Chapter 7

"Quickly, there's no time to waste!" Uncle Wu Chenggang, carrying a briefcase, hurriedly walked out.

Kang Jianhua slowly finished the half bowl of porridge before following. His cousin Wu Ruiqing shouted from behind, "Brother, what about the 'Search for Qin' you wrote last night?"

"It's on the cabinet next to the sofa," Kang Jianfei's voice came from the hallway.

Shi Jiatail is not far from Broadcast Road, only about two kilometers away.

What left Kang Jianfei speechless was that after Uncle Wu went downstairs, he actually brought out a bicycle, patted the back of the bike, and said proudly, "Get on!"

Kang Jianfei reluctantly got on the bicycle. Soon they arrived at the TVB building on Broadcast Road. After Uncle Wu Chenggang parked his bicycle, he took Kang Jianfei to board the TVB bus heading to the Clear Water Bay studio.

Kang Jianfei and Uncle Wu arrived early and found a good seat by the window. More people gradually boarded the bus, and it was soon full.

"Excuse me, excuse me..." A young man rushed in, pushing through the crowd. Seeing no seats left, he stood next to Kang Jianfei.

Kang Jianfei looked up and recognized him. "Hey, isn't this Tang Zhenye?"

"Hello, I'm Kang Jianfei," Kang Jianfei extended his hand warmly. Having climbed from the bottom, he wouldn't miss any opportunity to build connections. In his eyes, whether high officials or beggars, everyone had their own value, and it was just a matter of whether they could be useful to him.

Tang Zhenye, just standing steady, saw Kang Jianfei greeting him. Not quite understanding the situation, he subconsciously shook hands and said, "Hello, I'm Tang Zhenye, just graduated from the TVB training program. Are you also an actor at TVB? I think we've met before."

If we had met before, that would be a ghost story!

Kang Jianfei ignored his pleasantries and smiled, "To get into the training program, you must be very talented. Graduates from the program are much better actors than ordinary people."

Tang Zhenye, at 20, was still quite inexperienced. He had dropped out of school due to poverty and worked, finally managing to get into the TVB training program last year and just graduated. He had only played a few minor roles. Kang Jianfei's flattery made Tang Zhenye feel good, but he humbly replied, "Not really, I haven't played any significant roles."

Kang Jianfei, with an air of authority, said, "I think you have a good appearance. As long as you seize the opportunity, you will definitely become famous."

Tang Zhenye, a naive young man, was delighted and formed a good impression of Kang Jianfei. Kang Jianfei's experienced tone made him think Kang Jianfei was very capable.

They quickly chatted, and the direction of the conversation was controlled by Kang Jianfei. Before the bus reached Clear Water Bay, Tang Zhenye had already shared his family history and told Kang Jianfei a lot about TVB. Apart from his name, Tang Zhenye knew nothing about Kang Jianfei.

Finally, they arrived at the Clear Water Bay studio. Everyone rushed off the bus, and Tang Zhenye waved goodbye to Kang Jianfei with a smile, "Afei, let's have tea another day!"

"Aye will treat, I'll definitely come," Kang Jianfei waved back.

At this time, the Clear Water Bay studio was not yet the TV City. It was mainly used for filming movies by Shaw Brothers, consisting of an administrative building, a cinema, a post-production center, an exhibition hall, and five studios, without any employee dormitories.

Wu Chenggang took Kang Jianfei to Studio 2, where the bald Mr. Li Jiading was handling two horses.

Seeing them come, Li Jiading said to Wu Chenggang, "Acheng, you go do your work. I'll take care of this kid."

Wu Chenggang patted Kang Jianfei's back and smiled at Li Jiading, "Thanks, Aiding."

Wu Chenggang then went to adjust the lighting equipment, and Li Jiading gestured to Kang Jianfei, "Go get the action props and place them behind the set."

"Sure, Mr. Li," Kang Jianfei obediently went to get the props.

Kang Jianfei knew this was Li Jiading testing him. If he slacked off, he wouldn't have a chance to learn from Li Jiading. However, Kang Jianfei didn't really want to be a disciple. He neither slacked off nor worked hard, just did the job in a perfunctory manner, which made Li Jiading, who was secretly observing him, quite dissatisfied.

Kang Jianfei didn't care about Li Jiading's thoughts. He came to the Clear Water Bay studio to see if he could meet some people in the industry. After all, if he wanted to make a movie, he would need to form a production team, and he couldn't do it alone.

Before that, he could only write novels diligently and wait to become famous before doing anything else.

Some might say, why not write a good script and sell it to a movie company or TV station? It could make money and bring fame.

But it's not that simple. In the future, a music company receives countless song samples every day, most of which are thrown into the trash without even a glance. The same goes for scripts. Film and television companies discard a large number of scripts each year, many of which are of high quality.

Deciding to produce a movie involves multiple factors, and a good script is only a small part of it.

Even if you sent the script of "Titanic" to a Hollywood movie company now, it would most likely end up in the trash.

Especially in Hong Kong at the time, the goal of making movies and TV series was to maximize box office and ratings. Before the work was produced, no one could say for sure whether a script would make money just by looking at it.

To ensure box office success, Hong Kong film and television workers had three main choices:

First, adapt works by famous novelists like Jin Yong and Gu Long.

Second, provide concepts and frameworks by directors and producers, then find screenwriters to write custom scripts.

Third, pay famous screenwriters to write scripts.

For ordinary people to make money directly by selling scripts was almost impossible. They had to become famous first. Or be recognized by a producer or director and then submit their scripts for review.

Even if Kang Jianfei's script was accepted now, given his lack of fame, it would be bought at a ridiculously low price, and writing scripts wouldn't earn as much as writing novels.

Another point is that at the time, many Hong Kong films, especially kung fu movies, didn't even have a script. Directors often had some ideas in their heads, got funding through connections, and then discussed with assistant directors, martial arts coordinators, cinematographers, and art directors to decide on the production.

Like the "Huang Fei Hong" series a decade later, many classic fight scenes were created this way. There were no detailed storyboards for these action scenes. The martial arts coordinators and actors designed the actions and dialogues based on the environment and experience once they arrived at the shooting location.

...

...

Kang Jianfei had just finished moving a pile of swords when Tang Zhenye, dressed in ancient costume, came over, surprised, "Hey, Afei, you're here too!"

"Yep," Kang Jianfei patted the dust off his hands and smiled, "Not bad, got a role early in the morning."

Tang Zhenye picked up a sword from the props and said with a forced smile, "I'm just a nameless disciple of Emei with no lines."

As they were talking, a few more people came over, dressed in ancient costumes: Zheng Shaqiu, Zhao Yazhi, and Wang Mingjuan.

Zheng Shaqiu, the handsome actor, didn't need to be mentioned. Zhao Yazhi and Wang Mingjuan were dressed as female warriors, exuding a unique charm different from modern beauties, with every gesture and smile full of grace. Especially Wang Mingjuan, Kang Jianfei didn't expect her to be so beautiful in her youth, with a beauty and charm on par with Zhao Yazhi.

Tang Zhenye, who had just joined the production, was stunned by the sight of Zhao Yazhi and Wang Mingjuan, standing there in a daze.

Kang Jianfei asked with a smile, "What props do you need?"

Zheng Shaqiu, yawning, said, "A sword."

Zhao Yazhi held up three fingers, "Three swords."

Kang Jianfei found three good-quality prop swords and said to Zheng Shaqiu, "Great侠, catch the sword!"

The production they were filming was the TVB version of "Chu Liuxiang," which had been airing for half a month and had already caused a sensation, with the ratings so high that the station was planning to rewrite the script to add more episodes.

At the time, most TVB dramas were produced and aired simultaneously. Due to the decision to add episodes, Zheng Shaqiu, as the lead actor, was under immense pressure, having been shooting intensively for nearly a month, averaging only 4 hours of sleep per day.

Zheng Shaqiu, sleep-deprived, was drowsy. Hearing Kang Jianfei call him "Great侠," he reflexively woke up and instinctively caught the sword.

Kang Jianfei's playful gesture left an impression on Zheng Shaqiu, Zhao Yazhi, and Wang Mingjuan. The two beauties even smiled at Kang Jianfei, but it was just a shallow impression, and they might forget it soon. After all, they were famous stars, while Kang Jianfei was just a low-level newcomer who had sneaked into Hong Kong from the mainland.

After the three left, Tang Zhenye excitedly patted Kang Jianfei's arm, "Afei, just now, Sister Zhi and Sister Juan seemed to notice me and even smiled at me when they left!"

Kang Jianfei half-jokingly said, "Do you like them? If you do, go after them, I support you."

"They are big stars, how could they look at me?" Tang Zhenye, looking at the two beauties' backs, said dejectedly, "I bet countless men in Hong Kong want to pursue them, and it's not our turn, especially since Sister Zhi is already married."

As the two men were chatting about the goddesses, Li Jiading threw a set of ancient costumes at them and shouted, "Afei, are you here to chat? You let the others come get the props themselves? Why don't you bring them over? Go get your makeup and costume on!"

Kang Jianfei quickly ran to put on the costume and let the makeup artist put on a wig, which almost tore his skin with the glue.

By the time Kang Jianfei was dressed, the set was ready. A fat man, sitting in a rattan chair, moved his buttocks with effort, holding a megaphone and shouted, "Everyone to your positions, ready to roll!"

Kang Jianfei, who had a scene later, stood aside and watched Wang Tianlin direct, making various evaluations in his mind:

The action scenes were terrible, typical of 1960s martial arts movies, and would be completely outdated in ten years.

The lighting was poor. In the future, a medium-budget TV drama in mainland China would have two truckloads of lighting equipment, while the four lights here were quite pitiful.

And the cameraman, how did he place the camera? A low-angle shot would have been better for this scene. What was he doing standing there like an idiot...

Well, these were Kang Jianfei's inner thoughts, and he wouldn't be foolish enough to say them out loud.

Even if he did, the fat director and producer Wang Tianlin wouldn't change anything. This was a drama being produced and aired simultaneously, with no time to carefully consider the composition and lighting. From a financial perspective, such production would significantly increase the budget.

Both Shaw Brothers and TVB, whether making movies or TV dramas, followed the same principle: more, faster, better, and cheaper!

After a scene was shot, Li Jiading called out to Kang Jianfei, "Afei, come here!"

When Kang Jianfei ran over, Li Jiading instructed, "Take a knife and charge at Chu Liuxiang, looking very fierce. When he stabs you, fall to the ground and die. Stay there until the director says 'cut.' Got it?"

"Got it," Kang Jianfei didn't expect his acting career to start with playing a corpse.

---

The text is too immature, with too few weekly highlights. The students are too enthusiastic, and the comments are too many. Setting highlights once is enough. All comments are selected by old Wang, and the highlights are set randomly. Whoever gets it, it's their luck.

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