[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hong-kong-1984":3,"chapter-hong-kong-1984-hong-kong-1984-building-a-cultural-empire-chapter-84":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hong Kong 1984",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2224068,4066,"Chapter 84: After the Kickoff","hong-kong-1984-building-a-cultural-empire-chapter-84",84,"\u003Cp>Just as dawn was breaking, staff from Wing Shing Film Company were already bustling before the giant cruise ship set. This 1:1 replica of the Titanic's bow deck, built at a cost of nearly ten million Hong Kong dollars, featured wood grain textures on the deck, the luster of brass railings, and even the arrangement of rivets completely restored according to historical records.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Fei stood at the ship's prow, his fingers lightly tracing the frost special effects on the railing. He turned to Chen Guoqiang, the art director, and said, \"The frost on the deck needs to be thicker; in the North Atlantic in April 1912, the temperature should have been below zero.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guoqiang nodded. \"I've already asked the special effects team to readjust it; it will be ready in half an hour.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Fei raised his wrist to check his watch. \"Notify all actors that the kickoff ceremony will begin promptly at 7:00; I do not want anyone late.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was not loud, yet every word carried an unquestionable authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At exactly 7:00 in the morning, the entire cast and crew lined up before the cruise ship set.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Qian Xiaohao and Cai Cai Shaofen, as the lead actors, stood in the front row. Cai Cai Shaofen was wrapped in a thick down jacket, her lips slightly pale from the cold—to pursue authenticity, Xiang Fei insisted on filming in the low temperatures of early morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everyone,\" Xiang Fei said, standing on a temporarily built podium, his gaze sweeping over each person, \"'Titanic' is no ordinary film. What we are recreating is the most famous maritime disaster in human history, and also the most beautiful love story.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused for a moment, his voice becoming even more serious:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I will not tolerate any perfunctory performances. Qian Qian Xiaohao, your Jack must make the audience believe he is a poor painter; Cai Cai Shaofen, your Rose must make people feel the repression and rebellion of a noble young lady.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Every single one of you in the extra group, you are not mere backdrop; you are real passengers. When the ship begins to sink, I want to see genuine fear and despair.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below the stage, all was silent, save for the flapping sound of flags blown by the sea breeze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The filming of the sinking scenes was scheduled for the third day after the kickoff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To achieve the most authentic effect, Xiang Fei had constructed a massive water tank capable of tilting fifty degrees. When the \"iceberg\" struck the hull, the entire set began to tilt slowly, and icy water surged in from all directions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceng Ceng Zhiwei, playing the old engineer, delivered a textbook-level performance in this scene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Go quickly! Everyone to the lifeboats!\" he cried hoarsely, his graying hair plastered to his forehead by the seawater. When the hull tilted to its limit, he chose to remain in the engine room, his trembling hand caressing those steel behemoths of machines one last time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The camera pushed in; tears filled Ceng Ceng Zhiwei's eyes, yet he wore a smile: \"Old friend, I will accompany you on this final journey.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This shot was captured in a single take, leaving many crew members on set with red-rimmed eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Zhao Yazhi, playing Molly Brown, was equally moving. On the lifeboat, she insisted on going back to save people: \"There are still so many empty seats on the ship! We cannot just leave like this!\" Her intense emotional outburst immersed the other actors in the scene completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although they were all minor roles, the cameo appearances by superstars added many highlights to the film: Cheng Long, playing a juggler, persisted in performing ball-tossing tricks on the tilting deck in an attempt to soothe the panicked passengers; his bitter smile and shrug as the last ball fell into the sea were unforgettable. Hong Hong Jinbao, playing an old chef, stubbornly tried to rescue a pot of freshly cooked soup even as the kitchen flooded with seawater, a detail that instantly brought the character to life. Lin Lin Zhengying, playing a fortune teller, maintained a transcendent calm amidst the chaos, pointing his compass north and telling those around him, \"Go that way; life lies in the north.\" Anita Mui, playing a noblewoman, silently draped her fur stole over the shoulders of a shivering little girl before boarding the lifeboat. Zhang Zhang Guorong, playing the band's violinist, continued to play \"Nearer, My God, to Thee\" as the ship was about to sink; this shot later became one of the most tear-jerking moments in the film. A night shoot in the rain allowed everyone to witness the extent of Xiang Fei's exacting standards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This scene required filming Rose looking up at the starry sky from the lifeboat. Because the cloud cover was too thick to see any stars, Xiang Fei halted production immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait,\" he said, uttering only one word. \"Wait until the stars are visible.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire crew waited in the rain for four hours until, at 2:00 AM, the clouds finally parted. Cai Cai Shaofen was so frozen her lips had turned purple, but when the camera focused on her, the shocking expression of looking up at the stars after surviving a catastrophe made all the waiting worthwhile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The props department had also experienced Xiang Fei's strictness. For a scene requiring the \"Heart of the Ocean\" necklace worn by Rose, Xiang Fei rejected the first five designs, only nodding reluctantly at the sixth: \"It is barely usable, but the facets of the diamond are still not perfect enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As night fell, the lights on the set remained as bright as day. Xiang Fei stood before the monitors, replaying the footage shot that day over and over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tomorrow we need to reshoot the close-up of Teacher Ceng Ceng Jiang,\" he told the assistant director. \"I need to see a more subtle tremor in his fingers when they touch the machinery.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Zhou Huimin brought over a cup of hot coffee. \"You have been working continuously for eighteen hours.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Fei took the coffee, his gaze still fixed on the screen. \"It is still not perfect.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the distance, over the sea surface, a bright moon rose slowly, illuminating this dream ship that would never sink.\u003C\u002Fp>",1041,"2026-06-17T20:39:14.290Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","58b5fae63268b881c447b49e25cdf8930a8dbafcec1826e64e52a525e498aa5e","hong-kong-1984-building-a-cultural-empire-chapter-85","hong-kong-1984-building-a-cultural-empire-chapter-83",152,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhong-kong-1984-cover.jpg"]