The Bucket Hall of Fame: Shaw Brothers Studio Back lot
June 2nd 2010 00:43
In America one thing we got a lot of is land, land enough for whatever we need. Especially the movie industry. You need a desert? We got those, a forest? No problem, city streets? New York, Chicago, LA, take your pick. We have tons of abandoned buildings, malls, even old jails for film makers
to ply their trade. Hong Kong however, is a different story. While the island has a large population, a vibrant economy and a rich culture, one thing it lacks (through no fault of it's own) is places to film movies. Hong Kong is only 461 square miles in area, compare that to the 551 square miles of my home country of Wayne county Ohio, and you'll realize it's a tiny tiny island. Outside the vast downtown area, most of the wilderness areas is either private estates, or wildlife preserves, both of which are difficult to get permission to film on. To make matters worse, Hong Kong films are almost always period pieces, usually taking place around the Ching Dynasty, requiring no factories or hotels looming in the background of the shot. To avoid the difficulty of exterior shots, most Hong Kong films were shot off the island (usually in Australia) or more often on a sound stage. After “The One Armed Swordsman” got people craving more and more marital arts action films, the studio realized that the restrictions of indoor sets and the expenses of filming off-island wouldn't allow them to make the martial arts show-stoppers that they wanted to.
While based in Singapore, Run Run Shaw, and his brother Runme Shaw realized that the best pool of talent was in Hong Kong, so they worked hard to found a spot of land nestled between the mountains and the sea, where they could film in a relatively pristine environment with the sea on one side, and the undeveloped mountains on the other. Using this tiny stretch of wilderness, they films over a thousand movies between 1970 and 1997
Need to have a character walk from the mountains to the sea? It was as easy as turning the camera 180 degrees! Need a temple, A martial arts school, or a restaurant? All the bits and pieces of any building you'd need were already available, and the efficient staff of Shaw Brother studios were able to whip up almost any set in a matter of hours, then tear it down and get it out of the way of the next movie just as quick. This back lot has been used in over 1000 of the Shaw brothers films, and thanks to ingenious use of camera angles and extensive sets, you can never tell that almost all of the Shaw Brother exterior shots are filmed on the same two or three acres.
Many of Hong Kong's biggest stars have fond memories of waiting outside the studio's gates in hopes in being noticed. Back in the 70's the best way to get work in movies was to stand outside of the Shaw Brother's gate until they needed someone with your size (you had to fit the costume) to get kicked though a wall, off a roof, or just beaten silly by the good guy or the bad guy. It didn't take a lot in those days to get work, but it took a lot to get noticed. Hong Kong Legend Jackie Chan reminisses in his autobiography about standing outside that gate with other hopefuls, some he said he worked with later, others faded into obscurity after only working a few times. He said sometimes the studio heads would feel sorry for the out of work actors and stuntmen waiting for a job and give them leftovers from the studio cafeteria, or call them in for other odd jobs like sweeping floors or working as carpenters if no stunt work was available. He even said some enterprising American and British actors heard about how to get work at Shaw, and some wound get the chance to play an evil foreigner or two.
After Hong Kong became part of China in 1997 the Chinese mainland opened up to film makers who avoided it before because of political hurtles, this lessened the need for the Shaw Brothers Back lot, and nowadays few
movies are still made there. However, the Shaw brothers studio lives on, Celestial Pictures, an American company has bought the Hang Kong Offices and are now using them to remaster and re-release the hundreds of lost and near lost pictures in the Shaw Brothers vault. Rumor has it, you can get a guided tour of the studio, if you know the right person to ask. Imagine walking through the sets where Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Chao Yun Fat got their starts! For helping me remember that not all film makers have it easy, (not to mention playing a part in some of the most kick-ass action films of all time) the Shaw Brothers Back lot deserves it's spot on the Bucket Movies Hall of fame.
When you saw this, you knew you were in for somthing good.
Need to have a character walk from the mountains to the sea? It was as easy as turning the camera 180 degrees! Need a temple, A martial arts school, or a restaurant? All the bits and pieces of any building you'd need were already available, and the efficient staff of Shaw Brother studios were able to whip up almost any set in a matter of hours, then tear it down and get it out of the way of the next movie just as quick. This back lot has been used in over 1000 of the Shaw brothers films, and thanks to ingenious use of camera angles and extensive sets, you can never tell that almost all of the Shaw Brother exterior shots are filmed on the same two or three acres.
Many of Hong Kong's biggest stars have fond memories of waiting outside the studio's gates in hopes in being noticed. Back in the 70's the best way to get work in movies was to stand outside of the Shaw Brother's gate until they needed someone with your size (you had to fit the costume) to get kicked though a wall, off a roof, or just beaten silly by the good guy or the bad guy. It didn't take a lot in those days to get work, but it took a lot to get noticed. Hong Kong Legend Jackie Chan reminisses in his autobiography about standing outside that gate with other hopefuls, some he said he worked with later, others faded into obscurity after only working a few times. He said sometimes the studio heads would feel sorry for the out of work actors and stuntmen waiting for a job and give them leftovers from the studio cafeteria, or call them in for other odd jobs like sweeping floors or working as carpenters if no stunt work was available. He even said some enterprising American and British actors heard about how to get work at Shaw, and some wound get the chance to play an evil foreigner or two.
After Hong Kong became part of China in 1997 the Chinese mainland opened up to film makers who avoided it before because of political hurtles, this lessened the need for the Shaw Brothers Back lot, and nowadays few
This is about how close security will let you get
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