HWI 20

Hollywood What If Chapter 20

The shooting was running smoothly, there were no rough bumps. The actors were good, they may need acting lessons after this film. But hey, Napoleon Dynamite didn't need any great acting anyway. It was a comedy. 

'My first impression of Napoleon was sleepy. He looks sleepy all the time, furthermore, the way he acts was kinda weird.'

The actors were good, Pedro Pascal and Ed Helms easily hit the right mood and easily entered their roles. Even the actors were performing well. 

Because of this, Kazir's already fast shooting became faster. 

However, there were no such things as perfect. There were still rough edges that needed to be polished.

"Cut! Let's reshoot this scene. Ten minutes break!"

Calix said after four NGs (Not good). He looked at the certain actress who could not keep her acting. 

The dance hall lightened up and the music stopped. They were shooting the prom night, the scene where Deb and Napoleon were dancing, to be exact. 

Reese was sweating and her complexion was pale. She knew that she was the reason why they had to shoot. 

She approached Kazir with a guilty expression. 

"I'm sorry Kazir, I accidentally looked at the camera."

"Reese. In the first retake, you made a mistake because you forgot your line. The second, you stepped on Ed's foot. The third, you made a blunder and said the wrong line."

"I'm sorry."

She bowed her head. Her eyes were getting teary. 

Kazir chuckled, he comforted her instead. 

"You don't have to say sorry. Everyone makes a mistake. Even great actors like Nicholas Cage and Tom Hanks are not perfect. You don't have to burden yourself." 

He said and tapped her shoulder. 

"Okay, follow me. Inhale... Exhale... One more time, inhale... Exhale."

Reese took a deep breath and calmed her mind. She thought the Director would be mad because she already made a mistake four times. She smiled as she realized that Kazir was not mad. 

"It's good to see you smile. Now, go retouch your makeup and relax. Remember, you don't have to burden yourself. No one is perfect."

"Thanks, Director Kazir!" 

With her prom dress, she happily left Kazir.

'... The cost of a 35mm Kodak film is 80 around dollars. A 35mm Kodak film can shoot up to 4 minutes and 30 seconds. So far, with Reese's mistakes, we wasted three films. To be honest, I'm mad. However, I know the consequences if I became angry. Reese will lose confidence in herself and the shooting will be affected. As much as I could, I want to stay calm.' 

Reese Witherspoon was still a young actress and she didn't have enough mentality to overcome criticism. If Kazir showed his true feelings, the woman might break down and cry, which might cause them inconvenience. 

'So for the love of God, Reese Witherspoon, make your acting right! Don't fuck up!'

Kazir maintained his sanity by gritting his teeth. 

The ten minutes break ended and the shooting started again. 

Thankfully, this time, Reese Witherspoon's acting was better. At least she didn't make any mistakes. 

"Cut! Reese, you did a good job. But I want to see more. Let's retake it again."

The clapperboard made another sound and the shooting restarted. 

The background music was weak, enough for them to hear Napoleon and Deb's conversation. 

Kazir watched the scene on the monitors. He nodded after getting a nice scene. 

"Cut! This one is good. Let's go to the next scene!"

For three minutes worth of shots, Kazir and his crew decorated the hall like a real prom. After shooting all of the scenes, they cleaned the place. They waste almost 5 thousand in this prom scene alone. 

Filming was never cheap. Even if the overall budget of Napoleon Dynamite was only 500 thousand dollars, and they want to film it cheaply, they can't cut costs. 

Their cleaning ended in an hour and immediately went to the next location.

"Tomorrow, if we're lucky, we might finish the whole filming." Renner was next to Kazir, talking while he checked the camera. 

"That's right. We've been here for almost a month now."

"Yeah, I miss Los Angeles."

"We both miss Los Angeles."

The two laughed. 

Their next scene was in the hallway, the scene where Napoleon would first meet Pedro. 

'Pedro Pascal is acting well. To make sure that this film will have better audiences, I made sure that the way they deliver the lines is perfect. Especially the jokes.'

"Okay, adjust the camera. Renner, increase the lighting. Yes, that's right."

Kazir signaled the man who was holding the clapperboard. The man blocked the camera with his clapperboard, then said "Lights, camera, action" and clicked the clapperboard. 

"Today is the day! At last!"

The last day arrived. The crew only had one scene to shoot. They planned to shoot this scene last because the preparation was more complicated.

First, the crew hired extras and signed them to join the shooting. They didn't have any important role, they just need to be the audience that would watch Napoleon's dancing. 

"Okay, everything's ready!"

Kazir started the shooting. 

The music began and Ed Helms, who had practiced the dance steps, proceed to do his job. 

He started dancing, with his curly bob hair shaking around, his hips moving with the beat. 

'Looks like he's taking it seriously.'

Kazir could see that Ed Helms dancing better than he expected. 

After the first dance... 

"Cut! Ten minutes break."

Kazir Grey approached Ed Helms who was sweating. 

"Ed, I need you to dance again. I will cut every best part of your dance and combine them."

"No problem Director."

Ed Helms smiled. At least Kazir approved of his hard work.