When night fell, the lights on the street were bright, and on the balcony of the hotel room, Wang Yang sat on the rattan chair with a slight frown, twisting the small Rubik's Cube in his hand, but his mind was obviously not here, just writhing mechanically.

It has been a month since the crew of "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" started, and in this month, the crew shuttled between San Francisco and Oakland, promoting the filming of the location every day, and some of the transportation scenes, and the overall shooting process of the film was nearly half completed. Although they are all film films, compared with "Youth Musical", the filming of this movie is much more difficult, no matter which aspect.

In terms of scenes, "Youth Musical" is concentrated in several places such as schools and homes, with no street scenes, no urban chase scenes, and no buses, taxis, subways and other means of transportation, while "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" has it. The difficulty brought by these scenes is first manifested in the filming conditions, the crew has to close the road, shoot on the subway, and replace the blue seats on the car with colorful ...... This requires communication, with street merchants, with subway companies, and so on.

When shooting, these shots are a new experience for Wang Yang, sitting in the camera car, following the moving taxi, the camera shoots Will Smith twisting the Rubik's Cube in the car, in order to let Will master the Rubik's Cube skills, the crew also specially invited the Rubik's Cube master to teach him; Acting "even better than his dad Will Smith."

In order to make the two fathers and sons feel more comfortable, Wang Yang first filmed all the shots of Chris's wife "Linda", and then Jada Pinkett took Jaden Smith back to Los Angeles first, creating an atmosphere of Will and Terry being "abandoned". However, today's filming of a scene where Chris and his son are in the toilet in the subway station has been filmed many times, but Wang Yang is not satisfied, he always feels that something is missing. Will Smith's expression and demeanor seem to be in place, but Wang Yang feels that Will's input is not enough, and he can play better.

Putting down the Rubik's Cube, Wang Yang took out his mobile phone and dialed a number, looking at the moon looming in the sky, as soon as it was connected, he smiled and said: "Hello, Mr. Zemeckis, I am Wang Yang." Immediately, Robert Zemeckis's hearty laughter came from the phone: "Haha, Young, what is the problem this time? Do you still want to talk?" Wang Yang smiled softly and said: "Actually, there is indeed a problem. ”

Since he met the best director and his idol at that charity dinner, Wang Yang has often communicated with Robert Zemeckis when there is anything to think about in movies and directing, and Robert is very enthusiastic every time, like a teacher who unreservedly guides him. Recently, because of the filming, Wang Yang has consulted Zemeckis several times, and he is like a free remote producer, which has taught Wang Yang a lot.

"That's the case, I want to ask, how can I make the actor's emotions more engaged?" Wang Yang asked the question in his heart, and explained: "Today I shot a set of shots, Chris came to the most depressed time in his life, he had no money to pay the rent, and he and his son had to spend the night in the subway toilet...... I always felt that Will's performance was missing a little bit, probably because of the engagement, I explained a lot, but it didn't work. ”

Robert Zemeckis over there thought for a moment and said, "Young man, that little bit of stuff you think is missing may have nothing to do with acting. You know, it's not just the actors in a shot, sometimes a prop plays a much better role than a hard performance. Wang Yang listened carefully and responded: "Well, it's like the feathers in "Forrest Gump". Robert Zemeckisha laughed and added: "Zoom in to the whole movie, the performance is just one of it, the editing of the shots, the soundtrack, these all make the performance valuable, we are not the silent film era now, you try to watch the movie with the sound off, you don't feel that much." ”

"Also, the actors' performances are often in our hands, we communicate with the cameraman, we communicate with the editor, the frontal close-up, he wins the Oscar, the side close-up, he takes the golden plum. Robert Zemeckis laughed and continued: "Why is a film called for by the director? I don't mean to say that acting isn't important, we all know the importance of acting, but you don't want to have the best cinematic effect on set, that's impossible. The little thing you feel is missing, outside the scene. ”

Wang Yang nodded silently, he did seem to be a little overly dependent on individual performances, forgetting that performances complement each other, and the same is true for drama biopics, and movies don't end with actors' performances. The design of the picture, the language of the shot, and the post-editing are all the "performances" of the director, and the director controls the whole of the film.

"Of course, the performance can be as good as it can be, and this is our director's responsibility. Robert Jimmy Azes smiled before answering Wang Yang's first question: "You ask how can you make the actor more engaged? Since no matter how you explain it, you still feel that Will is not committed enough, you can try to make him stop thinking about Chris, just think about his own business, something worth being sad about, as long as it is the emotional effect we need." Oh, you've tried this, haven't you?" Wang Yang nodded and said, "Well, we tried." ”

Robert Jimmy Zes over there was quiet for a few seconds, and then he had a new idea, "Play music!" Wang Yang was stunned: "Play music?" Robert explained with a smile: "Yes, you take a tape recorder or something and put it on the spot, play the appropriate music, and let the music drive Will's mood." ”

Wang Yang's eyes lit up, music can definitely drive emotions, "Black Sunday" can even make people commit suicide, this method sounds really good! He smiled: "Okay! I'll try it tomorrow, thank you, Mr. Jimmy Zes." ”

The two chatted for a while before ending the call. Wang Yang put down his phone with a smile, stood up and stretched his waist with his hands outstretched, he became in a good mood, he found that every time he chatted with Robert Jimmy Zes, he would have new gains and insights, whether it was experience or understanding of movies, he was far behind.

At this time, the mobile phone on the rattan chair rang, Wang Yang picked it up and looked at it, only to see that the caller ID was from Jessica, he connected it and walked to the railing and said, "Hi, Jessica? ”

"Jan, good evening. Jessica's nice voice came, and she said excitedly, "We're going to finish tomorrow." Wang Yang sighed: "Wow, it will take at least more than a month on my side." I heard her say happily again: "Yang, I found that the number of ng I counted is much less than that of "Song and Dance Youth 1", do you say that my acting skills have improved, or Sarah's requirements are low?" Wang Yang laughed and said: "It's definitely not the reason behind it, I'm very sure! My excellent performance is so insignificant, Sarah actually NG me 10 times, she is much stricter than me." ”

Jessica laughed happily a few times, paused, and suddenly asked softly, "Shall I come to San Francisco to see you?" Wang Yang thought about it and agreed: "Okay, you can come." But Jesse, you know I'm a producer and director, and I'm pretty much in charge of the crew, so I don't have much time to spend with you. Jessica hurriedly explained: "I know, I just want to see you, you don't have to worry about me, I'll leave in a day." Jan, I miss you, we haven't seen each other for a month and a half. ”

Listening to her gentle voice, Wang Yang's sweet face faintly appeared in front ......of him, and he felt very warm in his heart, and said into the mobile phone: "It's been a month and a half?

In the toilet of the subway station, the tiles near the door were covered with paper towels, and scanners, suitcases and other items were placed around it, and Will Smith sat on the paper towel against the wall, and Terry fell asleep on his lap. In the small toilet, the crew only took close-ups of Valey Pfister with a camera and Wang Yang, who was holding a tape recorder, which was playing soft and sad pure music.

Will Smith looked dumbfounded, his eyes were a little red, and his mouth trembled slightly. Wang Yang raised the walkie in his other hand, and said in a very soft voice: "Knock on the door......" The toilet door was knocked "bang" from outside, Will Smith looked at the discolored toilet door, his face was dazed and painful, he hugged his son's ears, and supported the door that was still ringing with his feet, his head was against it, and a line of tears flowed from his red eyes.

Wang Yang's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, looking at Will Smith, who was crying silently, secretly holding the tape recorder hard, which was great! Will's silent crying performance can definitely be shown in close-ups, rather than pulling into a long shot and ending hastily like the original. It wasn't until Will Smith burst into tears and leaned his head against the wall looking at the light tube above the toilet that Wang Yang happily shouted: "Cut! Great!" He praised excitedly: "Will, this is an actor-level performance!"

Valey Pfister, who was instructed to stop the machine, pressed the camera and praised with a smile: "Will, I feel like crying, your performance is very moving." ”

"Hey!" Will Smith wiped the tears from his face with a smile and let out a long exhale, "I totally felt like Chris just now, and I was fully in the role, man, it's the first time I've felt this way!" He looked at Wang Yang, gave a thumbs up and smiled, "The music is great!" Terry, who was lying in his arms, said curiously, "Dad, is it true that you are crying?" Will stroked his hair and said, "I think so." ”

Wang Yang smiled and said, "Terry, see it, this is where the acting is fun, the movie is fun." With that, he walked to the toilet and beckoned to Vary-Pfister, "Alright, let's take some more long shots!" and he instructed Will Smith, "Will, just like you did, look up at the lamp at the end, it's a good picture." ”

(To be continued)