I’m Really a Superstar

On the Web.

Netizens from all over the world were in a heated discussion.

“That Chinese man is going to make a movie?”

“Are you serious?”

“It was reported on an international news outlet.”

“What movie is he going to shoot?”

“I don’t think Hollywood invited him to take part in any productions, right?”

“He’s making a Chinese movie. I heard that it’s also a military movie, hur hur.”

“He’s already an international celebrity. Why is he still doing domestic movies?”

“He failed to step into Hollywood, so of course he could only make a movie himself. This Chinese man really has a backbone. He actually went ahead to direct a movie on his own!”

“But what influence can a Chinese movie possibly have?”

“Yeah, his international popularity score will surely fall sharply.”

“Does he intend to fight against Hollywood with his box office earnings?”

“I can laugh at this joke for an entire year!”

“Instead of playing his part well as an actor, he had to go and become a director?”

“Does he think that just anyone can direct a movie?”

“Foolish! He’s gonna take a tumble this time for sure!”

“Let’s wait and see how the Chinese man makes a fool of himself, hahaha!”

America.

Russia.

Canada.

India.

The Netherlands.

Netizens from all over the world found this to be a laughing matter.

…

On this day.

In the morning.

It was the official lensing ceremony for Wolf Warrior 2.

All of the cast members were present today.

Zhang Ye stood there looking at everyone, then gave a short speech. “There will no incense table, no red cloth, no sacrificial ceremony for the gods today. We won’t be following any of the standard practices of the film industry here, and neither do I believe in them. I’ve always believed that man will conquer fate. A movie is made by people, not given by the Heavens, so I believe only in people; I believe in you all. I know that a lot of people in the outside world are waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves. They’re waiting to step on our faces and spit on us when we fail. Many people around the world do not value us, nor value the Chinese film industry. They never address our Chinese celebrities by their names and always refer to us as ‘that Chinese person.’ They don’t say our movies by their titles either. It always ‘this Chinese movie’ or ‘that Chinese movie.’ This is the arrogance and prejudice that the world has against China. Chinese person? Chinese movie? Never mind! That is what I like too! I am a Chinese person, and I will make a Chinese movie to show them!”

Everyone in the audience was listening to him speak.

Then Zhang Ye said loudly.

“Wilson? Fuck your grandpa!

“Commando? Fuck your grandpa!

“Hollywood? Fuck your grandpa!

“Foreign movies? Fuck your grandpa!

“I hereby declare! We have officially started rolling the cameras for Wolf Warrior 2!”

Suddenly, cheers rang out!

Yao Jiancai clapped!

Jiang Hanwei nodded.

Dong Shanshan smiled.

Jacques gave him a thumbs up.

Quite a few people could feel their blood racing!

In the history of all lensing ceremonies for a movie production, there had never been a person who dared to speak like that. Zhang Ye was indeed quite different from other directors. He was someone who dared to say anything and do whatever was necessary!

The lensing ceremony was over.

The movie started its shoot on the very same day.

The lensing ceremonies of other film crews would just consist of the ceremony itself, and they wouldn’t officially start the shoot on the same day. At most, they would just capture a few scenes for the sake of it since the important and major scenes would require a lot of preparation. But it wasn’t so for Zhang Ye as his lensing ceremony really signaled the rolling of the cameras. He even chose the venue of the ceremony to be near the shooting location. After he finished his speech, Zhang Ye brought all of the cast of the film crew aboard a ship. Everyone was to follow the film crew to carry out the shoot today. Although many of the cast members were not required for the scene today and had free time, Zhang Ye still requested for them to follow the crew. This was because he wanted to quickly get the team to gel and for them to get familiarized with the filming atmosphere and his style of directing. This was so that they could get into the groove of filming as soon as possible.

At sea.

The weather was pretty good.

The ocean breeze was gently blowing.

The cargo ship was moored at a predetermined location in the open ocean. More than 30 African extras were already ready and waiting. The speedboats, rescue rafts, diving equipment, and waterproof cameras were all standing by.

Zhang Ye directed the set.

“I want the speedboats to maintain a distance of 20 meters at all times.”

“The extras will run towards here afterwards.”

“You, take a fall here, but be careful.”

“You, after you’re done filming the underwater scene, come up to the surface.”

“I need the lifeguards to be vigilant here. Please take care of the situation.”

The moment Zhang Ye got down to the scene, he turned serious. It felt as though he were on adrenaline as he started taking care of all small and big matters alike on the set.

The actors were all standing in the distance.

“This set of scenes won’t be easy to shoot.”

“It might take up to two weeks to complete.”

“I don’t think so. Director Zhang is well-known for his speed when it comes to filming. It’s not like you guys don’t know that.”

“That’s true.”

“Is this really the director’s first time making a movie?”

“That’s right.”

“I suppose it is the first time we’re meeting as well? Why don’t we introduce ourselves to each other?”

“Yes, there are a lot of fresh faces here that I’m not really familiar with.”

“Hello, seniors. My name is Sophia. My father is American while my mother is Chinese. I’m still a rookie in the industry, so please be kind to me.”

“My name is Ricky, and I’m a stuntman from Hollywood.”

“My name is Dolby; I’m also a Hollywood stuntman.”

Some introduced themselves in Chinese.

Others introduced themselves in English.

Each of them had been carefully selected for their roles by Zhang Ye. Some of them, like Yao Jiancai, Dong Shanshan, and Jiang Hanwei, had been approached by Zhang Ye over the phone and were friends of his who had worked with him before on previous productions. Meanwhile, others were chosen from a mass audition, like the female lead, Sophia. Then there were some like the American stuntmen who were recommended by Jacques. He knew a lot of people from the years that he worked in Hollywood, so when he heard from Zhang Ye the special requirements that he had for the American action stars, Jacques took the initiative to contact them. He even personally helped Zhang Ye negotiate their pay. Through this, Zhang Ye felt that Jacques was quite a good person.

…

An hour.

Two hours.

The preparatory work took the entire morning to complete.

But when the actual filming was just about to begin, an argument broke out.

“No way!”

“That absolutely won’t do!”

“Director Zhang, you’re mad!”

“I don’t agree either!”

Ha Qiqi, Zhang Zuo, and the others were all getting anxious.

But Zhang Ye just looked at them. “Are you guys the director or am I the director? Are we going to follow what I said or what you said?” Then he bluntly said, “Get ready, we’ll try out a shot first! Everyone, to your positions!”

Ha Qiqi called out, “Director Zhang!”

Zhang Ye shouted, “Begin!”

The cameras started rolling!

The extras started moving!

The speedboat also drove to the predetermined location!

Right at this moment, all of the film crew saw the blur of a person sprint across the ship’s deck. He stretched his arms out wide and jumped right into the vast ocean!

Splash!

The person disappeared!

It was Zhang Ye!

Dong Shanshan screamed, “Zhang’er!”

Yao Jiancai was petrified. “Where is he? Where is he?”

Jiang Hanwei rushed over. “What’s the meaning of this?! Where’s the stuntman?”

Jacques and several of the American actors also started to panic. “Where are the stuntmen? Where’s Zhang Ye’s stuntman?”

“Why has the director jumped in!” The female lead, Sophia, also started panicking!

At this very moment, everyone was stunned. There were questions marks all over their heads!

Where was the double?

Where was the double?!

Ha Qiqi said with a sunken expression, “He said he didn’t want to use a stuntman!”

Jacques hurriedly said, “How is that possible! This is such a dangerous scene. Even in Hollywood, we have our stuntmen handle them! No actor would possibly jump into the sea without any protective measures!”

There was no diving suit!

There was no oxygen cylinder!

There weren’t even any diving goggles!

He just jumped in like that?

The people on the ship were going crazy!

“Director Zhang!”

“Come up quickly!”

“Where is he?”

“I can’t see him anymore!”

“Quick, someone, save him! Hurry!”

One minute.

Two minutes.

After a full two minutes and ten seconds, a head suddenly emerged from the surface of the water. That person grabbed onto the side of the speedboat and gasped for air. The expression on his face had already changed. The rescue rafts in the vicinity and the rescue team swarmed. They were also worried out of their minds.

Zhang Ye waved it off and shouted, “Tong Fu!”

Tong Fu, who was in full diving gear, swam over. “You scared me to death!”

Zhang Ye reached out and took the camera. “Let me see the footage.” After scrubbing through it, he said, “No, the angle is not right. You have to move further back.”

Soon after, Zhang Ye reboarded the ship.

As soon as he got on the ship, everyone came over and surrounded him.

Ha Qiqi said, “Are you alright?”

Zhang Ye smiled. “I’m fine.”

Zhang Zuo shouted, “Change into some dry clothes first!”

Zhang Ye scraped the seawater off his face. “Another shot!”

Little Wang was so anxious that she nearly cried. “It’s too dangerous like this! You’re taking such a big risk!”

Ha Qiqi also said, “If anything happens to you, what of the film crew? How are we going to continue shooting the movie? How are we going to answer to Minister Wu!”

But Zhang Ye was not bothered by it. “Nothing will happen.”

Zhang Zuo didn’t know what to say. “Besides, why does it have to be a long take!”

Jacques asked Dong Shanshan, who was beside him, “What are they talking about?”

Dong Shanshan translated for the American actors. “Something about a long take.”

A lot of people did not understand what that meant.

But when the Americans heard it, they were scared out of their wits!

Jacques exclaimed, “Long take?”

Ricky nearly jumped. “No!”

Dolby yelled, “Director, you’re risking your life that way. Even a Hollywood director wouldn’t dare to lightly use a long take! What’s more, this scene is happening in the ocean!”

Yao Jiancai asked, “What does that mean?”

Dong Shanshan said, “I don’t know what a long take is either.”

Jacques and the others explained it to them.

The “long take” is a shot where the camera would continuously roll throughout a scene without any cuts. Using this scene as an example, after Zhang Ye dived into the sea and wrestled with the African actors in the water to when he surfaced, the entire three minutes or so underwater would be shot in one entire take. There would be no time for him to take a breather, no cuts, and no switch in the sequence. So there wasn’t a need to combine the scene in post with the different sequences shot from when he dived into the water and fought with the other characters. This is a commonly used technique in Hollywood, and it helped to create a more realistic scene to the viewer and gave them a better sense of immersion and shock.

There were too many good points!

The advantages were really great!

But the only drawback was that it could be fatal as well!

It wasn’t easy to film!

There were even some scenes that couldn’t be shot this way!

Yao Jiancai was stunned. “So that’s what long take means?”

Sophia gasped. “Holding his breath for three minutes? Who can possibly do that!”

Jacques said, “What’s more, he needs to hold his breath in an intense fight scene. You’re risking your life like this! Zhang, this is not something you should joke about! No one can film a scene like that!”

Zhang Ye had already changed into dry clothes. “Will the nonessential personnel please step back!”

Jacques facepalmed.

Sophia said, “Director!”

Zhang Ye shouted, “One more shot!”

Three!

Two!

One!

Action!

The next moment, amid everyone’s screams, Zhang Ye jumped into the ocean again!

He held his breath!

Dived into the water!

Fought the enemies!

Roped them up!

However, the second take still failed.

This time, the shot went great. It had gone according to Zhang Ye’s intentions. But the problem was with Zhang Ye himself in the end, as he was unable to hold that last bit of breath. He choked on a mouthful of water and quickly surfaced. Shooting a fight scene while holding his breath for two to three minutes was even difficult for a martial arts master like Zhang Ye.

Back on the ship.

A change of clothes.

Zhang Ye said, “Again!”

One take!

Five takes!

Ten takes!

Everyone aboard the ship fell silent. On the very first day of the movie’s filming, they were already jittery from watching. Perhaps it was only at this moment that they fully realized what Zhang Ye’s earlier words really meant. It was absolutely not spoken just for the sake of it!

He was really serious!

He was prepared to risk his life!

Jacques suddenly sighed and said, “If this is how the Chinese film their movies, it wouldn’t take ten years before Hollywood gets surpassed.”