Rise To Stardom - Chapter 228
Chapter 228: Lights… Camera… Action!
(One week later…)
Paparazzi, skilled at behaving like sugar ants drawn to sugar crumbs, stood at the opposite side of Kyle’s lawn as they waited yet again in eager excitement, the straps of their high-end cameras, placed over their necks.
Today was one of those days.
A day to make some good buck!
This was because, situated just outside the young star’s house in New York, were various high-class cars, each one impressive in its own way.
And mingling just outside his backyard, were a fair few individuals, all of them, lounging around as they waited for 10:00am to strike.
Xavier, Cassandra, Sharon, Lily and Selena, alongside a part of the production crew and few other extras here and there, exchanged pleasantries, greetings and mundane talks to pass away the time.
Kyle though, alongside Oliver, both of whom should have been on ground, had however gone out a minutes earlier to get more refreshments as the ones they’d planned for initially, didn’t cater to everyone that eventually showed up for the table read, unfortunately.
No sooner had they arrived back home though, just ten-minute shy of 10:00am, the paparazzi were once again clicking pictures like no tomorrow as some immediately tried to bombard them with questions.
Yet, just before they did, Kyle raised a finger up from afar;
“Ah.” the young man halted their questions.
“Ky-” one paparazzi tried to push through.
“Ah-aah.” Kyle sealed her mouth shut with a light smile.
“Wh-” another tried his luck.
“Ah-ah-aah.” the young star gestured with a zipping motion on his lips.
Then he trolled them with an inviting smile, arms spread out;
“Any questions?”
The unaware paparazzi were absolutely overjoyed to hear that, their lips about to part open once again.
“No questions!” Kyle answered for them, a glint of absolute mischief in his sapphire irises as he added gratefully;
“Thank you for your time!”
With that said, the paparazzi, didn’t even know how to feel or respond to his antics.
On one hand, they found it humorous, yet on the other, they equally found it quite annoying that even after all this time, Kyle still found effortless ways to troll them whenever he felt like it.
And that too without ever divulging what he was up to.
Having said his piece though, one that got Oliver chuckling heartily, the young man simply retrieved the crate of wines from his booth alongside his agent while whistling happily, only to have their attention grabbed by the horn of a vehicle, constantly beeping in a rhythmically annoying pattern.
A sleek and recent model of a Range Rover had pulled up to Kyle’s street, harassing every paparazzi in sight with its continuously beeping horn.
It was obvious that whomever the driver was, he or she was definitely doing it on purpose.
However, no sooner had Kyle and Oliver seen the vehicle, they both burst into laughter as Kyle stated mirthfully;
“Jeff! My goodness!! How old are you again?!”
“That’s none of your business kid!” the old Hollywood Star, poked his head from the driver’s window with a playful grin as he brought his car to a halt a few seconds later, the paparazzi once again glad to click pictures as their shutters kept snapping.
Jeffrey was also here for the table read session.
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He was also, the last actor that Kyle had met with in Seattle regarding [Tech Wiz: Year One].
That said, literal seconds after exchanging pleasantries, this time, all three had their attention shift to the street when a taxi pulled up before Kyle’s home with a single honk of its horn.
Expecting an extra or someone from the production team, all three were a bit fazed when they saw an impeccably dressed man in his mid-fifties, stepping out of the driver seat and not the passenger seat behind.
The paparazzi too, wondered whom the hell the man whom had interrupted their picture clicking session was as their minds raced, trying to glimpse into any memory of said man being a celeb.
Upon spotting two familiar faces amongst the trio who stood in front of the lawn though, Clint, dressed in a three-piece black suit, his black hair with hints of grey hair neatly combed back, nervously approached them.
“H-H-Hello. It is…” the suited man gulped as he did his best to maintain his composure before Kyle and Jeff.
“… such an honor to meet you two. I’m Clint–– Clint Rockwood. I-I’ll b-be playing the role of M-Malakai Volt.” he extended a stiff handshake towards the trio, beads of sweat pooling on his forehead with an even more anxious gaze.
Glancing over to each other, glancing back towards Clint, Kyle and Jeffrey, shared a warm laughter and then spoke to Clint individually.
“Trust me Clint. We don’t bite.” Kyle assured him warmly as the old Hollywood Star went over to pat him by the shoulders, while adding;
“Pleasure to meet you too, Clint.”
This caused the nervous man to scratch the back of his head with an embarrassed smile as he responded, still as anxious as ever;
“Ah, yes. I’m a big fan of your work.”
“Sure you are.” Jeff gloated as Kyle sighed in resignation to the old man’s antics while Oliver donned an amused smile.
Introducing his agent to a nervous Mr. Rockwood a few seconds later, Kyle then nudged his head towards his house as he spoke;
“Come on then. They’re waiting for us.”
In response to that, Clint gave a small nod, his mind a bit more relaxed as he promptly followed behind Kyle, Owen and Jeff.
Shooting for [Tech Wiz: Year One] would begin a few days from now.
But before that, a table read session to get the casts acquainted was necessary to foster a good working environment for all the involved parties.
* * *
The day had arrived.
Finally, [Tech Wiz: Year One] would begin filming.
And it would start with the very first scene which would be filmed at a high-end laboratory in West End Avenue, NY, thanks to Cassandra whom had booked the location as far back since late last year.
Currently on the movie set, a bunch of lighting technicians once again made checks, ensuring that the cool-toned, LED panels on the metallic walls, properly the captured the perfect sci-fi glow and ambience in the lab.
Some set decorators also did last minute wipes of the lab’s pristine glass surfaces whilst simultaneously arranging lab equipment, microscopes, holographic interfaces props and vials of glowing liquids meticulously.
A fog machine was also being set up by the prop crew, near what could only be inferred to as a decontamination chamber while the cinematographers adjusted the angles of their cameras to ensure that reflections on the metallic surfaces wouldn’t interfere with the shots.
Additionally, some extras on set were helping the sound designers with running through the blocking; a practice run to check for unwanted echoes before the actual scene was filmed.
As Kyle, Xavier and Cassandra watched all of this happen, they soon had their attention shift to Lily and Clint who stepped out of the elevators.
Both, dressed in well-fitted lab coats, albeit Lily wore a white hazmat atop hers, looked the part they were tasked with playing today as they stepped out of the elevators.
Behind them were a few extras dressed in disposable hazmat suits of their own.
“I have to say. Thirty looks good on you.” Cass coolly commented with an arched brow as she studied Lily’s features behind the hazmat which looked noticeably older due to her makeup.
“What can I say? I age like fine wine.” the lady shrugged in response, her muffled voice casual, although there was a hint of pride in them.
Meanwhile Kyle and Xavier, stared at Clint’s features thoroughly, impressed by how well the make-up artists were able to de-age him to his early thirties.
“How’re you feeling, Clint?” Kyle casually asked the man who looked noticeably anxious to ease his nerves.
“Nervous…” the former cabbie replied, letting out a deep as he followed up with a hint of determination in his jade-green irises;
“…but I’ll manage.”
“That’s the spirit.” Xavier responded this time with a thin smile, to which he then added, his demeanor turning professional as he gestured in Lily’s direction;
“We begin filming in five.”
With a curt nod, Clint and Lily, moved towards their positions on the set, the extras in hazmat suits trailing after them.
At the same time, a plethora of other extras on set, similarly dressed in sleek lab coats, having taken their positions, awaited Xavier’s signal.
Typically, whenever actors were about to perform a scene in a movie, directors had a habit of explaining to them how they wanted the scene to go and how they should portray themselves for a good take.
But Xavier?
Xavier believed that actors should be allowed to interpret how they perceived the scene first and foremost, before making any sort of adjustments in the next or upcoming takes.
In his words at an interview, one he had done after he won his Oscar years back;
I won’t tell them how I want the scene.
I won’t tell them what I’m looking for.
They’ve had the scripts themselves.
They’ve probably come up with their own thing.
I will never, ever, get to know what that was, if I don’t let them flex their interpretation.
In other words, as a Director, I think it’s crucial, first and foremost, that I’m a good audience to my actors.
That way, we can figure out, together, the best ways to improve upon a scene.
And so, with one brief look over at everything a few minutes later, the Director, without even speaking, gestured with hand signs to every necessary crew member on set for the first take.
Getting the confirmation he needed, Xavier, considering he was a fan of the phrase in and of itself, took a more verbatim approach as he parted open his lips, the clapper-loader at the ready;
“Lights… Camera… Action!”
{Tech Wiz: Year One | 27th of June 2022 | Act 1 | Scene 1 | Take 1}
As cold fog filtered out of a decontamination chamber, Caitlyn North hurriedly rushed out in a hazmat suit, the alarms in the laboratory blaring dangerously!!
“C’mon hurry up!!” she quickly gestured to her fellow scientists behind, each of them dressed in hazmats of their own as they sprinted out!
One even tripped over and fell but was promptly pulled up by a fellow scientist of his to his feet!
Quickly, the lady jammed her palm on the biometric scanner, initiating the safety airlock protocols the moment all of them were out!
And then, each taking tentative steps backwards with bated breaths, they watched as a black, almost mechanical form of tiny, particulate matter, slammed into the tesla-armored glass walls!
Dangerously slamming into it for a few more seconds without any noticeable success, the particulate matter, slowly retracted backwards.
Giving rise to a heightened tension in the air due to the eerily quiet fog from the decontamination chamber opposite them after the disturbing phenomenon had subsided, Caitlyn, inhaled another shaky breath as she quietly gulped.
And then, a few seconds later, the fog dissipated as a human hand, pressed firmly against the window pane, the silhouette of a man in his late thirties discernable.
It was Malakai Volt.
And he seemed to have lost an arm.
“Tailslate and… Cut!”
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