Shao zuiwang

Shao zuiwang

Shao zuiwang (1896-1979) was originally named Tongzhang, Renjie and zuiwang. After he founded Tianyi film company, he was born in Zhujiaqiao, Zhenhai county. Producer, director and screenwriter in modern China. His father Shao Yuxuan, in his early years in Shanghai jintaichang pigment business.

In the late 1936, Tianyi company successively transported the production materials to Hong Kong and established a Hong Kong Branch. After the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, Tianyi company ended its production business in Shanghai and shipped all the materials to the Hong Kong Branch, which was renamed Nanyang film company. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, he lived in Shanghai and died in Shanghai.

Profile

In 1922, Shao zuiwang set up a laughing stage, performed civilized dramas, and founded the "Peace Society" troupe to perform his own satirical scripts. In 1925, he started Tianyi film company in Shanghai with his younger brother, Renmei and Yifu as the general manager and director. In the same year, he directed the film "Buddha on the spot". After that, he successively directed "the painful history of Liang Zhu", "the legend of white snake", "Meng Jiangnu", "seven heroes and five righteousness", "Qianlong's journey to Jiangnan" and so on. After the January 28 Incident in 1932, under the influence of the left-wing film movement, the director criticized the feudal marriage system of the film "Yunlan girl" and "struggle", and adapted from the French writer Maupassant's short story "necklace" of the film script "a night of luxury" onto the screen. Tianyi's films are popular with audiences all over Nanyang. In the late 1936, Tianyi company successively transported the production materials to Hong Kong and established a Hong Kong Branch. After the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, Tianyi company ended its production business in Shanghai and shipped all the materials to the Hong Kong Branch, which was renamed Nanyang film company. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, he lived in Shanghai and died in Shanghai.

Character experience

Shao zuiwang is a native of Zhujiaqiao, Zhenhai county. His father Shao Yuxuan, in his early years in Shanghai jintaichang pigment business. Zuiwang was born in 1896. His original name was Tongzhang, and his name was Renjie. After he founded Tianyi film company, he became a famous film maker.

In 1914, Shao ZUIWENG graduated from the law department of Shenzhou University and became a practicing lawyer of the Shanghai District Court and the joint trial court. After that, he successively established pigment, BeiHuo, silk cloth, paper and bank in Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhenjiang, Ningbo, Jiaxing and Huzhou. He also established Sino French Zhenye bank in joint venture with Zhu Baosan, Zhang Xiaosong, Ni Youdan and Lu Zijia, and was promoted as manager. Later, due to the failure of running Huayou egg factory, I felt that in business activities, some of them were dishonest and even cheated each other. I think that in order to influence people and change customs, stage plays (called civilized plays at that time) did not invest much and were easy to understand.

Business experience

In 1921, he changed to business and set up more than 30 companies in Tianjin, Shanghai and Zhejiang. In 1922, he and Zhang Shichuan set up a "laughing stage" to perform civilized dramas, and founded the "Peace Society" troupe to perform self-made satirical dramas. Soon, Zhang Shichuan left the stage of "laughing"

At the beginning of 1922, Shao ZUIWENG cooperated with others in Shanghai to run the laughing stage, with Zhang Shichuan as the consultant (Zhang, from Xiapu, Zhenhai County, later the founder of star film company), Zhang Shichuan as the front desk manager, and Zheng Zhengqiu as the back desk manager, engaged in the performance of Wenming opera. Soon after, Zhang Shichuan brothers, Zheng Zhengqiu and others founded the star film company. In this way, the laughing stage lost two backbone pillars, and Shao zuiwang wavered in his pursuit of civilized drama.

At the end of 1923, Zhang Shichuan, Zheng Zhengqiu, etc. shot the orphan to save his ancestors in eight months, which was a success. The audience jumped and the box office revenue was very high. This is a strong attraction for Shao zuiwang, so he decided to devote himself to the film industry.

Build Tianyi

In June 1925, Shao Zui company invested 10000 silver yuan to set up Tianyi film company in Hengbang bridge, Zhabei. He was the general manager and director of Tianyi film company. His second younger brother Shao Cunren (ren DI) was the accountant, his third younger brother Shao Renmei was the distributor, and his sixth younger brother Shao Yifu (ren Leng) was the distributor.

After the establishment of Tianyi company, the first film was "becoming a Buddha on the spot", followed by "female Xia Li Feifei" and "loyalty and filial piety". Shao ZUIWENG directed the three films himself, which made him a lot of money.

Because making movies can make money, there are more than 40 film companies in Shanghai. Most of the films were similar in content and soon lost their market. Shao zuiwang created a new style and made a special film of ancient costume based on folk stories and classical novels. Such as "Liang Zhu Tong Shi", "Yi Yao Bai she Zhuan", "Pearl Tower", "Meng Jiangnu" and so on. The content of the story is familiar to the audience, so it is very popular, especially in Nanyang. So Shao zuiwang put the focus of distribution on Nanyang, and made a joint venture with the youth film company set up by Nanyang plate maker, and changed the name of "Tianyi" to "Tianyi youth film company". He has made nearly 10 such films as "Liu Guan Zhang Da Po Huang Jin" and "journey to the west" and so on. During this period, Shao zuiwang, in the name of Tianyuan company and Tiansheng company, made a series of films, such as "hongbiyuan", "four episodes in a row", "funny empty city plan", "tailor's shop" and "cat for Prince", "five rats in Tokyo", "seven heroes and five righteousness".

In 1927, he tried to establish and develop film institutions in Nanyang. Later, it changed its name to Tianyi youth film company (restored in the second half of 1928), and then filmed "seven heroes and five virtues" under the sole ownership of Tianyuan company and Tiansheng company. Shao zuiwang's wife Chen Yumei is not only the "boss" of "Tianyi", but also the "pillar" of "Tianyi". She has starred in many films.

branching

In the autumn of 1928, the cooperation between "Tianyi" and "Youth" was terminated, and Shao ZUIWENG restored the original name of Tianyi company. At this time, Tianyi has made great progress. After discussion, the Shao brothers decided to set up projection outlets and cinemas in Nanyang, and set up Shao's film agency in Singapore, with Shao Renmei and Shao Yifu in charge; at the same time, they continued to shoot martial arts ghost films in Shanghai, focusing on economic benefits. Such as "fire hundred flowers platform", "Tang Huangyou Difu", "Qianlong Jiangnan Tour" and so on. Shao zuiwang used special effects in his film making. The characters in the play can fly through the clouds and walk against the wind. In addition, they can fly over the eaves and walls. The audience is surprised and become a hot topic in the chat, which improves the film sales rate. The sound film was successfully trial produced in the United States in 1926, and was released on August 6 of that year. It was introduced to China that year. On December 16, it was shown in the new central theater of Hongkou, Shanghai.

In November 1928, the Shanghai Youth Association installed a tefloy sounder with just a few songs inserted into the film.

Facing challenges

In 1929, the American movie stars entered China and monopolized the whole Shanghai film market. The first round of theaters changed their equipment one after another to show audio films. Shanghai film companies are facing challenges. Shao brothers analyzed the situation and believed that there were still many silent movie theaters on the market, and there was still a certain market for silent movies, but it was not a long-term solution. They had to keep up with the trend of the times in order to compete with foreign businessmen. Therefore, Shao zuiwang actively prepared for the trial production of audio movies.

At that time, there were two kinds of sound films: wax plate dubbing and on-film pronunciation. The former is simple, low cost, but poor quality, often can not be synchronized. The latter is complex and costly to produce. Moreover, CETC and alcial have the patent rights. They stipulate that they need to sign a contract to make audio films. In addition to the production fee, they also need to draw the copyright fee when they release them. They also have to undertake the installation of sound devices in cinemas.

In 1930, Tianyi company began the trial production of the wax pan sound short film "bell". Unexpectedly, the studio caught fire and the film burned down. Shao Gan and Weng Jiashan decided to rebuild the studio on the first road of the concession. 2、 At the same time, he hired cameraman Kane, sound recorder Braden and Colin from the United States to come to China and rented their audio equipment. Under the harsh conditions, I shot the voice of "spring in the song field" on the film. In order to strengthen the appeal, we also invited famous actresses from other film factories to guest perform. On October 10, 1931, Tianyi company's "spring in the song field" premiered in Shanghai's "Guangling" and "Nanjing" cinemas. Because it was the first sound film in China, it was a big hit. Since then, in the domestic and Nanyang all over the map, are very popular, Shao zuiwang each profit double income. But Tianyi company did spend a lot of money on these Americans. The following year, Shao Weihe (Shao ZUIWENG's son) and others, technical personnel of Tianyi company, mastered the production technology of audio film, and Shao ZUIWENG dismissed these foreigners.

In June 1931, the star film company sent Hong Shen to the United States to hire American technicians to purchase audio equipment. In August, when Hong Shen returned to China, he brought American producer Jason and photographer Smith to help Williamson and other personnel, a total of 15 people, to shoot the sound of "old Beijing", which was completed by the end of January 1932. It was originally planned to be shown in the Grand Theater of calden during the Spring Festival, but unexpectedly, the war of December 28 took place, which affected the box office revenue a lot.

Propagandizing the Anti Japanese War

At the critical moment of national survival, the broad masses of patriotic compatriots were in a high mood of Anti Japanese and put forward the requirements of making progressive films to film workers one after another. Shao zuiwang soon made "Shanghai havoc" and other audio documentaries to promote the Anti Japanese war. This film was soon released in China and Nanyang, and was affirmed by the majority of the audience and public opinion. At the same time, Tianyi company also absorbed Tang Xiaodan, Shen Xiling, situ Huimin (underground Party member of the Communist Party of China, technical director of the Central Film Bureau after the founding of the people's Republic of China), Tian Fang (after the founding of the people's Republic of China)

Chinese PinYin : Shao Zui Weng