Ch 7 - Filming Starts!!

"Lighting team, there's a faulty on that lamp!!!"

"Hey Jason, that gun prop right there is broken!!"

"Oy, Cable boy!! Where the f*ck is the cable for this camera?!! What the f*ck are you doing all day?!! Go and get me some cables you little sh*t!!"

The set for the Avatar crew is full of life, people going here and there, shouting and cursing thrown everywhere. Will look at the crew-filled set with complicated eyes. On his face you could see both nervousness and excitement at the same time.

This is his first ever film, and it's a bloody huge film. Avatar is one if not the greatest movie of all time. It was among the top 3 on Will's list, that is for sure. The responsibility on Will's shoulder to make this movie as good or even better than the original makes him very. very. nervous.

But as the last pharagrap said, this movie is one of the greatest movie of all time, and it to be his first ever work, makes him very much excited. This excitement could even rival the excitement he felt at the very first time he realized he had been reincarnated.

As Will look at the set suddenly a hand woke him up from his complicated thoughts.

"William, what are you thinking about? I've been calling your name for a few times"

Will look at the man shyly, "Hahaha... Sorry, I was just too excited about the filming and kind of nervous about it too. So, why were you calling for me?"

"The makeup artist told me to ask you to go to their room for a touch up because the filming will start in 30 minutes" The man informed.

"Alright thanks for the info Joel, I'll go now, see ya" Will said as Joel waved at him casually and go to the actor room to relax before the filming began.

Yes, the man named Joel is Joel David Moore, the actor who played as Norm Spellman in the movie. He and Will became friends on the Script Rehearsal, as their lines crossed many times in the script eventually they communicate with each other about the script and became friends.

In the main cast of 15 people, Will had only talk to 3 of them. One is Joel and the other two is Zoe Saldana, who played Neytiri, and Sigourney Weaver, who played Dr. Grace Augustine. The other 12 either didn't like him get the role or doesn't really care about him.

The reason why Saldana and Weaver would talk to him is that, the former is not yet a big name artist, so she doesn't really mind being acquainted with him and expand her contacts. While the latter is familiar with the Director enough, to know that he won't sign an actor without enough acting skills.

As Will came inside the makeup room, buzzes of sound strike his ears as the makeup artists touch up an actor or gossiping with their peers.

"Mr. Coulson!" In the midst of sounds, Will heard someone called out his name. He looked around the room to see a woman waving at him in the corner of the room, so he walk over to her.

"Hello... Good morning" Will greet her with a smile. The woman looks around her mid-20. She had a beautifully shaped face rivaling a top actress, reddish hair and a shining blue eyes.

The woman look at him with an enthusiastic smile, "Good morning, you are Mr. William Coulson, am I correct?" The woman asks with uncertainty.

"Yes, I am. And you must be my personal make up artist that Mrs. Carlson talked about" Will asks.

"Yes, my name is Cassey Black and I'll be your make up artist for the rest of the filming. I'm sorry about the late arrival earlier, there's a traffic on the way to my daughter's daycare so, yeah..." Cassey said guiltily.

"It's okay Ms. Black, I could understand your circumstances" Will said understandingly.

There's an awkward silence between them before Will broke it, asking, "So... May I sit?"

"Right, yes, yes, of course, please sit here" Cassey answered panickingly as she pointed at her chair.

Will sat on the chair while Cassey take out all her make up equipment from her bag and started to do the touch up.

"What's her name?" Will suddenly asks.

"I'm sorry?" Cassey replied, puzzled by his sudden question.

"Your daughter, what's her name?" Will ask again.

"Her name is Alicia" Cassey answered while continuing the touch up.

"Beautiful name" Will commented.

"... Thank you" Cassey replied.

"I too had two sons" Will continued.

"You had sons?" Cassey asked in disbelief.

"Well a twin sons to be exact" Will clarified.

"Well it must've been tough for you" Cassey sympathize.

"It is... It's very tough for me" Will replied.

"What's their names?" Cassey asked.

"The older one is Henry and the younger one is Harry" Will answered.

"Beautiful names, the four of you must be a happy family" Cassey smiled

"Yes, we would've been..." Will replied sadly.

At first Cassey felt something's wrong with his answer, and then it clicked to her, "O-Ohhh... I'm sorry for your lost" Cassey apologize as she realized what happened.

An awkward silence once again washed over them.

"Alright, it's done" Cassey suddenly said after she applied his last touch up.

"Okay, thank you Ms. Black" Will smiled as he stand up and go outside of the Makeup room.

"He's nice isn't he?" Suddenly a female voice sounded behind her.

Cassey look behind her to see an older woman smiling at her, "Gosh... Mrs. Carlson, you scared me"

"So? What do you think of him?" Mrs. Carlson asked.

"I don't know what are you talking about" Cassey ignored her question.

"Cassey dear, I've had been your mentor for more than 5 years. I know your ups and downs in here. Your husband has been gone for more than 2 years, and Alicia needed a fatherly figure in her life more than you think" Mrs. Carlson said softly.

Cassey looked at her mentor with a helpless expression. She knew that her daughter needed a fatherly figure in her life. But she's scared, scared that she will lose another one again, scared that her new husband won't loved her daughter wholeheartedly.

"I know it's hard for you dear, but you had to face it. For yourself and more importantly for your daughter" Mrs. Carlson said wisely before leaving Cassey alone.

'For Alicia...' Cassey thought conflictingly.

"Sigh..." She sighed helplessly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"GET THE LIGTHS READY!! FILMING START IN 5 MINUTES!! SPEED IT UP!!!"

Will looked at the room he was in, many people come and go to fix lights, cables and other little details that the camera might not even film.

He sat on the room's only bed, cameras pointed towards him. From behind, back, left, right. This is a new experience for him unlike the script readings where he had experienced beforehand at the theatres in London.

"ACTION IN 1 MINUTE!!"

Will came out of his stupor as he heard the assistant director shout with the megaphone in his arms.

He gather himself, lay on the bed, closed his eyes and prepare himself to dive into Jake Sully's character, then wait for the AD to start.

"CAMERA ROLLING!! AND ACTION!!!"

Jake opens his eyes, two blue eyes stare at the ceilling intensely. He sat up from the bed and stare at the turned on TV beside him.

"The Bengal Tiger, extinct for over a century, is making a comeback. These cloned tiger cubs..."

He watch the TV before his attention turned away after smelling a nasty smell. He looked around his surrounding before he smelled his own shirt.

He sighed then proceed to take off his shirt and threw it to the laundry basket. Then he laboriously tried to take off his pants, rocking side to side for several minutes only for it to still stuck on his thigh.

'I became a Marine for the hardship. To be hammered on the anvil of life. I told myself I could pass any test a man can pass.'

"Now, to the next update for the Pandora's exploration, the earth-like planet that sparks debates after it's first exploration in 21st June 2178..."

The TV continued as Jake ignores it, still struggling to take his pants off.

[Later that night]

'Rowdy Bar', as it names suggest, is a low-class bar near the gangs territory. Not a place you'd bring your mom, but most definitely a place to get some cheap shots.

Inside we found Jake beside the pool table, balancing his wheelchair skillfully while holding a tequila shots on his forehead. Onlookers, including some disabled vets, claps and cheered him inside the noisy bar.

Jake grabs the glass and slams down the shot as they cheered loudly.

Then he look at the wall-sized screen showing the Olympics game, men running on antelope's legs.

'Let's get it straight. I don't want your pity. I know the world's a cold-ass bitch.'

He watch them, watch the thing he can't have. Blankly.

Then his eyes shift.

[Jake's Pov]

Seeing the through the gaps in the crowd, I could see a man on a barstool slaps the woman he's with. Hard.

She cowers and tried to get away from the man, but he got her arm, shouting, raising his fist. An absolute bastard if you asks me. People just looks away at he scene, ignoring the misery the woman's in.

'You want a fair deal, you're on the wrong planet. In here, the strong preys on the weak.'

But Jake looks straight at the scene. Not looking away. His hand starts to get tight as he starts pushing his wheelchair.

'It's just the way things are. And nobody does a damn thing.'

Jake stops next to the bastard, unnoticed. He leans down and grabs one leg of the bastard's barstool and YANKS it.

The chair flips, and the guy fell. Hard.

Jake flung himself for the wheelchair, toppling on the guy, getting a grip on him like a UFC fighter and starts punching the crap out of him.

The bouncer tried to drag him off then everything goes into slow motion. All around him everyone's yelling, pulling, and cheering...

'All I ever wanted in my sorry-ass life was a single thing worth fighting for.'

[Later Behind The Bar]

The bouncer hurls Jake out of the back door, sending him sprwaling on the pavement. A moment later, his chair crashes down passing above him towards the dumpster behind him.

Jake struggles to rise on one elbow. Blood bruises all over his body, but still crazed and ready to fight.

"I hope you realize you've just lost a costumer!!" Jake shouted, then he collapses onto his back, panting.

"Hah... Fuck myself." He said to himself. He stares upwards at the levels of the city. Magtrains roar overhead. Then it starts to rain, bit by bit, until finally heavy rain downed on him.

Jake just lies there, blinking occasionally, then said to no one in particular while laughing, "If it ain't trainin', we ain't trainin'"

He smirked.

As he lies there with water droplets raining onto him, two long shadows suddenly stopped the lamp lighting him.

He look towards them to see two men, matching suits, their features unremarkable and blandly threatening in the way of FBI agents.

"Are you Jake Sully?" One of them asked, the bigger one.

"Fuck off, you're ruining my good mood" Jake said to them.

The two agents-wannabe look at each other before the smaller one took of his fedora, "It's about your brother".

"CUT!!! EXCELLENT!! PREPARE FOR THE NEXT SCENE!!!" The AD shouted in his ususal shouting voice. Will had been used to it for sometime now.

Will still lays there on the wet pavement-like floor, not fully out of Jake's character. He simply don't have enough experience to actually could extract himself from the character instantly.

The other crew also just left him there as they too know that an actor cannot be forcefully extracted from his character, as it would instead backfire towards the actor. Possibly injuring their mental health.

Will stayed like that for more than 5 minutes before he recovered from the character fully. Then he stand up and go towards the resting room.