Ch-101

Emily sat on the ground in her designated spot. Her feet overlapped each other, and a beautiful blue bracelet set rested on her wrist, which she played with idly, drawing attention to her hand. I sat beside her, concern etched on my face.

"I must have sounded pretty crazy on the phone yesterday," she began slowly, her red-rimmed eyes adding a vulnerability to her act as she looked away from me. "You just gotta forget about it. That's how you can help me out. Just, please, forget about it." There was an undercurrent of desperation to her voice. Then she turned back to me and said, "And stop picking on Dode, okay? He's a good friend."

"Good friend? So what am I?" I asked.

"Yeah, what are you?" She asked indignantly. "Staying back here, hating everybody. I mean, who are you to judge anyone?" Her face had a shade of anger, but she suppressed it as our eyes met. I could see the moisture forming in her green eyes as she said, "God, I really loved you a lot. But I couldn't stand it anymore. I… I'm sorry." Her voice broke towards the end. Seeing her in front of me so broken and tired, my eyes watered as well, and we hugged for dear life. Emily started sobbing in my arms.

"You gotta come back to me, Em," I said desperately, my own eyes misty from her charged performance. "You're in a spot, but I can get you out."

"You're not hearing me! I don't wanna be put away and protected like some doll—"

"I'll deal with it!" I said forcefully, cutting her off.

"You can't!" she insisted. "I came here to say goodbye, okay? For good."

I pulled away from her as if she had slapped me.

"Whatever you have to do to let me go, you gotta do it," she whispered helplessly, coming closer and holding my face in front of hers. Then she leaned forward and kissed me on the lips lightly before pulling away. "Just let me go," she whispered for the last time as our eyes met in a longing that wouldn't be fulfilled easily. She stood up and walked away from the scene, leaving me sitting on the ground. I felt as if someone had stabbed me in the heart as she walked away. The only thing that kept me occupied was the little notepad that Emily had dropped behind which I picked up.

"Cut!"

Rian's voice rang out as Emily walked back to our original position.

"Holy shit!" Rian said out loud. "What have you two eaten today? Are you on steroids? Because that was fan-fucking-tastic. That too on the first take!"

"Seriously?" I asked Rian dubiously. "We can do another take if you want."

"No, I'm sure," he insisted. "You should see the clip, it's so good."

I got up from my position and walked over to the monitor to see our performance. I noticed that Emily had silently followed me, and I let her. As a newbie actress, it was an unsaid rule that she shouldn't watch the clip, but I didn't mind too much about it. Being a producer, I was meant to see all the clips of the day in the evening so that if any scene had to be reshot, it could be done while we were still shooting. Then there was also the fact that Rian passed such an emotionally charged scene on the first take. I had to be sure he didn't make a wrong call.

As the clip replayed, most of my attention was captured by Emily. I couldn't believe this was her first professional performance ever. She was that good. I turned to her with a huge grin on my face. "Are you sure you're not lying to me about this being your first film?" At her confused look, I explained, "This is much better than my acting in [The Sixth Sense]."

"Don't joke like that," she said, pushing me away playfully.

"I'm not," I insisted. "Ask Rian."

"Yes," he agreed immediately. "We were all stunned." He pointed out the other crew members, including the cinematographer, sound guys, lighting guys, and so on. "We had set aside three hours for this scene, but you're done in less than half."

"Believe me, Rian," I interjected, "some scenes would even extend to more than a day."

"I know that," Rian grinned. "It may be my first directorial film, but I have worked on a film set before."

That made sense. "So, next scene?" I asked.

"Sure," Rian nodded. "We just need to go around the block and set up some equipment there." He pointed at the wall against which we were shooting just now. 

This was a very cheap way that Rian had adopted to make the film: making characters sit beside walls to limit their movement, thus reducing camera movements as well. Beside the same building, we would shoot four or five different scenes, just changing the direction, making it look like they were different buildings.

Nodding at him in acquiescence, I turned to Emily, "I guess you're done for the day. The rest of the scenes today are my solo. Isn't that right, Rian?"

He nodded at Emily. "We won't need you until the day after to play the corpse in the car. Your scenes are not much, but you are the soul of this film. You made sure of that after that first performance. Believe me, everyone will sing your praise when the film is out."

Emily could only blush upon hearing that praise.

(Break)

This was the first time Tobias was so involved in a small-budget movie. In any movie, to be honest, because while he was present on the set of [Harry Potter], his role was limited to that of Troy's assistant. While the heavy lifting for the film was done by Troy and Rian, Tobias had also overseen many aspects of shooting. His biggest role was acting as a mediator whenever Troy and Rian had a difference of opinion. Like that one time when Troy insisted on casting real-life teenagers in the film instead of 25-year-olds—an argument that Troy won eventually, as he usually did.

As a result, it led to the current scene they were shooting, which involved three of the main cast members: Troy, a guy named Michael B. Jordan, and a girl named Anna Kendrick. Michael and Anna were handpicked by Troy from hundreds of headshots they had received for the auditions.

As the scene began, Michael removed his jacket casually while saying, "Whooping this small fry's butt ain't gonna help me. Sure ain't gonna help him either—"

Before he could continue, Troy was upon him, punching him on the cheek. The blow wasn't hard, only a grazing one, but the camera jerked back from the scene, making it look like Michael had been hit hard across the face. Troy got up from the floor where he had fallen after hitting Michael and then flung him across the parking lot. Not one to just take a beating, Michael hit back at Troy with equal ferocity.

The scene looked quite brutal to an outsider, but Tobias knew how much time Troy had put into his martial training these last few months. So much so that he could easily defeat Michael in a fight if he wanted to.

With a final punch, Michael sent Troy crashing to the ground before snatching his jacket from a crony, totally ignoring Troy. That was until Troy got up when Michael's back was turned, socking him across the face and sending Michael tumbling to the floor. Troy coolly put on his glasses, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked off the scene as if it was just another Friday. His cheek was bleeding very realistically, thanks to their make up artists, but Troy didn't pay it any mind.

Tobias would never say this out loud to Troy, but he looked hella cool when he walked away unbothered by beating the shit out of a bigger, older black guy.

Anna Kendrick, the actress who played Laura in the movie, followed behind Troy when Rian's voice cut through the set, "Cut!"

And just like that, everyone relaxed instantly.

"Great shot, guys," Rian called out. "Let's break for lunch, and then we'll resume shooting the next scene in forty-five minutes."

As the cast and crew began chatting with each other, Tobias thought this was the perfect time to speak with Troy. He walked over to where Troy, Michael B. Jordan, and Anna Kendrick were standing and talking. Meanwhile, a group of extras stood nearby, waiting for their own chance to speak with Troy.

"I hope I didn't hit you hard?" Troy asked Michael.

"Nah, dawg, I can take even more," Michael grinned before clasping Troy's hand in a friendly gesture.

"You were so good back there!" Anna gushed, putting her hand on Troy's other arm. "It was like watching a legit action hero!"

"Thanks," Troy said with visible embarrassment, pulling his arm away from her grasp and scratching his cheek. Over time, Tobias had become accustomed to Troy's tics, and he could easily see that Troy was uncomfortable with the way Anna was inching closer toward him and with how the extras were crowding around him. Seeing that the security guard was still a few meters away, Tobias decided to step in.

"Troy," he called out, interrupting the awkward conversation before it could go any further. "I need to talk to you about something important."

"Of course," Troy said with relief, turning to Michael and Anna. "Why don't you guys have lunch while I talk to Tobias here?"

Anna didn't look very happy with that turn of events but nodded nonetheless and moved over with Michael to where everyone else had gathered for lunch.

"Dodged a bullet, eh?" Tobias joked as they walked to a more secluded spot.

Troy shook his head. "It wasn't that extreme. She's still new to all this and probably will mellow out in a few years. It just gets a little frustrating knowing that sometimes people forget that I'm also a human being, not just a star."

"That's your life, I guess," Tobias noted. "Anyway, I didn't just come here to bail you out of there."

"Oh? Then why did you?"

Tobias grew nervous about the conversation he needed to have with Troy. It was a difficult one, but it had to happen.

"I got a call from your publicist," he began slowly.

"Alwyn?" Troy asked. "What about?"

Tobias sighed before continuing, "He's suggesting that we should do something to stay relevant in the media. Some positive news for once will do you a lot of good. While you have a very strong fan following, most of them like you because of [Harry Potter]."

Troy waved off his concerns, "I don't think that's necessary. I don't like creating unnecessary news when there is no need for it. Maybe in a few years when the whole Harry Potter thing is behind me, then I can see if something like that is needed, but not right now."

"That's the thing!" Tobias said heatedly. "You have focussed your career solely on movies till now, of which most were Harry Potter ones. You haven't done any TV, advertisements, or anything else." Then he paused for a bit and said the next words carefully, "I'm sorry to say this, but most people in the industry think [Harry Potter] would be successful regardless of your presence in it. That's why you need to do something to stay relevant."

When Troy didn't say anything for a few moments, Tobias continued, "I talked to a few more producers about your next studio project, but no one wants to give you work right now because they think you're overpriced. They want to see one of your non- Harry Potter projects succeed before investing in you."

"That's why I'm producing my own film," Troy said.

"It's not just the studios," Tobias continued. "When I joined as your assistant, we used to receive on an average 3-4 big brand endorsement offers every week. We didn't accept them, sure, but we received them nonetheless. And now, only we'd be lucky to receive one such offer every other week."

"What are you saying should I do?" Troy asked impatiently.

"We need to do something drastic to improve your image. Alwyn suggested that you get involved in some charities."

Troy silently pondered the situation before nodding, "It's a good idea, but let's wait until after we've finished this film. I need to focus on this first. Tell Alwyn to find a good charity project for me in the meantime. I'll have a meeting with him after this is over."

"I'll convey your message," Tobias said, nodding.

(Break)

Adulting is difficult. I found that out the hard way. It's even more tedious when you have to play ball with unreasonable assholes called studio heads and their managers who think that your fame could be defined in numbers. The worst part is that I'm not even an adult yet, and they were already treating me like a commodity.

"Lights! Camera!"

Rian's command brought me back to the scene we were shooting. It was the last day on set today. Shooting [Brick] was a bizarre experience in itself because the genre and the story were so unique that such films don't get financed by any big studio.

This was the film that I was most involved in, both because of my role as the producer and my acting role in the movie. There wasn't a single scene where my character, Brendan, was not present, because the film was told from Brendan's point of view. So any information not seen by Brendan wouldn't be seen by the audience either. The movie on the surface seems like a simple murder mystery, but it's so much more. It has love, betrayal, violence, suspense, and thrill.

The basic plot is that Brendan finds out that his ex-girlfriend Emily Kostich has been murdered near a tunnel. Emily had told Brendan previously to leave her be, but he couldn't. He becomes obsessed with this mystery, determined to find out what actually happened to Emily.

The opening sequence was the one we were shooting right now, near the entrance of the tunnel. This was the only day we would be shooting near the tunnel. Rian had decided to finish all the scenes involving the tunnel in one day because we needed a special permit from the local government to shoot there. The red tape was a nightmare to get around, but I guess it will all be worth it in the end.

"Action!"

I guess it was good that I was so sad in reality because the scene called for me to be the same. 

I crouched down on the wet ground at the mouth of the tunnel, where a small stream was flowing in. My eyes teared up as I saw the prone form of Emily lying in the water. She was wearing the same clothes and the same blue bracelet as in the first scene we had shot together. I stepped closer to her before realizing that someone else was in the dark of the tunnel, watching me. So I got up and ran after him, only to be attacked by him and sent crashing to the ground. I got up, came out of the tunnel, looked down at Emily's fragile body, and picked her up over my shoulder, bringing her into the dark of the tunnel so that no one else would find the body for now.

"Cut!"

I put Emily down upon hearing that, and she stood up quickly.

"I swear, I'm never doing a film where I have to play a corpse," Emily joked playfully. "That water stinks up close."

I couldn't help but crack a grin at her. "Aww, poor little Emily. We could have arranged for a body double for you, but we didn't have the budget."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that," she waved off my excuses. "I haven't seen any big-budget film shoot, so I have no idea what that entails."

"Don't worry, you will," I said with utmost confidence. "One day, you'll be the top actress in Hollywood and look back on this day when you played a corpse for the majority of the film, and laugh at it."

"That's not gonna happen," she deadpanned. "Stop saying impossible things."

"It's only impossible if you don't believe in it," I lectured.

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue further.

It was then that I realized something important. Speaking to her, my bad mood had vanished like magic. She just had this quality that made you happy. She was like the therapy that I desperately needed but couldn't get.

"Hey, did you get an answer from Stephen Chbosky for your audition of [Perks]?" I asked Emily as soon as the thought occurred to me.

"No," she shook her head.

"Then I'll talk to him again," I said confidently. "I'll show him your clips from the shoot of this film if he's reluctant. You are very good."

Emily stood there stunned for a moment before nodding slowly. "Thanks, Troy."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled at her.

"Alright everyone, we're done with this shot!" Rian announced. "And with this, we wrap up the filming of [Brick]!"

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