Chapter 6

I let Joe know via text that I would be working at VTM, at least for today as I practiced lines with Miss Sundin while my agent negotiated with Jack Evans for a contract to act in the film. Freddie hadn’t gotten back to me yet but I figured I would go and work with her in good faith while they figured things out. I was there well before eight and wandered around the set at Building B of the studio lot to look for Aster or anyone else I knew. The canteen was open and serving breakfast so I grabbed a plate of eggs, toast and sausage as it was just there, looking lonely and unappreciated. After I ate, I went to the office and found James at his desk.

“Morning James, how are you?” I asked.

“Good, how about you Sam?” he replied.

“Doing well, thanks,” I responded.

“Good, I have your union card so just let Jack or Harold get a copy so they can add it to your contract and pay stud and you’re all set,” he told me.

“Great, thanks for the quick turnaround James,” I thanked him. “Now, if I could only find anyone around here.”

“I’ll walk you to the offices they use here in the building but they might be on the set,” he said as he stood up.

“I just came from there and didn’t see them or any of the actors,” I responded.

We walked me down a different hallway and showed me the film’s assigned conference room and then a few offices of the accountant, the set buyer, the director’s office (Harold) and a larger office for the various producers and/or executive producers of the film. No one was around yet in any of the offices.

“I’d wait here or back on set if I were you, leaving a note if you go back to the set,” James suggested.

“Good idea, thanks James,” I said before he left me to it.

I wrote a note to Jack Evans, another one for Harold Todd and left them on their desks before heading back to the set. It wasn’t until nine that everyone showed up.

“There you are Sam, we got your note,” Jack said when he, Harold and Aster found me sitting outside the set.

“I thought we had said eight but then I couldn’t remember if we determined a time,” I told them.

“As a matter of fact we didn’t but that’s our fault not yours,” Harold said. “Now that we’re all here, why don’t we get you two in one of our sound rooms in the main building and we’ll let you two read the script and see how the first reading goes?”

“Sure, I’m happy to see how the whole process works,” I replied.

Aster and I followed Howard and Jack to the main building.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find you yesterday afternoon to exchange numbers,” I whispered to her.

“It’s probably best that we weren’t seen exchanging numbers,” she said back. “We can do it today but keep it discreet and remember they are recording everything we say in the sound room. Elsewhere, there is always someone listening to get a juicy tidbit to sell to the press so we will be just colleagues anywhere at the studio or on set, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed before we went inside.

We were led to a room with acoustical panels on the walls and a glass window showing recording information in a small booth with a technician sitting in front of a microphone with earphones on.

“Alright, sign for your copy of the script and then Aster can walk you through it from the beginning,” Howard instructed. “Here are a couple of highliners to mark your lines with one colour and a different one to highlight the entire conversation in brackets so you know the context.”

“Okay, sounds simple enough,” as I signed a document saying I received a script for Invasion with the number twenty-six on the front page.

“Aster, thanks for doing this,” Jack said. “You know how to do this so we’ll leave it in your capable hands and we’ll be back in an hour or two to check up on you.”

“We’ll be fine and I’m sure we’ll be well on our way when you get back,” Aster replied with a smile.

The men left us and the technician spoke through a speaker on the wall.

“Hello, I’m Bob Sterling, I’m just here to record the sessions,” he said. “I’ve just pressed the record button and I’ll be reading a novel in here and listening to music so don’t mind me. You’ll have to shout or hit on the window to get my attention.”

“Sounds good Bob, thanks,” I responded.

Soon he was bobbing his head to music and had a book up against the mic and his feet up. I arched an eyebrow and she shook her head so we played it cool.

“Alright, we’ll take it scene by scene and I’ll explain the overall plot and what they’re trying to achieve in each before we read it once with you just reading your lines while I’ll try to do the other three sets of lines, with only mine in my normal voice,” Aster explained. “After we’ve done it once, we’ll go again and I’ll try to critique your work so you can improve it and then we’ll try it one more time before we move on. We can do it sitting down or standing if it will help.”

“Let’s try it sitting down to start and then we can move around if we get restless,” I suggested.

Her plan went well as we got through three scenes with her method until I felt comfortable with what to say and even a bit on how to say my lines. After almost three hours, Harold came back to check up on us and we both said it seemed to be going well.

“Good, why don’t you take a break, grab some food and drink if you want and come back in an hour?” he suggested.