| Jin Yong's swordfighting serial simply has the charisma. After CTS experienced ceasing and re-airing the serial, 'Yi Tian Du Long Ji', the viewership went up and even threatened FTV's 'Bu Liao Qing' ranking, this made CTV's general manager, Jiang Feng Qi heading to China personally to sign the contract over the copyright's of TLBB, starring Jimmy. Together with his assistant general manager, Guang Xi- ang Xia, they arranged a trip to Yunnan a few days ago, and specially went there to visit Jimmy as well as meet- ing the famous producer, Zhang Ji Zhong. They were satisfied with the style of filming and the impressive ca- st, and signed the copyrights contract. It's expected that the filming will end on 27 of this month. For the best effe- cts, the project will undergo 6 months of further producti- on, and will be aired on television. It was expected that by October, this serial would be aired in the 8pm prime time slot as the swordfighting blockbuster of the year. During the visit, assistant general manager, Guang Xia- ng Xia was so in awe of 'Duan Yu' and 'Qiao Feng' that she knelt down in front of them? Actually, she had exper- ienced mountain sickness, feeling breathless and dizzi- ness, thus suddenly fell down in front of Jimmy and Hu Jun. Jimmy said that every night, at such high altitude of 2000 over metres, you can feel as though the stars are very cl- ose to you when you look up into the sky. When they ap- pears very bright and shining, this implies that the weat- her in the next day would be good, and Jimmy even turn- ed into a meteorologist, observing the stars every day and report the weather to everyone. Even Hu Jun, who is his sworn brother in the serial can't help laughing at him. (22/1/2003) |
| Duan Yu is born a royalty, and studied the Buddhist scriptur- es since young. He is righteo- us and kind-hearted and loves his people like his own childr- en. He is definitely a saint. Character analysis: After the filming for TLBB started, the role of Duan Yu faced the greatest debates. Firstly is be- cause Benny Chan had received good response for his portrayal as Duan Yu in the previous adaptation, second- ly is because Jimmy's serials were usually 'shallow', his baby face look is far from the royalty image that Duan Yu should possess. So, would Jimmy be able to use his ac- ting skills to overcome the online criticisms against him? Performance analysis: Jimmy said, "I have completed th- e 14 works of Jin Yong, I read every book at least twice!" However, it was only later that I realised that Jimmy was actually referring to the comics instead of the written nov- els. Towards the many online criticisms by Jin Yong fans to- wards him, Jimmy had knew about them, and sighed, "Who made a 27 year old like me to still have the face of a 17 year old." But he said that actually when both China and Taiwan were both filming TLBB at the same time la- st year, Taiwan version had also invited him, perhaps th- is is something Jin Yong fans wouldn't have expected. "It's good that everyone has some debates over me, in this way I would be able to surprise everyone in future, this would be better than having very high expectations of me and having greater disappointment if I don't perfor- m as expected." Towards the character of Duan Yu, what Jimmy underst- and about him is: "In the past, the portrayal Xiao Yuer an- d Lu Xiao Feng are adorable, kind, popular among the girls. Actually, Duan Yu also has some of these charact- eristics, just that in the past, no one has brought out the- se characteristics of him. Although he is from a royal fa- mily, but he isn't in the least concern about his special status, and often made himself dirty, and only think abo- ut others instead of himself in whatever he does, and he doesn't even mind in putting himself in danger." About performance, Jimmy expressed that he would focus on bringing out Duan Yu's faithfulness towards Wang Yu Y- an, because the kind of foolish faith he has towards her isn't just purely on love, but it's a kind of worship towards her, this is also a part of him that makes people like him so much. (13/1/2003) |
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| _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ All rights reserve to Jimmy Lin Fans' Zone January 2003 |
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| TLBB Characters - Duan Yu |
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| TLBB Rushing, Expect To End By This Month |
| The mainland product- ion of TLBB which is n- ow rushing work in Da- li and Jiang Li, is sche- duled to end filming on 27 January. Producer Zhang Ji Zho- ng told reporters that yesterday's scene was about Duan Yu fetching his mother, Queen Bai Dao Feng back to Dali. In the novel, this isn't such a big deal but the producer wanted to tak- e this opportunity to di- splay the local scenic and cultures. Along the streets towards the Da- li palace, it was filled with the lion dance per- formances, music, gu- ards and horses, with all the common people crowding together. The scene was spectacula- r. And the important ch- aracters, Duan Zheng Chun, Duan Yu, Bai Dao Feng and Mu Wan Qing appeared on their horses, and the atmos- |
| phere reached a clima- x. Zhang Ji Zhong disclo- sed that it was schedu- led to end before 27 Ja- nuary, "Because we ha- ve booked the air ticket on the 29 to return ho- me for the Chinese Ne- w Year." Even though both Jim- my's female assistants are very stern, in the fil- mset, Jimmy still carri- es a sunny smile and accepted reporters' int- erview. He haven't even spoken a word yet and he was already surrou- nded by curious onloo- kers. He said laughingly, "T- hese 10 years, filming this show is the most relaxing, I don't need to go around fighting, kill- |
| ing which is very tiring. For my '6 acupoint hea- venly sword *literally translated*' skill, I just need to point lightly an- d it's ok...haha" He also felt that the reason that it's relaxing is because compared to Taiwan, which has to rush for completion in time for the airing schedule, it's not the case for TLBB. "But staying with the filmset for too long isn't very good too, till now I still haven't got to watch the movie 'Hero'." Jimmy also disclosed that these few years he had been putting a lot of time in filming, and his albums are getting fewer. "But this summ- er, there will surely be a new album to be rel- ease." Asking him wh- at other roles does he hope to act, he replied without hesitation, "A car racer." (13/1/2003) |
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| Soldiers Have Better Life Than Jimmy |
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| Jimmy is still rushing works, filming in Dali, Yunnan for the serial "Tian Long Ba Bu", and initially, there's a few d- ays holiday where he's able to go home and reunite with his family for the new year, but as he had to fulfil his Indo- nesian's fans constant urge for him to come, this Feb 1st, he would head for Indonesia for a concert. He realised that he has even fewer days of holidays as co- mpared to his younger brother who is current- ly serving military serv-ice, and began sighing. Fortunately, Jimmy kn- ows how to enjoy bet- ween his work. When he was filming in Dali, he secretly took some time to head for Yu Lo- ng Snow Mountain, tak- ing a cable car to the peak and admire the beautiful snow scener- y. Just a pity there's sh- ort of a loved one besi- de him. Jimmy who always car- e for his fans, had to fulfil his Indonesian fa- ns' constant request, and decided to sacrific- e a few days of his new year holiday to head for Indonesia for a concert. Jimmy had actually pla- nned to spend the few days of holiday with his family members after these few months of working overseas. His younger brother who q- uite resembles Jimmy, is currently serving mil- itary service will also be heading home for the new year. Jimmy si- ghed, "Even my brother in the army is able to go home for 5 days wi- thin a month, I'm only able to go back to Tai- wan for 4 days within 2 or 3 months. My god! Filming is even tougher than being a soldier." |
| Fortunately, Jimmy kn- ows how to entertain h- imself. Together with his assistant, they went up in a cable car to the 4506m peak of Mount Yu Long. Surrounding them was clouds and the scenery was beaut- iful. Jimmy can't help feeling the itch and sai- d, "What a pity I didn't bring my snow skiing equipment, or else I c- ould have had a great time snow skiing! A few years ago, I went to Ko- rea to film a commerci- al and promote my alb- um, and at the same time, learnt how to ice ski. But I felt that the sc- enery of Mount Yu Long doesn't lose out the the sceneries in the Korea- ean movie 'Winter Son- anta'." When Jimmy was trek- king up the mountain, initially he thought that his physical fitness ha- d gone down as just walking a short distan- ce, he became breathl- ess, and felt lacking ox- ygen, dizzy; later he re- alised it's 'mountain si- ckness' due to the high altitude. The filming gr- ound of TLBB was also at at an altitude of 2000 over metres above sea level, and already abov- e the clouds. Many oth- er cast members were also affected by mount- ain sickness, feeling dizzy and shortness of breath. Especially the UV rays is very strong, and everyone became darker the longer they work. There was once when Jimmy was walk- ing along the street in Dali, someone called out to him, and he tho- ught it was a fan, but after a closer look, he realised it was the dire- ctor who had arrived in Dali 2 weeks eariler th- an the team. |
| He was too tan that Ji- mmy almost couldn't recognise him. In this romantic mount- ain scenery, there isn't a girlfriend to share thi- s with him, does he felt a pity? Jimmy replied, "Snow skiing is not su- itable for 2 people, if I have a girlfriend, I will bring her diving, then we can explore the sea together hand in hand." Isn't this the same as Japan serial, 'Summer Snow'? Jimmy said, "This summer, I hope to film a romantic mod- ern serial, the best is to have scenes of the sun, sand, surfing, div- ing, etc, and I can work and have fun at the sa- me time, this would be awfully awesome!" In this new year, after finishing TLBB filming work, Xia Yu Shun has accepted for Jimmy a performance in Indon- esia and he is also currently carefully cho- osing a film among the many films invitations for Jimmy. A modern show 'Summer Love' has the highest possi- bility. Following that, this su- mmer holidays, Jimmy will release his new album. Currently, ther- e's many companies in China competing to in- vite Jimmy, offering hi- m a high 8 digit amou- nt to sign him on under them as a car racer. Ji- mmy is also still caref- ully considering about this. (21/1/2003) |
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| CTV General Manager Personally Bought Copyrights Of TLBB |
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| Always Being Beaten, Jimmy Is Afraid |
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| After several months of fil- ming work, CTV's 'TLBB' will finally be ending its fil- ming before Chinese New Year! Jimmy recalled and said that filming this serial is like 'Meng Mu San Qian' (refers to an ancient Chin- ese fable of a mother mo- ving house several times to provide her son the best condusive environment for him to study/excel). Moreover, he had used up hundreds over warm pou- ches, and even fitted 'bos- om' Although it was arran- ged that Jimmy as Duan Yu and Wang Yu Yan were a pair in the film, but Jim- my said frankly that he act- ually prefer girls like Zhon- g Ling, cheerful, romantic and doesn't have any mot- ives, and in this serial, he was beaten until he is afr- aid of it and hopes that in his next film, he can act as a hero so that he won't ne- ed to be beaten again. Jimmy said happily, "Fina- lly, it's going to end!" To e- nsure perfect completion, CCTV's TLBB not only built a 'TLBB city', they had also obtained sceneries all the way from Beijing, Huai Lai, Plum Blossom Island, Yu- nnan Snow Mountain, and the filming process can be said to use 'Meng Mu San Qian' to describe. Currently, the climate in Y- unnan can be said to be 4 seasons in a day, from fr- eezing winter, warm sprin- g, hot summer to cool aut- umn, and the changes in the temperature were dra- matic. With the many diffe- rent climates, every artiste can become a 'meteorolo- gist'. Jimmy said, "My as- sistant and I had prepared many warm pouches, and I've used up a few hundre- ds. I also put on 2 long jo- hns, 2 socks and even pa- sted 2 warm pouches on my chest, like 'bosoms'." |
| Jimmy understands the h- ardships in filming very w- ell, but this time, he really had alot of tough times. "Under the low temperatu- re of 2, 3 degrees celsius, from the waterfall, I had to fall into a lake, and I had not only wrapped myself with cellophane inside my costume, I had even worn diving suit inside. Going down into the water for ju- st 10 over seconds, I felt totally numb, fortunately th- e car with the heater turn- ed on was already waiting by the side, or else I'll rea- lly be freezed down there." Most 'regretful' is that the serial totally follows the adaptation of the novel, th- erefore from the start of th- e filming, Jimmy's Duan Yu was always being bas- hed, "Sigh! I was beaten by Wu Liang Jian people, Mu Wan Qing also bash me, Bao Bu Tong K me, Mu Rong Fu kicked me, b- ut Duan Yu is simply too kind-hearted, he usually won't hit back no matter how badly treated, natura- lly I became everyone's punchbag lo." 'TLBB' also has another special feature, that is 'lo- ts of people'. Jimmy said proudly, "I've never seen such great number of peo- ple in a production team, including war scenes, pal- ace scenes. Even the bac- kground actors are more than 700 to 800 members, workers also made up to 300 to 400. Therefore, wh- enever we need to move, it would need to take 2 to 3 days. And many people suffered from mountain sickness. We had already saw the completed produ- ction of the eariler works, and the effects doesn't lo- se out to QTDS, such ser- ials." (24/1/2003) |