Off-Screen Drama

~° Chapter Five °~

"You sure you're not somehow related to him?" Asked a young girl in the sitting room for interns.

Juliet glowered at the hand bag in her lap, hoping someone would somehow distract the girl sitting next to her so she could at least read the documents she'd been provided.

It was the first day for interns to come onto set, and she was one of five. Two of them were rather pretty girls, dressed as if they were getting ready to go on a date, with their flashy blouses and tight mini skirts, and the other two were rather talkative men that were already in their own conversations.

All four of them looked way more modern and classy than she did, and she reviewed her heavy black dress and light blue sweater with concern.
She could never wear what the girls were wearing.

Never in a million years.

"No. I am not related to him," Juliet ground out, hoping the tone in her voice would scare off the girl intern, though unfortunately for Juliet, she seemed undeterred and continued her pestering.

"But you've got the same eyes, and your nose is SO similar. Oh, and you're hair is the same colour! I LOVE that colour!"

She's a Jacob Fan-girl, Juliet realized shortly after meeting her.

She's here because she's hoping to get to know him.

I can't say I'm above her. I'm here for the same thing really -- except I want to know Remi.

"Alright everybody," said a man at the front.

Juliet looked up to see a man there wearing a pinstripe suit. He was middle-aged, and would have been considerably attractive if it weren't for the sour expression he wore. Julianne wondered then if he was just having a bad day, or if that was his permanent expression.

"My name is Johnathan Cavanaugh, but you will call me Mr. Cavanaugh. I am the Assistant Director for this film, and therefore your overseeing superviser. I have a few rules. Adhere to them, and you'll have something nice to put on your resumes."

Juliet reviewed him with narrowed eyes. His voice was monotone, and very boring.

How did someone like this
become Daniel's Assistant
Director?

"Rule Number one - If I schedule you, then the time I put is the time you need to be here. I will not put up with anyone showing up late to their shift, or leaving early -- unless you have gotten approval from me or any of the department managers I place you with.

"Keep in mind that I keep track of each time you're tardy. Like in baseball, I only allow three strikes, but if you agitate me that might decrease."

At least he's got humor, Juliet thought.

Even if it's EXTREMELY dry.

"Rule Number two - Respect. There are a lot of people on this set that have done this work for years. They know what they're talking about, and they expect you to keep up. You give them the utmost respect, and you might just make a few friends.

"This also applies to the three strikes system, so keep your conversation professional and give them your utmost respect. Rule Number three, which is the most important. The cast are not a petting zoo.

"You will not hassle them, fondle them, take pictures of them, or do anything that will make them feel uncomfortable on set. We've had interns come here before with the hope of getting to know an actor or actress personally, and they almost always wear out their stay.

"Now if one of them talks to you of their own volition, consider yourselves lucky. But most of the cast are very busy people, this isn't their only production and they've got places to be, so keep your hands to yourselves and your cameras out of their faces. Everyone got that?"

Everyone glanced at each other to see if there were any odd responses. Since there were none, Mr. Cavanaugh decided it was time to start a small tour of the location.

Juliet followed them, although she kept to the back. She'd never been on the set of a movie before, though Julian had told her plenty about them.

"The Other Side" was going to be filmed in a rather large existing building, that already had it's own assortment of props and back drops and workable sets.

She passed several stages already in the process of being put together for varying scenes, and marveled at how accurate the props were for the movie. They had just the right kind of atmosphere for the few scenes she could identify.

What pros!

Mr. Cavanaugh walked them through a variety of locations, from the built up sets, to the large open city road they were going to be using for the larger, shoot-em-up scenes.

Juliet had heard that fake roads had been put together for just this purpose, but seeing it on television and seeing it in real life were two very different things.

It was actually pretty incredible seeing the empty building fronts and the road that they were filling with older model cars for the movie. It was strange that they would invent an entire road, just so they could destroy it.

As they walked, Mr. Cavanaugh also introduced them to a variety of different department managers.

They met varying individuals from the Camera Operators, the Manager for the Lighting Engineers, the Art Director and Set Designer, the Propmaster and carpenters, and then the Costume, Makeup, and Hair group. Juliet was somewhat surprised to find just how odd the managers of each of those last groups were.

The hair of the Head of the Hair department was painted a stark pink she could have been an alien race, with her eye shadow up to her eyebrows and her large curly hair practically owning
it's own gravity.

The Makeup lady looked a little better, but her face was almost too pale, and her eyes were rather dark. She wore natural makeup, which helped a little, but Juliet couldn't help but think of her as being a little bit ghostly and... creepy.

And then there was Beatriz, the Costume Designer. At first glance Juliet had the mind that Beatriz probably led her own biker gang.

She was a large muscular woman, with short red hair and large blue eyes, and she wore a leather vest like she had invented it. She had tattoos all down her arms, and lipstick so red it could have been blood. And she had entirely too much fun scaring the girls.

"Oh come on, I ain't gonna hurt'cha!" She declared when her hulking figure came out of
the costume department. "I only carry this gun around for sho'."

She was wearing a leather holster, but one look at the gun in it told Julianne it was nothing more than a movie prop. The steel on it looked painted on, and the very tip of the barrel was orange, though most of that had been covered in paint to hide it.

Though it looked like a decorated toy, it was enough however, to startle the girls into disappearing behind the guys, who looked on in wide-eyed amazement. Pamela's eyes then turned on Juliet, who only proceeded to stare back.

"Oh lookee here, you don't look spooked do yah?" She said, hulking over to her.

When she stood in front of Juliet, she had to at least be a full foot and a half over her. Looking up at Beatriz, Juliet shrugged, but said nothing. She wasn't really inclined to answer anyway.

"And what's your name?" Beatriz asked, politely.

Juliet didn't want to be rude, so she gave it. "Juliet Milton."