Find a quiet spot, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🌙 ✦ Evan sat with Naomi under the sidewalk umbrella, drinking coffee and watching people hurry past.
In efficiency-obsessed Hollywood, the ones walking fast usually worked in the business.
The ones strolling slowly were mostly tourists.
“Let’s go back, Evan,” Naomi said at last, staring in the direction of Beverly Hills.
“I believe my name will be here someday.
I believe I’ll live in Beverly Hills too.” She took his hand and led him toward the car.
On the drive home, Evan glanced at her from time to time.
She had suddenly gone quiet.
Maybe this was what pushed her forward.
There was no denying that everyone here was fighting for fame and money, but anyone who kept going deserved some respect.
He was one of them too.
The day off ended.
Evan turned down her invitation to come back to her apartment, went into his own, faced the late-October California sunlight, and picked up a pencil.
The rest of the day passed in a blur.
He stayed home, drawing storyboards and revising the shooting plan.
A shooting plan was only a guide.
No one could guarantee that every day’s work would be finished, or that a smooth day might not finish by noon.
But he needed a map.
At eight in the morning on November 1, Evan drove his pickup toward Vincent High School in Orange County, followed by the crew, camera equipment, and the prop truck.
Luke had gone ahead.
He would sign the hotel agreement first, then coordinate with the school before the rest of them arrived.
By the time Evan led the small convoy onto campus, it was nearly ten.
Fortunately, the spaces they needed had already been cleared.
A few students lingered at a distance, curious about the filmmaking process, watching the crew unload equipment and set pieces.
Evan got out and studied the path from the dormitory building to the exterior walkway.
This was the first scene they were about to shoot.
It was simple, which made it useful for breaking in the crew.
Naomi was in basic makeup.
Lighting, props, and set dressing were ready, and Luke gave him the all-clear.
Only then did Evan adjust the monitor and walk to the camera.
He was the main camera operator.
He had not hired a cinematographer.
This was one job he knew he could handle.
After adjusting the camera, he walked over to Naomi, who looked a little nervous.
“Naomi, we’ll rehearse first.
Don’t be tense.
This scene is simple.
You come out of the dorm, walk past different students, and let the strangeness hit you.
Keep the expression natural.
Don’t push too hard, especially when you see the student faint.
Okay?” Naomi smoothed her hair and nodded.
“Okay.
I can handle it.
No problem.” Once Evan saw that she understood, he returned behind the camera.
He would be tracking her during the shot.
“Let’s rehearse.
And…
action!” Naomi came out of the dormitory building, looking around with confused curiosity as she walked.
She had only taken a few steps when Evan called out.
“Cut!” He went straight to her.
“Naomi, watch your expression.
You’re not an extra anymore.
You’re the lead.
The camera is going to magnify your face the whole time.
Don’t overdo it.
Keep it natural.” Naomi looked a little more nervous after being corrected.
“Sorry.
What should I do?
If I don’t show it on my face, I don’t know how to show that lost feeling.” Evan lifted his left hand and tapped two fingers lightly near her eyes.
“You’re a film actor.
Use your eyes.
Your gaze.
Don’t tell me you don’t understand that.” He turned back and raised his voice to the crew.
“Reset.
Everybody reset.
Luke, get the background actors back to their positions.
We’ll run it again.” On the second rehearsal, Evan stopped halfway through again.
Naomi was better than before, clearly improving, so they reset and tried a third time.
The third rehearsal went strangely smoothly.
Naomi, the extras, the movement from beginning to end, all of it finally lined up.
Before they lost the rhythm, Evan decided to shoot immediately.
“All departments reset.
We’re going for a real take.
Lily, touch up Naomi’s makeup.
This one counts.” Evan pushed the camera into position.
When Naomi was ready, he looked to the lighting technician.
Steve nodded.
Evan prepared to begin.
“Scene one, take one,” came the slate call.
The clapper snapped.
Evan settled behind the camera.
“Action!” Naomi had barely taken two steps before Evan called cut again.
This time, he ignored the actors and went directly to Steve.
“Steve, bring the light up a little.
The background is too dark.
I need Tree’s entrance to feel bright and sunny.
The contrast comes later as the lighting changes.” “Okay.” They started again.
The students who had been watching began drifting away as they discovered that the supposedly mysterious process of making a movie was mostly repetitive and dull.
“Scene one, take two,” came the slate call.
The clapper snapped.
Evan settled behind the camera.
“Action!” When the slate clapped, the camera tracked with Naomi along the path they had already walked several times.
This one felt good.
They were almost at the end when Evan shouted cut again.
“Luke!
Luke, go tell the kid who faints what fainting means.
Tell him not to look at the camera.
Fainting means closing those curious little eyes of his.
Go.
Now.” He could only stare for a second.
The take had been almost finished, and the problem had come from an extra.
Irritation pressed hard against his patience.
They reset, touched up makeup, and began again.
Another stop.
This time, Steve had failed to keep the lighting consistent, and the shot showed an obvious shift.
That kind of stupid mistake made Evan furious.
Reset.
Start again.
Then the background actors caused more problems, either looking into the camera or missing their marks.
Another start.
Then Naomi’s rhythm grew unstable because of all the interruptions.
By the time Evan felt ready to explode, he called for a break.
He sat behind the monitor in the director’s chair, lit a cigarette, and forced down his anger.
He understood, intellectually, that every new crew went through this.
They had not built any working rhythm yet.
Stupid mistakes were inevitable.
The crew needed time to settle into the work and find a shared rhythm.
That did not make his temper easier to hold.
In that moment, he finally understood why directors were so often known for bad tempers.
The break was for everyone else, but it was also for him.
Everyone needed the tension to loosen.
So did he.
Losing his temper would not solve anything.
It would only make the mood worse.
After finishing the cigarette, he checked his watch.
It was already past noon.
He stood, walked back to the camera, and looked over the group.
Once everyone signaled they were ready, he nodded to Naomi.
“Scene one, take nineteen,” came the slate call.
The clapper snapped.
Evan settled behind the camera.
“Action!” Naomi stepped out of the dormitory building, and everyone moved with her through the short continuous tracking shot.
Maybe the break had helped.
Maybe everyone was hungry.
Whatever the reason, the shot went unexpectedly smoothly.
Evan had already been preparing himself to spend the whole day on it.
“Okay.
That’s a print.
Everybody break for lunch.” The crew kept looking toward Evan behind the monitor until he said it passed.
Only then did they exhale.
Luke handed him a hamburger.
Evan ate while watching the take again.
He shook his head.
He had not expected the opening to be this rough.
A shot barely over ten seconds long had taken half a day.
The shooting plan would have to change.
He had underestimated the difficulty of production.
While he took out his director’s notebook and began revising, someone sat beside him and handed over a cup of coffee.
Only after accepting the paper cup did he realize it was Uma Thurman.
She had no scenes today, but he had seen her watching from the side all morning.
“Evan, do you know how terrifying you looked just now?” Uma said after he took a sip.
“Everyone thought you were about to turn into a human flamethrower.
But you held it in and kept working.
I’ve been on a few sets.
Directors who can do that are rare.
You did well.” Evan glanced at her.
“Yelling doesn’t solve the problem.
It only puts everyone on edge.
I’m the producer and director.
Everyone is watching me.
I can’t be the first person to make the work harder.” Uma raised an eyebrow.
She had seen directors swallow their anger instead of exploding, but they were usually established filmmakers.
Still, she had not come over simply to bring him coffee.
“Evan, I think I understand the pressure you’re under,” she said.
“How about a drink tonight?
At least it might ease the anxiety for a while.” She set down her own coffee and lightly dragged her fingernail across the back of his hand.
Before Evan could refuse, someone sat down on his other side.
“Sorry, Ms.
Thurman,” Naomi said, staring straight at her.
“Evan already promised me dinner tonight.
If you need something else, maybe next time.” Uma turned.
The two women stared at each other.
The hostility between them was obvious; each read the other’s move as a challenge.
“Uma, I need to revise the shooting plan tonight and arrange tomorrow’s work,” Evan said.
“There’s a lot to handle.
Some other time.” He did not wait for a reply.
He stood and went to Steve to discuss the lighting.
Steve had made a good impression overall.
He might be the hardest person on the crew to approach, but he was also one of its strongest technicians, and he could find the feeling Evan wanted quickly once he understood it.
Luke hurried over and lowered his voice.
“You should come look at something.
Ross and Mia just started arguing.” Evan felt another headache building behind his eyes.
“What started it?” he asked quietly.
“Their jobs overlap a little, but their tempers don’t seem to.
It started with Ross sitting in Mia’s chair.
After that, I don’t know.” The reason sounded absurd.
It also sounded completely possible.
Evan tried to think through how to handle it as he walked toward them.
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CREATORS’ THOUGHTS TheBacklot Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter drew you further into the story.
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