The Best Director

Utah, Salt Lake City, nearing December, the weather here gradually became cold.

It was a bright sunny morning at the East High School in Salt Lake City, the bell for classes had already rung, and the classes were underway as usual, but today many students were palpably distracted, those sitting by the windows constantly glanced outside at the school lawn and whispered to their classmates.

When the Caucasian male teacher saw the students behaving this way, he couldn’t help but shake his head inwardly. He walked to the window, took a glance outside, and said, “Wow, it’s bustling out there. Anyone wants to go down and have a look?” The students in the classroom immediately made an uproar, raising their hands all at once. The Caucasian male teacher chuckled, returned to his desk, and said, “Stop dreaming, guys. Pay attention to the class.”

“Oh, I knew it!” The students expressed their disappointment. The Caucasian male teacher shrugged his shoulders, picked up the chalk, and continued writing formulas on the blackboard, wondering to himself why the principal had approved the filming of “High School Musical” here. Didn’t he realize it would bring many distractions to the school? For fame? Yeah right, would this movie even be successful? Only God knows!

The teaching building area of East High School in Salt Lake City was built in a “U”-shaped pattern, with buildings on three sides and an open road and lawn in the middle.

At this point, the open lawns were filled with teenagers dressed in youthful attire, chatting in groups, waiting for the filming to begin. They were all extras for “High School Musical,” hired by the production crew from an agency that specialized in providing such actors, enlisted from local performing arts schools in Salt Lake City.

They were going to play the roles of regular students, fulfilling the “mass” needs for all scenes in the movie.

Now, the first set of shots for “High School Musical” was about to be officially shot. The New Year’s holiday had ended, and the school had reopened. This set of shots was to capture the male protagonist “Troy Bolton” getting off the school bus and being surrounded by his friends, teammates, and pretty cheerleaders as he entered the school. The very first shot was of East High’s front facade, with students cheerfully talking and entering the school, creating a vibrant and sunlit scene. In post-production, this footage would be set to lively and enthusiastic music, bringing out the youthful vibe of high school life.

Far down the road leading to the school’s entrance, the camera equipment was already in place, and the film crew was making final adjustments. Valery Fister was discussing the lighting and exposure with the lighting technician, Steve Taylor. Chubby Harry George, who had already finished laying the tracks, had time to hang around and earnestly listen, picking up on the skills and experiences of cinematography.

The production crew members were all busy with their tasks, with those temporarily done resting aside, standing away from the camera’s view; Tom Willing, Marcus Mans, and the other main actors stood together chatting, Rachel sat silently on the grass reading her script, Zachary practiced dance moves, twisting his body, and Jessica smiled sweetly, her eyes dreamily fixed on Wang Yang in the distance as he was explaining his requirements to the actors who were about to appear on screen.

“During the shoot, you’ll pass by on your skateboards, just like we rehearsed earlier, jumping onto this rail,” Wang Yang patted the nearby metal railing as he addressed the professional skateboarders brought in specifically for this scene, “I need a perfect jump.” The skateboarders nodded, one of the Caucasians laughed and said, “Don’t worry, this is too easy for us.”

Wang Yang smiled and patted his shoulder, then moved towards the extras who would be near the camera, telling a few young men and women, “Keep smiling, give high-fives and hugs, just like you haven’t seen each other for a long time, got it?”

“OK.” The young people all responded. At that moment, the set manager Gill Sedis came over and said, “Director, all the extras are in place, and the school bus is ready.” Wang Yang nodded at him and walked back to the camera. Valery Fister had finished coordinating with the lighting technician and checked the camera, telling Wang Yang, “No problems.”

Everything was ready. Wang Yang looked at the main building of the school ahead, where even the large clock had temporarily been set to the wrong time for the scene. He took a deep breath, turned to look at Valery Fister standing behind the camera, and said, “So, let’s begin.” Valery Fister smiled at him and reassuringly said, “Yang, don’t be nervous.”

Wang Yang also smiled, reflecting, “Valery, I can’t help myself, this isn’t ‘Paranormal Activity,’ this isn’t DV, I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, movies! They’re thrilling.” Valery Fister nodded and laughed, “I understand, when I first picked up the camera to shoot, my hands were trembling.”

In the original TV movie, this shot just captured the front of the teaching building in a freeze-frame, then cut to the next scene, covering a very limited range with the camera moving only from ground level to a horizontal position. The wings of East High weren’t visible because the television screen was small, and pulling away from the shot would reduce the aesthetic; but the big screen is different. Fixing on just the front of the teaching building would be too constricting and create a claustrophobic viewing experience. Therefore, the shot being done now had been redesigned—starting with a medium front shot, the camera would then rapidly retreat backwards, turning the medium shot into a long shot.

To shoot this effect, the camera’s dolly track was laid out very far, extending beyond the road.

The shooting plan had already been discussed by Wang Yang and Vale-Fister. Vale-Fister held the camera’s control handle, waiting for the director’s instruction; Wang Yang looked around the circle again, everyone was looking at him, the extras, the colleagues from the crew, friends… Harry-George exaggeratedly opened his mouth wide, mouthing silently, the shape of his lips clearly saying, “Buddy, GO!”; Michael-Pitt crossed his arms, smiling with a thumbs-up; Jessica had a happy smile on her face; and Rachel also stood by, giving him a gentle smile.

Wang Yang walked behind the camera, his heart was beating very fast, he had done it, he was about to become a real film director! Clenching his fist, Wang Yang shouted loudly, “Start shooting!”

The script supervisor held the clapperboard in front of the camera, announcing the shot number and scene number for easy post-editing. After the script supervisor finished speaking and clapped the clapperboard, Wang Yang shouted again, “Action!” With his voice, the extras suddenly started to move, entering the performance state.

Wang Yang’s eyes focused on the viewfinder, and he saw Vale-Fister aiming the camera at the school’s ground architectural sculpture and then slowly moving the camera to the right and raising it, displaying the bustling school, a few students passing by on skateboards, one of them jumping onto a handrail for a grind, while the students in the distance were laughing and talking, two girls gave each other high-fives then huddled together, talking about something, and the yellow school bus was also slowly driving up.

“OK, OK, very good…” Wang Yang noted to himself, stepping aside so that Vale-Fister could quickly push the camera backward, with Wang Yang following next to him, watching the performances of the extras until they reached the end of the dolly track, where he excitedly shouted, “Cut!” Seeing everyone looking at him, Wang Yang grinned, nodding and saying, “Very good, that’s a wrap!”

Everyone immediately burst into cheers, enthusiastically clapping and whistling. Wang Yang also laughed and clapped his hands, raising a thumb and shouting, “Get ready for the next shot.”

The next shot was to feature Troy-Burton coming off the school bus and then walking into school with his friends. The camera position for this shot had to be changed to the front of the yellow school bus, which meant moving all the camera equipment, sound recording equipment, and adjusting the lights there again, a whole new round of work.

“Hey, buddy, leave it to me,” cameraman Harry-George came over, his eyes shining as he stared at the dark film camera. He carefully picked it up, his heavy body possessing immense strength, as he steadily moved the camera to the front.

The other stagehands also carried the other camera equipment, Michael-Pitt was packing up the dolly track, and as he watched Harry-George’s back, he yelled, “Be careful, fatty!” Harry-George, who was getting farther away, didn’t look back and responded loudly, “I can handle it!”

“Michael, don’t worry about that, the camera is like his wife to Harry, he won’t let it fall,” Wang Yang said with a smile as he watched Harry’s energetic figure in the distance, then clapped his hands and shouted, “Everyone, move faster, come on, come on!” He stood by for a while, then walked over to the grassy area next to him, gazed at the blue sky, and quietly exhaled; he had just completed his first shot directing a film on actual film stock, it went smoothly, not as hard as he had thought compared to shooting 16mm film at school.

The sensation of seeing the camera capture the image he wanted was truly marvelous. Wang Yang smiled faintly, savoring that indescribable taste when suddenly he heard a gentle voice behind him, “Hey, Yang, want some water?” Wang Yang turned around to see Jessica holding a bottle of mineral water, her face filled with a sweet smile, her eyes alight with the sparkle unique to the phase of passionate romance, making her look even more enchanting. Wang Yang pretended to frown and shouted in the distance, “Where did Michael go? Shouldn’t this be his job? How come there’s an extra beautiful female stagehand? I can’t afford that salary!” Jessica laughed, playfully saying, “No salary needed, this is a girlfriend’s job, not a female stagehand’s.”

“Thank you then, girlfriend,” Wang Yang said with a smile as he took the bottle of mineral water from her hand, unscrewed the cap, and suddenly exclaimed softly, muttering, “I thought it was already opened, it’s brand new, what a disappointment.” Jessica rolled her eyes, laughing and said, “OK, next time I’ll give you Harry’s bottle.” Wang Yang put on a terrified expression and shook his head repeatedly, saying, “No, no, no, new is better.”

Standing in the distance, Rachel glanced over and saw Wang Yang and Jessica talking and laughing sweetly, feeling empty inside, a bit uncomfortable; she shook her head with a forced smile and walked further away onto the lawn. “Yang, work’s done for today, shall we go to the cinema?” Jessica looked at Wang Yang with hopeful eyes and suggested, “I heard ‘A Bug’s Life’ that just came out is really good, and there’s also ‘Enemy of the State’ which I haven’t seen yet.”

Wang Yang thought for a moment, then apologized with a shake of his head, “Jessica, sorry, tonight I still have to discuss tomorrow’s shooting plan with Valery; there are also some company matters waiting for me to deal with…” Jessica quickly waved her hands, “Oh, it’s okay! Yang, I was just saying.” She smiled, “I need to study the script carefully too, I’ve got a lot of scenes tomorrow, haven’t I?”

“Jessica…” Wang Yang couldn’t help but grab her hand and said with a smile, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, remember to ask me.” Jessica clasped his hand in return, smiling sweetly, “Mhm, I know.” Wang Yang looked around and said with a mysterious smile, “Wait for the weekend, I’ll give the crew a day off, and then we can have a really good time for a day, is that okay?” Jessica felt his consideration for her, her heart filled with happiness, nodded and said “Okay,” then chuckled, “But, wouldn’t that be considered slacking off?”

Wang Yang was about to say something when he suddenly sensed a familiar gaze on him, and he looked subconsciously only to see Rachel’s back. He fell silent for a moment before he turned back and smiled at Jessica, “Now is the time to be lazy. So, Mary, I’m off to work.” With that, he released her hand, handed her the bottle of mineral water, and ran over to the photography crew ahead.

Jessica stood there, taking a deep breath and relishing the air of being in love, she turned around to look in Wang Yang’s direction, watching him direct everyone’s movements, then seemingly to demonstrate, he dribbled a basketball while spinning, his footsteps light and suave, she smiled sweetly, “Cool.”