Scrivenings of the King-Beyond-The-Wall

Western World #10

“Cut!” the director yelled.

Everyone on set looked to him as he conferred with the Cinematographer and First Assistant Director. After a few moments, the First AD clapped her hands together and shouted loud enough to be heard by all the cast and crew on the soundstage.

“Okay, everybody, we’re going to break for lunch while we figure out some things, then we’re going to reset and do another take.”

Everybody groaned as they shuffled off, the crew to the craft services tables and the cast and other department heads to their trailers where their catered lunch would be brought to them. The Cinematographer stayed behind to talk through the details with his camera team, as the Director and First AD headed to the Director’s trailer.

“We can’t keep reshooting the same scene,” the First AD said as they reached the trailer and she held the door open for her boss. “We’re behind schedule as it is, and if we don’t get caught up the UPM is going to tear me a new one about overages.”

“But we don’t have it yet,” the Director muttered.

“We have over twenty takes of this shot,” the First AD pushed back. “I’m sure there’s something usable in one or more of them.”

“Right, because usable is what we’re aiming for,” the Director scoffed. “This is supposed to be art. It needs to be perfect.”

“If you keep holding out for perfection, you’re going to end up with a handful of ‘perfect’ shots and a fifty percent unfinished film,” the First AD sighed. “We don’t have unlimited time and funds to spend on this. Sometimes ‘good enough’ has to be good enough so we can move on.”

The Director grunted in as close an approximation to a concession at the First AD thought she was likely to get.

“Look, take the lunch break and give yourself the space to get a little perspective. We all want to make this movie the best it can be, but it’s only going to be a movie if we can finish shooting all the scenes so you have something to edit together later. Let’s figure out a way to get you the footage you want in the time and budget constraints we’re working with.”

The First AD left the trailer just as one of the production assistants was bringing the Director his lunch. The Director poked at his plate as he mulled over what his First AD had said. This was their tenth film together, and he trusted her implicitly. No one could run a set like she could, and she was usually right when it came to timing and scheduling. But he could feel in his bones that something was off. He knew that, despite the twenty takes they already had in the camera, there wasn’t a single one he’d see in the editing bay that he’d be happy putting into his film.

Something was missing.

Was it the chemistry between the leads? Something that wasn’t believable about the set decoration or the production design? Was the sound off? He couldn’t put his finger on what it was that wasn’t working.

He spent the rest of his lunch break going through the list of things that could possibly be wrong with the scene, and came up short with no definitive answer.

Was it him, then?

He’d be lying if he didn’t say his career had been on a downward trajectory recently. After having gotten his start in episodic television, working his way up to directing gigs and then finding assignments on higher and higher profile shows, he branched out into independent feature films and earned top marks at some prominent film festivals with his first few films. That led to jobs directing summer tentpoles for the studios, one of which was a moderately successful franchise for which he became best known, and the residuals for which still paid for most of his reasonably affluent lifestyle.

But all of that was firmly in the rear view. His last few studio films tanked and he couldn’t get those jobs anymore. He tried his hand directing some prestige television pilots, but none of those series really caught on with audiences. Many considered him washed up at this point, a has-been whose best days were behind him. Which is why he was going back to his roots in independent film. Of course, the problem with independent film is that you don’t have the luxury of a prolonged shoot. Being short on cash means being short on time and you have to move quickly to get everything you need.

Ultimately, that’s when the Director realized it wasn’t about anything the cast or crew were doing wrong. It was about him and his fear that all the rumors of him being washed up were true. It was about him wanting to prove everybody wrong by recapturing some of the talent and directing flair that had first captured the attention of the industry all those years ago. He was looking for perfection because he was hoping that perfection would prove all the doubters wrong; himself chief among them.

After lunch, he sought out his First AD who was finishing up her own lunch with the costumes department. He always admired how, rather than sequestering herself away with the department heads and higher-ups on a set, she always made it a point to have lunch with the rank and file crew in each department, a different one each day. He could see the value, and how they respected her orders on set more because she seemed approachable, like one of them.

“What’s up, boss?” the First AD said as the Director approached the table.

“I thought about what you said. You’re right. Let’s move on.”

She grinned at him, and the crew around their table breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they could move onto the next scene. If they hurried, they might just finish the day on time.

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(1,000 words)


Prompt: Set your story on a film or TV set, starting with someone calling “Cut!”