Chapter 249: The Purpose Wasn’t So Simple
Chapter 249: The Purpose Wasn’t So Simple
“Eric…” Donald Teplang softly called out to Eric, then gestured toward the daughter in his arms with his chin.
Because of her failed performance just now, Ivanka looked deeply shaken. Although Donald Teplang’s eloquence was practically good enough for pyramid schemes, even after comforting, encouraging, and even scolding his daughter for quite a while using his usual methods, none of it seemed to work. In the end, he could only seek help from Eric.
Although the little loli had started the whole thing, if Eric had not agreed earlier, the current situation would not have happened either. Eric could not very well refuse, so he pulled over a chair and sat beside Ivanka.
The little loli glanced sideways at Eric and scooted closer toward her father.
“Ivanka, this was definitely your first performance, right?” Eric carefully considered his wording before asking gently.
After a long while, Ivanka lightly nodded.
“I remember when I was in school. It was during music class, and the teacher asked one of my classmates to go up to the podium and sing a song. In the end, because he was too nervous, he stumbled through a few lines and then fainted right there on stage. That was his first performance too. So actually, your performance just now was already very good. You completed more than half the scene.”
Eric deliberately made a comparison first, giving the little loli an excuse to ease the psychological blow. Sure enough, after hearing Eric’s words, Ivanka visibly relaxed somewhat. Still, she softly said, “But… when I sing at school, that kind of thing you mentioned never happens.”
“Then you must perform on stage often, right?”
“Mm.” Ivanka nodded.
“See? That’s exactly the key issue. Acting is like singing. The first time will always make you nervous. After trying several more times and gradually getting used to it, things get better.”
“Then…” Ivanka finally raised her head, blinking her beautiful eyes as she asked, “Mr. Williams, why was I nervous just now? I clearly told myself this was supposed to be something very easy.”
“Well…” Eric immediately hesitated.
This involved the issue of releasing one’s natural instincts. Logically speaking, acting should be very easy for an eight-year-old child, because so-called instinctive release was essentially about allowing adult actors to return psychologically to the carefree, uninhibited state of children.
However, nothing was absolute.
Just like the little loli before him—she had already lost that state.
As for Stuart, that little guy still retained it. He remained in a naturally liberated state, which was why he could effortlessly perform according to Eric’s instructions. But Ivanka became nervous instead.
“Ivanka, this issue is pretty complicated, so I can’t really explain it to you right now. Even if I explained it, you probably wouldn’t understand.”
Ivanka obediently gave an “mm” and did not ask further. However, her expression no longer looked as dejected as before.
“Mr. Teplang, we need you in position,” a crew member walked over at that moment.
Donald Teplang nodded, then hugged his daughter again. “Ini, Daddy will be back very soon. Stay here obediently, alright?”
“Mm.” The little loli nodded toward her father and even forced out a smile.
Filming resumed.
This time, the little loli quietly sat to the side without saying anything. She simply continued curiously watching Eric remotely command the entire crew through the walkie-talkie. Her large eyes sparkled brightly.
…
After Eric split the corridor shot into two sections, filming became much smoother.
After only a few NG takes and about twenty minutes of work, the scene finally passed.
Donald Teplang also prepared to leave with his daughter.
When the man first arrived, Eric had been too busy to personally greet him. He had not even known Donald brought his daughter along. But now that they were leaving, Eric naturally could not continue treating him coldly.
After all, Donald Teplang was a real estate tycoon who had personally come to make a cameo appearance, and he had not even accepted a single cent for it. Even if he clearly had some other intentions, it still counted as showing considerable respect.
“Mr. Teplang, thank you for specially coming over,” Eric said as he shook Donald’s hand outside the Plaza Hotel entrance.
“The honor is mine,” Donald replied with a smile. Then he patted the shoulder of the daughter beside him. “Ini, say goodbye to Eric.”
The little loli stepped forward and extended her small hand. “Goodbye, Mr. Williams.”
“Goodbye, Miss Teplang.” Eric lightly shook the little girl’s soft little hand.
Ivanka withdrew her hand, her bright eyes still fixed on Eric. “Mr. Williams, are we friends now?”
Eric froze slightly before smiling and nodding. “Of course.”
“Then you can call me Ivanka now. Or like Daddy, Mommy, and my brother do, you can call me Ini. I’ll call you Eric too, alright?”
“Of course, no problem.” Eric nodded again.
“Eric, maybe… um…” Ivanka stammered twice, then turned toward her father. “Daddy, can I invite Eric to our house as a guest?”
Donald Teplang nearly wanted to pick up his daughter and kiss her twice. What a thoughtful little padded jacket.
Hadn’t all his efforts today been for the sake of establishing a personal relationship with Eric? Originally, he still did not know how to bring it up and had planned to host some parties at home later before cautiously inviting Eric over. Unexpectedly, his daughter had directly solved the problem for him.
Of course, despite his delight, Donald Teplang showed none of it on the surface. He simply said to his daughter, “Of course you can. You’re part of this family too. You have the right to invite guests.”
“Then, Eric, come visit my house when you have time,” the little loli said while looking at Eric expectantly.
“I will,” Eric replied politely without taking it too seriously. He completely treated the little loli’s words as childish talk. Perhaps Ivanka would forget about it after a couple of days.
Only after watching the father and daughter leave did he return to the crew.
…
“Mr. Williams, these are the first draft scripts for the first five episodes sent over by the The X-Files writers’ room. Also, Fox has sent another reminder—they hope you can finish cutting the trailer for Home Alone 2 as soon as possible. They plan to start airing it on television before October 17. And Mr. Robert Shaye said several documents will be delivered tonight…”
Eric flipped through the The X-Files scripts in his hands while listening to Allen read the memo beside him.
After a while, Allen finally closed the memo. “That’s everything. Oh, right. Royce from Central Park just called. He said the crew ran into some trouble over there while preparing the outdoor set.”
Eric immediately raised his head.
Home Alone 2 was currently the top priority.
“What happened?”
“It’s like this. A New York environmental organization refuses to allow us to use artificial snow on a large scale. They even organized people to supervise us. Royce said some of them even got into a small conflict with one of our stagehands earlier.”
For a moment, Eric could not understand how artificial snow had anything to do with environmental organizations.
“This… do you know exactly what’s going on?” Eric asked.
Although this should technically have been something for the producer to worry about, Eric was not only the director but also one of the producers. More importantly, he held the greatest authority on the crew. So whenever a major issue arose, the one who ultimately had to step forward was still him.
Since an actual conflict had already occurred, this matter clearly would not be resolved easily. Eric immediately took it more seriously. As he asked the question, he had already stood up and gone to get his coat, intending to personally inspect the situation.
Allen hurried after him. “Eric, you finally managed to get half a day off. I think Mr. Hansen can definitely handle those things. You should rest properly.”
“It’s fine. If I don’t see it myself, I won’t feel at ease,” Eric shook his head.
Helpless, Allen could only get into the car with Eric as they headed toward Central Park.
On the way, Allen finally explained the situation.
“It’s like this. There are two types of artificial snow. One uses snow machines to create real snowflakes. But that method is too expensive, and the environmental requirements are very strict—it needs temperatures below freezing. There’s no way to achieve that under current weather conditions. So we’re using another method instead, replacing it with snow-like materials. The chemical composition of this artificial snow is magnesium sulfate heptahydrate. Magnesium sulfate is actually harmless. It can even be used as fertilizer for many plants. But that environmental group refuses to listen to our explanation, and they don’t trust our promise that we’ll thoroughly clean everything afterward. They just keep restricting our use of the material. As for the conflict I mentioned earlier, one of the stagehands thought they were being overly nitpicky, and because he was young and hot-blooded, he ended up getting physical.”
Leaning back against the car seat while listening patiently, Eric’s eyes flickered slightly.
“Did things escalate badly?” he asked.
“No. They were separated almost immediately,” Allen shook his head.
Eric let out a breath of relief, then immediately asked another question.
“What about the media?”
“What?”
Eric repeated himself. “I mean, are any media outlets paying attention to this matter?”
Allen heard the seriousness in Eric’s tone and quickly realized something, but he still could not answer immediately.
“I… I’m not too sure. I thought this was just a normal environmental dispute. After all, lots of film crews run into this sort of harassment.”
Eric took a deep breath and said to the driver in front, “Brute, drive faster.”
…
When they arrived at Central Park and passed through the crew’s restricted filming area, Eric immediately saw seven or eight young men and women sprawled all over the ground.
All of them wore masks, but their clothing was extremely revealing. Their exposed skin had all kinds of environmental slogans painted across it in green paint.
Several crew members Eric recognized stood helplessly around the perimeter, while Jeffrey was passionately arguing with a woman in her thirties dressed similarly to the youths lying on the ground.
“Ms. Schneider, how many times do I have to say it? This location absolutely needs fake snow because this is a very important scene. Without snow, it simply won’t work. We’ve already made quite a few compromises. What more do you people want?”
“Absolutely not, Mr. Hansen. If those chemical materials are spread directly over this vegetation, they’ll cause fatal damage.”
“I’ve repeatedly guaranteed to you that after filming is complete, we’ll clean this place spotless. I even bought a specialized industrial vacuum cleaner for it. Isn’t that enough?”
Ms. Schneider still shook her head. “No. Absolutely not. Central Park is the lungs of Manhattan. If part of your lungs rotted away, Mr. Hansen, how would that feel?”
“What do I have to say to make you agree?”
“We will never agree. Absolutely, absolutely no fake snow can be spread over this lawn.” Ms. Schneider herself appeared increasingly agitated.
As the two argued heatedly, Eric walked over.
Jeffrey happened to have his back turned toward Eric and did not notice him. But for some reason, Ms. Schneider recognized Eric at a glance and immediately walked over with a stern expression.
“Mr. Williams? I’m Shirley Schneider from the New York Green Environmental Organization. I strongly protest your crew’s actions of spreading chemical substances over the lawn. You must change this setup.”
Jeffrey also came over beside Eric at that moment and helplessly glanced at the woman before saying, “Sorry, Eric. Looks like our scenes here this afternoon may have to be postponed too.”
“It’s alright.” Eric patted Jeffrey’s shoulder, then turned to the woman before him. “Ms. Schneider, right? I heard part of your argument just now, so let me ask you something first. Do you know the composition of the artificial snow we’re using?”
Shirley Schneider let out a cold laugh. “Of course I know. Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate.”
“And what else?” Eric pressed.
Shirley Schneider froze. “What else is there?”
Eric said, “Don’t you know that magnesium sulfate heptahydrate is not only harmless to plants, but is actually a type of fertilizer? So the fake snow we’re spreading not only won’t damage the vegetation here—it’s actually beneficial.”
Shirley Schneider’s expression shifted several times before she quickly replied, “I don’t currently know whether what you’re saying is true. I’ll go back and gather information. But even if it is fertilizer, you’re spreading such a thick layer that it’s definitely excessive. I know very well that any substance used excessively will produce the opposite effect.”
“I already said earlier that we’ll definitely clean everything thoroughly after filming,” Jeffrey interjected again.
“I don’t trust you people. You profit-driven capitalists always say one thing and do another. So if you insist on spreading it…” Shirley Schneider pointed toward the men and women sprawled across the lawn. “Then spread it over our bodies!”
Eric glanced over the lawn several times, and a thought quickly emerged in his mind.