Chapter 197: Start shooting

The Peoples-republik bar, one mile from MIT and less than one mile from Harvard University, is a bar popular among young students around it. At this time, it was rented for the crew of "mit-21-team" to shoot a scene on the first page of the thick script.

In the bar where the lights were originally supposed to be bright during the day, it was as dark as night. The bald white bartender behind the bar was wiping his wine glasses, and young guests were playing dart games shouting and shouting. The guests sitting by the wooden table drank and chatting enthusiastically, and there was a warm atmosphere. Of course, they were actually all extras.

The cameras of the two cameras are placed on the front and diagonally opposite the corner of the bar. Vale Fist, wearing a bat, operates one on the front, and Wang Yang stands beside him and aims at the viewfinder; the other is controlled by Harry George, and the lighting recording engineer and other filming teams are all in their place. Joshua looked at Alexis sitting by the bar with a dazed look on his face.

Her long brown hair was flowingly shawl, her forehead was covered by big bangs, her slender willow eyebrows, blue eyes, and a smile on her pretty round face. Natalie sat next to her, her long hair had been cut into loose short hair, and she also looked like a petite and cute good girl; and her hair was curled up next to her, and she was foolishly like Jay Baruchel who had just woken up.

"action!" With a command, the three of them held the glass of wine casually. Natalie said: "What will we find the most in Boston? Nerds and geniuses..."

This scene is about the fact that the mit group is losing a big player. While the three of them were drinking in the bar, they were caught by Jeff Ma and others who were also drinking here, and then they had a dispute. At this time, the white classmate of Jeff Ma who thought they were "ordinary nerds" came over. He was shy about talking and talking, saying, "Hey, can I treat you to a drink?"

Natalie turned her head and glanced at him, raised the wine glass in her hand slightly, and said casually: "I have an addition and subtraction question to ask you, how about it?" This is not a close-up shot, and Alexis and Jay, who looked indifferent on their faces, appeared on the camera's monitor screen. Without waiting for the fat man to answer, Natalie quickly read out this line that she practiced many times: "How much is 2+7+4-5+2+4-1+9+2+6-4+2-8-7+4-2+6 equal?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. No one said ng! Finally got this damn line! Wang Yang, that troublemaker!

The fat man in glasses opened his mouth foolishly. This was a very simple math problem. The child could do it by counting his fingers, but that was in the case of a literal question. She said too quickly and too much, and could not remember it at all! He said blankly: "Uh, can you say slower?" Natalie was too lazy to pay attention to him, and withdrew her gaze and said lightly: "You say something to the clock, can you walk slowly? Unless it breaks."

Alexis and Jay both showed an intriguing smile, raised their glass and took a sip.

"21." Daniel Wu, who had been watching, suddenly said something. Natalie on the other side of the camera immediately pulled her eyebrows. When she turned her head, she heard a very quick voice: "I have a question to ask you, how much is 22-1?" Natalie turned her head and looked at Daniel Wu who was yelling about it. She showed a funny smile on her lips and said: "21."

"cut!" Wang Yang shouted and stopped the crew, and everyone looked at him. Joshua wiped his quarrels and thought with confusion: "What happened?" Wang Yang looked at Daniel Wu and said: "Daniel, your expression is missing. You know that Jeff's words were indeed to humiliate these people, but he was actually a little proud and arrogant because he was smart, because there were two beauties and a nerd sitting there."

In the role setting, Jeff Ma is such a proud person. He joined the group to play card counting to prove his ability at first, but after gradually learning and combating, he realized the importance of the team, and also realized the friendship and loyalty, without cynicism but still pride.

"No one should tell Jeff that I said that." Wang Yang said again, and everyone smiled slightly. Ma Kaiwen was the technical consultant of the crew filming with the crew, but there was no card counting content in this scene, so he was not there. On the spot, he knocked the board of records, and Wang Yang shouted softly, "action!"

Daniel Wu adjusted his expression, and there was a smile on his anti-mockery face, and he quickly said, "I have a question to ask you, how much does 22-1 equal?" Natalie smiled and said, "21." Her expression slowly became colder again, and her tone said faster: "I have a question. If you are participating in a game show, there are three doors for you to choose to open, one of which has a car behind, and the other two are goats..."

She spoke slowly the more she said, and finally her neck seemed to be broken and she laughed and said, "Director, I forgot the next word!" Alexis, Daniel Wu and others laughed, Wang Yang spread his hands helplessly and shouted, "Who gave her that damn script!"

There is no complicated movement in this scene, and the camera is very fixed, but it is not easy to complete at all, because strings of lines are difficult to remember, and they must be quickly and clearly stated; at the same time, the subtle expression changes of the characters are almost the same in one sentence. Although they have been rehearsing for a long time before shooting, they actually avoid less and there will be a lot of them.

This is expected, and Wang Yang doesn't expect to shoot the entire scene in one breath. That's impossible. Even if a question and answer is taking a breath, it's a smooth one. This is not a stage play, and the movie has editing.

"The script is here!" Joshua believed in the "seizing everything that would make her have a good impression of you" taught by her sister's boyfriend, and took Wang Yang's script diligently and honestly, walked up and handed it to Natalie, believing in "It's cool to be cool, but smile more at her." He smiled at Alexis next to him and walked back. Alexis's doubts became even heavier, and this guy seemed to be really weird...

Natalie opened the script and watched seriously, her lips muttered slightly, and Daniel Wu also took the opportunity to watch her script and write the lines. After a while, Natalie nodded and said, "Okay! Come again!"

"action!" With a command, Varé Fist and other crew members resumed their work. Natalie continued to look up at Daniel Wu who was standing and said quickly: "I have a problem... the other two are goats. You chose a door. Assume that it is No. 1. The host who knows what is behind the door opened No. 3. There is a goat behind him. He then asked you, 'Do you want to change your mind and choose No. 2?'"

Daniel Wu immediately said, "Change." Natalie immediately said, "Why? What are the benefits of changing your choice? Door No. 1 is a car, he is trying to fool you!" Daniel Wu said with a slightly disdainful expression and said, "You are playing tricks on me. This is the Monty Hall paradox. There are three situations. I chose Goat No. 1, and the host will drive away the car; I chose Goat No. 2, and the host will choose Goat No. 1, and the conversion will drive away the car; I chose Car No. 1, and the host will take a goat, and I failed, but the chance of success of the transformation is 2/3. Why not?"

Wang Yang held his chin and observed Natalie's performance of continuing to ask the next game theory problem "Tiger Paradox", and it was still a quick question and answer without any stopping time. Obviously, the audience in front of the big screen would not be able to hear it clearly in the future. They didn't have time to think or even react, but he didn't need them to figure it out. As long as they create an atmosphere, "this group of people are geniuses" is enough!

At the same time, I also have some preliminary feelings about the characters' personalities and "cool". But it must be said in shallow language and pronounced clearly, so that the audience can become interested and quickly enter the role, and feel that they are thinking. It doesn't matter if they can't figure it out. As long as the protagonists tell them a certain answer, it will make people excited, rather than being verbose, this is also very important.

"%#%*@...I'm sorry!", "The probability of tiger...forgot!", "cut! What's going on, come again!"...

The scenes continued for several minutes, and then it was finally not just the lines. The performance disconnection caused by memorization of the lines made Wang Yang shout again. Natalie on the forehead was about to sweat, and the number of times in this episode was more than that in "Juno" combined! She let out a sigh and was deeply shocked and said, "I'm sorry!" Wang Yang smiled and clapped his hands, saying, "Everyone should take a break first!"

Amidst a burst of laughter, Varé Fist, Harry George and other film crews stopped working and sat down at the round table in the bar to rest and chat. The extras continued to be like tourists. Natalie said frantically, "Ah, these lines are too difficult to remember. Why didn't I know that the people in mit are so powerful?" Daniel Wu, who sat down in the chair, also took a breath: "My mind is also confused."

"Luckily I don't have any lines." Alexis gladly patted the collarbone, and Joshua's eyes widened and his heart beat. Jay Baruchel smiled and said his thoughts: "I hope there are more lines."

"Hello, man!" Wang Yang came to Daniel Wu with a smile, and suddenly punched him in the chest. Daniel Wu, who was prepared, instantly opened his fist with one hand and returned with one punch. Wang Yang grabbed his little arm and went straight to his elbow to the side.

Ali and others have quickly gotten used to their exchanges anytime and anywhere. This martial arts director played whenever he had time in the morning. He glanced at the two of them who were fighting. Natalie continued to read the script, flipped a few more times, looked at the lines that really counted the card behind and said, "Yang, I have a question. This seems not something I should consider, but I want to know."

Wang Yang stopped fists and asked Daniel Wu to continue reading the script. He sat down at the bar chair and asked with a smile: "What? What do you think is the problem?" Everyone also looked at Natalie with a smile, and only Joshua couldn't take his eyes off.

"Well, many lines seem to be quite complicated, and we can't figure it out at once." Natalie smiled and shrugged, Wang Yang said with a smile: "You mean the audience will be full of question marks? This is my plan. They don't need to understand, and the key point is not here."

Natalie nodded and said, "Actually, what I want to ask is that I have watched a lot of gambling movies, "The Storm of the Casino", "The King of Gambling"... Compared with them, "mit-21-team" is so special, it is the gambling part. It looks very professional, with real skills, many terms and details..." Wang Yang interrupted her with a smile and said, "Then which kind do you think is good?"

"Our story is more focused and thoughtful, and the whole story is also very attractive, great!" Natalie looked through the script in her hand and heard Wang Yang ask, "What do you think?" Alexis replied with a smile: "I don't have that many ideas, but isn't it good to be different?" Daniel Wu said: "This is not a Hollywood gambling movie, and I can't say it."...

"Yes, it's very interesting." Natalie raised her head, her doubts still remained unresolved, and asked with a smile: "The content of these lines is impressive, but if it weren't for the script that you can watch repeatedly, would the audience feel boring? Always these difficult things. So how are you going to make a movie with... temperament? Is there anything similar? I want to see it."

Wang Yang smiled and shook his head, "I don't know, I don't think there was anything like this before, I can't find it anyway. Natalie, you know that the movie was finally born in the editing room. Now you ask me what this movie looks like? I can't answer it. But I think..." He shot his right hand and blew the invisible smoke on his index finger, and smiled and said, "Guys, it's still the same thing, a cool movie."

In his understanding, the so-called cool is the kind of cool that is very handsome and dazzling. Each character performs his own duties. Through details and lines, they show off their profession and genius. The key is to form an impression. Whether it is card counting, the team plays blackjack in the casino, detectives and anti-detectives, and the personal talent skills of the characters, just like being proficient in multiple languages, they are all things that need to be displayed in details.

"Have you ever watched Hong Kong gambling movies?" Wang Yang suddenly asked. Natalie thought about it and didn't have any impression. She smiled and said, "No, I like Wong Kar-wai's Hong Kong movies. Is this the style of Hong Kong gambling movies?" Alixis and others also shook their heads and said, "No, Daniel Wu said, "I have watched "Gambling Man" and "Gambling Saint", but it seems that the style is different?"

Wang Yang did not answer this question for the time being, but said with his insight: "The style of Hong Kong gambling movies is to focus on gambling. There are all kinds of strange gambling skills, and some even superpowers that are out of reality. However, the gambling tables in Hong Kong movies are always very cool, magical, and chic. In gambling, it is a picture; the focus of Hollywood gambling movies is basically in the story of "Why do you want to bet", and then dig into the hearts of the characters. The gambling table is just something that has been written and has never stopped. It is a thick line."

Daniel Wu nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, I feel that's the case, Hollywood gambling movies don't seem to know how to gambling." In fact, what he really wanted to say is that Hollywood has no gambling movies. Natalie felt a little strange when she heard this and asked, "Why?"

"I don't know." Wang Yang shrugged. He couldn't figure out this question for a time. Could it be that American audiences don't like to watch "professional" gambling movies? But he thought it shouldn't be. No one likes to be crappy and hates professionalism. The more professional it is, the more exciting and fascinating it is. This aspect is reflected in various dramas such as doctors and crime solving. Of course, whether it is TV series or movies, the premise is that the story is good and the characters are wonderful.

Especially the length of the movie is that it is impossible to use it to introduce card skills. This is not a popular science program or documentary. There is a degree here, especially blackjack, and there is no opponent. The main plot of "mit-21-team" is also a story about detectives and anti-detectives, and the story of the mit group fighting against the entire Las Vegas.

But there is no doubt that Hollywood movies, which can be called "gambling movies", have not paid attention to the gambling itself, and there is no professionalism and details. Why? If you think about it from the perspective of a producer, there are some clues. Thinking of this, looking at Natalie and others, Wang Yang smiled and said: "From a commercial perspective, gambling movies have never had a market in Hollywood, and no one is willing to try it out. The producers don't want to take risks. It's better to use the money to make romantic love movies."

"When you are not a commercial movie, you want to explore human nature and emotions; or if you are just a small-cost movie, if you want to win, your creative ideas will often go to the depth of the story, and you don't want to focus on gambling skills; when you are at high cost, you can do a lot of big moves and scenes, and then you think, what is a small gambling table?"

Wang Yang said that, and couldn't help but think of the future movie "007: Casino Royale" that he watched in his mind. The movie was known as "pure Hollywood gambling movies". In fact, it was also the one with the most detailed details among so many Hollywood gambling movies he studied. However, relatively speaking, the gambling aspect is still a bit simple. But it does not mean that he fully supports Hong Kong gambling movies. That set of Hong Kong movies from the 1980s is not suitable for the current world, and even Hong Kong is considered outdated.

Exaggeration and superpowers are not professional. "mit-21-team" wants dazzling and real, high IQ card skills, and it wants the pursuit of details and atmosphere in Hong Kong films and the wonderful stories of Hollywood commercial films.

"But I want to pursue a taste..." Wang Yang stood up with a smile. Natalie became more and more confused as she listened. He continued to laugh: "If "mit-21-team" is classified as a gambling film, then it is unprecedented, ha! Just play blackjack, we have to make it a peak that cannot be surpassed!" He spread his hands and smiled: "I don't know how it looks on the big screen, but it will be cool, you know, it will."

This movie can be said to be a brand new experience for him. Unlike in the past, this movie has no template. Apart from the same adaptation of "The Capture of Las Vegas", it is completely different from "The Decisive Blackjack" and is not a traditional Hollywood gambling film. But in the past, everything is good at both Blackjack and Texas poker, and there is no movie with this look at all. Who knows whether the audience likes it?

I have to try it before I know the result! Wang Yang walked to the camera and said, "I can't guarantee that it will have any miracles, but it did not take those failed routes. So I chose Gate No. 2, which is a 2/3 chance of winning!" As he said, he shouted loudly: "You guys read the script quickly! If anyone is waiting, I will beat him up with one punch!"

"I'll wait!" Natalie gave him a provocative look and patted her cheek gently. Everyone knew that he was joking, but they all looked at the script seriously and remembered the lines. After all, as an actor, no one wants to hear the "ng!"

Wang Yang talked with Vale Fest and others for a while, then picked up the microphone and yelled, and continued the unfinished shooting just now!

After all the staff were ready, after several expressions occurred, the scene finally came to the last problem. In the previous few probabilistic math problems, Jeff Ma's performance surprised the three of them in the mit group, and at the same time became very interested in him. Jeff Ma's mental arithmetic speed and memory is magical. He only believes in mathematics in his thinking logic without being affected by emotions. This is an excellent candidate to fill the gap between big players!

"If you have to bet, how can you win?" Natalie's eyes were filled with smiles, and Alexis and Jay Baruchel also smiled like a prey. Suddenly, he heard an irrelevant question, and Daniel Wu thought about it for a moment, saying, "Gambling does not mean winning."

"Very good!" Natalie showed a playful smile and asked, "Which school are you from?" The fat classmate hurriedly smiled, "mit!" The three of them immediately smiled, Natalie muttered, "mit, mit...ok!" As she stood up, Ali and Jay followed. Natalie, who had walked a few steps, turned around and asked, "Did you join any extracurricular club?"

Daniel Wu chuckled, looked at other places, and said, "I'll answer too many questions tonight." Natalie nodded knowingly and said, "That's not, but you will join a club soon." After that, the three of them walked outside. The fat man asked out in confusion: "Hey, what does it mean? What club?" Alexis turned his head and smiled, "A club that does math problems."

"cut!" Wang Yang shouted, and breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. The first scene was finally completed! He gave a thumbs up and smiled, "The acting was very good! It's over!"
Chapter completed!