Chapter 37 Dali Trip

There are three filming locations for "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", namely Dali in Yunnan Province, Taohua Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, and Suzhou. The place Gu Wei and his team visited this time was Dali in Yunnan Province.

Among Jin Yong's martial arts dramas, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" is recognized as the most difficult work to shoot. In the original novel, the three main lines of investigation, Xiao Feng, Duan Yu, and Xu Zhu, are advancing simultaneously, making it difficult to choose.

This time, Gu Wei came to visit the set because the scene in which Xu Zhu, the character played by Qin Hao, meets Meng Gu in the Western Xia Palace was mainly filmed here.

Dali Tianlongbabu Film and Television City, located in DL City, DLBZ Zhizhou, YN Province, was built in 02. It is a comprehensive tourist area that mainly provides film and television shooting services, and also has sightseeing, cultural entertainment, leisure and vacation functions.

The main attractions of the film and television city are composed of many film and television shooting landscapes such as the Western Xia Palace, the Zhenlong Chess Game, and the Zhennan Palace.

It covers an area of ​​770 acres and has a total construction area of ​​2.5 square meters. It consists of 146 individual buildings. It is an ancient architectural complex based on Jin Yong's novel "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and a combination of Song Dynasty and Dali culture.

In addition to "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", other TV series such as "Journey to the West" were filmed in Dali Tianlongbabu Film and Television City.

October 10nd morning, Capital Airport.

Gu Wei took his assistant, boarded the capital plane and rushed to Dali, Yunnan.

The National Day holiday is the peak tourist season in China. As the domestic economy gets better and better, holiday travel has become the first choice for Chinese people.

Looking at the crowd in the airport, Gu Wei boarded the plane with a backpack and a mask on.

The journey from the capital to Dali took nearly four hours. After boarding the plane, Gu Wei closed his eyes and took a rest.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the plane arrived at Dali Airport on time.

Starting from July 1993, 7, the construction of Dali Huangcaoba Airport officially started; on November 1, 1995, Dali Huangcaoba Airport was officially opened to flights. Later in 11, Dali Huangcaoba Airport was officially renamed Dali Fengyi Airport.

The temperature in Dali in early October is over 20 degrees, which is not too hot.

After getting off the plane, Gu Wei had a meal directly in the airport service area. The food was really not very tasty and the price was quite expensive.

After dinner, I left the airport with my assistant, called a car, and headed straight to the Tianlong Babu Film and Television Studio. The distance from the airport to Tianlong City is not too far.

I have to say that taxi drivers in every city are quite talkative, and the same was true for the car that Gu Wei was riding in.

The driver never stopped after we got in the car. He knew all the fun places and delicious food.

Gu Wei and his assistant sat in the car, listening to the driver's introduction, feeling the breeze, and looking at the scenery on both sides of the way. Before they knew it, they arrived at Tianlongbabu City.

The filming scene of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

Gu Wei stood at the door of the crew, took out his cell phone and called Qin Hao. There was a staff member at the door and he needed a pass or a crew member to pick him up before he could enter.

Gu Wei and his assistant were wearing masks, so the staff didn't recognize them.

About ten minutes later, a man with a shaved head and wearing ancient costume walked towards Gu Wei. When the man got closer, Gu Wei recognized him as Qin Hao.

"Haha, your hairstyle is very shiny."

Gu Wei took off his mask, looked at the shiny bald head in front of him and said with a smile.

"Director, the role requires it."

Qin Hao touched his head and said a little embarrassedly.

"Yes, this is also a sacrifice for art."

The two chatted and laughed for a while.

Then he followed Qin Hao to the hotel where the crew was staying. Gu Wei refused Qin Hao's plan to help him get two rooms. He asked his assistant to get two rooms, put down his luggage, and asked Qin Hao to take him to visit the Tianlong crew.

When he arrived at the place, Gu Wei looked at the inscription on the door, "Flying snow all over the sky, shooting white deer, laughing at the book of the hero leaning on the green mandarin duck", and heard that it was written by Mr. Jin Yong himself.

Gu Wei looked at the city in front of him and sighed that Big Beard really knew how to choose a place. In order to film Tianlong, he built this city. The cost was indeed not small, but it was also a contribution to the tourism industry here.

After entering the entrance, Gu Wei found that there were various shops on both sides, as well as free singing and dancing performances. Many tourists could also rent clothes and put on ancient costumes to take photos, which looked pretty good.

Looking all the way, the entire film and television city follows the ancient style. From the large buildings to the small trash cans, it is a fusion of martial arts film and television dramas and Song Dynasty Dali culture.

After a walk, Gu Wei also relived the customs of the ethnic minority areas. This place is indeed full of real life and sense of history.

Following Qin Hao, we came to the crew of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", where filming was in progress.

When the crew members saw Qin Hao, they all greeted him, but not many people recognized Gu Wei.

"Sister Li, where is the director?"

Qin Hao asked a middle-aged lady.

"Over there, what can I do for the director?"

The middle-aged lady was a little confused.

"Please tell the director that Director Gu is here to visit the set."

Faced with the question, Qin Hao answered honestly.

"That Director Gu?"

"Director Gu Wei, you don't know?"

After Qin Hao's reminder, the middle-aged lady also reacted, said hello to Gu Wei, and went to the director.

There were several directors for the 03 version of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, including Ju Jueliang, Zhou Xiaowen, Yu Min, Zhao Jian and Zhang Jizhong, with Zhang Jizhong serving as the chief producer.

After a while, a lady came towards us. She was of medium height, with good temperament and a smile on her face.

The lady came up and said, "Hello, Director Gu, I am the assistant of Director Zhang Jizhong, and welcome to visit the crew."

The lady was very polite and had a good sense of propriety in dealing with people. She was indeed Zhang Jizhong's personal assistant.

After the two greeted each other, Gu Wei followed her, and the group walked towards the filming location of the crew.

Along the way, Director Zhang's assistant kept introducing things to Gu Wei, including the crew's filming progress, filming roles, etc.

The crew set up many tents near the various buildings. Gu Wei saw actors and staff resting in the tents along the way.

There were many actors and staff along the way. When they saw Gu Wei and others coming over, they looked curious, but no one came up to say hello.

Gu Wei walked near a tent and saw many staff members coming in and out. A man who looked like a director was communicating with the staff. When he got closer, Gu Wei recognized him as director Zhang Jizhong, with his signature big beard.

"Director Gu, everyone must be very happy that you can come to visit the set," the assistant said.

"'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' is a big crew, and Director Zhang is also a senior. I came here just to learn, haha."

Gu Wei said with a smile, adding a compliment.

"Director Gu is too modest. He has achieved such great success at such a young age, which shows that he is extremely talented."

When Gu Wei heard this, he smiled and said nothing. This assistant always found a way out for others without realizing it. Compared with her, the assistant beside Gu Wei seemed a little immature.

"Director Zhang, Director Yu, this is Director Gu Wei, he came here specially to visit the set."

When they arrived at the door of the tent, the assistant started introducing them first.

"Hello, Director Gu."

"Hello, Director Zhang, Director Yu."

"I hope I didn't disturb your filming," Gu Wei asked.

"Haha, our crew is very welcome that Director Gu can come to visit the set," the bearded man said in a generous tone.

"Director Gu, please sit here," Director Yu Min said as he asked the crew to bring a stool.

Gu Wei didn't hesitate to sit on a stool and started chatting with them.

"I haven't congratulated Director Gu yet. His success in Hollywood movies has boosted the morale of the Chinese people. The domestic box office is also in the tens of millions. He is truly a promising young man."

Director Yu Min came up and started praising it.

Faced with the praise, Gu Wei waved his hand and said a few humble words.

Several people were chatting in the tent, and the staff coming in and out also spread the news throughout the crew.

"Have you heard? Director Gu Wei came to visit the crew and is at the director's place."

Not far away, in the tent where the crew members were resting, Liu Tao, who played Ah Zhu, spoke to the other actors.

Hu Jun was also shocked when he heard Liu Tao's words. The most talked-about news in the circle recently was about this director.

Winner of the Berlin Golden Bear Award, the first director in China to join the billion-dollar box office club, he refused an award at the Golden Rooster Film Festival and was banned from directing by relevant domestic departments. He later went to Hollywood alone, and his first Hollywood movie earned a box office of 100 million US dollars.

The actors present could not even make up stories about these experiences, let alone encountering them. To them, Gu Wei was a true big-screen director, and the movies he shot won awards and had box office success, which was fatally attractive to them.

The tent suddenly became lively, with everyone discussing Gu Wei's deeds, and everyone's eyes were shining.

In a tent not far from Hu Jun and his team, a middle-aged lady also heard the news. Opposite her was a young, pretty girl with a childish face.

"Mom, I heard from the staff that Director Gu Wei is here to visit the crew. Can I go and see him?" The girl spoke in a very pleasant voice.

Hearing this, the middle-aged lady stood up and led the girl towards the director's tent.

After Gu Wei chatted with the two directors for a while, he noticed that a lot of people had come over, including staff members and artists in props and costumes.

However, since the two directors in front of him didn't speak, he couldn't interrupt directly.

Director Yu Min also noticed this situation. Looking at the actors and actresses from the crew who came over one after another, he smiled. The great director's appeal was indeed extraordinary.

He then stood up and introduced Gu Wei. Before he could open his mouth, the actors on the scene introduced themselves one after another.

"Hello, Director Gu, I am actor Hu Jun."

"Hello, Director Gu, I am actor Jimmy Lin."

"Hello, Director Gu, I am Liu Yifei, Class of 02, from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy."

Gu Wei heard the self-introductions of the actors on the scene and responded and greeted them one by one.

"Hello, I also graduated from Beijing Film Academy, but I studied directing. So, in a sense, you are my junior."

Gu Wei said as he looked at the tender Liu Yifei in front of him.

"Director Gu, can I call you senior from now on?"

Hearing Gu Wei's words, Liu Yifei's face turned slightly red, but she still spoke immediately.

"Okay. If you calculate my age, I'm not much older than you. Just call me senior. Calling me director makes me sound old, haha."

Gu Wei made a joke.

"Okay, then I will call you senior from now on," Liu Yifei's eyes sparkled and her face turned a little red.

Liu's mother, who was standing nearby, saw this but did not try to stop it. Instead, she watched with a smile on her face.

The group of people chatted together for a while and then dispersed as the crew had to continue filming in the afternoon.

(End of this chapter)