Rise To Stardom - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: First Filming Set
“Woo!”

“That was great!”

“Encore!”

Cheering and clapping, the audience in a small bar praised Kyle for his singing.

Even people who weren’t music lovers and just came to chillax, were just as enamored by all of Kyle’s covers on their various song choices.

The entire atmosphere in the bar was lively and vibrant and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

One of the bartenders, as per Kyle’s polite request, was even making a video recording using his own phone.

Smiling at the people in the small bar after they had stopped cheering, the young man then asked;

“Which would you like to hear next?”

“Kid! Can you perform [One Life] by Rasta Man?” an elderly man asked while waving his bottle of whiskey in the air, the people in the bar laughing at his mannerisms.

“Don’t mind him kid! Just play whatever you suits you this time. As long as it’s good, we’ll enjoy it” one of the elderly man’s friends said but Kyle, having a soft spot elderly people in general didn’t mind the request one bit as he responded;

“Reggae eh? That’s a tough one but I can certainly try” he happily took up the challenge and began to play.

🎸 ♪

Problems and tribulations,

Why let it consume you ay,

Hear me out my friend,

I’ve got a few words to say,

🎸 ♪

People were quite surprised that the young man was even willing to go that far but they soon put aside those thoughts as he continued to play the popular reggae song, already affected by his gentle vocals and [Resonance] skill.

🎸 🎶

There’s only one life,

One life…

Don’t, let, the world,

Walk, all over you…

🎸 🎶

And just like that, the night went on till it was time for the young man to take his leave.

Thanking the boss of the bar, the bartenders, the waiters and the small audience for having him, Kyle headed straight home, a video recording of all the covers of the songs he had sang at bar on his phone.

Getting home, he first informed Oliver about how the gig went and after that, proceeded to upload the video onto his MediaGram and ViewTube channel.

Already having a total of 35K followers and 20K subscribers respectively, it didn’t take long for people to begin commenting underneath the post and video.

Scrolling through some of the ViewTube comments, Kyle had a happy smile on his face.

– – –

Princess Peach: Wake up babe! Kyle just uploaded again!

Mamma Mia 0702: My day is now made and my joy, immeasurable.

Requien: Which bar is this? I wanna come see you play live!

Ana_MZ_27: Honestly, every time I hear Kyle sing, I can just feel his voice getting better and better every, blessed, time. Our boy’s gonna go so far if he keeps this up.

Alice_In_Wonderland 88: Discovered you and your songs by accident and now, I can’t stop listening to them. Your covers for the other songs are also great! Looking forward to seeing you release another original.

Jamaican Man: Eyy! Reggae music! Never thought it would sound so good coming from Kyle’s mouth but here we are.

WeDoABitOfTrolling: New song when?

Pro_noobs: This guy…

Trix Or Treat: That was really sweet of Kyle to play that elderly man’s favorite.

– – –

Liking a few of the comments, the young man exited the app after a short while, went to take a bath, and then proceeded to hit the sack.

However, just as he was counting sheep and thinking about revolving planets and galaxies as he usually did whenever he wanted to sleep, a phone call came in, prompting him awake as he was dozing off.

Picking up the call, Kyle was quickly greeted with good news regarding his audition a week ago.

* * *

The filming set of [Grow Up] was buzzing with life.

Cameras and lighting equipment were strategically placed in the courtyard of the high school that was being used and a few of the actors were acting out a scene.

In addition to that, Director Shawn was sitting in his chair while the cinematographer was stationed by the cameras along with a few other camerapersons and production staffs operating things here and there.

And despite all that, the actual high school students who were in the school mostly went about their own business considering this wasn’t the first time their school would be used for shooting.

As Kyle sat still on one of the chairs on set, observing all that was going on, there was a certain feeling of pride that washed over him as he watched everything take place.

‘Still feels like a dream really…’

Although he had been so certain that he had impressed the director and producer during his auditions, it was still a very ecstatic feeling to have been casted for the role of Harry among thousands of others and maybe even more who had also auditioned for the role.

In addition to that, it was also his very first role as an actor, one that he had landed himself without relying on his system so his elation was justified.

Zack who was sitting just beside him couldn’t help but smile a bit as he saw the twinkle in Kyle’s eyes, still finding the young man’s excited mannerisms amusing.

“Is this your first time on a filming set?” the young actor asked.

“Yes. It just feels really surreal you know” Kyle responded with a sheepish smile.

“Well I think that’s how it usually is for most people’s first time on set. I know I felt the exact same way too” Zack said and then added, his tone assuring;

“Just be comfortable Kyle. The environment here is very homely”

To that, the young man simply nodded his head in response.

Having already been introduced to everyone on set, the only exception being Amy Rose who played the role of Matthews close friend and love interest, Layla, Kyle already had a few nice interactions with the others.

Although he wasn’t going to be shooting any scenes today or even the next few days from now for that matter, Director Shawn and Producer Gary still wanted to have him acquainted with everyone on set at the very least.

Due to that, Kyle had ended up also figuring out most of the main cast’s acting levels.

Asides from Zack who was at level 11 and Amy’s which he didn’t know yet because they hadn’t been introduced, most of the other actors were stationed around level 9 to 10.

Putting all that aside though, Kyle soon pried his eyes away from the engaging atmosphere of the filming set and then refocused his attention back onto the script in his hands.

This one was a bit thicker as opposed to the thin one which had been provided to him to practice for the auditions.

It also contained the unremoved dialogue scene between Harry and Matthews so Kyle was really curious to see how it differed from that which he had acted out with Zack.

Upon reaching that part of the script though, his eyes widened a bit when he realized, that it was a close replica of the conversation that he and Zack had on the day of the auditions.

Although the dialogue in the script was now noticeably shorter and far more refined than the one they had verbally said, it still held the core message of Kyle’s advice firmly.

Evidently surprised by it, the young man wondered if he had correctly acted out a near perfect thought process of the director’s vision as a coincidence or if there was more at play here.

Noticing the surprise in his eyes, Zack quickly explained;

“Yeah, Director Shawn was so impressed by your performance that he decided to change the dialogue completely from the previous one he wrote to the one we both had”

“In fact, some of the scenes you were in have also been changed and a few tiny details have also been added to Harry’s character to give him a bit more depth” Zack concluded.

“Wow. I would never have expected that…” Kyle could only mutter in surprise.

“Yeah well, that’s just how much of an impact you had on him” Zack smiled as he said.

Nodding again, the young simply continued to read through the contents of the script and just as his co-actor had said, there were many changed scenes in the script when compared to the previous.

Taking those changes into consideration, Kyle then focused on memorizing the new contents of the script, his [Recollection] skill already in effect.

As he was doing this, Amy Rose, the young teenager who played Layla, Matt’s love interest, swiftly began to walk over after she was done acting her part.

Zach who watched her hurry on over, couldn’t really understand why she was in such a hurry but the moment she arrived, she immediately said;

“You’re Kyle Kestis right! I loved all your songs on Rising Voices! Pleasure to meet you” the bubbly lady with light-brown hair and dark irises said and offered a handshake.

“Yes. That’s me. Pleasure to meet you too Amy” Kyle responded, taking the handshake with a polite smile.

Zack on the other hand, had a realization hit him.

‘Haha! I knew I’d seen his face somewhere before’ he thought to himself, remembering how Amy had forced him to watch the show with her one time.

That time though, Kyle hadn’t done his make-over so it was understandable that it took this long for Zack to realize it.

Away from all the hustle and bustle of the set though, was Oliver who was currently negotiating a deal with Gary, the producer of the show as they sat in a small production room still in the courtyard.

“$5000. We both know I won’t go any higher than that” Gary said, his arms folded across his chest.

“That’s fine by me” the agent simply replied and with that, both exchanged a handshake.

Due to the fact that Kyle was just a newbie actor, this was the highest rate that Oliver could negotiate for him and even then, it was still quite a high pay for an actor who was only going to appear in a single episode for that matter.

Nevertheless, it had been a fruitful negotiation on Oliver’s end as initially, Gary had only been willing to pay $2500 for Kyle’s role on the show but after a few cajoles here and there, the man had ended up succumbing and raising the amount by double its original price.