Chapter 41: Asking for Advice

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"We're here."

Three box trucks, a slightly old minibus, and a black second-hand Ford sedan stopped in front of a detached house in the northern basin of San Fernando Valley. Murphy got out of the Ford and shouted, "Unload the trucks, we're staying here today."

Makeup artist Jack Watson, lighting technician John Douglas, prop master Mia Sucre, set designer Sunny Craig, and three interns including Paul Wilson now had new roles—movers.

Murphy only rented the three cars and didn't plan to hire any movers. After giving the order, he took off his coat and threw it onto the driver's seat of the Ford, then was the first to go to the box truck loaded with filming equipment, opened the rear compartment door, and jumped inside.

Leading by example, the others didn't dare to slack off. These people were at the bottom of Hollywood and knew that versatility was a hallmark of small crews.

James Franco, of course, had no interest in helping. After getting off the minibus, he instinctively walked to the back door of the Ford sedan, but the windows were closed, and inside, Bill Rosseus seemed to be explaining something to Carey Mulligan.

"Murphy has hired a professional tutor for you, someone I recommended…"

Without looking at Carey Mulligan's expression, Bill Rosseus said formally, "She'll be here by tomorrow at the latest. You must keep up with at least four hours of study time each day. She'll be here to accompany you for the next few days instead of me."

Carey Mulligan's dissatisfaction was written all over her face. "Can I not have a tutor?"

Since joining the crew, she had felt like a bird freed from its cage, enjoying the freedom and joy of filming, which was the life she wanted.

Studying? A tutor? A regimented life? Striving for college? She was fed up with it all!

Bill Rosseus glanced at Carey Mulligan again, said nothing more, and got out of the car. He first glanced at James Franco standing on the other side of the car and then looked into the distance.

At the end of his gaze, he could see a bowl of clear water. The clear lake water combined with the blue sky brought a rare sense of comfort. The weather here was much better than the dry Los Angeles city area.

"Hey, Murphy."

He retracted his gaze and walked toward the box truck, asking Murphy, who was carrying several rolls of film toward the house, "Anything I can help with?"

"Thanks, we can handle it," Murphy freed a hand and waved at him. "Just take care of Carey."

Carrying the film, Murphy entered the rented house, passed through the entrance, and entered the living room. Jessica Chastain stood on the left side of the living room, directing everyone to place the various items brought in into two rooms serving as temporary storage. The real estate agent Wayne, whom they had met before, stood nearby, constantly reminding the crew to be careful to avoid damaging the exquisite decorations inside the house.

Although most of the house still looked like it did the last time Murphy was here, the scenes used for filming, like the living room and kitchen, had completely changed in color. Long before the official shooting started, Murphy, along with set designer Sunny Craig and others, had come here several times and established the set's background style.

Sunny Craig, with two interns from USC, had been busy here for a week. With the cooperation of the professional team found by Wayne, the wallpaper in the living room and other rooms used for filming had been replaced, and the sofa and chair covers had been changed to the colors Murphy wanted.

Simply put, the set here had to meet the needs of the scenes between Haley and Jeff and match their costumes' colors. Therefore, the overall color scheme was primarily gray and red.

A good story is the foundation of a movie, but the importance of visual impact is something even an average film fan understands, let alone someone like Murphy, who had professional training.

After unloading the equipment and supplies and sending off the real estate agent, Murphy had Jessica Chastain take the others upstairs to choose their rooms. To save costs, the entire crew would be living here for quite some time.

The house wasn't particularly large, so it couldn't accommodate everyone with their own rooms. Except for Murphy and the lead actors James Franco and Carey Mulligan, everyone else would stay in dormitory-style accommodations.

There was also the issue of meals. With the café shooting over, Old Lynch's free supply had ended. Now Murphy had to use the crew's budget for this, and feeding about ten people for at least a month was a significant expense.

However, since there were no star-level actors in the crew, the catering didn't need to be high-end. Murphy planned to have a menu primarily featuring relatively inexpensive foods like hamburgers and pizza.

Since it was already afternoon when they arrived, the sun soon dipped below the horizon. After eating pizza delivered by a local fast-food place, Murphy went back to his room upstairs to continue reviewing the shooting plan. The café shooting had given him a clearer understanding of his own abilities. He realized he had overestimated himself, as even the seemingly simple lighting issues had troubled the crew for a long time.

Sitting at a desk, Murphy reviewed the plan item by item, knowing that there would be many unforeseen difficulties ahead…

A soft knock sounded, followed by James Franco's voice, "Are you in there, Murphy?"

"Jim…" Murphy closed the plan, turned off the desk lamp, and said, "Come in."

The door opened, and James Franco walked in, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. He glanced around, then sat on a small sofa opposite the door, placing the wine and glasses on the nearby coffee table. "Still working? Have a drink and relax."

Murphy put away the plan, walked over, and sat on the sofa on the other side of the coffee table. Without hesitation, he took the bottle, opened it, poured drinks for himself and James Franco, raised his glass slightly, and took a sip. "Very nice whiskey."

"I brought it from home," James Franco clinked his glass with Murphy's and downed half of it, showing an expression of enjoyment. "Top-quality Scotch Chivas Regal."

Murphy drank his glass, put it down, and turned to James Franco. "It's indeed good…"

Whether it was good or not, he couldn't really tell, but he knew James Franco hadn't come just to have a drink.

James Franco poured Murphy another glass. Seeing the familiar smirk on Franco's face, Murphy asked directly, "What's up?"

"Just a small matter." James Franco hesitated, seemingly searching for the right words. After a moment, he said, "Murphy, I don't know why, but Carey Mulligan always seems hostile towards me. We have a lot of scenes together, and this will affect our work. You get along well with her. I want to know how you do it."

He added pointedly, "If our relationship improves, filming will go much smoother."