The Best Director

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Early in the morning, Wang Yang got out of bed. He didn’t have the habit of lingering in bed, because he practiced martial arts for over half an hour each morning. Through rain or shine, practicing martial arts had become a part of his life, and any day he didn’t practice, he felt out of sorts. Perhaps due to his daily practice, Wang Yang had grown tall and sturdy. He didn’t have the build of a quarterback, wide-shouldered and muscle-bound, but his well-proportioned muscles were certainly handsome.

As for why Wang Yang had grown so big and strong, his father had his own theory, insisting that it was because of the nutritious food at the restaurant, and of course, his good genes.

Wang Yang practiced Bajiquan, a very forceful style of martial arts that he had learned from an old man surnamed Wu in Chinatown. The old man was said to have been an officer in the Beiyang Army and later came to America to search for gold. He had originally planned to go to Alaska, but ended up in San Francisco, where the gold had long been exhausted. So, Mr. Wu found a job in Chinatown, working as an assistant chef for Wang Yang’s grandfather.

Old Mr. Wu always said Wang Yang was lazy and didn’t practice seriously, claiming that Wang Yang hadn’t inherited even thirty percent of his skill; however, on the other hand, he said that Wang Yang was too hot-headed and pugnacious, which is why he couldn’t pass on some of the more aggressive techniques to him, for fear that Wang Yang would make a serious mistake.

“It keeps me fit and can be used for self-defense, that’s enough for me,” Wang Yang thought, going through the moves one by one. With a touch of “evil,” he thought, “Old man, you just watch as your secret moves fade into obscurity!”

After practicing for half an hour and breaking out in a sweat, Wang Yang took a deep breath and couldn’t help but feel refreshed. He changed into clean clothes and checked the time, 7:30. Jessica had said over the phone last night that she would probably arrive around nine.

So Wang Yang hurried out to buy some putty, brushes, and other supplies from a nearby renovation store. He also needed to rent a ladder because today’s task was to whitewash all those old walls!

When renting the house, the elderly landlord had mentioned that Wang Yang could paint however he wished, as long as he didn’t use Nippon brand paint. The old white man had served in World War II as a member of the Marine Corps, and his brother had died in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

However, Wang Yang wasn’t planning on painting the walls. It was unnecessary, expensive, and time-consuming. All he needed to do was apply a coating of putty to make the walls look like those of a newly settled home.

Even so, buying putty, brushes, and renting a ladder still cost him nearly five hundred US Dollars, meaning the production budget for “Paranormal Activity” had gone from zero to three digits…

After the effort of bringing the supplies home, and with Jessica yet to arrive, Wang Yang paced around the house, thinking about the script, scene layout, and camera angles.

The original “Paranormal Activity” was entirely filmed in producer Oren Peli’s house, a large detached house in the suburbs, not the “Apartment” where Wang Yang currently lived. Therefore, it was impossible to directly transfer the content and shoot of the film as it was, and Wang Yang had not intended to do so from the start.

Actually, both “The Blair Witch” and “Paranormal Activity” owed much of their success to their originality, effective marketing, and a bit of luck. As for the films themselves, the mockumentary filming technique was well executed, but the content can’t be said to be particularly classic, and it certainly couldn’t be attributed to sticking to unchangeable stories and scenes.

In fact, Wang Yang’s love for movies since childhood, his years of contemplation and accumulation, as well as the systematic study at the University of Southern California, even though he attended only for a semester and a half, but he had already gone through the textbooks and theories for the upcoming years; well, maybe there’s also a bit of innate talent.

Anyway, in his opinion, “Paranormal Activity” needed major surgery. The original version was not only unsuitable for his current situation, but the movie itself had many flaws, such as a slow pace of entering into rhythm and prolonged periods of dullness. It might be a matter of Wang Yang’s personal taste, but he believed he could do it better!

“This is a good position to place the camera; if the whole hall is dimly lit, the lens should capture a great atmosphere…” Wang Yang stroked his chin, walked around the hall, and then chose a spot. He crouched down to adjust the angle of his eyes as if positioning a DV camera, looking at the empty hall, yet in his mind, the scene was slowly taking shape. He muttered, “It would be good to place a TV directly across from the camera, to reflect someone’s shadow…”

Just as Wang Yang was designing these horror shots, his cell phone suddenly rang, startling him out of his deep thoughts! He rolled his eyes and mumbled, “That’s why I hate horror movies.” He took out his phone and saw it was a call from Jessica Alba; he answered with a smile, “Jessica? Good morning.”

“Good morning!” Jessica’s voice came from the phone, “I’m already downstairs at your apartment.”

“Then wait for me, I’m coming down now,” Wang Yang hung up, grabbed a trench coat from the shabby sofa, wrapped it around himself, and hurried downstairs.

Outside the apartment, he saw Jessica waving from a distance, probably because she knew they were painting today; she wore an old-looking denim jacket and jeans. Wang Yang paused because there was a tall, strong young man beside Jessica, also in denim, good-looking, and his gaze toward Wang Yang was less than friendly.

“Hi, Yang, good morning!” Jessica greeted as she walked over, pointing to the guy and introducing, “This is Joshua, he’s my…”

“Boyfriend! Hello, I’m Jessica’s boyfriend,” the handsome guy named Joshua cut in with a smile. He seemed to warmly hug Wang Yang tightly, while jovially saying, “Jessica told me you’re her old friend from San Francisco, right?”

He seemed eager to prove a point with his firm embrace, as Jessica rolled her eyes beside them, spreading her hands helplessly to Wang Yang in a gesture of apology.

“Hello,” Wang Yang, despite feeling quite disappointed inside, didn’t show it at all. He forcefully expanded his arms and managed to push Joshua away, laughing, “You’re really enthusiastic!”

“Oh, dude, you’re pretty strong!” Joshua grimaced as he rotated his arm, staring at Wang Yang’s face before dissatisfyingly saying, “Come on, aren’t you a little upset?” Wang Yang asked, puzzled, “What do you mean?” Joshua frowned and said, “I’m Jessica’s boyfriend! You should look totally dejected, lost, and disappointed!” Wang Yang maintained his composure and smiled, “Dude, you’re too suspicious.”

At this point, Jessica, who had been silent, shook her head smiling and said, “Alright, Joshua, stop your boring tricks.” She reintroduced him to Wang Yang, “He’s my younger brother, a year younger than me, and he’s also studying at performing arts school. He’s free today, so I asked him to come help as well.”

She punched Joshua’s arm as a big sister would scold, “He’s very childish, so, Yang, don’t mind him.”

Joshua Alba? Bullshit, what is this kid joking about! Despite internally cursing Joshua, Wang Yang still showed a smile that indicated he didn’t mind. “Your brother, um, is quite humorous…” To be honest, when he heard Joshua say he was Jessica’s boyfriend just now, he felt a sense of being hit hard.

He glanced at Jessica. Was it an illusion? Why did he feel that she suddenly seemed a bit unhappy? Was it because he didn’t show a sense of loss just now? Or should he not overthink it? Maybe it was just an illusion.

“Come with me, it’s windy out here. Let’s go to my new place!”

Wang Yang led the way, with Jessica following behind, while Joshua kept looking around curiously as he walked. He said with interest, “Wow, I didn’t know Los Angeles had this community. It looks pretty run-down. Is the security good here? You know what I mean, like, are there any gangs or anything?”

“No, this area is very safe,” Wang Yang answered straightforwardly.

Joshua again said, “Hm, even if there are no gangs, I still couldn’t let my sister go meet a stranger alone, so I came.” He suddenly sped up to walk ahead of Wang Yang, turned back with a look of suspicion, and said, “Even though you were good friends before, that was 9 years ago! Oh my god, I was only 7 years old then, I’ve completely forgotten about San Francisco! Well, who knows what you’ve turned into now?”

“Joshua!” Hearing him go too far, Jessica hastily called out and angrily said, “How can you speak like that?!” She then looked at Wang Yang apologetically, “I am so sorry, my brother is just a kid.”

“Oh, a kid?” Joshua said unconvinced, “Jessica, you’re only a year older than me.”

“Jessica, it’s okay, Joshua is absolutely right,” Wang Yang shrugged his shoulders and gave her a nonchalant smile. Because it was true, even though he and Jessica were very close, now after so many years, who knew what the other had become? Presumably, Jessica wouldn’t have wanted to come alone, it was only that her brother had said everything outright. For some reason, Joshua was full of hostility towards him, seemingly ready to “take him down” at any moment.

He’s suspecting that I’m pursuing Jessica? Wang Yang thought to himself.

Soon, Wang Yang brought Jessica and her brother to his rented apartment. As soon as he opened the door and they entered, Joshua exclaimed, “Wow, wow,” in shock, saying, “Incredible! What a dump of a place! Oh, my god, if I’m not mistaken, a rat just scurried past me! Yang, is this really where you’re planning to shoot a movie?”

He looked amused as he touched this and poked that, and seeing the camera model in the cardboard box on the table, he picked it up and pretended to be a director, making silly motions as he laughed, “Are you going to shoot with this?”

“That won’t do,” Wang Yang answered earnestly, not playing along, “I plan to rent a DV camera to shoot with.”

“Joshua… can you shut up!” Jessica gritted her teeth and glared at Joshua, “You’re making me feel ashamed!”

Joshua put down the camera model, made a surrendering gesture, and turned his head, “OK, OK, I’ll shut up!” Before his words even finished, he added, “But seriously, this place really is a dump.”

Jessica, so upset she could hardly speak, covered her face with both hands, muttering “Oh god.”

“Indeed it’s a dump, which is why it needs to be properly painted, let’s get started!” Not wanting to make Jessica too uncomfortable, Wang Yang quickly got everyone to work. He distributed gloves, paper hats, paintbrushes and other items to the two of them, then he took out the putty powder to mix and stir, officially starting today’s painting work.

While painting, Jessica, wearing gloves and a paper hat, along with her jeans outfit, worked diligently and carefully, really looking the part of a renovation worker.

Joshua, however, did not keep his mouth shut. He kept talking, provoking Wang Yang with challenging questions. He lazily held a brush, nonchalantly applying it to the wall, then asked, “Yang, do you think any distribution company will be interested in your ‘movie’? I mean, just toying with a DV camera, and that’s a movie? Then our neighbor Mary could do it too; she loves to run around shooting with a DV camera all day. Oh right, she’s only five years old.”

“Joshua, trust me, I know what a movie is and what a short life film is,” Wang Yang shrugged again, “Of course, maybe that little Mary is indeed making a movie.”

Jessica laughed at Wang Yang’s humor, “Joshua, Yang knows more about movies than you, you’re just a small-time extra actor, that’s all.”

“Yang, what do you think the box office will be if your movie gets released? Who would spend a few US dollars to watch something shot on a home DV?” After a while, Joshua asked another question.

“One hundred million, maybe two hundred million,” Wang Yang said with a laugh, indicating he was joking, “At the very least, it should recoup its costs; I’m confident about that.”

“What’s your budget? I don’t even know,” Joshua asked with interest.

“Ten thousand. Now it’s down to nine thousand five hundred after spending five hundred on these painting supplies.”

“Oh, ten thousand? You’re not running a fever, are you?”