HWI 19

Hollywood What If Chapter 19

Napoleon Dynamite had the 90s vibe, even the appliances that people used in the movies were mostly old and outdated. Walkman, big-ass computer, and such. 

The movie was released in 2004, in Kazir's opinion, it should have been released before the era of digitalization. 

The movie was great, fun, awkward, and had an old-ish vibe. That's why Kazir decided to film it before they reach the 21st century. He was confident that he could change the fate of the movie.

'Don't get me wrong, the movie is already great, it's a masterpiece, but I want to make it better. 40 million in the box office is not enough to show the greatness of this movie.' 

Napoleon Dynamite saved his life, he was at the bottom of his life when he casually entered the cinema and watched the movie. When the movie ended, Kazir realized that he was already crying. 

As a person who lost almost everything, he found Napoleon's goofy dancing. His dances made him laugh and cried at the same. 

For the same reason, he bought the DVD disc of Napoleon Dynamite. Whenever he felt down, he would follow Napoleon's dance. 

Kazir was confident that he already mastered every dance moves that Napoleon did in the movie. 

"... Is this really you? I thought you can't dance?"

Renner and Harold were staring at Kazir with confusion and shock. 

They rented a videotape player and watched the dance tutorial that Kazir made... He fucking killed the dance floor. 

"This is the dance moves that you gave to Ed?"

"Yes, before we get here in Idaho, I already gave this videotape to Ed. He promised that he will memorize every step."

"Wow... You can actually dance."

Renner and Harold were staring at Kazir as if he was a stranger. 

Kazir just shrugged. They didn't know that these dance moves were his go-to stress release. He let loose whenever he started dancing.

'Thankfully, most of the songs were available and I can use most of the original songs.' 

"Okay, let's start the shooting for today."

Kazir had already made a schedule for today and they would try their best to follow it. So far, they were in Idaho for four days now. 

They had shot dozens of scenes but this was a movie with over 90 minutes. Obviously, three days were not enough. Based on his calculation, they had to stay here for a month at least to shoot all of the scenes. If that was not enough, then they had to stay for a few weeks. 

"I feel like you're taking some drugs, Kazir." Harold tapped his shoulder. 

"Huh? What do you mean? Dude, I'm clean, I stopped hitting bong after I married Cassandra."

"That's not what I mean," Harold chuckled. 

"Renner and I realized that your shooting is faster compared to last time. Do you remember, what it took as a whole to film a single scene? But now, three or four scenes are not a problem."

"That's right. It's almost as if you know the scenes that you want to shoot. You didn't experiment at all. You easily decided what shooting angle, cuts, and transitions will you use. I feel like the movie is already created in your head and you're just following the shooting process." Renner touched his chin, saying unbelievable stuff. 

"..."

Kazir was shaken when he heard what he said. Renner was not wrong, he was on point. That's exactly what Kazir was doing. 

'I just changed a few scenes to make it funnier. But overall, I strictly follow the plot and exact shooting of Napoleon Dynamite.'

"Hehe, of course, I know that's impossible. What are you? A man from the future."

Both Renner and Harold started laughing. 

"It's not the time to joke around. Let's start the shooting, I think most of the actors are already done."

"Okay."

The scene that they were going to shoot was the first scene where Napoleon first appeared. 

"Camera?"

"Ready!"

They didn't have any lighting because they were shooting outside. It was actually hot right now because the sun was shining so well. 

Kazir nodded at the man who was holding the clapperboard. 

"Scene 2, Take 4. Light's, camera, action!"

A few seconds interval. The bus showed up and Napoleon entered the bus. Simple as that. 

"Cut! Prepare the next scene!"

Kazir rented this school bus just for today. So he wanted to finish every bus scene as soon as possible. 

In the next scene, Napoleon sat down in the farthest seat next to a boy. 

Ed Helms was sticking his teeth out while weakly staring ahead. He looked sleepy. 

"What are you gonna do today, Napoleon?" The kid said. 

"Whatever I feel like I wanna do, gosh!" Napoleon said and turned to his side. He looked at the window, and then at the driver. 

When he found that the driver was not looking, he opened the window and uncoiled the thread around a toy. He then proceed to throw the toy outside while holding the thread, the toy was dragged on.

"Cut! Ten minutes break, then go to the next location."

Once they heard the Director's approval, Ed Helms sighed and wiped his forehead. It was so hot that he was sweating. 

"Here," One of the crew gave him cold mineral water. 

"Thanks." 

Ed Helms drank the water with thirst.

"You're lucky this time." 

"Hm?"

"You guys are lucky that the Director is shooting fast."

"Isn't he like this before?" Ed Helms asked. 

"No, Director Kazir usually adjusted the camera to see the best angle. Furthermore, he will use different shooting styles to see the best outcome. However, he didn't use it this time. It seems that Director Kazir thought of the shooting plan seriously."

"I see." Ed Helms nodded. To be honest, he was grateful that Kazir gave him a chance. 

The first day he found that Kazir hired him, Ed Helms could not sleep because his mind was too active.

Kazir approached Ed and checked on his mentality. 

"What about your dance moves? Have you memorized them?"

"Yes. I even practiced last night," He nodded. 

"That's good to hear, but you need proper sleep. We don't want you to fall sick."