November 17 – 23

This week has been a very very busy week because of all the action sequences we had to film. As soon as we finished one, we would begin another. There never seems to be enough time, but this is the American style. They give one day or two days for filming action and they have a very strict planning schedule. This is not the same as it is for us in Hong Kong. If we don’t finish filming a sequence, we just take another day and then another day until it’s done. In America we can’t do that. Maybe they can give me another half day; maybe two or three more hours. That’s all.

Most days this past week, my JC Team and I didn’t take a lunch break. Even if the others went to lunch, we continued to work on and think about the shots. One thing I’ve noticed is that in America there are a lot of actors who cannot fight. And in Hong Kong our problem is that we have a lot of fighters who cannot act. Most of the time the Hong Kong villains are just young boys wearing a fake moustache. They’re trained to fight but not to act. For the American films, they find really good actors and actresses, but they can’t fight in my kind of style. So I have to spend time thinking about the action sequences, about which shot can help the action sequence be more exciting. It’s been a lot of work for me.

Several of the actors hired for this production are very tall and big. Since they weigh around three hundred pounds I wanted to be very careful that they didn’t get hurt. You can imagine if I flip a three hundred pound man and he somersaults and hits the ground…..he could get hurt. The director said, “Yes! Yes! I like that!” so I had to plan the sequences involving these big men very carefully. Plus, this is a children’s movie and I don’t want it to be too violent.

JC Stunt Team members He Jun, Alan Ng, and Han Guan Hua get ready for an action sequence.

When I think about the action sequences and the stunts, the first thing I think of is safety. Safety is very important. But even when you’re careful, accidents can happen. On Monday we filmed one shot and even though I thought it would be completely safe, something went wrong. I really thought it would be safe and I told Will that it would be fun; not to worry. We tested the scene; my stuntman did it, I did it. Everything was fine. We began filming and the first shot was good and I thought okay, he was safe, now he will have more confidence, we’ll do one more shot. He was so happy! But the second shot was too fast. Somehow, we were turning too fast – Will was behind me – and I fell. Maybe it was too fast, maybe too slippery. I didn’t know what happened…I looked at Will and I saw that he was crying. When I looked at the playback - - wow! A strap went around his neck, causing him to choke for a moment. But he was very tough and he came right back to do it again. I was very happy about this. I know that everyone on the set trusts me, even the moms. When I’m doing action with the children the moms tell the kids “Trust Jackie; Jackie won’t hurt you.” That gives me a lot of confidence. I really want all the children to have a chance to do some action in the film and when we do that, I always do the best that I can. The rest I leave to the director.

I talked to Will after the accident. I think he is a very brave, trusting boy and has a good attitude.

This week I had a lot of dialogue scenes, and the director really helped me a lot. It’s been a busy week, a good week, but not enough sleep!

On Sunday I just relaxed, washed some clothes, looked at some email, and practiced a song I have to sing next week. During the Thanksgiving holiday, I will be very busy. I have to go back to Hong Kong for a charity opening, then take a flight to Guangzhou to attend a tourism festival since I’m the tourism ambassador. Then I have to fly to Beijing to film a commercial, attend a scrīpt meeting, go to rehearsal, and then attend a charity concert. Then I have to fly back to Guangzhou to attend another charity concert. Then I will fly back to the US to continue filming The Spy Next Door. So for me, next week will be a very very busy week.

I am really enjoying my time in New Mexico, and I think Albuquerque is a very good place. However, something that happened the other night that shocked me. I think everyone who reads my diary will remember that I bought a lot of things at Lowe’s last weekend. When we returned from that shopping trip, I told my assistant, Osumi, that we should bring the things upstairs but she said no; there was no need to carry everything upstairs because it all had to be brought to the production office for mailing. I asked her if she was sure and she said yes, no need to bring upstairs, then bring down. The next morning, she came to my door and said, “Our car was broken into and everything was stolen.” I said to her, “I told you that we should bring the things upstairs!” We later found out that eight cars were broken into that night. Everybody started talking about the break-ins and began thinking that maybe Albuquerque wasn’t a safe place but I reminded them that this kind of thing can happen anywhere - in Hong Kong, America, China….everywhere! No matter where you go, you just have to be careful. You have to put your belongings away; not leave them in your car.

I remember when I was in Spain about twenty years ago and I was out location scouting. We stopped the car, took the camera and the video and just crossed the street to take a look around. When we came back, everything was gone from the car. Even though we’d locked it, someone broke in and stole everything, just that quickly. A few days later, one of my friends went to the beach on a Sunday afternoon. He took his radio out of the car and locked the door. He wrote a note and put it on the dashboard. The note said “NO RADIO IN THE CAR!” When he came back, the car had been broken into. Someone had written him a note back saying “We were just checking.” That became a joke for us…just checking. So remember, this kind of thing can happen anywhere. 

On Saturday, I took my receipt from Lowe’s and went back to the store and bought everything all over again. Yes, I lost some money, but I think that it taught my assistant a lesson – don’t be lazy.

Back to Lowe's to replace everything that was stolen.

Just joking around. We didn't buy any lawnmowers.

An Italian movie production that was in town invited us to Santa Fe on Sunday to play a soccer game against them. I told my stunt team that they should go, but that I didn’t want to go with them. Ever since I broke my ankle, I don’t play soccer anymore. I’m just scared that I’ll break my ankle again. Running is okay, but soccer is tricky.

When I woke up on Sunday, I thought again about going to the game…should I or shouldn’t I? But it was already two o’clock and I figured that they’d already started…maybe they’d even be finished. I called my friend in Hong Kong about some business and he told me that he was unable to go home. I asked him why and he said that someone had jumped off a building where he lives and the police had blocked off the street. He said that the man had committed suicide because he'd lost all his money in the financial crisis. I think that lately a lot of people will be doing this kind of stupid thing (committing suicide) and I wish I could tell people who are thinking of killing themselves to just hang on. These kinds of problems with the financial markets happen every couple of years and it will get better.

I believe that there is no such thing as quick money and so I don't gamble or play the stock market. I believe in "tough money." You work, you get money. You can't think that you will become rich from gambling. There is a Chinese proverb that says that if you keep seeking for more, you will lose what you already have. There is no quick money.  Think about it. There are six billion people on Earth and only a handful win big money playing the lottery. I always knew that I wasn't the kind of person who would come into easy money, so I've always worked hard. When I was young I thought I could make some quick money by gambling, but I always lost. So I stopped doing that and I just work hard and earn my money.

So my message to everyone who is having hard times right now is to hang on; times will get better. Trust me. Trust yourself. Trust your government and the world. There are people who will help you. And if you have the ability, you should help others. When I was young and poor somebody helped me. When I had the ability to help others, that's what I did. So please, don't do something stupid. Just hang on.  

Anyway, back to my Sunday and why I didn't go to the soccer game. I predicted that my stunt team would definitely lose against the Italians, and since it was Sunday, I just wanted to relax. However, I received an excited phone call from my stunt team….they won! They beat the Italian team 4 to 1. I thought about it and I believe that one of the reasons they won was because the hairdresser bought all the guys soccer shoes. Here are some photos of the team and their cheerleaders:

Here's the team.

These are the cheerleaders - Alina, Maddy, and Will with some helpers.

Will sneaks up on the opposing team to find out their strategy.

(Thanks to Shari Shadley for the soccer photos.)

On Sunday afternoon I went shopping at a nearby mall, but I didn’t buy anything. After we left the mall, we went to the bookstore and while I was there, a woman approached me and said, “My sister just loves you! She wants to get a JC tattoo." I immediately told her to please ask her sister not to do this. After I said it, I wondered whether this was the right thing to say and I decided that it was. I don’t want anyone getting a tattoo because of me.

After Osumi, Katharine, and I came back from our shopping trip, my stunt team returned from the soccer game in Santa Fe and we all went out for a nice dinner. I invited my little friends Will and Maddy and their cousin Nicole. While we were having dinner, I noticed that Maddy spilled a bit of rice on the table when she was serving herself. It was no big deal, only a few grains of rice, but I told her that if I’d done that back when I was at the Peking Opera School, I would have received a very hard smack as punishment. She looked amazed when I told her this…as if she couldn’t imagine being beaten for something so simple. I told her and Will some more stories from my time at the Opera School and I think they were very surprised when they found out the kind of treatment young kids received there. Here we are during dinner:

When we got back to the apartment, I gave Maddy, Will, and Nicole each a special watch:

So it was a good week. Hard work, not enough sleep....but a very good week.

Here are some photos from the past week that I wanted you to see:

I showed Alina how to ride the Segway PT. Don't worry, I didn't let her go off on her own!

Teaching Will how to ride.

Will and Maddy playing foosball between scenes. I wonder what happened to our ping pong table?

Maddy introduced me to her favorite fast food chicken.

Snacks on the set.

The Santa Ana Pueblo Police Department kept their promise and sent me some souvenirs.

Students from a nearby high school made me a special sign.

Maddy and her bubble gum.
Photo by Jack Tu.

I took this photo to show you the mountains. When I first looked at them I thought they were covered with snow. But it's not snow...those are clouds hugging the mountaintop!

We had many late nights this week. Dinner was served outside.

Text and photos Copyright 2008 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.

Nov 17 - 23 (星期一至星期日)

          这个星期非常非常的忙碌，因为我们要拍所有的动作戏份。当我们完成了一个连续的动作镜头，我们就要开始另外一个。这永远都不够时间似的，但是这是美国的作风。他们给一或者是两天去拍摄动作，而他们的预算工作排程表是很严谨的，这跟我们在香港的方式很不一样。如果我们没有把动作镜头完成，就多拍一天，然后又多拍一天，直到完成为止，在美国我们是不可能这样做的。可能他们可以多给我半天，又可能多给两或是三个小时，就是这样而已。

          过去一星期里，大多数日子我和我的成家班都没有停下来吃午饭，就算其它人去吃午饭，我们也继续工作并研究镜头。我发现了一件事情，在美国有很多演员都不会打。然而，在香港的问题就是我们有很多会打的人，却不会演戏。很多时候，香港的反派角色都是起用一些年青人化装带上胡子，他们受过训练，懂得打，却没有受过演技训练。美国电影都会找来很好的男女演员，可是他们就不会不同的打斗方式了。所以，我需要花些时间想想一连串的动作设计，如何可以令这些动作更加刺激，这让我有很多工作呢。

          这部戏有几位演员很高，个子大，由于他们的体重大约有三百磅，我想要非常小心，以免他们受伤。试想想，我打倒一个三百磅的男人，然后他翻筋斗，掉在地上．．．他会受伤的。导演说：「是！是！我喜欢这个！」所以，我需要很小心的设计一些动作给这些高大演员。而且，这是一部儿童电影，我不想太暴力。

          当我想着一连串的动作镜头和危险动作，首先我就会想到安全，安全是非常重要的。但是，就算你是很小心，意外也是会发生的。我们星期一拍摄一个镜头的时候，就算我认为完全安全，仍是会有意外的。我真的认为是安全的，我告诉伟这会很有趣的，不用担心。我们试了几次，我的成家班试做了，我也试做了，完全没有问题。我们开始拍摄，第一个镜头很好，我认为是可以的，伟也很安全，现在他会对做动作有更多的信心，我们可以多来一次，而他也很开心。可是，第二次拍的时候，动作太快了。莫名其妙地，我们都变得快了，伟在我身后，最后我跌倒了。可能因为太快了，或是太滑了，我不知道发生了什么事情．．．我看着伟，我看到他在哭。当我重看录像带的时候，哗！原来他的颈被带子缠着，令他窒息了一会儿。可是他非常坚强，他马上继续再来一次。我对此感到非常高兴，因为我知道每一个在现场的人都信任我，甚至是那些母亲们。我跟小孩子一起拍动作的时候，他们的母亲都会告诉孩子们：「相信成龙，他不会伤害你的。」，这使我充满了信心。我真的想所有的孩子都可以有机会在戏里面做一些动作，而我们做的时候，我经常都尽我所能，余下的就交给导演了。

          意外后，我跟伟说，我想他是一个很勇敢，让人信任的男孩子，而且态度也很好。

          这个星期我有很多对白的戏份，导演真的帮了我很多。这个星期可以说是一个忙碌和美好的星期，却睡眠不足！

          星期天，我只是放松自己，洗衣服，看看电邮，还有就是练习下星期要唱的歌曲。感恩节的时候，我将会非常忙碌。我要回香港参加一个慈善活动的开幕礼，然后就飞去广州出席旅游节，因为我是旅游大使。接着，我要飞去北京拍一个广告、开剧本会、彩排，然后出席一个慈善演唱会。随后，我就要飞回广州，参加另一个慈善演唱会。再飞回美国继续拍摄《The Spy Next Door》。对我来说，下星期是一个非常非常忙碌的星期。

          我真的很享受在新墨西哥的日子，而我想阿布奎基（Albuquerque）是一个很好的地方。可是，某一个晚上发生的事情让我震惊。我想看过我日记的人会记得上星期我在刘易斯买了很多东西，回程的时候，我告诉助手Osumi把它们摆放在楼上，但是她说不用，因为制作部会把这些东西寄到香港。我问她是肯定吗？她说是，肯定，不需要摆放到楼上，于是就把物品放在楼下。第二天早上，她来到我的门前并说：「我们的车被破坏了，车上的东西全都被偷走了。」。我跟她说：「我告诉你我们应该把物品搬到楼上！」，后来我们发现当晚有八辆车被破坏。大家开始谈论非法侵入，又开始想可能阿布奎基不是一个安全的地方。但是，我提醒他们，这种事情那里都会发生，在香港、美国、中国．．那里都会！无论你到那里去，你都需要小心。你必须把财物拿走，不要留在车上。

          记得二十年前，我在西班牙去看景，我们停车，拿过照相机和录象机，走到对面的街上看看。我们回来的时候，车上所有的东西都不见了。虽然我们把车子锁上了，仍然有人非法侵入并偷走了所有东西，就是这么快速。几天以后，一个星期天的中午，一位朋友去海滩，他从车上拿了收音机，把车子锁好。他写上一张纸条放在汽车的仪器板上，纸条说：「车上没有收音机！」。他回来的时候，车子被非法侵入了。有人看过他的纸条，并回复说：「我们只是检查一下。」，这成为我们的一个笑话．．只是检查。所以记住，这种事情在任何地方都会发生。

          星期六，我拿着从刘易斯买东西的单据回到刘易斯，重新再买一次所有东西。是，我是不见了钱，可是我想我的助手已经上了一课：不要懒惰。

          一队意大利的制作队来到镇上工作，他们邀请我们星期天到圣达菲作足球友谊赛。我跟成家班说，他们应该去，但是我不想跟他们一起去。这都是因为我的足踝断过，自始之后我都不踢足球了。我只是担心足踝会再次受伤，跑步还可以，踢足球就免了。

          星期天醒来的时候，我还在想应不应该去球赛呢？但是已经是下午两点钟了，我估计他们已经开始比赛，或者已经踢完了。我打电话给香港的朋友谈一些公事，他告诉我他不能回家，因为他所住的大厦有人跳楼，警察封锁了街道，朋友说那个男人因为在金融海啸中失去了所有金钱而自杀。我想最近有很多人做这种傻事（自杀），我希望我可以告诉这些想自寻短见的人坚持下去，因为这种金融市场的问题每几年就会发生，迟些日子就会有好转的。

          我相信是没有赚快钱这回事，所以我不赌博，或是在股票市场里玩。我相信“踏实的公钱”，你工作就赚取到金钱。你不可能认为你可以从赌博中致富，中文俗语说：「如果你继续寻找更多，你会失去已经拥有的。」，世上是没有快钱的。想一想，地球上有六十亿人口，仅极少数人能嬴得彩金。我知道我不是那种轻易赚到快钱的人，所以我常常努力工作。我年青的时候，我想我可以从赌博中赚得快钱，可是我老是输。于是，我不再赌，只是努力工作赚钱。

          所以，我要告诉大家，如果你正处于困难时期，请坚忍着，捱过了就会好起来的。相信我，相信你自己，相信你的政府和整个世界，有人会帮助你的。如果你有能力的话，你应该帮助其它人。我很小的时候，很穷，有人帮助了我，当我有能力帮助别人的时候，我就帮助别人。所以，请求不要再做傻事，请坚强起来。

          说回我的星期天，我让在想为何不去足球友谊赛呢？我预料我的成家班肯定会输给意大利人，而今天是星期日，我只想轻松一下。然而，我收到一个令人兴奋的电话，是我的成家班打给我的．．．他们嬴了！他们打败意大利队，赛果是四比一。我想和相信他们能够嬴的其中一个原因是因为发型师为他们买了足球鞋子。

          星期天的中午，我到附近的商场买东西，可是我没有买到什么。我们离开商场的时候，我们去了书店。书店里，有一个女人来到我面前跟我说：「我妹妹很喜欢你！她想刺一个JC的纹身。」。我马上叫她着妹妹不要这样做。说过了以后，我犹豫自己这样说对不对，我决定这是对的，因为我不想任何人去纹身是因为了我。

          我和Osumi、Katharine购物回来，我的成家班从圣达菲的友谊赛凯旋回来，我们一起去吃了一顿很好的晚餐。我邀请了我的小朋友伟、麦迪和他们的表妹尼高一起去。吃饭的时候，我留意到麦迪把饭掉在桌上，这不是大不了的事情，只是几颗米饭，可是我告诉她，如果我在京剧学校的时候，我会把饭捡起来吃，而且会被打作惩罚。她听过以后感到很惊讶．．就像她不敢相信因为这些小事而被打。我又告诉麦迪和伟我在京剧学校里的事情，我想他们都很惊讶在学校里竟然有人这样对待小孩子。

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