The Heartbeats of the Hidden Actors Chapter 14

Director Oliver Brooks takes rehearsals very seriously. He treats the checkers as actors, and moves them according to the situation on the scene while reciting the lines, and then draws the movement diagrams one by one.

Because it is difficult to rehearse on a real location, director Oliver Brooks would carefully measure each scene, use yellow tape to mark the boundaries of the venue and place some tables and chairs inside to disguise the scenery. Then, in order to make it easier for the lighting technician and the photographer to clarify the plan, he would let staff members who were about the same height as Nathan Drake and Ethan Smith enter the venue to simulate the two of them.

Nathan Drake and Ethan Smith's first rehearsal was always mechanical. Ethan Smith felt that this step was a bit like the initial preparation stage of a ballet performance - the seemingly impromptu performance also started from boring memory.

It is only during the second take that performance elements are added. Oliver Brooks is not a very controlling director. He would ask Nathan Drake and Ethan Smith if they were comfortable with their positions and give them the power to make their own adjustments. The lighting technicians and photographers would also cooperate to modify the original plan.

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