I follow Bella’s hand to an eight-foot boulder. The area at its base has already been cleared to make room for a mini trampoline, which will be my only help in clearing the height.
“Yeah, no problem. Worst case, I work in a handspring. I can give you a few options to work with.”
“Great, let’s go ahead and run those now while they’re still working on blocking.”
“Can I watch?” Haley asks.
“That’s supposed to be my question,” I say with a laugh.
“Watchme?” she says, blushing.
“Of course. I’ve got tobeyou.”
“Oh, right.”
Bella leads us over to the boulder. I’m already warmed up from the morning’s fights and the walk over, so I jump right in. A few strides for speed, then I hit the mini tramp, springing off at just the right moment for maximum height. Bringing my hands down over my head starts my rotation. I spot a smooth area on the stone and land my hands there, then push off, finishing the rotation to land in a crouch.
“Yeah, I’ve got plenty of room for a front flip.”
“Let’s see it,” Bella says.
I hop back down, easily soaking the eight-foot drop into a roll along the leaf litter, then find a good starting spot again. This time, as I spring off the trampoline, I curl my body tight. Pulling my legs in speeds up my rotation, and as soon as my head comes up again, I find my landing spot on the boulder. My feet hit first, and I rock forward into a crouch, putting down a hand to steady myself.
“We’ll let Lana take a look,” Bella says, “but I think that’s the one. Can you land with the leg closer to me out straight?”
“Sure thing.”
We run through a few more times until Bella is happy. I get a feel for the tramp and the boulder and how far I can push it. Once Lana is free, we pitch her two options, each with its own landing flourish. She opts for the front flip, and we mark out where my run will start, making sure it’s off-frame.
Haley looks on in wonder. “Can I ask a question?”
“Of course,” Bella says.
“You figure this all out day-of? That’s incredible.”
Bella smiles. “It’s the old-school way of doing it. Notallday-of, the team’s already scoping out the upcoming shooting locations, but we like to use the topography as much as possible. Depending on weather and lighting, you have to be ready to improvise.”
“Of course,” I chime in, “you can remove all those variables by planning everything in pre-vis and shooting it on a blue screen. But then it looks like lifeless CGI crap. Like all the other DM movies.”
Haley’s eyes widen, and she clamps her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.
Bella chuckles. “For the record, those are Mylo’s personal opinions and do not represent the official stance of the Electra Two production.”
I smirk. “But you agree with me, don’t you?”
“No comment.” But Bella’s grin gives her away, and Haley giggles again.
I hold out a pinky to Haley. “You can’t tattle on me for talking shit, got it? Inner circle.”
Haley beams and hooks her pinky through mine. “Inner circle.”
Lana calls Haley over for final touches. Keysha ducks in and tweaks Haley’s hair while Bella and I move to make sure we’re out-of-frame.
Lighting swivels into place, sound and cameras roll, Lana calls action, and it’s time for me to begin studying.
In front of the camera, Haley transforms. Melinoë rises around her like a veil of shadows, and she delivers her sinister, cutting lines with perfect malice.
Melinoë circles Electra, mocking her.
