Suddenly Starlet

Suddenly Starlet--Chapter Twenty-Five

            “Well, once we get over to the studio, we’ll check in and they’ll send us to either hair and makeup or wardrobe, depending on what the sched says,” he said slowly. “Then, after we’re all in costume and ready to film, we’ll go to the set and go over our lines while dry blocking and once we’re ready, we’ll start to shoot.”

            “What’s dry blocking?” Laney asked, too nervous to be embarrassed that she didn’t know the term.

            “Dry blocking’s what we do to work out the way we move when we speak our lines,” Wes explained. Seeing the confused expression on her face, he tried again. “Just like we have specific lines we have to say in each scene, we also have specific choreography we have to do. Dry blocking is when we work with the director and figure out the physical movements that we’ll make during the scene.”

            Laney thought she was starting to understand what Wes was saying. “So, it’s like deciding when I’ll move across the room, or sit down, or turn my head while I’m talking, right?” she asked, finally getting it.

            “Yeah. It’s like choreographing a dance to music—only we use words, not songs. Blocking basically tells us when to stand, or snap, or even when to kiss,” Wes answered.

            “When to huh?” Laney asked, her head snapping around to face him. “Did you say kiss?”

            “Yeah,” Wes said, waving his hand in the air. “Can you believe that the first scene they’re having us work on is a kissing scene? I mean, I almost feel like we should get to know each other a little better first before we start making out.”

            Wes said this jokingly and laughed out loud at his cleverness.

            What is he talking about?

Laney’s brain stopped dead in its tracks as soon as he’d said the words kissing scene. She had gone over the scene they were shooting for hours the night before and didn’t remember anything about lip locking. Well, not between the two of them anyway.

“There wasn’t any kiss in my script,” Laney said, her voice coming out as a squeak.

“Oh,” he said, confused for a minute. “Did you not get the re-write they sent to us last night?”

“No.”

Laney ran over to the early morning desk attendant and skidded to a stop right in front of him. He was a pimply-faced guy, probably no older than twenty, and was slowly sipping his own cup of black coffee.

“Excuse me,” Laney said, forcing her voice to remain calm. “Did any faxes come in for me? It’d be under the name Laney Herman.”

The pimply kid just stared at her as he slid off his stool and made his way into the back room. A few seconds later, he came out, holding several faxed pages. Looking at the sheets wearily, she saw her name in bold letters at the top of the first page. Laney Herman—Script re-write.

“Thanks,” she mumbled as she started shuffling through the pages quickly.

And then she saw it.

“Diane and Justin kiss loudly in the background as Sharon and Shane look at them embarrassingly,” Laney whispers the lines to no one in particular.

Oh crap!

* * * * *

Less than an hour later, the car pulled up to the studios, letting Laney, Mrs. Herman and Wes out in front of the same building they had met at that first night for the read-through.

Without saying a word, Laney got out of the car and headed toward the building. She had spent the practically the entire ride there, reading over the new script and scrambling to memorize the changes that had been made since the night before.

Panic had set in almost immediately after she’d found out about the kissing scene and Laney’d found herself feeling a bit claustrophobic ever since.

Taking deep breaths, she followed Wes through the door and tried not to let her nerves show.

As soon as they’d entered the building, Laney was taken aback by how many people were already rushing around. She quickly counted out more than two dozen people fiddling with cameras, lugging equipment and yelling out orders.

“Are all these people going to be watching us today?” Laney asked Wes as she joined him near the cafeteria set.

“Nah,” he answered, shaking the hair out of his eyes. “This is mostly just the set-up crew. You know, the people who set up the lighting and get the cameras and set ready for shooting.”

Laney watched Wes as he squinted his eyes and looked around the room. Then, she laughed as she asked, “looking for someone?”

Wes glared at her quickly before taking off across the room. Laney quickly followed after him, trying to keep up. They stopped in front of a woman carrying a clipboard and a headset.

“Hi ma’am. I’m Wes Davis and this is Laney Herman. We’re in the scene they’re shooting today and we’re just checking in,” Wes said to the lady.

Barely looking at them, she glanced down at her list. She wrote feverishly on her clipboard and then mumbled something into her headset.

“We’re already running late,” she said, with a frown. “Derrick here will show you to your trailers and then someone will come to get you for hair and makeup.”

Laney turned around to see an awkward skinny kid standing behind them.

“Oh. Hi,” Laney said in surprise.

“Follow me and I’ll take you to your trailers,” the kid said, his voice completely monotone. He abruptly turned and started to lead them back toward where they had entered.

Laney and Wes exchanged a glance before walking quickly after the kid. Leaning over, Wes said, “More like ‘follow me and I’ll take you to my leader.’”

Laney tried, but couldn’t stifle her giggle. Luckily, the skinny guy was too intent on showing them around to hear Wes’ joke.

Mrs. Herman was still standing just inside the door when the three passed her and she immediately fell into line behind them as they made their way back outside.

He led them to a row of trailers which were sitting nearly 100 feet from the studio where they’d be shooting.

“That one’s for you, Ms. Herman,” he said pointing to the trailer to his left. Then, pointing to the trailer to his right, he added, “And that one’s yours, Mr. Davis.”

The kid stared at the two of them as they stood in front of their mini-homes. And without another word, he turned around and left. They watched in amazement as the lanky kid dragged himself back toward the building and then disappeared through the doors.

“That’s one weird kid,” Wes said, shaking his head as he walked toward the trailer on the right.

“Hey, wait. Where are you going?” Laney asked, with alarm.

“Into my trailer,” he said, more like a question than an answer.

“But what are we supposed to do now?” Laney asked him.

“Do what the lady said. Wait for hair and makeup to come and get you,” Wes said. A grin spread over his face as he started up the stairs toward his new pad. “And start loosening up those lips.”

Laughing, Wes entered the trailer, leaving Laney still standing in the middle of the parking lot with her mouth agape.