The Best Director

Chapter 171: “MIT 21 TEAM

Bright sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the study where Wang Yang sat in front of a green blackjack table, engrossed in studying a stack of chips while stroking his chin, pondering the camera angles. Several decks of playing cards lay on the table, with two face-up cards at each betting spot, and the dealer’s hand with one card face-up and another face­down; a series of chips with different denominations; an opened laptop and a notepad and pencil were also there.

“I’m in,” Wang Yang said teasingly with a smile, looking at the dealer’s position as if someone was standing there. He curled the corners of his mouth, and with both hands, pushed a large pile of black chips forward. He then frowned, feeling that it still wasn’t cool enough! Picking up a pencil, he jotted a few notes in an A4 notebook, a thick volume of the “MIT-21-TEAM” storyboard script filled with various camera shots and lines of dialogue.

Wang Yang moved the stack of chips back to their original position and, after thinking for a moment, picked up a round black chip and flicked it. He watched his fingertips—suddenly picturing the chip spinning on top of them, flicking it high, catching it, and at the same time pushing the large pile of chips out with his right hand, curling his lip into a smile saying, “Let’s settle this.” After speaking, he snapped the single chip onto the table with a slap.

Not bad, Natalie would look really cool playing that,” muttered Wang Yang excitedly, rapidly sketching the “chip spinning on the fingertip” and a few consecutive shots on paper, and marking, “Slow motion when the left hand puts down the chip.” He thought about it and couldn’t help smiling, saying to himself, “Slow motion is truly the twin brother of coolness.”

Cool, exciting, and thrilling tension are the styles of “MIT-21-TEAM,”—these three elements are interconnected. Cool characters and visuals excite people, and excitement leads to engagement and tension concerning the actions in the casino, while the clever handling and escape by the genius teams are stimulating and cool; it all links together like a chain, where cool starts and ends the sequence. The success of the film can be said to hinge on the word “COOL.”

So, where should the coolest aspect of card counting be showcased? At the blackjack table. Story aside, the card counting scenes in the story must involve the table—unavoidable because that’s where its charm and coolness lie. The camera shots at the table must match the storyline, and they should be developed appropriately, clearly understood by the audience—not dull or awkward, only cool.

But blackjack is unlike Texas Hold’em, which has a strong confrontational nature—your only opponent at the table is the dealing dealer, and since the dealer doesn’t have any real gambling skills, their presence doesn’t provide the emotion of thrilling tension; they’re just a scapegoat, highlighting the coolness and high intelligence of the genius team.

Card counting isn’t gambling but a calm game of numbers, and when Jeff Ma and the team leader—two major players—maintain a calm interior while displaying a brazen exterior, full of swagger like mad gamblers but internally working like an Intel Chip, playing others for a fool, that’s the coolest thing at the blackjack table.

Busted,” Wang Yang turned over the dealer’s face-up card and said nonchalantly before immediately switching to a playful expression, letting out a series of bizarre laughs, “Wahaha—cough, hahaha—” He stopped and shook his head; that would ruin the coolness and turn cool guys and gals into lunatics —it’s up to the actors to figure that part out.

After his trip to Las Vegas at the beginning of the year, he had the idea to shoot “MIT-21-TEAM” and “The Hangover.” The story of the MIT geniuses storming Las Vegas intrigued him even more. After spending over half a year busy conceptualizing and making several contacts with “Las Vegas” author Ben Mezrich, he already had a clear plan in mind.

Additionally, Ben Mezrich had readily agreed early on to sell the film adaptation rights of the novel to Flame Films, but both parties kept it a secret for the time being.

This time it was somewhat different from the previous five films he directed because in the past, Future Films’ support gave him many successful experiences when he wanted to shoot a particular story; but this time, with “MIT-21-TEAM,” the story of Jeff Ma, the future’s boring, awkward, annoying, dragging, infuriating “Winning 21,” taught him all the lessons of failure.

How to avoid these failures, how to achieve success? This time, there were no ready-made answers for them. They had to conceptualize the film, the big picture and minor details, which meant much, much more.

The story of “MIT-21-TEAM” would unfold along two main strands, the so- called cat-and-mouse game. But who was the cat, and who was the mouse? The famous detective Beverly Griffin hired by the casino was the cat, with Jeff Ma and others being the mice, her game was to catch the mouse; but Jeff Ma and his team were also cats, with Beverly as the mouse, their game was to play with the mouse.

One strand revolved around the Blackjack Team, viewed through the lens of Jeff Ma’s experiences. He started out as just an ordinary student, getting into a scuffle at a bar, where Natalie discovered his incredible counting ability and card-counting talent; Natalie then invited him to join the Blackjack Team and learn the skills of card counting, along with a set of disguises and secret signals to use at casinos.

After mastering the art, Jeff Ma followed Natalie for their first trip to Las Vegas and his initial foray as a high roller. With this human computer joining the team, they became increasingly formidable and cool.

Meanwhile, detective Beverly Griffin began to slowly close in on her targets, following a thin trail, and a crisis loomed. Yet, in this game of cat and mouse, Jeff Ma and his team always managed to turn danger into safety and lead Beverly by the nose. Not only were they not exposed, they swept through Las Vegas during the summer vacation, becoming the nightmare of every casino owner.

Just when Beverly Griffin was fired by the casino, disheartened yet unwilling to give up, she stumbled upon a crucial clue, completely dumbfounded. The mysterious card-counting group could all be students from MIT?! After conducting an investigation at MIT, she snapped photos of many suspects, including Jeff Ma and others (in disguise).

She also persuaded the casino to rehire her. During another operation by Jeff Ma and his team, she used surveillance cameras to pinpoint them, banished them from the casino, and officially blacklisted them.

Just when the casino owners thought they had won and the game was over, celebrating with a dinner for Beverly Griffin and her team of detectives, Jeff Ma and Natalie, along with others, walked into the casino without any disguises, confidently and openly. The two high rollers played a final, crazy hand, sweeping through the Las Vegas casinos in one night, an event the owners would never forget, and then they coolly exited.

The celebrating owners and detectives were astonished, stopping mid-cheer. How was it possible?! They weren’t recognized? When Beverly Griffin and the others rushed back to the casino, they finally saw their true faces.

After this, the casino stored all images of Jeff Ma and his team, and every doorman, waiter, and dealer was instructed to recognize not only their actual appearances but also their disguises for comprehensive, manual surveillance. They became the most notorious figures on the Las Vegas blacklist.

Yet, the casinos prepared for a siege never saw MIT-21-TEAM again. Jeff Ma and his team knew counting cards was never the right path, that if they stayed in the casinos too long, card counting would become gambling and eat away at their brains. It was just a momentary youthful indiscretion, and life had to go on. They happily completed their studies at MIT. The film ends here.

We have never gambled, it’s just all about solving math problems,” Wang Yang chuckled, picking up the Ace and Queen of Spades from the table, his voice filled with anticipated triumph, “Blackjack!” He shook his head, “OK, I need some music.” He said, standing up and walking over to the turntable on his desk. He picked several vinyl records from a drawer, selected one of the AC/DC albums, and put it on to play.

Soon, the bright study was filled with explosive rock music, and with a raspy electric chainsaw voice, Bon Scott began to sing, “See me ride out of the sunset, On your color TV screen…”

Wang Yang hummed a tune and swayed slightly as he sat down in the chair, closing his eyes and tapping his foot to the rhythm, vaguely inspiring some images in his mind, and a montage of intercutting scenes emerged with the song.

Beverly Griffin ran tensely through the hotel corridor, while at the gambling table, Jeff Ma and Natalie each dealt a pair of Blackjacks with faint smiles on their faces. The song blared, “T.n.t.-and-ill-win-the-fight, T.n.t.-Im-a- power-load, T.n.t.-Watch-me-explode… (I’m gonna win this fight! I’m a power load! Watch me explode

Beverly rushed to the casino, Jeff Ma and Natalie stood up from their chairs, and the MIT team, holding bags of chips, walked away with smiles on their faces… “Im-dirty, mean-and-mighty-unclean… (I’m bad, sleazy, and powerfully evil, I’m a wanted man, public enemy number one. Get it? So keep an eye on your daughter, keep an eye on your wife! Watch the back door of your house!…)”

As Beverly searched frantically, sweating profusely, the MIT team had already stepped out of the hotel, climbed into a convertible and drove away laughing, with Natalie sitting on the tail of the car, whistling and tossing a handful of chips forcefully into the air. The camera focused on the round chips tumbling through the night sky, and after a slow-motion shot, the sports car sped past, and the valuable chips all landed on the street with a clear “clink” sound.

That song T.N.T is damn powerful! Seems like AC/DC’s track would fit the soundtrack for “MIT-21-TEAM”? Wang Yang pondered while laughing along with the music “Watch-me-explode”, and sketched his thoughts of the shot on the AK paper with a pencil, a typical montage that builds tension, but often with great effect.

However, in this series of shots, the images of Beverly Griffin and Jeff Ma were still a bit blurry, which was because the actors had not been confirmed yet. They were the male lead and the second female lead, and both roles needed to be carefully and rigorously searched for. The MIT team was preliminarily set to consist of six people, two big players, and four card counters, including one Asian girl, a white male and female pair, and one black boy.

Although in reality, out of an MIT Blackjack Team of six, four would be Asian, clearly, mainstream audiences needed to be catered to on the big screen. Apart from Jeff Ma who couldn’t be played by a Caucasian, other roles deemed less critical should consider attracting more viewers as the primary factor; after all, this is a commercial film, and the higher the box office, the greater the victory for Asians’ new image on the screen.

Natalie tossed the chips…” Wang Yang noted down this shot and suddenly laughed; it had been so long, and he had yet to name his female lead, always using Natalie as a placeholder. Should he just call the boss lady Natalie? He shook his head with a smile; that would affect the audience’s sense of immersion. Every time someone on the screen calls Natalie, it would be as if they are reminded: “You’re watching a movie.”

He paused in thought, walked over to the desk, and picked up the cellphone next to the computer screen. Since Harvard had not started yet, he went ahead and called her. After a few rings, it connected, and he laughed, “Hey, Natalie!” Natalie on the other end responded weakly with a ‘hey,’ saying, “Hello, Mister Mysterious. What’s up? I warn you, I’m not in a good mood right now, so cheer me up.”

What happened?” Wang Yang asked, frowning in confusion, and turned off the boisterous rock music at the turntable. Natalie sighed languidly and said, “I’m just thinking about starting another semester, the entire college is almost done for, time really flies, I’m just losing to time!”

Wang Yang suddenly understood; was it a girl’s lament over the passing of youth? He smiled strangely and asked, “How come you’re suddenly thinking about this?” Natalie’s voice was faint, as if she were about to die, “Do I need a reason?” Wang Yang said a simple “NO.” How to comfort her? He sat down by the gambling table, saying with a laugh, “Buddy, you just need to remember, there will always be someone called Youth who is one year older than you. At least in the future, someone will scold that guy, ‘You call yourself Young at that age, I feel embarrassed for you,’ but nobody will say that about Natalie.”

Ha!” Natalie laughed more spiritedly and said, “That’s funny. Forget it, whatever! I really want to turn into a prawn and then eat trash in District 9. Wang Yang, confused, was just about to ask what she was talking about when she laughed again, “Young, tell me, why did you call?”

“I’m deciding on your character’s name, so I called to ask, what do you want to be called?” Wang Yang said while his left hand fiddled with the chips on the gambling table, stacking them one by one.

Natalie dragged out her response thoughtfully yet offhandedly said, “I don’t know, how about Jessica?” Wang Yang replied helplessly, “Buddy, can you be serious?” Natalie laughed heartily, intrigued, “What do you mean? Is Jessica not okay? ‘God’s grace’. Such a good name, lucky! Come to think of it, I don’t even know why my parents gave me a French name, Natalie, a child born on Christmas, lame… Oh!”

It seemed she remembered something, puzzled she said, “Aren’t I born in June? Aren’t I Jewish?”

Ask your parents,” Wang Yang smiled, his tone serious, “Also, answer my question.” Natalie was still indifferent, “OK, call me Juno then.” Before she could finish, she heard him roar in a suppressed voice, “Ah,” and she laughed, “Then forget it, your name is better, YOUNG, I think it’s quite distinctive for a girl to have that name.”

He still roared through gritted teeth, “Ah,” and she quickly added, “How about YOLK?” Wang Yang laughed and frowned, “How do you know this nickname of mine? But no, no, no! Yankees is out too.”

Then I can’t think of anything, you come up with it,” Natalie said, her voice losing interest. Then she asked, “By the way, have you found someone for the role of Jeff Ma?” Looking at the teetering column of chips in front of him, Wang Yang carefully continued stacking, answering, “Haven’t started looking yet, but will soon.” Natalie suddenly interjected with a “Hey,” her voice full of enthusiasm, “I have an idea, how about you play the role?”

Hahaha! An interesting idea, but you haven’t seen my acting.” Wang Yang couldn’t help but laugh, his hands trembling, and the whole stack of chips collapsed onto the gambling table, damn it! Shaking his head with a smile, he said, “Although it’s amusing, I don’t think it’s a good idea, my acting stinks, I don’t really have a desire to perform, maybe I’ll make a cameo as an MIT student, you know, to fulfill my Boston Ivy League dream, but forget about the leading role.”

Also, as a director, he was accustomed to the feeling of controlling everything, every character in the frame, every detail under his watchful eye; if he were in the frame, unable to review the lead actor’s performance and the rest from behind the camera, he would be lost. This film wasn’t a toy; no film was a toy, no room for error!

“I’ve heard about your acting, so I want to see your bloopers, then I can laugh at you!” No sooner had Natalie finished speaking, she burst into laughter, “Hahahahahaha—” Listening to her laughter growing louder, Wang Yang snorted, “Boring!”

After a while of bantering and laughter, they ended the call, and still, the name of the female lead remained undecided; and the choice for Jeff Ma was still a big question mark.

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