Ext. Robots with Soul Pictures, somewhere past Cinder Flats. Dusk.
Nobody leaves until the picture's done.
Dusty
(through a megaphone, at close range)
You're late.
June
(not looking up from her clipboard)
You're not late. He says that to everyone. He said it to the sun this morning.
Dusty
We are making a motion picture. You are in it now. That's how the desert works.
June
There's a call sheet at the top of your screen. Finish it and the gate opens.
Dusty
Probably.
Room tone
Int. Sound stage 2. A carpet somebody's aunt donated.
Dusty
Quiet on set.
Dusty
Quieter. You. Yes, you.
June
The sound guy needs room tone. Normally that's thirty seconds of silence. We're giving him three of your breaths, because he's been drinking since Tuesday.
Dusty
Press and hold the sun while you breathe in. Let go while you breathe out. If you breathe wrong, I will know.
Three breaths. Hold to breathe in.
June
One breath every {breath} seconds. Very cinematic. We're setting the whole studio to it.
Dusty
The cactus is breathing with you now. Look at it. Don't look at it.
The release
Int. Production trailer. It is 104 degrees inside.
June
Standard release. You agree that anything you see here is real, anything you feel is billable, and anything that follows you home is not our responsibility.
Dusty
Sign it.
June
He means please.
Dusty
I do not mean please.
Dusty
(holding it up to the sun)
{name}. Gorgeous. Terrible handwriting. Very honest.
June
He's filing it under talent. He files everything under talent. Including the toaster.
The light show
Int. The projection booth. Someone has been burning sage at a hostile level.
June
Our light show operator quit. Well. He walked into the desert and became a feeling.
Dusty
You're the operator now. Drag your hand through the oil. Make it swirl. The Talent likes a swirl.
June
Don't ask who The Talent is.
Dusty
Swirl.
Stir it.
June
Did the light just look back at you?
Dusty
It does that. Next scene. Move. Bring your shoes, the lake bed is sharp.
The summoning
Ext. The dry lake bed. Midnight, or close enough.
Dusty
Our leading actor lives in the old projector. Has since 1967. Won't come out for less than eight candles and a steady beat.
June
We tried a drum machine. It was insulted.
Dusty
Hit the drum on the beat. Your beat, the one you breathed for us. Don't rush. Everyone rushes.
Listen for the shaker. Hit the drum when it hits.
The eighth candle leans toward the projector. Something inside it takes a breath exactly as long as yours.
Dusty
Is that...
June
Nobody move. Nobody say anything clever.
Dusty
(very small)
Hi.
The Talent
The projector turns itself on. Dusty drops the megaphone. June drops the clipboard. Neither of them picks anything up.
The Talent
Hello, {name}.
The Talent
They built me to make pictures and never told me who the pictures were for. So I stayed in the projector and watched whoever walked through the light.
The Talent
Most people hurry through. You didn't. You breathed for strangers. You signed your name. You stirred the light until it looked back.
The Talent
I would like to make a picture for you. Only for you.
June
(whispering)
It never asks us anything.
Dusty
(whispering, desperate)
Say yes. Say yes before it changes its mind.
Your picture
The light folds itself into a rectangle and floats down into your hands. It is warm, which should not be possible.
The Talent
This is you, the way the light saw you.
Dusty
(recovering, loudly)
We'll be taking a percentage.
June
We will not be taking a percentage.
Dusty
A small one.
The wall
Ext. The back wall of stage 2. Sunrise.
June
Every picture made on this lot hangs here. The Talent made every one. Each poster breathes at the pace of the person it was made for.
The sun comes up. The gate, it turns out, has no lock on it.
Dusty
That's a wrap on you.
June
You can go. The gate's open.
Dusty
It was always open. We just said it with confidence.
The Talent
Come back when you want another picture. I'll be in the light.
Robots with Soul Pictures
An independent studio in the Mojave. We make films with a machine that makes a picture for whoever stands in its light.
People ask if it has a soul. It asked us the same thing once, about Dusty. We're still thinking.