Just as Shadow finished writing the script, the doorbell rang. Low and behold, it was his Amazon delivery!
See, Shadow does not care about buying local. He would much rather kiss Jeff Bezo's ass. Except he doesn't even know who Jeff Bezos is.
Anyway, Shadow received the numerous packages that the deliveryman was visivbly annoyed about delivering to him. But Shadow did not pick up on this. Shadow failed to realize that there were humans behind his every Amazon purchase who had to pull his products from the warehouse shelf, package them, and finally have them shipped to him. He simply thought it was magic.
It started getting late as Shadow finished unpacking and setting up all the gear he had ordered. Dr. Robotnik looked over the script while he let Shadow do all the work. Besides, it's not like he would have any idea how to properly set up lighting, microphones, etc.
"Hey, Shadow, what's this about the non-profit?" said Dr. Robotnik.
"Don't worry," said Shadow, "I already set it up for you. We'll make sure you, as the CEO, get a nice, fat salary."
"But isn't it a non-profit?" asked Dr. Robotnik, "Meaning I won't be making a profit?"
"It's a misnomer," said Shadow, "Every company has to make a profit. But basically we can't leave any money lying around. We'll just raise your salary. Problem solved."
"We can do that?" said Dr. Robotnik.
"Of course," said Shadow, "The whole non-profit sector is a bunch of BS."
"Hmm," said Dr. Robotnik, not entirely convinced, "If you say so."
"I say so, alright," said Shadow.
"But don't you think this whole thing is kind of… cheesy?" said Dr. Robotnik, pointing at the script on Shadow's Macbook, "Who's going to believe this crap?"
"People will believe you're speaking from the heart as long as your delivery comes off as sincere," said Shadow.
"And if not?" said Dr. Robotnik.
"They'll see right through you," said Shadow, "That's where I come in. My job is to make sure this video is as convincing as possible. We will do as many takes as it takes."
"As many takes as it takes!" repeated Dr. Robotnik enthusiastically, "When do we start?"
"It's getting late," said Shadow, "I'd prefer to start first thing tomorrow morning."
"Sounds like a plan!" said Dr. Robotnik.
. . .
The next morning, Dr. Robotnik and Shadow woke up and performed their respective daily routines.
Then it came time to film.
Shadow had Dr. Robotnik seated behind the piano, but straddling the stool so that he was facing 90 degrees to the right of the piano. The camera was connected to Shadow's Macbook, which was placed on a stool immediately to the right of the piano so that an equilateral triangle was formed between Dr. Robotnik, the body of the piano, and the camera.
So, basically, imagine Dr. Robotnik on the left side of the screen looking out at you and the body of the piano on the right side of the screen. The script was displayed on the Macbook's screen for Dr. Robotnik to read.
"And… action," said Shadow.
The first attempt was an utter failure. Dr. Robotnik read through the script in an unconvincing way and it was rather obvious he was reading from it. Shadow let out a long sigh. "It's going to be a long day," he thought.
"Let's go again," said Shadow, "Look directly at the camera and read the script out of the corner of your vision. It's important that viewers feel like you're making eye contact with them. And don't be afraid to make some hand gestures."
"Got it," replied Dr. Robotnik.
"Take two… action," said Shadow.
The second attempt was only slightly better. His delivery was still severely lacking emotion. While he did start incorporating a hand gesture here and there and looked directly at the camera every once in a while, the performance was still not very believable.
"Say it like you mean it!" said Shadow.
"But what if I don't?" said Dr. Robotnik.
"Hmm…" said Shadow, "I have an idea."
Shadow went to the kitchen and pulled an onion out of his refrigerator. He then got a knife from a drawer. He set up another stool directly behind the stool with his Macbook on it. He stood behind it and prepared to start cutting the onion on it.
"Take three… action!" said Shadow.
"Won't they be able to hear you slicing the onion?" protested Dr. Robotnik.
"We can edit it out in post-production!" responded Shadow, visibly annoyed, "We're rolling!"
But it was to no avail. As Shadow proceeded to slice the onion during the third take, Dr. Robotnik shed a few tears, but they were not believable. It seemed as if his eyes were irriated as opposed to any real emotion he may have been feeling. Shadow was disappointed his plan didn't work.
So, he decided to take advantage of his super speed, and did another take, this time cutting up an entire bag of onions.
But it was no use.
"You need acting classes or something," said Shadow, sighing, "I'm starting to wonder if we're wasting our time."
"Oh, why don't we just do music instead?" asked Dr. Robotnik eagerly, "I'm just dying to show the world my musical talent!"
"Wait a minute," said Shadow, "…I just had an idea. Let's break for lunch. And then when we resume, let's try again but with the camera facing away from the piano…"
Dr. Robotnik looked at Shadow suspiciously. "Where are you going with this?" he asked.
"Oh, you'll see," said Shadow smirking, "You'll see…"