Dong Shaoyong, also credited as Tung Shao-yung, was a Shanghai-born cinematographer and director in Hong Kong cinema. His father Dong Keyi was a veteran cameraman active in pre-war Shanghai who shot the 1928 martial-arts serial The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple. Dong moved to Hong Kong with his father in the late 1940s and assisted on Great Wall's founding production, The Woman's Heart (1949), shot by his father. He entered Shaw & Sons under Shao Cunren, shooting Ren Gui Lian (1954), Shao Nai Nai de Mimi (1956) and Hao Nü'er (1956). After leaving Shaw he worked for MP & GI, becoming one of the company's leading cameramen, and photographed Mambo Girl (1957), Xiao Qing Ren (1958), Qing Chun Er Nü (1959) and Qing Shen Si Hai (1960). He won the Best Cinematography prize at the 5th Asian Film Festival for Our Sister Hedy (1957), a delicate study of four sisters that became one of his early signature works. When Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd was formed he returned, working with directors including Yueh Feng, Lo Chen, Cheng Kang and Doe Ching — most often with Doe Ching — on films such as Qian Jin Xiao Jie (1959), which took the 6th Asian Film Festival's Best Black-and-White Cinematography award, and Love Without End (1961); he was noted for handling light, shadow and set depth and was among the most awarded Mandarin-cinema cameramen of his day. He won Best Cinematography again for Xin Bu Liao Qing (1970), directed by Pan Lei, and shot titles such as Yun Ni (1968) and The Twelve Gold Medallions (1970). In 1972 he co-directed The Fourteen Amazons with Cheng Kang, a large-scale war spectacle and one of his few directing credits. Across Great Wall, MP & GI and Shaw Brothers he was a key figure in 1950s and 1960s Mandarin cinema, spanning literary drama, comedy and action films.
Working across Great Wall, MP & GI and Shaw Brothers, Dong shot both literary dramas and large costume productions and won Asian Film Festival cinematography prizes three times, making him a key figure in 1950s and 1960s Mandarin cinema; his 1972 co-directed The Fourteen Amazons was noted for its large-scale battle scenes.
Achievements
- 1949 · Assisted his father Dong Keyi on Great Wall's founding production The Woman's Heart (1949)
- 1957 · Won the Best Cinematography award at the 5th Asian Film Festival for Our Sister Hedy
- 1959 · Won the 6th Asian Film Festival's Best Black-and-White Cinematography award for Qian Jin Xiao Jie
- 1972 · Co-directed The Fourteen Amazons with Cheng Kang