Chapter 144 The real big scene
Cao Yang ignored the disturbances outside and concentrated on filming the war scenes in Zhenbei Fort.
Today is the twelfth day of filming. It took eight days. We just finished shooting the battle to annihilate the bandits yesterday.
However, this does not mean that the filming of this plot has been completed, because it was not filmed according to the script order.
Melee in large scenes is the most difficult place to shoot, and it is also the most likely to cause casualties. Everything must be done with caution.
Not to mention, they must be soldiers in the army. They advance and retreat in an orderly manner and obey orders. They lead the group performances and have a good adjustment effect. There is no confusion or injury, which makes the entire crew heave a sigh of relief.
The main reason is that these 800 cavalry troops, together with 2,000 troupes, are almost the best at leading troupes. They can make the troupes follow the command very well, without causing chaos.
If there is no cavalry unit and only the two thousand group performers are found, it will be difficult to command. If there is chaos, some people will be injured.
This is the only good thing about great directors in this era. As long as they shoot big scenes, many of them can second their troops to help. This saves ten thousand worries compared to extras.
What we were going to shoot today was relatively simple. We were going to shoot the scene where Wang Sheng’s cavalry charges against the bandits’ lair.
Only two battalions of cavalry are sufficient for the charge.
But before they could charge, in order to build momentum for the big scene, the crew rented another 600 horses and asked the extras to join in. At first glance, they were all cavalry.
For these 600 horses, dozens of related people were hired.
These group performances on horseback are just for show, to fill up the numbers, to make it appear that Wang Sheng has many cavalry and a large formation, and there is no need to follow the charge.
How else would it be called a big scene?
When the press release is sent out and the dark pictures are added, it can be said that the crew used 3,000 horses and 5,000 extras to achieve the effect!
In other words, you just blow twice as much. This is a conventional method, but there are many blows much harder than this.
The purpose is to let the audience know how much we paid and how much energy we expended for these ten minutes of scenes. It is worth the ticket price just to see these big scenes.
There were almost 1,400 people riding on the horses, and the crew spent a lot of money to customize the armor of the Tang army.
"Book of Tang·Ma Sui Zhuan" records that the cavalry armor of the Tang army was divided into three sizes: large, medium and small, which were worn by soldiers of high, medium and short.
"Taibai Yin Jing Ordnance Chapter" records that the Tang Army's cavalry army had 12,500 people, equipped with 7,500 collars, and the armor coverage rate reached 60%.
But Cao Yang had all these people wear armor. Otherwise, when the audience found out that there were people in there without armor, they would think that the crew was fooling them.
"Liu Dian of the Tang Dynasty" says that there are thirteen types of armor for the Tang army, namely: Mingguang armor, Guangyao armor, fine scale armor, Shanwen armor, black hammer armor, white cloth armor, Fu silk armor, cloth back armor, and infantry armor. Leather armor, wooden armor, chain armor, vest.
In fact, very few Tang Dynasty armors have been unearthed in China, only a few pieces of armor and a helmet.
The crew combined the opinions of consultants and customized the Mingguang Armor based on the pictures recorded in the book.
Wangsheng wears silver Mingguang armor, important generals wear black black hammer armor, and soldiers wear simplified versions of unified Mingguang armor.
"Book of Sui·Li Zhi" records that in the seventh year of the Great Cause, when the Sui army conquered Liaodong, among the four legions, two legions wore Mingguang armor and the other two wore rhinoceros armor.
This is all recorded in history. Cao Yang should try his best to restore Fuhua Dao and set an example for other crews in the future.
With the help of his assistant and makeup artist, Chen Kun once again put on specially customized silver nail polish - always to highlight the protagonist.
According to the plan, the entire 1,400 people had already formed a larger formation. Chen Kun walked to a position slightly closer to the center and mounted his horse with the help of his assistant.
A large panorama will be used here to capture the entire formation.
"Teacher Gu, you are getting older. If you have high blood pressure or something, why don't you wait for me to get in?" Ning Hao came to Gu Changwei with a playful smile and joked.
"Get out of here, kid. I already took a trip up there yesterday and am very used to aerial photography. Stop playing tricks."
Gu Changwei smiled and cursed, he knew Ning Hao was joking, but who doesn't want to try aerial photography? This is a rare and grand scene.
Ning Hao is really envious, he also wants to go for a ride... No, it's the camera.
After repeatedly confirming that everything was ready, Cao Yang shouted, "Start", and the shooting of the real big scene began. Field recorder.
Gu Changwei took one set of cameras in the sky and another two sets of cameras on the ground, shooting from different angles at the same time.
For this scene, Cao Yang used a helicopter to assist in the shooting. This was also the support that came from the nearest base.
There is no way. It is not as convenient as in later generations. There are no drones for shooting. If you want to shoot big scenes from above, you can only use helicopters.
After this scene was shot, the 600 rented horses had completed their mission.
Big events bring big expenses, money is spent like water, and funds are burning.
Next is the charge.
The group and 600 horses went down, leaving only two cavalry battalions. It took an hour to get ready.
Chen Kun took out the Tang sword, said nothing, looked ahead, and pointed the sword forward.
After receiving the order, the cavalry unit of 800 people took out their horse crossbows and rode their horses to attack across the board.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
Under the sun, the horse's hooves are blown by the wind, and their manes are flying. The rider's killing cry and the sound of galloping horse hooves resound across the earth, making people's blood rush.
This time, three groups of cameras were shot together, one from the helicopter in the sky, and two on the ground from different angles.
In the end, Ning Hao did not realize his wish from heaven, which made him sigh. If he had known that he would go to the camera crew, he might be able to take a helicopter ride with Gu Changwei.
The great director is awesome. He is also a cavalry trooper and a helicopter pilot. The filming of this movie was so enjoyable. If I could be as capable as Director Cao, I would wake up laughing even in my sleep.
After shooting this set of shots, another set of charging shots will be shot. At that time, the props will be replaced with Tang knives to illustrate that the arrows have been shot and a close combat will soon begin.
The biggest test of the shooting of this kind of big scene is the director's scheduling and coordination ability. Only when various departments of the crew cooperate with each other can the scene be stable and not chaotic.
In the beginning, even though he had rehearsed it many times in his mind, Cao Yang was still a little confused when he actually got started. There were too many things to consider in such a big scene. If you were a little careless, you might make a major mistake.
Fortunately, this was the first time the officers and soldiers were commanding the troops. Even if some things were not considered in place, the army instructors could respond in time and the soldiers would not panic.
Big scenes are still very challenging. Cao Yang feels that if he shoots big-scene movies in the future, he should be able to handle them more calmly.
It took a total of about twenty days before this grand scene of encircling and suppressing the bandits came to an end.
For a total of about ten minutes of plot, the crew spent nearly one-fifth of the filming budget. This was with the help of the army, otherwise the cost would be even higher.
Money is secondary, but the main reason is that there are too many potential dangers in shooting big scenes. If you are not careful, people may be injured and there will be a lot of trouble.
The cost-effectiveness of shooting such large scenes is too low, and it can only be achieved so easily in the past few years.
After finishing filming the plot here, we will go to Hengdian for filming.
The interior scenes have been set up there and most of the next plot will be filmed.
There is also a small plot at the beginning of the movie where Xiao Wei does not go down the mountain, which is mainly about the interaction between her and her grandmother. These were shot in interiors, so the actors did not need to go to the mountain themselves.
However, Cao Yang arranged for Ning Hao to go to Hunan Province in order to shoot the beautiful scenery in the Zhangjiajie and Yuanjiajie scenic spots, which will be placed at the beginning of the movie.
This guy originally studied photography, and now he is an assistant director. Cao Yang told him that he must capture the artistic conception and capture the otherworldly fairyland surrounded by clouds and mist.
Cao Yang sent a message to Ning Hao, "The clouds are so close to the sky on the stairs to heaven, and you can meet immortals when traveling in beautiful places. If you can't capture this feeling, don't come back."
Ning Hao suddenly felt a lot of pressure.
(End of chapter)