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The One Feature Article - Part 1 |
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Jet, the Great Soothsayer
i-weekly, Nov 2001 by Yeo Lay Leng
Los Angeles, USA
Following the signboards, and passing through many big buildings, stepping into a warehouse like building, an air of freshness permeated the entire room. The filming base was built last year, and was used only once by another team. The working team was bustling about, making preparation works. Some were moving the props while others were patiently painting the tables.
Jet had yet to show himself, seemingly to be changing his costumes in the coach. The producers-cum-directors-cum-writers, James Wong and Glen Morgan, appeared, and shook hands affably with us.
"The original script was written for The Rock, a famous wrestler. But later he turned down the offer. We approached Jet Li and when he agreed to act in the movie, we amended the script, reduced some of the lines, accepted his suggestions and added some Eastern philosophies.
"The most difficult part was to make Jet appear much faster than ordinary people. Eventually, we decided to film him in 24 frames per second while others in 96 frames per second, so that they appear to be much slower. To enable people of different speeds appear in the same scene and come into contacts with one another requires complex mathematical calculations and it has not been done before."
On seeing them, one would inevitably think of The X-Files series.
“When we made our first foray into The X-Files, everyone was saying that we have never written something like that before, and were skeptical about our venture. But after that, everyone wants us to write science-fiction. In this line, when you are more successful in certain field, you may be confined solely to that field and find it difficult to switch to another area. Anyway, since we are enjoying it, and this show allows us to incorporate all the dramas, to arrange for one to fight against oneself, it is actually quite fun."
What type of films do you wish to try out?
"Perhaps pure action or comedy movies."
Camera! Action!
The working team had finished their preparation work. We followed the director to the set. Near a wall was a whiteboard which was filled with comic strips. The monitor, which was connected to a few computers, was turned on. The working team got into their positions and started the day's busy work. In front of a grey background, filled with high-tech feeling, Jet was seen wearing a black costume.
He seemed to have become thinner.
"He has to do filming and learn English," explained Corey Yuen, the action director.
How's his English?
"My English is not so good. I don't know how proficient his command of English is, but he's better than me, which is not bad."
In this scene, Jet traversed from one universe to another, and was exhausted. He was dragged away by a Multi-Verse Agent. A 180-degree sweep of the camera, and Jet was sprawling on the floor, moaning.
"Jason! Your legs should not be placed that way!" cried the director.
This looks like a simple scene, yet it was shot again and again for many times.
The Glory of a Martial Artist
It's a pity this writer did not get to see what the director said to be a very demanding action scene. It was said that the scene where Jet fought against Jet took a month to shoot.
So, pulling Corey Yuen to one side, to hear him explain, "To put in an unpleasant way, no matter how many permutations there are, kungfu films are never a departure from the origin. The emphasis in this movie is the fight between the two Jets. But how do we enable the audience to distinguish between the two Jets? We thought of basing the martial arts on the personalities of the characters. Bad Jet uses Xing-Yi Quan (Form-Meaning Fist). Xing-Yi Quan is a straight-forward, aggressive style that always tends to rush forward and is driven by the impetus to knock down the opponent, no matter what happens. Good Jet uses Ba-Gua Zhang (Eight Trigram Palm). The Good Jet is more rounded, avoids what can be avoided and only takes up the cudgel when he has no choice.
"Jet explains all these very lucidly. He speaks a lot and you may ask him later."
However, the Americans don't have much idea about wushu; So, how to ensure that they would understand?
"So long as they aren't resistant, they'll gradually accept it. Nowadays, even actresses have to do martial arts. When the actors and actresses show interests, it means that the audience is interested too. Otherwise, they wouldn't do it. They also wish to see whether they can fight well."
After a lapse of silence, Corey Yuen pointed to a guy with a cap who was next to him, "Do you recognise him?"
On closer examination, we realised he was the child star of The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
"I've completed the directing course in the university. As I like Hong Kong action films, I am learning from Director Corey Yuen how to shoot them. I want to be a director, to be as great as Director Corey Yuen."
"You've flattered me." Though Corey Yuen spoke matter-of-factly, he couldn't hide a sense of pride on his face. He feels it is an honour that Chinese wushu has spread its influence to the West. Words abounded that he a film studio was in talks with him about shooting an American version of My Father is a Hero.
"I have grown up and spent so many years in Hong Kong. Now that I am leading a comfortable life, I still wish for Hong Kong to be a better place. I have the same wish as Jackie Chan - to enable the funds to be channelled back to Hong Kong."
Returning to Hong Kong to direct Virtual Twilight was the first step to fulfulling his wish. |
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