The Best Director

Chapter 482: Chapter 482 Action!

“Action!”

Under the azure sky, a street corner on New York’s Fifth Avenue, which used to be bustling, now lay desolate. Large patches of green weeds covered the road, and all kinds of sedans filled with dust lined the street. The towering buildings on either side appeared devoid of life. “Neville,” dressed in black with a backpack and a rifle, Will Smith walked calmly on the road, looking up at the tall buildings as if lost in thought, while the black-mouthed German Shepherd “Sam” followed by his side, looking vigilantly towards the other direction.

It was perhaps a relief or perhaps regrettable that the post-apocalyptic atmosphere of desolation was confined to the performance area. A group of people and filming equipment, that were quite disruptive to the scene, were at work.

Wang Yang, holding a white microphone, watched the performance intently. Varè Fèisī operated the camera, and there were also lighting technicians, sound engineers, and others… Further away, there were several large crew trucks, bustling staff members, as well as some miscellaneous onlookers. This was the set of “I Am Legend.”

It was now July. The fantasy comedy “Click” had taken over as the North American box office champion for the week of June 23-29, with a rather mediocre Rotten Tomatoes score of 33%/31%/72%; The long-delayed superhero blockbuster “Superman Returns,” which cost a staggering $270 million to make, was released on the 28th. Despite receiving a decent rating of 76%/73%/67% on Rotten Tomatoes, its box office performance both in North America and overseas was disappointing, garnering only $97.58 million in North America’s golden week. After failing to revive Batman last year, Warner Brothers had experienced another setback with Superman this year…

The quadrennial World Cup in Germany was approaching its final between Italy and France. It would surely be an unpleasant memory for Wang Yang since whichever team he favored always seemed to get knocked out. He blamed it on being too busy with work, which led to his losing bets. Nevertheless, he still had a chance to turn things around. Wang Yang had decided to support the French team to lift the Trophy and even announced it on his blog. He then placed a substantial bet of 100 US dollars with the betting company Bet365. @@novelbin@@

Regardless of whether this was the reason, he was certainly very busy with work. That’s why the people who bet with him, like Jessica, Natalie, and a few others, didn’t hold it against him. Joshua believed that Jeff Ma was more professional and reliable and had found a suitable horror movie script that helped him win some funds, roughly the cost of a few boxes of film.

Recently, “I Am Legend” and “The Deceased” had started filming back-to-back, and the world watched with wide eyes to see how the remarkable Wang Yang would manage filming both simultaneously. Messing up was the outcome some people were most eager to see, while the news events were the media’s favorite drama. New York media such as The New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, etc., were all closely following the two MY film sets to see if they could dig up any news that would boost their sales.

Clearly, it wasn’t the usual family set visit that the paparazzi, isolated outside the cordoned-off area, had the tough job of snapping long-distance shots of, which weren’t worth much.

“Can she speak yet?” In the onlookers’ area of the set, Jaden Smith and Willow Smith were circling around a blue BB car, looking at the chubby and adorable baby and bombarding her with various questions. Hearing Willow’s question, Jessica laughed and replied, “Not yet, but she should soon, she learns everything quickly.” Jaden suddenly remembered to fervently ask, “Does she know Kung Fu?” Jessica slightly widened her eyes and said, “Not yet, but I think she will in the future.” Willow followed up with, “Can she act?” Jessica tilted her lips and said, “She can when she wants mommy and daddy to coddle her.”

Seeing Keke raise her fist to her mouth with a small baby tooth sprouting in the middle of her lower jaw, Willow asked curiously, “Does she bite?” Jessica laughed out loud and said, “No, she doesn’t.” Willow looked at Keke, who was as finely crafted as a porcelain doll with clear, round eyes, like a Barbie baby, and couldn’t help but exclaim with a smile, “She’s so cute!” Keke blinked her eyes, not understanding, and uttered a puzzled “Yah?”

“CUT!” Wang Yang called out from the other side. The filming team immediately came to a halt. He smiled and said, “Very good! Next shot.” Without further ado, everyone quickly went back to work. Wang Yang walked over to Will Smith to discuss his positioning for the next take.

The entire set was filled with a sense of racing against the clock. They really couldn’t afford to lose time—for one thing, the location had a time limit for closure, and for another, Wang Yang was shooting two movies at once. With only a little over five months left until the scheduled release date of “The Deceased” on December 22, even making one film in this time frame would feel rushed, let alone keeping pace with another? Every crew member was striving for the impossible task at hand.

“Ee yaah.” Watching the bustling set from her baby carriage, Keke was fascinated. She could barely make out the distant figures moving back and forth and wondered what exactly they were up to. When she saw her dear BABA pass by, she reached out her tiny arms and called out, but didn’t receive a hug or a kiss.

Of course, Wang Yang didn’t have a heart of stone—work just had to be prioritized. Otherwise, a moment’s hesitation would turn into a lengthy stay. Although the commute wasn’t troublesome, Jessica understood that a timely visit could bring positive, encouraging energy, but too many visits could be disruptive. So, she visited the set just a bit more frequently during the start of filming to give Keke a proper glimpse of her father’s work, and then planned for future visits to be quite sparse.

The following afternoon, on a street corner next to a red brick building in New York’s Queens, another magical Yang set witnessed Keke encountering a peer she had met several times before, Matilda Ledger. Soon to be eight months old at the end of the month, little Matilda was also yet to speak. A black-haired baby and a blond-haired baby, the two were being held by their mothers, locking eyes, babbling and chirping at each other. Jessica and Michelle found it amusing to speculate what were the two babies saying?

The crew members were each busy with their tasks. The cinematographer, Harry George, led his team in positioning the cameras; Nancy Reno demonstrated walking positions to extras passerby… And in the performance area, Wang Yang was discussing a rather ordinary street walking scene with Heath Ledger as if it was a rooftop scene. Believing that only with enough dedication and effort would they reap enough reward, every scene was critical to them.

“Wuu waaah—” Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying erupted on the set, instantly drawing everyone’s attention. Keke had bullied little Matilda into tears! The mothers, seeing their warmth, had brought them close to shake hands and touch, but Keke unexpectedly raised her hand and hit Matilda several times. With both Wang Yang and Jessica being very strong, and Keke having been trained from a young age, despite being born a bit over a month later, she was taller and bigger than the rest; as one might imagine, little Matilda immediately started crying.

“Ohh ohh, yah yah—” Laughter from the baby followed on the set. Seeing little Matilda with a runny nose, Keke found it amusing and laughed heartily, her eyes curving into crescents. Jessica was stunned, not sure if her daughter was an angel or a witch, and admonished with a frown, “Keke! How could you do that! That’s not right!” Scolded by her mom, Keke suddenly started crying too, “Wuu wuuh—” Matilda, being gently soothed by Michelle, cried out even louder.

Casting a glance at their wives and daughters in the distance, both Wang Yang and Heath felt a mixture of headache and heartache, thrown off by the emotional disruption! But they didn’t go over and continued with their discussion—let the women handle the baby conflict; the rest of the crew also went on with their duties.

“Hmm…” Jessica had a feeling she had messed up. Perhaps fewer set visits would be better—the moods of babies could be so unpredictable. Michelle saw through her thoughts. The situation wasn’t great, and with a slight pout, she suggested, “Shall we go?” Jessica nodded, “Yes.”

It must be said, after the women and babies left, both Wang Yang and Heath felt more relieved and focused; the world around them was all about the movie, and the set got the desired serene atmosphere it needed.

“Action!”(