The Best Director

Chapter 135: The Director at Work

Hmm, the design isn’t bad, but…” As he looked at the blueprints of the firearms spread on the round table, Wang Yang frowned slightly in thought. After a moment, he glanced at the prop master Drew Petrota and art designer Kevin Cavanaugh, among others, and said,

design, its contours. You know, it doesn’t necessarily have to resemble a human gun. Let your imagination run wild! ”

I think we can be bolder with its

Since mid-June, after successively completing the acquisition of the image engine and Blogger, he had formally plunged into the task of assembling the crew for “District 9.”

The triumphs of “The Pursuit of Happyness” and ” Juno¹¹ had bestowed upon Hollywood an Oscar-winning actor, a 19-year-old Oscar-nominated actress, and a 21-year-old nominee for the youngest Best Director at the Golden Globes. The title of magical director continued, but hardly anyone still saw him as an insignificant little Baby anymore; coupled with a generous salary and an enthusiastic attitude, he had spent more than half a month scouting and searching, finally completing the crew lineup.

In terms of actors, aside from Robert Downey Jr,, other essential roles like the father-in-law, wife, and army colonel had found suitable candidates; as for those minor roles who would not receive a complete script or a dedicated role script but only a scene script on the spot, he had left the casting director in charge of selection and auditions. He didn’t have the time to painstakingly do it all himself; a final review for approval was all that was necessary.

The role of cinematographer went to his old partner Phillippe—Valery Faist, who, although lacking experience in shooting blockbusters, had established a rapport with Wang Yang at a very high level as “director & cinematographer.

They could almost communicate through looks alone—this is an exaggeration of course. Specific effects and shooting techniques still required verbal communication.

Just before Wang Yang sent out the invitation, Valery Faist had just finished working on another film, reportedly with his first assistant Hay George handling many shots. Their hands were certainly warm, and they were both excited and confident about joining a major production like “District 9.”

The set designer was also a familiar face, Gordon Chin, who had worked with Wang Yang twice before; the art director was Patrick Tatopoulos (notable works: “Independence Day,” ”

Klassen (notable works: “Crimson Tide, series), and Kevin Cavanaugh (notable works: “Mission: Impossible 2, “Transformers,” ”

Milkovicn Hays (notable works: “Star Trek 9

I, Robot’’); the production designer was David F. ” “Charlie’s Angels,” the “IronMan” ri

The Dark Knight”); the costume designer was Shanna Battle Los Angeles”); and the ” “Transformers”

prop master was Drew Petrota (notable works: “Big Fish, series).

Together with a leading man Robert Downey Jr., once “a genius destroyed by drugs,” this setup, although not the cuent Hollywood A-list, could certainly be described as luxurious; looking a few years into the future, it would definitely be an all-star lineup.

Once the shooting phase of the crew was assembled, Wang Yang took the members who needed to do pre-production and their assistants and staff, and the whole team made a grand aival in Vancouver.

District 9″ would follow an internal set, Los Angeles street exterior, and Africa slum exterior shooting sequence, with many interior scenes requiring specialized sets to be built, such as the MNU headquarters’ secret lab, Christopher Foersten’s home, and the interior of the spaceship, among others. They came to Vancouver naturally because the Flame Movie studio was located there; even though its completion was still a while off, the original commerce had already built many hangars. As the new scenery was to be entirely from scratch, it did not interfere with their work.

Aside from Gordon Chin, who had to construct the sets; Shana Hayes, who needed to design the characters’ costumes; Drew Petrota also had to design every prop needed for the movie.

Edward Scissorhands”), were

At 33 years old. Drew was a well-known Hollywood prop master and the third generation successor of the Petrota family. His grandfather, Vic Petrota, and his father, Bell Petrota (notable works: “Jaws,” ”

both very famous top masters. When Wang Yang invited him and asked if he was skilled with sci-fi movies, Drew said, “Back then, I was 12 years old, and you were just a newborn baby, bur I was already rummaging around the antique prop shop on Santa Monica Boulevard, Young director, I’m good at everything!”

And when he came of age, he formally began working in this profession, cuently with over ten years of experience. The job of a props master is very laborious and intricate; essentially, every single item that can be seen in every single scene of a movie, rhe props team has to envision in advance, list them out, and create them. For instance, firearms, as well as the tiny ring on the hand of the actor holding the weapon—nothing appears out of thin air.

After receiving the script, Drew Petrota used a family technique akin to cold reading to dissect the script, gradually observing each character and every setting, feeling and understanding them. Their clothing, attire, decoration, and aangement… This is a process of interpretation that can easily drive one to insanity.

But the work of a props master is not solitary; their own imagination and understanding won’t decide everything. They need to communicate and consult with various departments, decide what props are needed for set construction, what the costume department might need, as well as the demands of the art director… However, the most teifying person is called “the director,” and is also the one a props master spends the most time with on set.

His father, Bell Petrota, said, directors go to sleep and they dream all night, and then in the morning, they come to you and say: I’ve thought of something new, I need a girl jumping out of a cake!” But no matter how fanciful the director’s ideas, the props master has to figure out a way to achieve it. Bell said, “That moment feels like walking through hell.¹‘

You can never know what will happen. It’s like

While working as a props master on ’’Jaws,” the then-young Steven Spielberg was very talented and exceedingly meticulous. For one scene, he said, “For tomoow’s scene, I need some crabs, and while we’re shooting, those crabs have to crawl from the seaweed onto the actors’ arms.” So Bell procured some crabs, but when it came time to shoot, Spielberg pointed at them and said, “They’re not moving, they’re just standing there. Figure out a way to make them move. I want them crawling all over!” Then Bell immediately thought of a solution, and once the camera was ready, he poured a cup of hot coffee over the crabs, and they swiftly started to crawl, satisfying Spielberg at last.

That is the wisdom and duty of a props master. No matter how much thought and demands the director pours into their designs, they have to follow through and do it well. That’s the motto of a family of outstanding props masters.

That’s why in these days, Drew Petrota didn’t show the slightest bit of shirking or complaint regarding Wang Yang’s various demands. Looking at the drawings of guns modeled after the style of German rifles, he listened to Wang Yang continue, ‘’We need guns, but not all just guns… What I mean is, it’s too much ’gun’. Let’s try adding some insect-style ornamentation?’¹

Yes, that’s it!” Wang Yang’s eyes lit up instantly, the weapons of the aliens should indeed have their ethnic specialty! He tapped the blueprint, excitedly saying, “More character, their ethnic character! So that the audience instantly thinks ‘this is definitely a gun from another civilization,’ not from Earth! Not from the humans of now, nor the humans of hundreds or thousands of years from now, no! We need to step outside the shadow of the future human civilization. This is the Cimex civilization!”

Cimex, meaning bedbugs, is the name humans have given to that alien race.

Hearing these new ideas from Wang Yang, Drew Petrota, Kevin Cavanaugh, and several others couldn’t help but smile, having found the crux of the problem! Then, solving it wasn’t difficult. Drew immediately picked up a pencil to sketch on the drawing paper, smiling as he said, “Yang, I’ve got your point. Give me one day, and tomoow you will see some new weapon designs.” Kevin Cavanaugh also smiled, “No problem here, a Cimex-style mecha, I’ve got it.

OK!*¹ Wang Yang smiled and nodded, watching them draw for a bit and offering some more feedback. At that moment, assistant Ian Murphy came in and said, “Director, Gordon needs to see you for a moment.” Wang Yang glanced at him, patted Drew Petrora’s shoulder, “Buddy, remember, cool!

With that, he left the art design room with the assistant, heading over to the set construction area.

It was actually inside the film studio, after passing through the bustling departments, a mere hundred meters away. The set that Gordon Chin and his construction team were now building is the secret research lab of MNU headquarters. At that moment, three sides of the moving set walls had been completed and were aanged with various items like desks and equipment. What kind of set to build, Wang Yang and Gordon Chin had already figured out in advance, but when it comes to actual construction, there are often many details that need to be discussed and resolved again.

Gordon, what’s up?” Wang Yang approached Gordon Chin to find him with his arms crossed, staring entranced at the set wall in front of him, frowning deeply, seemingly puzzled by something.

Hearing the voice of the director, Gordon Chin instantly snapped back to attention, grunting as he pointed at the set board and said, “I just feel that this wall looks a little empty, only having this MNU logo seems somewhat insufficient, yet specifically…” He grabbed his hair in frustration and continued, “I can’t figure out what’s wrong right now, so I called you over.

Hmm, it indeed looks a bit bare.¹‘ Wang Yang nodded, holding his chin with his right hand, deep in thought as he slowly zoned out. This wall would be the first thing Wikus saw directly after escaping from a little room… Suddenly, something occued to him, and he snapped his fingers, smiling and exclaiming, “Got it!”

Under the watchful eyes of Gordon Chin and a few other set designers, he walked over to the side of the set board, pointing here and there, and stated, “Next to this MNU logo, we should add something that could represent all of humanity, maybe the United Nations flag would do; then on the left and right sides of these walls, we will later use special effects to add some aliens, just hanging there.¹‘

Gordon Chin and the others showed approving smiles as Wang Yang grew more excited, circling the spots on the set board and saying, “This one here will only have half its body, intestines and such dangling; this one here has no hands, and the eyes of that one there have been gouged out…” Gordon Chin nodded and chuckled, “That’s brutally disgusting, but it packs a punch!

Here, we’ll

And here…” Wang Yang was completely absorbed in thought, looking around at the messy, untouched tables and chairs, yet he saw only storyboards before him. He walked over to a table, knocked on its surface, and said,

have a big plate of eyeballs, each one round and plump, and then right next to it there will be a little alien sitting.” All of a sudden, he let out a few low chuckles and said, “When Wikus comes out and sees that wall, then sees these eyeballs and the eyes of the little alien, his eyes blank without any fear…”

Everyone fell silent, but the image they were conjuring up, coupled with the director’s eerie laughter, gave them all the creeps. Gordon Chin couldn’t help shivering as he gave a thumbs up and cheered with a smile, “Wang Yang!”

Phew! I got a bit twisted there. ” Wang Yang laughed as he shook his head, coming back from the world of storyboard images to look at Gordon and the others, jokingly saying, “But don’t be scared, I obviously won’t put your eyeballs there,” Everyone shared a laugh, and then he pondered, saying, “Hmm, I need to go tell Drew about this, I need some big eyeballs!”

But before he could return to DrewPetrota, his assistant Ian Murphy found him, “Director, Shana has something she needs you to come over for!

Okay.” Wang Yang responded and gave Gordon Chin a meaningful glance before heading to the costume design studio. Aiving at the costume design studio, he knocked on the door and entered, seeing Shana Hayes cutting fabric on a table, he asked, “Shana, what’s up?”

Hung on several tall racks throughout the room were all sorts of garments, including uniforms for MNU’s District 9 officials, lab scientists, security teams, and soldiers, as well as some costumes for characters like Wikus — all designed and produced here. The person in charge of this department was Shana Milkovicn Hays. Hearing the knock, she looked up at Wang Yang entering, picked up the garment in her hand, and said, “I have some new ideas regarding the soldier’s uniforms, what do you think of this one I altered?” Wang Yang nodded and replied, “Okay, show me.”

Wang Yang spent the entire morning moving between different departments at the studio, communicating with each person, addressing their issues, and offering his own insights and ideas. He was already accustomed to this routine; this is what a director does, leading the crew through the pre-production phase, just that science fiction movies involved particularly more work. This was only the beginning; creating a film, a big production, requires an incredible amount of effort.

Apart from these tasks, he had many other directorial responsibilities to attend to, such as finalizing shooting styles and plans with Weta Workshop, acquiring or renting the necessary camera equipment; continuing to refine storyboard images, answering actors’ questions about their roles…

Some directors can’t coordinate between various departments and end up botching things; some lose their temper due to frustration and pressure; some simply lack the ability. Wang Yang did not wish to be one of those directors. Regardless of how tired or iitated he felt inside, he had to maintain a positive energy that would encourage the entire crew to work vigorously; he also had to continue learning and improving his knowledge and skills in all aspects so he could better coordinate everyone, better fulfill his role as a director.

After lunch in the studio and a short rest, Wang Yang left the studio to go outside. The weather in Vancouver was still quite cool in July, whereas Los Angeles was unbearably hot. Laughing, he tugged at the jacket he was wearing and strode quickly toward the parking lot, got his car, and headed for Fifth Avenue in West Vancouver, where Image Engine was located.

Just a few days after the acquisition of Fireblade Films was completed, Sean Walsh officially joined Image Engine as the visual effects supervisor, also serving as the head of computer production and lead of the special effects team for “District 9.” Of course, back then, the effects team was just a shell. Sean Walsh spent nearly a month putting the team together. He traveled all over the world, called together experts from various places, and finally completed the team a few days ago.

The special effects team was essentially formed; what remained to be seen was whether the number of CG animators would increase or not. If they wanted to speed up the effects production, they would invest more money and hire more people; if they wanted to take it slow, they would keep the team as it was, With the team established, their work began. The first step was to transform the designed 2D aliens into 3D figures, and today was the “alien head” director approval day.

Very cool!” exclaimed Wang Yang, looking at the 3D alien head on the computer screen, dragging his mouse to rotate it back and forth, exclaiming again, “Very cool.” He turned to look at Sean Walsh, modeler Brian Mack, and Julie Cricks, who was responsible for the development of the alien’s appearance, and said, “They look great, but the texture seems a bit too low, kind of mushy feeling. Can you make them have a higher sense of solidity?”

On the office desk was a clay sculpture of a head, a masterpiece by modeler Brian Mack. He first crafted the clay sculpture, then scanned it in 3D, and after retopologizing it, he used the software to skeletonize the creature, resulting in the rough draft of rhe 3D figure on the screen. The next step was handed over to Julie Cricks and other members responsible for texture mapping.

Hearing Wang Yang’s question, Sean Walsh chuckled and nodded, “Absolutely, this one actually isn’t finished yet.” He glanced at Julie Cricks, who took over the explanation, “We still need to apply higher and more detailed texture mapping. This model will have 21 bitmap textures, each with over 4000 pixels, and you know the more pixels, the more realistic it is.”

Wang Yang nodded, listening intently as she continued, “These textures will include color, bump, displacement, various parameters, moisture, roughness…” She clicked the mouse a few times and added,

reactions to different substances, such as eyes, shells, skin, hair, wounds, blood, mud, dust, mucus… It will become more and more realistic.”

As well as

Good, go ahead, I fully support it!” Wang Yang said with a delighted smile, then seriously added, “This head is pretty good, I have no objections; of course my only requests are for it to be more textured and more realistic, nothing else.” Julie Cricks shrugged and laughed, “That’s already the highest demand. Everyone laughed for a moment, and Wang Yang smiled, touching the clay sculpture of the head, and said to Brian Mack, “Can I take this work of art with me later? It’s beautiful.”

Brian Mack happily nodded, “No problem, its digital values have already been scanned into the computer, it’s yours now!” Wang Yang lifted the clay head and exclaimed with a laugh, “Wow!¹¹

After spending another afternoon at Image Engine and discussing many issues with the effects team, such as the appearance of the alien’s body and the clothing of Christopher Foersten and his son, and having dinner at a restaurant, Wang Yang finally returned to his hotel apartment.

The office desk was covered in heaps of sketch papers, all of which were designs for the storyboard. Stretching with a pencil in hand, waves of fatigue washed over Wang Yang. Being a director really wasn’t for humans, he murmured to himself, “I wish I could go into IT.” He chuckled and continued to draw, but very soon, he slowly fell asleep on the desk.

As time ticked by, after an indeterminate amount of rime, the phone on the pile of drawings suddenly started to vibrate, displaying the caller’s name on the screen, buzzing… Wang Yang continued to sleep soundly.