Published: April 19, 2020

Track 6: Lights, Camera, Action!

"Alright everybody, that's a wrap for today!" Dick dismissed the group by clapping his hands together, indicating that it was time to pack up.

Gar rolled his shoulders and raised his arms in a feline stretch. The Titans had just finished their fourth recording session and things were going swimmingly. To date, they had completed two thirds of the album, managing to crank out two tracks per day. Virgil was extremely easy to work with and all of the band members were on their A-game. Raven seemed pleased that the Titans were able to follow her militant schedule. She rarely vocalised her appreciation aloud, but it showed through her actions instead. Gar observed it in the little things.

After their second session, Kory developed blisters on her left pinky and right thumb. She wasn't able to practice much during the week and her fingers were beginning to pay for it. Whatever callouses she built up from playing on the weekend would soften and peel off by the time they were back in the studio. Dick didn't fare any better and caught a cold, developing a mild hoarseness in his throat. The following Saturday, a box of blister patches and a packet of lozenges mysteriously appeared in Kory's purse.

Victor was known to get moody in the afternoons if his blood sugar got too low between meals. Whenever he left the live room for a bathroom break, he would come back to discover a chocolate protein bar waiting for him on his drum stool. As for Gar, he was notorious for losing his guitar picks. Between takes, he would put down the little piece of plastic on his music stand in favour of a pencil to write notes. Whenever he reached back for the pick, it seemed to disappear into thin air. He would spend the next five minutes shuffling his papers around, only to give up and take out a replacement from his wallet. Just when he misplaced his last one, a multi-pack materialized in his guitar case like magic.

Gar considered thanking Raven directly for her little acts of kindness, but decided not to say anything in the end. He got the feeling that she preferred to operate under the radar. Even though they had been working together for over a month, she was obviously trying to keep her distance, still addressing the band members as "Mr." or "Ms.".

The guitarist walked into the control room, taking the shortcut through the isolation booth. Raven sat in her usual spot on the right side of the couch. He plopped down next to her and settled his palms against the back of his head in a relaxed pose.

"So how did I do, boss?" Gar asked nonchalantly, though he was secretly fishing for a compliment. He knew that he was on fire that day; all of his guitar riffs and embellishments for "How Long is Forever?" were nailed on the first take.

"You were... Adequate."

"Adequate? That's it?"

"I'm no music expert, Mr. Logan. If you want a more technical analysis of your performance, you should probably ask Mr. Grayson."

"Oh come on, Ms. Roth. Don't you have any feedback to give me?"

She looked at him expressionlessly before giving him exactly what he asked for. "You were a little pitchy during the vocal recording for 'Things Change'. And you smell marginally better than last week, although I can tell that you're long overdue for a visit to the laundromat. There's one next door, you have no excuses."

Virgil, who had been sitting at his computer desk sipping on a can of soda, spat the carbonated beverage out of his mouth. A few snickers escaped from his direction before he cleared his throat and went back to work, trying to brush it off as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Pitchy?! And I do not smell bad!" Gar exclaimed.

Raven kept a straight face and didn't reply, although he thought he could see a flicker of amusement dance in her eyes. She simply shrugged and stood up to exit the control room. An eager puppy at the heels of his master, Gar got up and followed her all the way down the stairs. "I don't smell bad, I don't!" he continued to protest.

Kory passed by the pair, going in the opposite direction to retrieve more equipment that needed to be put away. "Kory," Gar shouted adamantly, "do I smell?!"

The bassist leaned in to sniff the back of his shirt. "You smell like you usually do, Garfield. Febreze mixed with perspiration and dirty socks," she answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

It was Raven's turn to suppress her laughter. Gar froze in place, mortified. He had wanted her to laugh at one of his jokes, not him. He kept his mouth shut after that and wrestled with the fact that his very attractive manager thought that he stunk like a pig.

Once all of the equipment was safe in the storage room, the team reconvened for a quick wrap-up meeting in the lobby as they usually did after a long day of recording.

"Good work today, everyone," Raven said. "Don't forget our pre-production meeting tomorrow. We start at 1 pm sharp, but the music video director will only join us later in the afternoon. We have a lot of things to discuss, so please come focused and ready to work."

The group nodded and started to say their goodbyes.

"One more thing, Mr. Logan." Gar turned towards Raven to show that he was listening. She gave him a deadpan look. "Don't forget to take a shower."

The life of an entrepreneur was not for everyone. In addition to being at the studio on the weekends, Raven estimated that she clocked in over 70 hours of work during the week. Managing a band and running a record label was not your average 9 to 5 job, especially when doing everything by oneself. It often required her to spend several hours in front of her laptop screen during the day, night, and early morning.

Raven had laid all of the groundwork for the Titans' website and social media pages, which included getting their "Verified" status on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. She even considered making them a TikTok account, but she felt like the tween audience was a little too young for their music.

Then, there was the matter of the music video shoot. After confirming the booking for the set, Raven's main task was finding a filming crew. She had pulled in favours from acquaintances to fill in a couple of the roles, but the biggest struggle was finding a suitable director. The manager tried not to mention the budget to the band too often, worried that it would distract them from their work.

But the reality was that Wicked Scary Studios wasn't cheap, especially since she was paying a premium for Virgil. She had initially thought about requesting a more junior sound engineer, but she knew that it wouldn't be wise to mix inexperienced staff with a brand new band. By the time the album was finished and ready to be distributed, Nevermore Records would have already spent several tens of thousands of dollars.

There was no way that Raven could hire an established director, the budget just wouldn't be able to manage it. One night, in a burst of inspiration, she researched all of the film schools in the surrounding areas. Juniors and Seniors often screened their end-of-year projects at student-run festivals. She watched the video submissions of countless amateur filmmakers, analyzing each one for signs of talent. She took note of three or four who showed promise, but in the end, only one bothered replying to her email.

At that point, Raven was desperate. She unofficially hired him on the basis of a successful pitch meeting, which was about to start in a few minutes. Raven had scheduled it to take place in the conference room inside her condo building. She would worry about getting her own office space once she got a return on the album sales. At the signing meeting, the Titans had all sat on the same side of the table opposite a lone Raven. Today, the group bunched up around one end of the table with Raven sitting at the head. She was flanked by Kory and Dick on her right and Garfield and Victor on her left.

"Before the director arrives, I would like to discuss the concept of the music video with you," she said. "We are less than five weeks away from the launch at the end of October. The plan is to premiere the music video a few days before the album drops as a teaser. If it gains enough traction online, it could greatly affect the album's chart performance. And as per your request, we will only distribute the album on digital platforms, foregoing a physical release altogether."

Garfield slapped his hand on the table and passionately said, "The less PVC in our oceans, the better!"

"Yes, Mr. Logan, I'm sure the sea turtles are deeply grateful," Raven replied sarcastically, unimpressed with his interruption. "As I was saying, if the music video makes a positive splash on the Internet, the success of the album is likely to follow too. So that begs the double-sided question: Which track will be your lead single, and can you think of a concept creative enough for the music video to go viral?"

When Richard first amended the original contract, he had asked for 100% creative control on everything surrounding album art, promotional photos, music videos and merchandise. Raven had no problem with this since she wanted the band's personality to shine through. She had accepted with the stipulation that she could have the power of veto if ever their ideas were too out of left field. The group launched into a lengthy discussion, with each member campaigning for their own favourite track.

"If we go with 'Sarah', real-life Sarah can make a cameo!" Victor said.

"Maybe another time, Mr. Stone. But I don't think that song has enough impact as a lead single," Raven answered.

"We should do 'Every Dog Has His Day' and shoot the music video with tons of dogs!" Garfield suggested.

"OK Go already did that," Raven remarked, "also, we don't have the time to find trained animals."

Kory chimed in with her own suggestion next. "What about an underwater theme? I could do the cosplay of Ariel the mermaid!"

"Sorry, Ms. Anders. The set won't accommodate a human-sized tank. It would also be extremely expensive to produce." Raven felt like things were starting to get out of hand. It was time to reel them back in. "Let's take a few steps back, people. Who are the Titans?"

"What do you mean by that, Ms. Roth?" asked Victor.

"Who are the Titans? What kind of image do you want to portray to the public? What makes you so unique and different from every other rock band?" The group went quiet, stumped by her philosophical question. "Come on, everybody," Raven urged, "Who are you?"

"We're a family," Richard said, finally jumping into the conversation. "Behind the music, behind the show, we're a family at our core. At the end of the day, no matter how difficult things get, a family should always be there for each other. And that's the message I want us to tell the world."

Raven tilted her head as she considered his response. "Now that is a compelling concept, something we can work with. The four of you are certainly-"

"-The 'five of us', you mean," Richard interrupted her. "We already told you, you're one of us."

"Good luck trying to get rid of us now!" added Garfield with a laugh.

Kory and Victor nodded their heads in agreement. Raven looked back and forth between the people sitting on her two sides, finally turning back to address Richard. "I appreciate the sentiment, Mr. Grayson, but-"

"-Come on, Raven. Don't you think it's about time we drop the formalities?"

The manager was conflicted. She really hadn't intended to get so close with her clients. But after spending hours in the recording studio together and learning about their personal lives, her resolve was starting to crumble. Was it finally time to start breaking down the barriers that she had so carefully built up around herself? The group looked at her expectantly with wide, encouraging smiles. She remembered the sweet moment they had shared weeks ago in a group hug. She felt her wall come down a little, brick by brick.

"Alright, Mr. Gray-er, Richard. I guess we can do that.

"Sweet!" Garfield said, pumping his fist in the air. "You're finally loosening up, Rae Rae."

"Ra-ven!" she snapped back. Raven had given the man an inch and he took a mile. The rest of the group simply chuckled at their little exchange. Before the argument could continue, they heard a knock on the door.

A short, pudgy man walked in with a powerful air of confidence. His distinguishing features were a bushy unibrow that framed beady eyes ringed with dark circles, and greasy, red hair that was cut in a messy mullet. He wore a shirt that depicted "Slave Leia'' over a pair of baggy cargo shorts. Taking the seat directly across from Raven at the other end of the table, he perused the group with a wary look.

"Cool prosthetic," he said in a nasal voice, gesturing to Victor's right arm. "Is that real metal, or did you just spray-paint the plastic?"

"It's actually carbon-fiber, 3-D printed by yours truly. And I got a matching one down here too." Victor rapped his knuckles on his left leg.

"He's basically our resident Edward Elric," Gar said.

"Who's Edward Elric?" Raven asked. She was thrown off by their sudden rapport with the man who had walked in literally 30 seconds ago.

"You don't know who Ed Elric is?" scoffed Gar as Raven just shook her head blankly. "Fullmetal Alchemist, the greatest anime of all time? Even a normie like you should know what that is. Come on, Vic, back me up."

"Nuh-uh dude, don't go roping me in with your otaku shit."

"But you said you loved 'Brotherhood'!"

"Yeah, 'cause the fight scenes were sick and the characters were badass."

The stranger butt into the conversation, "Everybody knows that the 2003 series was better anyway."

"Lies! Blasphemy! 'Brotherhood' follows the canon of the manga!" Gar gasped.

"A-hem!" Raven cleared her throat loudly. Gar could tell that their manager was starting to lose her patience over their rowdiness. She continued, "I think introductions are in order. Everyone, meet Alexander Polinsky, a recent graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute. He is the primary candidate for directing our music video."

"Greetings," Alexander said, raising his hand in the Vulcan salute.

"We were just discussing the video concept before you walked in, Mr. Polinsky. Although I believe we have reached a consensus." Raven looked to Dick for his approval.

"That's right," Dick replied, "we want to go with the idea of family. Nothing too cheesy, but nothing too serious either. And I think 'How Long Is Forever?' would be the perfect track."

The leader pulled out his phone and played the sound file for the song that they had just finished recording the day before. Gar agreed that it was the best choice for their lead single. The melody was memorable and the chorus was infectious. The lyrics were filled with nostalgia, talking about the appeals of childhood and innocent, uncomplicated life. It was wistful yet optimistic, asking if the invincibility of youth could ever transcend into adulthood. Like Dick mentioned earlier, it was neither too cheesy nor too serious, finding a happy medium in its earnest positivity.

Alexander closed his eyes as he listened to the music. When the song ended, he said three words, emphasizing each one dramatically. "Awkward. Family. Photos."

The five of them looked at him quizzically, unable to follow his train of thought.

"Awkward family photos! Come on, you know the meme!" He formed his thumbs and forefingers into the shape of an "L", looking through the space between as though it were a lens. "The scene fades in from black. The camera pans to an old-school photo album, the kind that everybody had in the 90s. The scrapbook opens and there, in frame, is the band, wearing colour-coordinated outfits in front of a gaudy, abstract background. At first, it's just a still shot of a printed photograph. But once the music starts, you all start mouthing the words, keeping your bodies motionless in the original pose. As the song progresses, so does the photo book. Every time the page turns, you're in another position. Maybe you're in matching onesies. Maybe everyone is almost naked. Regardless, the audience can't look away."

A smile began to grow on Gar's face. "You, my dude, are a genius!"

Everyone agreed that Alexander's idea was a winning one.

"We like your pitch very much, Mr. Polinsky," Raven said. "I think it's safe to say that we want to hire you as our music director. Will you accept?"

"Weeeeeell, I dunno. I mean, I'm working on a bunch of projects these days, trying to get my portfolio together..."

Raven drew out a contract from her purse and said, "There is, of course, the matter of payment." She handed it to Kory to pass down to the hesitant man.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're paying me? Real money?!" he exclaimed.

Raven looked confused. "Didn't I mention that in my email?"

"I'll do it! You have no idea how many times people have asked me to work for them in exchange for 'exposure'," he said with a roll of his eyes, signing the contract with a flourish.

"I don't believe in that kind of nonsense," she replied, shaking her head disapprovingly, "that mindset is killing the creative industry."

As Raven and Alexander discussed the finer details of scheduling, equipment, and crew members, Gar felt a sense of pride towards their manager. He loved the fact that she was able to take charge of any situation with such calm and grace. He also appreciated that she had a deep respect for artists and treated every business transaction with integrity. Her pretty eyes and shapely figure were a bonus too.

"We'll be in touch over the week to work out everything else. Thank you for your time, Mr. Polinsky," Raven got up to shake the director's hand. "Meeting adjourned."

The morning had finally arrived for the music video shoot. The day before, the band respected their usual appointment at the recording studio. They only managed to get one song done, leaving three left to go. Raven wasn't too worried about this, considering they still had three weeks left before the launch. What did worry her was the jam-packed day ahead. She was tired and stressed out, which made her crabbier than usual. She hadn't slept well the night before and organizing a music video was an extremely complicated process.

Catering, wardrobe, equipment rentals and scheduling filled her mind. She was totally overwhelmed with an endless checklist of things to do. All she could hope for was that production would go off without a hitch. Ideally, they would have had two days to shoot, but they were limited by the fact that it was a Sunday and everyone in the band needed to be at work the next day.

Raven steeled herself as she re-entered the chaos of the set. In her arms, she carried a heavy 24-pack of water bottles. A figure swooped in from behind to take the burden out of her hands.

"Tsk, tsk, Rae. Single-use plastic is terrible for the environment."

She tried not to stare at Garfield's flexed biceps as he set the pallet of water on a table. "Would it kill you to drop the nickname? And shouldn't you be in hair and makeup right now?"

"I dunno. No one was at the station when I got there," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Raven looked at her watch. Their stylist should have arrived 20 minutes ago. Out of nowhere, a young, curvy woman of average height flung herself at the Titans' manager. She pulled away to clutch Raven's hands and jumped up and down excitedly. She had bright blue eyes and blonde hair cascaded past her shoulder blades.

"Raveeeeeeeen!" the woman squealed, hugging her again.

Raven grimaced slightly and stepped back, trying to regain her personal space. "It's good to see you too, Cassie."

"It's been a hot minute since we last saw each other!"

"I know. It's been what, 5 years? When did you move to Jump?"

"Literally the day after I turned 18! Mom was furious, but there was no way she was stopping me from leaving."

"Well, thank you for being here today. You're a real life-saver."

"My pleasure, Rae!"

Garfield took this opportunity to cut into the two women's reunion. "How come she gets to call you that?"

"Because she doesn't annoy me to the high heavens. Go get dressed, now."

Garfield stalked away in a huff, leaving Raven and Cassie to finish their conversation.

"He's cute," Cassie whispered conspiratorially.

"Keep it in your pants, Cassie," Raven said with a warning tone, "you're on the job right now."

"Pfft, I'm not looking for me. I'm talking about you.. When's the last time you got any?"

"Cassie!" she hissed.

"Don't act coy with me. You look super high strung. And you know, the best way to de-stress is a nice, good fu-"

"-CASSANDRA SANDSMARK, GET TO WORK!"

Gar sat in a folding chair as Cassie combed product into his blonde-green locks. The other three band members had already finished the process of hair and makeup and were getting dressed into their first outfits. Gar always enjoyed meeting new people and happily engaged the stylist in conversation.

"So how do you know Ms. Roth?"

"We go way back, when we both still lived in Gotham."

"Gotham?" Gar raised his eyebrows. Raven never divulged anything personal about herself.

"Yeah, my mom and I used to move around a lot, but Raven grew up there. She was actually my Girl Guide Scoutmaster when I was in junior high. She always claims that she needed the volunteer hours for her college application, but I think she actually loved it."

The guitarist's brows hiked up even further. He hadn't pegged the woman as the type to go around selling cookies door-to-door.

"Girl Scouts, huh?" he questioned incredulously.

"I know it sounds dorky, but she truly was the coolest person ever. I really looked up to her. Neither of us have any siblings, so I've kind of always seen her as a sister from another mister. We lost touch after she went off to college. Who knew we'd get reunited here?"

"What was she like as a teenager?" Gar asked casually, trying not to let his burning curiosity show through.

"Oh, she was super edgy back then," continued Cassie. "She exclusively wore black and had purple streaks in her hair. She even got a nose piercing, and I'm pretty sure that's when she also got that tattoo on her-"

"-Almost finished?" interrupted Raven, who walked into their peripheral vision.

"You should let me dye your hair purple again! It would look totally bitchin'!"

"Cassie, please stop talking and do your job."

"Aye, aye, captain."

Several hours later, the shoot wrapped up. Alexander proved himself to be a real control freak. He would jump into frame between takes to adjust the band members' limbs or heads ever so slightly. If he didn't like their facial expressions or body poses, he would go into great lengths to explain exactly what he wanted. "The angles need to be perfect!" he cried. "I need to make Wes Anderson proud!" Whenever the crew would step in to reorganize the set for a new scene, the Titans would move over to another corner of the room to take promotional photos with the photographer.

Donna Troy was another one of Raven's acquaintances. They had met when Raven was an undergrad. Donna was mostly friends with her classmates at the time, but they always got along well. She was a competent, level-headed person. When Raven had initially begun her search for a photographer, she immediately thought of Donna. Originally, the in-demand photographer was fully booked for the next few months, but a last-minute cancellation made her available for their date.

The band took several photos in their comical music video outfits before changing into more stylish clothing. The light-hearted gag shots would do well for their social media accounts, but Raven also needed more serious photos for press and merchandise purposes. Thankfully, everyone was still in good spirits and the rest of the day went by very smoothly.

It was past midnight when Raven finally stumbled into her condo, completely exhausted. For the first time in a long time, she slept through her alarm, only waking up around 10 am the next day. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and went through her usual morning routine of yoga and tea. Her cat was slightly upset that she had been gone for so long the day before. When she went to go pet him, he walked away with his tail raised in disdain.

As she sipped on a tall mug of English Breakfast, Raven opened her laptop and logged in to her online banking page. She stared at Nevermore Records' business account with a depressed look on her face. After paying Alexander, Cassie, Donna and the rest of the crew, she had spent a hefty amount of her capital. That didn't even include all of the extra costs of craft services, equipment and rental fees. Raven sighed deeply before turning on the "radio" app on her phone.

The manager had been listening to the local station every day to do informal market research. She knew that it was essential to be in the know of which songs were getting the most radio play. After listening to the Titans' final version of "How Long Is Forever?", she could tell that it was going to be an instant hit. There wasn't anything quite like it on air and she felt that it would fill a gap in the current market. She let the music play in the background as she worked on the budget, not really paying attention to the lyrics. A sweet female voice sang against a basic pop track:

Too scared to come out / Stuck in my chrysalis

Avoiding, ignoring / My metamorphosis

But things change

When you meet the one you were meant to love

Raven's ears burned as they picked up on the familiar words. Did she just hear what she thought she just heard? She paid closer attention to the song as it repeated the chorus before coming to a close. The DJ took over and said, "That was 'Metamorphosis' by singer-songwriter Terra, the lead single off her sophomore album Terra-fied. You can find it in stores and on digital streaming services as of this Friday."

Raven's hands shook as she reached for her phone to pause the app. "Leniret animam meam..." The manager murmured the phrase to herself, desperately trying not to let the panic settle in. She took a few more deep breaths before picking up her phone again, this time to call Richard.

"Hello? Sorry to bother you at work. We have a major problem. Do you think you can round up the team for an emergency meeting at my place tonight? Thanks."

Raven hung up the phone and sat in silence, still shell-shocked from her discovery. "Either we're in for a plagiarism lawsuit," she thought, "or Garfield has a lot of explaining to do."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed those cameos :) You can expect to see more of Cassie, but Donna and Control Freak are one-time appearances. Control Freak doesn't have a real name, so I went with the name of his voice actor.

I highly recommend OK Go's dog-filled music video for their song "White Knuckles". That band always delivers in the originality department and I like to think that the Titans would have a similar vibe in their creative direction.

Till next time, Lily Timbers

Replies to Guest Reviews

Guest: I'm so happy that you're still enjoying the story. I loved all of those moments too. I definitely want to play up Raven and Kory's friendship more as time passes. Also, wearing a mask all day sounds awful! Hang in there!