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One Take

  • bigwhitebox1
  • Oct 5, 2014
  • 2 min read

by Richard Kimball

“CUT! God damn it to HELL!” Josh fumed. Turning to his assistant director, Josh bellowed sarcastically, “Tom! How many takes is that NOW?”

Tom stood in silence, knowing better than to answer. Josh stomped furiously in tight circles in front of the chair with his name stenciled on it. Putting his hands to the top of his head he looked skyward, then erupting into another paroxysm of anger he lashed out with his right foot. The chair crumpled and skidded from the darkness to a stop at Trixie’s feet. Because she was exacting revenge on her estranged husband/director, she pretended not to notice. With one hand primping the French twist in her hair, she purred, “Why Josh! Whatever are you talking about?”

Tom interrupted. “Lunch, everyone. Lunch!”

The tension-filled silence was replaced by a quiet stampede as the rest of the cast and crew fled wordlessly to the exits. Once outside and the doors closed behind them, they crowded close to see if they could overhear what was about to happen inside. Rumor on the lot was that she’d caught him with Fran, the script girl, when they were supposed to be watching “rushes.” It was becoming painfully obvious that Trixie would not cooperate until she was either bought off, or satisfied that Josh had suffered enough – or both. The climactic scene they were working on was between Trixie’s character and her philandering husband Earl, before she kills him. It would earn her yet another Oscar nod, IF they could get it in the can. But “forgotten” lines, uncontrollable fits of giggles, dropped props, purposeful but “accidental” moving out of frame in the close-ups had taken up two days. And now part of a third. Now that they were alone, she asked smugly, “Did that make you feel better?”

“You know it didn’t. Why are you doing this?”

Her voice rising, “I think you know why.”

“But you have never let our personal lives affect your professional commitments before?”

Her eyes blazing she retorted, “I’ve never had to work with conniving, cheating scum before!”

Josh took a deep breath, and willed his blood pressure down.

“What can I do to get this picture finished so we can move on with…”

She interrupted angrily, “Don’t you mean so we can EACH move on. But then you already have…”

Silence

Then quietly, “Trixie. I am begging you, please. Can we get this done?” She pretended not to hear him.

“Trixie?”

She stood there calmly. Coldly. And silent. Then she took a deep breath.

“Ok then- here’s the deal. I will do one take and only one take. You will stand in front of me and read Earl’s lines to me. I will have the gun. I get to put in one real bullet and the rest blanks. One take, one bullet. THAT’S the deal.”

Tom couldn’t believe what he thought he was hearing.

“What’s it going to be Josh?”

Josh stood silent for a moment.

“TOM”

Tom pulled open the door, stepping through just ahead of other gawking cast members.

“We are doing one take. Now. You direct. No rehearsal.”

“Uh, Yes sir.”

The crew took their places.

“Lights!”

“Camera!

“Action!”

The End

 
 
 

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