Jade Fox wanted poster from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

[ForgotMyPen]

So, for my first ever prop, I've decided that a paper prop would be a good start. I've always loved the Jade Fox wanted poster in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Here are some screenshots:



Considering its simplicity, I find it quite beautiful. Since it is probably done on rice paper with ink and brush by a Chinese calligrapher, I figured the best way to approach this would be to start by recreating it in photoshop and then printing it out to scale...then with ink and brush, tracing the poster onto the rice paper. So, I've started piecing something together in photoshop. I had to take selections from two of the screenshots and try to rotate/skew them and stitch them together. It looks okay, but I'm having some trouble. I want to remove the wrinkled texture from the photoshop file and make the ink look darker. I can't seem to attach the PSD, so I will try to attach it in the next post in this thread. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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PSD:
View attachment jadefox.psd

 

[ForgotMyPen]

Progress! So I ended up spending many hours cleaning up the PSD by hand. After cleaning it up, I was able to do some levels adjustments to make the black parts darker. Now I'm wondering if anyone here is familiar with Chinese characters enough to both translate and give any pointers on how each character should look? This is totally serviceable right now for my needs, but it would be nice to improve upon it later. I will now be working towards transferring the image to rice paper with ink and brush. I will post pics when that process is done. Learned a lot about Photoshop doing this!

 

[lunadeurano]

it looks wonderful! great work!

 

[Brigandia36]

I've sent your picture in China for translation.

 

[Brigandia36]

The answer from my chinese contact : The one on top is " wanted" and i don t understand the sentence below

 

[ForgotMyPen]

Thanks. I will keep digging for the translation.

 

[funboy1013xx]

sometimes you can turn on the C.C. or subtitles and it will tell you what it say's. ive watched alot of different foreign movies and some movies don't have subtitles but a C.C. translation, plus they tend to have "more" info on C.C. then regular subtitles. I.E. "soft music playing" "creaking door". even if it has subtitles you can turn it on your t.v. and it will have different info. but its usually typed over the top of the original "sub" it might be worth checking/watching itleast the scene with both versions... you never know....

 

[George]

I liked the storyline (with exception of the excessive wireworks that is characteristic for this genre),and eventhough I have some knowledge of chinese characters,I wouldn't be of much use here; for as far as I can tell,the characters used on the poster are traditional,as opposed to the simplified writing of today.I only know of the latter.

Your best bet would be to google for the translation of the poster text,or better yet: approach a chinese person to translate for you.As long as you show interest in their culture,they are more than willing to help you.The writing is universal through all of China,so eventhough the dialects are different,they can still communicate with eachother through writing.Therefore,you can approach either Cantonese or Mandarin speaking chinese.
Good luck with your quest.

 

[funboy1013xx]

o.k. so I watched this on Netflix and tried the c.c. and no info, BUT chow's character is looking at the poster and he says " it says, "fox is hiding at yu's". then he and the lady discuss if it is a trap set by fox or a legit wanted poster. hope it helps alittle!!