Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

What?

Foreigners aren't allowed to work overtime?

That's not true. It's much better to finish filming early, get paid, and leave.

The crew of over twenty people finished work, locking the equipment on the second floor, and taking the film back to the hotel.

At 9:30, people were gathered along Pingxia Road, where there were a bunch of food stalls, cooked food stalls, and seafood stalls.

It's the kind of open-air food stall in Hong Kong that you often see in movies: green tin stalls, incandescent light bulbs, and folding tables and chairs.

The crew sat down at the seafood stall, the five of them sharing a table, each sitting with someone they knew.

Stir-fried clams, stir-fried squid tentacles, typhoon shelter-style stir-fried crab, braised platter, radish and beef offal, cart noodles, fish ball skewers, beef skewers... and several dozen beers.

Yang Che, a Chinese, Wu Shixian, a Chinese-American, Wen Ziren, a Chinese immigrant from Malaysia to Australia, and Ray Warner, an Australian, sat at a table together.

Ray Whannell asked curiously, "Yang, could you tell us about the inspiration for this story?"

Yang Che grinned and counted on his fingers: "The trial framework of 'Seven,' the locked-room mystery of 'Cube,' the eerie puppets of 'Crimson Night,' plus the gore and violence of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' that's 'The Trial Saw.'"

Leigh Whannell and James Wan exchanged a glance, clearly feeling their idols had shattered, as if their whole being had collapsed.

Wu Shixian, biting on a crab claw, mumbled, "Hey guys, we recently filmed a pretty good romance movie. The script was written by Yang Che. He said he just wrote it casually, and he also said he just wrote some songs casually. So, his casual writing is something that many people would rack their brains for and not be able to come up with."

James Wan smiled and said, "Okay, I understand."

Leigh Whannell snapped his fingers: "I know, isn't that what Quentin does? He copies all the movies, and then copies them better than the originals."

Yang Che was very pleased: "Old Wu, take a look. This is just another example of plagiarism. I see you guys have a lot of ideas about horror movies. You really should think about it more. You know, John Kramer didn't die in the end, so of course you can make a sequel."

Wu Shih-hsien quickly added, "Of course, all of this is predicated on the movie making money."

Ray Whannell shrugged. "Boss, this is the second time you've said that. I'll try my best."

James Wan said, "At least in Australia, this film will be very popular with video stores."

"........."

Everyone ate dinner/late-night snack quickly, since they were all quite tired.

Yang Che was alright; after returning to the hotel, he even had a long phone conversation with his two girlfriends.

I didn't chat with Fan Bingbing for long because Xiao Pang was still filming a night scene, which was quite tiring.

I chatted with Gao Yuanyuan for quite a while, but it was all pointless talk...

Suddenly, Gao Yuanyuan asked, "Honey, was this movie pretty boring?"

Yang Che was taken aback, then laughed and said, "It's not that I'm bored, it's that I can't empathize. They acted very well, and I can imagine what it will look like after post-production, but I just can't immerse myself in it like I did in the last movie."

"Um..."

Gao Yuanyuan hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "Are the crew members really invested in the project?"

"They were all very dedicated, especially the two Australian guys, who would discuss the plot and shooting plans even when they went to the bathroom."

"Honey, no matter how talented you are, you're still human. I think you've just had too many things going on lately, one after another. It's good for you to stay there and clear your head."

Yang Che paused for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Even my Yuanyuan can comfort me now."

"Whether you find it annoying or not, I'm just like someone who's been around a lot."

"You might as well say, 'If you marry a chicken, follow the chicken; if you marry a dog, follow the dog.'"

"Hehe, don't try to make excuses again when I get married."

"No evasive answers..."

"Ugh, I'm sleepy, I'm going to bed."

Clearly, Gao Yuanyuan was unwilling to discuss this topic.

In the following days, filming continued smoothly. Yang Che, like everyone else in the crew, followed a routine of going between three points: home, work, and work. He was a judge and a fault-finder, and his main job was to ensure efficiency to the greatest extent possible.

Perhaps because the area is underdeveloped, people did not encounter discrimination from Hong Kongers; on the contrary, they met many warm and enthusiastic people.

If there was any unexpected event, it was that two 17 or 18-year-old hooligans from Tin Shui Wai came over demanding some kind of management fee.

Wu Shixian asked Ah Ming how to handle it.

Ah Ming said he'd give me 500 Hong Kong dollars, otherwise he'd come every few days.

Then Wu Shixian was very unhappy, because he had already paid HK$3 in production fees.

Yang Che still managed to get producer Toruni to pay 500 Hong Kong dollars.

Seeing his colleagues' indignant expressions, Yang Che said, "As long as you're in this industry, this kind of thing will continue to happen, and it will be even worse in mainland China. So, are you going to spend a little money, or delay the filming schedule and fight these people?"

So people stopped saying anything. In fact, they all knew about it, even if they hadn't seen it or heard about it.

Even Zhang Yimou has to pay this fee when he goes to a village to film.

This is what the "unforeseen" aspect of the production budget refers to.

On November 5th, Yang Che called Zhang Guoli and said that the score for "Ji Xiaolan" was finished, and even sang it over the phone.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Guoli, it's only just finished."

"Haha, how could that be? How could that be? Haha, you've been so busy lately, yet you still managed to write such a wonderful piece for me. Thank you so much, thank you so much."

Then, naturally, 3 yuan came in.

Zhang Guoli didn't mention raising Yang Che's price now that he's more famous; that would be an insult.

At 11 a.m. on November 8, American actor Ned Barami, who had just arrived in Hong Kong the day before, stood up from a pool of blood on set and tore off his mask, indicating that the murderer had been watching the two perform the whole time.

The filming of "Saw" in Hong Kong has wrapped up, which means that 90% of the filming has been completed. The remaining scenes are all the exterior shots in the United States and a scene in a police station office, which are all very simple.

Wu Shih-hsien, along with Toruni, James Wan, and Warner, could handle it.

As of today, the total expenditure of the production team is 75 RMB. Obviously, the original budget of 100 million RMB is not enough, because there are also post-production editing, exhibition participation, and other expenses.

As for the editing, Wu Shih-hsien will edit it in New York. There will be no special effects or anything, just some sound effects, and the cost won't be high.

Yang Che transferred another 50 yuan, and after a brief chat with Wu Shixian, his shareholding became 80%.

After returning the equipment and settling the venue and production fees, it was already 6 p.m. After washing up, everyone headed to Yung Kee on Wellington Street in Central.

This place was booked with the help of Jiang Zhiqiang from Edko Films, the same Edko Films that bought the Hong Kong rights to "My Sassy Girl" and also invested almost all of its capital in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".