The Best Director

In the motion capture stage room, sweat poured down as rest and exertion coexisted. The action team members worked on choreographing fights while Jessica, tied with wires, hung two meters in the air. She practiced balancing with the guidance of martial arts assistants, occasionally throwing punches and kicks. Wang Yang sat in the director’s chair to the side, keeping an eye on her, and taught the resting Robert Downey Jr. and others Chinese, word by word.

The world of “Firefly” has a background where Chinese and American cultures are integrated, naturally making Mandarin Chinese & English the official languages.

Joss Whedon wrote the TV series scripts and movie scripts with the characters occasionally blurting out a line in Chinese; however, when Wang Yang rewrote and integrated the movie script, to avoid confusion and meaninglessness, he cut and modified a lot of nonsensical Chinese dialogues. Now either entire segments are in Chinese in certain scenes or there are just a few simple phrases to create a futuristic sci-fi atmosphere.

“Damn it” is one of them, and Wang Yang hoped the main actors would cherish these not frequently appearing phrases and speak them as standard as possible. Besides Jessica, no one on the crew of Serenity had a foundation in Chinese, let alone the ability to speak or read fluently, so whenever he was idle, he would casually teach Downey and others.

Since it was a fusion, it wasn’t only about including Chinese lines; on the other hand, Chinese characters would often appear on scene props: spaceship logos, safety slogans, street signs, machinery series text, clothing patterns… Wang Yang was very, very strict about all these Chinese characters—absolutely no mistakes allowed! And under no circumstances should Japanese or Korean be mixed in creating a “seems-like” mishmash. Chinese had to be Chinese.

There was an increase in vocabulary, but not a fusion of characters, just as English wouldn’t mix with French, German, and others.

Wang Yang believed in a saying: “Details determine success or failure.” If you can’t even pay attention to something as simple as hiring a Chinese consultant for the props and set design department or hiring a Chinese-speaking Asian American staff member, then what’s the talk about doing things well?

“Firefly” had a budget of $200 million, and every aspect could be done the best, same with other details.

For instance, the flags, emblems, and logos of the Star Alliance, the Independent factions’ flags, logos, raiders, and even the Star Alliance’s songs had to be well-designed, incorporating characteristics of Chinese-American culture and the trends of the whole world—this was humanity’s new face. Wang Yang didn’t want to just haphazardly clump current flags together; it wouldn’t be aesthetically pleasing or align with his vision. These elements would be published on the official website to supplement the background material and form a new sci-fi universe.

“Firefly” is not just “Firefly.” It aims to distinguish itself and surpass “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” and the like. This is called ambition, it is also the goal to strive for.

“Oh, damn it!” Robert Downey Jr., arms crossed, parroted the lesson, still with an awkward pronunciation. Feigning confusion, he asked, “Why not just make it Tomato directly?” Wang Yang spread his hands, “Because you don’t have Tomato, you only have damn it.” Heath Ledger and Joshua immediately burst into laughter. Besides meaning tomato, “Tomato” also had the derogatory slang connotation: a beautiful woman.

Downey, a middle-aged single man who had been dumped and divorced, nodded, his old face filled with sorrow: “My friend, you’ve hurt me, you’ve hurt me. Why won’t you let a reformed man be?” Wang Yang nonchalantly put his hand on his shoulder, “Oh really? For that, I’m truly sorry… Hahaha!” Downey looked at Heath Ledger and others, laughed at himself with a chuckle: “I had Tomato when you were still a kid.” Wang Yang scoffed, “Robert, you know why you lost her? Because you treated her like a Tomato, I treated her like a Pumpkin. Hey, want to pick a fight?”

“Pumpkin,” which means pumpkin, is slang for dear, sweetheart, and they were referring to Sarah Jessica Parker and Jessica Alba.

Seeing the atmosphere suddenly turn tense, Heath Ledger couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably in his seat, no longer sure whether these two were genuinely fond of each other or were engaged in mutual sarcastic barbs. They were always joking around, like now, some of which seemed a bit over the top, and they were doing it in front of him. Although it was amusing, it looked like another fight was brewing. It seemed the rumors about the tense set of “District 9” were true, and what about “Firefly”…

“Hahaha!” Downey and Wang Yang burst out laughing, with no trace of anger between them. If anyone took a photo of them with their arms around each other’s shoulders, they could definitely concoct a gossip story claiming they were coming out together. But then again, if someone called Downey a “druggie,” he might have swung a punch at them, or at the very least retorted angrily, “You’re out of your mind.” Now, he just found it amusing.

Heath Ledger was speechless and realized he might be a bit over-sensitive, but he really was fed up with cold sets! Perhaps he longed not just for praise and encouragement but also for interaction and joy. Watching the camaraderie between Wang Yang and little Robert Downey Jr., Heath felt a twinge of envy. How many good friends could one have who you can joke around with so casually and not have to think too much about what to say? How many did Heath Ledger have?

“Robert, whether you have Tomato or not, you better damn well learn the ‘fucking’.” Wang Yang punched Downey on the shoulder as if punishing him; Downey let out an “ow” and laughed, “I’ll learn gradually, but I’m curious if there are any other curse words?” Just then, Downey spotted Susan Levin walking by, and he immediately got up excitedly to chat with her, “Hi! Susan.”

“Fucking hell.” Wang Yang chuckled and shook his head, knowing that many in the crew were aware of little Robert Downey Jr.’s spring fever—he was fervently pursuing producer Susan Levin. Downey had confided, “I want to win her over before ‘Firefly’ wraps up, I want to marry her.” As long as it didn’t impact work, the crew naturally wouldn’t interfere with personal lives. Downey, also understanding the boundaries, managed them well as a reformed bad boy; and as a friend, Wang Yang hoped he would find his Pumpkin.

Rolling out complete background information gradually on the official website served a promotional purpose, providing audiences with a stronger sense of visual and emotional immersion while watching the film. However, this small gesture was clearly not enough. Not every movie fan or casual viewer will meticulously study the background information of a film; in fact, very few do. Setting aside the “Magical Yang” brand, how to pique their interest in watching the film, how to subtly disseminate some of the background to the public, how to get them into the cinema to buy a ticket for “Firefly”?

The whole team at Flare Films knew that “Firefly” aimed to make an unparalleled achievement, to tap into its potential as a “good film” to the utmost, 150%, 200%… Promotion, promotion, promotion.

This is an incredibly fast-paced era, speeding up with each day. With the internet and mobile networks in place, everyone is bombarded with vast amounts of new information daily. This ever-changing information fills their eyes and minds, and while it allows for choice, it’s also supplied by others. One can choose to visit a movie information site, but the content provided is controlled by the site; similarly, blog and other online community information is also supplied by individuals.

“Firefly” needed to maintain visibility, constantly oscillating before their eyes: actors joining, set photos, concept art… constantly moving, more than other films, oscillating in ways that generate anticipation and attention; encouraging people to share it spontaneously.

As both a producer and boss, Wang Yang had discussed at length with Flare Films’ distribution department and prepared many promotional schemes—conventional and novel, online and in the real world. They noticed a trend of vintage posters, so “Firefly” took on a series of retro posters as a significant part of their promotional efforts. However, even more important were the “Wanted Posters,” echoing the alien’s design; this time for the crew of Serenity.

The actions of the Serenity crew in “Firefly” were enough to make them SSS-class targets for the Star Alliance, let alone when adding River into the mix. Character posters of little Robert Downey Jr, Michael Pitt, Jessica Alba, and others, as well as the full crew poster, will become a series of Wanted Posters, complete with some background information on them. These will be released in major cities worldwide with a mockumentary style, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

With 200 million already invested in production, Flare Films did not mind spending another 100 million on the marketing budget. For this, Wang Yang once again solemnly stated to the Flare executives, “We need to go big! I believe we will reap a massive harvest!”

How big? “District 9” achieved incredible box office success with an R rating, and no matter how good the film itself was, it could not have done so without the combination of early viral marketing and the subsequent global critics’ push calling it a “masterpiece.” “Firefly” could not do without viral marketing; as a now standard practice among Hollywood studios, “Firefly”‘s first viral site was about to launch.

But relying solely on viral websites for overwhelming success and miracles was becoming increasingly unreliable. It must be said, as the founder & leader, the whole of Hollywood was watching the wonders of Wang Yang and Firefly Pictures; he hadn’t put much effort into or innovated the concept of “viral marketing” in the promotion of his past three movies. A 200 million production cost? Maybe he would come up with some new tricks.

“Hey, ah—,” Jessica, with a jumping kick in midair, suddenly lost her balance, unable to control it, she let out a cry as she teetered from side to side, wiping the sweat from her forehead before saying to those around her, “Keep going!” Train hard! Train hard! I can do it! She kept silently cheering herself on. Her acting in “High School Musical” had been naive, but she had made significant progress in “The Devil Wears Prada” thanks to his provocation; this time in “Firefly,” she absolutely couldn’t drag her feet or become a nuisance on set!

With the best director, the one who understood her thoughts the most, the most comfortable atmosphere, if she became the part of the film that let everyone down, what kind of lousy actor would she be then? She might as well retire from acting altogether.

But she wouldn’t give up! If she messed up due to laziness or a lack of diligent practice, she would never be able to forgive herself. Thinking back to when she was a child, sneakily imitating performances in front of a mirror, her childhood promise, the gift at 17… Jessica felt that deep-seated passion that had always been there, now exploding with energy—to prove herself, for Wang Yang, for “Firefly,” for the baby who would be born next year! The baby also had to be proud of their mom!

“Hey, ah—” Jessica kicked out again, engaging her core to stabilize her balance and couldn’t help but smile when she succeeded. The wedding ring and the baby gave her body endless strength! She shouted, “Continue!”

“Has she gone crazy?” Seeing his sister quickly topple and sway again, Joshua frowned and muttered from the sidelines. He didn’t want her to be lazy, but could she handle the almost non-stop diligence? He looked towards Wang Yang, reminding him, “Yang, you should tell your wife to be mindful of her health, right? Too much hard work isn’t good!” Heath Ledger admired Jessica’s diligence as well; aside from her training sessions, she was hardly seen standing with Wang Yang, easily the most burdened and hardest-working person in this training mission.

“Yes, I’ve talked to her about it,” Wang Yang nodded, with a somewhat helpless smile. In contrast to “High School Musical,” where she constantly clung to him, handing him water and microphones, even taking over the assistant director’s work; in “The Devil Wears Prada,” she kept an eye on him, always greeting him with a smile whenever he looked her way; now after getting married, she had thrown herself wholeheartedly into her work stating, “I want the baby to be proud!”

A healthy amount of effort was necessary and normal, though the current workload didn’t seem too overwhelming. He was about to head back to Los Angeles for a few days, to attend ShoWest, visit the set of “The Big Bang Theory,” Wang Yang looked at Joshua, instructing, “Make sure she doesn’t overdo it, we have a weekend coming up shortly. Joshua, you should take her out for some fun, invite Michael and Jamie, go see an LA Galaxy match.” He turned to Heath Ledger, “Heath, you coming?”

“No thanks, I have other plans,” Heath Ledger said with a shy smile. Michelle was coming to Vancouver this weekend… Joshua chuckled, “Understood, either Tomato or Pumpkin has a date.” Heath laughed and teased, “Or his mother’s.” Wang Yang shrugged, “Or his sister’s.”

“Is ‘his sister’s’ also a curse word?” they asked curiously. Wang Yang chuckled, “Yes.” “His mum” was the British pronunciation, while “his sister” was the American one.

Las Vegas, the city of gambling, was hosting the annual ShoWest convention, the largest gathering in the global film industry each year. As the only international meeting focused on the business side of films, it attracted all the behind-the-scenes moguls, like cinema chain owners, producers, directors, and technicians, showcasing the latest technological products and discussing the future of the film industry.

As for the “ShoWest Movie Awards,” awarded by cinema owners each year, including Producer of the Year, Director of the Year, Screenwriter of the Year, and the most promising male and female actors, as well as the best actor and actress of the year, they seemed less significant, merely a complement to the technology.

There was no doubt that this year “The Lord of the Rings 3” would again sweep the board without any suspense. This animation film industry’s gala was, for the third consecutive year, hosted by Texas Instruments with their newest DLP-Cinema™ projection technology. It was used for the screening of “Magic Cinderella,” produced by Miramax Films and starring Anne Hathaway; at the same time, Sony Pictures Entertainment also showcased their latest product utilizing DLP-Cinema™ technology during the “Spider-Man 2” tour.

DLP-Cinema™ technology refers to the digital light processing technology specifically developed for the film industry, with color processing designed to authentically reproduce the visual experience of films; The core of DLP technology is three Digital Mirror Device (DMD) optical semiconductor chips, where the DMD switch features an array of 1.31 million minute, interconnected mirror surfaces that work through an optical switching method, achieving high-definition, true-color images.

“Digital cinema is here!” That was the slogan Texas Instruments shouted out. With support from professional film and digital cinema projector manufacturers such as BARCO, Christie, NEC-Viewtechnology, Digital-Projection-International, 210 cinemas around the world have installed DLP-Cinema™ equipment, becoming digital cinemas capable of screening fully digitalized films.

This is an epoch-making event, signifying the imminent arrival of the digital era. The costly steps of copying and transporting film for releases may soon be gone forever; film distributors will only need to provide a digital disc to cinemas, or even transmit directly via the internet to complete the handover. Cinemas won’t need to maintain reels of film either, and the astronomical savings for both sides will be substantial.

The win-win benefits sweep aside all obstacles; the universally welcomed digital projection technology will naturally promote the development of digital cinematography. Consider this—why not have a one-stop service? With digital filming, the costs of shooting, editing, color grading, and converting to digital format will all be saved.

And if digital cinematography technology were to develop at high speed, it would mean so much more.

“Yang! How’s it going? Haha, long time no see!”

In the spacious and bright interview room, several cameras, not yet turned on, were aimed at three chairs in the center from different angles, as the photographers and reporters prepared for the upcoming conversation with three major directors about the future of digital technology. When Wang Yang, dressed in a black windbreaker and jeans, walked into the interview room, Robert Zemeckis, all smiles, warmly approached him, their last meeting having been almost two months earlier at a wedding.

Set for release on November 10th of this year, “The Polar Express,” the first full-length IMAX-3D film in movie history and employing the most advanced motion capture technology, made it unsurprising that “tech maniac” Robert Zemeckis occupied one of the chairs.

“Hi, Robert!” Wang Yang greeted Zemeckis with good cheer.

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PS: Wah, let’s pull in some recommendation tickets. Also, a personal recommendation for Geyu’s historical masterpiece, “Dynasty Tang,” book number 2146762, an excellent work navigating the chaos of the Tang Dynasty during the An Shi Rebellion. (