1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 172



Only Noblemtl

172. I’d Do Anything For You (4)

Mr. Robert Smith’s sound team arrived at the Wisconsin Sanitarium, erected a makeshift sound barrier in Mr. Gerard’s room, and set up a recorder and microphone.

“James, here are the bed sheets.”

“Yeah, thank you for your hard work. Spread it out between the soundproof walls here.”

Annie, who now had a lot of recording experience, created a soundproof environment on her own and explained to Angela the principles of sound absorption and soundproofing.

“Oh my, everyone is having a hard time because of this one old man.”

“No, sir. Make yourself at home. I’ll be ready soon.”

When I first visited a few days ago, I thought Mr. Gerard’s voice was really deep and cool, like a voice actor. And when he was talking about the memories he made with his wife at the castle, I saw a picture frame on the nightstand in the hospital room. It was a picture of a man with a strong body that looked like a lion and a woman as beautiful as a fairy.

It was the wedding photo of Mr. Gerard Williams and his wife, Ms. Helen Williams. It was taken with the castle in the background. The two people in the photo looked just like Beauty and the Beast. Mr. Gerard had a slightly scary face, but he was smiling brightly.

At that moment, an idea suddenly occurred to me.

I wanted to include Gerard’s narration before and after the song, and to include all the precious memories he shared with his wife in the music video. I imagined Kevin and Stella’s appearances gradually transitioning to a photo of the William couple at the end.

It was a technique often used in movies based on true stories in the future.

After hearing my story, Mr. Gerard allowed me to film, saying that just imagining it made his heart flutter. I thought that maybe his children would change their minds if they saw this video.

“James, I’m ready.”

“Yes, Director. I think you can just record without any separate signatures. We’ll edit it later. Everyone, please go outside the soundproof wall so as not to disturb the elderly as much as possible.”

I raised the angle of the bed to make it comfortable and placed the script on the table.

“Then I will go outside. You can read it slowly and comfortably.”

I was the last one to close the soundproof wall, carefully blocking the gap with a bed sheet, and sat down next to Robert, putting on my headphones.

– Um, um, hmm.

It was also nice to hear his voice clearing his throat. His breathing was rich and resonant. I closed my eyes and listened to his narration. It felt like I was being sucked into a fairy tale world.

– Long, long ago. In a remote part of France, there lived a very handsome young prince in a beautiful castle······.

* * *

William Real Estate Office.

Glenn Williams and his brother Austin Williams ran the largest real estate firm in Milwaukee, dealing in buildings and land along Lake Dr., one of the affluent neighborhoods in the city.

Glenn resembled his father with his large build and grim face, while his younger brother Austin resembled his mother with his slim and handsome features.

“Brother, who came looking for you?”

“I think she was a nun who was preparing to become a nun at the church my father used to go to. I heard she’s doing music now, and when I looked into it, I was a little surprised to find out that she’s in a pretty famous band. She said she wanted to film a music video at her father’s castle.”

“Would my father really allow it? He loves me so much······.”

“But I gave you the hospital address.”

The two brothers had been close since childhood, and even now, while doing business together, there were no major differences of opinion. They each had their own families and lived a wealthy life in Milwaukee.

“Brother, I think it would be better to just leave the castle as it is. It’s really a remote place and the price isn’t that high.”

“That’s true. But since no one is taking care of it anyway, it’s gradually becoming a monster.”

“The problem is that it’s a castle built of stone in the mountains, so it’s difficult to demolish, and even if we were to build a resort, the surrounding area is just mountains, so we’d have to build new roads. It’s like the belly button is bigger than the stomach.”

Glenn knew that too. But he wanted to get rid of the castle. He didn’t hate the castle from the beginning. Since he was a child, his family had lived happily and harmoniously in the castle. He didn’t hate the castle, but he just liked the city life when he went to school in the city.

But three years ago, when I suddenly received a call saying that my mother had collapsed, I rushed to her and found that she had already passed away. She had passed away in the castle before the ambulance arrived.

The two sons felt their blood boil when the doctor said that if they had been transferred to the hospital a little sooner, they could have survived.

I told her to move to the city, or at least somewhere close to downtown. I thought that my father’s obsession with sex was what killed my mother.

In this way, the love for the mother of the two sons changed into anger towards the castle.

When their father became unable to move, he was forcibly admitted to the hospital, and the brothers decided to get rid of their last name.

“Brother, I still cry when I think of Mother, but it was also because of Mother that Father loved the castle so much. There is no place in the castle that Mother’s hands have not touched, and portraits of Mother drawn by Father are hung everywhere.”

“······.”

Glenn closed his eyes and washed his face dry.

On warm sunny days, the mother would take her two young sons for a walk in the garden. She would read them storybooks while eating freshly baked bread in the flower garden she had tended herself, and on hot summer days, she would play in the fountain.

When I played war with my father, I would climb up on the castle walls and swing my toy sword and shield, and I would climb to the top and fight with my younger brother to see who could ring the bell.

His father and mother would light candles every night and dance together to elegant music. Glenn couldn’t help but laugh as he recalled the memory of his brother and his mother awkwardly dancing the waltz together.

“Yes. We have memories that others don’t. When other kids read fairy tales, we lived in fairy tales.”

“I also wanted to lose my last name after my mother passed away, but there is nothing wrong with a last name. My mother in heaven would not want her last name to disappear either.”

“phew······.”

Although his brother’s words were not incomprehensible, Glenn’s anger toward the castle still did not subside.

* * *

After finishing the recording, we received a set of keys from Mr. Gerard’s lawyer and returned to the castle.

Clang, squeak.

“Wow, that’s scary. It really does look like some kind of cursed castle.”

The castle was a mess, to the point where such words came out of the fearless Annie’s mouth.

“Director, we need to film the cursed beast scene first.”

“That’s right. Now James is almost at the level of a director.”

The music video should start and end with a gorgeous and beautiful castle. Right now, it’s almost perfect for filming a cursed castle. And thankfully, it’s a mountainous area, so there’s a lot of snow.

After all the beast scenes are filmed, when spring comes, we will clean this place up, plant new flowers, and transform it into a beautiful castle. Then we will film the prince scene and the magnificent wedding.

Mr. Robert Smith began taking sketches for use in the storyboard work. Annie pretended to be an old woman, put on a cape, and bent over like an old woman.

Click, click.

“Thank you, Annie. It was perfect.”

The next scene was of the old woman and the prince meeting in a large hall inside the castle.

“James is somewhat similar to Kevin, so he should sit in the prince chair.”

Click, click.

“Okay. The models are doing well, so the work will be finished quickly.”

The following scene was about the events that unfolded inside the castle as the Beast and Belle met.

“Um······James, can you play the role of the Beast? You can just pretend to do it. It’s for the continuity anyway.”

Ugh······ I don’t think I can do it.

I really just roughly raised both hands and pretended to do it.

“Oh, the picture isn’t coming out well.”

At that moment, a monstrous shadow on one wall grew larger and larger, and began to shake violently with a growling sound.

Click, click.

Robert pressed the shutter without missing a moment.

The shadows and monster sounds were created by Annie in front of the candles.

“Wow, Annie. How did you come up with that? This is awesome, hahaha. I think it would be more dramatic if you filmed it this way in a music video.”

“This is what Michael taught me.”

“If it’s Michael······.”

“Michael Jackson. He’s not just a great dancer, he’s a dancing god. He’s small, so he was thinking about how to make himself look big, and he came up with this idea of ​​using shadows to dance like a giant.”

Annie often met with Michael and taught each other new dance moves. The shadow technique that Annie just showed is one of the performances that Michael Jackson would later show on stage. Michael had already planned everything a long time ago.

“I learned this from Michael too.”

Annie, thrilled by director Robert’s praise, even showed off her moonwalk.

“Hahahaha! Annie, you’re really the best!”

In the remaining sketches, Annie played the role of the Beast and Angela played the role of Belle.

“Thank you all for your hard work. Now all that’s left is for me to work hard on the detailed storyboard. James, will you help me with that?”

“Of course. Of course.”

* * *

I left Angela and Annie to do important work and returned to LA with Robert. We had to move quickly because we had to shoot the beast scene before winter.

When I arrived at the company, good news was waiting for me.

I got a call from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. I received the memo and immediately called to make an appointment with the director.

The meeting place was set at the Kings Hotel restaurant.

“Nice to meet you. I’m James Choi.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Zubin Mehta. You’re even more awesome in person than you appear on TV.”

“You’re much younger than I thought, Captain, haha. Well then, please take a seat.”

In fact, he was quite young for an orchestra leader. He looked to be in his mid-30s. What was most surprising was that he was not white, but of Indian descent.

The hair pulled back with pomade oil and the neat black suit went well together. Since it was the place, I also wore a suit, but it was very uncomfortable.

“Just be comfortable with me. I’m not that difficult of a person. I always have to dress like this for work, haha.”

He had a gentlemanly tone to his speech. His restaurant manners were elegant, as if he was conducting an orchestra.

“The director himself conducts the performance, right? I’m sorry. I haven’t seen your performance yet······.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re busier than anyone else. Yes, I was lucky enough to become a conductor and team leader at a younger age than most people.”

He had a handsome face, was gentle, and was also humble. I thought we could communicate very well.

We had a serious conversation while eating.

“The music I envisioned flows along this kind of story······.”

“Hearing the story makes me even more excited. I can imagine the music in my head, haha.”

As expected, the master was different. I hadn’t even made a demo yet, so I just explained it in words, but he understood my intentions exactly.

After dinner, I showed him my storyboard sketchbook.

“I’ve done a lot of performances, but appearing in a music video? I’m a little nervous. Haha.”

“Just perform as you normally would. Just change the location a little bit.”

He was flipping through his sketchbook when his brows suddenly furrowed.

I worked so hard on the storyboard that I thought it was perfect, but is there a problem?

“Here, here, and here. How many adults can fit in there?”

“Ah······ That······.”

shit.

Robert and I were excitedly putting together the storyboard without even knowing how many people would be in the orchestra.