King of Hollywood

The Chicago Manual of Style

Every director on set had to have their own authority, even in those commercial films dictated by investors. Unless the supervising producer was an idiot or the director was overly arrogant, the producer would carefully maintain the director's authority on set. This was because it concerned whether the film could be completed smoothly. If the director could not command as easily as directing their right arm, it would be a disaster for any film in production.

Every director had their own way of asserting authority, for instance, James Cameron, who had not yet started filming "Terminator 2," liked to roar and drink on set, thus earning the private nickname of a "tyrant" on set. But that was definitely not how Adrian wanted to do things; he preferred to use a rapid pace to belittle those who made mistakes.

This method was more suitable for people who had worked alongside him for a long time, having the experience to know how to react to him. However, the current staff was temporarily assembled, and speaking too harshly might cause a backlash. At this time, someone had to step in to mediate, and that was precisely the role Dennis played.

One had to admit that Dennis was very good at reading the room. When Adrian began his sarcasm for the first time, he didn't account for these things, but Dennis timely picked up the conversation and skillfully comforted a bit, soothing others in time. From then on, whenever someone had a problem, one would mock or get angry, and the other would surely explain and comfort, coordinating well enough that no one but a few employees of the film company noticed.

"You know, jobs like a waiter have to be good at reading expressions, and there's a set procedure for handling customer dissatisfaction, following along with their words and discerning only after their emotions have calmed," Dennis explained.

Thus, Adrian felt even more favorable toward this guy, and lifting him seemed like something to consider. But this was not the time to discuss it; he had more important matters to handle.

"Joseph! Where did you go?! Where's the person I need?!" Adrian shouted in annoyance, and soon a voice came back out of breath, "I'm here, Mr. Adrian, I'm here."

A thin figure hurried over, followed by a young girl about 5 foot 5 inches tall and about 20 years old, curiously glancing left and right as she walked.

"I... I found the person you needed, Mr. Adrian," Joseph, wiping the fine sweat on his forehead, pulled the young girl over to introduce her to him. "This is..."

"This is the actor I need, Joseph? Is this what I need?" Adrian glanced at the girl and then questioned with suppressed anger, "Do you know what kind of actor I really need, Joseph?! Look at her; look! I need a frail-looking girl who seems unremarkable and a bit sickly, yet what did you bring? A head of messy short hair barely groomed—don't tell me she's actually a boy!"

"Mr. Adrian, I can explain," Joseph hurriedly gestured with his hands.

"There's nothing to explain, Joseph. Think for yourself—this is how many times now?" Adrian looked at him sternly. "Not mentioning the previous things, the actress matter was settled days ago, even though this role doesn't have many scenes, yet you dragged it until now! Do you think just pulling someone off the street counts as completing the task?!"

"Sorry, Mr. Adrian, I just..." The poor assistant looked almost on the verge of tears.

"Sorry, Director, can I say something?" A clear voice interjected with an undulating British accent that sounded pleasant, though the speaker's face was full of anger.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I won't randomly choose someone without experience for this role. If you're just curious to try, then please leave," Adrian said mercilessly.

"I must say, you have no gentlemanly conduct at all, Director!" The girl's tone was mocking. "I'll let the defamation about my gender pass, but I'm really curious how you determined I have no experience?"

Under those bright brown eyes' watch, Adrian's throat rolled slightly, but he certainly wouldn't admit wrong at this moment. He quickly composed himself and retorted, "How do you prove you have experience, Miss?!"

"Yes, I admit I was dragged off the street by Mr. Joseph, but this doesn't mean anything. My father and mother were both excellent actors, quite famous, and I am fully considered born into a theatrical family. I have also played roles multiple times in the school's theater group—of course, 'you' wouldn't need to know these things, Director."

Laughter rose around until it stopped after Adrian glared at them. Adrian wanted to retort with a few words himself, but the girl in front didn't give him the chance: "But 'you' would certainly say, whether parents were actors or having played roles in the school's theater group, it means nothing because theater and film are two different things, theory and practice also have differences. But the problem is—you deny someone's ability without a chance to even try? Oh yes, 'you' have that right, even if it sacrifices fairness and justice."

Adrian's face turned slightly green; he hadn't expected this sharp-tongued girl to dare speak to him so openly. You should know, he had barely... Well, anyway, for now, there seemed to be no other choice; then, you will learn what fairness and justice mean!

"Vigil, come over and do her makeup, then try shooting two scenes," Adrian turned to the distant makeup artist after a long silent stare at the girl.

The young girl visibly breathed a sigh of relief but immediately lifted her chin again when Adrian's gaze turned to her. But Adrian's gaze didn't linger on her, instead going toward the camera. The girl pursed her lips, waved a small fist at Adrian's back, and then went with Joseph to do her makeup.

"All right, you've got the role now—" Adrian glanced at the signature on the contract, "Miss Catherine Bequina. Joseph has told you the related matters, I believe you should have no issues?"

"Yes, Director... I'll do my best," said the girl named Catherine, originally wanting to ask Adrian's name, but seeing his expressionless face, she abandoned the idea and, like a child on purpose, puffed her not too bad chest: "You won't regret it, sir."

"Hopefully." Adrian replied tersely, then turned to command others to prepare for finishing the rest in one go. The girl shrugged, said no more, found a place to sit, and began to read her thin script. She didn't notice Adrian's sneer at the corner of his mouth.

After the crew finished setting up the young drug dealers' hideout, Adrian first personally operated the camera to shoot some simple shots, then progressively let go to speed up. After several not very complex scenes, it was Miss Catherine's turn to perform.

As the only female character in the entire film, she didn't have many scenes, and if performed well, could be completed within three days. Catherine played a girlfriend of one of those young drug dealers, who had smoked so much marijuana she was in a dazed state all day, unable to do anything and needing support wherever she went. Of course, though the role seemed useless, she still had a surprisingly strong performance when situations became critical.

Although relatively simple, performing it well still required some acting skills. Sitting on the couch woodenly was not how someone high on marijuana should appear. If not careful, continuous NG would be unavoidable for a newbie; more so with Adrian in the director's chair harboring ulterior motives.

"Please tell me, Miss Bequina, please tell me, do you really look like someone whose mind is lost due to smoking too much marijuana, or are you sure you don't look like it's because the corpus callosum in your brain has suddenly been severed?" Adrian mercilessly asked immediately after shouting "cut."

"I..." Catherine on set spoke just one word and shut her mouth. This had already happened about ten times, even a fool knew he was targeting her.

"Do you still remember how many times I've told you, Miss Bequina?" Adrian continued with sarcasm, "To use your heart to feel the character's emotions, then express them with body language! How many tapes have been wasted now with so many NGs?! Honestly, if the law didn't explicitly prohibit it, I'd very much like to have you really use marijuana until reaching that state!"

The whole set was silent, only Adrian's voice echoed within it; even Dennis, who usually stepped in to mediate, maintained his silence because he knew why Adrian was doing this. Put simply, it was still about the director's authority. Even though Adrian was the boss, producer, and director, he was, after all, a newcomer. If he couldn't quickly establish his own prestige, issues would arise. This matter had almost been handled, but then Miss Catherine Bequina suddenly publicly challenged him, nearly causing things to spiral out of control. Where authority was lost, it had to be reclaimed, so Adrian naturally took it out on her.

Fortunately, though Adrian was very upset, he still maintained a certain level, finally stopping after a few more rebukes, and then announced that today's shooting would end here.

Various sounds momentarily arose; Catherine, with her head always down, not making a sound, finally loosened her tightly clenched fists, threw Adrian a hate-filled glance from the shadows, and silently helped pack up.