Escaping from Nothing | Chapter 7: Again, We Meet
I returned home to take a shower and cleaned up. Then I lied on my bed facing down.
I hated it when my brain unwantedly wandered back to thoughts related to Niann, someone who I really should not be thinking of, at all, anymore.
He should already disappear in thin air, just like anyone you met once or twice.
Somehow, my brain always found a way for him to pop up again.
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I woke up and looked around me. It was already bright by then.
It was Saturday once again, so I didn’t really have much to do.
I would love to lie on my bed, thinking about things that happened or could happen in life, but then I wanted to start doing something actually meaningful. So, I hopped up, brushed my teeth and made myself an actual breakfast, with toast, egg and ham.
Maybe it was from yesterday’s great meal, that I thought I should start treating myself well with food, and not just survive off canned goods. That was what I called doing something meaningful.
I looked at the clock. It was already 9:38am. I was asleep for nearly 10 hours.
I wondered if all the ongoing thoughts filled me with exhaustion, and finally granted me a long, deep sleep.
I never appreciated a good night of sleep, until I grew up and unable to get one on a regular basis. I realised there were little things in life that you may not appreciate when you were younger, and when you start to grow up, you realise how important they were.
I looked at my breakfast, smiled, sat down and started eating.
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It was a pretty boring, or should I say, relaxing day, until my supervisor suddenly called me on my cell.
“Hello?” I said.
“Oh, good lord gracious, Daryl, one of our customers demanded us to do their shoot again. You remember that circus photo shoot? They are not satisfied with the outcome and they wanted us to freaking shoot it again. They said that we have to do it free of charge because the last bunch was ‘terrible’, and if we don’t do it, they will sue us and destroy our damn reputation,” He said angrily, filled with irritation and fury, “It is not our freaking fault that the models were not in the mood or enthusiastic, given that they probably have a low pay, since the customer has such a cheap personality. Why the hell is reputation so important that we have to sacrifice ourselves to do such thing?”
He yelled sadly and in fury, “They need the photos out on Monday, so we have to set up the freaking set for them tomorrow. Wait, they are calling me now.”
He put me on hold, and I heard music from the phone indicating that he was doing so. I looked at the clock. It was nearly three in the afternoon. We did not do weekend jobs regularly, since we have our working hours and set times. Plus, most of the times, the customers come to our studio. We had field jobs, but then it was within our working hours during weekdays. Usually if we had weekend jobs, the notice will be given at least a week ago.
However, getting a notice from an unsatisfied customer was a first for me, especially from one who demanded on having a re-shoot the next day, without prior booking.
I was reminded of the director who screamed at me, and of the model who looked at me pitifully.
Then, I thought about Niann.
Oh man, will it be different this time I meet him? Maybe it will be very weird, since I tried to talk to him last time, and acted like a robot, spitting out scattered sentences.
Maybe this time we will actually talk, maybe this time…
“DARYL!” My supervisor angrily returned.
“Yes?” I knew that his anger wasn’t directed towards me, but then, it was best to be cautious around people who were in a bad mood.
“They demanded us to do the damn shoot BEFORE NINE. They want to show it to their boss tomorrow before deciding whether it is good enough to be published,” He said angrily.
Then, he breathed in and out for a while, and continued, “At least now they are going to pay us, instead of making us do it completely free of charge. The deal is that we must be able to shoot everything before nine. Do you think we can do it?”
“Yes, we can. I will be there shortly,” I said.
“Anything for damn reputation,” He murmured.
He hung up the phone. I immediately get dressed, called a cab as I was dressing, ran downstairs and told the driver to go to my studio office. Fortunately, it was not far from my place, and I arrived in 15 minutes.
I arrived and saw my supervisor moving the equipment around, setting up. He looked very tired and sleepy. He was probably woken up by the call and forced to wake up to deal with it all. I put down my bag and helped him move the equipment.
He suddenly snapped his finger.
“Damn it, I forgot to call Kael.”
He walked away and I started to move the equipment and set up as quickly as I could. I heard him yelling over the phone at Kael.
“No, you have to come here now. We have to be ready for them at 4pm, sharp… YES, you come over RIGHT NOW. GET OUT OF YOUR LAZY BUTT AND COME HERE RIGHT NOW.”
He pressed anxiously on the phone, hung up and came towards me.
“Quickly, Daryl, we have no time.”
I usually did not have enough strength to move all the heavy equipment around, but then I was very nervous and worried for my supervisor, so I moved them quickly in my best ability, and forced my muscles to work, harder than they ever did. Soon, the studio was set up, just like last time they were here.
The director arrived at 3:51pm. I checked the time when he stepped into our studio. He looked enraged too. He walked towards my supervisor and breathed out slowly, to reduce their tension and possible conflict.
“I don’t know why they don’t like it too, but I guess it might be because of how the models looked that day. I will try my best to make them look better this time,” He said, suppressing his anger that stemmed from having to work on a weekend.
“Okay, okay. Maybe pay them more or give them something to eat or something. People don’t work for nothing,” My supervisor said, clenching his teeth a bit, indicating his pressure from all the sudden work.
“I will try my best,” The director said.
The director then looked at my direction and seemingly moved his lips a bit. He did not say anything. He directed a man, who was moving some props for the set, then he walked towards the changing room as more and more models arrived.
I looked around to see if Niann arrived, but I did not see him.
Was he going to be late?
Wait…Why should I care? Why do I care?
I ran around the venue to get things set up, as the makeup artist arrived right on time at 4pm and started to put makeup on the dressed-up models.
I did not mark down the exact position of the lights, but I remembered them vaguely as we did the set not that long ago. The director called for the models who were ready, then told me to move the lights.
“Remember what we did last time? DO IT. We don’t have much time,” He said to me, firmly but softer than last time.
Did he realise he was acting like an asshole last time, so he was trying to make up for it? Or was he just trying to prevent the situation from going worse?
I moved the light around and he seemed satisfied.
I heard familiar footsteps approaching and Niann appeared at the door, pale and panicking, running towards the changing room. He was 10 minutes late. Not as late as last time, but still late. The director noticed him but did not say a thing, then waved his hand and signalled the makeup artist to hurry. She seemed pretty efficient and good at her job, and she let the models prepare their own base makeup for the later application, so the models were ready sooner.
I saw the director waving his hand and all, arranging the models around like last time. This time the models seemed livelier and more enthusiastic.
Kael arrived soon. He ran towards the camera spot as he positioned his camera quickly on the tripod and found his angle. He looked apologetically at my supervisor. My supervisor pressed his lips together, did not say a word and nodded slowly.
Kael prepared his position in lightning speed and got ready as soon as the director seemed to be done with having the perfect lighting, model movement and position.
Kael took a few test shots and let the director see it. The director saw it, then looked at the models and yelled something at them so they did what he said.
I had nothing to do now other than looking and waiting for directions when the lights need to be moved. I was tired, but maybe not as tired as my supervisor. I stared at Kael who was panicking and trying the best he could. He kept looking into his camera viewer to check the photos and tried to frame it well, to make sure the director was satisfied.
Our studio was a basic studio with an all-black surrounding, with a black screen and a green screen interchangeable for special effect shoots. We could pull up the black screen to reveal the green screen. For this shoot, the black screen was used, while the set was set up with the props they brought. Our small studio company was in charge of backgrounds, lighting and sometimes shooting when it is called for. All the other crews for the shoot like makeup, props, costumes, would be the customer’s own call.
My supervisor was specialized in lighting, but he eventually had to do other work too. Kael was our only photographer, and even though our company was small, our studio was adequate.
I was not the only trainee my supervisor trained, but it seemed like I was the only one who stuck around.
“You will get used to it,” My supervisor came over and said, breaking my thought.
“I sure will,” I smiled weakly.
My supervisor smiled tensely and looked at the director waving around and doing their shoot.
I was lost in my thoughts and now that my thoughts were broken, the noise and sound around me started to reappear and got louder.
I was glad that I found this job and I enjoyed learning about lighting. I especially liked the fact that I will be surrounded by people, or not surrounded, but be with people most of the time.
I looked at Kael, and he seemed to be getting used to the director’s yelling and started to get the hang of the shoot. From his facial expression, I knew our work would be over soon.
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©Yolanda Yip (Wintsarye)
I hated it when my brain unwantedly wandered back to thoughts related to Niann, someone who I really should not be thinking of, at all, anymore.
He should already disappear in thin air, just like anyone you met once or twice.
Somehow, my brain always found a way for him to pop up again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I woke up and looked around me. It was already bright by then.
It was Saturday once again, so I didn’t really have much to do.
I would love to lie on my bed, thinking about things that happened or could happen in life, but then I wanted to start doing something actually meaningful. So, I hopped up, brushed my teeth and made myself an actual breakfast, with toast, egg and ham.
Maybe it was from yesterday’s great meal, that I thought I should start treating myself well with food, and not just survive off canned goods. That was what I called doing something meaningful.
I looked at the clock. It was already 9:38am. I was asleep for nearly 10 hours.
I wondered if all the ongoing thoughts filled me with exhaustion, and finally granted me a long, deep sleep.
I never appreciated a good night of sleep, until I grew up and unable to get one on a regular basis. I realised there were little things in life that you may not appreciate when you were younger, and when you start to grow up, you realise how important they were.
I looked at my breakfast, smiled, sat down and started eating.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a pretty boring, or should I say, relaxing day, until my supervisor suddenly called me on my cell.
“Hello?” I said.
“Oh, good lord gracious, Daryl, one of our customers demanded us to do their shoot again. You remember that circus photo shoot? They are not satisfied with the outcome and they wanted us to freaking shoot it again. They said that we have to do it free of charge because the last bunch was ‘terrible’, and if we don’t do it, they will sue us and destroy our damn reputation,” He said angrily, filled with irritation and fury, “It is not our freaking fault that the models were not in the mood or enthusiastic, given that they probably have a low pay, since the customer has such a cheap personality. Why the hell is reputation so important that we have to sacrifice ourselves to do such thing?”
He yelled sadly and in fury, “They need the photos out on Monday, so we have to set up the freaking set for them tomorrow. Wait, they are calling me now.”
He put me on hold, and I heard music from the phone indicating that he was doing so. I looked at the clock. It was nearly three in the afternoon. We did not do weekend jobs regularly, since we have our working hours and set times. Plus, most of the times, the customers come to our studio. We had field jobs, but then it was within our working hours during weekdays. Usually if we had weekend jobs, the notice will be given at least a week ago.
However, getting a notice from an unsatisfied customer was a first for me, especially from one who demanded on having a re-shoot the next day, without prior booking.
I was reminded of the director who screamed at me, and of the model who looked at me pitifully.
Then, I thought about Niann.
Oh man, will it be different this time I meet him? Maybe it will be very weird, since I tried to talk to him last time, and acted like a robot, spitting out scattered sentences.
Maybe this time we will actually talk, maybe this time…
“DARYL!” My supervisor angrily returned.
“Yes?” I knew that his anger wasn’t directed towards me, but then, it was best to be cautious around people who were in a bad mood.
“They demanded us to do the damn shoot BEFORE NINE. They want to show it to their boss tomorrow before deciding whether it is good enough to be published,” He said angrily.
Then, he breathed in and out for a while, and continued, “At least now they are going to pay us, instead of making us do it completely free of charge. The deal is that we must be able to shoot everything before nine. Do you think we can do it?”
“Yes, we can. I will be there shortly,” I said.
“Anything for damn reputation,” He murmured.
He hung up the phone. I immediately get dressed, called a cab as I was dressing, ran downstairs and told the driver to go to my studio office. Fortunately, it was not far from my place, and I arrived in 15 minutes.
I arrived and saw my supervisor moving the equipment around, setting up. He looked very tired and sleepy. He was probably woken up by the call and forced to wake up to deal with it all. I put down my bag and helped him move the equipment.
He suddenly snapped his finger.
“Damn it, I forgot to call Kael.”
He walked away and I started to move the equipment and set up as quickly as I could. I heard him yelling over the phone at Kael.
“No, you have to come here now. We have to be ready for them at 4pm, sharp… YES, you come over RIGHT NOW. GET OUT OF YOUR LAZY BUTT AND COME HERE RIGHT NOW.”
He pressed anxiously on the phone, hung up and came towards me.
“Quickly, Daryl, we have no time.”
I usually did not have enough strength to move all the heavy equipment around, but then I was very nervous and worried for my supervisor, so I moved them quickly in my best ability, and forced my muscles to work, harder than they ever did. Soon, the studio was set up, just like last time they were here.
The director arrived at 3:51pm. I checked the time when he stepped into our studio. He looked enraged too. He walked towards my supervisor and breathed out slowly, to reduce their tension and possible conflict.
“I don’t know why they don’t like it too, but I guess it might be because of how the models looked that day. I will try my best to make them look better this time,” He said, suppressing his anger that stemmed from having to work on a weekend.
“Okay, okay. Maybe pay them more or give them something to eat or something. People don’t work for nothing,” My supervisor said, clenching his teeth a bit, indicating his pressure from all the sudden work.
“I will try my best,” The director said.
The director then looked at my direction and seemingly moved his lips a bit. He did not say anything. He directed a man, who was moving some props for the set, then he walked towards the changing room as more and more models arrived.
I looked around to see if Niann arrived, but I did not see him.
Was he going to be late?
Wait…Why should I care? Why do I care?
I ran around the venue to get things set up, as the makeup artist arrived right on time at 4pm and started to put makeup on the dressed-up models.
I did not mark down the exact position of the lights, but I remembered them vaguely as we did the set not that long ago. The director called for the models who were ready, then told me to move the lights.
“Remember what we did last time? DO IT. We don’t have much time,” He said to me, firmly but softer than last time.
Did he realise he was acting like an asshole last time, so he was trying to make up for it? Or was he just trying to prevent the situation from going worse?
I moved the light around and he seemed satisfied.
I heard familiar footsteps approaching and Niann appeared at the door, pale and panicking, running towards the changing room. He was 10 minutes late. Not as late as last time, but still late. The director noticed him but did not say a thing, then waved his hand and signalled the makeup artist to hurry. She seemed pretty efficient and good at her job, and she let the models prepare their own base makeup for the later application, so the models were ready sooner.
I saw the director waving his hand and all, arranging the models around like last time. This time the models seemed livelier and more enthusiastic.
Kael arrived soon. He ran towards the camera spot as he positioned his camera quickly on the tripod and found his angle. He looked apologetically at my supervisor. My supervisor pressed his lips together, did not say a word and nodded slowly.
Kael prepared his position in lightning speed and got ready as soon as the director seemed to be done with having the perfect lighting, model movement and position.
Kael took a few test shots and let the director see it. The director saw it, then looked at the models and yelled something at them so they did what he said.
I had nothing to do now other than looking and waiting for directions when the lights need to be moved. I was tired, but maybe not as tired as my supervisor. I stared at Kael who was panicking and trying the best he could. He kept looking into his camera viewer to check the photos and tried to frame it well, to make sure the director was satisfied.
Our studio was a basic studio with an all-black surrounding, with a black screen and a green screen interchangeable for special effect shoots. We could pull up the black screen to reveal the green screen. For this shoot, the black screen was used, while the set was set up with the props they brought. Our small studio company was in charge of backgrounds, lighting and sometimes shooting when it is called for. All the other crews for the shoot like makeup, props, costumes, would be the customer’s own call.
My supervisor was specialized in lighting, but he eventually had to do other work too. Kael was our only photographer, and even though our company was small, our studio was adequate.
I was not the only trainee my supervisor trained, but it seemed like I was the only one who stuck around.
“You will get used to it,” My supervisor came over and said, breaking my thought.
“I sure will,” I smiled weakly.
My supervisor smiled tensely and looked at the director waving around and doing their shoot.
I was lost in my thoughts and now that my thoughts were broken, the noise and sound around me started to reappear and got louder.
I was glad that I found this job and I enjoyed learning about lighting. I especially liked the fact that I will be surrounded by people, or not surrounded, but be with people most of the time.
I looked at Kael, and he seemed to be getting used to the director’s yelling and started to get the hang of the shoot. From his facial expression, I knew our work would be over soon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
©Yolanda Yip (Wintsarye)
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