The Best Director

Chapter 213: Are You Ready? (Begging for Monthly Pass)

Time swiftly advanced into May, and after more than a month of continuous busyness, the theatrical version of “MIT-21-TEAM” was finally edited to completion. The film itself was 118 minutes long, plus the opening and closing credits the total runtime came to 125 minutes. Wang Yang was very satisfied with this version of the film; the pace was consistently brisk. Even if one watched it without excitement or eagerness, it wouldn’t feel irksome or dull. To him, it had its own flavor, displaying genius, intelligence, cunning, and professionalism…

However, Margaret Goodspeed said that at times there was so much to keep up with that it felt overwhelming. As a pure audience member, she got drawn into pondering the issues the film raised, which made her forget to follow the plot. For instance, she became entangled in the paradoxical questions raised in the opening bar scene, which kept resurfacing later on. She believed that most of the audience would feel the same way, encountering many thought-provoking elements throughout the film.

After watching this piece created by the two of them, her overall impression was: “Very risky.”

The story was interesting, the characters were cool, and the camera work had the rapid and incisive editing style of Cult films. Many scenes, however, slowed down, beautifully crafted and worthy of appreciation. The dialogue was sharp and pointed; although there weren’t any particularly classic lines, after watching the film, it was hard to forget certain scenes and dialogues—like the opening bar scene, Jeff Ma learning card counting… While she couldn’t recall every line, she vividly remembered how those long stretches unfolded.

For a commercial film with a production budget of $25 million, it truly stood out, different enough to be labeled a Cult film. As a gambling film, she had studied a vast quantity of gambling films before the editing process and found it to be novel and unique. The card counting aspect even put previous movies, including “The Hangover,” to shame. Yet, she still felt it was very risky because this film, like the miraculous Wang Yang, was both intelligent and sharp.

If “MIT-21-TEAM” had been edited into a smooth commercial film, perhaps movie critics and the general public would say it was “safe and conforming, a popcorn movie with some entertainment value.” But she was sure it wouldn’t struggle at the box office. Riding on Wang Yang’s fame and the promotion as “Best Director’s newest Oscar-worthy film,” a global box office draw of around $200 million wouldn’t be a problem, and it wouldn’t be labeled as bad.

Now, though, there was much more risk. Would audiences enjoy the sharp and incisive edge? She didn’t know; she had seen too many such films sink without a trace. A few would later suddenly be hailed as classics, while others would be hits at the box office and receive widespread acclaim right from the start.

Wang Yang was just a 23-year-old young man; being sharp and eager was only natural. Margaret felt somewhat nostalgic, having edited films with him for years; his style kept changing. Now, here was this strange film with rapid scene transitions every two seconds mixed with many long and slow shots, its structure inverted and full of flashbacks and montages…

She felt it was like a fierce duel between swordsmen in an Eastern film—clashing and clanging breathlessly—then suddenly the camera would pause, capturing a long shot where the swordsmen stood still, only their hair fluttering in the breeze. Of course, “MIT-21-TEAM” was a modern film filled with the ambiance of a campus and casinos.

“In fact, I think it should be like this, the story should be like this, I want it to be like this! Every film is a narrative, a filmmaker’s narrative to the audience, so it’s important to consider how the audience feels, or they’ll accept your words, your story. Otherwise, you’re just admiring your own work, or perhaps, you’re truly exceptional. I pursue neither; I prefer the audience’s appreciation. And now, I believe this way of telling the story is the best. It is what it is, and if it wasn’t like this, then it wouldn’t be itself,” he said.

Hearing Wang Yang say this, all Margaret could do was nod. This film carried his magical reputation; at worst, it wouldn’t lose money. If not for the unstable factor of the Asian male lead, she was even more certain it would be a hit in the first week. But what about the second week? What about the reviews from critics and the general public? What would the outcome be?

“Yes, it’s done!” On the balcony under the night sky, Wang Yang leaned against the railing, looking out at the dark horizon, and chuckled into his phone, “Of course it was quick, we edited 25 hours a day! Now every time I look at something, it’s frame by frame, truly a marvelous world.” Natalie, on the other end, said with interest, “When can I see it then? I’m really looking forward to it! What’s it like?”

“Margaret says it’s fast, oppressive… well, I think you’ll understand after watching. You’ll see,” Wang Yang laughed, his heart brimming with confidence as he said to her, “We haven’t done the scoring or color grading yet! Daniel needs to do the voiceovers, we’ll show you once everything is complete. But in a few days, a teaser trailer will come out, not much content though, haha!” Natalie complained indignantly, “Why don’t I need to do voiceovers?”

“Because you don’t need voiceovers,” Wang Yang replied, and then recalling a question he had not asked for a long time, he asked, “How are your studies going? Will you be able to graduate smoothly?” Natalie responded with slight irritation, “No problems! I’ll graduate smoothly in June! Ready for your bidding at any time!”

Wang Yang knew she was referring to the promotion and release of “MIT-21-TEAM.” He joked, “Aren’t you supposed to be shooting ‘Star Wars: Episode III’? Did they fire you?” Natalie laughed and said, “It’s not like it’s a one-woman show. I can make time for promotion. But I have a question. Do we still need to go to Asia?”

Speaking of this, Wang Yang’s expression inevitably darkened. The plan for the film crew to promote in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other places this summer might have to be canceled. Since the beginning of the year, the SARS virus had swept across the globe, with mainland China being the worst-hit area. But now, the epidemic had not subsided and had instead spread on a large scale, leading to travel bans issued by the World Health Organization in many parts of Asia. It was unclear when the epidemic would end.

In light of this disaster, his charity foundation was doing what little it could to help. He was also eager to bring “MIT-21-TEAM” to meet the fans in China, but given such circumstances, it was impossible. If by August the epidemic ended and the travel restrictions were lifted, he thought he would stick to the plan and go, of course with strict health checks.

Thinking about all this, Wang Yang couldn’t help but sigh. This year really hasn’t been peaceful! He hoped all these unpleasant things would end soon! He said earnestly, “We’ll see what happens. If it’s allowed, at least I’ll go.”

He wouldn’t force anyone to go with him, and he couldn’t be coerced either. Anyway, he was absolutely not going to allow Jessica to go to any SARS-affected areas. Her immune system was weaker than most people’s, and she could easily catch a common cold; whereas he hardly ever caught a cold even once every few years.

Natalie solemnly hmm’d in response, as these unpredictable events could only be observed and reacted to as they unfolded. She changed the subject, “You’re going to start shooting a new movie soon, right? That’s crazy.”

“Yes, ‘The Devil Wears Prada.’ We start filming in a few days,” Wang Yang replied, setting aside the heavy thoughts for a moment as he considered the upcoming start of filming. He glanced towards the bedroom and spoke softly, “Honestly, my enthusiasm for this film hasn’t reached its peak.” Of course, he was interested in and felt for the story and had clear ideas about its theme, otherwise he wouldn’t have picked up the director’s microphone, just like with “Sweetheart.”

However, if there were a ranking for involvement, “District 9” would be at the top so far, and “The Devil Wears Prada” would be at the bottom—he really missed the days of making “District 9,” even though they were often stressful.

“But I won’t slack off,” Wang Yang said into the phone, as if making a promise to himself, “The less enthusiastic I am, the more serious I need to be! And I need to find that enthusiasm! I have to be very strict, very strict!” Natalie chuckled on the other end of the line, as if saying “I know what you’re thinking,” and laughed, “Whatever! I’m not the one acting in it, just let Jessica know.”

“OK, I’ll tell her right now!” Wang Yang turned and walked towards the bedroom, chuckling solemnly, “You better get back to writing your paper! Winner-winner, chicken dinner!” Natalie laughed back, “Winner-winner, chicken dinner!”

“The Devil Wears Prada” was now properly prepared, with a major point of the preparation being the fashion luxury goods in the film.

Even if they wanted to avoid turning it into a fashion show, characters like Miranda and Andrea couldn’t possibly be dressed in ordinary clothes and accessories—it wouldn’t be realistic nor would it create the “atmosphere.” As Patricia Field, the costume designer for the film who also worked on the TV series “Sex and the City,” said, “Miranda needs that kind of dressing that’s high in discernment and stature that would make anyone recognize her as the boss at first glance.”

Patricia Field, being a costume designer for the popular TV series “Sex and the City,” knew many people in the fashion circle and had the capability to recruit numerous fashion designers to agree to feature their clothes, accessories, shoes, and bags in the movie—even lending limited-edition bags for the crew to use.

However, it’s worth mentioning that as soon as the Flame Film announced it would bring “The Devil Wears Prada” to the big screen, Anna Wintour warned fashion personalities not to participate in the movie. She is the editor-in-chief of Vogue’s American edition, former boss and a fashion icon similar to Lauren Weisberger’s—and the person Miranda’s character was based on. But afterwards, when Wang Yang announced he would direct, Flame Film and Patricia Field smoothly invited many well-known names from the fashion world to design clothes for the film, including Valentino and the “wedding dress queen,” Vera Wang…

“`

Seeing the situation unfold, it’s no wonder they call her “The Devil Wears Prada”; Anna Wintour immediately changed her attitude and expressed her willingness to attend the movie premiere, joking that at the time, her entire outfit, including her shoes, would be PRADA.

And with the film crew securing sponsorship from Prada, as well as from CK, Vivienne Westwood, Rick Owens, and other brands, Patricia Field was naturally thrilled, especially with Wang Yang’s comment, “Never mind the budget, go for the effect.” She could freely design outfits for Jessica, Meryl Streep, and others—of course, without really spending that much, as the budget for the film’s costume production was at least one million. But compared to the usual 100,000 for other urban films, this number was already very pricey.

All these luxurious outfits and other movie props, office scenes, etc., were now ready, and shooting could begin at any moment. The main filming locations included real scenes in New York, sets in the studio, and green screen work. Filming was expected to take one and a half months, and Wang Yang still had to follow up with the score for “MIT-21-TEAM;” this time, the composer was Christopher Beck.

“What are you up to, beauty?” Wang Yang walked into the bedroom with his phone, came up to the computer desk, and kissed Jessica’s brown hair.

With her right hand maneuvering the mouse, Jessica smiled at the computer screen and said, “Nothing much, just browsing some gossip news. Joshua just texted something… Oh! He made the gossip news: Gilmore girl is dating…”

Wang Yang immediately looked curiously at the screen, seeing the pictures of Joshua and Alexis walking down the street with intimate laughter. He laughed, as indeed, the two were beginning to try dating, and Joshua naturally said “it feels good!” Wang Yang placed his arm around her shoulder and, feigning pride, chuckled, “Did you know? It was I who taught him how to chase girls that he won this romance. He came late into the game as a suitor!”

“I taught him how to grab a girl’s attention, how to tell jokes, how to make a girl feel safe…” Wang Yang talked nonsensically for a bit and watched as Jessica scrolled through the photos on the screen, dragging out his words with a sigh, “I racked my brains for him, and he did quite well, scoring the winning goal at the last minute! How should his sister reward me?”

“Really? The great Yang, you’re a master at picking up girls?” Jessica laughed out loud, tilting her head and recalling scenes from five years ago, she frowned and made a disdainful face, asking, “Why didn’t you chase me back then?” She couldn’t help but chuckle and said reproachfully, “I thought you were a nerd who only cared about movies, and then I took the initiative! Oh God…” She covered her face, unable to bear the memory.

Wang Yang shrugged slightly, who knows what he was thinking at that time? Maybe he really should have confessed his feelings earlier. He joked, “You don’t know? Of course, you don’t know. Let me tell you a Chinese idiom, ‘To capture, first let go.'” He chuckled heartily, and amid her puzzled look, he explained, “It means that you want to catch a person, but deliberately ignore them at first, letting their guard down, before catching them firmly in one go!”

“No, you didn’t need to.” Jessica looked at him, her eyes sparkling. Was he “capturing by letting go” again? But she wouldn’t be confessing this time! Jessica smiled, her lips curving, her teeth flashing, her eyes and tone hinting, “You could confess anytime, anytime! Really, I’ve been ready for a while.”

“Should have said so earlier! That day at the cinema, I should have confessed then!” Wang Yang leaned down and kissed her hair again, “MUMA!” Jessica rolled her eyes quietly; the hints were there, waiting! She laughed, “Haha, if you had confessed that day, I had a 50% chance of saying yes.” Wang Yang looked surprised and exclaimed, “That high?” Jessica laughed, “50% ‘I’ve gone mad,’ and the other 50% ‘This guy’s gone mad.’ Alright, what reward do you want?”

“Wow!” Wang Yang looked at her with an amused and suggestive glance, saying with delight, “I’ve got to think hard about that, what kind of reward, reward…” as he paced around the room.

Jessica turned her head back to the gossip site on the screen, moving the mouse a few times, until her eyes suddenly widened in surprise, and she exclaimed, “Yang, there’s gossip about you!” Could this be the great stuff Joshua mentioned? She knitted her brows in confusion, reading, “The high school love life of the amazing Yang?”

“What kind of nonsense is this!” Wang Yang couldn’t help feeling perplexed. His high school love life as gossip? He hurried over and watched as Jessica continued reading from the screen, “Yang had a deeply cherished girlfriend named Helen in high school, and their relationship was so good they were about to get engaged…” She stopped there and then laughed heartily, “Haha! It’s the same Helen, I thought it was someone else for a moment!”

“`

“Wait a second, wait a second! What’s going on here?” Wang Yang snatched the mouse and started reading seriously.

There wasn’t much information in this piece of gossip, and the name might have been partially concealed for privacy reasons. It probably came from a former classmate, as it wasn’t really a secret; he had taken Helen to various parties and balls before.

As an extremely popular pair of childhood sweethearts, their romance naturally attracted a lot of attention, and their past private life histories were also the target of tabloid media digging. If they could find items such as photos or love letters, those would be very valuable. This gossip piece clearly had some paparazzi digging deeper to get some pretty mundane details, like names, good relationship…

“Haha! This is interesting.” Wang Yang started laughing out loud, but Jessica pursed her lips. The article wrote that no wonder the movie was called “High School Musical,” no wonder Troy was the male lead, it turned out it was all in reminiscence of Helen (whose name means torch, brightness). Wang Yang found it amusing and chuckled, “Interesting! But this kind of gossip is so fucking boring!” Saying this, he clicked a few times to close all those web pages.

Jessica felt an inexplicable jealousy stirring within her. Even though Helen was a girlfriend from a long time ago, she asked suspiciously, “Really? The ‘flame’ is because you miss her?”

“No.” Wang Yang shook his head without hesitation and laughed, “Absolutely not! I’ve told you the reason before, and there’s another one… because I like passion (Flames)!” He clasped her face with his hands, gave her a fierce kiss on the lips, and looking into her eyes, he said, “Don’t make me rename the company ‘Fortune Movies.’ You know that’s pretty cliché. Actually, it’s not bad, but it’s pretty cliché.”

“‘Young Movies,’ even more cliché!” Jessica said with a laugh, biting her lip as her jealousy gradually faded. She was just stirred up by the “engagement,” but now is now!

Wang Yang pinched her cheek and walked toward the bookshelf, still smiling and saying, “I didn’t choose that name initially because I felt it was too cliché.” He changed the subject and said earnestly, “Jessica, the movie is about to start shooting. Are you ready? I’m going to be very strict!”

“I know, I will be too!” Jessica nodded emphatically.

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PS: On the second day of September, wahey still seeks monthly votes!! Let’s rush together in the first few days of the month, thank you, wah!