The Best Director

After a mass resignation of crew members, Wang Yang and The Producers’ Stephen Cauley, who was equally responsible for the crew’s operations, rapidly recruited new staff willing to go to South Africa. After all, it wasn’t the Middle East; there were no wars there, and terrorists like Bin Laden probably wouldn’t target it. If there were to be a second round of attacks, South Africa might even be safer than America. It seemed that local security was the only real concern.

However, South Africa was currently stable, and “District 9” was obviously not some small-time production. “The youngest billionaire” would certainly not joke about his own life, and security, as he had said, would indeed be “presidential level.” Thus, under the offer of substantial pay, many outstanding members accepted the contract, and the crew of “District 9” was ready once more.

Wang Yang also led the group to Vancouver to meet up with the local staff, and “District 9” officially entered the filming stage.

As planned, the crew would first shoot in the soundstage and a few indoor locations in Vancouver. By the time these scenes were done, it would be around Thanksgiving. After the holiday, they would head to South Africa, where Stephen Cauley would have arranged everything in advance. The crew would shoot there for a month before returning, just in time for Christmas and New Year. After the holidays were over, they would shoot some street scenes in Los Angeles, aiming to wrap up by mid-January next year.

Now, “District 9” was about to shoot its first scene. In the set designed as the “secret corridor of the MNU headquarters,” Robert Downey Jr. was dressed in a tattered, blood-stained white shirt, with dirty and disheveled hair, and his left wrist wrapped in several loops of dark red cloth, holding an alien weapon in his hand.

This weapon was designed based on the “Hercules beetle,” with a very elongated body painted in beetle-like colors and patterns. The barrel part consisted of two ferocious sharp horns. When the trigger was pulled, an energy net would form between the horns and shoot out like lightning, pulverizing enemies on impact. Of course, this effect would need to be achieved with the help of special effects.

Standing behind Robert was Jeff Dugdale, who played Christopher Foersten. He wasn’t a big star and remained largely unnoticed in Hollywood. However, his decent acting skills and experience, demonstrated by his minor role in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” were the reasons for his successful audition.

The alien characters were undoubtedly reliant on computer-generated effects, and Christopher was no exception. However, detailed special effects required a foundation. During shooting, Jeff Dugdale would perform continuously to be captured on film. Then, animators would use his movements and expressions as templates, frame by frame, drawing the alien character based on him, and then merging it all to transform Jeff Dugdale on the film into Christopher Foersten.

At that moment, he was holding a “rhinoceros beetle” model rifle, dressed in a blue-grey bodysuit with headscarves and gloves, all adorned with markings for easier post-production by the animation team, looking quite bizarre.

In front of the two actors was the door at the end of the corridor, but in reality, there was nothing in front of this set—this was where the crew would film the front shots, and the door was located in a different set to the side. In front, Valery Feist had a camera on his shoulder, with a sound crew holding a boom microphone nearby, along with a lighting technician, special effects team member Sean Walsh, and others. Wang Yang, wearing a light jacket and holding a viewfinder in his hand, was also present.

Guys,” Wang Yang said with one eye closed, aiming through the viewfinder and checking the shot for the start of the shoot while smiling, “are you all ready?” Robert, on the other side, aimed his prop gun and made a play-shooting sound, “Let’s do this!” Valery Feist gave a thumbs-up, all the crew members nodded with smiles and replied, “Let’s start!” Sean Walsh also laughed and said, “I’ve waited so long for this moment.”

I have too! Wang Yang chuckled, put down the viewfinder, and signaled the script supervisor, saying, “Let’s begin.” Looking at Robert and Jeff in front of him, he took a deep breath, recalling his days on Rek Island, that dream, old man Wu… All the trials and tribulations he had overcome to get here, and now, it was finally time to start filming! It had been over a year since he had last held this director’s viewfinder at a film set, in the beautiful town of Toronto, another city in Canada.

The new journey of directing was about to commence! There would be action, car chases, explosions, gunfights… all these scenes were entirely new experiences. As the script supervisor clapped the electronic slate with “Take One, Shot One,” Wang Yang felt a surge of energy, as if a door to another world was opening. He shouted, “Action!”

At the call of “Action,” the crew instantly got into work mode, and the two actors began their performance. The shot was straightforward: Wikus and Christopher hastily moving along the corridor without any dialogue. They had rehearsed it before, so there were unlikely to be any issues.

Robert was sweating profusely, his face filled with tension as he walked briskly forward, aiming the gun ahead, while Jeff Dugdale followed, composed. Valery Feist and the others with the camera were retreating just as quickly, while the animation supervisor Micah Laster observed Jeff’s expressions and movements to give animators the best footage for production. Everyone moved back to the end of the set, and Wang Yang stopped, smiling and calling out, “CUT! Great, that’s a wrap!”

The crew cheered with joy, and Robert brandished his gun in a playful sweep motion, whistling. A smooth first take always brought delight!

Let’s prepare for the next shot,” Wang Yang said with a smile, clapping his hands as the crew moved towards the set of “the door at the end of the corridor.” He walked over to the special effects team and asked Sean and Micah, “Any issues with that last shot?” Micah smiled, shaking his head, “Everything looked normal.” Sean Walsh nodded with a smile, “If you’re happy with it, we can start working on it tomorrow.”

That’s great. Let’s aim to get more special effects shots done today; that should give you enough to work with,” Wang Yang laughed, patting Sean on the arm before picking up the viewfinder to check the composition of the next shot.

The special effects production for “District 9” was carried out in parallel with the shooting, so the film shot today would be checked back at the hotel in the evening. If there were no issues, the footage would be sent to Image Engine headquarters, where the animators would immediately begin rendering and production. Currently, “District 9″‘s special effects schedule had over 800 shots planned, and with the size of the animation team, everything could be completed by May next year, provided all went well.

The next sequence of shots being filmed involved Wikus crouching by a door, looking back and talking to Christopher. When the call for “Action” was heard, Valerie Fiset activated the camera, and a panting Robert Downey Jr., crouching by the door, wiped his sweaty forehead with his dirty sleeve, turned back to Jeff Dugdale, and cursed, “You almost killed me just now, you damn bug, you idiot…”

CUT!” Wang Yang shook his head; naturally, it wasn’t a pass. He said, “Robert, your gaze and expression are not on point.” Everyone immediately looked at him, and Wang Yang walked over, trying to glare at Jeff menacingly. After thinking for a bit, he slowly said, “Hmm, I think the problem is that you don’t see Jeff as an alien, plus he almost just killed you. You know your current state of mind is only selfish, to quickly get that damn energy bottle and turn back into a human…”

He spread his hands and pointed at Jeff, saying, “But this bug, trash that’s worthless in your eyes, maybe before transforming, you might talk about some humanity, but after transforming, you greatly detest them. You have one thought, ‘they are the ones who made me this way, they owe me.’ And in this situation?” He glared, grinding his teeth, and said, “Anger, racism, resentment, venting… You need to have these emotions!”

Yeah, I think I need to get more into character,” Robert Downey Jr. said, twisting his mouth and frowning, also realizing the problem. He looked at Jeff Dugdale and laughed, “I don’t know if it’s because of that, but I can’t feel that he’s an alien.” Jeff shrugged and laughed, “I’m sorry, but I indeed am not.” Downey Jr. chortled and said, “Yang, I need to cultivate some emotion…”

Wang Yang earnestly assessed Jeff, mulling over a solution. It was a big problem; the entire movie was about aliens, and if Downey Jr. lacked the emotional presence on the spot and couldn’t act out a real interaction with the aliens, it would be terrible. The more Jeff seemed like an alien, the more it would help Downey Jr.’s acting and emotional immersion. But how could they make Jeff become an “alien”? Surely they couldn’t have him transform too?

He laughed to himself as he looked around at everyone and asked, “Hey, guys, anyone got any good ideas to make Jeff look more like an alien?”

Valerie Fiset, art director Patrick, Sean Walsh… even Jeff himself were all contemplating when Patrick suggested, “Maybe we can get Jeff to wear a monster costume?” Micah Laster immediately shook his head and said, “That won’t do, our animation department needs him to wear what he’s wearing now; changing it would have a big impact.” Sean Walsh, with a face that said he had no ideas, added, “Computer effects won’t help with this problem.”

No need for all that trouble, give me a bit of time,” said Downey Jr., taking deep breaths with his eyes closed. He spoke in a deep voice, “I’m stewing over the emotions; it’s coming, um, almost there…”

Hold on…” Wang Yang’s eyebrows rose, and an idea vaguely formed in his mind. A monster costume, no need for complication… He recalled reading that sometimes human thoughts can be rigid, tightly held by certain impressions, unable to think clearly. In fact, it might be a simple task, but one needed to think outside the box! He glanced Jeff up and down, finally resting his eyes on his face, and suddenly smiled, “I’ve got it, let’s do makeup!”

Makeup? Everyone suddenly seemed to catch on to something, and Wang Yang loudly called out toward the area outside the set, “Nia, come here, Nia!” After several shouts, he turned to the crew and said, “Get her over here for me, and bring her tools.”

Nia was one of the makeup artists on the crew, a white woman in her thirties. She was not far outside and came over as soon as she heard the call. Wang Yang pointed at Jeff Dugdale’s face and gave a sly smile before saying, “Nia, paint his whole face olive-green!” Downey Jr., Jeff, and everyone else suddenly realized the idea sounded pretty good. Patrick nodded in agreement, “That’s much simpler.” Wang Yang smiled, “Well, let’s try it! Jeff, your face is going to have a hard time.”

It’s nothing,” Jeff Dugdale laughed it off, not minding a bit of green paint on his face — even if it were all over his body, he would comply. He cherished this opportunity; although his appearance wouldn’t be on the big screen eventually, all the aliens were actually him, and the thought alone made him happy.

Soon, after Nia’s “paint job,” Jeff’s face and neck turned a shade of olive-green.

Paired with the gray-blue bodysuit, he looked even more bizarre, and a child seeing him might truly scream, “Monster!”

Downey Jr., however, couldn’t help but burst into laughter, draping his arm over Jeff’s shoulder, and joked, “Buddy, you should punch the director who made you look like this, you look like you’re transforming, haha!” Everyone, including Jeff, laughed along; Wang Yang frowned and clapped his hands, “Robert, hurry up and stew over those damn emotions, quick!”

Downey Jr. nodded with a smile, “OK, here I go.” He gradually calmed down, staring intently at Jeff’s non-human colored face, telling himself, “This guy is an alien, he almost killed me!” After a while, he looked stern and said, “I’ve got the feeling, let’s go again.” With that, he crouched at the doorway.

Alright, everyone to your places!” Wang Yang called out, Valerie Fiset picked up the camera again, and everyone got back on track. He also walked back beside Valerie, and as the clapperboard was struck, he called out, “Action!”

Huff huff…” Downey Jr., gasping for breath, suddenly turned furiously towards Jeff Dugdale, flames in his eyes, his face filled with resentful anger, his voice quivering with rage, “You damn bug, you fucking almost killed me just now, FUCK! You damn bug…”

Wang Yang laughed, clenching his fist; he could feel Downey Jr.’s sky-high resentment, and joyfully shouted, “CUT! Very good!” (To be continued, if you