"Film Music Magazine" ID: SoundtrackM

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Interview/Sun Xinkai

From After entering the industry, Wong Ying-wa, who is from Hong Kong, became the composer favored by famous directors such as Johnnie To and Tsui Hark. Since "The King of Comedy", his collaboration with Stephen Chow has been even more praised. Behind works such as "Shaolin Football", "Kung Fu", and "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", without Huang Yinghua's soundtrack, it would probably be a bit sad (but not ecstatic).

On the occasion of the release of "The New King of Comedy", "Shadow Magazine" had a chat with Mr. Huang Yinghua about his cooperation and friendship with Stephen Chow that spanned two decades. Who composed the song "I Raise You"? How to play silk and bamboo folk music? Stephen Chow actually wrote the soundtrack? What is the self-cultivation of a comedy composer? I believe that in Huang Yinghua’s wonderful words, readers will have a deeper understanding of their artistic vitality.

Yinglezhi: Hello, Mr. Huang Yinghua, in fact, most people mentioned you because of Stephen Chow’s works in the first place. In addition, you are indeed very low-key at ordinary times. In fact, many people are not familiar with your career path. Don’t be curious, could you start by talking about how you got into this industry?

Huang Yinghua: I never thought about doing movie soundtracks, I wanted to do pop music. I was studying in Canada at the time, and when I went back to Hong Kong during the summer vacation in 1995, a friend introduced another friend to me because he knew that I liked music and wanted to pursue a career in music. He introduced me to a producer at the record company, Lei Songde.

Lei Songde is very popular in pop music in Hong Kong, so he said you are OK and can help in the company. Hong Kong pop music has a lot of activities, because the Hong Kong record industry was very developed at that time, so I entered the industry and met my first person in the music industry.

In addition to pop music, he also did some other work, such as advertising, TV series and movies. During one of the jobs, he introduced me to Huang Zhan. He said there aren’t enough people there, so go help and learn. That's how I met Uncle Zhan. Later, I casually met Tsui Hark, teacher Hu Weili, and then casually met many people in the film industry, so I got to where I am now.

Ying Lezhi: So that’s it. Did you first study music in Canada?

Huang Yinghua: I am majoring in computer science. But I still had a music minor in college. But now we still rely on computers to make music, so it’s still useful.

Ying Le Zhi: Then your so-called "idle person" got to know Mr. Hu Weili, who also wrote a lot of music for Stephen Chow's movies. Did your interpretation of Stephen Chow's music begin with Teacher Hu?

Huang Yinghua: I think what Teacher Hu taught me the most is how to be a good person. How to behave and survive in this industry, he helped me far more than music. On the contrary, I rarely talked to him about music.

I admire him very much. He is a superman. Compared to him, I am a very lazy person. At the beginning, I didn’t know that making film scores was so hard. When I took on a movie, I was just helping out, and I only had two or three hours of sleep every day. What's even more distressing is that Teacher Hu often "scolded" me at that time, saying, "I can't stand such a little pain. You know that besides this one, I have to make five movies at the same time." At that time, I really couldn't believe a A person can make so many movies and so much music, he is really hardworking and diligent.

I remember the first film I did with him was "Butterfly Lovers" (1994) directed by Tsui Hark. When we were making "Knife" (1995), we stayed in the recording studio with Tsui Hark all night until dawn. When we got out of the recording studio, I had to revise the music ideas proposed by the director, and then went to the recording studio that afternoon. It was like this every day. , in fact, there is no time to sleep. On the second day, I collapsed a little and almost cried. After all, I hadn’t slept for two days, so I said, “I really can’t stand it anymore.” At this time, Tsui Hark came over and said, “Look, The assistant director next to me, ask him how many days he has not slept, three or four days! Look at me, how many days have I not slept? Do you have anything else to say?" I have nothing to say and continue working. Making movies at that time was very hard, and it was very common to go without sleep for several days. I admire those predecessors very much.

While working for Teacher Hu Weili, I also came into contact with other directors, such as Johnnie To. He wrote many films with Johnnie To at that time, and naturally I got to know each other while helping, so I also wrote music for many films for Johnnie To. Later, he had some work to write for Li Lichi and Stephen Chow's movies, and he also introduced me to Li Lichi. Through Li Lichi, I met Stephen Chow again, so my cooperation with Stephen Chow began. The first one is "The King of Comedy".

Movie Chronicle: Speaking of "The King of Comedy", Daisuke Hinata's music was a classic 90s Japanese synthesizer and fresh style, which was also very different from Stephen Chow's previous works.

When I asked you for help, was it writing filler music or some other form of creation?

Huang Yinghua: Before approaching me, I had already approached Daisuke Hinata, because "The Long Holiday" was also broadcast on Hong Kong TV at that time and was very popular. Stephen Chow also likes that kind of music and thinks that such popular and trendy music can be used in movies. So he found Hinata Daisuke.

As for Daisuke Hinata, maybe the way to make Japanese TV dramas is to write a lot of music in advance but not watch the scenes. But if it is used in a movie, it may not cover all the plot and atmosphere needs of the movie. Therefore, Stephen Chow must have another person in charge to create, and that is me.

He told me that he had these pieces of music by Daisuke Hinata on hand, which was about ten or eight pieces. Mainly romantic and relaxing music. The tense, frightening, and inspirational atmosphere all have to be supplemented by me.

Yinglezhi: Compared with this year's "The New King of Comedy", I feel that there is very little original music, and it is almost non-existent. What is the reason for this?

Huang Yinghua: The most special thing about this movie is that there is very little music. Because the drama, human emotions and stories in this film are particularly rich. In the past, there were more nonsensical jokes or exciting scenes, but in this movie, you can carefully savor the relationship between people, the relationship between father and daughter, the scenes before the supporting role, etc. There is a lot of drama between everyone, So the director decided he didn’t need much music. Because the dialogue and story are both rich, there is no need for exaggerated, over-the-top music, as if the music is telling a story. In addition, there are many musical tributes to "The King of Comedy" and references to "Swan Lake".

"Swan Lake" implements the same theme throughout the entire film, from the moment you get on the bus to eat a box lunch for free, to the time when you hit the lowest point and want to die, to the final peak of life when you finally succeed, it is also the same as "Swan Lake" .

Ying Le Zhi: So is there any special purpose in using Lao Chai's "Swan Lake"? Who chose the music?

Huang Yinghua: The music we used was actually decided upon by everyone together. "Swan Lake" was the one I proposed. Before this, I had a lot of ideas for the music here, and it has gone through a lot of twists and turns. I have tried about twenty or thirty songs. I have also written a lot of original music to try, and I have also tried other classic film music, jazz, and classical music. .

After trying so many "Swan Lake" movies, I feel that this one has the best effect. Because this piece of music is not only used for one scene, but can be applied to three scenes of happiness, loss, and success, and the effect is very good. Because the work itself is rich, tragic, and gorgeous.

Ying Le Zhi: So it doesn’t have much reference to the story of “Swan Lake” itself?

Huang Yinghua: Actually, we didn’t study the story of "Swan Lake". The main reason is that the music itself fits the story.

Ying Le Zhi: Mr. Xing strictly controls every aspect of filming, from performances to scripts, etc. Will he be like this when you write music?

Huang Yinghua: He is following music more and more closely. With each film he makes, he becomes more concerned and nervous about the music. To "The New King of Comedy", from what music to use, to writing when the music is dull, when to improve, when to start, when to stop, when the atmosphere changes, how to change the orchestration, what instrument to use, use piano or guitar , he will participate in everything, and all require his approval. Every capital is this process.

Ying Le Zhi: It seems that he has already imagined how the music will be presented in his mind.

Huang Yinghua: There are some scenes where he already has music in his mind when filming, but there are also some scenes where he will think over and over again after filming. He is a person who thinks often. He may hear a piece of music while shopping and think that it can be used in a certain scene. He will keep listening and keep paying attention.

I would often change it when I was working with him. Maybe if he heard a certain piece of music in the restaurant today, he would think this one is better than that one, and then call me - Hey, do you have it? I’ve never heard of this one; hey, try that one.

Maybe two days later he hears some music while exercising, and he will want to change it again, so he will keep thinking, trying, and changing.

Yinglezhi: So you will start discussing it earlier, but if you want to write it, you should wait until after the filming is completed?

Huang Yinghua: Yes. And he tends to use more and more classic music, such as old songs, music from his previous works, and even things from his childhood. This is his tendency.

But even if he is interested in old music, we may not be able to buy it (copyright), and others may not be willing to sell it. Even if I am willing to sell it, but the record is already bad, or the recording is very poor, then I have to do it again. If the music cannot be bought at all, I will have to take that atmosphere and feeling and make a piece of music with the same emotion.

Ying Le Zhi: You just said that you had thought about some of the music before filming.

What I immediately thought of were several fight scenes in "Kung Fu". I think the classic folk music of "East China Sea Fisherman's Song", "The Order of the General" and "Little Knife Club" seem to fit perfectly with the martial arts and emotions on the screen. Is it filming? Have you thought about the music situation beforehand?

Huang Yinghua: No (laughing), the characters, plots and tricks in "Kung Fu" were all from the Cantonese feature films we watched when we were children, so the music already knew that it would be in the Cantonese feature film. those traditional folk music. Therefore, we searched for the most suitable tunes and the most suitable passages among the songs commonly used in Cantonese feature films at that time, and kept trying.

Many bands have played these songs, and they can be purchased on different CDs. However, we couldn’t find a version that was powerful enough for the film and suitable for the editing speed, because we had to put these folk music in pure fighting scenes. The intensity is not enough. After all, when writing folk music, you may not necessarily be thinking about fists and kicks.

We could only find the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra to re-perform and record it according to our requirements in order to make it more suitable for action scenes, so the version we used was more like an action scene soundtrack and faster. The folk instruments used by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra are all modified, and their seating arrangements are influenced by Western orchestras. Therefore, everything from instrument design to seating to recording is wider, with a stronger sense of space, and more dynamics and intensity. In my opinion, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra is the best at playing Chinese music.

Yinglezhi: So the "Song of the Wanderer" that appears again in "The New King of Comedy" is also the same?

Huang Yinghua: Yes, this song was often used in Cantonese feature films in the past. So a lot of his inspiration comes from Cantonese feature films. Perhaps the Cantonese feature films that he was most exposed to when he was watching TV as a child were also these things that inspired his love for acting and movies. He has too many feelings in that area.

Yinglezhi: So in "The New King of Comedy", in addition to so many tributes to the old music, what special direction or positioning did you have when writing new music?

Huang Yinghua: First of all, it must correspond to the style of the old version, and it cannot be too far away, because as soon as you put the music of the old version in, the song will already stand out and be very conspicuous. Since there is already such strong music, the character of the original music should not be out of line, the melody should not be strong, and it should not be exaggerated or confuse the audience.

Yinglezhi: Your music timbre has a very special sense of the age of synthesizer timbres. Even if you write music for mainland costume dramas, I would like to ask if you insist on using timbres instead of recording with a band. The reason?

Huang Yinghua: There are various reasons, sometimes due to time and budget. In fact, for a big production like "Kung Fu", I also used real band records and had time to do it, but still not every song is "genuine". We have the conditions to use "genuine", but we choose to use synthesizers. This is because we found that some music was demoed with synthesizers and pasted in the film, but when it was recorded, we felt that it could not reproduce the effect and emotion. When the finished product was put back into the film, the director would feel that something was wrong. Stephen Chow will notice.

He would ask me: "Hey, why did you change the music?"

I said: "Yes, I recorded the "real thing"."

"Who told you to record "real stuff"?!"

"Huh? "Genuine stuff" is good stuff. That band has a lot of people and a lot of money. Record it. It's been a long time, it's very good."

He said, "Who said it has to be so good? That’s not the case anymore.”

In fact, it makes sense. This is the case in "Kung Fu". Some music can only be played so fast by computer "fake". Although it sounds "fake", at that time the guitar was also recorded with a microphone in front of the real guitar. However, if it is recorded in front of the real guitar, the sound will be different from the real recording, because if the guitar is recorded in real time, the microphone cannot be too close. Because this will hinder others from playing, the real recording cannot have a "fake" effect.

When I make a "fake", I don't treat it as a "fake", but as a real instrument. I will try my best to make it play its best. So this instrument How to express the desired emotion, what this instrument can and cannot do, I will avoid the unpleasant sounds it makes when creating, so when I create, I already create for the synthesizer.

Those of us who use computers to make music sometimes think of a melody and then play it with a synthesized tone. If it doesn’t sound good, you will naturally change it. If you change it, it will sound much better. But when it comes to playing it again, you will find that it really doesn’t sound that good. I often encounter this situation.

Film Music Magazine: Let’s talk about nonsensical comedies. The most common idea for comedy films is of course to have funny music, but in the collaboration between the two, it seems that the music tends to be more serious in general, such as sad or intense. , establishing a huge contrast to create humor.

How to grasp the direction and degree of this contrast?

Huang Yinghua: We don’t really like the effect of funny pictures and funny music. We think this is very embarrassing. It is equivalent to saying that you are telling others that this is funny. Why don’t you laugh... Stephen Chow used to do some This is often the case with very old movies, which is actually very difficult to watch and embarrassing. If that scene really wasn't funny, it would be even more embarrassing, and it would be completely impossible to pass my level. I still want to write music on another level, such as emotion and plot, rather than just writing about things on the surface of the picture.

Ying Le Zhi: I immediately thought that the music of throwing three knives in "Kung Fu" is particularly sad.

Huang Yinghua: Yes, it is always better than "Black" (simulation of weak sounds, the lower -sound downturn effect), which will have a depth less. Do not look at the most surface anyway. Unless the style of a certain movie really requires it, or the director requires it, I tend to dig deeper and think in that direction.

Ying Le Zhi: I remember you also revealed that some of the music in "Kung Fu" was composed by Stephen Chow. Specifically, what is the creative process?

Huang Yinghua: The opening song in "Kung Fu" was written by him. What is the process? It's like this:

He said to me: "Have you ever heard of Bruce Lee? I can't remember which movie has such a piece of music. The drums are like miso- miso miso- miso miso miso. Yes, there are some trumpets blowing, bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang” I said: "I really haven't heard of it, and I have no impression of it." Ah. Can you find the music or the play?"

He wasn't sure which one. After scolding, he said: "Tch! What kind of movie soundtrack are you doing? You have never heard anything."

I said: "Then how would you describe this piece of music? ?"

He said: "There are some drums that are like - miso miso miso - miso miso. " Then I used some "fake" to make the drums - miso miso miso - miso. It popped out for him.

He will comment: "Hey, hurry up/no, slow down/almost, almost."

"Then what?"

"Then get some Trumpet, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang.”

I’ll play it for him.

"It's not these speakers!" I changed the speakers for him again.

"The sound should be lower/wrong, it should be higher here."

It was recreated in this way, oral reproduction. Of course, if he is wrong in some parts, then I will help him fill it in. For example, if the mode of some melody is wrong or the harmony is wrong, then I will fill it in correctly for him.

Ying Le Zhi: Have you found the last legendary "Bruce Lee soundtrack"?

Huang Yinghua: No (laughing). So it's very possible that he imagined it himself, or maybe he heard it in a movie, but it's not Bruce Lee at all. In short, I haven’t heard the song he mentioned after so many years.

Film Music Magazine: After so many years of cooperation, what is your understanding of the music of Stephen Chow’s works?

Huang Yinghua: Nostalgic, he uses old music more than new music. He is very nostalgic and longs for things from the past. He also likes movies and music from his youth or even his childhood, and dislikes generic products. For example, there are many big scenes in "Mermaid". Many times when I show him something I made, he says no, it's not what he wants.

I said: "Hey, these are already very exciting. The scenes are so big, with explosions, fighting, flying, helicopters and cannons. This is what Hans Zimmer can do." ."

He said: "You think I don't have money to hire Hans Zimmer? If I wanted Hans Zimmer's things, I would go to Hans Zimmer early. What do you think I'm going to do with you? I don’t have the money to go to Hollywood, I just don’t want that kind of thing.”

He especially doesn’t like the popular products that everyone uses and takes for granted. He felt particularly careless, and this kind of laziness was an insult to a creative person.

Movie Music Magazine: Speaking of thoughtful music, I saw previous reports that you seem to particularly admire Ennio Morricone's music. How much of that is reflected in your own creations?

Huang Yinghua: Yes, even if I write a piece of music with few instruments, lyrical, romantic, or melancholy, or a simple melody with few notes, I will create changes in colors within the harmony, chords, and orchestration. Even if the melody is nothing, I will create a lot of changes underneath, and the emotions are brewed underneath.

Ennio Morricone is like this, what is underneath his melody is the most exciting. The melody is naturally nice to listen to, but the things underneath are the ones with the most movement and the ones that stir people's hearts. This is my favorite style. The melody doesn't actually need to be too exaggerated or have too many notes.

Ying Le Zhi: Many thanks to Teacher Huang Yinghua for her wonderful sharing!