd fight to the death was nonsense, and expecting them to die from overwork was unrealistic, but their enthusiasm for work had certainly increased significantly.

At least I've stopped complaining about working overtime, and I'm more attentive to the quality of the show. Sometimes when I'm asked to redo a detail, I no longer grumble about it privately.

Over the next few days, Huo Sheng continued to annotate and edit the key points while also working on the rest of the script.

By the time he finished the main work on the scripts for the first twenty episodes, the filming schedule had reached the sixth episode.

Aside from continuing to annotate editing points, he was basically idle.

Wai Ka-fai wanted to give him a break so he could handle some personal matters, recuperate, and recharge his brain to prepare for the upcoming scriptwriting.

Huo Sheng declined, saying that he was in good health and had no personal matters to attend to. He figured he might as well stay at the studio and continue working on set.

His posture of being ready to die from overwork at any moment deeply moved Wai Ka-fai.

For the first time ever, he took advantage of his free time to teach him some other professional knowledge, and even showed him how to build outdoor scenes and arranged for him to lead the actors in several rehearsals.

This was a first for Huo Sheng.

Previously, when I was working on film sets in mainland China, I was never given this kind of opportunity, let alone having a producer by my side offering unsolicited guidance.

And so, a month passed quickly. Huo Sheng was in his element on set, having a lot of fun and reaping many rewards.

Because things went relatively smoothly, the schedule was even slightly ahead of schedule. There was still less than a week of filming left, and with post-production, it would only take a little over a week.

Then came the Spring Festival. The crew took a two-day break, and Huo Sheng spent a rather lonely New Year, not even getting to eat dumplings—he didn't know how to make them, and the TVB canteen didn't sell them.

Once the holiday was over, everyone got back to work, and it was finally March 1992. The day of the final showdown between "The Greed of Man" and "The Human, the Ghost, and the Fox" was not far off...