The Best Director

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It took a whole day of effort, but finally, the walls of the hall and bedroom that were to be used for shooting were renovated, thankfully with the help of Alba siblings; otherwise, he could not have completed it alone. Now the walls were all snowy white, ready to meet the demands of the film.

After seeing off the Alba siblings, Wang Yang finished up the remaining cleaning tasks, took a hot shower, and hurriedly ate the takeaway he had ordered, a large pizza.

Once sated, Wang Yang sat down at the computer desk and began writing the screenplay. The future “Paranormal Activity” was filmed without a finished script, and all the lines were improvised on the spot. This was because the focus of such horror films is not on the dialogue but on creating a scary atmosphere with the camera, making the audience “scare themselves”; plus, DV movies are very much about everyday life, so don’t expect any profound or interesting lines, everyday language will do, and therefore there wasn’t much to write for the script—just needed to make the storyline clear so the actors knew the situation.

What he focused on writing was the shot-by-shot screenplay, also known as the “director’s script.” Just as cells make up the human body, shots make up a film, and each of these shots is designed by the director, which is the design work Wang Yang had to do now. However, since the entire crew consisted of only him, this shot-by-shot screenplay could be written very simply, as long as he could understand it himself.

One of the great benefits of drawing a shot-by-shot screenplay is its visual clarity. For instance, when filming complex shots, such as those involving stunts or those requiring post-production digital technology, without a shot-by-shot screenplay, it would be arduous and troublesome to explain to the dozens or hundreds of crew members including the actors and the cinematographer. In the end, the director himself might collapse in frustration—how do you not understand my vision?

No one can read your mind; all words are not as clear as images, and, by putting the image in your mind on paper, others can look at it and understand immediately. This is when the advantages of a shot-by-shot screenplay become evident.

But while studying at the University of Southern California, Wang Yang also learned the drawbacks of a shot-by-shot screenplay. Simply put, this approach to drawing limits the director’s creativity. With a shot-by-shot screenplay in hand, the director merely mechanically transforms what’s on paper into scenes. But when the story, actors, and reality come into contact with each other, many interesting and unpredictable clashes and images occur, and it is then that the shot-by-shot screenplay becomes an obstacle.

“A long time ago, when I realized this, I tore up my shot-by-shot screenplay, and since then I’ve tried to avoid drawing one,” said the teacher, who taught about camera work. Wang Yang remembered clearly how the teacher had said, with a rapt expression, “Life itself is richer than anything, and it’s a very wonderful feeling when you connect your ideas with reality on the spot.”

Then, the teacher made a joke that set the classroom roaring with laughter, “Of course, you can fall in love with the shot-by-shot screenplay because all you need to do is wait for the cinematographer to set up the equipment, the actors to take their places, and then you just hand out the shot-by-shot screenplay; you don’t even have to look at the monitor! What’s that? You’re asking whether the actor should stand a bit to the left or right? Leave that problem to the assistant director! I’m going home!”

Thinking back to those classroom days, Wang Yang shook his head and chuckled. Although he didn’t have much filming experience, he strongly agreed with that teacher; a shot-by-shot screenplay should not become a constraint. As long as you have a clear idea of the shooting angles and visual effects, and then tell everyone your intention while giving the actors enough space to perform during the actual shooting. Mastering this flexibility is what a good director should do.

Therefore, Wang Yang’s shot-by-shot screenplay was very basic and simple, including only those horror shots that were well thought out and not likely to change. For instance, he drew the shot “dark interior, with the TV screen casting eerie ghostly images,” albeit very ugly… well, his art teacher’s comment was “Imagination beyond belief, but a lack of drawing talent, suitable for learning abstract painting.”

Fortunately, this shot-by-shot screenplay only needed to be understood by him.

He wrote until late at night before going to sleep. The next day, he continued with the set construction work, which involved going to a furniture and appliance rental company to borrow props. He was accompanied only by Joshua, who was sent by Jessica to help, driving a small blue van to haul the furniture; Jessica was attending auditions for a minor role in a comedy movie that day and didn’t have time to help.

According to the story’s background, a couple moved into a new home, so the furniture didn’t have to be brand new, but certainly at least eighty percent new. Items like a sofa with a few big holes were definitely unsuitable. Pretty much the whole apartment’s decor needed replacing, whether it was sofas, cabinets, beds for the bedroom; or high-end large TVs, fridges, etc., and if you were to buy them, none of them would be cheap. Even spending the entire 9500 US dollars wouldn’t be enough to get everything.

Thank goodness for whoever invented “rental”, and even more so for the first person to start a furniture and appliance rental business. With this rental service available, Wang Yang only needed to spend a small amount of money to have access to the furniture and appliances for a month, which was more than enough as the original Paranormal Activity was shot in just a week.

Wang Yang went to a large furniture and appliance rental company called “Entrepreneurs,” which focused on servicing young entrepreneurs to ease their burden of office supplies; it also catered to individuals and families, which was precisely what Wang Yang needed for things like the couple’s double bed and other furniture.

Upon reaching their destination, Wang Yang excitedly started picking out furniture and appliances, some sold singly and others in sets, each marked with a price tag indicating the monthly rental rate in “$”.

Meanwhile, Joshua trailed behind him, idly touching sofas, feeling chairs, and even lying down on a large bed, pretending to sleep.

He had been rather quiet all along, but Wang Yang knew he was just brewing something up. Sure enough, as Wang Yang was choosing sofas, Joshua sat on the corner of one, arms wrapped around the backrest, and spoke, “Buddy, now that it’s just the two of us, maybe it’s time to clear the air about a few things.”

“What things?” Wang Yang turned his head to look at him quizzically, then continued rummaging through the pile of sofas, contemplating which one could subconsciously exert more pressure on the audience in the darkness.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but if you try to hurt my family, you’ll regret ever being born,” Joshua said threateningly, though his juvenile voice betrayed him.

Wang Yang couldn’t help but burst out laughing, turning to face Joshua with an amused expression, hands spread in a questioning gesture, “Why would you think that? Please, why would I want to hurt Jessica? How would I hurt Jessica?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know about that!” Joshua huffed, speaking cryptically, “But women are always vulnerable to all kinds of hurt. Uh, there are plenty of women who have been hurt by me.”

“Wow, really? I wouldn’t have guessed you were so charming. Ha-ha, so what you’re saying is, I’m quite charming as well?” Wang Yang asked with a laugh, finding it interesting that he didn’t feel the slightest bit angry at Joshua’s words.

Joshua shifted his position, stroking his chin and sizing up Wang Yang with a look of appraisal, “Oh, you? Physically you’re not too skinny, and you don’t have any major flaws in looks, but you’re a long way off from the word ‘charm.’ You could say it doesn’t touch you at all!” He gave Wang Yang a sympathetic look and shrugged, “But you know, women have this innate curiosity; they’re always drawn to the unfamiliar, like a Chinese guy with a different skin color, different hair color.”

In fact, Joshua had never seen his sister Jessica be so passionate about any man. Her attitude towards other men had always been lukewarm and guarded. She’d said that 90% of the time men were thinking about women’s bodies, which disgusted her.

Joshua knew the reason. Jessica had been ugly as a child, often mocked and bullied by boys her age; as she grew pretty, those same boys came running to brown-nose, which had led her to see through them. But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what was so special about this Yang that caused Jessica to make a complete 180 in her attitude towards guys?

“Joshua, you’re really overthinking it. Jessica and I are just good friends, that’s all,” Wang Yang said with a chuckle, and then probed, “I and Her have only been reacquainted for two days, I don’t even know if she has a boyfriend or not?”

“Oh, you want to know that?” Joshua’s eyebrows arched as he laughed, “Well, let me tell you, of course, she has! Jessica isn’t a kid anymore, and she’s so hot! Oh, the line of guys wanting to date her could stretch from Los Angeles to China. Her boyfriend, uh, Jack, Jack is really a great guy. He’s gorgeous, witty, and an incredible athlete. He’s the star of the school basketball team, plays guard-forward like Michael Jordan.”

He exclaimed loudly, “You know what? Jessica loves guys who can play basketball! So yeah, they’re doing great.” He laughed again, “Anyway, I’m telling you, buddy, you’re out of the game.”

“Oh, is that so?” Wang Yang couldn’t quite tell if there was any truth to his words; although he tended to think it’s false, Jessica was indeed not eight years old anymore. She was seventeen and so beautiful, it would be normal for her to have a boyfriend.

Seeing Joshua’s schadenfreude, Wang Yang curiously said, “Buddy, why do you have such hostility toward me? Please, be a man, if you’ve got something to say, just say it.”

“Oh, I’m full of hostility? What kind of treatment would you expect?” Joshua said disdainfully, “How should one treat a student who’s been expelled from University of Southern California? And for racial discrimination against Blacks? Dude, my dad’s Mexican, and so am I.”

Oh, so that was the reason! Wang Yang asked, “Did Jessica tell you?”

“No, I saw it myself, in that cardboard box of yours, there was an expulsion notice. Oh sorry, I took it upon myself to look.” Joshua sat with his legs crossed, his mouth saying “Sorry,” but his face showed no hint of apology.

Wang Yang shrugged and explained, “I didn’t discriminate against anyone, I was wronged.” Then he calmly recounted the whole situation.

“Oh, I bet that’s how you explained it to Jessica, right?” Joshua laughed mockingly and wagged his finger, “I’ve seen plenty of people like you, capable of deceiving naive girls maybe, but you think you can fool me? Don’t even try. USC is a prestigious school; they wouldn’t just wrongfully accuse you. Plus, they expelled you outright, which tells me you must have a long history of misconduct, and that’s why they didn’t give you a chance. I bet it’s not just racial discrimination, you probably smoke marijuana too, huh?”

“The school didn’t give me a chance because of my skin color; they are the ones with racial prejudice.” Wang Yang didn’t bother to explain further. He just added, “I didn’t do it, believe it or not,” before he continued selecting sofas.

Joshua stood up, huffing, “Buddy, I’m watching you! Don’t even think about pulling any stunts.”

“Keep watching then, see if you can find a glass pipe (a tool for smoking marijuana).” Wang Yang casually remarked. He finally settled on a dark red sofa, removed the tag, and called over an employee, “I’d like to rent this, that, and that…”

After nearly an hour of selecting, Wang Yang signed a short-term rental contract with “Entrepreneurs” company. Since the items he chose were quite new and the lease was short, the rent was quite expensive: a security deposit of three thousand, rental fees of one thousand, just like that, four thousand US dollars were spent.

Excluding the deposit, the production cost of the movie had already climbed to 1500 US dollars, and he had only 5500 US dollars left in liquid assets.

“Alright, we signed a short-term contract, but we have to move these big items home ourselves, let’s get started!” Wang Yang rolled up his sleeves, patted the sofa, and signaled Joshua to help lift it up.

Joshua looked at the huge red sofa before him, frowning, his face a portrait of pain, “God curse it! I knew today I wasn’t just the driver, but also a laborer!”

After several trips back and forth, they finally moved all the rented furniture and appliances smoothly back to the apartment. As for the original old furniture and appliances, Wang Yang shoved them all into a small room. The messier and more broken the room looked, the better it would appear on camera.

“Oh, Lord, Lord… I am so tired, so very tired…” Joshua, after working all day, lay on the sofa, his eyes closed, gasping for air, utterly exhausted, not wanting to move a muscle.

Wang Yang also felt tired but not as dramatically as Joshua. He said, “In your condition, driving home is dangerous. Do you want me to take you home? I can come back on the subway.”

“NO, NO, NO!” As soon as Joshua heard this, he sprang up and glared, “I know what you’re up to, but no way!” He rushed into the bathroom, splashed his face with cold water, howled a few times like a banshee, and then hurriedly said, “I’m off, don’t you follow me!”

With a bang, the door closed behind him. Wang Yang rolled his eyes, How do I not know what I’m up to?

After taking a shower and having dinner, Wang Yang, with the home DV camera he had rented from the camera store that day in hand, walked around the apartment, filming everywhere. The camera had a deposit of one thousand and a monthly rental fee of three hundred, meaning the movie’s production cost had risen to 1800 US dollars, with 4200 in liquid assets remaining.

This house really felt like a new home! Wang Yang moved the DV camera back and forth, trying to grasp the unique shaking-shot effect of DV films, a first-person perspective that can leave you dizzy!

Now that all the necessary scenes for the film had been prepared, the script was nearly completed, and it seemed that only two actors were needed before they could start shooting!

How important are actors to a movie? Undoubtedly. The success of a movie depends largely on the script, the director, among others, and significantly on the actors, especially in a drama. Only good actors can understand what the director wants to convey, and with their top-notch acting skills, they can perform well and convey that to the audience. A lousy actor, on the contrary, can ruin everything.

Even though “Paranormal Activity” is a horror film, and it’s a DV movie that might seem like the actors just need to open their mouths and scream, that’s not true. Firstly, this movie doesn’t require much screaming from the characters; it plays more on psychology, which requires a performance from the actors. Thus, there are certain expectations for the actors, and it’s not just about picking anyone from the streets of Los Angeles.

Finding two good actors is where the highest cost of the movie will be spent.

Of course, the maximum he could afford for their salaries, along with the deposits, was only about eight thousand dollars… Good actors? Still a long way from Christmas, and that old man Santa Claus was still on vacation.

Regardless, Wang Yang was planning to look for actors in Hollywood the next day.

As he was pondering, his phone rang. Wang Yang, holding the DV in one hand, took out his cellphone with the other. Seeing it was Jessica’s call, he answered, “Hi, Jessica.”

“Hey, Yang! How was your day? Joshua was helpful, wasn’t he?” Jessica’s voice was as pleasant as ever, recalling her sweet smile.

“Oh, he was alright, he was alright.” Wang Yang chuckled as he sat down on the sofa. Thinking about it, he wondered how Jessica’s audition went today, so he asked, “How did the audition go?”

On the other end, Jessica sounded dejected, “No luck, the producer said I was okay, but the director said I wasn’t right, so I’m still jobless.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Wang Yang said consolingly, “But remember, Jessica, there are still plenty of opportunities out there.” That role was just one of the numerous female classmates of the female lead in a campus comedy, with only a line or two and not more than three appearances on screen. The director was quite picky.

“Thank you, I’m fine…” Jessica managed a strong laugh.