Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 223: A Crisis

"We need to keep our voices down. This is my friend's house. Last time I was here discussing filming plans, the neighbor across the hall complained three times in one night," Drake whispered cautiously, tiptoeing up the stairs. "I swear to God, we were practically whispering, but the lady next door still thought we were too loud..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud "bang" echoed from behind them. Everyone turned around to see the cinematographer John Guleserian stuck between the glass doors on the first floor, the camera rig on his shoulder having collided with the door.

Drake's face turned ashen as he anxiously eyed the glass, fearing it might shatter at any moment.

Renly, who was a step behind, hurried forward and opened the door to free John, then checked the glass door before giving Drake an "OK" sign. Bryan Stanis, the director's assistant, quickly stepped up. "Renly, go ahead. I'll handle this."

Renly looked at Bryan, who was juggling a microphone boom, a reflector, and a sound mic, all while his glasses slid down his sweaty face. Renly couldn't help but chuckle. "I told you, one person can't handle all this," he said, taking the boom from Bryan. "Go on in."

Bryan nodded gratefully. "Thanks, really. This is supposed to be my job..." He said as he entered the apartment building, where Jennifer was waiting at the stairwell with an umbrella light. She called out, "Can I take that reflector too?"

"Shh!" Jennifer's loud voice drew a hushing warning from Drake on the second floor, making Jennifer grimace and shrug apologetically at Renly and Bryan.

This afternoon, "Like Crazy" officially started filming in a rather uneventful manner. They shot two scenes at Santa Monica Community College and another scene at a popular student café. Although it was three scenes, they added up to less than five minutes of screen time and were completed smoothly in under four hours.

Now, they were a few blocks from the college, in an area where many students lived, full of life and a touch of Italian charm, away from the bustling Venice Beach. Drake had borrowed a friend's apartment to film the scene of Anna's shared apartment, where Jacob and Anna have their first date.

In the story, Jacob and Anna meet for afternoon tea, have dinner together, and then Jacob escorts Anna back to her apartment. In a moment of impulse, Anna invites Jacob inside, where he tours her room but leaves shortly after. This gentlemanly gesture and their reluctance to part are what truly make them fall in love.

"Who's making all that noise in the hallway!" a loud voice suddenly interrupted, bouncing off the walls of the narrow space. Everyone froze, their muscles tensing as they collectively held their breath. "Don't you know it's rest time? Disturbing others is extremely rude!"

The crew exchanged glances, holding their breath, while Drake frantically signaled for silence—they could argue back, but that would only escalate the situation, making it impossible to continue filming.

The loud voice continued to reverberate through the hallway, and Renly found the situation oddly humorous—the woman was scolding them for being loud, but wasn't she the one making the most noise? And it was already past 5:30 PM; she was still taking a nap?

Renly saw Jennifer making exaggerated faces, rolling her eyes, sticking out her tongue, and mimicking the woman's angry expressions. Everyone struggled to suppress their laughter.

Finally, after nearly a minute, the woman stopped, with a final, heavy "bang" of a door slamming. Drake listened for a moment, then whispered, "Crisis averted."

"Is this what you call crisis averted?" Renly thought, bemused.

The group continued tiptoeing forward, looking more like a band of burglars than a film crew.

Once inside the apartment, Drake quietly closed the door and turned to Renly, "Go on, the room on the right is ready. We spent almost three weeks setting it up to match the character's personality perfectly."

"I just want to remind you, if that noise was enough to complain about, what about tonight's scenes?" Renly's reminder made Drake pause. "We have nearly four pages of dialogue. What do we do?"

Drake had carefully designed the budding romance between Jacob and Anna. Their first conversation took place at the café, where they exchanged harmless jokes. The second conversation happened during a walk, where they talked about family and future plans, getting to know each other better. The third scene, skipping the dinner, went straight to Anna's room, where they discussed their interests and hobbies, kindling their romance.

However, the upcoming dialogue scene posed a challenge—they couldn't whisper, but any louder would likely provoke the neighbor.

Drake only then realized the severity of the problem. Not just the dialogue, but the crew's activity also had to be considered.

"Like Crazy" had a very small crew, only seven people, with Jennifer Lawrence joining to observe the shoot. Aside from three actors, there was the director, cinematographer, assistant director, and a lighting technician, without even a dedicated makeup artist.

Even with just seven people in a small apartment, the slightest noise would be amplified.

This is the trouble with an indie production. "Like Crazy" had a budget of only $250,000, less than a tenth of "Buried". "Buried" could afford a sound stage, but "Like Crazy" had to rely on friends' help.

Drake rubbed his temples as Jennifer approached, noticing their serious expressions. "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"Tonight's scene has four pages of dialogue. It's impossible to keep it quiet enough not to disturb the neighbors," Drake summarized. Jennifer's surprise gave way to understanding—this was not an easy problem to solve.

"Drake, do you remember what you and your ex-wife talked about on your first date?" Renly suddenly asked.

Drake, distracted, waved his hand. "What's the point of that now? No matter what we talked about, we made noise, didn't we?"

"No," Renly shook his head. "My point is, even with a script like 'Before Sunrise', two people falling for each other might not remember every topic. We're immersed in our emotions. I might remember her smile, her sweater, or her shy face when she mentioned poetry, but not the exact details."

In the budding romance of a date, the conversation itself isn't as important as the connection and resonance built through it. Like how people pretend to share interests to impress their date, be it a girl feigning interest in basketball or a guy pretending he doesn't mind eating salad every day.

Drake hadn't fully grasped it yet, but Jennifer's eyes lit up. "You mean..."