Author | Qinggan
Editor | Xiang Wanwan
Recently, the Central Academy of Drama announced a piece of major news: an action performance major will be established soon, with Wu Jing as the chief teacher!
news immediately caused an uproar, both in the film and television circles and in the education circle, it quickly aroused heated discussions.
First, because colleges and universities have not added a special martial arts major, whether it is teachers, safety or funding, there are chain problems.
Secondly, Wu Jing, as a new top martial artist in the entertainment industry in recent years, has also entered the education circle.
However, what many netizens don’t know yet is that Wu Jing had already established a special action training camp called Wuyingtang in June 2023. The
training camp recruited 15 students who love film and television action performances for 60 days of training. The training content of
includes modern military training, film and television action training, performance training in front of the mirror, etc. It mainly focuses on military action performance knowledge and conducts high-intensity special forces training.
Wu Jing aims to discover and train young action actors, improve their film and television action performance system, and also provide fresh talents and blood to the entertainment industry.
It is also this training camp. At the closing ceremony, Hao Rong, vice chairman of the Beijing Filmmakers Association and president of the Central Academy of Drama, said:
Yingwutang’s teaching has been fruitful, and action movies are a bright spot for China’s excellent traditional culture. business card.
The Central Academy of Drama, as the source of cultivating artistic creative talents, will cooperate with Yingwutang.
will establish an action performance class in the 2024 class, allowing action performance to have a place in higher education in drama, film and television. "
This big news has undoubtedly injected new hope into the hearts of martial arts action actors who have been lonely in recent years. Once upon a time, martial arts action movies were a household name. When mentioning the names of martial arts actors, they are all treasures:
Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li , Sammo Hung, Zhao Wenzhuo, Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, Zhang Jin, Shi Xiaolong, Xie Miao, etc...
There are also the famous four martial arts teams of the Seven Little Fortunes, Liu Jiaban, Yuan Jiaban, Hong Jiaban and Chengjiaban.
Mention action movies Representatives are all anointed gods and gods fight, such as "Fist of Fury" and "Way of the Dragon", the masterpieces of kung fu superstar Bruce Lee.
Jet Li's "Shaolin Temple", "Once Upon a Time in the Sky" and "Fang Shiyu" series.
Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master" "Plan A" and "Police Story" series.
Vincent Chiu "Once Upon a Time", "The Green Snake", "The Man-Han Banquet".
Sammo Hung "The Flying Dragon" and "Food Truck".
Donnie Yen "Ip Man" "The Killing" "Broken Wolf".
Shi Xiaolong, "Laughing Forest Boy" and "New Oolong Courtyard".
Xie Miao, "New Shaolin Five Patriarchs" and "Letter to Dad".
These movies are all familiar works.
Not only created the once glorious The era of Hong Kong action movies is a youthful memory of the generations born in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
At that time, when ticket prices were only a dime, these classic movies often grossed over 100 million, almost taking over the top spots in the annual box office, winning many times. The best awards such as Golden Statue and Golden Horse.
The reason why the martial arts films of that time were so classic is that in addition to the spiritual core of the film being full of national justice, countering the title of "sick man of East Asia", protecting the family and the country, etc.
There is another very important thing The reason is that most of the martial arts action actors have a professional background or a martial arts background.
not only has rich professional martial arts knowledge, but he is also very dedicated and hard-working when filming. He works hard with real swords and guns. The final effect is that the fists are punched to the flesh and the heart is smooth. Dripping.
At that time, the Hung family squad headed by Sammo Hung was known as the "Suicide Squad" in Hong Kong. Real explosions were used when filming the explosion scenes. Seven or eight martial artists jumped down from the building at the same time. What waited for them after jumping was not a sound, but Help people quickly.
When filming "Provincial and Hong Kong Cavalry", Yuan Wu fell directly from the ice rink from a height of several floors. In order to pursue a realistic effect, he chose to jump directly, and his face was covered with blood after falling.
During the scene, he fell out of the window and then fell onto the road. I also fell down myself at that time and went to the hospital immediately after filming.
When Jackie Chan was filming "Plan A", he also jumped directly from the clock tower, and the protection measures at that time were very crude. He jumped twice, resulting in a fractured tibia and a broken nose.
There is also a high-altitude jump on the shopping mall chandelier.
In "Baby Project", you jump directly from the air conditioner outdoor unit on the 13th floor to the ground.
The rappelling from outside the building on the 21st floor, without wires or ground protection, was called the most dangerous shot in film history. As a result, no one from the insurance company dared to take Jackie Chan's insurance at that time.
When filming close-quarters combat, the martial arts actors also focus on martial arts, supplemented by the beautification of film and television performances. The close-quarters combat has a strong sense of wind, and the fists touch the flesh, like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Bruce Lee's fists and kicks in "Brother Tangshan" The key is to beat the villain to a pulp.
A set of nunchucks, an era when no one could compare to Bruce Lee.
Jet Li's "Once Upon a Time" Foshan Wuying Kick, kicking the opponent's chest.
"Shaolin Temple" also features professional Shaolin Kung Fu.
In "One Man Martial Arts", Zou Zhaolong's opponent's scene hit him until his face was swollen.
In the duel between Wu Jing and Donnie Yen in "Slaying the Wolf", Wu Jing was so painful that he grimaced in pain.
In the action movies of that time, almost every martial arts actor used his life and his health to do this career. He suffered a lot of injuries and paid a very painful price, so that we could have fun in front of the TV. Awesome look and feel.
But this hearty experience began to go downhill after the decline of Hong Kong action movies.
After 2000, only a few popular action movies were left, such as "Ip Man" and "The Grandmaster".
There were occasionally other action movies. Even if they hired popular young actors as co-stars, they were all mediocre.
After this, former martial arts actors seemed to disappear in the entertainment industry overnight. Superstars such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sammo Hung, Michelle Yeoh, etc. began to reduce filming because they were older and could no longer work.
At that time, the entertainment industry was often asking soul questions: Is there anyone who can succeed Jackie Chan and Jet Li?
Although Zhang Jin, a thug in a suit, still has movies to film, he no longer has the same works as in his peak period, and more often he needs to appear in variety shows.
Zhao Wenzhuo can hardly get any suitable movies to shoot, and can only shoot some low-budget movies.
People like Zou Zhaolong and Fan Shaohuang can only play supporting roles.
Even the once popular national child stars such as Shi Xiaolong and Xie Miao can only play supporting roles occasionally or in some low-budget dramas that are not very popular.
Martial arts actors seem to have become fallen stars overnight, with all their abilities but no place to display them.
Because the entertainment industry nowadays has begun to lose the popularity of slow work and meticulous work, it has become a world of popular celebrities, with various ancient puppets, idol dramas, and remakes of novels flooding the screen.
Investors also hope that the shooting cycle will be as short as possible in order to quickly recover costs and make money. At the same time, it is also at this time that dramas and chaos begin to occur frequently.
Popular TV series on the market have become more and more dull when it comes to martial arts scenes. Almost all of them are replaced by slow motion and stand-ins. A swinging iron chain can be slowed down to 10 seconds for a close-up.
The speed of receiving a weapon is enough for the opponent to snatch the weapon away.
If it weren’t for the special effects, just standing there and posing would be a magnification move. Even if it’s a fairy tale drama, it wouldn’t be that simple.
no longer has the realism and punch-to-the-flesh feeling of previous action movies.
This situation did not begin to change until the popularity of Wu Jing's "Wolf Warrior 2". The theme of defending the family and the country and the filming of martial arts with live ammunition made Wu Jing a new top star.
not only created a box office of 5 billion, but also re-established a new tough guy martial arts image.
also appeared on CCTV Spring Festival Gala to fight with Donnie Yen, reviving the charm of martial arts.
has also led to a new trend of martial arts action movies. Wolf Warrior has become the new trend of action movies, and news of a third film will be released every now and then.
The current recovery has also given Wu Jing more ability to promote the development of martial arts actors. This official announcement of the establishment of a martial arts performance major and his serving as a teacher is a very good signal.
A training class may not be able to recreate the glory of the past, but as long as you don’t give up, gold will always be polished. The film and television industry cannot lack martial arts actors and martial arts. Special effects and stand-ins cannot replace the martial arts actors themselves. Slow work will help. Only meticulous works can create the classics of an era.
Perhaps in the near future, we will be able to see the emergence of films with wonderful performances of fists and fists, and we will also see more people put martial arts film and television performances as the focus of filming, and we will also reproduce the previous ones bit by bit. brilliant.
Although this road will be difficult, there is hope!
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