Listening to Ajay's description of the music video he had envisioned, Cory was surprised at how detailed it was. But the surprise only lasted for a moment before he, like a man injected with a shot of adrenaline, furiously penned down the entire script in under an hour. But Ajay didn't let Cory think that he had completely figured him out. Cory was once again surprised by how precise Ajay was. Ajay knew what he wanted, to the minutest detail, whether it was the type of shoe or the colour of the shoe, the type of dress and the appearance of it.
However, that was not all. He continued to be dumbfounded as he described how the shot should look and from what angle it should appear, down to the expressions that people should show.
Corey was so stimulated that he became frustrated. "Damn guy, am I the director or are you?" If not for the fact that he knew Ajay was not a director and had grown up in an orphanage without any training, he would rather be beaten than believe that the kid talking non-stop was not some prodigy trained by a big director.
Thanks to Ajay's input, the storyboard was drawn up fairly quickly. By the end of the day, Cory directly submitted the proposal without hesitation.
Producer Brad was surprised by how quickly the proposal reached his desk, but after he looked at the required budget, he was more confused than anything else.
He hurriedly turned the pages, and instead of the confusion being alleviated, it only became more intense.
"You need so many props, so many actors, and you even need character actors, but the budget is only $230,000?" His brows were furrowed, and he couldn't understand what to make of the proposal.
Cory's eyes were filled with a radiant gleam, making Brad a little startled. 'What is up with this guy?' he thought to himself.
"Where did you find such a monster?" Cory suddenly asked, his expression looking a little crazy. "Never have I met such a person before. That kid is not ordinary."
Brad's expression twisted into a deep frown. 'I know that kid is a little special, but is it really necessary to praise him so much?' He rubbed his forehead with slight irritation. 'What the hell happened in just an afternoon?'
He looked at Cory, who had become a completely different person, and cautiously enquired, "Is Mr Williamson responsible for the budget being so low?"
"Of course," Cory declared and pulled out the storyboard. "Look at this."
Cory put the storyboard in front of Brad and flipped it over one by one. "That kid has imagined how each and every frame should look, right in his mind."
"It's as if he had already seen the outcome, and thanks to his input, there's no need to second-guess anything while shooting."
"As a result, each and every penny will be directly reflected in the video with the least amount of wastage."
The further Brad listened to Cory, the deeper his astonishment grew.
'Can the change really be that big?' He couldn't help but doubt, but the next sentence from Cory forced him to take the matter seriously.
"If it were not for Williamson, the budget would have been well over $250,000."
Brad immediately got up and hurriedly left after picking up the storyboard along with the proposal, leaving behind a few words. "I will discuss it with Mister Michael."
Ajay had no idea what had happened at the Bertelsmann Music Group after he left, but he was quite excited himself, almost as much as Cory.
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He finally didn't have to worry if his plan would work or not because he had already tried it out with Cory.
"I have the songs saved right in my mind. I can employ a director and have him shoot it according to my instructions, but the only thing holding me back is the money and ability to produce the music." Technically, he could employ a producer as well, but he wanted to do it himself.
Lil Tjay invited him on his tour right before he left and also promised a certain amount of money at every venue, so he was confident that he could accumulate the initial capital. It was only the ability to produce the music that was holding him back.
"Should I take up a course?" he thought to himself, but he immediately shook his head. "It will take too long. I have great momentum right now. I have to maintain it."
"Then that leaves me with learning everything by myself or having someone teach me." He immediately thought of Jake and genuinely felt like it was a good idea. He had made a great impression on Jake, and they had formed a friendship, if he could say so himself. But sadly, Jake is a beat maker associated with Bertelsmann Music Group, whereas he is an independent songwriter not signed to anyone. Ajay could probably help him out when he was free, but at other times he would have to think of something else.
"Forget it for now. Let's learn the theory and understand the basics first."
So the very next day, he went to a bookstore and purchased all the books he could find on beginner music fundamentals and started to study them.
Thankfully, as he started to read, he realised that he already had some foundation.
He knew what certain notes sounded like, and although he didn't know that there were different types of scales, he could always make out when a certain note was out of key.
Besides, he already taught himself how to write musical notation, so learning about the various riffs and progressions, he was quickly able to pick it up and thought about how to lay it down on a sheet.
Several days passed in such a way, and Ajay had been completely immersed in learning. By the time he was invited for the shooting of the music video, he had already become much more musically aware than he had ever been.
Halfway through the cramming session, Ajay realised something: he seemed to be smarter than he was in his previous life. He learned everything so quickly that he even surprised himself. Not to mention, after reading the fundamentals of orchestral arrangement by Mr Mikhail Alexandrovich Pavlov once, he couldn't forget it even if he wanted to. And not only that, his understanding had been significantly improved as well.
Apart from the doubts that arose due to a lack of practical experience, he could already pick any orchestral fusion from his previous life and dismantle it into various stem tracks right in his mind.
As Ajay arrived at the set, a thrift shop in downtown Los Angeles, Lil Tjay had already put on the long leopard-print Kashmiri woollen coat.
He quickly went forward to greet him along with Bryce and the others in the crew.
He also said hello to Cory, who was briefing the actors, then simply sat to the side.
In fact, he didn't have to come since he had already been paid over $2,500 by Bertelsmann Music Group for his input in the music video, but he personally requested to join the film crew.
He wanted to see how a Hollywood crew operates. After all, before he met Tjay, he was about to shoot a short film himself and, in his words, "force himself into Hollywood." Although his career took a drastic turn, he still hadn't given up the idea of shooting a film on his own.
The filming officially started, and unlike what he expected, instead of starting with the very first frame of the music video, it started directly inside the shop that had been rented.
Unable to contain his curiosity, he went forward towards Cory, who seemed to be replaying the shots that had been filmed, and asked, "Cory, why was the first shot taken from inside the shop?"
Cory's eyebrows were furrowed, but as he identified who the sound belonged to, he relaxed and turned around with a forced smile.
"The venue cannot be rented for too long, and within this short span of time, all the scenes within the thrift shop or involving the thrift shop have to be shot, or else the costs will balloon out of proportion."
Ajay nodded in understanding and went back. Now that he thought about it, it made sense, but as he continued to watch the filming unfold, he patted his chest with trepidation and let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey, you! What the fuck are you looking at? Didn't I ask you to increase the brightness? Why the fuck didn't you do it?"
"Hey, fatty, take your ass off my frame, damn it, reshoot."
"Hey, you girl in the polka dot dress, who do you think you are? A supermodel on a runway? Why are you trying so hard to look cool? Act normally, damn it."
"And you, if you look into the camera one more time, I swear to God I will fucking replace you."
Ajay looked at Cory, his eyes wide open and mouth agape. He was dumbfounded. He never knew this was what had been hidden beneath the polite and enthusiastic person he met.
He felt like he had met Cory for the first time again.
He took a big gulp and avoided asking Cory questions altogether.
He could learn filming at a later date, but saving face was a must.