This is just for posterity now, isn't it?
What have I started?
"Are we done yet?"
"We're done when I say we're done."
"...Are we done yet?"
"What about the first answer was unclear?"
"The part where you said 'I say'. You're not our director."
Drool-prank wars, cassette and VHS tape wars, never-ending rock-paper-scissors wars.
The staring contest has caught on now? Seriously?
Bill frowns, glancing back and forth between Jack and Finn, poised as they are over the Scrabble board, with him caught in the middle. Then he glances back past the lens, affecting his in-character voice.
"Andy! PleaSe saY we're doNe. Are wE?"
"I am if they are."
"We aren't," Jack and Finn chime in unision.
Bill's expression crumbles and he facepalms.
Serves me right for putting stage-drool in the man's coffee.
"And here we have the reclusive Ray Taylor in the act of reviewing his dialogue. You'll note the little crease of his mouth, the twitching of the eyes, which would indicate to us he thinks this upcoming scene is complete and total phony-baloney."
Or so goes the BTS guy's parodic imitation of natural history documentary narration.
Complete with an obnoxious close up on Jeremy hunched over a desk.
Until he looks up.
"David Attenborough! What are you doing on this set?"
Collectively, the cast of nine stares up at the Easter basket full of smartphones, a collection as colorful as any set of fake eggs. It hangs suspended from the end of a boom mike arm, half a story above anyone's head (including their lead).
The camera zooms out.
Then, as one, they glare over at Andy, standing firm, arms crossed, and alone in the lefthand side of frame.
"And no one gets theirs back until we find out who thought it was funny to dip my copy of the script in that slime bucket!"
Kudos to him for being so bold in his disciplinary approach. They do outnumber him after all.
Sometimes, you have to just sleep whenever and wherever you could.
And hope your costar for the scene is decent enough to wake you up before 'action' is called.
Bill, affixed to the iron girder practical effects, has nowhere to go. Chin to chest, he rests his eyes for a moment.
Kneeling next to him, Stuart glances back at the camera, and cracks a smug smile not unlike what Butch Bowers is meant to sport in that scripted moment.
Insert snoring sound effect here.
"Your lead in all his glory, Muschietti."
A timelapse shot of the library study room shows the scene's lead, seated at the table, Vedic Mathematics in hand. The top of the opened book keeps his face hidden. All around him, the various set dressers, camera assistants, grips, makeup artists, and audio guys bustle about, readying the closed-in set for filming.
Most actors would stand back and watch the madness unfold from afar, rather than in the middle of it.
It takes perhaps ten minutes.
At the end, as the set is cleared, our actor glances up past the edge of the book, expression smug.
Dedication. Thy name is Finn Wolfhard.
"Oh, great. Executives."
Visits from the studio are often as unthrilling as they are unexpected. Particularly when they catch you mid-prank. Like being found out by a stern teacher, that would be the end of fun as the cast of PatLC knows it.
Wyatt glances back at Jeremy, who holds two styrofoam cups in hand.
"Quick! Put those somewhere they won't see them."
Weirdly enough, the golden conure takes a shine to somebody besides its handlers.
"No, I don't think that works, either," Andy comments to the parrot on his shoulder, reclining in his chair, storyboard in hand. The bird shoots a glance at the BTS camera, before giving an offended-sounding "awk!"
Too bad he's behind the camera instead of in front of it most days.
Empty styrofoam cups littering the set is a pretty common sight on many films. Most of the time, the contents are tea, water, or coffee.
Not slime.
Experimentally, Jack runs his finger along the inside of a discarded clue, then inspects the sticky substance between his thumb and index finger.
"Y'know, we filmed that scene two weeks ago. How do these things keep turning up?"
How indeed...
"Don't go there."
Oh, Finn went there.
And he took pictures.
That is, he so would have liked to.
"Quit harrassing the BTS crew."
Said part of BTS crew manages to capture a not-so-discreet argument between Sophia and Finn, standing just out of microphone range on the opposite side of a Neibolt doorway.
Finn all but stomps his foot in frustration. "It isn't fair, though! They still have their cameras, and we don't. The blackmail opportunities that are slipping away- "
"Will come back around. Jaeden has a plan. Until then, pipe down."
There's a full-size payphone booth prop in the background.
With an outside line.
Jaeden can't just overlook it.
"Yes, supreme. Five of them. Anchovies, pepperonis, and olives, pineapple slices. Extra, extra cheese. How much? For real? No, it's okay. Our film crew digs this combination, trust me."
Ew.
For consumption or for conflagration?
With one finger, Jaeden wipes a stray pepperoni slice from his cheek. "Y'know, if you hadn't taken away our phones, I wouldn't have had to get so drastic."
Ordering the pizzas had been funny at first. The appalled look on Andy's face upon opening the first box - priceless. Lord knew no one would be eating any of this.
Until Jack thought it was funny to grab a handful of the topping-laden cheese and sauce to fling across the table.
Then, as it progressed to an all-out horrid food fight between cast and crew, it had gone from funny to overly serious.
"And you think this will make me give them back any faster?" Andy retorts, cleaning his face with the tail of his shirt. "You need to rethink your strategy, young man."
"Yeah? You still have those boom lock keys on your belt loop, fearless leader?"
Le gasp! A distraction!
Somewhere in the background, Jeremy calls encouragement to their departing castmate. "Run, Sophia!"