complicated.”
“And fascinating,” Lisa said. “I hadn’t thought about filming in those terms, but, of course, it makes sense. It’s sort of like—”
“Shhh,” Jeanette said. “I’m about ready to do the hair sprouting out of your cheekbones.”
Lisa sat absolutely still while Jeanette finished her makeup. Once again Jeanette had succeeded in making her look exactly like herself. She noticed that Jeanette followed a chart she’d prepared the first day so Lisa’s makeup would be identical from day to day. There was a lot that went on behind the scenes of movie-making that was completely invisible to moviegoers. Lisa liked getting the inside view of it all.
It turned out that the scene they were to shoot called for Skye to canter up toward the stable with Maverick following him. Lisa’s job was to walk through the back door, take his reins, and kneel down to be greeted by Maverick. That’s where the “Beautiful dog!” line came in.
There were several problems with the scene. The first was that no good rider would do what Skye was doing. It was very bad practice to canter a horse up to the stable. A horse was always supposed to be cooled down before being dismounted and stabled. Usually the last ten or fifteen minutes of any ride should be at a walk.
Lisa wanted to tell some of the people there about that, but nobody seemed to be interested in her horse expertise. Then it turned out that there was a worse problem, and it was Skye. According to the script, he was supposed to be excited and exhilarated by the ride. What he looked like was frightened.
Pepper had a wonderful rocking canter, but nobody would know that looking at Skye Ransom. He rode Pepper as if he were Ichabod Crane being chased by the headless horseman. There was a look of pure terror on his face.
“Cut!” Oliver cried out. “Something wrong, Skye?”
“No,” Skye said, but it was clear that there was.
“Is the horse going too fast for you?” Oliver asked.
“No,” Skye said. Lisa could tell that Skye was very uncomfortable about something, but she also knew that he was too much of a professional to let his problems cause trouble on the set. “Lets try it again, Oliver,” he suggested.
Oliver agreed and the scene was set up again. Lisa returned to the stable, prepared to step out on cue. From the shadows, she watched Skye’s approach. The second time wasn’t any better than the first. The problem was that Skye was scared, pure and simple. When he drew Pepper to a halt and Oliver yelled “Cut,” for the second time, Lisa tried to come to Skye’s rescue. She steppedforward and took hold of Pepper’s reins and began talking to the horse. She was really talking to Skye.
“Come on, boy, you can do this,” she said. She patted Pepper on the neck and slipped a carrot stick in his mouth. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. That’s just a big old camera there, recording every beautiful, smooth move you make. Now, don’t you go frightening my friend, Skye, okay? Just give him a smooth cantering gait that so he can rock like a baby in the saddle, okay, boy?”
“Okay, Lisa,” Skye answered. He sounded a little testy. Lisa thought maybe she was being a little bit of a busybody. She backed off and waited while Skye and Oliver talked.
Maverick came over to her, wagging his tail eagerly. He was a welcome distraction to the discomfort around the set.
After the conference between Skye and Oliver, they tried the scene again. This time Skye managed to smile and look exhilarated all right, but it was because Red O’Malley, Pine Hollow’s stable hand, made the mistake of driving a horse van right between Skye and the camera. Skye was laughing. When Red realized what he’d done, he jut drove off as quickly as he could. On the next take Maverick got distracted by one of the stable cats. And then it was Pepper’s fault. He threw a shoe. The farrier happened to be at Pine Hollow and was able to putthe shoe right back on. Pepper
“And fascinating,” Lisa said. “I hadn’t thought about filming in those terms, but, of course, it makes sense. It’s sort of like—”
“Shhh,” Jeanette said. “I’m about ready to do the hair sprouting out of your cheekbones.”
Lisa sat absolutely still while Jeanette finished her makeup. Once again Jeanette had succeeded in making her look exactly like herself. She noticed that Jeanette followed a chart she’d prepared the first day so Lisa’s makeup would be identical from day to day. There was a lot that went on behind the scenes of movie-making that was completely invisible to moviegoers. Lisa liked getting the inside view of it all.
It turned out that the scene they were to shoot called for Skye to canter up toward the stable with Maverick following him. Lisa’s job was to walk through the back door, take his reins, and kneel down to be greeted by Maverick. That’s where the “Beautiful dog!” line came in.
There were several problems with the scene. The first was that no good rider would do what Skye was doing. It was very bad practice to canter a horse up to the stable. A horse was always supposed to be cooled down before being dismounted and stabled. Usually the last ten or fifteen minutes of any ride should be at a walk.
Lisa wanted to tell some of the people there about that, but nobody seemed to be interested in her horse expertise. Then it turned out that there was a worse problem, and it was Skye. According to the script, he was supposed to be excited and exhilarated by the ride. What he looked like was frightened.
Pepper had a wonderful rocking canter, but nobody would know that looking at Skye Ransom. He rode Pepper as if he were Ichabod Crane being chased by the headless horseman. There was a look of pure terror on his face.
“Cut!” Oliver cried out. “Something wrong, Skye?”
“No,” Skye said, but it was clear that there was.
“Is the horse going too fast for you?” Oliver asked.
“No,” Skye said. Lisa could tell that Skye was very uncomfortable about something, but she also knew that he was too much of a professional to let his problems cause trouble on the set. “Lets try it again, Oliver,” he suggested.
Oliver agreed and the scene was set up again. Lisa returned to the stable, prepared to step out on cue. From the shadows, she watched Skye’s approach. The second time wasn’t any better than the first. The problem was that Skye was scared, pure and simple. When he drew Pepper to a halt and Oliver yelled “Cut,” for the second time, Lisa tried to come to Skye’s rescue. She steppedforward and took hold of Pepper’s reins and began talking to the horse. She was really talking to Skye.
“Come on, boy, you can do this,” she said. She patted Pepper on the neck and slipped a carrot stick in his mouth. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. That’s just a big old camera there, recording every beautiful, smooth move you make. Now, don’t you go frightening my friend, Skye, okay? Just give him a smooth cantering gait that so he can rock like a baby in the saddle, okay, boy?”
“Okay, Lisa,” Skye answered. He sounded a little testy. Lisa thought maybe she was being a little bit of a busybody. She backed off and waited while Skye and Oliver talked.
Maverick came over to her, wagging his tail eagerly. He was a welcome distraction to the discomfort around the set.
After the conference between Skye and Oliver, they tried the scene again. This time Skye managed to smile and look exhilarated all right, but it was because Red O’Malley, Pine Hollow’s stable hand, made the mistake of driving a horse van right between Skye and the camera. Skye was laughing. When Red realized what he’d done, he jut drove off as quickly as he could. On the next take Maverick got distracted by one of the stable cats. And then it was Pepper’s fault. He threw a shoe. The farrier happened to be at Pine Hollow and was able to putthe shoe right back on. Pepper
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