The Disillusionists cont'd...

After eating - if you could call it that because A: the portions were tiny, and B: I didn't recognize anything either visually or tastually - Mike went over some of the details, "Everything is in place, shoot, cut, produce - all digital. Music, everything. Music is Jay's department... He's talented but a bit of a bitch sometimes. Alexis does the editing. I've worked with her a few times and there's nothing she can't notice... We shoot over six days, depending on the weather." He looked at May, "You've got the food? Good. There'll be early mornings because I want to get you in a blue/grey light. We're not going with any permits so we've got to act fast... The country shit, who cares, but once we're in the city holding up traffic some cop will try to shut us down. May?"

"Yo."

"Maybellene here has been setting up ropes for different scenes, times, level of decay and so on... So if you get into trouble just drop it and get in the van. Got that?"

"Check." I mimicked May.

"Use your discretion though. We're not made of rope ovah-heah. May's also the costume, continuity, catering and production assistant. If you've got any questions about anything other than creative issues go to her. Otherwise, come to me. I'm drivin' this buggy so don't fuck around. Alexis is not to be bothered in any way, also she's doing the make-up... Mostly we're going without sound but who knows. I might even use film if the feeling strikes but right now we don't have the budget for it so no worries." Mike paused and took a sip of wine, "Any one of us could be shooting you at any time, got that?"

"Sure."

"What that means is, if you don't see a camera, it doesn't mean we're not still filming. It's important that you stay in character the whole time. Especially when we're downtown. No matter what happens... We've got to get this thing in the can as soon as possible, capeesch?"

"Absolutely."

"What else... Don't even think about money, you're not going to starve but nobody, including me is getting paid up front for this. In fact, I'm paying for it, so look, you said your rent was taken care of and I can appreciate that so here, " Mike dug into his pocket, "Here's a hundred bucks walkin' around money..."

I shook my head, "Oh no man, don't worry about it."

"Take it. You might need some stuff for the road."

I accepted the cash since it was, well, cash. Seeing as how I hadn't even done anything yet I figured this was some kind of contract. I asked Mike why I was coming out of the ocean in the first scene.

"Incongruity. It's incongruous with your manner of dress. It also represents your birth."

"Do I have to be wet?"

"No. Perhaps. Maybe. We'll see how it goes. May honey, make a note that we'll shoot two versions."

"Okey-dokey," said May as she extracted a notebook from her bag. "One dry one and one wet one."

"May's parents are lending us a motor home..." Mike's cell phone rang at that moment. He looked at it and then put it back in his pocket without answering. "So uh... Don't try to touch Jay. He's a little jumpy."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah like, don't shake hands with him or pat him on the back. He's got a whole touching thing that you just don't want to know about..."

"Okay."