Heart Themed Canvas [UsUk]

Above The Line [Ch.3]

It was a Friday, only one week into Arthur's new job. The sun was bearing down upon the set with a vengeance, relentlessly beating upon the backs of those working underneath. On any other set, morale would likely have been quite low, but Tino always managed to keep the spirits up with his rallying and well-placed encouragement, along with the very persuasive promise of good fortune. Of course, this didn't mean that the actor and artist duo weren't thankful for their reprieve from the blazing heat by the mercy of their air-conditioned trailer (which, incidentally, really was "theirs" now; rarely did anyone come in or out but either Arthur or Alfred).

In the one week that the makeup artist had been working for Alfred Jones so far, Arthur could already easily see why Francis had said that with this production, there would be doing one job and one job only. Arthur simply had no space to hold a position in any other movie, though the artist would have thought that such business for only one production would have been impossible before. However, Tino Väinämöinen seemed to have a goal in proving otherwise.

When Arthur wasn't actively doing the makeup, either on set or within the trailer, he was right by the director's side, watching and taking notes. Some other artists bypassed this offer, or were not even presented the opportunity at all, but Arthur took his job seriously. And as good as he was, it was a great difficulty keeping up with that high caliber every single day. Thus, he was in with the director as often as he could, living and breathing "Viewfinder" like everyone else on set seemed to be.

Tino had a very specific vision for what he wanted each scene to look like, and he often called together meetings to explain to all the artists just what he wanted them to create. Usually very sweet and mild mannered on the whole, Director Väinämöinen was, however, ruthless and adamant when it came to how an actor was portrayed and how he or she would fit into the scene. The director didn't know much when it came to the actual theory of makeup artistry, but he did know when something "looked right" or it didn't—and that was enough.

This being Arthur's first time working on a Väinämöinen production, he had to try extra hard to get used to the way things were run. It was different from most other movies of which he had been a part before, and not only because his specific acting charge was a large conundrum all unto himself—though that was indeed a large part of it.

Arthur had a hard time adjusting, and it was mostly thanks to Alfred that that was the case. The Briton considered himself very much a professional, meaning that he was quick to adapt and quick to learn the ropes of a new set of routines. Tino's way of doing things was definitely more involved than usual, but understandably so, and it had only taken Arthur about three days to get on top of that.

Alfred, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter.

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with Jones—but, on the contrary, it was just that. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with Jones. He was all smiles and helping hands wherever he went. Arthur would turn the corner to find the actor lifting up some heavy equipment for a cameraman, or come back from a tea break to see the actor talking about superheroes to one of the overly-pimpled teenage caterer kids who was undoubtedly helping out for free just to get a chance to step foot on such a magnificent and legendary set.

Alfred floated around upon a bright cloud of his own. It was a ridiculous notion, but he seemed to have no idea that he was filthy rich, no concept of the fact that he himself was a man worth millions, no knowledge that so many would kill to be in his shoes. In fact, he sometimes seemed just like any other average twenty-year-old boy, only fresh out of his teenage years but still as innocent and naïve as ever. Not too old to be disillusioned by the world just yet. It was like Jones was fresh out of a movie himself.

In the face of all of this evidence to the contrary, it was incredibly difficult for Arthur to hang on to his former anti-Alfred Jones prejudices—but hang on he did.