An Object in Motion

Chapter 7: Motion

Harlow and Roy are about to push the limits on set.
When Harlow fights to make Virginia's story come to life, she risks more than continuity errors: she risks opening doors to feelings she's long kept locked away. And some battles aren't just on camera.

"I'm going to throw up."

"No you're not, don't be dramatic."

"I might."

Roy laughed heartily at that, having not expected the reply. "Well you definitely won't get what you want if you throw up."

"Fair enough." Harlow shrugged and sipped on her coffee through the tiny straws they came with to avoid messing up her lipstick too much. She and Roy were the only two filming the first half of the day so they had the hair and makeup trailer to themselves so they were free to discuss their plans as loudly as they like.

"So I'm going to talk to my dad and you're going to distract the script supervisor, Chris, so I get a chance to pitch the changes before Chris can come in screaming continuity errors."

"And when your father undoubtedly says no, I'm going to ask him politely - peer to peer - to reconsider his position."

"And by 'politely' you mean you'll threaten to walk, right?"

That made Roy smile to himself. "That might almost sound as dramatic as throwing up over all of this."

Mei and Roy's PA came to gather Harlow and Roy for filming so with script revisions in hand, they made their way across the narrow street and onto the soundstage that had been designed to look like the headquarters of John Cleary. The room set up for filming today was John Cleary's office, a small setup in a very large space, but the room was filled with lights, microphones, and camera equipment, creating a moody yet nearly silent space. across the room were several monitors and chairs for the director, writers, and producers, which is where Roy headed to to find the script supervisor. Harlow found Dean standing in front of one of the monitors, explaining to a set designer how the lamp on John Cleary's desk needed to be changed out as the lampshade color was too distracting.

"Hi." Harlow greeted him as she walked up, swallowing her nerves. Here goes nothing.

"Hey, honey." Dean greeted his daughter and went to squeeze her hand or pat her shoulder, but he thought better of it when he saw the amount of care the makeup crew had put into the dirt, sweat, and blood on her hands and face.

"Hey. So uh, I had a question about what we're shooting today. Roy and I were practicing and we had some concerns with the ease with which Virginia took down John Cleary. It just seems too simple and if I'm being completely honest, sort of a let down."

"Oh?" Dean asked curiously, not used to Harlow having a strong opinion, she was normally so willing to go with the flow.

"It's just that this is the last part of the film. It's the last thing the audience is going to remember of this movie, and John dies because he was disarmed by the face of a pretty girl?"

"Well, it's Virginia's arc that she's always undermined by people in power. This is the conclusion that demonstrates that things aren't quite that simple."

"I mean sure, it wouldn't be that simple if it were anything more than Virginia batting her eyes and pulling out a revolver to shoot John in the heart. We tease the entire time that Virginia escaped John Cleary once and then we don't use it at all in this final scene? That feels like a waste to me. To us," Harlow gestured back to Roy, who was talking to Chris. He saw Harlow gesture to him and started to wrap up his conversation with Chris, knowing this was his cue.