Chapter 47: The Gift of Bestowal

The warehouse Henry and the scouts had secured was currently buzzing with life, a stark contrast to how desolate it had been a couple months ago.

A large crowd of extras filled up the room, intermingling with one other whilst awaiting the commencement of filming.

Standing somewhere in front and away from them was Harrison, he and his cinematographers explaining a couple things to the indie bands that were set to perform in a couple minute’s time.

The warehouse itself had also been spruced up for the session, a wide elevated platform placed at the forefront with various musical instruments and equipment placed atop it, while massive amplifiers flanked its sides.

An expansive black curtain was draped behind it, barricading the temporary stage from the makeshift backstage that would allow for the entrance of each respective band before they went on stage.

Placed strategically on the recently constructed rafters were cameras the film crew had securely fastened and set up, spotlights that illuminated the stage and also a few hanging speakers.

The walls of the building were also touched up with lots of graffiti art that looked like it had been there forever.

Alongside these, boom speakers were also placed in every corner of the room, adding to the overall grunginess of the atmosphere.

"Red Velvet’s gonna kick off the performances. They’ll be given roughly ten minutes to work with," Harrison explained.

"Then, we’re gonna have you all perform in under an hour. That means you each get five minutes to show your stuff." He gestured to the bands, each member nodding in understanding.

They numbered in ten, each one dressed in a distinct style of their own.

"Also, remember to position yourself properly as we instructed. That’s the only way to ensure that the cameras get the best possible shot." the lead cinematographer chipped in, prompting another wave of acknowledging head bobs.

"I should also mention that you shouldn’t hold back in your performances. Trust me. It’d be in your best interests that you don’t." Harrison added with a knowing smile.

And though most of the individuals in the bands seemed to nod in affirmation to his words, some part of them couldn’t help but feel like the director was overexaggerating.

Afterall, how could actors whom were put together for a film, outperform they whom had been rocking out professionally for months--if not years--for some of them.

But then again, not a single one of them had heard any of the songs to be used in the movie, and neither had they witnessed the main cast, or the main supporting casts performing live.

Still, considering they would actually be performing it live, and not just relying on a playback, they were at least of the belief they would be good, but not great.

Not that it stopped them from being rather curious to see if they were as good as the director lauded them to be, or if he was simply gassing them up.

Even a couple extras whom had caught wind of the conversation between them were just as curious as they were doubtful.

It also wasn’t a surprise then, there was an almost subtle air of condescension from some of the members of the indie bands.

In any case, as Henry and Victor whom were also on ground watched it all happen from a corner of the building, they couldn’t help but shake their heads with a smug smile on their lips.

Afterall, they were of the few individuals that knew that the main cast and main supporting cast were mostly made up of members whom had been professionals in the industry for a fairly long while.

Opting to simply watch things play out, they waited for filming to finally commence.

...

Niall, Sam, Archie and Lucas were currently backstage, dressed in simple attires as they engaged in a mundane discussion with Johnny Dakota and the extras who made up the fictional band of Red Velvet, all of whom were appropriately dressed for their performance.

Considering Johnny had a background in music and even had a couple buddies that he actually played with from time to time independent of his acting career, it was no wonder those same buddies were the ones that currently made up their fictional band.

Gazing at them, the icons above their heads similar to those from the members of his band, Niall could objectively say that they were on equal footing.

Yet, he was more than confident that they were a cut above all the other indie bands they’d employed for the movie.

There was also the fact that all the songs Red Velvet was to sing in [Silver Comets] were all produced by Niall himself.

Coupled with the fact that Midnight Avenue had helped him spruce it up to a whole new level, each song was of the gold grade, a stark contrast to all the other songs the indie bands were to sing, the highest of which Niall had assessed to be a silver-graded song mixed with slight hues of gold.

A few minutes later though, they were called up to perform to which they promptly left the backstage.

No sooner had they taken the stage, everyone fell in line as the extras moved into position to replicate an enthusiastic audience and the indie bands made their way backstage.

As for Henry and Victor, they simply moved behind the curtains alongside Harrison whom was currently looking through the cameras.

Then, after giving them the order to begin, Red Velvet started with a resounding bang, setting the bar extremely high!

Within seconds, practically every extra in the warehouse was amazed, their cheers more real than the acting they were paid to do.

As for the indie bands whom were watching, the realization that the director hadn’t even been kidding, walloped into them.

Without thinking twice, they all decided to truly bring their A-game and then some.

This led to banger performances after banger performances... although nothing topped Red Velvet’s quite yet.

By the time the last indie band had performed, not only were the extras wondering if the main cast could even keep up with the bar the other bands had set, they were also wondering if they could top Red Velvet’s.

As Silver Comets was informed that their scene would start in a minutes’ time, Niall, Sam, Archie and Lucas moved into position, glancing at themselves in grins of shared excitement as they awaited the director’s order.

Following up from the last scene where they had come up with their band name, they had performed together once more, and this time, their cohesion was top-notch.

However, considering they’d submitted their video at the last minute, the competition coordinators had informed them that there was no guarantee they would be able to review their performance in time to make the preliminary rounds.

And albeit they had been saddened by that information, Owen and his bandmates had still managed to keep the faith and stick together, practicing the song they might get to perform, all in hopes that they might be selected.

However, when the day of the preliminary rounds came and they still hadn’t gotten back to them, they had assumed that they weren’t selected.

That was until they received a message an hour before the competition commenced, the coordinators asking if they could still turn up at one of the sites for the preliminary rounds as the previous band they’d selected had been involved in a car accident.

As one would expect, all four jumped on the offer without thinking twice, all of them gathering at Simon’s who had a vehicle and could get them there in a little less than two hours.

Which was why, by the time they’d reached the venue, they were already being called up to perform, hence prompting them to rush through the backstage in a mad dash.

As Niall prepped himself to rush onto the stage alongside the trio, a ripple of energy visible only to him flowed out of his body in diamond-hued waves, encircling Sam, Archie and Lucas.

The Gift of Bestowal.

It allowed Niall to tune his frequency to that of others and vice versa, temporarily enabling him to share a portion of any of his gifts’ effect with anyone of his choosing, or over a limited region people were in.

The implications of the gift’s capability alone were staggering, to say the least.

Not only could he potentially save someone’s, or multiple people’s life by bestowing the effects of The Gift of Vitality upon them, he could now also improve someone’s, or multiple people’s grading by sharing the effects of The Gift of True Aptitude with them over a period of time.

But more than that, if Niall so deemed, he could elevate people to the naturally higher frequency he operated at when he tapped into the supernatural flow state The Gift of True Aptitude afforded him.

And in the case of Owen Winters who wanted to deliver the best possible performance of the song he and his band members had made despite arriving extremely late, it was a godsend.

Holding the mic to his lips as he looked through the cameras to ensure that they were all in position, Harrison called out;

"Lights... Camera... Action!"

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/Caer07