The nearly twenty-seater Toyota Coaster carried several veteran Flying Tigers members and their relatives to the filming base of "Flying Tigers", which is the airstrip restored by the crew.
When the old people followed the car to this piece of red land, Li Mu could see that each of them had a different kind of excitement and excitement on their faces.
Although the airport used for filming was not rebuilt on the original site, because the airstrip was also on such a piece of red land, to the old people, it looks just like it did back then.
What excites them the most is actually the dozens of P-40C aircraft parked at the airport. It is said that half of them are real aircraft and half are replica props.
Li Mu couldn't tell which of these planes were real and which were props, but these old people were very discerning. They almost swarmed to several of the planes, touched them, walked around them, hugged them and cried. But there are a few planes that look indistinguishable and no one cares about them.
Ning Hao admired in front of Li Mu: "These old men have really good eyesight. I have been here for so long and I can't tell which one is real and which one is fake. They can tell it at a glance."
Li Mu asked with a smile: "You don't know which is true and which is false, how do you know that the old men are right?"
Ning Hao smiled and said: "I can't tell the difference, but remember the fuselage number. The odd numbers are real machines, and the even numbers are props."
"Okay." Li Mu nodded and walked to the old man Sun Xiaozhong. At this time, he was stroking the propeller of the P-40C in front of him with his trembling hands, and moved the propeller slightly with his face full of excitement and excitement.
Li Mu asked him: "Mr. Sun, do you want to take a photo with this plane? I'll ask the photographer to come over and take a few pictures for you?"
When Sun Xiaozhong heard this, he was excited at first. Then he looked at himself and found that he was wearing the most ordinary white short-sleeved T-shirt today. He said a little awkwardly: "It's not appropriate for me to take pictures with it like this. I'd better talk about it later when I have the opportunity." Well, I will dress more formally then..."
The old man Han Zili on the side also nodded repeatedly and said in a joking tone: "How can you take a photo with these old guys and dress so casually? You have to wear a Chinese tunic suit after all, right?"
Han Zili's son couldn't help but said: "Dad, why don't you put on your former pilot's uniform and take a photo with it? That would be so commemorative."
Old man Han Zili said with a smile: "What you said is simple. The Flying Tigers gave me a uniform. I wore it until the end of the Anti-Japanese War and then changed to the uniform of the National Army. I have always treasured that suit, but when I went to Taiwan in 1949 , because the flight luggage was overweight and was detained.”
Li Mu slapped his forehead and said, "Our crew has replicas of the Flying Tigers military uniforms. Let the crew take you to try them on. There are hundreds of military uniforms that will suit you."
"Really?!" The two old men, as well as the two other old Chinese players from the Flying Tigers next to them, all looked at Li Mu in surprise.
Li Mu nodded immediately and said, "I borrowed a military uniform yesterday and took a photo wearing it. I'll tell the director and let him arrange it."
With that said, Li Mu greeted Spielberg and told him his thoughts in English, saying: "Stephen, let the staff bring a few old gentlemen to change into suitable military uniforms later, and ask the photographer to come over to them." Take some pictures, it means a lot to them.”
Spielberg nodded without hesitation and said: "Then I will make arrangements now. Our stunt pilots are still here. How about we let them come out to fly the plane for a few old gentlemen?"
Li Mu asked in surprise: "Can I fly at any time? Don't I need to apply to the military region?"
In Li Mu's impression, China's airspace is managed by the Air Force, and the flight routes of civil aviation also require the approval of the Air Force. The crew's aircraft must also obtain the approval of the Air Force.
Spielberg said: "Normally speaking, you have to apply a few days in advance before every flight. However, the local military district gave us a lot of support for this movie. They knew that we were going to shoot aerial shots, so they gave us a privilege. , the aircraft directly reports to the military region before taking off, and as long as the military region nods, it can fly immediately."
Li Mu asked again: "How long does it take for the military region's approval?"
Spielberg said: "Just for a minute or two, we are directly contacting the air force's air traffic control. Our area is not on the civil aviation route, so as long as the military confirms that it has no activities in our area and has not received any notification from other general aviation companies, If you request a flight, we will be given permission immediately."
Speaking, Spielberg added: "Our P-40C and our photography helicopter can basically take off at any time."
Li Mu nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then let the pilots of the flying team prepare. Once the old gentlemen have changed into their military uniforms, we will take off to pay tribute to them."
For medium and large-scale film and television companies in Hollywood, they have very high requirements for film quality. During the filming process, special effects will only be used in scenes that require computer special effects. Other shots are shot in real scenes as much as possible. Because only real scenes are the most perfect. Take Tom Cruise's "Top Gun" as an example. The reason why it has become a classic air combat film in the eyes of many viewers is largely due to the large number of real fighter shots in the play. If If all computer special effects were used, the scene would definitely be compromised.
Therefore, in "Flying Tigers", many of the shots about aerial combat are real shots. The ordinary aerial shots are done by helicopters, and the special shots of aerial combat chases and tumbling are done by an aerobatic aircraft, which is intended to recreate the flying scenes of that year. The real scene of the tiger team fighting the enemy in the air.
To this end, the crew specially hired an aerobatic team from the United States to shoot aerial shots.
Li Mu suddenly thought of many war movies and TV series from later generations of China. In his impression, all the domestic war movies and TV series he had watched used 50-cent special effects when it came to scenes involving aircraft. Even the war TV series he considered No. 1. 1's "My Captain, My Regiment" also contains all the scenes of airplanes with poor special effects, which are extremely unpleasant to the scenery.
Originally, the expeditionary force was going to Myanmar by plane, which was a very tragic thing, but the picture showed a plane on a tattered dirt field, which suddenly made me feel very stingy, and the plane was on the ground. As for the camera, you can tell at a glance that the props were not carefully made, and the special effects shots after the plane took off were so clumsy that even a three-year-old child could tell that the plane was fake.
Admittedly, this is also related to the budget of film and television dramas, but why can't the budget be tilted towards quality? As a result, future TV series will cost 200 million, and 180 million will be the actor's salary. As for how to shoot, it doesn't matter. Five cents of special effects can be dealt with casually, so there are many film and television dramas with cutouts.
Li Mu feels that he may not be able to influence the future development direction of Chinese film and television dramas, nor may he be able to improve the overall industry's requirements for film quality, but at least he can set an example and make a few high-quality films first, and contribute to the Chinese film industry. Make a sample.
While thinking wildly, several old people changed into the fitting Flying Tigers uniforms one after another and walked out of a large military green tent. Although they were all over seventy years old, they put on pilot uniforms and aviator sunglasses. , it feels really impressive.
Among these old Flying Tigers, there are Chinese faces and American faces. They are the same as in the old photos of the Flying Tigers. However, the heroic young people back then have now become old and old people. However, Except for their bodies, everything still looks the same as before.
The uniforms are still the same as they were back then, the airport is still the same airport as it was back then, and the planes are still the same as they were back then.
At this time, the aerobatic pilots had already climbed into the six P-40Cs, started the planes, and lined up to drive to the end of the runway.
The old people did not expect that these planes would already start just after changing clothes, and they were surprised and asked why.
Li Mu said to everyone: "The members of the aerobatic team are going to lift these aircraft into the sky to pay tribute to you all, so that you can once again see this aircraft soaring in the blue sky."
The old people nodded excitedly and stared at the planes, reluctant to blink.
The military region has given the flying team permission to fly, with a radius of 20 kilometers and a ceiling of less than 5,000 meters. So the six P-40C fighters accelerated, lifted their wheels, and took off one after another, completing the formation in the air. , began a performance flight.
The old people clapped and happily watched the plane flying in various patterns over the airport. After the plane made several low-altitude passes, Li Mu carefully discovered that every old man had a smile on his face, but there were also tears on them.
Sun Xiaozhong said: "Looking at these planes flying back and forth overhead, all I can think of is the scene where I flew the same type of fighter plane and fought fiercely with the enemy in the sky. This feeling feels like it's a lifetime ago, but it's as if it's right in front of me. .”
The six planes flew in the air for half an hour, performing many thrilling flying postures, and then landed on the runway one after another. After the six planes parked side by side, Li Mu said to several old people: "We can go there now. Taking pictures."
Several old people nodded one after another and came to stand in front of a P-40C aircraft. The old people from the two countries supported each other and took photos in front of the aircraft as they did in those days. An old American Flying Tigers member wiped away his tears and sighed. : “When we used to take pictures, I always liked to climb on the wings and fuselage, but now I can’t climb anymore.”
Old man Sun Xiaozhong patted him on the back and said with a smile: "John, that era has passed. We used to sit in the cabin and fly these guys into the sky with our own hands. Now, we no longer have this opportunity. It is no longer us. It’s time.”
An old American Flying Tiger member named John nodded slightly and said: "I am satisfied to be able to see them again, touch them, listen to their engines, and watch them fly in the sky..."
(End of chapter)