48 Am I a Jerk? (1/2)

After all of the non-musical scenes had been shot, the crew started to shoot the musical part. Neither Wang Yang nor Wally Pfister was experienced in this. Fortunately, they had Anne Fletcher. She was the choreographer of Titanic and had a lot of experience in shooting singing and dancing scenes. She knew where to put a camera and which pictures to capture. She was their beacon in this sense.

Of course, the emphasis should be put on pictures—namely, the dancing. As to the singing, they just needed to make sure the characters lip-synced when shooting close-ups. The songs would be added gradually in post synchronization.

David Lawrence signed the contract in no time. Then, he came to Salt Lake City with his songs in no time as well. Wang Yang picked the songs he found satisfying, and then Lawrence taught the leads to sing. At the same time, Anne Fletcher would choreograph dances that fit the style and the rhythm of the songs. Not until all this had been done would the shooting start.

That being said, Anne Fletcher had already choreographed the dances for the scenes where the songs had been decided a long time ago, so the shooting would not be interrupted.

To shoot these musical scenes, the crew had rented two more film cameras to do multi-camera shooting. They'd shot the same scenes so many times that many film reels were wasted. However, they'd also captured a lot of material to work with. As to how to show a certain scene, a certain song, and a certain dance, they would consider it when they did film editing in postproduction.

At this moment, the crew was shooting in the canteen of East High. A camera set up on the second floor of the canteen was rolling. There were assistant cameramen working on the first floor as well, both in the front and on the side. By then, they had shot the primary chorus and group dance. Then came the final part.

Everyone was still dancing. Gabriella and her friends came in with their lunches. Sharpay Evans walked down the stairs in anger. She looked she would cause Gabriella some trouble. However, Gabriella, who was walking ahead of her, suddenly slipped on the wet floor. She lost her grip on the tray. Consequently, the box of French fries drizzled with sauces on the tray sailed into the air. They happened to fall on Sharpay Evans, who was trailing behind Gabriella. Then, Sharpay left, angry and sad.

In the original film, there was a montage here; one second, the French fries were flying in the air, and the next second, Sharpay was dumbfounded with the box of French fries pressed against her chest.

But Wang Yang intended to make it more real. He wanted a shot from the side, with the whole process captured, from Gabriella's slipping, to the fries flying, to the fries smashing right into Sharpay's chest. This shot could be inserted to make the dramatic scene more visual and more specific.

Wally Pfister was carrying the camera on his shoulder, while Wang Yang was standing behind. The cheerleaders and the walk-ons were still dancing. He looked at Rachel, who was walking down the stairs, and then looked at Jessica holding the lunch tray. He prayed to himself, ”Come on. This must be successful in only one take!” If not, Rachel would need to change her costume and do it again. Being smashed by French fries drizzled with sauces could not be easy or pleasant.

Rachel, playing Sharpay, walked down from the second floor with an angry face. Zachery, who played Ryan, was following her like a servant. Jessica looked around at the dancing crowd. She walked ahead cautiously, and suddenly, she walked into the puddle of water on the ground and slipped. She tipped the lunch tray upward, and the box full of French fries and sauces flew into the air instantly!

That box caught everyone's attention. Wang Yang closed his fist tightly. He was nervous. The box was falling, but it seemed it would fall short. Seeing this, Rachel hurried to take one step forward so that the box of fries smashed right into her chest! Pressing the box against her chest, where her clothes had been spoiled by the sauces, she looked down, totally stupefied. Then she shrieked, ”Aaah!”

Wang Yang waved his fist excitedly. He called, ”Cut! Great! That was really great!” Looking at Jessica, he said with a smile, ”Jessica, it was a perfect pass. Looks like falling down all the time after all has some benefits too.” Then, he thumbed up at Rachel. He praised her, ”Rachel, your performance was fantastic!”

However, Jessica could not cheer up. Looking at Rachel in a kind of embarrassed manner, she said, ”I'm sorry, Rachel…” Smiling and shaking her head, Rachel said, ”It's all right. It was for the shooting. You don't need to feel sorry about anything.” Still pressing the fry box against her chest, she said to Wang Yang, ”Yang, shall we proceed to the next scene?”

”Oh, yeah. The next scene.” Wang Yang also realized it was not the time for joking yet. Rachel must be feeling terrible. Although it was work, they really should finish this as soon as possible! Clapping his hands, he called, ”Guys, get ready!”

Alyson Reed, the player of Ms. Darbus, walked over. Standing behind Rachel, she said in surprise, ”What is going on here?” Rachel was so pissed that she could not stop panting. She said sadly, ”It's Gabriella. She just dumped her lunch on me! On purpose! She wanted to ruin all this. And Troy. He and his basketball team are obviously behind this!” She gave Jessica a stare, gnashing her teeth with hatred. She read her line, ”After all the hard work I've put into the musical, it turns out… ah!” She gave Zachery, who was next to her, a punch because there was no other way she could vent her anger. Stomping, she said, ”It just doesn't seem right!”

Then, Rachel flung her arms, her eyes already red, and she walked up the stairs at a fast pace. The walk-ons on the stairs made way for her, one after another.

”Cut!” Wang Yang called. He said with a nod, ”As good as usual. Guys, get prepared for the next scene.” The next shots were all Troy Bolton and his friends. The cameramen and the lighting engineers would need to rearrange the setting. Wang Yang looked at Rachel, standing in some distance. That sad look of hers, as if she had been wronged for so many things… that was fantastic. He felt uneasy somehow. He shouted, ”Rachel, good work. You can go and clean yourself.”

Rachel nodded without speaking. She walked onto the second floor of the canteen and sat in a chair. She took the napkin a production assistant gave her to wipe the sauce stains off her clothes. Seeing Jessica approaching, Rachel smiled at her while arranging her clothes. She greeted Jessica, ”Hi.”

”Rachel.” Sitting down in the chair next to her, Jessica apologized to Rachel, ”Even though this is work, I still want to say sorry.” Shrugging her shoulders, Rachel said, ”It's really fine.” She smiled and thus her dimples showed. ”I got paid for that. I'm a professional actress, huh, aren't I?”

Jessica smiled, but she still felt Rachel was a little upset. She found Rachel had been upset a lot recently. Was it for that reason? In that case, there was little she could do… she answered after thinking, ”You are surely a professional. Your acting always only needs one take, while I blow it all the time. How many films I have wasted?! Just think about it.”

”It's nothing. It's not us who pay for the films anyway.” Rachel broke into a smile, shaking her head. Then, all of a sudden, she said, ”Christmas is on the way.”

Jessica was dumbstruck. She answered with a nod, ”Yeah.” The last Christmas seemed to be a long time ago. She said kind of melancholically, ”This year seems to be especially long.”

Rachel asked, ”Why? Because of Yang?”

Glimpsing at Rachel, Jessica stayed silent for a while. Then, she finally said, ”Yeah, I think so. Since I met Yang again, my life has become much more colorful.”

”Cherish it, then.” With a faint smile, Rachel patted Jessica on the shoulder. Getting to her feet, she said, ”I need to go to the lady's room. See you later.”