Hengdian, China (CNN) \u2014 Never send a live cable across a body of water. Never. It\u2019s just good common sense.<\/p>\n
But not for the local film crew I was working with in China\u2019s Hengdian Studios.<\/p>\n
To power the lights for an episode of CNN\u2019s \u201cOn China,\u201d a locally hired grip tied a rope to the end of a cable. From the movie set bridge he was standing on, he called out to a colleague to catch it on the other side of a moat and begin pulling the charged cable across. Fortunately, they were stopped before the count of three.<\/p>\n
Movie-making in China is not for the timid \u2014 something I learned both behind the scenes and while talking to some of China\u2019s leading movie-makers in Hengdian, home of the world\u2019s largest outdoor film studio.<\/p>\n
Where China\u2019s best films are made sprawling across some 2,500 acres with a full replica of the Forbidden City, Hengdian World Studios is where Zhang Yimou\u2019s \u201cHero\u201d was filmed as well as countless TV dramas for the Mainland market. On China: Film censorship easing On China: Chinese cinema boom
\nIt\u2019s also where grips like to take short cuts with cables, and makeup artists do touch-ups with dirty brushes. (I opted to do my own makeup for the shoot.)<\/p>\n
Movie-making in China is a quick and dirty business, a process director Eva Jin affectionately calls \u201cChina Speed.\u201d
\nHer 2009 romantic comedy starring Zhang Ziyi, \u201cSophie\u2019s Revenge,\u201d earned 100 million RMB ($16 million) at the box office, making her China\u2019s first female director to break that symbolic barrier. \u201cThe process in Hollywood is so slow,\u201d Jin says. \u201cThe average project development time is four years. In China, if you have a good script, tomorrow you can get the money. \u201cA few days later, the set is built. That\u2019s \u2018China Speed.'\u201d<\/p>\n
As a purveyor of Chinese rom-coms, Jin has the benefit of speeding through China\u2019s censorship regime.
\nThat\u2019s not the case for Lu Chuan, a director unafraid to challenge convention. His third film, \u201cCity of Life and Death,\u201d was a commercial success but also received notice for its sympathetic portrayal of Japanese soldiers during the Nanjing Massacre.<\/p>\n
So how did he get it past the censors?
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d says Lu. \u201cYou have to allow them to check your script. For the script, it took almost one year, and after you finish the movie and post-production, you have to show the videotape to the censors and (it takes) another half a year.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not the fault of a certain person,\u201d Lu adds. \u201cIt\u2019s a system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working with Hollywood studio execs in China, producer Dan Mintz describes the censorship process as a moving target. As CEO of DMG Entertainment, he\u2019s responsible for bringing blockbuster Hollywood-China co-productions to the big screen including \u201cLooper\u201d and \u201cIron Man 3.\u201d
\n\u201cIf you look at the films that are actually shown here, a lot of them don\u2019t really follow the rules,\u201d he says.
\nMintz references a list published by the government that details what types of films can not be screened in China. Examples of prohibited movies include those that \u201cdisrupt social order,\u201d \u201cendanger social morality\u201d or \u201cpromote cults and superstition.\u201d
\n\u201cIf you look at that list, basically you would not really be able to make anything,\u201d says Mintz. \u201cThat\u2019s very Chinese in a sense, saying \u2018let me say what you can\u2019t do, and we\u2019ll work our way backwards.'\u201d
\nTake, for example \u201cLooper.\u201d A strict interpretation of the list would have filmmakers shy away from a time travel movie in fear of \u201cpromoting cults and superstition.\u201d But ultimately, the sci-fi thriller was filmed partly in China and became a major box office success in the country last year.
\n\u201cStars have rules, studios have rules, everybody has rules. You just forge ahead and if it\u2019s something that\u2019s really worthwhile, it will come out,\u201d says Mintz.<\/p>\n
Eva Jin is also pragmatic in her view of the process: \u201cAs filmmakers, we\u2019re so used to getting everybody\u2019s different input into the process, sometimes from investors, sometimes from producers, sometimes from the talent. We just have to deal with it and be smart about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Lu Chuan is calling for change in the censorship system, hoping that Chinese filmmakers can be governed less by guesswork and more by a transparent rating system. Lu says there must be change for the sake of his craft and also because his audience demands it.
\n\u201cIn an American movie, you can blow up the White House. We cannot blow up (Tiananmen) Square. It\u2019s different. But the audience wants to see a lot of exciting visual things. So I think the leadership will think about that.\u201d He\u2019s asking for the freedom to film China\u2019s own \u201cIndependence Day,\u201d the freedom to blow up anything without fear of political blowback. Just try to get it on film if that gonzo grip is standing by.<\/p>\n
Source: https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2013\/02\/20\/world\/asia\/china-lu-stout-film-cinema\/?hpt=hp_c1
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Hengdian, China (CNN) \u2014 Never send a live cable across a body of water. Never. It\u2019s just good common sense. But not for the local film crew I was working with in China\u2019s Hengdian Studios. To power the lights for an episode of CNN\u2019s \u201cOn China,\u201d a locally hired grip tied a rope to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n