He looked annoyed. “What plan?”
I nodded at Felicia, who was walking toward us with Henry at her side.
“This plan.”
“Babymouse,” she said.
I looked at her as if surprised. “Hi, Felicia! How’s theater going?”
“Well,” she said casually, “the thing is, Henry and I have discovered some room in our schedules, so we can continue filming.”
“Really? What great news! Are you sure?”
“We’re sure,” Henry said.
“Wonderful! We’ll see you after school!” I said as they walked away.
I turned and faced Duckie.
“You got them back,” he whispered, sounding impressed.
I smiled smugly. “Of course I did. I am a visionary, after all.”
We were back on track and ready to shoot!
Duckie and I sketched out a plan of action. Our next big scene was a crowd shot, and we needed a lot of extras.
“How are we going to find all these extras?” I asked.
“Flyers around school?” Duckie suggested.
“That didn’t work so well last time,” I pointed out. “What if I send an email blast?”
He nodded. “Couldn’t hurt.”
I worked on the email blast after school.
The next day after school, the hallway was crowded with kids, and I had to fight my way to Film Club.
“What’s with all the people?” I asked Duckie. “Is there a sports game or something?”
He looked bewildered and shook his head. “They’re all trying out to be extras. They’ve been lining up since the end of school! I’ve counted three hundred so far.”
“Three hundred kids are trying out to be extras in my movie?” I asked.
He nodded.
I. Had. Arrived.
Now that we were back in the game, I decided I was going to be different. No more Miss Nice-Girl Director. I was going to be tough. I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of my shots.
Not even my own crew.
Because right away, they started complaining.
“Babymouse, I need more time to decorate the hallways so they look like Paris,” Wilson said.
“No,” I told him.
Penny walked up.
“I need more costumes to dress all the extras!” she begged.
“No,” I told her.
Georgie was next.
“I need more lights to illuminate the hallway for the crowd shot,” he pleaded.
“No,” I told him.
Duckie walked up to me.
“No,” I said.
He looked confused. “No what?”
“No to whatever you were going to ask for,” I said. “Just no.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “I was just going to see if you wanted a jelly doughnut. I got a box donated to craft service.”
He turned and walked away.
Maybe I needed to rethink my whole “No” thing.
The crowd scene we were filming was complex. In the scene, Henry was chasing after Veronique in a crowded street in Paris. The camera needed to follow him.
Lucy suggested that we rehearse the scene a few times. It was like choreographing a dance—having the extras walk up and down the street as the actors moved through the crowd, with the camera behind them.
After we’d done it three times, I was ready to go.
I grabbed the WHIZ BANG™ from Lucy.
“What’s going on, Babymouse?” she asked me.
“I’m going to do the shot,” I told her.
Lucy frowned. “What? Why?”
“Because I know what I want.”
“But—but—just explain it to me,” she said. “I can do it.”
I shook my head. “I’ve got this.”
Her wings folded in, and she stepped back.
Duckie clapped the slate. “Au Revoir, My Locker. Scene twenty-four, take one!”
“Action!” I shouted.
Like clockwork, Henry started moving after Felicia. I hit RECORD on the WHIZ BANG™ and began filming. Duckie shouted to the extras to move here and there. I passed smoothly through the crowd, and before I knew it, it was over.
I got the shot!
I was perfect.
I was a Visionary.
Fresh off my success the day before, I sat down with Ms. Octavia and showed her the footage.
“That’s very impressive, Babymouse,” she said. “The crowd shot is exceptional.”
“Thanks!” I said. “I did it myself.”
She looked at me. “Yourself?”
“I operated the WHIZ BANG™,” I explained.
“I see,” she murmured.
Our next few scenes would be night shoots. At lunch, I started to get pushback from my crew.
“What time will we start shooting?” Georgie asked.
I consulted my shot list. “If we start at eight p.m., we should be done right around five a.m. If we stay on schedule.”
Penny looked shocked. “Five a.m.?”
“Well,” I said, “we could start at seven p.m. That would give us more of a cushion. Also, a reporter from the student newspaper is going to be on set. She’s going to do an article on the shoot.”
“Babymouse,” Lucy said, “we have a big math test coming up on Friday. I don’t mind shooting after school, but all night?”
I was surprised. I’d thought for sure that out of everyone, she would be a night person.
“This film is way more important than some math test. You can always make it up.”
“I need sleep,” Caden said, sounding annoyed.
Wilson took my side. “Come on, gang. Babymouse is right. It’s just one night. We can do this!”
I gave him a thankful smile.
“Fine,” Caden grumbled. “But I don’t have to be happy about it.”
In spite of the complaining, the crew showed up on time the following night. It was freezing, and everybody was bundled in winter coats.
“Where’s our trailer?” Felicia asked.
“Uh, we don’t have one,” I explained.
“How are we supposed to stay warm? We’re actors. We should at least have heat lamps!” Henry insisted.
“Sorry,” I told him.
Then I gathered the crew for a pep talk.
“We need to keep these shots moving along,” I said as we huddled. “So let’s work fast, okay?”
“If-you-say-so-Babymouse,” said Georgie, shivering.
The scenes were supposed to take place on the streets of Paris. I really wanted there to be old-fashioned streetlamps in the shots, so we were shooting downtown on Main Street. It was quiet and a little eerie. All the businesses were closed.
“I’ve got the shot framed,” Lucy called.
I went over and looked through the WHIZ BANG™.
“That garbage can’s not working,” I told Wilson.
“The garbage can?”
“It’s not French enough.”
He looked at me. “What does a French garbage can look like, Babymouse?”
All these little details were distracting me!
“Do I have to do everything myself?” I shouted. I marched over to the garbage can and dragged it out of the shot.
Wilson just sighed.
Then I grabbed the WHIZ BANG™ from Lucy’s hands.
“I’m gonna shoot this,” I told her. “It’s too complicated to explain.”
Her mouth thinned into a line.
“If you say so, Babymouse,” she said.
“Slate, please!” I ordered.
“Au Revoir, My Locker. Scene thirty-three, take one!” Duckie called.
And we were rolling.
It grew colder and colder as the night went on.
By three in the morning, even I was shivering. But we still had two big shots to get in the can. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough light from the streetlamps. We had brought lights from the Film Club equipment closet. Georgie arranged them on set and h
uddled with Duckie.
“Almost ready over there?” I called to them.
“Uh, give us a minute, Babymouse,” Duckie called back.
“I’m cold, Babymouse!” Felicia whined, stomping her foot.
“Let me see what’s going on,” I told her.
I walked over to Georgie and Duckie.
“What’s the holdup?” I asked.
Georgie held out the electrical cord. “Nowhere to plug in the lights, Babymouse. If one of the stores was open, we could probably ask them. But everything’s closed.”
“But we need light!”
Duckie just shrugged. “Georgie’s right, Babymouse.”
This was ridiculous!
“I’ll figure it out myself!” I snapped, and grabbed the extension cord, marching around. How hard could it be to find an electrical outlet?
I found one right away.
“Here’s one!” I shouted.
“Babymouse,” Georgie cautioned me. “You can’t tie in to that. Don’t you see the warning?”
“We’re only going to plug in the lights for one shot. What’s the big deal?”
“Babymouse—”
I wasn’t about to let something as little as an electrical cord stand between me and Fame.
I plugged in the cord. Did the world end? No.
“See? Wasn’t that easy?” I said, and walked over to the lights.
“Uh, Babymouse…,” said Georgie.
I flicked on the switch for the lights and—
After the small “taking down the electrical grid” problem, we decided to stick with available light.
“Set up the shot again!” I shouted.
Lucy shook her head.
“I’m going home,” she announced. “I’m tired. There’s no reason for me to be here if I’m not even allowed to operate the WHIZ BANG™.”
Nobody said anything as she flew off set.
The reporter from the newspaper came over to me.
“Is it normal to have these sorts of disagreements on set?” she asked me.
I reddened. “Of course! This is a creative field.”
She scribbled something down on her pad.
“Excuse me,” I said, walking over to the crew. “Come on! Move faster! We need to get these shots in the can!”
Penny stepped forward.
“You’re being too bossy, Babymouse.”
“I am the boss. I’m the director! This is my film!”
She shook her head. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
Without another word, she walked off set.
A moment later, Felicia and Henry strode by me.
“Wait! Where are you going?” I asked them.
“This film is a joke,” Felicia said. “You couldn’t direct your way out of a paper bag.”
“I can’t believe we’ve been standing around without heat lamps,” Henry added. “Nobody gives actors any respect!”
Next was Georgie. I shook my head in disbelief as he walked by.
Georgie shrugged. “Sorry, Babymouse,” he murmured, and was followed by Caden and Duckie.
Then it was just me and Wilson.
He looked at me. Surely, my best friend wouldn’t…
But he just gave me a disappointed look.
And walked away.
My crew had quit. It was like being reverse-fired. Or something.
I was too embarrassed to even go into the cafeteria at lunch. I hid out in the girls’ bathroom.
But that was just the beginning.
A few days later, I heard people saying my name as I went down the hallway.
Then I saw it.
I couldn’t believe it!
After school, I went home and shut myself in my bedroom. I’d never felt lonelier in my entire life.
Someone knocked at the door.
“Come in,” I said, not getting up from bed.
It was Squeak.
“Can I borrow your WHIZ BANG™ charger? My battery’s dead.”
“Okay. You can take the WHIZ BANG™, too,” I told him in a dull voice. “I don’t care.”
“Really?” he asked. “I thought you were using it to make your movie.”
“Not anymore,” I muttered, and rolled on my side away from him. “Everybody’s mad at me. My crew quit.”
“What’d you do to make them quit?”
“What did I do?”
That was when I realized. Sure, middle school might be a monster movie.
But I was the one who was the monster.
“I didn’t even stop to think about what my crew wanted,” I whispered. “Or how I was treating them. I was a terrible director.”
He looked at me.
“Why don’t you just say you’re sorry, Babymouse?”
“Say I’m sorry?”
“Yeah. It’s pretty easy, Babymouse,” he said.
Could he be right? Was it really that easy?
Squeak walked to the door, shaking his head. “Seriously. Middle schoolers have no brains.”
My crew was sitting at our usual table when I walked up, carrying a box of cupcakes. They didn’t look happy to see me. Wilson wouldn’t even meet my eyes; he just stared at his tray. It stung. Maybe this was a dumb idea after all. But I had to try.
“Uh, guys,” I said, swallowing nervously. “I’m sorry.”
Nobody said anything, so I started talking. And once I started, I couldn’t stop. The words just poured out of me.
“I didn’t mean to turn into a monster director. I got so focused on the film and what it would do for me that I forgot it was your film, too. I let my ego take over, and I didn’t stop to think about you guys. I thought I could do it by myself, and I was completely wrong. I know I’m the worst director ever, and if you never forgive me, I would understand, and I’m so, so sorry and I feel terrible and—”
Wilson interrupted me. “Cut!”
I looked at him in surprise.
Lucy rolled her eyes. “We get it, Babymouse.”
“And we forgive you,” Penny said.
Relief flooded me right down to my whiskers.
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“What’s in the box?” Georgie asked.
I opened the lid.
Lucy laughed. “Now, that’s a sweet apology.”
With my crew’s faith in me restored, I felt like I was Queen of the World!
Which was good because I had a medieval-size problem to solve for our last day of shooting.
I needed to find a castle. And, surprisingly, there weren’t a lot of castles in town.
Duckie and I jumped on the public bus to check out possible locations.
The first few were underwhelming.
Our last stop was “Ye Olde Castle Times.” It was a medieval fair.
I gasped in delight.
It was perfect!
It was castle-rific!
“Look! There’s even a turret! It will be so romantic.”
“Babymouse,” Duckie said.
“Maybe we can shoot when the sun is setting.”
“Uh, Babymouse,” Duckie said, and pointed.
My whiskers fell.
“But…this is the perfect location!” I cried.
“Well,” Duckie said, rubbing his chin, “I guess we can shoot it guerrilla-style.”
“What’s that?”
“We just sneak in and shoot,” Duckie explained. “Don’t ask for permission. We won’t be able to rehearse or set up lights or anything. We’ll just wing it.”
“I’m good with that!” I said.
He grinned at me. “All right, then. Let’s get this film in the can.”
The day of the castle shoot, we met in my garage to get the actors dressed and in makeup.
I was in my bedroom making last-minute script changes. I needed to shorten the scenes because Duckie was worried that if we lingered too long in one spot, we would be kicked out.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in!” I called.
/> “Babymouse, we’re having a problem with the talent,” Penny said. “Felicia and Henry both called in sick.”
“Both of them?”
She shrugged. “There’s a nasty stomach flu going around.”
“So what’re we going to do?”
“Don’t worry,” Penny assured me. “I have it all figured out. Follow me.”
When we got to the garage, she pointed. “What do you think?”
Le super-duper grand sigh.
Penny made a face. “Sorry, Babymouse. I did the best I could.”
“No! It’s fine! They look great!” I quickly assured her. “We can shoot them from behind anyway.”
Duckie clapped. “Come on, crew! Daylight’s burning! Let’s hit it!”
We piled into my mom’s minivan, and she drove us to the medieval fair. The whole crew had dressed for the occasion.
Before we started to shoot our first scene, I walked over to Lucy and handed her the WHIZ BANG™.
“I was hoping you’d shoot today,” I told her.
“I can do that, Babymouse,” she said with a small smile.
We operated like a well-run machine, and the best part was that nobody paid attention to us. We fit right in.
The sun was setting as we prepared for the last shot of the day. I wanted to capture the magic hour—the time just before sunset, when everything is golden.
Moving quickly, we got our actors into place.
“Action!” I loud-whispered.
Georgie and Wilson leaned toward each other in silhouette, the sun slowly sliding down, bathing the whole shot in a beautiful light.
And then something small and round flew through the frame.
“What was that?” I demanded.
Another one whizzed by.
I stared at the screen.
“What’s going on? Is that a UFO?” I asked Lucy.
She shook her head and pointed. “No, it’s a clown.”
Lights, Camera, Middle School! Page 4
