Chapter 49 Chapter 49: It’s a Wrap!
After two more days’ shooting, only the scenes in the basketball gym, in the auditorium, and of duets during the new year’s holiday were left in the musical part. The scenes in the basketball gym and the auditorium were both very important, in which several songs and dances were involved, including Troy Bolton and his teammates’ training, all of the auditions, and the chorus at the end of the film. The scene in the basketball gym would be shot in East High again, while the auditorium part would be shot in the auditorium of Murray High School, another high school in Salt Lake City.
However, the crew had had to suspend all the work because Christmas was coming. The cast and crew had been given three days’ vacation so that they could go home to celebrate Christmas. Of course, they certainly could have chosen to stay in Salt Lake City, like what Michael Pitt, Harry George, and some others had done. They had chosen to stay and celebrate Christmas in Salt Lake City because they’d wanted to avoid traveling expenses.
Those with better salaries had certainly chosen to go back home to celebrate the holiday with their families.
Rachel had gone back to Toronto. She had been even colder to Wang Yang in the past two days. With no intention to air her opinions on work, she’d just been listening to him most of the time. Tom Welling had gone back to New York. Jessica and some others had gone back to Los Angeles. And Wang Yang had flown back to San Francisco. He’d wanted to forget about all the work during the holiday and spend some quality time with his family.
Buildings with red walls and yellow-tiled roofs could be seen everywhere in the Chinatown of San Francisco. Chinese cultural elements were everywhere. As Christmas approached, the whole Chinatown was decorated with lanterns and streamers as well as Christmas ornaments. Wang’s Restaurant also embraced the holiday atmosphere by placing a Christmas tree hung with colored lights at the restaurant’s gate.
Wang’s Restaurant was a small, two-story building. The restaurant was on the first floor, and the Wangs lived on the second floor. Wang Yang involuntarily took a deep breath when he walked into his own room and seen all those familiar things. The air was familiar. The smell was familiar. All this gave him a warm feeling. He felt extremely tranquil.
The room was actually pretty small. The four walls were all dusted, but Wang Yang felt pretty comfortable there. He threw his backpack somewhere in the room, walked two steps ahead, and jumped onto his bed. Covering his face with his pillow, he said in a muffled voice, “Oh, God. This feels great!” He stayed there like this for some time. Not until he started to find it hard to breathe did he get to his feet quickly.
Breathing hard, Wang Yang glanced around the room with a smile. This was where he’d grown up. He had a lot of good memories here.
The room was not big, but it was packed with all kinds of stuff. The book closet by the wall was filled with books on a variety of topics, in English or in Chinese. A few trophies and medals, all earned for strange things, lay on the top layer of the closet. On the desk next to the closet, there were many models, including camera models and action figures. And there was a basketball, already inflated, in a corner of the room.
Movie posters covered the whole wall on this side, making it look like a movie poster wall in cinemas. Not even one tiny space was left vacant.
Wang Yang walked up to a wall to appreciate those posters. Forrest Gump sitting on a wooden bench, the smiling faces of Alfredo and Toto from Cinema Paradiso… these were all his favorite. Wang Yang touched these posters gently. None of them was dusty, which meant someone must have cleaned them. He said with a smile, “Thanks, Mom.”
He turned around and walked a little. Then, he picked up the backpack he had thrown onto the ground and took out a brand-new movie poster—a poster of Paranormal Activity.
Holding the poster in one hand, Wang Yang opened a drawer of the desk fluidly and took out some glue. He put the glue on the edges and the corners of the poster. Finding one vacant space on another wall, he pulled a chair over and stood onto it to glue the poster onto the wall.
“Good job!” Jumping off the chair, Wang Yang looked up at the poster, smiling and satisfied. Thinking of what he had experienced in the past whole year, recalling those memories, bitter or cheering, he stood there for a long time with a smile hanging on the face. The shooting of High School Musical would be over very soon. There might be another new poster to be glued here in the near future.
He suddenly recalled the day the shooting of Paranormal Activity had been officially completed. Back then, a lot of emotions had arisen in him because he wondered when he could call “Action”, “Cut” again. Then, he thought of Rachel. Shaking his head suddenly, he said to himself, “Stop. Stop thinking about her!” He would not disturb Rachel’s life again. She was right. Things had changed. He could not go on playing dumb and hurt this girl without realizing it. That was nothing but self-deception.
So, Wang Yang looked around, trying to find something that could draw his attention. However, he suddenly frowned. He murmured helplessly, “Come on!” Walking up to the bedside cabinet, he picked up a wooden photo frame standing on it. In the photo in the frame, a blond girl was holding his arm. They were leaning against each other, both showing a happy and sweet smile. It was the Golden Gate Bridge behind them.
“Yang, you are a jerk! I hate you. Go to hell…”
Wang Yang walked to the desk quickly. He opened the base cabinet of the desk, which was used to keep odds and ends, and threw the frame into it. He slammed the cabinet door closed. Spreading his hands, he said, “Now it’s clean!” He took the phone out of his pocket and made a call. With a smile, he said, “Hi, Jessica. I’m home now. Yeah, home, sweet home…”
They caught up a little bit. All of a sudden, he heard his mother calling from downstairs. “Yang, come down for dinner!”
Wang Yang answered in a loud voice, “Okay! Coming!”
On the other end of the phone, Jessica said confusedly, “What did you say, Yang?”
Wang Yang burst out laughing. Then he explained to her over the phone, “Oh, it’s Chinese. My mother told me it’s time for dinner. All right, Jessica, see you then! Wait. Give me a kiss.”
Smiling, Jessica said, “No! Let’s see whether Danny wants to give you a kiss. Huh, he doesn’t want to do that, either. Bye!”
Wang Yang put his cell phone away with a smile and then went downstairs.
After spending a pleasant and relaxing Christmas holiday in San Francisco, Wang Yang returned to Salt Lake City. The crew of High School Musical gathered again to prepare for the last phase of shooting.
In the cafeteria of the hotel, Wang Yang said “Ta-dah!” to Jessica, sitting opposite him in a loose sweater. He was getting something from behind and was going to show it to Jessica. Jessica looked curious and expectant. Then, he finally put the gift on the table. With a mysterious smile, he said, “Christmas gift!”
“Thank you. What is it?” Jessica looked at him happily. She took the gift and unwrapped it. Then, she smelled a fragrance of food. With her brow knitted together, she said, “This smell…” She opened the gift box. Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated. She said in surprise, “Oh, my God!”
Looking at that box of pastries, Wang Yang said with a smile, “Yeah, Sweetheart Pastries. I made them for you myself.” This time, he was telling the truth. He’d made those pastries himself in an old pastry shop, indeed. The boss of the shop was a good friend of his father’s. He’d kneaded dough, mixed it with eggs, and put the pastries into the oven. He’d done everything literally by himself. He’d wanted to make up for that lie he had told Jessica a few years ago. Looking at Jessica, who was pleasantly surprised, he said with a smile, “Although they are not hot, they are still fresh. You want one now?”
“Of course!” Jessica nodded, very happy. She took one and took a bite out of it. She immediately exclaimed with excitement, “Wow, that’s really delicious! Yang, you are a great baker.”
Shrugging, Wang Yang said with a smile, “A piece of cake. Don’t forget, I’m the son of a chef.”
Looking at him, Jessica said with a sweet smile, “Yang, that’s very nice of you.”
Wang Yang teased her, “Oh, it’s all that you could say? I want my Christmas gift, too. What happened? How could Santa forget about me?”
Laughing, Jessica rolled her eyes at him. She stood up and approached him. Throwing a quick glance around, she bent down to kiss Wang Yang on the cheek. Then, with a charming smile, she said, “This is your gift.”
Wang Yang touched the cheek where she had kissed. He said emotionally, “Wow, thank you. What a nice gift! But, Jessica…” Faking a laugh, he went on, “I’ll definitely beat you because I’ve got another gift for you!”
Struck dumb, Jessica said, “Another one?”
Smiling, Wang Yang took something out of his pocket. He said, “Of course. Compared to other Santa, my version of Santa is very professional.” He pulled out a long jewelry box from his pocket, and then took out a silver necklace from the box. He said seriously, “What do you think? You like it?”
Jessica looked at the necklace and then looked at the pastries. She understood how sweet and attentive Wang Yang was. A feeling of happiness suddenly welled up inside her. Nodding, she said with a sweet smile, “Thank you. The necklace is very beautiful.”
“Come here.” Getting to his feet with a smile, Wang Yang said excitedly, “I’ll help you put it on. Let’s see how it will look on camera.”
“Okay, director!” Jessica rolled her eyes at him again, smiling.
Soon, it was already the middle of January, 1999. The shooting of High School Musical went on smoothly. After having finished shooting all of the musical scenes in the basketball gym of East High and the duets in the new year’s party, the crew had come to the auditorium of Murray High School to shoot the last scenes left.
The scene of the new year’s party was shot in a resort at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. It was snowing in Salt Lake City at the moment. With all the whiteness in the mountains, the visual effect on the camera was fantastic. It was definitely beyond the comparison of indoor movie sets. The scene of the leading actor and the leading actress watching fireworks was shot the way Wang Yang had designed a long time ago. They took a low angle shot with a dolly crane first and then a panoramic view from the side. Although there were no fireworks in the sky, they believed when special effects were added during the post-production, it would look even more beautiful than actual fireworks.
The crew had spent days shooting in the auditorium of Murray High School. This day, right at this moment, they were going to start the last set of shots. Once this set of shots was successfully filmed, the shooting of High School Musical would be complete.
This set of shots were close-up shots of Troy Bolton and Gabriella taking part in the second-round audition. On the stage of the auditorium, Zooey Deschanel, in a red women’s suit, was playing the piano placed on the left side of the stage, while Tom Welling and Jessica were walking around the way they had rehearsed, both holding a microphone in hand, singing Free, the version arranged by David Lawrence.
The leading actors, actresses, and walk-ons were sitting in the audience, smiling and watching. There were two cameras in front of the stage. One was carried by Wally Pfister, who was shooting Tom Welling and Jessica. The other one, operated by an assistant cameraman, was shooting the audience. Wang Yang and Anne Fletcher were standing aside, paying attention to the two leading roles’ dance steps in case they did anything wrong.
Jessica looked over Tom Welling’s shoulders. Gazing at Wang Yang, who was smiling in the distance with arms folded across his chest, she sang in a great mood, “We’re soaring…” Tom Welling, in his basketball uniform, sang while dancing, “Flying…”
Wally Pfister, carrying the camera, was moving around them, to create a spinning effect. Seeing Jessica looking at him, Wang Yang thumbed up at her with a smile. He went on, watching their acting. There was nothing wrong. Whenever Jessica needed to express emotion using her eyes, she would look at Wang Yang. She seemed to have found her trick of acting.
When this song had been over, a big round of applause came from the audience. Wang Yang called excitedly, “Cut!” He looked at Wally Pfister, and the latter nodded to confirm everything was perfect. Wang Yang waved his fist involuntarily. Walking onto the stage, he smiled at everyone. Then he announced, “Done! It’s a wrap!”
Everyone cheered. All of the crew, the cast, and the walk-ons kept applauding, smiling. The whole auditorium was seething with excitement.
“It’s over. It’s a wrap.” Wang Yang breathed out. It had taken him a month and a half. By then, all of the shooting had been done. He could not find the right words to express his feelings at the moment. He was so excited, so satisfied, and so comfortable. He hugged Anne Fletcher. Then he walked to the front of the stage. Looking at Wally Pfister, he said with a smile, “Wally, great job.”
“You, too, Yang.” Wally Pfister put the camera down and hugged Wang Yang. He said with a smile, “It has been a pleasure to work with you. You are not one of those hot-tempered directors. That’s a good thing, man.”
They patted each other on the shoulder. Smiling, Wang Yang said, “Wally, it’s too early to say that. The work isn’t done yet. There are more things to do in post-production.”
Wally Pfister said, also smiling, “Yeah, I know. So keep up the good work.”
Wang Yang patted Wally Pfister on the butt after the hug. Over the past month and few weeks, he had become good friends with this thirty-seven-year-old guy. Wally Pfister never looked down on him. Instead, he had taught Wang Yang a lot of stuff. He was really grateful to this “old guy”.
Then Wang Yang walked up to Tom Welling. Hugging him, he said, “Thank you, Tom. You did a great job. Thanks a lot.” Then, he turned around to look at Jessica. With a sweet and charming smile, she was looking at him quietly. Wang Yang opened his arms and held this girl tightly. Smiling quietly, he said, “Thank you, my sweetheart. You’ve been doing great lately.”
Smiling, Jessica closed her eyes to enjoy this moment, resting her head on his shoulder. She had finally been the leading actress of Wang Yang’s movie. They witnessed and shared this moment together. She could not feel happier. She said, “Yang, it’s because you are here.”
“Okay!” Wang Yang disengaged himself from the hug with a smile. Looking at the crew off the stage, Rachel, Zachery, and other leading actors and actresses, as well as those young, energetic walk-ons—looking at those happy pretty smiling faces, he said in a loud voice, “Thank you, everyone!” At this moment, Jessica passed him the microphone. Wang Yang took it, nodding. He said with a smile after patting the microphone, “Hey, can everyone hear me?”
Everyone off the stage applauded. Then, they quieted down, gazing at Wang Yang at the center of the stage. Jessica, Tom Welling, and others walked off the stage. Wang Yang looked around and found he was the only one left on the stage. Looking at those people, he said with a confused look, “Oh, what’s going on here? I feel like I’m having my own concert.”
They all laughed. Some applauded and whistled.
The fat guy, Harry George, shouted, “Director, sing us a song!”
Shrugging and looking at Wally Pfister, who was also off the stage, he said with a smile, “Wally, don’t forget to shoot my singing. We’ve made a change to the storyline. The current scene to shoot is my solo singing.”
Wally Pfister answered him in a loud voice, “No problem!”
Everyone laughed. Wang Yang went on seriously, “It’s over. The shooting of High School Musical is all done. Everyone did a great job over the past month and few weeks.”
Amplified by the microphone, his voice was echoing in the auditorium. Everyone was listening to his speech quietly. Wang Yang went on, “We worked very hard. We did care about what we were doing. And we wasted a lot of film.” Everyone laughed. Jessica, the queen of bloopers, covered her face with a hand, giggling. Wang Yang added, “But in return, we’ve got a film. Thank you for your hard work.”
Looking at those familiar faces, Wang Yang went on, “Wally, I think you will get a ‘Best Cinematography’ award in the near future.” Wally Pfister responded with a smile, spreading his hands. Wang Yang continued, “Tom! Are you ready to be a star?” Tom Welling beamed. What a bright young man. Wang Yang looked at Rachel, who was also smiling, but his eyes did not linger on her. “Zachery, your version of Ryan is hilarious…”
When the jokes had been done, Wang Yang gradually calmed down. He said, “However, what did the media say? Tell me! A work of a wimpy kid predestined to be the worst film of 1999… Jessica Alba was insane because she didn’t choose Idle Hands.” Everyone burst out laughing. Jessica pulled her hair up. She was not insane at all. The mere thought of having chosen Idle Hands sent shivers down her spine.
“Hey, fellas.” Wang Yang said in a low voice, “Let’s wait and see who is worse!”
Applauses and whistles filled the auditorium again. When the noises had stopped, Wang Yang went on. “I believe in only a few months, you will be able to see High School Musical in cinemas. You’ll see the fruit of our joint efforts!” He raised his voice. “That’s when the sh*tty media will know this isn’t a terrible movie at all. It’s not a joke directed by some overconfident, arrogant kid whose eyes are blinded by success. No, it’s not! It will give those media and film critics a blow. It will kick their a*ses!”
Jessica gazed at Wang Yang with a loving look. She kept applauding and smiling. She shouted, “Yang, you are so cool!”
“Man, that’s a great speech!” Harry George shouted happily, “Kick their a*ses!”
Michael Pitt was leaning against a theatre seat next to Harry George. Smiling with his arms folded across the chest, he suddenly shouted, “Yang, we will absolutely succeed!”
Rachel showed a faint smile. She was applauding, really feeling happy for Wang Yang, but she was lost, too. It was over. The shooting was over. She would not read those lines again. Looking at Wang Yang, she murmured, “Yang, good luck.”
Zachery, Tom Welling, Zooey Deschanel, Wally Pfister, Anne Fletcher, David Lawrence—everyone was applauding. Old guys who felt indifferent inside or young people who felt truly confident about their promising future—at this moment, all of them would like to applaud for Wang Yang and for themselves as well.
“Fellas!” Wang Yang shouted again from the stage. Smiling, he said, “Thank you for your hard work! The concert is over. Goodbye!” After giving them a military salute, he walked off the stage.
Everyone got to their feet. The applause sounded louder and louder. There was nothing but happy, smiling faces in the auditorium. Everyone was hugging, giving high fives, and saying goodbye. As the shooting was over, except the leading roles who would participate in the post-recording and the crew responsible for film editing and adding music, all the others would go back to their own life.
Wang Yang walked up to Jessica as soon as he got off the stage. He opened his arms to hug her. “Jessica, I feel like I’m on top of the world!”
“Yang, I’m proud of you!” Jessica hugged him tightly, too. Her eyes were full of love and joy.