Page 13 of Arranging Ayra
As the girls set up on the various chairs and sofas, Keely turned slightly to me. “They are all quite splendid but wait until you see Rhonda in action. She was born to play Lizzy. She’s been acting since she was six, and even trained at Shakespeare’s Theatre as a teen.”
She abruptly turned her attention to the scene. “Okay, everybody. We’re ready to shoot.”
“Quiet on the set,” a man with a megaphone shouted out.
I quietly stepped back and out of the way to let Keely do her magic.
“Cut!” she called out after only a few lines. “Hannah and Clara, you’re doing great. Just be careful you don’t get too whiny. I don’t want any nasally whining... at least not in this scene. You’re immature and bickering, but don’t whine.”
They nodded and the scene was shot again.
I backed farther away until I was at the breakfast spread where I sneaked a bagel and spread a healthy dollop of cream cheese over it. I silently munched on my breakfast as Keely guided the Bennets through one scene after another.
“We’ll break for ten minutes as the girls go get changed for the next scene,” Keely said.
When the girls returned with Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, filming continued.
“Okay,” Keely said two hours later. “I think we’ve gotten all we can out of this room. We’ll break for lunch then set up in the breakfast room.”
Everyone dispersed while Keely made a beeline for me.
“How do you like it so far?” she said.
“You’re a real pro, and I think all the girls are doing a great job... and Mr. Bennet, too. Like you said... that RhondaisLizzy. I love her.”
“What about the score?”
“Bertrand sent me a few things last night, but I also have a few other composers working on this; mostly transitions. So far, nothing that strikes me as the overall score,” I said.
“I told you that I wanted to stay away from any horned instruments.”
“Yes. Don’t worry. No matter the melody, there will be no horns. What I have in mind so far is very soft... violin, dramatic cello, and some somber piano.”
“What about the ballroom scenes? I told you I wanted original music, right? I don’t want to use classics from the time period.”
“Yes, and I know just the composer for those particular pieces.”
We headed to a room that had probably once been a large pantry. We grabbed a few sandwiches from the lunch spread and took a seat at a small table by the door to the next setting: the breakfast room.
“I see that the screenwriter made some significant changes to the original book,” I ventured. I knew it was a touchy subject.
Keely shrugged. “They always do. It’s part of the game. I know people are disappointed when a movie isn’t exactly like the book, but... hey, that’s the way it is.”
“Yes, I know. But I couldn’t help but notice changes to some pretty pivotal scenes.”
“Like what?” she said absentmindedly, as she scanned her surroundings.
I could tell that she was barely listening to me. Her mind was already elsewhere, probably on the next scenes.
“Mr. Darcy’s refusal to dance.”
A tall redhead walked up to the lunch spread then spotted Keely. With a stern and unhappy look on her face, she turned away from the food offering and made her way to our table.
“I need to talk to you, Keely.”
Keely glanced at her watch. “You have five minutes. We start shooting in the breakfast room soon.”
The redhead glanced at me as if I were an intruder.
