The Elvenking and The Girl Behind the Scenes

Still Photography

Two days later, filming for the scenes of Thranduil officially began. Tania was very pleased to know that the director and other Department leaders were extremely satisfied with all of the Elvenking's vestments. She now had the honor to watch them being exhibited on the big screen in all of their elegance and beauty. After all, Philippa Boyens, one of the co-writers of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, was right about Lee Pace as the chosen actor for Thranduil: they got exactly what they wanted physically, as he was tall and handsome, and had a nice and perfect set of shoulders to hang a costume on.

On set, green screens were omnipresent, covering the walls and floors that were fabricated to represent the halls of the Woodland Realm. It did not look like much now, but with the skill and expertise of the Special Effects team during post-production, it would be eventually turned into the breathtaking palace that it was meant to be. The Elf king's throne stood above the ground in power and greatness, giving the fictional character an advantage over everyone in the entire room just by its position.

Lee Pace, already clad from head to toe in all of his royal garbs and props for the scene, was lounging on his big wooden dais with one leg crossed above the other, one hand on his lap and the other placed relaxedly on the manchette. Hair dressers and makeup artists were fixing him up and finishing the last touches of his look.

Enjoying the strokes of a soft makeup brush on his porcelain skin, he noticed the young Tania in a far corner of the set sipping a cup of coffee, under the shadows of where the lights could not reach in the background. She looked so cute, with her hair tied up in a messy bun and dressed in a baggy sweater, probably from the lack of preparation time due to fatigue caused by the overload of work she put herself into even during the night, and the wee hours of morning that the filming was scheduled.

"Tania, could you please go and take a few shots of Lee Pace? The still photographers have not arrived yet," Richard requested as he passed her an autofocus Canon camera.

Intrigued, the young lady looked at him quizzically with her mouth moderately open. As if Richard read the clueless expression on her face, he instructed "Just go up to him and take as many pictures as you can, in all the possible angles. You know, for production purposes." Then taking the camera and placing it in Tania's hands as if it was the first time she was handling such a device, he showed her the buttons to click for proper zooming or adjusting the filter.

When she felt comfortable enough to carry out the oh-so-simple task, the costume director nudged Tania softly towards the set. She took a deep breath and walked hesitantly up to the throne.

Lee caught her eyes and smiled brightly, as if illuminating the whole set. Tania's heart picked up its pace, making a small string of cold sweat run down her back. She quickly regained her composure and continued her hike up to the Elf lord. He ran his crystal blue eyes up and down her figure, taking in all of her simple gorgeousness, and nodded in approval as she reached the platform of his throne.

"Good morning, Tania, how do you do?" The actor greeted gleefully, almost sounding like the chirp of a bird in the early hours of daylight.

"Fine, my Lord Thranduil," she answered, but taken aback by her own formality and reference to his character's title, let out a timid laugh. Lee joined her in and broke out into an even bigger smile, revealing his perfectly-aligned and pearly white teeth.

"I actually like the sound of that," he swooned, still giggling, "especially when it comes from you." And with that, he winked. Tania fell in love for half a second, as she had a weakness for men, especially one as handsome as Lee Pace, winking at her. However, she was more concerned about how he even knew her name.

"Oh, I make sure to always at least know the names of the people I work with... Like the people who dress me," Thranduil mentioned, making sure to convince her that it was completely normal for him to do so.

The girl looked at him with a hint of skepticism. "But, we've never really talked..."

Lee Pace leaned forward and cocked an eyebrow. "Perhaps we can change that."

Tania was rendered speechless. Did the actor of the Elvenking just flirt with her? No, it could not be, of course not, she thought. They both had to keep their conversations rather professional and work-related because of specific agendas and a reputation of their own to uphold. Maybe he was just being nice, and charming as he was. She confidently shrugged those ideas from her cloudy mind and held the camera up, turning it on.

"Uhm actually, I just needed to take a few pictures of you before the cameras start rolling..." She voiced as she played around with the gadget, and before putting the viewfinder up to her eye "would you pose for me?"

The Elf lord acquiesced and chuckled, making that same deep tone that rendered his voice so enchanting and pleasant to hear. "I would do anything for you."

Tania was able to catch a dozen pictures, each of them looking absolutely breathtaking. Forget about Photoshopping any of them, it would only take away their already enhanced and natural splendor. The actor really knew how to work his trousers to the maximum. He shuffled in his seat gracefully, striking various poses and adjusting each of his facial expressions accordingly to achieve a different look between each take. The beginner photographer tried her best to remain calm, but it was an arduous task when she always felt his powerful gaze peering through her soul from the camera lens.

"I actually noticed you many times before, you know," Lee stated between poses. "I've seen you work with the Dwarves and Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman..."

"Really?" Tania questioned from behind the camera, still focused on clicking for pictures.

"Mhm, and I think you're quite good at what you do," he complimented her, his voice sounding airy.

"Alright everyone, get ready for rolling!" The director called out into a megaphone. All the crew members shuffled around and hurried to their assigned positions and behind their respective booths. Film cameras were pointed towards Lee and overhead set lights were dimmed down a little, creating a murky and mysterious shade above the throne.

Tania turned her device off and bowed slightly at the actor for his cooperation. He flashed her another frisky smile followed by another knee-weakening wink, and before she could reach the steps leading down to the set, he called out "Thank you for the picture yesterday, by the way, and we should get some coffee together sometime!"

Tania merely turned her head, acknowledging that she had heard him, but jogged off of the platform and found her way back into the same corner she was before. As she watched the filmmakers execute their tasks and the scene roll, Tania submerged herself into the profound quietness of the room to ponder around with the events she had just experienced.

Her racing heart finally settled back to normal and her quivering body released all tension. Was she smitten by Lee Pace's relatively obvious attempt to seduce her, or was she dying to escape the situation?

But one thing was certain, she did like him... too.