Chapter 46

"Very good, turn around and let me see."

In the morning, the sun was bright. In the Ye family's backyard garden, Toto was excitedly running around, dashing to the soccer goal and then back to the steps.

However, today's star was not him, but Bella, the guest dog!

Ye Wei held a DV to film, and after giving the instruction, Anna repeated it: "Bella, turn around." Bella immediately spun in place, which left Dodo, with her chubby little face, staring in amazement!

The children's laughter made the adults in the dining room also feel delighted. Ye Haogen was not working today, enjoying a rare weekend.

Bella's appearance was perfect, with light brown long curly hair, a bow on her head, a small stature, and a pair of round, clear eyes inherited from a Maltese, like a doll, but very lively. Her smile-like expression when she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, her black nose, and her beautiful mixed breed.

So the question was whether she would listen to commands and have acting talent. Anna said she wasn't worried at all because she had been teaching her and often practicing with her.

"Alright, now make her jump and leap over your arm." Ye Wei was a bit nervous, could she really do it?

"Bella, look at me... jump!" Anna bent down, extending her right hand. Following her command, Bella wagged her tail and nimbly leaped over her right hand!

"Ha, that's amazing!" Ye Wei couldn't help but cheer. This was exactly the shot he wanted, he saw it! Perfect!

"Anna, Bella is so amazing." Dodo exclaimed in surprise. Anna nodded proudly: "Yes, sometimes she acts better than I do."

Who could argue with that? Bella completed several other commands very well, including the crucial task of retrieving objects. The chemistry between her and Anna was explosive, their deep bond was genuine and natural.

Ye Wei decided on the spot that Bella would play Bella!

The preparations had made significant progress. He decided to visit USC the next day, even though it was Sunday, many college students would still be around. Many specifically chose weekends to shoot short films because that's when amateur actors had time.

"Brother, Toto wants to audition too!" Dodo was very excited and wanted to show off. After finally getting the狂欢中的 Toto to stop, ...

Toto demonstrated what it meant to be completely unruly. Dodo kept shouting commands, but Toto, who usually obeyed, didn't respond today. He just scratched his ears, licked his paws, and panted like a fool. When Ye Wei pointed the DV at him, Toto suddenly ran away, as if saying, "I don't want to be a star!"

"I only want to be a director," he had a dog shirt with that slogan.

"Toto, you're not being good." The adults in the house laughed, but Dodo was very disappointed: "Look at Bella, brother, why is it like this?"

"I don't know, maybe you've spoiled him, or he's eaten too much chocolate and his brain is messed up." Ye Wei shrugged, "You know, dogs shouldn't eat chocolate."

"Really?" Dodo's face was full of grievance. Why? Chocolate is so delicious, why can't dogs eat it, just a little bit.

Anna smiled and said, "Dodo, your brother is teasing you. I think Toto is very good, he just doesn't know how to express himself, but we can teach him." Dodo immediately perked up, looking like "Anna is the best," "How do we teach him, how do we teach him?"

Anna looked at Toto and Bella playing and said seriously, "You need to be patient, use food as a reward, but not chocolate, dogs really can't eat it."

Dodo was confused again, didn't he say brother was lying?

Speaking of teaching, Ye Wei suddenly remembered something, "By the way, Anna, can you really do a dozen backflips in a row?"

"Yes! I'll show you..." Anna looked around, took a few steps, and there was a flat grass path from here to the soccer goal, enough space. She warmed up by bouncing and then suddenly started flipping with her hands on the ground —

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

She flipped further and further, five, six, seven...

"Wow." This time, Ye Wei and Dodo were both amazed, so cool! Until she reached twelve and flipped to the goal, Anna stopped, stood up steadily, and like a gymnast, she raised her hands, lifted her chin, and smiled brightly!

"Wow! Wow!" The siblings ran up, "Anna, you're a kung fu master!" "I want to learn! Anna, teach me!"

"Me too." Ye Wei was enthusiastic, "I'm on the school soccer team, I've always wanted to celebrate a goal with backflips, but I can only do a few. I need the secret to doing a dozen, to flip from the penalty area to midfield next time."

Dodo exclaimed, "Brother is the team captain! He's so good!"

"Sweetie, I hope you still like the soccer captain when you grow up." Ye Wei laughed.

"Soccer is so cool." Anna praised, looking at Ye Wei a few times, "I'll teach you, hands like this..."

"OK..." Ye Wei watched her raised hands and imitated the posture, and Dodo also mimicked her.

Soon, she became a rolling barrel, causing Ye Wei to laugh uncontrollably, and Anna's bell-like laughter —

Toto and Bella were running around, and in the forgotten corner of the steps, Benji was crawling leisurely, heading for the clouds in the sky.

...

Until dinner, Anna's family left happily. This family outing was enjoyable for both families, and they got to know each other better. There would likely be a second one.

The next day, Ye Wei prepared to go to USC's University Park campus to prepare the crew.

A Hollywood commercial film crew often has nearly a hundred people, and major productions can have hundreds, with clearly defined departments:

Producer group, director group, camera and shooting group, sound group, lighting and electric group, stage management group, art design group, props group, hair and makeup group, costume group, stunts and special effects group, transportation group, post-production group.

Just play a commercial movie DVD, drag to the end, and look at the endless credits that last for several minutes to understand what making a movie is.

This is a team creation, an artistic/commercial work that凝聚s the efforts of many people, something one person cannot do alone.

Director? The soul of the film is indeed the director, but once this precise production machine starts, the set can continue without a director. Francis Ford Coppola, during the shooting of "One from the Heart" (1982), stayed in a motorhome from the first to the last day, watching the monitors, and completed all the directing work.

This truly reflects Orson Welles' old saying, "The director is the person who deals with unexpected situations," in other words, if there are no unexpected situations, the director is just a bystander.

However, it is precisely through the director's resolution of conflicts and problems in each department and the decisions made by the director that the final quality of the film is achieved.

To be clear, Ye Wei is not setting up a large crew, but a basic structure for a low-budget independent film with about 10 people.

Producer, director, first assistant director, production manager, these core positions are all handled by him; he needs eight other professionals: cinematographer, first camera assistant, lighting technician, sound technician, boom operator, art designer, stylist, and script supervisor.

In addition, caterers, a few stagehands, and general laborers can be helped by Lev and others. When technical issues arise, he will step in personally.

Among the eight professionals, if he can't find a suitable cinematographer, he can take on that role; but lighting and sound are not possible. One, he can't be in two places at once, and two, in that dream, he didn't study much in these areas, which are his weak points.

If it's just to capture images, the art departments can be skipped, but to do it well, they can't be. Whether Anna will be a little country girl or a little angel depends on the art department.

Script supervisor? How important this role is, even the three Willis princesses know.

So this personnel structure is already the simplest of the simple. Any simpler, and it wouldn't be professional.

Finding these eight professionals is the goal of Ye Wei's trip to USC. With these "arhats," he would have free equipment, free actors, and post-production...

Since Ye Wei mentioned this plan to Anna yesterday, she had the desire to go along. It was the last day of the holiday, she had nothing else to do, and it would allow her parents to enjoy a day alone. She agreed! Alright, alright, alright!

Ye Wei didn't mind, and having a professional young actress like Anna made him more convincing.

After a visit, Anna's parents confirmed that all the information about the Ye family was true, and that Ye Wei was mature, ambitious, and well-mannered (they didn't know about VIY), so they agreed. The only concern was the poor security in the USC area, so the two children must not wander and must stay within the USC campus, be cautious, and call the police or them if anything happens.

Ye Wei was more aware of this. The university with the worst security in the world! He wouldn't run around there even for ten thousand dollars.

In the morning, Ye Wei first went to Anna's temporary residence in Westwood, then Anna's parents drove them to USC. The two adults would go to the nearby downtown area, ready to pick them up at any time.

When they got off the car on McClintock Avenue and Ye Wei looked at the red-roofed buildings of the USC School of Cinematic Arts not far to the east, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. Reality ends here!

In fact, it was still called the School of Cinematic Arts and Television. After that dream, this was the first time Ye Wei came here, and he had a hard-to-describe feeling, as if it was very familiar yet strange, exciting, nervous, and unbelievable...

With this feeling, he walked into the campus, heading towards the wide lawn in the distance. Anna followed, smiling and looking around, "This is a university."

"Yes, I think so, unless you're a UCLA bear."

"UCLA? I don't even know what that is." Anna's innocent answer made Ye Wei laugh uncontrollably: "Cool, you're a Trojan now." Anna still didn't understand: "Is this a joke?" Ye Wei laughed: "No, UCLA is the joke, ha ha."

"Alright... Wei!" Anna had a more pressing question, bouncing closer to him, her bright big eyes looking up at him, "Is this a date now?"

"What, a date?" Ye Wei turned to look at her, still laughing uncontrollably: "Little girl, do you think this is a date? You and me, a date!?"

"I think it is." Anna frowned a bit, annoyed, "Isn't it?"

"Of course not, we're working. What are you thinking, you're too young for me." Ye Wei shook his head, smiling. Anna raised a small hand,不服气地: "We're only five years apart. When I'm 20, you'll be 25, how young is that." Ye Wei shrugged: "OK, five years is acceptable, right? Wait until you're 20, ha ha."

"It's five years now!" Anna ignored him, her face full of smiles, showing her front teeth, a bit smug, "This is a date."

"If you like. But I have to tell you, I'm already dating a girl, and she's great." Ye Wei stepped onto the lawn, looking at the few college students passing by.

Anna frowned again and asked, "Who is she? How old is she?"

"A classmate, one year younger than me." Ye Wei answered while observing which student to approach...

"It's fine." Anna suddenly did a backflip, stood in front of him, wrinkled her nose, and pointed at herself with her thumb, "I'll beat her, I'm a winner!"

Seeing her competitive spirit, Ye Wei couldn't help but laugh again, "Interesting, you're really interesting."

"I am. Can I hold your hand?" Anna extended her hand, seriously saying, "This is my first date, but I know you hold hands on a date."

"Oh, please!" Ye Wei rolled his eyes, really defeated by her, "I'm not a gorilla, I can't reach your hand."

"I can lift it up." Anna took a step forward, grabbed his right hand, leaned her head against him, and smiled happily: "That's it. We're a bit like 'Léon: The Professional,' but you're not that old, and I'm a bit younger."

...! Ye Wei grimaced, looking at the college students' gazes, lost children?

He tried to pull away, but his hand was still firmly held by Anna. He laughed helplessly, "I remember 'Léon: The Professional' is an R-rated movie, did your parents watch it with you?"

"Um, I've seen many great movies with great child performances, and I've learned a lot." Anna nodded.

"Really hardworking, have you seen 'A Little Princess'? I think you're more like Vada, played by Anna Chlumsky, also named Anna."

"Seen! 'A Little Princess,' I like it!"

"Then you should know, a boy like Thomas is more suitable for you."

"I don't think so..."

At this moment, Ye Wei suddenly saw a group of five or six students with cameras and equipment walking over, clearly freshmen doing assignments, perfect targets!

"Shh, we need to get to work, don't cause trouble."

"I won't!"