The Fall
Ch_007_000: The Fall
Lassie Junior, Brother Dusk, looked up the cliff-side and asked his son, “You should have asked for a stunt double, Brother Day.”
“I told you already, dad! Everyone thinks I’m a wimp because I ran away from the falling lamp. I am going to prove I am no wimp! Spock does his own stunts!” hissed Brother Day. Weatherwax had told him his skittishness was only natural, which had somehow made it worse.
Two stunt dogs came over to Brother Day and tied several harnesses on the man. Weatherwax came afterwards and said, “You look wonderful today, Brother Day. Thank you for agreeing to do the stunt. The shot will look so much better with your natural hair flowing in the breeze.”
Brother Day smiled at the praise and said, “Of course. I would do anything for Lassie. What is this scene again, Weatherwax?”
Weatherwax explained, “A young puppy has fallen off of a cliff-side. You and a misunderstood loner dog will climb down to the puppy. The dog is actually an excellent rock climber and owns a small human that it milks for food.”
Brother Dusk said, “I have always heard that hermits make excellent free climbers. I assume it gives them something to do given few social engagements.”
Brother Day was a bit confused and asked, “So, given that I am only human, why exactly am I on the ropes and up the cliff? Shouldn’t I be running with my hair flowing towards a dog?”
Weatherwax looked at the star and said, “Lassie grows here by starting to show more agency in her rescues of puppies. She has run for help, she has vocalized threats, but the audience craves to see Lassie’s paws dirty as it were.”
Brother Dusk came up to Day and said, “If I were you, I think this might call for an upward neck tilt with your hair draped down your back. Then, maybe a small side-to-side shimmy as you are lifted upwards to get the puppy; make sure to leave the shot with that image in the viewer’s mind. Weatherwax, do we cut the shot when he’s at the top? And the next shot on the board would be a studio closeup of Lassie and the puppy?”
Weatherwax confirmed that was the plan and Day agreed to their combined direction. Dusk gave his son a pat on the back and moved out of the shot. The dogs got into position and several riggers grabbed the safety ropes.
The stunt-rig was set to pull Lassie up some thirty feet. The sound dogs rolled sound. The director barked for action. Lassie said her lines, “YAHOO! YAHOO! YAHOO!”
The human started to rise. Her hair draped down her back and she lightly tossed her head side-to-side around a quarter of the way up.
“Too soon,” hissed Dusk from behind the cameradogs. “She’s still nervous, Weatherwax.”
The human whisperer said, “Spock looks fine, old man. Stop your worrying or you’ll curse the shoot.”
Spock’s eyes widened and her head started to violently shake from side-to-side. Her hair scattered in all directions.
The director stood up to stop the scene. There was nothing left to stop. Weatherwax watched Spock fall the full thirty feet and gasped as the body bounced once on the earth and lay still. The rope that had held Lassie drifted down after and settled across the crumpled coat. It was cleanly cut.
The director sat back down.