Chapter 74: Opening Logo
Chapter 74: Opening Logo
The next day, Eric still arrived at the set early as usual. After a night of rest, he could finally walk without limping. Everyone in the crew tacitly avoided mentioning what had happened yesterday, though most of them could not hide the curiosity and speculation in their eyes.
“Nickel, has Julia arrived yet?” Eric tugged at Nickel Frank, who was pretending to focus on adjusting the camera.
Nickel raised his head and pointed toward the trailer, an ambiguous smile appearing on his face. “Miss Roberts arrived a long time ago. She’s inside the trailer.”
Eric patted Nickel on the shoulder and walked toward the trailer. Behind him, everyone who had been pretending to stay busy simultaneously turned to watch his back.
“The director isn’t going to fly into a rage, right?” one crew member whispered to his companion.
“Who knows? But don’t worry. The movie’s almost finished, so they definitely won’t replace the female lead at the last minute. Hey, why do you think Miss Roberts kicked the director yesterday? Those were high heels. That had to hurt like hell.”
“You’re asking me? How would I know? But between directors and actresses, it’s always the same kind of messy stuff. Honestly, I kind of like fierce women like Julia Roberts. She’s got spirit.”
“Spirit, my ass. You came late, so you didn’t see what she looked like this morning. She looked completely distraught. Bet she regretted it all night.”
Amid the whispers behind him, Eric stepped into the trailer.
Julia was sitting in front of the makeup mirror, absentmindedly letting Allison apply foundation to her face. The moment she saw Eric through the mirror, her body stiffened.
“Allison, go outside for a moment,” Eric said, pointing toward the door.
Allison set down the makeup tools and worriedly glanced at Julia before turning and leaving the trailer. Eric locked the trailer door, walked over to Julia, swept the bottles and containers aside on the makeup table, then leaned against it and lowered his head to stare directly at her.
The girl looked somewhat haggard. Her head was slightly lowered, her eyes flickering as she did not dare meet Eric’s gaze. Both hands rested on her knees, unconsciously kneading the hem of her clothes.
“You don’t have anything to say? Like apologizing, maybe?”
Seeing the girl trembling nervously, Eric sighed and spoke first.
Julia lowered her head even further. The hands clutching her clothes curled into little fists, yet she stubbornly bit her lip without saying a word.
Eric reached out and lifted the girl’s chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. Impatience crept into his tone.
“Look at me. Say something.”
The instant their eyes met again, Julia’s body visibly trembled. Looking into Eric’s aggressive gaze, she remembered that night again. That night, this hateful man had treated her the same way. For some reason, the stubborn resistance in her heart instantly vanished, replaced instead by an inexplicable anticipation.
Eric withdrew his hand, yet Julia continued mechanically holding her head up. Her cheeks flushed red, and her eyes shimmered with emotional haze.
After staring at each other for several seconds, the scenes from that blurred night resurfaced in Eric’s mind as well. Unable to help himself, he extended a finger again, lightly brushing across the girl’s cheek before sliding toward her rosy lips.
Julia let out a silent moan.
Yes… yes… just like this.
This time, however, the girl no longer remained passive. Instead, she slightly parted her lips and drew that finger into her mouth. Her eyes flowed seductively as she looked at Eric, her little tongue moving flexibly as though tending carefully to something, gently sucking on his finger.
After a while, Eric could not help inserting his thumb into the girl’s mouth as well. Catching that nimble tongue, he pinched it lightly. Amid the girl’s soft moans, Eric suddenly snapped back to his senses, somewhat embarrassed by his lapse in self-control.
He pulled out a tissue and wiped his damp fingers before guiltily looking at the girl, whose expression was filled with expectation and intoxication.
“All right. I think… I understand where the problem lies now.”
Julia leaned forward, resting her head against Eric’s lower abdomen as her small hand slid toward his belt. Just as she was about to continue, Eric reached out and stopped her.
“Julia, this isn’t the right place. There are dozens of people outside waiting for us.”
“I… I don’t care,” the girl murmured softly between breaths, her hands still trying to continue.
Eric raised his hand, intending to snap the girl out of it, but suddenly remembered that under these circumstances, she would not wake up from it at all. Instead, those emotions would only intensify.
After thinking for a moment, Eric strode to the trailer door and yanked it open. Bright sunlight and the surrounding noise of the crew immediately flooded into the trailer.
Eric turned back to look. Julia’s eyes had regained some clarity. Fortunately, her instinctive sense of shame could still suppress that obedient impulse. That was a good sign. The condition was not severe.
“All right, Julia. Let’s forget what happened yesterday. We’ll talk about this after filming is finished. About this… I’m very sorry, but you may need some psychological treatment.”
Although Julia was already twenty-two years old, she did not understand what Eric meant by that last sentence. She only knew Stockholm was the capital of Sweden. Unlike Eric, she did not possess decades of accumulated worldly knowledge from another life.
However, the lingering submissiveness from moments earlier still made her obediently nod. At the same time, hearing the words “psychological treatment” and recalling her own behavior just now, Julia also realized something about herself was definitely wrong.
“Can you tell me what exactly is going on?” Julia straightened her disheveled clothes and asked softly.
Eric returned to her side. Seeing a lock of hair hanging over the girl’s forehead, he instinctively reached out to brush it aside, but quickly withdrew his hand again.
“Sorry, Julia. You may have a mild case of Stockholm Syndrome.”
Julia looked confused. She only knew Stockholm was Sweden’s capital city. However, seeing the guilty and awkward expression on Eric’s face, she did not continue asking questions.
When some crew members saw Eric emerge from the trailer so quickly, they all looked disappointed. The trailer rented by the crew was not large. If a man and woman had started doing certain rhythmic activities inside, the vehicle would definitely have shaken. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort happened, greatly disappointing those eager for gossip.
“What are you all staring at? Get moving and prepare for work already!”
Eric had already been feeling guilty, and being stared at by these shameless people made him both embarrassed and irritated.
“Allison, yes, you! Why are you hiding? And whoever that is, hurry up and finish Julia’s makeup. Nickel, why isn’t the camera track set up yet? Don’t want this job anymore? Allen, bring me my director’s script…”
As Eric roared commands, the entire crew quickly sprang into motion, and another busy day of filming officially began.
…
That afternoon, Jeffrey returned from New York. At the same time, he informed Eric that the Firefly Company opening logo produced by Pixar had already been completed.
After the day’s filming wrapped up, Eric met with the Pixar representatives at Firefly headquarters.
“Eric, this is Pixar’s Executive Vice President of Creative, Mr. John Lasseter. John, this is Eric.”
After Jeffrey’s introduction, the two shook hands.
“Mr. Lasseter, I’m very sorry to have kept you waiting so long,” Eric apologized.
John Lasseter had arrived at Firefly headquarters at four in the afternoon and had waited until seven in the evening before finally meeting Eric. However, John did not dare complain much. At this point, every single project Pixar could obtain was extremely important to the studio’s survival.
“It’s all right, Mr. Williams. I think we should first take a look at the opening logo your company commissioned.”
“Of course.”
Eric nodded, and the three of them entered Firefly’s screening room together. John Lasseter personally loaded the completed logo videotape into the projector.
On the screen, a little girl in a red hooded sweatshirt stood beneath the night sky on an open field, holding a glass jar.
The girl opened the jar lid. A firefly inside fluttered its wings several times before quickly flying out. It traced the cursive light-shadow words “firefly-film” through the air before drifting farther and farther away, eventually transforming into the brightest star within the sky full of twinkling stars.
The full logo lasted around thirty seconds. After replaying it several times, Eric finally frowned and voiced his opinion.
“Mr. Lasseter, don’t you think the little girl’s movements in the animation are a bit too stiff?”