perfectlyportia (perfectlyportia) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-12-18 09:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, peeta mellark, portia |
Who: Portia and Peeta
What: First meetings
When: Early-December
Where: Studio of makeup and costume wonders~
Rating: None/Low
Status: Complete
Peeta was nervous. Of course he was nervous. It was easy to play cool and easy over an internet forum, but he knew who Portia was. Of course he did. While most people followed actors, Peeta kept up with the who’s-who of film fashion and costuming. Portia was, admittedly, one of his recent new favourites. He didn’t want to blow this.
Fortunately, the semester came to a close soon after making plans to make plans, and his work was pretty easy going. It wasn’t too bad to find a day that worked out for both of them. And, despite his hands getting sweaty on the steering wheel more than once, Peeta made it to the studio without incident. He grabbed his bag from the passenger’s seat (inside which was his small, but growing, portfolio) before heading into the main doors. Portia had agreed to meet him there, so he took a seat quietly to wait. He was, after all, early. Hopefully not so early he came off as eager, though.
Portia meanwhile was also nervous, but for a different reason. Her dreams had ended a while ago though she still occasionally had one - luckily her death dream had yet to repeat itself - but she remembered Peeta and the close friendship they’d had. She hadn’t believed it when he’d turned up on the network and hadn’t been able to stop herself inviting him to the set.
She had no idea he knew her and her work. Nobody took any notice of the crew on a film after all, it was all about the actors. She had grabbed a couple of coffee’s on the way in and as she entered she saw Peeta sitting in the lobby already.
“Morning” she smiled at him, “You’re keen, that’s good to see”
Peeta ducked his head to hide the somewhat embarrassed, somewhat shy smile that came across his features. When he glanced up again, a proper smile as in place, and he stood up. It was polite, after all.
“Well, that and you know how traffic is,” he joked, holding out his hand. “It’s good to meet you. I need to confess, you’re part of the reason I even signed on to that network, I think the work you do is great. You have this really fantastic eye for how things should fit together.”
She chuckled, “I definitely know how the traffic is” she replied as she shook his hand, curbing the impulse to hug him. Boundaries Portia, boundaries.
The surprise at his confession was obvious on her face before she gave him a sweet smile, “Really? Well thank you, very much. That’s very kind of you to say” she said happily, “Here” she held out one of the coffees to him, “It’s a latte, I hope that’s okay, I have sugar and sweetener at my station. Believe me you’ll need the caffeine once we get started”
“Thanks, I love lattes.” And he meant it, but, honestly, Peeta would accept any beverage with a smile and a thank you, and drink it all. Especially since she went out of the way to get him one. He took the cup and adjusted his bag on his shoulder, then nodded.
“Lead the way,” Peeta said, grinning.
So Portia did. They had tried giving her an office but it just didn’t feel right so she had a station out with the rest of her team and they used the office for meetings and working on design ideas. There were photos stuck all over the back wall - continuity shots - and the whole thing looked like a fabric and make-up warehouse.
“So, this is my station - you’ll notice it’s the neatest one here” she grinned as she winked at him, “The continuity photo’s get replaced at least once a day - I’m a big stickler for that - and generally we use the office space for idea generating and planning. That area through there” she pointed to another connecting door, “is where the actors wait to be dressed and sorted for their scenes”
Peeta looked around with a quiet sense of awe. He tried to imagine himself in a place like this, in a few years down the road, and it made him very excited. He sipped at his latte to keep himself somewhat grounded and nodded as she talked.
“This is incredible. It’s not at all what I pictured. I like it.” Peeta gave her a grin before peering in for a closer look at the aforementioned continuity photos.
She watched Peeta, thinking she sensed something just beneath the surface but knew it might just be her own excitement at having him here. Their friendship in the dreams was strong and she felt a bit like an older sister - she definitely had that protective instinct anyway.
“Really? What did you imagine?” she asked curiously.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, laughing. “Just not this.” Because weren’t most things actually better in person than when you imagined them? “I could definitely see myself spending a lot of time someplace like this.”
She chuckled, “It’s a pretty good space and the team are great” she smiled, “I’m glad. It’d be terrible if I ended up putting you off. Come on, I’ll show you the prosthetics we’re working with on this film. They’re incredible”
That got Peeta excited. It was where his main interests were, as far as movie make-up went, and he nodded his agreement that it was a good plan. “I love the whole idea of turning someone into something completely different. I think it’s amazing.”
“Oh it is and it’s incredibly fun too. Though the continuity aspect can be even harder, but challenges are what keeps us interested” she laughed, “at least in my case anyway” She led him through the door into the prep area and began to show him the many prosthetics and makeup palettes they were currently using.
“I totally get it. Why do something if it’s too easy, right?” It took every ounce of willpower Peeta had to not touch anything, though he just wanted to reach out and feel the material and test the consistency and pigments in the make-up they used. He almost wonders if he should have brought a notebook or something.
"Right" she nodded, "That's what I think too" She watched him as she explained things and could tell he wanted to touch and explore. She led him over to a fairly messy area with a mask and assorted kits, and grinned, "Go ahead" she told him, "We aren't using any of this again so do what you like. Have a play"
He was very aware to not seem too keen, but Peeta flashed Portia a grin of thanks as he took off his bag and set it to the floor. He felt the mask between his fingers, testing the material of it before he determined what paints to use. Peeta wasn’t sure why, but he felt the strong urge to impress Portia. Well, okay, of course he wanted to impress someone so talented in his ideal field, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to do her proud, too. After selecting his ideal materials, he picked a point on the wall that had lots of paint and make-up splatters, then began replicate it on the mask. If it turned out the way he planned, the mask would camouflage itself with the wall.
Portia watched as Peeta worked, he had a natural eye and she was pleased to see he took his time. He may be trying to impress her but he wasn’t going about it in a showy or hurried way. He was taking his time and concentrating - Portia smiled to herself. She could see what he was trying to accomplish and was looking forward to seeing the result.
It wasn’t perfect by any means, but Peeta figured that, considering he hadn’t taken any formal classes and had only ever used the materials offered in his high school’s drama department, it wasn’t bad. He held the mask up to the wall, and was happy with the overall result. “This stuff is so cool.”
“You have a good eye” Portia told him with a smile, “I’m glad you like it. I hoped you would” She loved encouraging talent and as it was Peeta she had been even more excited to show him around the studio. “If we run on time today I might even be able to show you a few sneaky techniques later. You learn how to do things quickly when you work on such a fast paced set”
“Thanks,” he told her, laughing. “I try.” Peeta set the mask down, and nodded. “I bet. Time is money and all, right?” he asked, joking around. But it would be great to learn some of that stuff, so he could take it with him into his projects at school and even in whatever followed that.
“Absolutely, at least that’s what they keep telling us anyway” she grinned, “So why this avenue Peeta?” she asked interestedly, “Is it the makeup aspect or the whole costuming department that interests you most?”
“Well, I always sort of figured I wanted to be an artist,” he told her, following wherever she lead him to. “I started painting just before we moved here a few years back, and then, I don’t know. Sort of being in the shadow of Hollywood, it really just sparked it. The makeup was the first thing that really got me. Then I started watching things like that show, Face Off, and realized there was so much to be done with costuming and special effects makeup and … Everything. So I figured I should maybe start learning about the fashion side of things, too.”
Portia led them back to the main area to await the rest of the team who should start arriving anytime now. “It’s a great idea, once you understand the costume aspect you’ll find it allows you an even better understanding of which makeup to use and how to get the best out of the colors and products you have”
He felt good that Portia seemed to agree that it was a good plan. It was like some sort of validation he didn’t know he needed. “How did you get into it?” Peeta asked, sipping on his latte. “What was it like, working up to get where you are?”
She definitely thought it was a good plan and she'd help him as much as she could. "I used to draw as a child, it started out normally but then I started drawing clothes more and more. My mum was a hairdresser and makeup enthusiast so it all kind of developed from there" she explained, "It's hard work but I've been very lucky and given chances by people who have seen something in me that they like"
Peeta nodded as he listened. It was mostly luck, he knew. It wasn’t an easy business to get into in any of the fields, and, frankly, he was glad that he had someone like Portia there that seemed to want to take him under her wing. “I hope I’m just as lucky.” He perked up as he saw Portia’s team start to filter in, and took a long drink of his latte. It was bound to be an interesting day.