Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

"Recheck the light and sound. Try to maintain pin-drop silence. This is one of the most important scenes in the movie. Do you all understand? Don't ruin it!"

Leo shouted, looking at everyone in the crew, who nodded with serious looks. He was pretty young as a director, only in his early 30s, but the crew knew that Leo was no joke.

He knew how to control the crew and act like a director.

They were even being more careful because of an incident yesterday. One of the production assistants had fought with an ordinary crew member in the middle of a critical scene where Claire and Charles would meet.

The scene was going so well, but a fight ruined it.

In his anger, Leo had fired both of them. The rest of the crew was a bit wary of him. And those who had worked in movies before knew that such things weren't uncommon.

"Aiden, Fred. Are you two ready?"

Leo asked, and both of the actors nodded.

They were currently shooting in a house which would be Charles Dunkin's house in the movie. At his signal, the lightning engineer glanced around the light scheme again, and the sound engineer held the long microphone. The cinematographer stood a distance away from Leo and held the camera in his hands.

"Okay. Action!"

***

[30 days of HappinessJune 12-2016Act 8Scene 9Take 1]

Hearing the sound of the slate, Aiden's surroundings changed as he lost being of himself and submerged into the personality of Arthur Reeves. He felt a powerful effect of immersion this time, possibly due to this being a breakout scene.

'I feel weird. It's as if there are dark clouds all over my heart. I can't explain this feeling.'

He thought as he felt all his emotions of Arthur, feeling all the sadness and grief he was in. Claire had just rejected him, and all he wanted was to close his eyes and never wake up, just to not experience this pain.

"Young man, sit down. Do you need something? I have tea."

He looked up as he heard Charles' voice. He was wearing a simple shirt and was looking at him with a light smile on his face.

"I don't want anything."

"You seem like you do," Charles said, lowering his head with a smile. "I heard the argument. Going through heartbreak?"

"Yeah," Arthur said, not able to match gazes with Charles. When Claire had told him about the letters, he had been very curious about the person who had written them but now, everything seemed like a blur.

He wanted to just get away from all this, to somewhere no one could find him, see him, hear him. Just a quiet place. But he knew in his subconsciousness that even there, the voices inside his head and the feeling inside his heart won't leave him.

"Your hands are shaking."

Suddenly, he raised his head hearing that and glanced at his hand, which was really shaking. This would always happen when Arthur was tense, going through lots of emotions.

"Sit down. It's better to talk in these phases of life." Charles said, sitting down himself on the sofa and gesturing to Arthur to sit down in front of him.

This time, he sat down.

"She doesn't feel the same way?" Charles asked, almost in a whisper.

"Yeah."

Arthur nodded, fiddling with his hands, trying to calm down the shaking. At the same time, there was a sadness in his eyes that Charles recognised. He was trying to hold back his tears.

"You know her grandma was the same. I think it runs in their blood to break hearts. She gave me more pain than anything else I experienced in life." Charles said, chucking.

"You moved on?"

"No, not really." Charles shook his head. "Not until I was in my 30s. After that, I met my wife. Uh, she passed away last year. We used to travel the world together, but I just came here after she was not in my life anymore. This house is her idea. A place to go when our hearts crave one."

Charles looked around the house before sighing.

"I'm sorry for your wife."

Arthur said as an awkward atmosphere crept in. He didn't know much about Charles, just that he was a photographer who didn't like being in one place.

"It's fine." He smiled. "Uh, can I give you some advice? More like just something I experienced."

Arthur just gave the nod in reply. His whole body language seemed very uncomfortable, like he was going to cry at any minute, and he was desperately trying to hold back his emotions.

"When I broke up with Claire's grandma, it was just out of circumstances. It hurt a lot, especially because she loved me, but we wanted different things. I couldn't mold myself to someone she wants, and I didn't know how to move on."

"How you… did it then?"

"I just realised that something has passed away. I felt like this because I wanted to go back to the memories we had, do something similar, feel something similar. She was my hope, and I was depressed because I had lost it, but then one day, I just said I couldn't fight time. Past is past. In the end, it's about looking up for another hope, an inspiration, something that gave my life a meaning other than taking photos."

When someone's relationship does not work out, it could really feel like they have lost their world. However, humans are creatures that need others, and sometimes, losing the most important person in their lives is very difficult.

Charles was someone who experienced that, but time slowly made him feel better. Even if it hurts today, it doesn't mean it will hurt tomorrow.

Sooner or later, people are going to find hope. That was Charle's story.

"What if I never get it again?"

Arthur asked, looking Charles in the eyes this time. This was one of his biggest insecurities. He loved Claire, but he was afraid to say anything because he didn't want to face rejection.

The trip was a way for him to take a leap, hoping it would work out, but he never planned for what if it won't.

"What if I never get any hope again? What if I keep feeling this way for life? Tell me, what then? I, I don't want to be like this…"

He stuttered as a tear fell on the floor. Charles was surprised for a second to see him give this level of performance, but he stayed in character.

"I don't know, Arthur, but I don't think the world will be that cruel to you. It wasn't to me, and I personally think I'm not really a good person. I think it would fare better to you."

Saying that Charles put a hand on his shoulder. Arthur's crying intensified as all the emotions he was trying to stop burst out.

They just sat like that for a while as Arthur let it all out, trying to cry out whatever he was feeling.

The scene ended there, but it took a minute before Leo got out of his trance to say 'Cut'. The scene had not gone as he had expected, but in the end, he couldn't say he was disappointed by it.

In fact, he felt like he wouldn't get a better shot even if he did another take.

"Cut!"

Leo finally said, but it took a long time before Aiden stopped crying.

***

Originally, this scene was going to be very different. Aiden had played it with a bit of awkwardness, trying to portray a guy that was hurt but didn't want to show it.

The original version had Arthur screaming, shouting at Charles as to how he's never going to get another chance at love, but when Aiden lost himself in immersion, he felt like Arthur would never do that.

He didn't like showing his vulnerable side, so he would try his best to hide it until he couldn't.

Thankfully, Charles being a veteran, was able to keep up with him.

When he broke out of immersion, his thoughts were a bit jumbled, and it took a while before he acted normally. When he told Leo sorry that he changed the tone of the scene from dramatic to very emotional, he said that it made it better.

Before this scene, Aiden's only thought in his mind was that he wanted to truly become Arthur and lose control of himself, and it seemed like he achieved it.

At least his system notifications were saying that.

[The skill 'Breakout scene' has been used.]

[You have performed a scene that has broken all your expectations. As a result, you have gained experience.]

[You gave away your control to become one with the character. As a result, the affinity with the character has reached the peak at your current level.]

[To increase it more, you need to improve your skills.]

[You have advanced to Intermediate Grade 2 from Intermediate Grade 1. You have gotten a lot of experience.]

[Congratulations on achieving such a big feat.]

Reading the system notifications, Aiden couldn't help but feel happy. But he didn't show it as one more thing was wandering in his mind.

'I feel like I can complete 'Lost in the sky'.'

He felt that confidence in him. Increasing his affinity with Arthur had made him aware of how he could finish the song.

...