They're trying to get me drunk as usual, she told herself accurately. And why the hell not? I don't seem to have much to say about anything any more.
As she was meditating on the unhappiness of her situation, their group was enlarged by the addition of Kelly and Lenny. Elton James lit a cigarette and cleared his throat for attention.
"Okay, I guess we have all the principals here," he began. "As an old and successful hand in this business, and someone who knows the market pretty well, I'd like to give you folks some advice for your future efforts. Now what we saw tonight showed a lot of promise and talent, but there's room for improvement. Video-tape is a lot different from regular film, and a television set isn't a motion picture screen, so you have to adapt your technique to the medium. Make your scenes smaller and more intimate and use a lot more close-ups. You've got a marvelous young chick here with good clear unwrinkled skin, so move in tight with that camera and let us see what she's got to offer."
Phil and Lenny looked at each other and nodded, neither man being too proud to accept advice from a real pro, particularly since he was going to make them all rich by purchasing their product.
"Now as far as your action is concerned, you've got a lot of liberty because these days practically anything goes," the expert continued his lecture. "The standard boy-on-top-of-girl-on-bottom scene isn't too effective because the viewer basically can't see anything. What you need for this next film is more of the 'sixty-nine' stuff with real good close-ups showing exactly what's going on and where. That kind of thing really turns a viewer on. And don't be afraid of the wild stuff either! You know what I mean, Phil, and if you don't, I'll explain later."
Lynn didn't know what he meant by 'wild stuff' and the phrase worried her a little. As he spoke, Elton James was strolling across the room, forcing the others to trip along behind him if they wished to hear what he was saying. From the general direction of his stroll, Lynn guessed that he was heading for the bedroom, wanting to hold his conference in a little more privacy.
When they were out of the main room and away from the noise of people talking, laughing and drinking, the distributor turned and faced the group again with more advice. Lynn downed her fifth or sixth drink of the evening and felt a little unsteady on her feet, but no longer quite so worried about the future. The alcohol was starting to relax her body, and she felt less embarrassed about appearing so scantily dressed in front of all these people. After all, all the technicians at the studio had seen her stark naked! Why should she be concerned about a skimpy dress which showed a little too much behind and bosom?
"Now, there's another point you might remember, Lenny," James lectured on, giving the director a friendly smile. "You're not approaching this girl's body properly with your camera. You should pan in gently, giving the viewer a chance to see all of her, tits and pussy included, and then zero in on whatever it is you want to emphasize. And you, little lady, have got to learn to hold still a little bit while the camera is on you. The film we just saw was beautiful, but during the early section of the rape scene, you were jerking around so much that you're liable to give your viewer a headache trying to keep track of you."
Lynn longed to explain that she had not known in advance what was going to happen to her and had no intention of ever doing it again, but she caught a dangerous look in Phil's eyes and decided to keep her mouth shut. All he had to do, she knew perfectly well, was to show that film to Matt and her entire life would come tumbling down around her ears.
"Now who's going to be your male lead in this next flick?" James wanted to know.
"We were thinking about using Rick again," explained Kelly. "He played opposite me when we shot the first sequence in the slave girl thing."
"Good, get him, will you? I'll show you a couple of techniques you might be able to use."
Lynn helped herself to another drink and lit a cigarette while Lenny went out into the main room looking for Rick, who had last been seen eating peanuts over by the bar and chatting up the girl who was serving the drinks. Lynn had no idea what kind of 'techniques' James wanted to explain, but she understood this business well enough by now to expect the worst. Rick came in, smiled at everyone, kissed Kelly and Lynn and shook hands with Mr. James.
"Okay, now in the clinches, you should always have Lynn's body at an angle, otherwise you lose all the effect," the distributor explained.
"I don't follow you," questioned Lenny dubiously.
"Okay, look, we'll demonstrate," offered the tall serious man, reaching out and taking Lynn gently by the arm. "You stand here, honey, and Rick, you come over here and put your arms around her."
Lynn gulped the last half of her drink, feeling her head fairly spinning and hoped that she would not be called upon to do or say anything complicated which would reveal to everyone that she was already thoroughly drunk. Rick came obediently forward and put his muscular arms around Lynn as directed, and the young housewife suddenly felt warm and comforted as the handsome actor held her.
"Okay… now… well, you really can't see what I'm trying to demonstrate this way. Kelly, will you help Lynn slip out of her dress? Pretty as it is, it hides too much of what we're trying to illustrate here."
Had James told her to take off her dress, the dazzled, intoxicated young wife would probably have objected, but the fact that he had told Kelly to take it off for her made a subtle difference somehow, as if the question of undressing in front of these people was no longer her responsibility. She lifted her arms with submissive obedience and allowed the producer's wife to draw the dress over her head, leaving her clad merely in a tiny transparent pair of bikini style panties which offered very little in the way of protection for her modesty. Rick decided that he had better undress at the same time, and within half a minute, the man and the woman stood facing each other, dressed only in their shorts.
"Good, now take her in your arms," James instructed, and the actor obeyed, once again putting his powerful arms around the girl's frail shoulders.
"Right, now pull back just a little, so that you show this breast completely… Get it Lenny? The way you were doing it in your flick, the viewer gets cheated out of seeing her tits during the scene, and this young lady has tits worth seeing!" To illustrate exactly what he meant, James put one arm around Lynn's creamy white shoulders, turning her slightly to one side and then placing his hand boldly on the warmly quivering flesh of her right breast, arranging it the way he wanted it. "Oh, another thing, have Lynn take off her brassiere at least an hour before you start to shoot, or you'll have bra strap markings still showing on her skin. Is this boring you, or are some of these suggestions helpful?"
"Hell yes," replied Phil Agard enthusiastically while Lenny nodded in agreement. "Lenny and I know a lot about television, but not much about this kind of work. We're happy to learn whatever we can."
"Good, I'm glad you feel that way because I think the two of you make a successful team. Now in the tape we screened tonight, you had an oral-genital scene, as I recall; but it was supposed to be a rape scene so the clumsiness didn't matter much. But in your next effort, you're certainly going to want a couple of shots of a blow job where the girl is at least a little bit willing to do it. Do you know how to handle that sort of thing, Lynn?"
Suddenly realizing that he was talking to her, the young wife blushed to the roots of her long blonde hair, but Phil – who knew from personal experience what the truth of the matter was – answered for her.
"I suspect that Lynn could use some pointers on this sort of thing, Elton," he advised seriously. "You'll find that she's a real fast learner." As he spoke he shot her a glance which told her very clearly that she had better cooperate or face the consequences. Lynn was too overpowered by the circumstances and too woozy from drink to object to anything at this point and so she simply nodded, wondering how James intended to teach her the fine points of oral intercourse.