The biggest gain from this collaboration is Johnnie To. Although he is not a director, he also made Su Ze feel the strength of a man who stands at the top of his game.
Chatting and knowing that there is a so-called Galaxy Creative Group, yes, unlike ordinary movies, Galaxy's works do not have complete scripts before and during the filming process.
Start shooting as soon as you have an outline, and write while filming and get it straight away!
Films like "PTU" and "Bunque" took several years to be made, and I filmed them wherever I wanted, so capricious.
As a fan of Galaxy Image, Su Ze feels that screenwriters can basically be divided into two types. The first one is fate, Buddhism, human evil and all kinds of them.
In the movies "Big Brother" and "The Detective" with Wei Jiahui as the main screenwriter, they usually like to discuss the above content, and they sing in the song, "I also like to spend the whole night talking about Johnnie To's expertise in revealing the impermanence of fate."
So in fact, movies like "Gunfire" and "Exile" are not about brotherhood, but about exploring the philosophy of what hatred means to a person who has lost his memory.
Movies such as "Gunfire" and "Underworld" with You Naihai as the main screenwriter usually like to show brotherhood and the crisis of brotherhood. This is a relatively classic Hong Kong-style police film proposition.
Wu Yu, Lin Lin, Lingdong and others have all expressed this in their works. In fact, what they express is the fear of the collapse of the old order.
Su Ze prefers Johnnie To's thoughts on the characters than the plot. Repetition is his favorite technique when designing characters and plots.
It has two levels of meaning: one is that the same character repeatedly performs a certain behavior or repeats a certain line to portray the character's image.
For example, the character played by Zheng Haonan in "Peace Is Precious" deepens the audience's impression of his greed by repeatedly repeating the line "More Money". In the end, he fights with people in the back of a truck, and still shouts "More Money" before dying.
Secret War: The robber played by Zheng Yinjian repeatedly encounters the gambling policeman played by Lin Xue. Every time he meets, he has to perform a ritual guessing of coins, and Lin Xue will guess wrong, unwilling to give up, guess again, guess wrong, and the cycle continues.
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The second level is that the same scene appears repeatedly, thereby creating a certain dramatic effect.
In "Real Heroes", the gangsters played by Lau Ching Wan and Lai Lai went to the same place in Southeast Asia to meet the same person, and then urinated with their men under the same coconut tree.
In "Exile", Huang Qiusheng and his party entered the same black market clinic as Simon Yam and his party, and the two groups met again after a shopping spree.
The pull of fate is everywhere.
Because of this collaboration, Su Ze observed and learned on the set every day. Du likes to use wide angles, especially when shooting people.
Ever asked why?
His answer is simple: because one scene requires multiple actors to be in the frame at the same time, the angle of view of a wide-angle lens is larger than that of a standard lens, and that’s it.
Moreover, the wide-angle has a long depth of field, and the distance between the front and rear backgrounds will be exaggerated. In this way, the positional layering of multiple characters in the same picture will be enhanced, emphasizing the overall perspective effect.
Of course, the most classic thing is the long shot. This accident also has a scene that lasts for more than five minutes, which is not much different from the eight-minute difficulty of the big event back then.
The possibility of camera movement, the dialogue actions of the characters, the relationship between the camera and the subject, changes in the environment...
Being immersed in the scene, Su Ze also discovered more details, such as lighting. The Galaxy Imaging team likes to use stage-like top lights, the kind that are hung high by a crane.
It is directly 90 degrees to the camera and shot vertically from above the character. Under this kind of lighting, the person's face and the picture will be divided due to the difference in illumination. It can be classified as a unique modeling light, with a strong sense of stage.
There is also positioning, even the simplest shots, using the positions of different characters in the same picture to create an atmosphere and enhance the tension of the picture.
The most regrettable thing is that this collaboration did not try a gunfight scene. Johnnie To's gunfight is unique. After the gun is fired, a large amount of smoke comes out of the gun tip, and the body spurts out like a stream of blood mist the moment the person is shot. It is a complete first for Du style.
Another master of shooting gunfights is John Woo. In his own words, he shoots gunfights in the style of musicals. The characters are always in a state of large-scale motion, rolling, jumping, falling to the ground, and spinning.
But you can't see this in Johnnie To's films. There must be some atmosphere before the gunfight, and this atmosphere is created through the relative stillness of the characters. Then as soon as the gun is drawn and fired, there will definitely be a bloody storm.
Su Ze has filmed gun battles, both in Changjin Lake and Wushuang. The difficulty is the so-called point of view conversion, that is, if there are many people participating in a gun battle, it is necessary to use a more scientific method to clearly show everyone's participation in the gun battle.
come out.
For example, if A fired a shot, how did he fire it, and hit B, how did he react after being shot? Did he die immediately or fight back?
And there was cdefg in the gun battle. How were they? How many shots were fired? How many people were killed? Where were the injuries of those who were not killed?
In addition to firefights, there are other situations that may change the situation of the war. How to use them? How to organize them?
If the viewpoint problem is not handled well, it is easy to make the shootout look messy.
It all depends on the skill of the director.
I have to say that Johnnie To is very powerful. He is the most personal director he has ever worked with since his debut, bar none.
Every time a work is released, there is always something new worth exploring. This is like a martial arts master who uses the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms to knock you down in the first year.
Use the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and Nine Yin White Bone Claws to knock you down again.
Do you think this person is a dick?
"Ptu" marks the establishment of his personal style, "Underworld" represents the ultimate allegory of human nature and politics, and "Detective" adds the overlap of illusion and reality, breaking through the limits of previous narrative levels.
Generally speaking, all of his films during that period were not inferior, and many of them had the style of a master. Some of the outstanding films reached the standard of masterpieces in the eyes of ordinary movie fans.
Especially in the past ten years, To survive the Great Depression, when film companies closed down every day, Johnnie To relied on making movies to support them.
On the one hand, it is the bloody drama of gangsters and cops, showing off their individuality and winning praise. On the other hand, it is the flirtation between urban men and women, catering to the market and making a lot of money at the box office.
Interspersed with private movies expressing personal feelings, this boss is more multifaceted and passionate than you think.
heroism?
ruthlessly tearing off the aura of their protagonists, who are just like ordinary people, vicious but naive, cunning but stupid, utilitarian and loyal.
Then throw them into the film arena, throw in some bad luck or bad luck at will, and be dominated by a cold sense of fate. In the concise lines and sharp storyboards, the gloomy legend of the Du family is woven.
However, Su Ze captured the occasional flash of bright heroism, that is, the courage and courage to do something even though you know it is impossible, which is particularly touching.
Two people want to kill one person, and the other two want to protect this person. Brothers who fought side by side in the past, even if they turn against each other, they still have to drink soup and eat together as a group.
If you're lucky, the co-stars will act in a tense manner to cover up others' information and then let him run away with peace of mind. If you're not lucky, you won't be able to save him, but you'll have to grab a sum of money to make him an orphan and widower live a better life.
No matter how bad the luck is, if the orphans and widows are caught, the group will give up their gold to save others and die calmly.