Chapter 14

"See what I found," I said as I handed the flyer to Ali.

She gave it a quick look over, raised her brow and said, "Interesting. I'm going to send Ryan a text."

She, Lisa and I had a free period, so we were spending it at the library trying to finish up on some homework. My English classes were more advanced than what I'd done with Tom so Ali was helping me where she could.

Lisa's phone vibrated. She picked it up and looked at the caller id. "Great. My little brother is calling me. I wonder what kind of trouble he's gotten into now," she grumbled. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I guess I'll be seeing you guys soon."

"Try not to stop at Burger King," Ali called after her.

Lisa her gave her 'the finger' but kept walking away.

"Burger King?" I whispered curiously. "She's leaving school?"

Ali shook her head. "Probably not – I just wanted to annoy her," she said, giggling.

A few minutes later, Ryan showed up and threw his bag on our table. "What do you guys want?"

Ali handed him the flyer. "What do you think?"

He read it then looked at her. "You called me over for this?"

"Why don't you just sit down and lower your voice?"

Ali was one of those people who was playful most of the time but when she was serious, you knew that she meant business. And this was one of those rare times.

"Why? I'm not staying here," he said defiantly.

She pulled his arm hard till he had to sit to keep it from dislocating. "Are you trying to kill me?" he snarled at her.

"You walk around with your camera, thinking you're Ang Lee," she said, ignoring his annoyed expression, "at the times no one gives a sh.it about your ideas, you bore us to death telling us about the movies that you'd like to make and now that you have a chance, you're acting like this?"

He threw the flyer on the table. "You think entering some local competition is going to get me an Oscar?"

"It's a step," she said simply.

"Ages 15-21 only? It's for amateurs."

"So what? Isn't that what you are?"

At times like this, I felt like a fly on the wall. I didn't want to vocally side with either of them even though I agreed with Ali. If he wanted to make a film, why not jump at the opportunity to be taken seriously?

He picked up the sheet of paper and looked at it again. "What can I say in 5-20 minutes?" he asked skeptically.

"A lot," she countered.

"What will it be about?"

She shrugged in exasperation. "How will I know? You're a smart guy – you'll think of something."

"The top five selected films will be sent over to the national competition and be viewed by the Zoetrope board members," he read.

"And it says that the company is owned by Francis Coppola," she said, pointing at a line on the sheet. "He's big deal, isn't he?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"So what's the problem? It's free to enter, it's a legitimate competition and if your film is selected, this Coppola guy may get to see it and if it's not, so what? You've made a movie."

"But what will it be about? How will I make it? Who'll be in it? Wh—"

"She can be the star," Ali suddenly said, pointing at me.

"W-what?" I'd been so immersed in their conversation that she'd practically jolted me out of a trance. "M-me? No way."

"Yes way," she countered. "You found the flyer so you deserve it. Maybe you'll become a big star."

I shook my head vehemently. "No way. It's okay – I don't want to be a star."

"Don't be silly." She turned back to Ryan. "She can be the star, I'll help in any way I can. What do producers do anyway?"

"They provide funding."

"In that case, I can be the editor or cinematographer…" She suddenly put her hand up in the air. "No. No, I've got it. I'll be the costume designer and make-up artist, she's the actress, you're the producer and director and we can make this the best film ever made in Brighton Academy."





***



"So what have you come up with?" Ali asked before she put a huge scoop of ice cream in her mouth. Since it was a lovely day out, she'd come up with the brilliant plan of sneaking our lunch outside. The school was quite strict about carrying school utensils outside of the cafeteria so I'd wrapped my beef and bacon burger in a napkin and put some fries in some aluminum foil I'd managed to score off the cafeteria lady. But Ali didn't care. She was only having soft serve ice cream for lunch and couldn't be bothered to hide the bowl she'd piled it in.

Ryan pulled out some copies of the script from his bag and gave them to us. "Well, this is my vision," he began. He stood up and described the entire film to us. It was a story about a Korean girl who, like many other immigrants, had come to America in search of her dreams.

"At first, she'd absolutely love it. She'd love everything about it – the streets, the food, the clothes, the weather," he said animatedly. "Everything would be bigger than she'd ever dreamed of till it'll slowly start to unravel. She'd learn that it's all a façade and that it really can't live up to the fantasy she's built up in her mind."

"What will happen to her?" I still wasn't keen on doing the movie but Ali wasn't having it. I'd tried to protest and explain that I really sucked at acting but it fell on deaf ears and in the end, I gave in.

"Hey, relax," Ryan said chuckling. "It's not going to be something really terrible. Just a mugging… something she never experienced back home. I was thinking that she might witness a drive by shooting but how will I film that? But after experiencing that initial ugliness of America, she'd suddenly stop smelling roses and start seeing thorns. Hey," he said, suddenly stopping. "Let me write that down." He grabbed a pen and wrote the line at the back of one of his scripts. "Anyway," he continued, "she'd realize that her homeland is pretty great and go back. What do you guys think?" he asked expectantly.

It sounded alright although I'd hoped for something more interesting. "It could be more interesting but I guess it's okay."


"Ali?"

She made a big show of fake yawning.

Ryan folded his arms across his chest. "Why?" He sat back on the grass and waited for her response.

She shrugged. "It's not that it's not interesting but it's been done a hundred times before. Why does it have to be something involving the old country?"

He sighed. "Think about it. Look at the movies in the theatres – it's generally only movies with a primarily Caucasian cast that can really be about anything. If most of the stars are Asians or Hispanics or whomever, it has to be somehow related to identity."

"Bullsh.it," was Ali's only response.

I didn't know much about American cinema outside of what I'd seen back home so I had nothing to contribute.

"Really? Think about it. What's the Joy Luck Club about? What about the Namesake? Even though Jackie Chan's movies are comedies, his character always has to be from Asia."

"That's because his accent is thick. You really think he can pass for a New Yorker?"

"Okay, true. But if the movie isn't set in Asia like Crouching Tiger, the characters must go through some identity issues or talk about stereotypes or what it means to be of Asian ancestry in America. I'm not talking about independent films here but the ones that make it to mainstream America."

"So even if it's true, so what? You're not making this for Twentieth Century Fox. Can't you break the mold?"

"I could but I'd like to win. Wouldn't you? You're the one who wants to make a film that Francis Ford Coppola can see. You think we can do that without a film that has an edge to it? Or can you come up with another plot? Besides, just like Jackie Chan, our actress over here," he said, pointing at me, "has some limitations."

"True, true," Ali said before they both laughed.

Hardihaha. What was so funny about that?



***



"What class project is this?" Dong Won asked as we approached Ryan's house.

"A class project." The film was to be submitted by the week after Thanksgiving so we'd decided to start working on it as soon as possible. I was getting quite excited because it meant that I had something to do on Saturdays.

"My friend expects you to be faithful," he said as he steered the wheel and pulled over.

I turned to him. "Your point?"

My brother bent his head so that he could get a better view of the red brick house. "Not bad," he commented. "My point is that my friend expects you to be faithful so if you're not, break up with him and don't pretend to be working on a school project when you know you're just hanging out with some guy."

As if on cue, at that moment, Ali stepped out of the house looking quite naked in her maroon tube top and denim shorts. She smiled and waved at us.

I spun my head back at my brother. "Thanks for your advice," I said with a smirk. "We're going to be busy and it's going to take quite some time so you can come back around eight."

He scoffed. "You must be kidding if you think you're going to miss 'Family Time'. Better be ready by six."



***



Ryan wasn't home when I arrived because he was filming some scenes with some of his friends who were serving as extras. What that meant was that he got to drive around town filming his friends walking by, shopping and doing everyday things that he'd later edit into the film as background shots.

"I look like a Prada Bi.tch," I said to Ali's reflection. And it only made sense after all, she'd spent over thirty minutes painting one face. "There's no way I'm going to appear on film looking like this!" I picked up some tissue and was about to wipe some of the crap off when Ali grabbed my hand.

"If you don't wanna die, you'd better not wipe off all my hard work!"

I pushed her hand off mine. "It's bad enough I'm going to be acting in this movie but I will not look like a clown!"

"Hey," Ryan said, suddenly appearing. "Stop yelling – there are other people in this house," he reminded us.

His parents had given us full reign of the basement so we were using it as our studio-cum-prep room. He looked at my face. "Ali, the make-up really does look excessive," he confessed.

My heart sank. "See? I look like sh.it."

"The make-up has to be thick to be effective on screen," she argued. "Su Jin, before you wipe it off, at least see what it looks like on film."

She sounded so sincere I agreed to her proposal. "But if it still looks like sh.it, I'm taking it off."

The light wasn't that great in the basement so we climbed up the stairs and went to the backyard. Ryan pointed the camera at me. "You don't have to say anything. Just walk towards me," he said as he backed away. A few seconds after looking at the blank camera, I started making a few faces to entertain myself. How the hell did actors do this for months at a time? "Please try to be normal," he said, partying pooping as always.

After about a minute or two, he stopped filming so we went back to the basement to continue with our preparations.

"Wow," I mouthed as I looked at myself. Even though I was distorting my face like a fool, I still looked quite awesome. Maybe it was something about how the light fell on my face but the make-up really looked great. It highlighted and shadowed my features in a way that made them pop out on screen. And I didn't look like someone else – I just looked like a better version of my normal self.

I gave Ryan back the camera and after seeing the playback, he looked almost as shocked as I was. He continuously looked from the viewfinder to me as if he couldn't believe it was the same person.

"Hey, stop staring at her like she just had a makeover," Ali said shortly after, nudging him. "She's always looked good."

"I know," Ryan breathed. "It's just that—"

"It's just what?" she interrupted.

"Nothing."

The room fell into awkward silence so I went back to looking at my reflection in the mirror. I was still amazed that I didn't look like a Prada Bi.tch on film.

Ali began to hum as she packed up her make-up and Ryan was supposedly doing something with his camera but every time I looked in his direction, he quickly looked away.

I didn't know what it was but something about the whole situation was weird and I felt my chest tightening and my breathing becoming shallower.

"When do we start filming?" I asked to distract myself from the tension that was building up in the room.

"Since the guys are here we can just film the mugging scene now. I don't know how long it will take but it shouldn't be too difficult, so don't worry."

"I'm not worried," I snapped even though I knew I needn't sound so defensive. It wasn't like he'd insulted me or anything.

"Okay, let's go," he said, gesturing for me to stand up.

I looked over at Ali and saw her look at Ryan then at me before smiling to herself.