Magic between us || Fillie

Can't Fight This Feeling

Having quickly finished getting ready in the hair and make-up trailer, the two co-stars walked onto the set to find Shawn, Ross and Tim, the cinematographer, sitting in their respective chairs, quietly chatting away.

The first thing they noticed was the cozy silence that surrounded them. But as they looked around, they slowly began to take everything else in; several cameras and mics that were placed around El's bed, the dim light that lit the whole area; all of it set up for the upcoming scene.

Millie and Finn had no idea that multiple cameras would be used to shoot this. It wasn't something that happened very often because it was quite expensive and it was more difficult to edit those kinds of scenes because of the lighting, the angles...really, for a lot of different reasons.

Since the cameras were all set up around and above the bed that meant there would be no camera-men in El's room with them; they would be completely alone there and that has definitely never happened before.

The three men finally noticed their young actors standing behind them 'Hey, when did you two get here?' Ross asked, approaching them alongside Shawn.

'We...we just got here', Finn said a little distracted. 'What's going on here?'

Shawn and Ross shared a knowing look before reverting back to them, 'Well, we decided to change things up a little for tonight', Shawn explained. 'We wanted you two to be more comfortable.'

'We never had trouble being comfortable before, what makes this time any different?' Millie asked, confused as to why they were changing things up so much for this scene 'It's just a make-out scene, right? Nothing more?'

Finn looked at her startled, he wasn't expecting her to repeat the question he asked her back in the trailer. Then, as Ross spoke up, Finn turned to him wide-eyed, suddenly feeling quite jittery.

'No, Millie, nothing more. But it is different from everything you've done before. You might not be aware of that right now, but when you get into the scene you will realize that it is much more intimate than the other scenes you've done together', Ross said gently. 'We just want to make sure you two feel safe and relaxed because everything has to look natural. The best way we could think of to make it like that is to leave it all up to you.'

'What do you mean?' Finn squinted his eyes a bit.

'Well, you have your lines and you've read what happens; at least I hope you've done that part?' Ross asked sternly.

As the pair quickly nodded reassuringly, Shawn continued on 'Good...Now, how this scene will play out is completely up to you. You will use the material you have already memorized, but feel free to add things in, leave things out. You will not be hearing from me at all, until I decide to end the scene. You will be the directors in a way. You can improvise the gestures and even the kissing if you feel like it. You don't have to go by the book, well script in this case. Just do what you think is right for your characters in that moment. Try to surrender yourselves to Mike and El and to the love they have for one another.'

'Don't be scared, we believe in you guys. No one knows Mileven better than you two do', Ross added encouragingly. 'The three of us will be behind the scenes, quiet as mice and we'll start whenever you're ready. Take your time, there's no rush.'

Millie and Finn slowly got to their starting positions, Millie all tucked up in bed and Finn outside the door of El's room. They were both in their own little worlds, trying to calm their nerves and get into character.

Improvisation is a very tricky thing, Millie thought, it could go wrong in so many ways, especially now. How does she figure out what to do and where to stop? How does she differentiate between what is appropriate for the show and what she actually wants to do? How does she remain in character whilst doing and saying things that were not already written?