The set was busy today since they would be taking studio photos and short clips of each actor and actress.
The director had hired one of the best concept photographers in the industry – Jonathan Steele. He was known for taking outstanding shots of anyone, and his name could be found as a photographer for a lot of the marketing photos for lots of movies and music videos. He had also shot for several fashion houses and magazines like Vogue, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and more. He had a unique eye and everything he shot came out amazing.
As Jonathan Steele was setting up for today's shoot, he could feel the boredom setting in. It seemed that this was just going to be another generic shoot. The premise wasn't too inspiring, just another romantic drama. The only good part was that he had worked with both the male and female leads before and they shot great under his camera.
His task for today was quite simple; make the male lead look bold and handsome and the female lead look bright, fierce, and gorgeous. Other characters had similar requests. The only slight twist was that one of the female actresses was supposed to portray a deathly frail beauty as well as a poisonously seductive character. It was an interesting juxtaposition, and he was curious as to how the actress was going to portray it.
Soon, the actors and actresses started to come out and he began arranging them on the set the way he wanted to.
Then the chaos began.
"Why are you arranging your limbs like that Miss Sorrel? You look like a freshly born giraffe. You're supposed to give me elegance and grace! Does that look graceful to you?"
"Mr. Jackson, an ice cube could give me more expression than what's on your face. Are you practicing becoming a glacier?"
"Tilt your head back! Tilt. It. Back! Break your neck if you have to but tilt it back!"
The abusive words of the photographer rang out, and one by one the actresses ran away almost in tears after he finished shooting them.
The director gazed at the photographer from far away before shaking his head sadly.
The poisoned tongue photographer was in full form today. He would have to let everyone leave early today so they could recover from the mental and verbal abuse. Jonathan Steele continued arranging and filming the clips of the actors.
Nothing really caught his eye, and he was excited for his duty to be done. Although all the people he was shooting were good-looking, they just weren't exciting. Even when he had shot the male and female leads- although they had been better than the vast majority of the people he had filmed, it was still missing a little something.
Then he saw a slight girl coming out. She was relatively tall for a woman. She was wearing a long-sleeved high neck champagne color silk dress that draped around her body before falling to the floor. Her hair was pulled into a simple updo, and she strutted toward him with perfect posture. As she walked, the dress swung from side to side in a hypnotic manner, and as he looked at her, he couldn't help being reminded of runway models. He was entranced.
As she got closer, he examined her face and saw that while it was delicately beautiful, she had quite a serious look in her eyes. She approached and stopped in front of him, bowed her head, and greeted him.
"Hello Mr. Steele, my name is Valentina. I'm looking forward to working with you today!"
Valentina looked at the strict-looking man with glasses in front of her. He was one of the best photographers and she had seen many of his photos in different magazines.
Jonathan Steele was quiet for a moment before he gestured to the photo area and said, "Go get ready."
"Yes!' Valentina replied.
She quickly went to the studio area and was told to drape herself on the couch.
"You want to look a bit listless on the sofa yet have some strength in your eyes." The photographer said.
This was Valentina's first photoshoot, but she was very excited and hoped she could perform well. As she tried to sit on the couch, she was glad for the Graceful Movement Body effect. As the photographer kept calling out poses, when tried to follow his words, she could feel her body adjusting and she felt less awkward than she usually would. As the shoot proceeded, Valentina started to feel a bit faint from the lights and her hunger.
She thought that this was supposed to be quick, but it had been over half an hour, and she hadn't even gotten to her second look. She kept feeling more and more uncomfortable and knew that it was her body acting up again. The lights were making her feel dizzy and she felt slightly faint. She felt something rising in her chest and lightly coughed. She covered her mouth and did her best to suppress it while trying to keep the strain from her face. She was sure her face had started looking wan despite the makeup.
She hoped they would be done soon so she could get some tea and a quick reset.
Thankfully, the photographer called for a break and set change so she could recover a little bit.
Valentina was moved to the side and gingerly sat on a chair. Rina rushed up with a portable makeup kit and some tools. "Miss Valentina, I will slightly fix your makeup for the next part of the shoot. Please give me a moment."
"Sure, Miss Rina," Valentina said quietly. She sat up as straight as possible to minimize her body's movement while she coughed lightly.
She closed her eyes briefly as her makeup was touched up.
"Miss Valentina?" A familiar voice called her.
Valentina opened her eyes and gazed in front of her. It was the photographer Jonathan Steele. He was dressed in all black and his gold-rimmed glasses and straight face gave him a fierce appearance.
"Yes sir?" Valentina responded seriously.
"For the next shoot, we want to portray a more serious look. We want a slightly poisonous yet seductive look without you losing this gentle air. Can you, do it?"
"Yes sir!" Valentina responded with all the energy she could muster up. She felt really weak and hoped it hadn't been too noticeable while being photographed.
"You seem to be a bit weak, make sure you're taking care of your body. An actor's tool is their body, it always has to be in top form."
"Yes sir! Do you happen to have any advice on anything I can do to improve?" Valentina asked. She felt that she had spent a lot of time being photographed compared to some of the other people.
"Nothing as of now. I'll let you know after the shoot. Take care of your body." Jonathan Steele nodded to her, before heading back towards to camera to talk to some people.
"Wow, Valentina I've never seen Mr. Steele give a compliment to anyone." Rina gushed.
"I don't think that was a compliment," Valentina responded dryly. She was glad he just didn't have anything super negative to say.
"You might not know since you're new to the industry, but they call him the poisoned-tongued photographer. He mercilessly scolds everyone regardless of rank or position so that he could get the perfect shot! That was the nicest thing he's said so far! You should be so proud!"
"Okay okay, I'll take your word for it!" Valentina replied with a chuckle before patting her chest to suppress a cough. She really wasn't feeling well.
"It seems they're calling you for round two. Good luck Miss Valentina." Valentina nodded and coughed once before getting up.
Time to go finish the job.