Doing such a thing is for public welfare, but in order to respect the deceased, we also hope to be understood by the family members of the parties involved, so that the movie can truly soothe people's hearts. It happened that Liu Fang, the representative of the family members of two classmates in the United States, heard about the filming and joined "City of Angels" without hesitation. She, who has always been a good match for the Qu Ming siblings, was entrusted by their family to serve as a special consultant to help the team communicate with the victims. After communicating with the family members, the team became more confident.
"April 11, 2012 to the present—everything started to change at noon that day. I received a message online from Qu Ming’s family asking me to help verify whether someone was defrauding and falsely claiming that he was killed. His phone number If I didn't get through, I would rather believe that someone was maliciously defrauding him. How could such an incredible thing happen to him who is so good? However, when I called his good friend's phone number, his cry made me believe that everything really happened. Qu Ming, who always wore a baseball cap and called me sister when he saw me from a distance, became a headline in the news overnight. A bullet took the lives of two people. Their parents had lost their only child, so there must be something important that I needed to do. Thinking of the tears that were about to burst out of my eyes, I rushed to USC as soon as possible and went to the scene of the murder. It was like a nightmare that happened in an instant. Facing various reports from more than a dozen domestic and foreign news media, I was called my sister, for the sake of the reputation of Qu Ming, Wu Ying and their families, and to comfort those who continued to study at the University of Southern California. The students who were studying were frightened, and I had to step forward immediately. But what I didn't expect were more students from the University of Southern California. They not only protected the dignity of their classmates to the maximum extent, but also used videos to express themselves. Their voices and actions collected tens of thousands of signatures, and everyone saw their various efforts to request stronger campus security. The classmates made me stand more bravely with them, attend the court trial of the criminals, and face the criminals together. Interviews with various media, working together to strive for a more secure future for international students and Chinese students. This time I truly realized what it means to be united as one.”
——Excerpted from the film’s special consultant. Liu Fang's Diary In order to restore the reality to the maximum extent and heal the trauma of the deceased's death, "City of Angels" chose the apartment where two international students once lived as one of the interior shooting locations. At first, the crew was worried that the landlord of the apartment would be unhappy, but when everyone explained their intention to make a movie, the landlord was very moved and not only lent the house to the crew for free for filming, but also helped everyone organize and decorate the room.
“During the filming process, in order to more truly record the lives of Wu Ying and Qu Ming, we selected some scenes in the residences where Wu Ying lived and were the scene of the shooting. In my first When I arrived here for the first time, it was around 9 o'clock in the evening. What I felt was not fear, but a kind of contemplative silence. In the following days, I would always spend my free time shooting. A person sits on the steps of the front door of the house, imagining the people who once lived here, and then thinks of many propositions about dreams and life: why we are here, what we have gained, and where we are going. There seems to be no clear answer to everything, because everyone sees a different world and writes a different life. Even so, I still hope that "City of Angels" can inspire viewers because of the true story it tells. Bringing a little insight and thinking. ”
——Excerpted from crew member Yuan Xiaoshan’s [filming notes] In a scene that requires the male protagonist to bang his head against a door to seek help, in order to reflect the realism, The director asked the male protagonist to really bang his head against the door. The door was an iron door, and it was very painful to hit it. However, the "cruel" director actually made him hit the door again and again in pursuit of the quality of the film. The lead actor is also a serious person, and he endured the pain and knocked on the door again and again. At the end of the filming, the lead actor was so painful that he burst into tears. Finally, after bumping into the door for the 21st time, he successfully passed the filming of this scene. There are countless examples of this kind of seriousness, and professionalism runs through the entire team.
“I remember that Alice was bruised and bruised because she smashed her hand in countless repeated scenes, but she smiled and said it was okay. I remember that Long Long spent several days nervously repeating a line just for the sake of saying it. It’s more real. I remember that Wei and Kenny always insist on putting up the lights before eating. I remember Grace taking the trouble to touch up the actors’ makeup. I remember Bruce dressing up the rustic rooms to make them amazing... I remember a lot, It's because they left me a lot.
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————Excerpted from the [filming notes] written by the crew members