The Best Director

The town was enveloped in a faint mist in the early morning, and on a wide lawn in the residential area, the crew of “Juno” was busily preparing for filming. Vale Fest directed Harry George and others to set up the camera positions. Wang Yang, who had recovered from his cold, peered through the viewfinder and slowly composed a shot, then said to Vale Fest, “We’ll start with the wide shot, then zoom in to a medium shot, right here…”

This was the first set of shots for the start of filming “Juno”: Juno standing on the lawn looking at an abandoned chair, drinking a beverage, with a voice-over that led into the whole story. Now everything was almost ready; seeing that the lighting team still needed to adjust, Wang Yang patted Vale on the shoulder and walked over to where Natalie sat on a luxurious upholstered chair, playing with a Yorkshire terrier.

Natalie’s Juno look was already set. She had sparse and scattered bangs on her forehead, locks of hair hanging down on either side, and her long hair at the back had been cut very short. For her makeup, no false eyelashes or eyeshadows were used to add feminine beauty; she wore jeans and a jacket as her costume.

“Baby, such a good kid, so well-behaved,” Natalie said tenderly, gently stroking the little dog in her arms, adopting a childlike voice, “How old are you? How about we become friends? What are you thinking about? Uh, I guess…”

“Hey, Natalie!” Wang Yang couldn’t help but smile when he saw her unusual behavior—she really liked dogs, he said, “We’re about to start filming, are you ready?” Natalie nodded without even glancing at him, lifting the small dog in her arms and playfully sticking out her tongue, “Smile for me, just like this, let me see your little tongue—smile—” The well-trained little dog opened its mouth upon hearing this, and Natalie exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my, such a good dog, so adorable!”

Wang Yang crossed his arms and watched her as if seeing an alien, furrowing his brows in disbelief. Was this some kind of third personality? He laughed, “Don’t you need to get into character? Juno really dislikes dogs.” While petting the little dog, Natalie said, “No need, I’ve been preparing for two terms now, I can control it freely.” Wang Yang shrugged, “OK, it looks like you don’t need me to discuss the scene then.” Natalie continued to amuse the dog, “What else can you do? Give me your paw, um, good kid.”

Upon hearing Vale Fest yell from the other side, “Ready!” Wang Yang gave an OK gesture and said to Natalie, “All right, we’re starting to shoot, give me the dog.” Natalie handed over the puppy reluctantly, after nuzzling it with her neck first.

After completing several side shots from a distance, the crew adjusted their equipment and moved to the shot where “Juno, lost in thought, is startled by the little dog.” Vale Fest, shouldering the camera, kneeled on the ground, angling the shot upwards toward Natalie, while the soft light board and boom mic were also aimed at her. With a clap from the slate, Wang Yang exclaimed, “Action!”

Natalie held onto a large bottle of drink, looking dazedly at the chair. Wang Yang signaled the Yorkshire terrier to “bark,” and the dog started barking. Natalie immediately shuddered, making a startled gesture, looked at the little dog with an exasperated and helpless tilt of her head, and vented, “Jesus! Barabara, are you in heat? Go find your Barbie doll, stop bothering me! Shut up!” After that, she looked towards the chair again and took a gulp of her drink.

“CUT!” Wang Yang called out, nodding and smiling, “GOOD!” At the sound of “cut” and “good,” Natalie’s expression changed to one of apology as she went forward, picked up the Yorkshire terrier, and walked off to the side, whispering, “Little cutie, I’m really sorry for lashing out at you just now…” Wang Yang shook his head with a smile. This was really strange—cute Natalie? He clapped his hands and shouted, “Prepare for the next shot!”

The second shot features Juno walking through many streets of a small town before arriving at a grocery store. Natalie, carrying a drink, strolls along the quiet, leaf-strewn street with a leisurely gait, occasionally taking a big swig from her oversized drink bottle. At a 45-degree angle to her, a large film crew follows, with Wang Yang at the forefront, paying close attention to her expressions and pace.

Just then, a fallen leaf drifts down, and Natalie tilts her head back and moves her face towards it. As the leaf lands on her face, she snorts and shakes it off. Wang Yang clenches his fist and silently praises her, “Very good!” This wasn’t a planned shot, but this spontaneity was perfect—that was the Juno he wanted.

After a day of shooting, Wang Yang can’t help but give Natalie a thumbs-up. Nearly a year of preparation had not been wasted; her performance was impeccable, with almost no need for retakes, except for a few times when acting opposite other actors. Of course, she was saving a lot of film, well below budget. Wang Yang didn’t wrap up shooting just for that reason. Despite her perfect takes, he still had her perform several more times to see if an even better effect could be achieved.

The crew was staying in a nearby hotel in the town. By now, night had fallen, and inside the brightly lit hotel, Wang Yang sat at the desk in his room, looking at Michael Pitt across from him in his tracksuit. Michael was rehearsing for tomorrow’s scenes, his face blank as he uttered softly, “What, you’re pregnant? I… 1 understand.” Wang Yang chuckled and called out, “Cut! Michael, great job. Can’t wait to see your chemistry with Natalie tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay.” Michael Pitt let out a breath, sitting down in the chair nervously and sighed, “I’m the lead actor? It’s unbelievable.” Wang Yang turned to sort some documents on the desk, laughing, “Buddy, you’re more loquacious than Zachary; he only mentioned it about ten times, but you’re already close to triple digits.” Michael smiled faintly, recalling the days he’d never forget, and said, “Yang, thank you, it’s about to come true.”

“That line’s also getting close to triple digits,” Wang Yang looked back at him and said, “Michael, I have to say something that’s almost reached three digits too, no need to thank me; it’s all your own hard work.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door. A female voice rang out, “Director.” Wang Yang said, “Come in,” and the unlocked door opened as a girl with a ponytail of black-brown hair walked in. Wang Yang picked up several documents and handed them to her, “Nancy, here’s my shooting schedule for tomorrow. Deliver these to Valer and the rest. The documents indicate who they are for, got it?” Nancy took the documents and earnestly replied, “OK, I’ll deliver them now.”

When putting together the crew for “Juno,” Wang Yang reached out to this stubborn girl he knew from Park City, fulfilling his promise to arrange a director’s assistant interview for her. Nancy Reno had a certain level of professional knowledge and was diligent and patient enough to handle the tasks of an assistant director, which did not require leading shoots or aiding in creativity, so he hired her.

“By the way, Director, Natalie wants you to go to the rehearsal room on the first floor. She wants to practice walking like a pregnant woman,” Nancy said with a smile. “She also asked you to bring a pillow.” Wang Yang shrugged his shoulders, left without picking up a pillow, and walked out of the room with Nancy, as Michael Pitt also got up and left.

When Wang Yang arrived at the rehearsal room, which was a spacious room in the hotel, he saw Natalie with a rounded belly, walking back and forth with one hand on her waist, mimicking the movements of a black-haired, white adolescent girl who was also strolling nearby, while another blonde, white young woman in her early twenties sat on the couch to the side.

The black-haired girl was named Ashina, a local from Toronto, 18 years old, but already more than six months pregnant, while the blonde girl was named Cass, 20 years old, with a son that was already 3 years old. Both of them were members hired by the crew, set to participate throughout the shooting stage for things like teaching Natalie how to walk like a pregnant woman, as well as providing real experiences and states of mind regarding teenage pregnancy, to assist both Natalie and Wang Yang.

“Hey, Yang!” Natalie greeted him as he walked in, and continued to move around with her belly strapped with props. “How do I walk?”

Wang Yang sat down on the sofa and observed the difference between her walk and Ashina’s, saying, “It seems a bit light, the little guy in your belly isn’t a pillow.” Natalie stopped in her tracks and watched Ashina’s steps intently. Wang Yang glanced at Cass, who was chatting on the phone, saying softly, “Mommy will be back soon, shall I buy you a Superman? Hmm, go to sleep now, let grandma tell you a story…”

It was only after she put down her phone that Wang Yang smiled and said, “Hi, Cass.” Cass smiled back at him and said, “I was wrong, I didn’t bring him here earlier, I just wanted to relax for a month, you know, since I was 17, I’ve been with him every day; but now, all I can think about is that little baby, just a few days apart.” Wang Yang nodded understandingly and said, “You can bring him here, the production will cover the food and accommodation costs.”

“Hmm, thanks, but I need a few more days,” Cass shook her head with a smile and raised her eyebrows for a long sigh, spreading her hands and saying, “Sometimes, I regret it so much, looking at what I’ve done? You were 20,1 was also 20, yet my son is over three years old, I’ve ruined my own life.” She smiled again and said, “But seeing my little sweetheart, I think it’s pretty good, I love him, thank God he was given to me.”

Wang Yang looked at Ashina, who was youthful and had a round belly, and listened quietly to Cass’s confession. He felt a bit heavy; pregnancy really is a serious matter, especially teenage pregnancy, it’s a life-changing impact. He knew Cass’s story, pregnant at 17, she chose not to have an abortion, did not give the child away, and raised him with her parents, while the baby’s father took no responsibility.

Walking a while, then resting a while, until Ashina felt very tired, that session of learning came to an end. Cass helped Ashina back to her room to rest, and Wang Yang and Natalie went back upstairs too. In the elevator, Wang Yang listened to the soft “rumble” and thought about Cass’s phrase “men are bastards,” recalling the original Juno’s Pauly and Mark, he frowned, Rachel… Jessica? It seemed he had also been a bastard once, the marriage plans… He looked at Natalie beside him and casually asked, “Buddy, what do you think of marriage?”

“What?” Natalie looked at him oddly and asked, “Why do you ask that?” Wang Yang laughed and said, “Just remembered some things, just asking, no connection with ‘Juno,’ you don’t have to answer.” Natalie snorted lightly and said indifferently, “I can imagine what love is; but I can’t imagine two people being together forever, that’s terrifying and unlikely, forever? I don’t believe in it.”

With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and as Wang Yang walked out, he said to her, “Seems you have no faith in marriage then.” Natalie shrugged nonchalantly and counter-asked, “Do you believe?” Wang Yang thought for a moment, then nodded, “Of course, why not? If you believe in it, it exists; if you don’t, it definitely won’t. Besides, my parents are doing quite well; as far as I know your parents are also happy, isn’t that real?”

Natalie looked at him, shook her head with a smile, and said, “Narr!” Just then, the elevator doors opened, and she walked out first, leaving Wang Yang behind feeling a bit puzzled, “Narr? What does that mean?” Natalie said with a smile, “That’s German, what does it mean? I’m not going to tell you.” Wang Yang suddenly remembered she was multilingual, he laughed, “Better not tell me then! But I’m also a ‘language master,’ English, Chinese, Cantonese… maybe even German, Narr? So.” He said in Chinese, “Bookworm.”

“What does that mean?” Natalie asked curiously. Wang Yang shrugged, “You tell me, and I’ll tell you.” Natalie stopped walking and said, “Disappointing for you, but I choose to learn it myself. I’ve been meaning to learn an Asian language, Japanese or Chinese, now I’ve chosen Chinese.” Wang Yang laughed, “That’s a wise choice, take your time learning it. But me? I’ll just go back to the room, look it up online, and then I’ll know what ‘Narr’ means.”

“Haha, don’t be silly!” Natalie suddenly became all teasing, like Juno, but also like herself, she laughed and said, “I now know what ‘bookworm’ means, Bookworm, nerd. Oh! I forgot to tell you, when I was filming ‘The World of Heart,’ I already learned quite a bit of Chinese from Mr. Wayne Wang; besides, my decision was made six months ago, I have been systematically studying it.” Then, she laughed again and said in German, English, and Chinese, “Narr, fool, idiot!”

So Narr means idiot? Although he had anticipated it, seeing her triumphant expression, Wang Yang couldn’t help but laugh. He gritted his teeth and said, “OK, you got me, lady, just you watch out, I’ll get you back!” Natalie raised her eyebrows and said, “Clearly you have plenty of time, but…” She patted his shoulder forcefully and laughed, “Don’t let me get in a double hit!”

“Hey, Yang, found you!” At this moment, a person turned the corner of the corridor, it was Joshua, one of the crew’s assistants, who saw Wang Yang and quickly rushed over excitedly, saying, “The basketball game is about to start, let’s watch together! Tonight is the championship night!” The Lakers were leading the Pacers with a score of 3:2; if they won tonight, they would take home the championship. Wang Yang nodded happily, as the preparations for tomorrow were all set, so watching a basketball game wouldn’t cause any delay.

Joshua put his arm around Wang Yang’s shoulder, singing joyfully, “We are the champions! We are the champions! Hahaha—” He looked at Natalie with a provocative tone and said, “I’m sorry, your Knicks went home to go fishing early, oh yeah, we are the champions—”

“I’m sorry.” Natalie curled her lips disdainfully and said, “I’m not a basketball fan. Really, I don’t see what’s so great about it? Ten people running around after one ball, and the key to winning or losing is who looks stronger and taller, wow, boom, slam dunk! Then the basketball fans…” She raised her hands dramatically, her voice trembling, “Oh my god, so strong, so powerful! Please, slam them to death—” She twisted her mouth and shrugged, “A whole evening wasted.”

Seeing both Wang Yang and Joshua stunned, she suddenly burst into laughter, holding her stomach, “Haha, I… I’m just kidding, but I really don’t understand basketball. Buddy, enjoy your championship!” With that, she smiled and turned to walk back to her room.

“This person…” Joshua inhaled sharply with irritation, waving his fist, “This woman is so annoying!” Wang Yang struggled to keep a straight face and nodded, “Yes, she’s very annoying…” Remembering how she played with the dog in the morning, he added, “And there’s another ‘she,’ quite cute actually.”

Joshua jumped as if electrocuted, his eyes wide as if they might pop out, exclaiming loudly in surprise, “What!? You said cute? Hmph-hah! What are you thinking of doing?! Yang!” He pointed his two fingers at his own eyes, then, like the father-in-law in ‘Meet the Parents,’ crossed them towards Wang Yang, his voice cold, “I’m watching you.”

“What are you joking about!” Wang Yang laughed and shook his head, “Didn’t you just see? What’s her attitude towards basketball? And mine? It’s a matter of life philosophy, I’m that person who wastes a whole evening watching a basketball game.” He walked forward, laughing, “So don’t be a fool! Narr!”

Narr? The puzzled Joshua followed from behind, “What’s Narr?” Wang Yang answered in Chinese, “It means ‘idiot.'” Still puzzled, Joshua followed and asked again, “….Bouncy egg?”