The Best Director

The media and fans were puzzled, what did this have to do with his acting career? Had he had an acting career? The supermarket employee from the viral marketing footage of “Paranormal Activity”?

“I will make a cameo as an important character.” This was Wang Yang’s answer to the media on the spot, not a bit-part but an important character, and it was no joke. “Firefly’s” official website released a batch of character photos in costume, including Captain Mal, Jayne, Kaylee, River, and other Serenity crew members, while the “Blue Gloves” had yet to make an appearance. However, there was an addition of a “Mysterious Man,” with a dashing Yang dressed in cowboy attire and chomping on a big cigar, looking charming and handsome. It was said that the big cigar was in tribute to the late Chinese-American photography master, Huang Zongzhan.

It seemed that the Magical Yang was having a lot of fun. He struck many cool and suave poses in front of the backdrop, and there was also a cozy photo with Jessica Alba. Could it be that his character was River’s boyfriend? Regardless, numerous fans screamed in excitement. “Wow! Yang looks so handsome!” exclaimed Hearst, whose avatar was a Caucasian girl. Alina, an Asian girl, represented another large faction of fans with their opinion: “So excited! But is Magical Yang doing this just for fun? I still think it will be an insignificant role.” …

If Wang Yang’s cameo was for early promotion of “Firefly,” then the goal had been achieved; it garnered the attention of many fans who were previously not so interested in “Firefly.” The unique BABY director, idol-director, one of the top 30 sexiest men globally, and in the top 10 male celebrities gays most wished would come out, the “Chinese Brad Pitt” … the young and charming Magical Yang was seriously stepping onto the big screen?

“Look at him! His attitude towards filmmaking is becoming more and more playful; he even wants to take on work in front of the camera now. Does he think he’s winning an Oscar for Best Actor?” Everyone knew that Magical Yang had won the youngest Best Original Screenplay and youngest Best Director. Jeffrey Westhoff did not miss this opportunity for sarcasm, writing in his blog: “I tell you, this is the first step of Wang Yang becoming Kevin Costner.”

Kevin Costner, the promulgator of the office building rule, won the Oscar for Best Director at 36 with “Dances with Wolves.” After that, he garnered seven Razzie nominations for Worst Actor, winning three times; one Worst Director; and received the Worst Picture four times, winning once.

What sort of acting role could Magical Yang, a “director-only” USC Film School film and television production major who hadn’t graduated, take on?

But this was probably just a minor promotional strategy. The director’s cameo wasn’t a big deal, but what really stirred up the fan discussions was something quite astonishing that had been confirmed. “Firefly” was a sci-fi western adventure film, evident from the costumes and pistols of Captain Mal and his crew, which unmistakably carried a Wild West flavor.

After a gay cowboy movie like “Brokeback Mountain,” Magical Yang was now targeting space cowboys, but the problem is fans were clear… space cowboys? What is that? Joke, right?

On the box office charts for the “sci-fi adventure” genre, there was no billion-dollar hit with a similar style. The “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” series split the domain; “Jurassic Park” and “Planet of the Apes” series stood apart; the $90.68 million global box office of “Galaxy Quest” in ’99, the $71.56 million of “Stargate” in ’94, the $69.11 million of “Lost in Space” in ’98… none of them matched. Even a film titled “Space Cowboy” had nothing to do with cowboy hats, boots, Spurs, or pistols.

“It’s hard to imagine what a combination of western cowboys and interstellar sci-fi would look like. Can this really work?” “What style will it be? Comedy? Drama?” Fans from all over the world were discussing online, wondering why there would still be old-fashioned cowboys in a high-tech future. Some also started questioning the placement of Chinese characters and kung fu in the film; nearly everyone knew that ‘Firefly’ was a tough film to shoot! But the tougher it is, the more excited they became. After all, this is the magical Wang Yang! The eight-time winning magical Wang Yang!”

His second sci-fi film harbored the ambition to revolutionize the science fiction world, exciting countless die-hard fans. Could the magical Wang Yang possibly create a successful new sci-fi series that would break the decades-long monopoly of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Star Trek’?

In the drizzling rain of Vancouver, at the Firefly filming set in the Flame Movie Production Factory, the crew was busy shooting at the backdrop of the Serenity’s cargo hold. It had been two days since Wang Yang shouted the first “Action!” The shooting schedule was moving slowly. Regulars like Valery Fiest could clearly see that the director’s demands had grown much stricter this time. If ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ was considered somewhat relaxed, then they had now reached a demanding extreme. Thankfully, he wasn’t a bad-tempered man.

The actors’ performances left no room for the director to find fault. A collision of acting talents was unfolding in this studio. There were no shots of Michael Pitt yet; neither did Heath Ledger appear in the Serenity set. He needed to leave the crew for a month to wait for the Serenity and other indoor scenes to be filmed. The crew estimated that the entire film would wrap up by the end of August. As for now, the first to spar were little Robert Downey, Jr., Daniel Wu, and Ellen Page.

Alan Tudyk and Gina Torres’ acting was as stable as ever; and having watched the performance of the 17-year-old Canadian pudding, everyone in the crew was surprised. Wang Yang’s effusive praise now seemed so prescient; Page was the kind of genius born for performing.

Listening to Wang Yang’s joyful “Good!” “Very Good!” made old genius Robert Downey, Jr. quite dissatisfied, especially with Susan Levin right on set. He was determined to prove that he was the “naturally talented performer,” the most talented acting genius on this set! Complimented widely for his excellent portrayal of Jeff Ma, Daniel Wu cherished every opportunity with determination, not letting his performance slack. He might not be a genius, but he was certainly no mediocrity.

A good on-set atmosphere could lift the actors’ spirits and performance, not just through the immersive atmosphere; the competitive mindset also spurred breakthrough acting moments. Emily Blunt shone in ‘TDWP’, not unrelated to her revealed mindset: “I want to beat Meryl Streep.”

At this moment, the Serenity’s cargo hold seemed enveloped by an atmosphere of life and death stakes. Ellen Page was nervously peering out from behind a stack of boxes, while Robert Downey, Jr. and Gina Torres were loading up rocket launchers. And the main object of the camera, the muscular Daniel Wu, effortlessly held two huge, modified prop Gatling guns with the help of wires, roaring “Ah!” as he stepped towards the cargo hold, wildly spraying imaginary enemies in the sky.

“Rat-a-tat-tat…” The bodies of the two Gatling guns spun rapidly, their muzzles emitting faint flames, spent blanks falling one after the other, creating a tinkling sound as they hit the ground.

Several film cameras whirred at high speed, capturing different shots from various angles. What was in common was the serious and focused look on the faces of the camera crew, with Valery Fiest shooting the frontal view from his shoulder, slightly shaking the camera as per Wang Yang’s design and finally focusing on a close-up of Daniel Wu’s face, his veins bulging as if he was withstanding the recoil.

From the spaceship flying in the sky, with its cargo bay open, spewing two jets of flames, to Jayne’s close-up— this was the shot. The microphone operators, lighting technicians, and others behind Fiest were in work mode, Wang Yang holding a white microphone, paying close attention to the entire scene. Jayne, along with Captain Mal and a few others serving as the backdrop, had rehearsed their movements before shooting, and these talents made no amateur mistakes.

Belonging to an early stage in the story, Serenity was up to business again. Mal, Jayne, and Zoe craftily and audaciously stole the target cargo from a train, and due to their greed, naturally, made off with the black box hiding River as well. The train sent a few small fighters from their security system to pursue, creating an epic chase through the vast skies with Serenity dodging and attacking the incoming foes. Wang Yang dubbed this scene ‘The Great Train Robbery’.

The Gatling gun is a very iconic ultimate bullet-firing weapon, to say it’s a Hollywood movie favorite wouldn’t be an exaggeration, because the pleasure brought about by its rotating barrels, bullet ejection, and shell scattering, as well as its heavy and furious appearance, are unmatched by other machine guns. However, compared to the energy guns, laser guns, and plasma guns in other sci-fi films… “Firefly” still sticks with gunpowder weapons, which is truly novel.

“Captain, Captain! It’s time for me to tell you something,” Alan Page shouted from behind the box. Robert Downey Jr., without turning his head, shouldering a bazooka, walked toward the hatch while shouting, “What? You want me to die? You love me? I really can’t take this!” Alan Page yelled, “I installed a VI38-type missile system on Serenity, and I even bought the ammunition for one launch!”

At the hatch, Robert Downey Jr. pretended to fire a rocket and then suddenly exclaimed in shock, “What!?” He agilely dropped the bazooka and rushed towards the forward passage, saying, “When did I ask you to install these things? We don’t have money for a Firefly-class missile system, and you bought this… How did you install it?” He grabbed the phone on the wall, urgently saying, “Wash! We have a VI38-type missile system! Use it now! Right now!!”

“OK, searching, I’m looking…,” Alan Tudyk’s voice came from the speaker in the aft cabin. Robert Downey Jr., Alan Page, Daniel Wu, Gina Torres all fell silent. After a time-lapse of a close-up shot, the four of them suddenly acted as if they were flung backward, as the spaceship underwent a massive shake due to the launch of a super-class missile, sending them all tumbling to the ground. Robert Downey Jr., supporting himself on the corridor door, took a dazed breath, “That was intense!”

If this were in a storyboard, the pursuing fighters outside would have exploded into scattered debris by now.

“CUT!” Wang Yang raised the microphone and said, halting all the cameras on set at once. The lead actors all stood up laughing, but they immediately sighed when Wang Yang said, “Let’s do it from the fall again! You guys fell too cautiously! Get ready!” Because of different camera angles and positions, even if there’s no need for a retake, scenes need to be shot multiple times to gather enough footage for close-ups and other shots.

“Action!” “OK, CUT!” “Action!”…

Although “Firefly” is positioned to have a grand and magnificent scene style, not all the detailed dialogues are in a serious drama style. The characters of the Serenity crew are all quite comedic, of course, as the story progresses, the atmosphere will gradually become more serious and solemn, leading to a conclusory arc meant to move and astonish the audience. But now, it is only the beginning, so the atmosphere on set is very lively and cheerful, completely devoid of the oppression felt during “District 9.”

“Next, press down with all your strength, really put force into it.” The shooting position for the aft cabin set changed, next to the big black custom-made box, Wang Yang handed a crowbar to Downey and Daniel Wu, demonstrating how to forcibly break open the box while Joss Whedon and others directed the crew in preparations. After repelling the pursuit of the train, Captain Mal and others then inspected the loot they had obtained, until it was time for this big box.

The box didn’t have any advanced security features like fingerprint or iris scanners, just a simple outdated numerical keypad. Even so, it stumped both Mal and Jayne, who decided to continue with brute force.

“Action!” At Wang Yang’s command, the cameras began rolling, and the actors in the shot immediately slipped into character, entering the world of “Firefly.” Downey and Daniel Wu stood beside the box, pressing down on the crowbar together, trying to pry it open with all their might: “Ugh, aargh!” Both exerted so much strength that their cheeks puffed out, yet the big box remained immovable. At that moment, Alan Page, who had been watching from the side, stepped forward and fiddled with the numerical keypad on the box.

Suddenly, with a snap! The crowbar flung the lid of the box open. Downey and Daniel Wu reacted with surprise, nearly falling over. Alan Page turned to the others, having already thought out her character Kaylee’s mindset. She broadly laughed with natural talent, “Captain, can you believe someone used 951753 as a password!” She was quite proud: “Haha!”This pride was directed at the person who set the password, namely Simon; not the foolhardy Mal and Jayne.

“This little girl really deserves a spanking, I’m the real genius!” Donnie silently roared, perfectly matching Mal’s feelings at the moment, who complained in an irritated tone, “Kaylee, can’t you not take matters into your own hands for once? We almost pried it open!” However, when Daniel Wu looked inside the box, he let out a loud, surprised “Wow!” even though the box was empty. They first needed to complete the shots looking up at the group from inside the box before looking down to film River in the box.

“CUT!” … “Action!”

Once the film crew had their equipment and positions ready and filming continued, Daniel Wu let out another loud “Wow!” as he looked into the camera in the box, as if he were seeing, from the storyboard, a girl in a dress, curled up and sleeping. He exclaimed in shock, “Mal! Aren’t we supposed not to engage in human trafficking? I won’t do that kind of business!” Then Donnie, entering the shot from below, also froze, only to remind, “You insisted on bringing back this box.” Then Ellen Page and Gina Torres also appeared next to the box.

Seeing the woman inside with the face of an angel and the body of a devil, Ellen Page knew Kaylee was a bit jealous, but it wasn’t that kind of jealousy, rather a sense of lucky escape. Page said, both surprised and skeptical, “Wow, she… she isn’t a sex doll, is she? I mean, the kind used for…” She suddenly felt very embarrassed, as Donnie and the others glanced at her, having said it all, Ellen Page rolled her eyes and mumbled to get past the awkward moment, “The kind of toy doll used for that.”

Wang Yang tried his best to hold back his inexplicable amusement until they finished the scene and then laughed out loud, “CUT! Next, we’ll shoot some additional scenes.” He said something to Valerie Fest and others, then looked toward Jessica, who was sitting far away in a chair, engrossed in the script; this time, she really had transformed, working even harder than him. Wang Yang smiled and called out through the microphone, “Jessie! It’s almost your turn, come over and get ready.” Jessica looked up, answered, and then stood up to walk over.

Besides the overhead shot looking into the box, there were many other tasks on the shooting schedule, like River suddenly opening her eyes and jumping out of the box, easily knocking down Mal and the others, then fainting again. …

In Vancouver, inside a spacious hotel apartment living room, Heath Ledger sat on the floor, leaning against the wall with a blank expression and a far-off look in his eyes. After finishing the initial interviews, he had locked himself in this apartment and hadn’t stepped out for several days, spending every day feeling and deconstructing the inner world and behaviors of the character with the blue glove. Suddenly remembering something, Heath Ledger laughed softly, “Yes, that kind of world would be the best.”

Without the concept of superiority or inferiority, there would be no inferiority complex, no divorces; everyone would love and marry according to the system’s optimal arrangement, and everyone would be happy… Fantastic!

Anyone who wanted to disrupt or hinder the birth of this world would have to disappear! It was a form of honor, a contribution… Heath Ledger took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, chuckled softly, and after a moment of silence, murmured to himself, “I’m not a bad person, nor a good person…”

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