PART 9

The next day, Rollie, Angie, Alex and Taryn gathered around a small table in the rear of the eating hall to have breakfast and to discuss that day’s effects. Angie and Alex finish their meal relatively quickly. Rollie and Taryn had hardly touched their plates, as they were more interested in talking shop than eating.

During the night, the snow had stopped falling, but some snow still remained on the ground. It was quite a sight. Everything looked so clean, fresh and innocent. Too bad the snow only hid the problems plaguing the site. Angie and Alex, who were getting restless inside the lodge, decided to wait outside.

Angie playfully tossed a snowball in Alex’s direction. Soon, they engaged in a full-fledged, but still friendly, snowball fight. They had a very good exchange going with them about equal in hits. They were so involved in their own activities, they never noticed that people had started to join them outside. Eventually, they were too busy laughing to concentrate on balance. They slipped and grabbed onto the other in an attempt to hold each other upright. They only succeeded in dragged each other down though. They landed in a tangle of arms and legs. His weight pressed Angie into the ground. Their eyes locked, while their faces moved closer together. Just before their lips touched, they heard a voice.

"This is a movie set not a playground." the passing assistant director yelled, looking very miffed at this display of un-professionalism.

Both blushed profusely and hurriedly stood up, brushing the snow off their clothes. They looked at each other and starting grinning about their situation. They wandered back towards the lodge to finish waiting for Rollie and Taryn.

****

An hour later, Rollie and Angie were busy preparing for the next shoot. It took place in a clearing in the trees that was about a five minute walk from the lodge. Most effects needed were quite simple. However, the art director wanted the trees in the shot to appear like they were covered in ice. This meant the trees had to be sprayed with a thin, clear gel that has been mixed with small crystal pieces. When the gel hardened, and light was shone onto it, the crystal would reflect the light causing the gel to look like layers of ice. The effect was relatively easy to do, just time consuming as there was a lot of trees to cover. In addition, they had to make sure the gel was applied everywhere while remaining thin enough to dry quickly.

The gel was loaded in a backpack containers so they could keep their hands free to operate the long hose which would dispense the gel. Despite that, the application of the gel was still a messy process. Some of the gel was blown back onto the F/X team by the slight breeze that was blowing. It also dripped from branches, landing on their clothes, in their hair, etc. Both Rollie and Angie would have loved a shower after they finished but they were required to remain on location until filming ended. It was a horrible feeling, being coated in the gel. It dried hard, so when you moved, you could feel it bend and crack. Fortunately, the gel was water-soluble and someone was thoughtful enough to bring them a pale of water. At least they would be able to wash the gel off their hands and face.

They had just started to clean themselves up when they heard the art director bellowing at them. Now what? they thought in unison as they made their way towards him.

"Great job, you two. It looks great. You have to do some trees on the other side of the ravine though, they’re in the shot."

"OK, fine, whatever. Come on, Ang."

They grabbed the packs again and walked to the ravine edge. The only visible way across was a log about 50 meters north. Rollie was a little hesitant about using it because it spanned a 20-meter drop onto jagged rocks. Angie had no such qualms and stepped up onto the log. She moved slowly but surely and made it across with little difficulty. Once Angie was safe on the other side, Rollie started his journey. When he was almost halfway across, the log shifted and sent him flying forward.

"Rollieeeee!!" Angie screamed, afraid she was going to witness something horrible.