{3rd Person POV}
Monday, 1st June, 2008
The final week of filming had arrived, and with it, the end of the filming came nearer.
From yesterday, Oliver and Co had been shooting the scene where Lord Caldlow meets Cutter, and for this, they had gone back to the same warehouse as before.
Although Oliver could've shot this scene before and avoided the hassle of going to the warehouse again, he wanted to shoot the entire film in the manner the screenplay was written. And due to this, many people had obviously complained, it wasn't seen as too big of a deal by anyone.
Back to the shooting.
This was the 2nd take of this scene, around the average number of takes for 'The Prestige', but something most Directors would kill for.
"Thank you for coming, Mr. Owen." Cutter greeted, shaking hands with Owens, the lawyer of Robert Angier, who was now dead. "It's fallen to me to get rid of Mr. Angier's equipment. Looking at the manifest, it's clear that Lord Caldlow has purchased the bulk of the items."
"Mr. Cutter, if you needed to know where to deliver the items, you surely could have just-"
"It's not just that, Mr. Owens. There is a particular item." Cuter turns to look at a giant Crate; an invention of Tesla, and the magic equipment of Angier, it was called "The Real Transported Man". "This time, in fact, that I wish to… well, that is to say, I want to-"
"You want to buy it instead." Owens concluded.
"I suppose so, yes." Cutter confirmed with a nod.
Owens then slowly moves towards the Crate, and notices the 'Colorado Springs' stencil on its side.
"This is the machine?" Owens asks. "I'm afraid Lord Caldlow was adamant about procuring this particular item."
"... Perhaps if I could talk to Lord Caldlow in person." Cutter proposed.
"Out of the question, I'm afraid."
"I see." Cutter nods, accepting the rejection of his idea.
Owens starts to walk away, but then turns back to Cutter. "Of course, I suppose… if, in the course of your delivery arrangements your oaths were to cross… I won't be able to stop you from speaking your mind."
Cutter just returns a courteous nod.
"Cut! That was great!" He spoke through the microphone. "We'll move onto the next scene."
***
The same day, the crew moved to a villa they had rented to act as Caldlow's Estate.
The crew was in the drawing room, setting up the camera and lighting. As soon as they got done, both Kenneth and Oliver got in their positions.
"3, 2, 1… action!" With Grant's order to start, Kenneth started looking around the room, as if he was trying to not bore himself while waiting for Lord Caldlow.
Soon, his eyes land on the Carriage Clock placed on the mantle, and as instructed by Oliver, his gaze lingers onto it.
And then, Lord Caldlow enters the room. Cutter looks at him through the reflection through the window, and he gets surprised at who Caldlow is.
"Dear God…" He mutters and turns around.
There he was, Robert Angier, standing right in front of him. But how could it be? Cutter had seen Angier drown in a tank with his own eyes, and he had seen his dead body too. And yet, there he was, standing right there, now calling himself Caldlow and adoring small and pointed moustache and hair.
"Hello, Cutter." Angier greeted him with a smirk. He wore a grey coat and white undershirt, as well as a dark coloured scarf tied around his neck with a chequered pattern.
His attire looked really expensive, but it didn't make any sense for Cutter. Why would such a rich person perform magic tricks for a decade? Why waste your time doing some measly thing when you had such a fortune?
"You're alive." Cuter began, and Angiee confirmed with a nod. "You're Lord Caldlow?" He asked, to which Angier nodded again. "But how?"
Angier shrugged, and answered, "I learned an American accent from-"
"How are you alive, Robert?! I saw you on the slab, for God's sake!" Cutter asked angrily, an emotion that was quite rare for him.
The acting from Kenneth seemed so genuine that Oliver forgot that it was just that: Acting, and he had a look of shock on his face, but quickly recovered and went back into Acting Mode TM
Angier looked at Cutter with a steady gaze, and answered, "A Magician never reveals his secret."
"Cut!" Grant interjects the two, ending this take as planned. However, Oliver was a tad bit disappointed, as he was just really getting into the role of Angier/Caldlow. Of course, he didn't let his disappointment show on his face, and walked to Grace and the person acting as the Housekeeper.
"Alright, Grace." Oliver began as he sat with his knee bent. "So, you're going to walk right there as Grant says 'action', okay?" Oliver pointed to just outside the drawing room, and Grace nodded. "Good. So, as you walk into the hallway, just stop moving when you see me, aka Caldlow. Hesitate to walk inside, until the housekeeper urges you. Got that?"
"Yes!" Grace replied excitedly.
Oliver walked back to his position, as the woman acting as the housekeeper walked to just behind the drawing room door with Grace in hand.
"3, 2, 1 and action!"
The Housekeeper and Jess stop right in front of the door, as both the men turn to look at the two.
Angier gently smiles at Jess, "Good night, Jess."
The two of them walk away, into the interior of the mansion.
"Who's the girl?" Cutter questions Angier.
However, Angier does not reply.
"I've seen her… I've seen her in the Court with Fallon." Cutter then realises who the girl is, and looks at Angier, completely shocked. "What have you done?"
"She needs someone to look after-"
"She needs her father, someone you're letting get hanged. And I helped you do that." He moves to the door, as if in a daze, but then pauses. "I came here tonight to beg Lord Caldlow to let me destroy the machine. But I won't beg you for anything."
"You don't have to. I'm going to make sure that the machine is never used again." Angier shrugs, "A good magician never repeats his tricks."
Cutter then makes a decision, and asks Angier, "Then, Lord Caldlow, where would you like me to deliver the machine?"
"My theatre. It belongs with the Prestige materials."
Cutter looks at Angier with a sad look on his face, and leaves the room.
"Cut! It's a wrap!"
And like that, the filming for the day came to an end.
***
Wednesday, 5th June, 2008
"Are you sure that I won't get burned?" Oliver asked the Pyrotechnician.
"I'm certain, sir. Your clothes are made from cotton and have added chemicals to make them highly fire resistant. The only really vulnerable spots would be your hands and face."
"So, my body parts that people can see will be the most likely to burn? That's a bummer."
The pyrotechnician smiled wryly. After all, what was he even supposed to do? This was the most fire resistance a person could get without being in water.
"Everyone, get in your positions!" Oliver heard Grant's order, and quickly walked to his position with a lamp in hand.
This was the final scene of both the film, and the 50 day long shoot. Everyone was running on fumes by now, as it had gotten quite tiring for everyone, including Oliver who was already pushing himself a lot.
The set they were on was quite large, and that was a good thing since this is supposed to be an abandoned theatre. On the sides, there were many glass tanks filled with water, and inside each and every tank was a dummy made to look like Angier, aka Oliver.
"What a sight to behold." Oliver muttered.
"3, 2, 1… and action!"
On cue, Oliver went in-character, and stared at one of the tanks. Suddenly, a *Thud* sound came from the darkness
"Cutter?" Angier asked, but he got no response.
*Thud* *thud*
The sound got louder and closer with each passing moment.
"Cutter?" He asked again in a tense voice.
Angier flinches, as a rubber ball bounces into the light and towards him. He drops his cane and and bends down to catch the ball. Confused, he turns the ball around in his hand.
Suddenly, a man wearing a bowler hat walks towards Angier, but before he can even utter a sentence, he gets shot.
Angier tands in his place, confused at the situation, before collapsing to the ground on his knees, clutching the area where he was shot, his stomach.
The ball falls to the ground, and bounces back to the man, who steps on it to stop the momentum, and bends down to pick it up. After he gets up, he takes off his bowler hat, revealing himself to be Alfred Borden.
"A brother, a twin." Angier says, the realisation hitting him.
Borden walks over to Angier, and crouches.
"You were Fallon… the whole time?" Angier asked, not comprehending how someone could spend their entire life dressed up as someone else.
"No, we were both Fallon, and we were both Borden." Borden explained.
Angier gasped for air, and asked, "W-were you the one who went into the box… or the one who came back out?"
"We took turns." Borden revealed. "The trick is where we would swap."
Angier groaned, and closed his eyes. "Cutter knew, Cutter knew, but I told him it too was too simple. Too easy."
"No." Borden disagreed. "Simple, maybe. But not easy." Borden reminiscent's his life, and the hardship that came with living a double life. "Nothing easy about two men sharing a single life."
"What about… Olivia? And your wife?"
"We each loved one of them. I loved Sarah, and he loved Olivia. We each shared half of a full life, which was enough for us, but not for them."
Tears start forming in Borden's eyes.
"See, sacrifice, Robert, is the price of a good trick. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Angier forces himself to laugh, and says, "I-I've made sacrifices, yes."
"It takes nothing to steal someone else's work."
"*gasp* It takes… everything." Angier says with a weak voice. "It took courage… it took courage to climb into that machine every night… not knowing if I'd be the man in the box, or the Prestige."
Angier looks up at Borden, and asks, "You wanna see what it cost me? Yo-you didn't see where you are, did you? Look, look."
Borden silently looked at Angier with disgust, and then opened his mouth. "You went halfway around the world. You spent a fortune. You did terrible things, really terrible things, Robert… and all that for nothing."
"You never understood… why we did this?" Angier asks, his lips curling up into a small smile. "The audience knows the truth- the world is simple. Miserable. Solid all the way through… but if you could fool them, even for a second, then you can make them wonder. Then you get to see something… very special."
The smile on Angier's face fully blooms, giving him happiness even at death's door.
"You really don't know?" Angier asked Borden.
"It was… it was the look on their faces."
Angier utters his final words, and closes his eyes, realising that he couldn't continue any longer, and falls to the ground, as the lantern falls from his hand and fire spreads to the ground.
Borden looks on at Angier's dead body as his lips turn into a thin line.
"Cut!"
As those words left Grant's lips, everyone started applauding Michael's and Oliver's performance.
Oliver raised his head, and asked Michael, "Is it over?"
"It's over." Michael replied with a smile.
"Well, that's great." Oliver quickly got up and moved away from the fire as the Pyrotechnicians put the flames out.
"That sure was an experience." Oliver said as he shook Michael's hand.
"Indeed. It was quite a lot of fun, don't you think?"
"It was, but I don't think I'm going to be missing it that much."
"Why not?" Michael tilted his head to the head.
"It was just… too much work, I guess? I mean, I did THREE films in a year. The fatigue is going to catch up, and I think this is a good ending point for that train."
"Fair enough." Michael nodded. "But, if you want, I can act in your next film if you want."
Oliver hummed, and cupped his chin with his hand.
"Nah, I'm kind of going for a special thing for that one, and you don't fit the bill."
"That's sad to hear, but it is what it is." Michael shrugged, and then slapped Oliver on the back. "C'mon, go and thank everyone. You're the Director, right? I think everyone deserves a compliment for their work."
"Thanks." Oliver says, and walks towards the rest of the crew.
"Alright everyone! How about a party? That sounds good to you!"
To Oliver's proposal, everyone replied with a resounding "Yes!".
And just like that, Oliver got one step closer to becoming more famous, and one step closer to becoming the Emperor of Hollywood.
~~~
A/N: I'M BACK! BACK FROM THE DEAD!
What, you thought I was going to go on a hiatus like basically ebry other Hollywood Novel writer?
Well, jokes on you, because I have a 5-day holiday from today till Wednesday! Aka Nov 16th, 2023!
Well, moving on to the chapter itself, I feel like it ended quite nicely, and in a way that shows Oliver's growth, both as a director and as a friend to Michael.
Tbh, I www contemplating whether to end the volume here or continue it till the premiere, andI chose premiere, which will ALSO be how volumes will end from now on.
And about the word count, I thought it wouldn't even reach 2k, but it ended up reaching 2.4k. Really surprised, ngl.
Also, yes, I know that the Long Take at the end is a bit unrealistic, but it's a novel, so I can get a little unrealistic.
Oh, and here's a meme from yours truly:
The Flash and Indy 5: Racing to see who'll be the biggest bomb of all time
The Marvels, opening lower than The Flash, Incredible Hulk and Shazam!: Hold my beer