Fiona on Fire | ONC 2023

05. lights, camera, action

Fiona arrived on set early in the morning and was scheduled for a twelve hour day. She felt optimistic, ready and eager to be in front of the camera. She was grateful for the opportunity she'd been granted, and she'd spent the last six weeks relentlessly pouring over the script.

A quiet woman from the wardrobe department fitted her with clothes for her first scene. Her character was an ordinary teenage girl, so the outfit wasn't much different from something she'd wear: a tank top, hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.

She was passed to a makeup artist who quickly applied an array of products to her face. He was friendly and made her laugh as he worked.

She wouldn't have told any of them that she wasn't particularly impressed by the script. It seemed like a typical slasher film: teenagers at a house party slowly realize their friends are disappearing and a killer is among them. It was adequate, but it felt like a movie that had already been made.

The twist ending was that her character had actually been drugged and had hallucinated the whole thing. Wouldn't audiences feel cheated that nothing they'd seen had happened? It was like negating everything that came before it.

The first day went smoothly. They shot early scenes before anyone started turning up dead. Benjamin was perfectly polite and didn't ask them to redo scenes an unreasonable amount at all.

The tides turned the next day, when they skipped to a later scene in which her character was an emotional wreck. She was supposed to stumble about dark hallways and let out a scream when someone snuck up on her from behind.

"Once more," Benjamin demanded.

She did the scene again, trying to draw more energy and conviction out of herself.

"Just one more," he said for what felt like the twenty-seventh time.

Everyone immediately reset to their original positions like a well-oiled machine. These people were professionals, and the more takes he made her do, the more she felt like she was the problem, holding up the entire production and keeping people from going home to their families.

It was a difficult thing—to tear out the worst emotions from deep within, then be expected to shove them back inside and do it again, over and over. Her nerves were almost fried. She wanted to run to the bathroom and cry.

Filming ran late. She got home that night at eleven, went directly to her bedroom, and passed out for ten hours. Then she got up the next morning and did it all over again. For two months.

"Fi, I'm worried about you," Erin said one morning. "You're gone the entire day. Sometimes I've try to talk to you when you get home, but you're like a zombie."

"I'm just exhausted. Working hard," she said, chugging a coffee she'd made extra strong.

"Okay," Erin said, seeming to reluctantly accept this. "When does the movie come out? Your parents keep calling me since you don't answer your phone. They're worried too."

"Oh." Fiona chewed on her lip. "It won't come out for months, at least. Post production can take ages."

"Do you think you could be working too hard?"

"No. I'm achieving my dream."

***

When the movie was finished, of course, Fiona's family were eager to watch it. Fiona was invited to a festival for an early showing. The idea of watching herself on screen along with a huge crowd filled her with trepidation.

Erin insisted upon screening early reviews so Fiona didn't have to read them herself. She stared at the ceiling as she took in their words secondhand.

"This one...er, pans the writing but praises your performance and the cinematography. They call you..." she trailed off.

"Just say it," Fiona demanded.

"Unpolished but full of raw potential."

Fiona swallowed this with a nod. They were right. She had little experience and hadn't attended acting school. But she had given everything she had to this project, so the words stung a little.

"Some of them really didn't like the plot of the movie, but I've read nothing negative about you, honestly. This one says controversial director Benjamin Abernathy is washed up but still has an eye for camera angles and undiscovered talent." She looked up. "That's you."

Fiona took a deep breath, trying to clear her head. "Do you want to come to this festival with me? I think I can get you in for free as my plus one."

Erin's eyes lit up, then dimmed. "Don't you want at least one of your family members to come?"

"They have jobs. They can't just drop everything and fly across the country to see a movie."

"Okay. Well, I'd be thrilled to go with you."

***

The two of them wore their best clothes to the film festival. There would be a reception, screening, and after party. Erin wore a baby blue floor-length gown, while Fiona chose a blood red cocktail dress.

Benjamin was in attendance. Fiona had been relieved not to see him every day, but running into him here seemed unavoidable.

"Who's this?" he asked Fiona, eyeing Erin like a piece of candy. "Does she act?"

"She does not," Erin said in a low, dignified tone.

It was as if he'd been so focused during the film shoot, he forgotten to be a creep. Now, that wasn't the case.

"This is my roommate, Erin," Fiona said to avoid being rude, then steered them away from him.

As they weaved through the crowd, people recognized Fiona and congratulated her on the film. She was stunned.

When they sat to watch the movie, Fiona did her best to pretend she was watching someone else. She tried not to remember the arduous days of endless takes behind each scene. And surprisingly, it wasn't that painful to watch. She wasn't bad.

When the credits rolled, the crowd began to clap, and a shy smile reached Fiona's face.

__________

This is moving fast because I'll probably try to wrap it up in 20k words. 

Thanks for reading, if anyone does! Got any predictions? :D