In the Eiffel Bistro, the crew members were busy setting up temporary equipment and instructing the background guests on what to do. Kate stood on the sidelines, rehearsing her lines and waiting for the shooting to begin.
She looked beautiful now, with her deep brown curly hair pinned up and she wore a black backless cocktail dress that perfectly showcased her figure. The black lace patterned stockings made her slender legs look even more alluring.
However, her brows were slightly furrowed, indicating some worries. While she had participated in some film shoots and stage plays last year, most of her roles were minor ones with only a few lines. This was her first time playing a significant role in a scene.
Looking over to the side, she saw Angela and Natalie sitting in a corner of the restaurant, enthusiastically observing the busy crew members. Angela waved her hands and gave Kate a thumbs-up when their eyes met. Kate smiled back at her and then turned her attention back to her lines and the instructions given by Director Brest.
"Feeling nervous? Don't worry, everyone feels that way on their first time. I remember when I had my first film shoot, I was so nervous that my mind went blank. I couldn't remember a single line from the director's cue to the cut. I stood there without saying a word until I was thoroughly scolded," Chris O'Donnell, who was also waiting nearby, approached and said with a charming smile that most women would find attractive.
However, Kate simply nodded politely and said in a calm tone, "I'm not nervous, but I didn't expect that after a simple performance in front of the camera, Mr. Director would choose me to replace this role. It's quite surprising."
"I trust Mr. Brest's judgment. If he selected you, then you can definitely handle it," Chris reassured her, offering a reassuring smile.
Just then, a voice chimed in from the side, "Hey, kid, don't try to seduce my daughter! Otherwise, I'll beat you up!" The unexpected comment startled Chris, and he turned to see Al approaching with a playful glint in his eyes.
"Mr. Al? You scared me." Chris pretended to be "scared."
"If you get scared so easily Charlie, maybe I should send you to a battlefield to see if you'll still be afraid of going to the bathroom alone at night. You know, it takes a lot of courage to build restrooms on the battlefield," Al said, wearing his usual expression of a blind man with unfocused eyes.
Kate couldn't help but burst into laughter, and after a few seconds of silence, Chris also laughed along. Al, like a mischievous old child, spread his hands and turned to Kate, "No need to be too surprised, Miss Kate. All you need to do now is lower your head a bit during the tango!"
Kate could only smile wryly. She knew what Al was referring to. It was an unexpected situation, or well, it couldn't be called an accident, but no one including the director, Al, and Angela, had noticed until the tango rehearsal that Kate was at least 1 inch taller than Al! Dancing the tango in such a way was not an easy task.
However, there was a solution. The crew raised the height of Al's shoes, and during the dance, Kate was asked to slightly bend her knees and lower her head a bit. With some editing in the final cut, it wouldn't be a big issue. Still, Kate had to work harder which was why Al teased her in this manner.
"Ladies and gentlemen, take your positions. We're about to start shooting," Martin said as he sat behind the camera.
As Kate was a temporary actress, the director decided to shoot her scenes first and the tango would be filmed last. After all, shooting a film was not like playing it in a theater, where scenes followed one after another.
"It's a shame. Kate got the lines wrong. She still seems a little unfamiliar."
"Good! I knew she could do it!... Why did the director call it NG? I thought she did well! Darn!"
"Great, excellent! Kate is getting into character!"
Natalie sat in a chair, propping her face up with one hand and found it amusing to watch Angela's excitement next to her. Angela's eyes were wide open, fixed on the shooting scene, her hands clenched into fists and her face filled with worry, nervousness, and excitement, as if she was the one performing.
She looked really adorable like this. Natalie thought so and turned her eyes around. Suddenly, she leaned closer and whispered, "Angie, you seem to care a lot about Kate."
"Care a lot?" Angela turned her head, "Of course! Despite the 7-year age gap, we're best friends, just like me and Jessica. We're even closer in some ways. Do you remember what I told you? When I was four, I ran away from home. If it wasn't for Kate finding me, who knows what would have happened..."
"Wait, wait, Angie, let's not talk about that. I just want to say..." Natalie's face suddenly revealed a mischievous smile, "Do you feel like you have a strong possessiveness towards Kate?"
"What?!" Angela's head instantly had big black lines all over.
"You see, you've been paying close attention to Kate. You question everything she does and always make decisions for her without thinking. Most importantly, you harbor hostility towards any young man who appears by Kate's side, fearing they might take her away from you. From a psychological perspective, these are signs of possessiveness... Hey, what's that expression on your face?" Natalie looked at Angela's face, which seemed to say, "You got me," and "Go ahead, say it," and couldn't help but call out, feeling a bit dissatisfied. She was just joking, but being found out before finishing the sentence wasn't very pleasant.
"I don't have any expression. I'm just wondering when you became a psychologist." Angela replied lazily, not looking at Kate's performance anymore. She just kept her eyes on Natalie. She was indeed startled a moment ago but quickly recovered. If Natalie had seen through her intentions, it would have been embarrassing.
"It's just basic psychological knowledge. You can draw conclusions by observing more," Natalie turned her head to look at the set but didn't dare to make eye contact with Angela. However, she remained stubborn.
Angela pursed her lips, glancing at the cameras in the center of the scene, which had finished filming, and the most challenging part was about to be shot. The director was giving everyone a ten-minute break. She then leaned closer to Natalie's face, "Is that so, Miss Psychologist? Can you tell me what I want to do next?"
"What do you want to do?" Natalie turned her head curiously.
With a mischievous smile, the girl jumped up from her chair and circled around to the side of the dance floor, where the band was discussing the piece they would play later. Angela went straight to the middle-aged man who played the violin. "May I borrow your violin, sir?"
"What do you need it for, miss?" The man looked at the young girl and then at his colleagues, not understanding what she wanted to do.
Angela pointed to the violin in his hands, showing an innocent smile, "Can I try it?"
"This? Miss, this is not a toy." The man wanted to refuse her, but seeing her charming smile, he hesitated and handed it over saying, "Alright, please be careful."
The girl nodded and placed the violin on her shoulder. She tested the sound with the bow, and though it was slightly inferior to the one she had at home, the tone and pitch were still very good. Then she smiled at the man who lent her the violin, took a deep breath, and drew the bow across the strings.
A lazy and humorous melody flowed out. At first, nobody paid much attention, and although the band members were surprised by the girl's proficient skills, it wasn't too unusual. With years of practice, reaching such a level of proficiency was possible. However, as the A section was about to transition to the B section, Angela suddenly lifted her hand and rapidly tapped the strings with the bow a few times, followed by a long pull, using her fingers to continuously pluck the strings that were originally meant to be played by the piano. The transition was so seamless that it felt natural.
This unexpected change astonished the nearby musicians and some guests were drawn in by the unique rendition of《Just A Few Steps Away》played solely on the violin.
《Just A Few Steps Away》or more elegantly called《Por una Cabeza》was a masterpiece by the uncrowned king of Argentine tango, Carlos Gardel. Angela had privately played this tune for Princess Diana at the New Year's Eve party at Buckingham Palace.
This renowned tango piece was often the top choice for tango scenes in films. From the movies Angela remembered such as《True Lies,》 《The Mask of Zorro》 and《Mr. & Mrs. Smith》they had all used this piece. However, none of those versions compared to the rendition in《Scent of a Woman.》
In《Scent of a Woman》two scenes were considered the most iconic: Al Pacino's impassioned speech near the end of the film and this wonderful and romantic tango scene. Angela still remembered a review that described it as such: "This is a magnificent dance, a meeting of souls. Some people can live a lifetime in just one minute, while others are worthy of you spending your whole life on a single dance. Was that a blind man? No, he wasn't. He was Al Pacino, even with his vacant eyes wide open. No, he was the Army lieutenant about to end his life's journey, and yet his final dance was so passionate and beautiful, you couldn't let go of it!"
As the pure violin performance of 《Por una Cabeza》came to an end, applause broke out. At first, it was a few people clapping, then the sound spread, and finally, everyone joined in. Angela let out a sigh of relief. Her pure violin performance was entirely improvised, borrowing techniques from famous violinists like Itzhak Perlman. Fortunately, it seemed she did quite well.
After returning the violin to the nearby musician, she quickly approached the director amid the applause and asked, "Dear Mr. Martin, I know you plan to record the live sound. So, may I play the violin?"
In the Eiffel Bistro, the crew members were busy setting up temporary equipment and instructing the background guests on what to do. Kate stood on the sidelines, rehearsing her lines and waiting for the shooting to begin.
She looked beautiful now, with her deep brown curly hair pinned up and she wore a black backless cocktail dress that perfectly showcased her figure. The black lace patterned stockings made her slender legs look even more alluring.
However, her brows were slightly furrowed, indicating some worries. While she had participated in some film shoots and stage plays last year, most of her roles were minor ones with only a few lines. This was her first time playing a significant role in a scene.
Looking over to the side, she saw Angela and Natalie sitting in a corner of the restaurant, enthusiastically observing the busy crew members. Angela waved her hands and gave Kate a thumbs-up when their eyes met. Kate smiled back at her and then turned her attention back to her lines and the instructions given by Director Brest.
"Feeling nervous? Don't worry, everyone feels that way on their first time. I remember when I had my first film shoot, I was so nervous that my mind went blank. I couldn't remember a single line from the director's cue to the cut. I stood there without saying a word until I was thoroughly scolded," Chris O'Donnell, who was also waiting nearby, approached and said with a charming smile that most women would find attractive.
However, Kate simply nodded politely and said in a calm tone, "I'm not nervous, but I didn't expect that after a simple performance in front of the camera, Mr. Director would choose me to replace this role. It's quite surprising."
"I trust Mr. Brest's judgment. If he selected you, then you can definitely handle it," Chris reassured her, offering a reassuring smile.
Just then, a voice chimed in from the side, "Hey, kid, don't try to seduce my daughter! Otherwise, I'll beat you up!" The unexpected comment startled Chris, and he turned to see Al approaching with a playful glint in his eyes.
"Mr. Al? You scared me." Chris pretended to be "scared."
"If you get scared so easily Charlie, maybe I should send you to a battlefield to see if you'll still be afraid of going to the bathroom alone at night. You know, it takes a lot of courage to build restrooms on the battlefield," Al said, wearing his usual expression of a blind man with unfocused eyes.
Kate couldn't help but burst into laughter, and after a few seconds of silence, Chris also laughed along. Al, like a mischievous old child, spread his hands and turned to Kate, "No need to be too surprised, Miss Kate. All you need to do now is lower your head a bit during the tango!"
Kate could only smile wryly. She knew what Al was referring to. It was an unexpected situation, or well, it couldn't be called an accident, but no one including the director, Al, and Angela, had noticed until the tango rehearsal that Kate was at least 1 inch taller than Al! Dancing the tango in such a way was not an easy task.
However, there was a solution. The crew raised the height of Al's shoes, and during the dance, Kate was asked to slightly bend her knees and lower her head a bit. With some editing in the final cut, it wouldn't be a big issue. Still, Kate had to work harder which was why Al teased her in this manner.
"Ladies and gentlemen, take your positions. We're about to start shooting," Martin said as he sat behind the camera.
As Kate was a temporary actress, the director decided to shoot her scenes first and the tango would be filmed last. After all, shooting a film was not like playing it in a theater, where scenes followed one after another.
"It's a shame. Kate got the lines wrong. She still seems a little unfamiliar."
"Good! I knew she could do it!... Why did the director call it NG? I thought she did well! Darn!"
"Great, excellent! Kate is getting into character!"
Natalie sat in a chair, propping her face up with one hand and found it amusing to watch Angela's excitement next to her. Angela's eyes were wide open, fixed on the shooting scene, her hands clenched into fists and her face filled with worry, nervousness, and excitement, as if she was the one performing.
She looked really adorable like this. Natalie thought so and turned her eyes around. Suddenly, she leaned closer and whispered, "Angie, you seem to care a lot about Kate."
"Care a lot?" Angela turned her head, "Of course! Despite the 7-year age gap, we're best friends, just like me and Jessica. We're even closer in some ways. Do you remember what I told you? When I was four, I ran away from home. If it wasn't for Kate finding me, who knows what would have happened..."
"Wait, wait, Angie, let's not talk about that. I just want to say..." Natalie's face suddenly revealed a mischievous smile, "Do you feel like you have a strong possessiveness towards Kate?"
"What?!" Angela's head instantly had big black lines all over.
"You see, you've been paying close attention to Kate. You question everything she does and always make decisions for her without thinking. Most importantly, you harbor hostility towards any young man who appears by Kate's side, fearing they might take her away from you. From a psychological perspective, these are signs of possessiveness... Hey, what's that expression on your face?" Natalie looked at Angela's face, which seemed to say, "You got me," and "Go ahead, say it," and couldn't help but call out, feeling a bit dissatisfied. She was just joking, but being found out before finishing the sentence wasn't very pleasant.
"I don't have any expression. I'm just wondering when you became a psychologist." Angela replied lazily, not looking at Kate's performance anymore. She just kept her eyes on Natalie. She was indeed startled a moment ago but quickly recovered. If Natalie had seen through her intentions, it would have been embarrassing.
"It's just basic psychological knowledge. You can draw conclusions by observing more," Natalie turned her head to look at the set but didn't dare to make eye contact with Angela. However, she remained stubborn.
Angela pursed her lips, glancing at the cameras in the center of the scene, which had finished filming, and the most challenging part was about to be shot. The director was giving everyone a ten-minute break. She then leaned closer to Natalie's face, "Is that so, Miss Psychologist? Can you tell me what I want to do next?"
"What do you want to do?" Natalie turned her head curiously.
With a mischievous smile, the girl jumped up from her chair and circled around to the side of the dance floor, where the band was discussing the piece they would play later. Angela went straight to the middle-aged man who played the violin. "May I borrow your violin, sir?"
"What do you need it for, miss?" The man looked at the young girl and then at his colleagues, not understanding what she wanted to do.
Angela pointed to the violin in his hands, showing an innocent smile, "Can I try it?"
"This? Miss, this is not a toy." The man wanted to refuse her, but seeing her charming smile, he hesitated and handed it over saying, "Alright, please be careful."
The girl nodded and placed the violin on her shoulder. She tested the sound with the bow, and though it was slightly inferior to the one she had at home, the tone and pitch were still very good. Then she smiled at the man who lent her the violin, took a deep breath, and drew the bow across the strings.
A lazy and humorous melody flowed out. At first, nobody paid much attention, and although the band members were surprised by the girl's proficient skills, it wasn't too unusual. With years of practice, reaching such a level of proficiency was possible. However, as the A section was about to transition to the B section, Angela suddenly lifted her hand and rapidly tapped the strings with the bow a few times, followed by a long pull, using her fingers to continuously pluck the strings that were originally meant to be played by the piano. The transition was so seamless that it felt natural.
This unexpected change astonished the nearby musicians and some guests were drawn in by the unique rendition of《Just A Few Steps Away》played solely on the violin.
《Just A Few Steps Away》or more elegantly called《Por una Cabeza》was a masterpiece by the uncrowned king of Argentine tango, Carlos Gardel. Angela had privately played this tune for Princess Diana at the New Year's Eve party at Buckingham Palace.
This renowned tango piece was often the top choice for tango scenes in films. From the movies Angela remembered such as《True Lies,》 《The Mask of Zorro》 and《Mr. & Mrs. Smith》they had all used this piece. However, none of those versions compared to the rendition in《Scent of a Woman.》
In《Scent of a Woman》two scenes were considered the most iconic: Al Pacino's impassioned speech near the end of the film and this wonderful and romantic tango scene. Angela still remembered a review that described it as such: "This is a magnificent dance, a meeting of souls. Some people can live a lifetime in just one minute, while others are worthy of you spending your whole life on a single dance. Was that a blind man? No, he wasn't. He was Al Pacino, even with his vacant eyes wide open. No, he was the Army lieutenant about to end his life's journey, and yet his final dance was so passionate and beautiful, you couldn't let go of it!"
As the pure violin performance of 《Por una Cabeza》came to an end, applause broke out. At first, it was a few people clapping, then the sound spread, and finally, everyone joined in. Angela let out a sigh of relief. Her pure violin performance was entirely improvised, borrowing techniques from famous violinists like Itzhak Perlman. Fortunately, it seemed she did quite well.
After returning the violin to the nearby musician, she quickly approached the director amid the applause and asked, "Dear Mr. Martin, I know you plan to record the live sound. So, may I play the violin?"
