Swimming Lesson

Directed by Deng Lianghong

Location: Taishan, Guangdong

Director's Notes:

The script for "Swimming Lesson" was finished quite a long time ago, and the remaining crucial part was to find the right team and right places and to finish filming with limited funds.

The first difficulty was to search for the filming place. I was looking for a place with the style of a Hakka fishing village in the 1970s that is surrounded by stretches of water suitable for filming scenes at sea.

I have tried to look for it in Shenzhen, but after driving around with my friends, we found that there was no chance to recreate the fishing village landscape in such a metropolis.

So we decided to go further. There was a friend called Guoqiang, who recommended the Shangchuan Island in Taishan City to us. We later stepped onto that island and spotted the sea and villages there. It is an island with great original landscapes. Standing at the top of Windmill Mountain at Shangchuan Island overlooking the endless sea, we made up our minds immediately: "Let's film on this island!"

But who would have thought that this simple decision would be bothered by a typhoon?

On August 29th, when we finally managed to transfer the whole crew to the island, we were informed that a typhoon was coming and the island would be put on lockdown. Suddenly my mind went blank. Should we keep on filming? Or should we just wait for another opportunity?

I convened the crew and explained the situation to them in detail. According to the weather forecast, the typhoon would not impact our filming location in the next three days, but it was likely that we would be stranded on the island. If anyone wanted to leave, that was fine with me, but I was confident to take the opportunity and finish filming safely in three days.

Some decided to leave immediately, but most of them chose to stay with me. I was very grateful.

On the first day of filming, we arrived at the beach at 4:00 a.m. for preparation. I was anxious at first, worrying that the typhoon would affect the ocean currents. But the sun rose at 5:30 a.m., and it turned out to be a sunny day. Everyone was cheered up at once.

Miraculously, all three days of filming were sunny. The typhoon started to land after we finished filming on the third night. We were suggested to stay in the hotel by the government staff. So we shut the doors and windows tight with stored-up instant noodles. That night, the typhoon passed through the island, and we had a good night's sleep.

《游泳课》

邓亮宏 导演作品

【拍摄地】广东台山

【导演手记】

《游泳课》的剧本很早就完成了，剩下的关键是找到合适的团队和场地，在有限的资金条件内完成它。

首要的困难就是场地。我要找的地方，既要有20世纪70年代广东客家渔村的风貌，同时场地周边还要有能拍摄的水域（因为有出海戏份）。

原本想在深圳周边找，我和朋友开车看了一圈，发现想还原那种渔村风貌，在大城市周边基本没机会。

我们感觉必须去远一点的地方。有个朋友的朋友叫国强，他推荐了广东台山的上川岛。我们上岛一看，有海，有村庄。因为是岛，原生态的风貌都保留得不错。站在上川岛风车山的山顶，我们俯瞰大海无边，当即就决定：“上岛拍吧！”

谁能想到这个简单的决定会遭遇台风的“突袭”呢！

8月29日，当我们好不容易把大部队运到岛上时，被通知台风来了，要封岛。当时有那么一会儿，我的大脑是空白的。还要继续拍吗？还是等下次机会？

我把所有人召集到一起，详细讲了当前的情况。我分析，天气预报显示未来三天内台风还不会波及我们的拍摄地，但我们很可能会因此滞留在岛上。如果谁想走，我没意见，但我个人有信心能在三天时间里抓住机会，安全地拍完。

有的人马上就决定走了，大部分人还是决定留下来。我非常感恩。

第一天在海滩开拍，我们四点就到海滩准备。原本还有些紧张，怕台风会波及洋流，没想到五点半日出的时候，天气一片晴朗，大家也一下高兴起来了。

神奇的是，三天的拍摄全是晴天，老天爷非常给面子。第三天晚上收工的时候，台风开始登陆。政府工作人员建议我们待在宾馆楼里不要外出。我们封好门窗，囤好方便面。当晚台风过境，我们睡得无比安稳。

责编 | 王楠
校对 | 潘丽玲