*Yawn*

(I'm glad we're finally done shooting that film...)

(But I'm still feeling pretty fatigued after working so late each day during that time...)

*Sigh*

(I hope I don't fall asleep during class.)

Morning, Kusanagi!

Morning.

Oh, Shiraishi, Shinonome...

Morning.

Hm...?

Is it just me or do you sound kinda tired?

Huh?

Yeah, you look a little paler than usual...

He's right. Did something happen?

Oh...

Is it that obvious...?

I feel a lot better now since it's over, but I was a little busy until just recently. I guess I'm still feeling a bit fatigued.

Oh, are you talking about that film shoot?

Huh?! What film shoot?!

Like a real movie?! Not the one we made as a class?!

Y-Yeah...

How did you know, Shinonome?

Oh, I saw a certain someone spending a lot of time doing weird stuff in the courtyard. I'm guessing he was figuring out how to play his character.

Tsukasa...

Wait, does that mean you were in it?

What did you play?!

Oh, we were just extras, so our characters didn't really have names. The shoot for our scene was over really quickly...

But we got to join the crew after that, which ended up being a lot of hard work...

What?! You guys got to be a part of both the cast and crew?! That's so cool!

You've moved onto the real thing...

Filmmaking has sorta become a part of your life lately, huh?

Oh, you guys sound like you're having fun! What are you talking about?

Kusanagi was just telling us about how she got to be in a real film and work as part of the crew!

What?! A real one?!

You were a part of the crew?!

So, um... I was only in it for a little bit, and I did get to help the crew out, but just with a bunch of minor things...

That's still really cool!

Yeah!

Tell us more! What was it like working on a real film?!

Was it pretty different from what we did?

Of course it was.

We're talking about real professionals here.

Haha... Yeah, there were a lot of differences between what we did and how they handled things. The sheer size of the crew for one...

But despite those differences, I found them both good experiences in different ways.

In different ways?

So, for example... For the one I just worked on, everyone worked together really hard to make the director's ideas for it a reality.

From the camera crew to the lighting techs, this group of professionals moved as a cohesive unit to make each scene just the way the director wanted.

Interesting...

So, what specifically did that involve?

Well...

For this one scene where a character takes a few seconds to eat something, everyone had to spend hours getting all the food and props ready...

Hours?!

For just that scene?!

Yeah, I remember thinking that that must be why the end product usually turns out so well.

But when we made our film, it wasn't top-down like that.

We brainstormed and discussed our ideas as a group, and it really felt like we made our film from complete scratch. I thought that was really fun...

Oh...

U-Uhh, sorry... I wasn't trying to sound preachy or anythi—

No, Kusanagi, that's a really nice thing to say!

It is?

Yeah! What you just said really hit home for me! I'm so glad you feel that way about what we did!

If you feel that fondly about our film, then it means it was worth putting in all the effort we did!

N-No, I was just...

But now I'm even more interested in this film you got to work on, Kusanagi!

Me too. I still can't believe it took hours to shoot a scene that only lasted a few seconds.

And you got to be in it, right?

I'm probably gonna cry like a baby when I see you!

Me too! I mean, how often do you get to see a friend in a real-life film?

Let us know when it releases!

I promise to go see it then!

Oh...

Okay, I'll let you all know when I hear about the release date...