6 Decide on the Movie (1/2)
”I wanted to become a director--wanted to shoot a movie--ever since I was a little boy. And now, I've decided I'm gonna put it into practice. Not just keep dreaming about it, but actually shoot a movie! An independent film!”
Hearing Wang Yang making this announcement, Jessica was frozen for a second and said, ”Shoot a movie?” She finally woke up from the surprise thinking of the one and only option, said, ”You mean, write a nice script and then try to get money from an investor?”
Out of her expectation, Wang Yang shook his head instantly, ”No, I'm not trying to find an investor. With my 'dark history', I won't be able to find one by my resume anyway. So I'm gonna invest in myself!” And then he drank the new cup of coffee that the waitress had just served. With the goal in his heart, the coffee seemed not as bitter. He continued, ”Besides the acting part, I will do everything by myself. Of course, we'll talk about the publication after, but for now, I don't want to discuss it just yet. I need to shoot the movie first!”
”Invest by yourself?” Jessica was stunned again. In her impression, making a movie, even if an independent film with the lowest budget, would need more than several tens of thousands or even millions of dollars. She remembered that Wang Yang's family was running a restaurant; they were definitely not the rich type. So where could he get the funding? Keeping the question in her mind, she asked, ”Yang, do you mind telling me how much your budget is?”
Wang Yang smiled mysteriously and stretched out one of his fingers, saying, ”Ten thousand dollars! Jessica, my budget is only ten thousand dollars.” He chuckled, spreading his hands open. ”And that's all I have.”
Jessica was shocked by such an unexpected moment. She couldn't believe the number she just heard. Ten thousand dollars? How many rolls of film could it buy? How long would he last? She couldn't understand it at all and asked, ”Yang, you are not kidding, are you? How can ten thousand dollars be enough to make a movie? In my opinion, that's a mission impossible. Please enlighten me.”
”That's simple. It's very simple actually because I'm going to shoot the movie by DV camcorder. And that will save me a lot of money!” Wang Yang grinned, unrevealing his secret. The DV camcorder was a newborn way to make a movie. It used the advantage of digital technology to replace the expensive film. Therefore, no giant filming crew was needed, and it also provided opportunities to young people, like Wang Yang, to show their talent. He said, full of confidence, ”As for the script, I haven't decided yet. But I've got something in my mind.”
He looked at Jessica, who was in total confusion, and asked, ”What do you think, Jessica? What do you think about my idea? Don't you believe me?”
”Oh, no, no… I believe you! Of course I believe in you.” Jessica denied in a hurry and put on a serious face, saying, ”Yang, you want to make a movie. I am one hundred percent with you, and I also want to help you as much as I can! Good friends help each other, don't they? But the plan of yours…” She frowned and shook her head. ”I don't get it. I don't understand how you are gonna make a movie with ten thousand dollars. Maybe it's just me, but I've never heard any case like it, so I don't have the concept of what you are doing.”
”Ten grand dollars is enough to make a good movie! I'm pretty sure about it.” Wang Yang's expression became serious, too. ”Jessica, trust me! I'll prove it to you and I also need your support!”
Jessica looked into his eyes and solemnly nodded, ”Yang, I do trust you. You can make it!”
”Thank you! Thank you so much!” Wang Yang smiled with joy. Her support finally loosened up all of the depression piling in his heart for so long. He felt very much relieved, and this feeling was fabulous.
At this moment, the phone suddenly started to ring, and Jessica said, ”Excuse me.” She took her cellphone out of her delicate leather purse. ”Mom? Oh, I know. I'll go home for dinner. Okay, I was planning on going back home after watching 'Titanic', but guess what happened? I ran into a classmate from San Francisco in the movie theater! Oh, he's different. He is a very good friend of mine.”
She smiled at Wang Yang and continued, ”I'm at the cafe with him now. Okay, I'll be back soon.” Hanging up the phone, she shook the cellphone in her hand and said, ”Time to go home.”
Jessica was a Catholic, and her father was a veteran, so she grew up in a very strict household. Wang Yang knew it a long time ago, and it was indeed getting a little late now. He nodded. ”Well, let's ask for the bill, then.”
”Yang, do you have a cellphone? This is my cell number, and this is my MSN…” Jessica took out a piece of paper and a pen from her purse, quickly jotting down her phone number and MSN, and then pushed the pen and paper toward Wang Yang.
”This is mine… But the place I rent hasn't gotten the Internet yet.” Wang Yang took the paper and pen writing down his cellphone number and MSN on the blank part. And, then, he tore the paper into halves and pushed it back. ”All set.”
Jessica read the number on the paper and put in back to her purse, and then joyfully said, ”If there is anything you need, call me. And if you decide on the movie, let me know. I am really curious about the ten-grand movie.”
”No problem. I will.” Wang Yang waved the paper in his hand and said, ”Don't let Peter steal it this time.”
”Then you must keep a close eye on it.” Jessica giggled sweetly.
They checked out from the cafe, and Wang Yang hailed a cab for Jessica. Jessica held the door and said to Wang Yang gently, ”Yang, I am so happy today. Thank God that I encountered you again, my good friend.” Wang Yang smiled and said, ”Me too.” Jessica turned around, then got into the car, waving her hand and saying, ”Keep in touch! See you!”
”See you!” Wang Yang waved back, watching the taxi drive away.
Wang Yang, after returning to the movie theater and getting back his cardboard box, hopped on the bus and went home, too. The place he was staying now was a relatively remote and underdeveloped community in LA. The apartment was rather shabby with the rusty staircase and cardboard boxes stuffed with all kinds of sundries. Although the place was rather worn-out, the rent was very cheap--only about 800 bucks per month--and this neighborhood was pretty safe.
Wang Yang's apartment was a crude one. The grayish wall had already peeled off. All of the furniture was about to collapse, and there were hardly any appliances. While he was opening the door, he saw a rat rushing across the room.
”Oh, boy! Mr. Rat, don't you eat my sandwich! Please, please, please! That's my dinner!” Wang Yang shouted, quickly put down his box, and rushed into the shabby kitchen. He opened up the lip. Yes! Thank God! The sandwich was still there, untouched!
He let out of a sigh of relief. After a long day, he was already starved, so he took out the sandwich and began to eat. He sat on the old couch with plenty of massive holes, eating and thinking. What happened today made him feel like he was revived. What a long day. So many things happened.
Life was, indeed, a magical journey, wasn't it? He had already forgotten Jessica Alba a long time ago, but out of blue, they ran into each other again. Moreover, after getting hit by the baby stroller, he watched all of the movies from the future…
Fine! God had delivered this gift to him, so he had to seize this opportunity. He didn't want to go with the flow, but to fight for his future! Wang Yang wolfed down his sandwich and laid down on the sofa comfortably, closing his eyes, entering the movie database in his head.
He was in need of a low budget movie--as low as possible! Thinking of this criterion, many movies emerged from his head, and most of them were comedies. But the production costs of those movies were all about several millions of dollars. Wang Yang couldn't help murmuring to himself, ”Lower, lower, a little bit lower…”
Then, most of the movies disappeared, and only a few of them were left. He scrolled down carefully and finally found two movies that were suitable for him. The first one was ”The Blair Witch Project” and the second was ”Paranormal Activity”.
These two movies were both horror movies with a super low cost, and both of them were shot by the DV camcorder in the mockumentary style, therefore, there wouldn't be any technical difficulty. ”The Blair Witch Project” first invented this particular shooting technique.
The total production cost of ”The Blair Witch Project” was only 60 grand. The story happened in October 1994: three student filmmakers traveled to Burkittsville with their DV camcorder, planning on investigating the legend of the fabled Blair Witch. In order to find Blair Witch, they entered the woods near the town, but before long, they vanished.
After that, people in the town and the American government started to search for them, even used the helicopters and the satellite. However, no trace was found so that people had to give up the search.
One year later, another group of students entered the woods for exploration and discovered a package in an extremely secluded cabin. In the package, a diary of the missing student Haji was found as well as a copy of an edited film, which recorded the terrifying story of how Haji and the other two students disappeared one year ago.
That was the plot of ”The Blair Witch Project”. When this movie was on promotion, the crew told the world that this film was directly edited on the copy in the story. It seemed that the movie was real, but, in fact, it was just another fake story.