✦—✦—✦•
On the second day of filming and my third day on basecamp, I walked with a little pep in my step. I had my tea in the hotel before I left; lessons were learned. My expectations were gone. I no longer expected any feedback or direction from the director. Instead, I focused on making friends; revelations had always given lessons on networking or making friends. Back before I had done the school play, it wasn't important to me. One friend or no friend, it made no difference. Now, I knew that world was small; theatre and film communities were even smaller. Make a good impression on one person, you never know how they could vouch for you in the future. Make one enemy and you would find opportunities dry up.
So I said hello to Pam. Exchanged a small conversation with Danny, Emily, and Claire. Danny was easy to get along with, quick to laughter and cheeky to boot. Claire was a little too posh for me, not a very natural thing to see in a child. Emily, I couldn't really describe her because I hadn't really spoken to her. She was withdrawn and sad; something had happened to her after we arrived in the basecamp. I hoped it wasn't something too serious—a death in the family maybe. Was it odd for me to hope it was only a divorce?
"Hello, rockstar!" Peter V said in greeting.
"Peter the Fifth, fancy seeing you here," I nodded.
"Gosh, not you too. Everyone keeps making the fancy joke; it's so tired," Mr. Fancy scoffed.
"Sorry," I said in my Spanglish accent.
"Did you hit your head?"
"No. No seas estúpido." I laughed and walked off.
"I heard that, you," Peter said, feigning outrage.
My Spanish was perfect; I knew it because Old-Me's mother tongue was Spanish. On the other hand, I had no idea about Spain Spanish. Revelations made easy work of it, and now I knew the subtle differences. Easiest among them was the "thu" sound. Barcelona was pronounced Barthelona, it felt natural for me to do it either way. There was a lot of fun in speaking the authentic language and having people think you're acting; I didn't want to reveal my perfect Spanish, so this was like being Clark Kent. No one expected me to be fluent in Spanish, not even my mum.
"Hola, mi hombre," I said to Malcolm, who looked grumpy as usual.
"Hi, Wilfred. You ready for your scenes?" Malcolm said with minimal expression.
"Sí," I said.
"Mhm," Malcolm said and went back to reading his script.
Malcolm was one of the cool cucumbers, I think he just wanted to be paid.
I had Pablo's parts memorized, it was easy. Pablo only had a handful of lines despite a decent chunk of screen time. Funny thing was, he is presented as a mute or deaf child first, then revealed to not be able to speak English. But he had lines that were quite well-spoken English too. Clearly, the plot had to move on, and Pablo's English comprehension improved almost as if he had a revelation ability of his own.
As usual, all the kids had to go to class. This was going to be the second five-hour class in the week. We were required to have fifteen hours of schooling per week. So that meant we would have short days on Thursday and Friday. Alex, the third AD, told us our docket for the day.
"Classes until 2 PM; lunch and break later, we'll start the first shoot. A funeral scene—nothing better than a long school day to get those tears flowing." Alex left with a chuckle.
We all agreed Alex wasn't funny.
"Morning, everyone. Let's get our notes out," Ms. Burton started our day.
I thought about how the scheduling worked, today would be afternoon to night shoot. Every other day would focus on day scenes or interior shots, so even our schooling reflected that.
—✦—
The tutor in a trailer was a great concept; after five hours of school, all children would want to put away their books and do anything else. For lunch, I shared a beef butty, fries, and a pie with Mum. Alex and Pam came over to pick us up for a speech that Andrew was giving. I saw Andrew loading up on caffeine for the tough shoot ahead.
"Right. We are getting into our schedule for real. We only have permission to shoot in the forest for eight more days. That's three days more than we actually need or planned for. For us to stick to the schedule, I want all of us to perform at our best. Peter, my AD, will be off the camera crew today and instead giving direction to everyone."
Andrew then pointed out Peter, who introduced himself to all the child actors. We had done this before, but back then dozens of people were introduced; everyone needed a refresh on the name and a face to attach it to. 'Director' then pointed to Pauline, who I had spied glued to the camera feed yesterday.
"That is Pauline," short introductions ensued, "She is the script supervisor. If you forget any lines, she will be there to help. Copies of your scripts will be given to you again; it's the latest version. There'll be breaks in between some takes; use them to refresh your memory."
Today, for the first time, I felt that Andrew was acting in the capacity of a director. Yet it was also another day that Peter would direct the actors in an even more hands-on method. Who was the director and who was the cinematographer? I couldn't tell.
"There'll be no interior shoot today until it gets dark. Daylight is burning; I beg you all to give it your best and have as few takes as possible." Andrew looked ten years older as he said it.
"Right…" Peter, the AD, said, "That's enough grim business; let's make some television!" he finished with a cheer.
Some people cheered or clapped, but it was a paltry thing. Most actors dispersed to get their hair and makeup done. Tom and several others were already in costume, so they went off for their scenes. I went to find Lorraine in the HM trailer.
—✦—
Thirty minutes later, I was standing in front of a freshly tamped grave pit. I wore a light padded jacket three sizes too big in length, yet it fit me just right width-wise. Tom stood to my left, holding a leather-bound Bible. Joanna and Emily stood on the opposite side of the grave, holding flowers and a doll for comfort. We met a new crew member, Hugh, who handled and trained animals as performers for the silver screen. His charge today was to direct Rocky, a dog who was playing Smoker. Smoker was obviously a dog, and so was Rocky—perfect casting if there was ever one. Also, this dog would have a bigger character arc than every one else other than Tom's character Edward. Sometimes, you just couldn't win.
"Scene 235 Alpha, Slate 192, Take 1. Marker."
I stood ready to step up to my mark, but currently the dolly was in my position, slowly rolling across the track while the camera focused on Tom delivering his line.
"Put not your trust in princes, not in the son of man, in whom there's no help. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, which made heaven and earth and all that therein is. Amen." Tom said, closing the Bible softly as he finished his reading.
Meanwhile, I stepped forward to stand on the tracks, so when the camera finally passed by me and had me in the frame, it was as if I had always been standing there.
"Amen," all of us except Rocky said.
I almost kicked myself, but the director didn't restart the take. I was not supposed to join in there. But Spanish people also had Christianity, right?
Joanna stepped forward, placing down the flowers that the crew from the forest before this shot.
"Goodbye, Jacob, I know you'll still watch over us," Joanna said.
Second AD signalled Emily to look up. As Emily's head went up Andrew called it.
"Cut!"
We all relaxed, but I was forced to vacate my place again so that the dolly could roll back in to take close-up shots without Nick having to change cameras. Emily received direction from Peter, and soon enough, action was called.
"Bye, Jacob, I promise to be useful and help Alice," Emily said and sniffled in an obvious and fake way.
"Reset, we're still rolling," Andrew shouted from the side of Nick, who was operating the camera on the dolly.
Peter, the AD, approached Emily again, giving her whispered guidance in just a few seconds and let her start from the top.
"Bye, Jacob, I promise to be useful and help Alice," Emily said, let out a breath, and tried to hug Joanna.
"Still rolling, from the top," Andrew said in an even tone.
"Don't worry, Emily, this scene is simple. Let's just cut back on the gasp; just tenderly and slowly try to hug Alice after you say the line. Okay?" Peter said, his voice gentle and kind.
Emily nodded and started again. This time, she delivered the line with her gaze on the ground, then almost shyly stepped to Joanna. Even though only her arm was in the frame, she saved the scene by naturally calming her down. It wasn't even acting, just a way to help Emily with her emotions as she failed the scene.
"Cut!" Andrew called out.
People gave smattering applause; Emily looked up smiling . From what I had gathered, she received a massive cheer yesterday when she finally got a good enough take for her scene in the barn. Today it was a smaller cheer, but still cheered up Emily.
"Scene 235 Delta, Slate 193, Take 1, Marker."
"Action."
I looked down from where I stood; a step stool on top of a box—height necessary for the dolly camera to film me from a lower angle. Trying to bring as much sadness as possible, I started my speech.
"Adios, Hacob," I said in my best Spanish pronouncation. "I never know you, but you save my life." I sighed sadly. "Gracias," I muttered out.
"Cut."
Then the dolly shifted to take Tom's scene, calling another angle.
"He saved all our lives; we will always remember him."
"Go again, I can't see you, Danny," Andrew shouted.
So the scene started again, with Tom delivering the line exactly the same as the first time, but this time Danny swung the grave marker higher up.
"Cut!"
On and on it went; most scenes with a lot of action or many angle changes were annoying to film. No one other than Emily received applauses, at first I was envious but later on I felt bad for Emily. Was it… passive-aggressiveness?
The dolly went all the way back, and Danny attempted to stick the post into the ground, then picked up a wooden mallet.
"Cut!"
Dolly shifted again; I gave up my place. The last shot was of Danny striking the signpost with remarkably accuracy. Overall cut was called; no more scenes would happen on this exact spot again. Movie magic also meant that the graveyard was no longer useful to us. To show that time had passed, the property department would pull out the grave marker, rough it up, and stick it somewhere with more greenery. Take that for continuity.
Next few scenes were fun to shoot. I was given a wooden pitchfork, which I used to collect weed that a farmer provided us. That was also my first time seeing a smoke bomb; it was a canister with a tag that simply said [Smoke - 00]. The key grip came over and set it up inside a makeshift and unlit campfire. There were arguments I had to listen to because the property department didn't bring the correct amount of tools. So we only had one pitchfork, one mallet, and an axe. In the end, that scene would play out with me holding a pitchfork while the other two kids hammered or axed the ground. It made no sense, but it was a scene with only a second where you could see the axe. Emily would throw it away almost as soon as she came on the frame to run off to Tom. Andrew had blown off his fuse but called the cut.
Highlight of my day was a scene where my character finds a hedgehog and asks to keep it as a pet. Hedgehogs are considered good luck to see in England. Before today, I had never seen one. That changed, and I was able to hold the poor thing curled into a ball while we filmed the scene. Hugh let me watch the hedgehog afterwards, but he never uncurled—nocturnal animal and all that. In that scene, I added in a few Spanish words to accompany the English in opposition to the script. Why not? I had not received an applause for when my scene finished, and surprisingly, none of my takes were ever retaken. So I wanted to see how far I could push it before Andrew or even Pauline would step in to correct me. No such luck so far.
Emily's lines were changed in real time by Pauline; some were given to Danny while most were taken by Joanna. It lowered the amount of retakes we needed by a good margin. The last scene before the break, I rode a horse named Lucky Morgan along with Danny. Janet was a brash and no-nonsense older woman who trained the horses. However between takes, she would step and whisper in a kind and gentle tone to her animals. She valued people less than she cherished her horses. I didn't blame her.
My experience filming today was considerably more enjoyable, and most of my hangups were gone. There was fun in trying to push for a line change or trying to make Pablo as alive as possible in the scenes I played. It was in hopes that my character would improve the final product, but I also just wanted to keep playing my secret game. If I had to do a retake, I would stop my overacting and improvisations. But surely I deserved a reward if I didn't need a second take while protesting silently. Pushing when I can and pulling when required was a valuable skill. Though if I was being honest with myself, it was just one way that I was entertaining myself.
I was already looking forward to my time in London, theatre with legendary actors and producers. There was so much that I needed to learn. BBC had greenlit this project just to fill up timeslots and put out more content. Whereas Leslie's work came out of his passion and creativity. I only hoped that wouldn't turn into yet another disappointment. Only time could tell.
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