Tsui yong yong column
September 10 2013
Hengdian: a place where heat so hot people die; its cold so cold people die from it too. I had endured both its summer and winter; I had also experienced eating on the run and the horror of going to a washroom without a toilet inside. Recalling, I truly don’t know how I got through that period. This time going to Foshan was in the afternoon of August 28th 2013 right smack in the middle of a heat wave of 38 C (100.4F); the land so hot it was suffused in haze. A group of Property Protector’s cast - the men attired in coarse, thick cloth costumes; the women dressed in layers of pre-modern costumes; all sealed from head to toes in their clothing. When the director gave the command, Steven Ma immediately did his scene, fighting from the top of a 10 feet+ elevated platform all the way down to the ground. He was on wire; he had to climb a tall hanging ladder. I saw sweat pouring incessantly from his forehead down his neck; no need to wipe the sweat off as more would pour anyway.
Aside, there was Ching Hor Wai all dressed up in 'qi pao' sitting inside a tent. Outside, the scorching sun rays beat down on the tent top. Sitting inside the tent, Ching Hor Wai persevered to finish her scene, and as soon as she was done she immediately fainted and had to be taken to the hospital. Producer Uncle Choi (Leung Choi Yuen) told me that Ching Hor Wai had bronchitis. Since arriving at Foshan she was constantly in and out of the hospital, and so far she had been administered three bags of saline IV at different times in all. On the day of my visit, she was once again taken to the hospital for her 4th saline IV.
However, despite its filming process being inadvertently affected by the flood catastrophe and the cast’s illnesses, Property Protector surprisinly finished its filming on schedule. At the filming production wrap-up celebratory dinner, I had a serious talk with Uncle Choi about these very issues. Incidentally, rarely do I see Uncle Choi looking so cheerful; after all, with a 30+ episode series, plus led a team to Foshan and filmed on-location in Shun De as well as TVB’s huge investment on this series, his responsibility as the producer was undoubtedly heavy, the pressure extra high; unless one is seasoned and experienced like Uncle Choi, the undertaking is not easy to handle.
“I’d put together a team of highly professional members, both cast and crew. There’s this ball of fire inside them. It is this fire in the belly that enabled us all to exude a team spirit despite the hardships along the way.”
The directing group gave their 100% efforts; the cameraman-videographer crew were all highly skilled and experienced, and the cast all willing to put in their utmost. The ‘team leader’ as Uncle Choi dubbed Steven; everybody knows his (Steven) character is indomitable; his person, strong-willed. To work him, one must tolerate his tenacity and perseverance.
“Ma Jai? He’s not just troublesome (煩)but very, very, very troublesome. But, why did I continue to collaborate with him series after series? Because we have the same ideals. I insist –the series must be shot well, those doing the shooting and those doing the acting in the series must have the feel, their skills be well-honed, every scene must have life, only then can it move people, and attract audience to watch.”
Steven is a person who will not hesitate to give suggestions on a scene. Thus, some people may find him troublesome; others may resent his intrusion. But Uncle Choi greatly appreciates Steven’s attitude towards his work.
“He has his own personal viewpoint and creativity. One day, when filming this series, the director, Ma Jai and I were watching the surging waters in the river, just within three minutes we conceived a seeking-refuge-in-a-raging-river vision. These shots, whether filming or acting, were extremely difficulty to do but Ma Jai without so much as a word jumped into the river. He and I were already on the same wavelength, as soon as we said it we could immediately visualize the scene. I like thespians who take their work seriously. I like that Ma Jai has fire in his belly; only then will there be a fighting spirit, only then will there be creativity.” Indeed, Steven encountering Uncle Choi, this Bak Lok, is truly blessed.
Uncle Choi is originally from Shun De. He has been filming tv series for over a decade, yet the fire inside him still burns strong.
“I want to film bucolic tv series. After filming in my hometown, Shun De, there is Zhong Shan, and there's also Chao Shan; they all have many stories worth filming. This time filming Property Protector, looking at the shots – truly the scenic beauty of Guangdong water villages is no less inferior to Jiang Nan’s beautiful landscapes. Property Protector is very good. I'm confident of its excellent quality; it's a tv series infused with a movie drama flavor.”
*************************************************************************
related news on PP
Ai! Previous rant notwithstanding, this is exactly why I still remain a (dedicated) SM fan, and why Tsui Yong Yong still loves him lots (despite at one time she was so mad at him she un-friended him on weibo -- haha!) Ai! Looking forward to "Property Protector"
--- Chinese---
順德一團火
524期 Book B 【蓉蓉樂道】
曾經有十年時間，我天天就在錄影廠、表演場地轉，要不就是飛美加，遊中國，赴東南亞。奔奔走走，只因為要和他——我十年的工作戰友馬浚偉轉戰南北東西。近年工作環境轉變了，不再東奔西跑。要不是到佛山探《守業者》的班，我也忘記了，原來，我也曾在這般艱苦的環境工作過。說艱苦，也真夠苦呢。
到橫店，那個熱會熱死人，冷會冷死任何人的地方。我在那裏熬過夏，也捱過冬，完全感受到食無定時，去洗手間無廁所的可怕，現在想起，也不知當時怎樣熬過來。這次到佛山，是在八月二十八日中午，攝氏38度的天氣，陽光把地都曬出一層煙來了。一班《守業者》的演員，男的要穿上粗厚布裝，女的層層民初服，由頸封到落腳，導演一聲令下，馬浚偉要由幾十呎高台打打殺殺，又吊威吔，又爬吊梯，看到豆大的汗由他的額角直流到頸，也不用抹了，反正愈抹愈多。
還有程可為（程大姑），她穿着旗袍，坐在一個帳篷內，陽光直曬篷頂，坐在內的程大姑，堅持把戲拍完，之後暈得要送醫院去，監製材叔（梁材遠）告訴我，程大姑氣管發炎，來佛山之後，她不停出入醫院，已吊了三包鹽水，我到的那一天，她又入醫院吊第四包鹽水去……
《守業者》面臨遇水災影響拍攝，演員傷病纍纍的情況，卻奇迹般地能如期完成拍攝工作。煞科宴上，和材叔深談了這個問題。
少見材叔面容帶着這般和煦的笑意，畢竟，三十多集戲，還要帶着大隊到佛山、順德拍外景，公司投資大，監製責任重，壓力非比尋常，如非資歷深如材叔，只怕不易擔此重任。
「我挑了一組非常有專業精神的團隊，無論台前幕後工作人員，內心都有一團火，就是這團火，令我們在多麼艱苦的情況下，都能發揮出團隊精神。」導演組拚勁十足，攝影組大哥人人經驗豐富，全組演員都肯拼，材叔口中的「隊長」馬浚偉，人人都知他性子硬，人倔強。和他合作，真要忍得他的執着、堅持。「馬仔？他何止煩，簡直是好好好煩呢，但是，我為甚麼和他合作完一部戲又一部戲？只因為兩個人理念相同。我堅持，劇要拍得好，拍和演者都要有情懷，戲要磨煉，每個鏡頭都應該有生命，這才可以感動人，能引動觀眾去看。」
馬浚偉是會為一段戲不停提意見的人，有人會怕他煩，有人會嫌他管太多。但是，材叔卻非常欣賞他對工作的態度。
「他有個人的想法和創意。拍這個劇，有天，我和導演、馬仔看着滔滔江水，只是三分鐘時間，我們便構思出一個投奔怒海的畫面，這種拍法，拍和演都好辛苦，但馬仔二話不說就跳落水，我和他已昇華到，大家一講便知要甚麼的境界，我喜歡認真工作的演員，我喜歡馬仔內心有火，這樣才有拚勁，才有創意。」馬仔遇上材叔這伯樂，真有福！
材叔是順德人，拍了數十年電視劇，他的內心仍具一團火。
「我想拍一系列鄉土劇，拍完故鄉順德，還有中山、還有潮汕，都有很多故事值得拍下來，這次拍《守業者》，我看着畫面，原來廣東水鄉之美，不遜於江南美景。《守業者》很好看，我有信心它是一部非常好看，真正有戲味的電影。」
No comments:
Post a Comment