"The movie is the truth of 24 frames per second. [1] "When the shooting speed of a movie exceeds 24 frames per second, we call it upgrade shooting. The upgraded picture is projected on the screen at normal speed, which naturally causes the expansion of the film in time and space, which is what we often call slow motion. Compared with foreign films, Hong Kong films obviously use slow motion more frequently, more carefully, and have fewer restrictions and scruples. Let's make a brief summary and see how Hong Kong filmmakers use this shooting method flexibly! 1. "aesthetics of violence" and slow motion: slow motion was not widely used in early Hong Kong action movies. Usually, two people fight, and at the critical moment, the positive figures use their unique skills, and a flying leg or a heavy punch knocks the villain to the ground. At this time, in order to highlight the bravery of the positive characters, the action scene was deliberately exaggerated in time, and the sound effect was accompanied by the shouts of the characters, which was really imposing. But after all, this is a very old-fashioned shooting technique. Now it looks really funny, so it was quickly eliminated by the advanced techniques brought by the "Hong Kong New Wave" movement. While eliminating the old things, a new concept of "violence aesthetics" is gradually taking shape. These talented action film directors have created a romantic and poetic Jianghu world for us with their lenses. John Woo, Tsui Hark and their martial arts instructor Cheng Xiaodong are the representatives. It can be said that without them, there would be no "golden decade" (1986- 1995)! In fact, when it comes to the "violent aesthetics" of Hong Kong films, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely the great director John Woo. As a disciple of Zhang Che, Shaw's "master of masculine violence aesthetics", John Woo resolutely integrated the gentle and harmonious movements in China traditional martial arts into the fierce gunfight scene in his novel "True colors of heroes" 1986, and used a lot of slow motion to dilute the blood of violence, but what was more prominent was the aesthetic feeling of the movements. Since then, Heroes 2, Hot Men and Crossing the World have all applied this technology to the extreme. Compared with Zhang Che, it is obvious that they have taken a big step forward while forming their own school. His most experimental attempt is to show that Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung Chiu Wai walked through a maze-like corridor in the hospital corridor gunfight in Detective Tough Guy, and then entered the elevator and came to another staircase corridor. In this long shot, the normal speed is converted to the upgrade speed five times, which is basically the time when the two people exchange their body positions before and after killing the enemy. This change of speed forms a sense of rhythm in the gunfight scene. When two people exchange positions, their movements are upgraded and enlarged, which not only shows their tacit cooperation, but also symbolizes the change of their mentality and emotional communication. The camera never changed, and an unspoken truth of suffering gradually swelled and dispersed in a tense environment with few lines, conveying a subtle romantic atmosphere [2]! Hong Kong films have always been so romantic, and the cooperation between Tsui Hark and Cheng Xiaodong reflects this (of course, Cheng Xiaodong is also the martial finger in many works of John Woo). As a guide to action, Cheng Xiaodong was definitely an exception in this circle at that time. He doesn't pay attention to the real kung fu of hard bridge and hard horse like Yuan Jiaban and Liu Jiaban, nor does he specialize in humorous fighting like Cheng Jiaban and Hong Jiaban. Instead, it makes full use of the intersection of fast and slow shots and the constant switching of distant scenes to show more tense action language. In his films, he attaches great importance to the application of plastic aesthetics. He can turn Brigitte Lin, Joey Wong, Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui and other beautiful women who don't know martial arts into martial arts masters with one stroke, which is accomplished by shaping characters. In the battle of warships in The Battle of Blackwood Cliff in Dong Fangbubai and Storm Surge, Brigitte Lin plays Dong Fangbubai as a generation of martial arts heroes, while Xinhezhen uses a slow mirror to make the gown of the martial arts master flutter at rest and move freely, which fully embodies the artistic conception literally contained in martial arts novels. The most distinctive feature is to show the actions of the characters when they are defeated by the other side, especially the actions of many people falling to the ground in "Seven Princesses of Wulin" and "Hero Trio". By using parallel montage, the movements of each character are magnified and displayed one by one in time, which makes the fall to the ground in a panic become a beautiful and elegant dance. Such a romantic display of violence has naturally become the object of many action directors competing to imitate! Although Yuan Jiaban is more traditional than Xiaodong, it is not static. Especially for a movie like Tai Sanfeng, which needs to show China's softest fist and strongest fighting capacity, the use of slow motion has become the key to the success or failure of the movie martial arts (Tai Chi Chuan is also performed, and Tai Sanfeng of Yuan Heping is far better than the evil cult leader). Whether it's Zhang Sanfeng's clever use of a pen with Ye Tuantuan in his hand when practicing boxing or the clever routine display when Zhang Sanfeng and Dong Tianbao are at war, it has become a classic that western action directors can't concoct in a hundred years! 2. Literary films and slow motion: In fact, literary films are more combined with long shots. Many world-famous movie master, such as Yasujirō Ozu, Truffaut, Abbas, An Zhe Rovsky and Hou Xiaoxian, are good at using long lenses. Hong Kong movies are famous for their quick editing, but the use of long shots is naturally ignored. Even the rhythm of literary films is much faster than that of literary films in other regions. Of course, slow motion is not a long shot. Sometimes, in order to reflect the poetic effect, directors are still willing to increase the shooting speed of the lens and enlarge the screen time as much as possible, which is more prominent in Wong Kar-wai's literary films. For example, in The Story of A Fei, A Fei ran repeatedly in slow motion when he left his mother's manor, showing the rootlessness of the character "a bird without feet". His dream of having a family was shattered, and he had to continue to "fly, fly, fly" until the end of his life. In several action scenes of Ashes of Time, the method of "extracting frames and printing" is adopted, that is, some frames of the action are removed from the upgrade shot on average (1-2-3-4-5-6 is removed from the frame sequence), but the duration of the whole shot is not compressed, but empty. In fact, this technique is not to highlight the fierceness of the fight, but to convey the inner feelings of the characters in the film, especially Du's endless loneliness and loss, which is vividly shown in the two fights from beginning to end! Since the return of 1997, great changes have taken place in Hong Kong films. The quick editing techniques used to attract the audience are gradually decreasing, and replaced by the interactive use of various scenes and shots. For example, the seven-minute realistic long shot in Du Qifeng's The Big Event was unimaginable in the era of Tsui Hark Woo Yusen. Therefore, under this trend, many commercial-oriented films have a strong literary color, and a large number of long shots and slow shots are used. Just like Kam-Hung Yip's portrayal of Shu Qi in Half a Cigarette, it gives people a sense of realism and illusion by using an upgraded lens. After decades, she is still so young and charming. Is this an illusion in Bao Ge's mind or an objective presentation of the actual image? Instead of studying it carefully, it is better to indulge in the screen illusion constructed by "movie magic". At the end of "Golden Rooster 2", scenes of the past appeared in front of the old man Ah Jin, all presented in a slow mirror, which perfectly reflected the feeling that "times have changed and the past can only be recalled". Since commercial films pay so much attention to the use of lens aesthetics, it goes without saying that literary films, in Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, accompanied by the soothing European music melody, a cloud in a straight suit and a cheongsam walk slowly through the narrow alley aisle. It is a very petty bourgeoisie scene, and I don't know how many people are fascinated by it. This style has continued until "2046" and the short film "Cupid's Hand", which has become the killer weapon for Wong Kar-wai to continue to dominate the Hong Kong film industry in the new century! 3. Spoofing in slow motion: Compared with action and literature and art, what Hong Kong filmmakers like best is probably spoofing. When they spoof, from the most vulgar "shit fart" to the most elegant Beethoven music, no variety is willing to let go, and the slow-motion shooting method is naturally included in the category of spoof. Stephen Chow is definitely an expert in this field. For example, in Gambling Saint, he imitated the infinite scenery when gamblers appeared, which was achieved through slow motion. This technique was used again in The Judge of Death. When Song Shijie appeared, people cheered like gamblers. The Year of the Rooster (also known as bump) is even more outrageous, because Zhou's appearance was deliberately slowed down and there was no upgrade shot at all, thus creating a stronger comedy effect, like mocking the original appearance mode. Of course, the most interesting thing is the airflow and leaves behind He Jinshui's slow mirror in One-Stop Travel. I thought it was an ordinary cool lens, but I didn't expect it was the effect that he paid someone to use a blower to make it. I played a bad joke again! In fact, this kind of spoof is not the patent of Master Xing. For example, the "flirting with swords" in "Going East and Going West" is a "special" effect without using the upgraded lens. Leslie Cheung's evil spirits and Joey Wong's small ones dallied with each other, and the enemy's fighting speed also slowed down unconsciously, and one by one "willingly" was slaughtered. What an interesting idea! Similarly, in Zhong Wuyan, there is a competition between Zhong Wuyan and General Fart. In order not to let the general be distracted by fart, the two men deliberately slowed down the fighting speed, but it felt like a slow-motion replay! Let's take a look at Xing Ye's "Tang Bohu Dianchouxiang". At the end of the film, when Tang Bohu thought he had a beautiful woman, what caught his eye was the ugly face of Sister Pomegranate. Two people slowly rotating down, the atmosphere has changed from noisy just now to calm now, which more embodies the Tang Bohu's helpless mood at this time. It is quite common for men to fall down with women in their arms, and it is also common for women to fall down with men in their arms with the proliferation of "little men" comedies in the new century. In 2002' s The Roar of Lions, Liu Yuehong slowly held the falling Ji Cheng in his arms, symbolizing the woman's complete conquest of men in the film! Well, that's all. However, there are tens of thousands of slow-motion movies in Hong Kong, which is by no means something I can cover in an essay. Here I just throw a brick to attract jade, causing everyone to think about how to make Hong Kong movies more lively and interesting through slow motion!