Overshadowed
Released: 19th December 2014
Make-Up Help Quest
Make-Up Help Quest
Main Characters / Extra Characters:
My Characters
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Requirements / Rewards
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Part 1
Cira: Have you heard the rumors?
You bump into Cira on your way to your Hollywood 101 lecture...
Cira: Did you hear, Danny? Supposedly, Professor Hunt has something huge planned for this week. It sounds like the entire class will be working on a project together!
Danny: Really? The whole class on one project? I wonder who Professor Hunt will give the best jobs to...
Cira: I’m just happy we all get to be a part of something together. I wonder what it’ll be!
Time - 2 hours
You and Cira grab your seats in the lecture theater...
Thomas Hunt: Yes, it’s true. Thanks to a generous anonymous donation to the university, we’ll all be working together this week. One big happy family. The project is a series of high budget short films, each a different genre. I’ll be screening the shorts at the end of the week for my industry friends. You very much want to impress them. And me.
Danny: Hear that, Cira? Hunt’s finally going to be making some introductions. We’d better really shine...
Rewards
Thomas Hunt: I’ve assigned each of you a production role. You should have the list in your email now. Shooting begins tomorrow.
Everyone in the class whips out their smartphones to check. You scroll down the long list, looking for your name...
Part 2
Danny: Hope I can get an important job on this project...
You keep searching the list of the cast and crew...
Danny: Hmm... I can’t find my name.
Cira: I found it! You’re right next to mine. We’re both in the makeup department!
Danny: I’m on makeup? But I haven’t studied it at all!
You hear a familiar laugh behind you. You turn to find Bianca prowling with her entourage.
Bianca: Oh good, you’re finally being kept where no one has to look at you. Thomas made me Associate Producer!
Danny: Everyone knows that means he’s just keeping you out of the way so you don’t ruin everything.
Bianca: At least I’m not doing makeup for better looking people. You’re basically a servant.
Beside Bianca, Shae simmers silently at the insult.
Shae: ...
Bianca: Don’t be so sensitive, Shae. You’re, like, a good servant. Like Alfred, or that hunchback guy who helps Frankenstein!
Shae: ...Igor. I’m your Igor.
Bianca: Sure, whatever. Now let’s go already. I’m so over talking to these nobodies.
Shae stares daggers at Bianca’s back... then follows.
Rewards
All around you, a mixed chorus of cheers and groans goes up from the students as they discover their assignments.
Thomas Hunt: That will be quite enough of that! Some of you who think yourselves entitled to the spotlight might not have gotten the jobs you wanted...
Hunt’s eyes fall squarely on you.
Thomas Hunt: But every job is important and will be recognized for its craft. There are no small parts, only small actors.
Jenni: So true. Tyion Lannister has a huge part in ‘Game of Thrones’!
Thomas Hunt: Jenni, that’s not even remotely what I’m talking about.
You notice Cira sitting quietly nearby.
Danny: Okay, Cira, let’s get started.
Cira: You don’t have to pretend you’re excited to do makeup, Danny. I heard what Bianca was saying about it... And I know it’s not exactly getting to be a big movie star, or director, or fashion designer with your name in lights and on magazine covers...
Danny: I’m here to learn, Cira, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’ll be working with makeup artists all the time, after all.
Cira: ...you mean it? In that case, I’m happy to give you a primer in how the magic happens. Hee, sorry, little makeup joke. Now I’m blushing. Okay, I’ll stop. We should go meet up with our actors for the first short!
Part 3
Cira: It all starts with the makeup artist’s canvas... somebody’s face!
You find Kanoro and Tegwen in their trailer.
Cira: Okay, people, what’ve we got?
Tegwen: This first short is a rom-com! I’m playing a tough, streetwise criminal with a secret...
Kanoro: Who’s forced to team up with me, a by-the-book cop with a heart of gold! And things get more than a little flirty! Am I right, Tegwen? We should practice making out--
Tegwen: Keep it together, Kanoro.
Kanoro: Okay...
Danny: So it’s our job to make them look good, right, Cira?
Cira: There’s a lot more to makeup than that, Danny. Check it out...
Time - 4 hours
You look on closely as Cira dabs a liquid under Kanoro’s eyes...
Cira: See, I’m applying a light concealer here to make him look younger and more naive.
Kanoro: And I’m already pretty young and naive to begin with!
Cira: And now I’m using eyelash curlers to give him the alert, wide-eyed look of a man searching for the truth.
Danny: Hey, that’s pretty cool. You’re using makeup to establish his character.
Cira: You try. What makeup should we give Tegwen, the rough-and-tumblr thief hiding a dark past?
Danny: Lots of dark eye shadow!
Cira: Great idea. It will read like a burglar’s mask... and as someone trying to hide something!
Tegwen: Ooh, sexy and mysterious! Let’s do it!
You and Cira go to work... Soon, Kanoro and Tegwen are on set in full makeup, acting out their scene!
Danny: I have to say, they really look the part.
Cira: The wonders of makeup.
Danny: I’m serious, Cira. I never really noticed just how much thought and effort went into this stuff. What I’m trying to say is... you deserve way more recognition for all the work you put in.
Cira: Don’t worry about it, Danny. Like I said, we don’t get our names in lights.
Danny: And I’m saying you should. People like Bianca treat you guys like crap, and even I’ve taken what you do for granted. But I’m going to make sure your work isn’t just an afterthought. That’s a promise.
Rewards
After the first exhausting shoot, the class gathers back at the theater...
Thomas Hunt: Good work out there. You’ve all earned a rest... But you’re not getting one. This isn’t preschool! You don’t get naptime! Production starts on the next short tomorrow. The genre is fantasy. And no, it’s not about any of you actually getting famous.
The next day, you and Cira follow the director into the starts’ trailer to find two familiar faces gawking at you...
Danny: Aw crap.
Lance Sergio: Ew, sorry, no, Danny is so not touching my cheekbones.
Jenni: LMAO at Danny’s face right now! I need to Snapchat this to Bianca. Danny! Get in this shame selfie with me!
Part 4
Danny: We have to do Lance and Jenni’s makeup? All right. I’m out. Hollywood was fun while it lasted.
Lance Sergio: Fine. Let’s just get this over with, okay? All I know is we’re playing selfish people or something.
Cira: You’re playing Elvish people, Lance. This is a fantasy movie.
You and Cira reluctantly set about affixing pointed-ear mold to Jenni and Lance, then applying makeup to blend into their skin.
Lance Sergio: This is so dumb. I wish I were like Bianca. She doesn’t even use makeup. Her pores naturally produce foundation and bronzer, you know.
Jenni: But at least we get to be pampered like this! Hey, whatever your name is, can you get me one of those lavender exfoliant scrubs?
Lance Sergio: Ooh, and some cucumber slices for my eyelids. And a panini.
Danny: This is makeup. Not a spa. And definitely not catering.
Lance Sergio: What’s the difference? All people do is treat us to whatever we want and make us look and feel beautiful.
As you bite back your anger, Cira continues calmly and delicately creating the angelic, ageless beauty of elves on Jenni and Lance’s faces. Just then, Nyako, your director, pops back in!
Nyako: Makeup, let’s go! I need Lance and Jenni on set in five!
Cira: Danny, I need to go grab some setting spay to keep their makeup from melting in the studio lights. Can you apply some rouge to their cheeks and bring them out to the set? I’ll meet you there!
Time - 6 hours
As Cira hurries out of the trailer, you select the rouge and start to apply the finishing touches to Jenni and Lance...
Jenni: Is Cira going to get our paninis?
Lance Sergio: I’m sure Cira will get lost. I mean, you have to have made some wrong turns in life to end up in this job, right?
Jenni: Burn! Hold on, let me tweet that. Say it again? I forgot half of it already.
Danny: ...
Fuming, you look from the rouge in your hand to Cira’s bag on the table, brimming with powders, pencils, and sprays. You apply the rouge. You finish highlighting Jenni and Lance’s cheekbones.
Danny: All right. You’re done. Now get out of my sight.
On set, Cira hurriedly applies the setting spray. One by one, the entire crew notices the radiant sight of Jenni and Lance in full makeup.
Nyako: Wow... you two look even more beautiful than Legolas and Tauriel in ‘The Hobbit’!
Jenni: Hashtag Lance-olas and Jenniel in the house!
Nyako: Jenni, you’re a vision! I have to commit to this film! You’re the most beautiful woman in the world... or at least in your entourage!
Lance Sergio: I... I never noticed before... but...
Bianca: Just what the hell is happening here?
Lance Sergio: Bianca! I... I wasn’t gonna say anything!
Bianca wheels on you and Cira!
Bianca: You! You think you can mess with my life... my boyfriend? You’ll pay for this. You’ll pay!
She storms off, leaving you and Cira failing to stifle your laughter!
Rewards
Later that night, you help Cira gather all the makeup supplies into his bag.
Danny: Then when Lance was all googly eyed for Jenni... Bianca’s face was priceless!
Cira: Listen, Danny. I just wanted to thank you for hanging tough. It’s hard to spend all day making the people who treat you like crap look amazing. Trust me, it happens more than you’d think. But it’s really important to me that, no matter what, my work is always the best it can be. That’s all I care about.
Danny: That’s why it bothers me when everyone raves about how beautiful they look, and no one thanks you.
Cira: Well, a lot of the time, the best makeup is the makeup that looks real. An audience shouldn’t think about the makeup artist... they should feel like they’re watching an actual world.
Danny: It’s still a world you created. You deserve as much credit as anyone. Look, Cira... the last short we’re doing is a monster movie. Tomorrow, it’s makeup’s time in the spotlight!
Part 5
Danny: Everyone will be talking about makeup after we turn our model into a monster!
Kelly gracefully sits in the makeup chair and stares into the vanity mirror.
Kelly: Danny, Cira, what you see before you is a face of the highest quality... so I expect the highest quality work!
Danny: That’s what you’re gonna get. You’ll be singing Cira’s praises after this.
Kelly: Singing? Oh good! I’ve been considering breaking into the pop music scene. But I’ll warn you... it’s a tall order to turn a face this beautiful into a monster.
Cira: I just might be up to the task.
Time - 8 hours
Cira: Now we have the chance to get really creative. Tell me what you think Kelly’s monster should look like, Danny, and I’ll show you how it’s done!
Kelly: Ooh! Idea! How about, like, an alien in disguise as a really, really hot human?
Danny: Pass! We’ll go with a gargoyle!
Kelly: Can I at least be a sexy gargoyle? Is that a thing?
Danny: It is now!
Cira delicately applies a slate-grey body paint to Kelly’s skin, while you help with gold-colored contact lenses.
Kelly: Now I can say my abs are literally rock-hard!
Danny: Honestly, Kelly looks amazing. Cira, you’re Rembrandt with that makeup brush. There’s no way you won’t get noticed this time!
Rewards
Cira: Last thing we need is the setting spray...
Cira rummages through the bag of supplies...
Cira: Wait... where is it?
Danny: What’s wrong?
Cira: I can’t find my setting spray! I could’ve sworn it was just here!
Danny: I don’t see it anywhere... do we definitely need it?
Cira: Yes, we need it! Without it, those hot spotlights will melt all of the Kelly’s makeup right off!
You hear a cold laugh and turn to see Bianca strolling by with a mischievous grin, flanked by Jenni and Lance.
Bianca: What’s the matter, Danny? Oh no, did someone take your setting spray?
Danny: Hand it over, Bianca. We know it was you.
Bianca: You think I did it? But I thought you said associate producers didn’t do anything! Toodles!
Cira: Danny, if we don’t find that spray soon, all our work will be ruined a minute after Kelly steps into those lights!
Part 6
Cira: This isn’t the type of thing I’d want to be noticed for!
The assistant director’s voice barks over a megaphone... five minutes until shooting starts!
Cira: Well... everyone’s definitely gonna know my name after our monster turns into a Dali painting.
Just then, you hear someone whistle behind you. Before you have time to look, a small aerosol can of setting spray sails into your hands.
Danny: What the...
Shae’s standing behind you, arms folded.
Shae: You’re welcome.
Cira: Shae! Is... is that my setting spray? Thank you so much!
You stare at Shae and say...
Danny: Thank you... You just totally bailed us out... but why? If Bianca found out you--
Shae: But she won’t, right? This is just one makeup artist letting another borrow their setting spray. Let’s not turn this into something it’s not... We’re not all buddy-buddy now, got it?
Cira: Got it.
Shae: Us makeup artists need to have each other’s backs. Lord knows nobody else will.
Rewards
Later, the whole class applauds as the director finishes the last shot of the monster movie.
Cira: Wrapping is always so bittersweet. I’m happy that we created something together... but I’m sad that it’s over.
Danny: Just go get some sleep, Cira. You’ll want to be at the top of your game tomorrow... Because all of Hunt’s Hollywood contacts will be fighting to talk to you after your work steals the show!
Part 7
Danny: You’re going to be the start of the show, Cira... so you’d better look like it!
You, Cira, and the rest of your class drive over to the Cinematheque in Santa Monica, stepping out to let tuxedoed valets park your cars. You see Professor Hunt laughing and joking with a large cluster of Hollywood bigwigs.
Danny: Looks like Hunt wasn’t kidding. This must be why everyone tells you to get on his good side... How are you feeling, Cira? Excited? Thrilled?
Cira: Nervous, I guess. I’m not used to being all dressed up for screenings, having valets... any attention at all really...
Danny: Trust me. You deserve it.
Thomas Hunt: Welcome, esteemed colleagues and lowly students. If you’d take your seats in the auditorium, we can begin.
Everyone files inside, and soon the theater is filled with the glow of the projector. On screen, the movie stars share a forbidden kiss between cop and criminal... Then Jenni and Lace do battle as elves of bewitching beauty... and finally the model roars in monstrous frenzy!
Danny: Whoa... the makeup looks even more impressive on the big screen! You really carried these movies, Cira.
Cira: Thanks, Danny... that means a lot.
As the monster movie fades out, the credits start to roll, and the whole theater fills with applause!
Rewards
The lights come up as the credits roll. Everyone stands and starts chatting. You watch as Hunt’s producer friends corner the stars and directors of the shorts, eagerly inquiring about their careers...
Danny: Here we go, Cira. Schmoozing time.
...but nobody approaches you! A pair of executives stroll by, happily discussing how frightening the monster looked.
Danny: My friend created that! Right over here, you can--
But the execs brush by, already joining the crowd forming around Bianca!
Bianca: Why, yes, as a producer, all of this was my vision... no, my father isn’t here... I might be able to get you a meeting with him.
Danny: This is such bull! Cira, how does it not drive you insane that nobody’s even thanking you for everything you did?!
You realize Cira is still sitting down, eyes fixed on the screen.
Cira: ...
Danny: ...Cira?
Part 8
Cira: ...
Danny: What are you doing still sitting there? Everyone’s leaving.
Cira: I know... but I like to watch the credits.
You look up to the screen where, faintly visible in the lit theater, you see that the projector is still displaying the crawl of names. You take a seat beside Cira... and watch...
Time - 12 hours
You and Cira sit alone in silence, watching the names streaming by on the towering black screen...
Cira: ...
Danny: ...
Finally, Cira speaks, scarcely a whisper.
Cira: You know, every single name in the credits of every film is an expert at what they do. Thousands of hours of practice and study. They give their all to make the movie the best it can be. They don’t get their name on the poster or in the big lights of the marquee. They get it here... Only for a moment, long after the audience is already gone.
Danny: That’s such a shame.
Cira: I don’t think so.
Just then, you see two names creep up from the bottom, rising up against the dark before evaporating... ‘Danny...’ ‘Cira...’
Cira: Because even that one brief moment of our names flying across the screen means that we were part of something special. That we get to do what we love. Even if nobody noticed.
You turn to look at Cira.
Danny: I noticed.
Cira: I know.
Rewards
At long last, you and Cira leave the theater and head to the empty curbside. You flag down the lone man standing there.
Danny: Excuse me? Valet?
The man turns around.
Thomas Hunt: Did you just call me a valet?
Danny: ...yeeees?
Thomas Hunt: Rest assured, we’ll be discussing that later. But first, I’d been wondering where the two of you were...
Thomas produces something from his pocket and hands it to Cira.
Cira: What’s this?
Thomas Hunt: A business card. One of my old producing partners asked me to pass along her contact info to the lead makeup artist. She’s interested in working with the ‘extraordinary young talent.’ Her words, obviously. I would never say something so effusive.
A valet screeches to a stop in Hunt’s spots car and tosses him the keys.
Thomas Hunt: Nevertheless... I think she’s smart to lock you down now.
Without another word, Hunt climbs in and guns it down Olympic Boulevard. Cira is left there, gawking at the business card.
Danny: Well, Cira... how’s it feel to get noticed?
Cira’s speechless, beaming smile says it all.
Cira: ...
Cira: Have you heard the rumors?
- Cira
You bump into Cira on your way to your Hollywood 101 lecture...
Cira: Did you hear, Danny? Supposedly, Professor Hunt has something huge planned for this week. It sounds like the entire class will be working on a project together!
Danny: Really? The whole class on one project? I wonder who Professor Hunt will give the best jobs to...
Cira: I’m just happy we all get to be a part of something together. I wonder what it’ll be!
Time - 2 hours
You and Cira grab your seats in the lecture theater...
Thomas Hunt: Yes, it’s true. Thanks to a generous anonymous donation to the university, we’ll all be working together this week. One big happy family. The project is a series of high budget short films, each a different genre. I’ll be screening the shorts at the end of the week for my industry friends. You very much want to impress them. And me.
Danny: Hear that, Cira? Hunt’s finally going to be making some introductions. We’d better really shine...
Rewards
- 20 Cash
Thomas Hunt: I’ve assigned each of you a production role. You should have the list in your email now. Shooting begins tomorrow.
Everyone in the class whips out their smartphones to check. You scroll down the long list, looking for your name...
Part 2
Danny: Hope I can get an important job on this project...
- Spend 500 Cash
You keep searching the list of the cast and crew...
Danny: Hmm... I can’t find my name.
Cira: I found it! You’re right next to mine. We’re both in the makeup department!
Danny: I’m on makeup? But I haven’t studied it at all!
You hear a familiar laugh behind you. You turn to find Bianca prowling with her entourage.
Bianca: Oh good, you’re finally being kept where no one has to look at you. Thomas made me Associate Producer!
Danny: Everyone knows that means he’s just keeping you out of the way so you don’t ruin everything.
Bianca: At least I’m not doing makeup for better looking people. You’re basically a servant.
Beside Bianca, Shae simmers silently at the insult.
Shae: ...
Bianca: Don’t be so sensitive, Shae. You’re, like, a good servant. Like Alfred, or that hunchback guy who helps Frankenstein!
Shae: ...Igor. I’m your Igor.
Bianca: Sure, whatever. Now let’s go already. I’m so over talking to these nobodies.
Shae stares daggers at Bianca’s back... then follows.
Rewards
- 2 Diamonds
All around you, a mixed chorus of cheers and groans goes up from the students as they discover their assignments.
Thomas Hunt: That will be quite enough of that! Some of you who think yourselves entitled to the spotlight might not have gotten the jobs you wanted...
Hunt’s eyes fall squarely on you.
Thomas Hunt: But every job is important and will be recognized for its craft. There are no small parts, only small actors.
Jenni: So true. Tyion Lannister has a huge part in ‘Game of Thrones’!
Thomas Hunt: Jenni, that’s not even remotely what I’m talking about.
You notice Cira sitting quietly nearby.
Danny: Okay, Cira, let’s get started.
Cira: You don’t have to pretend you’re excited to do makeup, Danny. I heard what Bianca was saying about it... And I know it’s not exactly getting to be a big movie star, or director, or fashion designer with your name in lights and on magazine covers...
Danny: I’m here to learn, Cira, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’ll be working with makeup artists all the time, after all.
Cira: ...you mean it? In that case, I’m happy to give you a primer in how the magic happens. Hee, sorry, little makeup joke. Now I’m blushing. Okay, I’ll stop. We should go meet up with our actors for the first short!
Part 3
Cira: It all starts with the makeup artist’s canvas... somebody’s face!
- A Guy Movie Star Besides Danny (Kanoro)
- A Girl Movie Star Besides Danny (Tegwen)
You find Kanoro and Tegwen in their trailer.
Cira: Okay, people, what’ve we got?
Tegwen: This first short is a rom-com! I’m playing a tough, streetwise criminal with a secret...
Kanoro: Who’s forced to team up with me, a by-the-book cop with a heart of gold! And things get more than a little flirty! Am I right, Tegwen? We should practice making out--
Tegwen: Keep it together, Kanoro.
Kanoro: Okay...
Danny: So it’s our job to make them look good, right, Cira?
Cira: There’s a lot more to makeup than that, Danny. Check it out...
Time - 4 hours
You look on closely as Cira dabs a liquid under Kanoro’s eyes...
Cira: See, I’m applying a light concealer here to make him look younger and more naive.
Kanoro: And I’m already pretty young and naive to begin with!
Cira: And now I’m using eyelash curlers to give him the alert, wide-eyed look of a man searching for the truth.
Danny: Hey, that’s pretty cool. You’re using makeup to establish his character.
Cira: You try. What makeup should we give Tegwen, the rough-and-tumblr thief hiding a dark past?
Danny: Lots of dark eye shadow!
Cira: Great idea. It will read like a burglar’s mask... and as someone trying to hide something!
Tegwen: Ooh, sexy and mysterious! Let’s do it!
You and Cira go to work... Soon, Kanoro and Tegwen are on set in full makeup, acting out their scene!
Danny: I have to say, they really look the part.
Cira: The wonders of makeup.
Danny: I’m serious, Cira. I never really noticed just how much thought and effort went into this stuff. What I’m trying to say is... you deserve way more recognition for all the work you put in.
Cira: Don’t worry about it, Danny. Like I said, we don’t get our names in lights.
Danny: And I’m saying you should. People like Bianca treat you guys like crap, and even I’ve taken what you do for granted. But I’m going to make sure your work isn’t just an afterthought. That’s a promise.
Rewards
- 20 Cash
After the first exhausting shoot, the class gathers back at the theater...
Thomas Hunt: Good work out there. You’ve all earned a rest... But you’re not getting one. This isn’t preschool! You don’t get naptime! Production starts on the next short tomorrow. The genre is fantasy. And no, it’s not about any of you actually getting famous.
The next day, you and Cira follow the director into the starts’ trailer to find two familiar faces gawking at you...
Danny: Aw crap.
Lance Sergio: Ew, sorry, no, Danny is so not touching my cheekbones.
Jenni: LMAO at Danny’s face right now! I need to Snapchat this to Bianca. Danny! Get in this shame selfie with me!
Part 4
Danny: We have to do Lance and Jenni’s makeup? All right. I’m out. Hollywood was fun while it lasted.
- A Level 5+ Director Besides Danny (Nyako)
Lance Sergio: Fine. Let’s just get this over with, okay? All I know is we’re playing selfish people or something.
Cira: You’re playing Elvish people, Lance. This is a fantasy movie.
You and Cira reluctantly set about affixing pointed-ear mold to Jenni and Lance, then applying makeup to blend into their skin.
Lance Sergio: This is so dumb. I wish I were like Bianca. She doesn’t even use makeup. Her pores naturally produce foundation and bronzer, you know.
Jenni: But at least we get to be pampered like this! Hey, whatever your name is, can you get me one of those lavender exfoliant scrubs?
Lance Sergio: Ooh, and some cucumber slices for my eyelids. And a panini.
Danny: This is makeup. Not a spa. And definitely not catering.
Lance Sergio: What’s the difference? All people do is treat us to whatever we want and make us look and feel beautiful.
As you bite back your anger, Cira continues calmly and delicately creating the angelic, ageless beauty of elves on Jenni and Lance’s faces. Just then, Nyako, your director, pops back in!
Nyako: Makeup, let’s go! I need Lance and Jenni on set in five!
Cira: Danny, I need to go grab some setting spay to keep their makeup from melting in the studio lights. Can you apply some rouge to their cheeks and bring them out to the set? I’ll meet you there!
Time - 6 hours
As Cira hurries out of the trailer, you select the rouge and start to apply the finishing touches to Jenni and Lance...
Jenni: Is Cira going to get our paninis?
Lance Sergio: I’m sure Cira will get lost. I mean, you have to have made some wrong turns in life to end up in this job, right?
Jenni: Burn! Hold on, let me tweet that. Say it again? I forgot half of it already.
Danny: ...
Fuming, you look from the rouge in your hand to Cira’s bag on the table, brimming with powders, pencils, and sprays. You apply the rouge. You finish highlighting Jenni and Lance’s cheekbones.
Danny: All right. You’re done. Now get out of my sight.
On set, Cira hurriedly applies the setting spray. One by one, the entire crew notices the radiant sight of Jenni and Lance in full makeup.
Nyako: Wow... you two look even more beautiful than Legolas and Tauriel in ‘The Hobbit’!
Jenni: Hashtag Lance-olas and Jenniel in the house!
Nyako: Jenni, you’re a vision! I have to commit to this film! You’re the most beautiful woman in the world... or at least in your entourage!
Lance Sergio: I... I never noticed before... but...
Bianca: Just what the hell is happening here?
Lance Sergio: Bianca! I... I wasn’t gonna say anything!
Bianca wheels on you and Cira!
Bianca: You! You think you can mess with my life... my boyfriend? You’ll pay for this. You’ll pay!
She storms off, leaving you and Cira failing to stifle your laughter!
Rewards
- 20 Cash
Later that night, you help Cira gather all the makeup supplies into his bag.
Danny: Then when Lance was all googly eyed for Jenni... Bianca’s face was priceless!
Cira: Listen, Danny. I just wanted to thank you for hanging tough. It’s hard to spend all day making the people who treat you like crap look amazing. Trust me, it happens more than you’d think. But it’s really important to me that, no matter what, my work is always the best it can be. That’s all I care about.
Danny: That’s why it bothers me when everyone raves about how beautiful they look, and no one thanks you.
Cira: Well, a lot of the time, the best makeup is the makeup that looks real. An audience shouldn’t think about the makeup artist... they should feel like they’re watching an actual world.
Danny: It’s still a world you created. You deserve as much credit as anyone. Look, Cira... the last short we’re doing is a monster movie. Tomorrow, it’s makeup’s time in the spotlight!
Part 5
Danny: Everyone will be talking about makeup after we turn our model into a monster!
- Cira
- A Level 5+ Model
Kelly gracefully sits in the makeup chair and stares into the vanity mirror.
Kelly: Danny, Cira, what you see before you is a face of the highest quality... so I expect the highest quality work!
Danny: That’s what you’re gonna get. You’ll be singing Cira’s praises after this.
Kelly: Singing? Oh good! I’ve been considering breaking into the pop music scene. But I’ll warn you... it’s a tall order to turn a face this beautiful into a monster.
Cira: I just might be up to the task.
Time - 8 hours
Cira: Now we have the chance to get really creative. Tell me what you think Kelly’s monster should look like, Danny, and I’ll show you how it’s done!
Kelly: Ooh! Idea! How about, like, an alien in disguise as a really, really hot human?
Danny: Pass! We’ll go with a gargoyle!
Kelly: Can I at least be a sexy gargoyle? Is that a thing?
Danny: It is now!
Cira delicately applies a slate-grey body paint to Kelly’s skin, while you help with gold-colored contact lenses.
Kelly: Now I can say my abs are literally rock-hard!
Danny: Honestly, Kelly looks amazing. Cira, you’re Rembrandt with that makeup brush. There’s no way you won’t get noticed this time!
Rewards
- 20 Cash
Cira: Last thing we need is the setting spray...
Cira rummages through the bag of supplies...
Cira: Wait... where is it?
Danny: What’s wrong?
Cira: I can’t find my setting spray! I could’ve sworn it was just here!
Danny: I don’t see it anywhere... do we definitely need it?
Cira: Yes, we need it! Without it, those hot spotlights will melt all of the Kelly’s makeup right off!
You hear a cold laugh and turn to see Bianca strolling by with a mischievous grin, flanked by Jenni and Lance.
Bianca: What’s the matter, Danny? Oh no, did someone take your setting spray?
Danny: Hand it over, Bianca. We know it was you.
Bianca: You think I did it? But I thought you said associate producers didn’t do anything! Toodles!
Cira: Danny, if we don’t find that spray soon, all our work will be ruined a minute after Kelly steps into those lights!
Part 6
Cira: This isn’t the type of thing I’d want to be noticed for!
- Level Cira
The assistant director’s voice barks over a megaphone... five minutes until shooting starts!
Cira: Well... everyone’s definitely gonna know my name after our monster turns into a Dali painting.
Just then, you hear someone whistle behind you. Before you have time to look, a small aerosol can of setting spray sails into your hands.
Danny: What the...
Shae’s standing behind you, arms folded.
Shae: You’re welcome.
Cira: Shae! Is... is that my setting spray? Thank you so much!
You stare at Shae and say...
Danny: Thank you... You just totally bailed us out... but why? If Bianca found out you--
Shae: But she won’t, right? This is just one makeup artist letting another borrow their setting spray. Let’s not turn this into something it’s not... We’re not all buddy-buddy now, got it?
Cira: Got it.
Shae: Us makeup artists need to have each other’s backs. Lord knows nobody else will.
Rewards
- 20 Cash
Later, the whole class applauds as the director finishes the last shot of the monster movie.
Cira: Wrapping is always so bittersweet. I’m happy that we created something together... but I’m sad that it’s over.
Danny: Just go get some sleep, Cira. You’ll want to be at the top of your game tomorrow... Because all of Hunt’s Hollywood contacts will be fighting to talk to you after your work steals the show!
Part 7
Danny: You’re going to be the start of the show, Cira... so you’d better look like it!
- Change Danny’s outfit
- Change Cira’s outfit
- Spend 650 Cash
You, Cira, and the rest of your class drive over to the Cinematheque in Santa Monica, stepping out to let tuxedoed valets park your cars. You see Professor Hunt laughing and joking with a large cluster of Hollywood bigwigs.
Danny: Looks like Hunt wasn’t kidding. This must be why everyone tells you to get on his good side... How are you feeling, Cira? Excited? Thrilled?
Cira: Nervous, I guess. I’m not used to being all dressed up for screenings, having valets... any attention at all really...
Danny: Trust me. You deserve it.
Thomas Hunt: Welcome, esteemed colleagues and lowly students. If you’d take your seats in the auditorium, we can begin.
Everyone files inside, and soon the theater is filled with the glow of the projector. On screen, the movie stars share a forbidden kiss between cop and criminal... Then Jenni and Lace do battle as elves of bewitching beauty... and finally the model roars in monstrous frenzy!
Danny: Whoa... the makeup looks even more impressive on the big screen! You really carried these movies, Cira.
Cira: Thanks, Danny... that means a lot.
As the monster movie fades out, the credits start to roll, and the whole theater fills with applause!
Rewards
- 2 Diamonds
The lights come up as the credits roll. Everyone stands and starts chatting. You watch as Hunt’s producer friends corner the stars and directors of the shorts, eagerly inquiring about their careers...
Danny: Here we go, Cira. Schmoozing time.
...but nobody approaches you! A pair of executives stroll by, happily discussing how frightening the monster looked.
Danny: My friend created that! Right over here, you can--
But the execs brush by, already joining the crowd forming around Bianca!
Bianca: Why, yes, as a producer, all of this was my vision... no, my father isn’t here... I might be able to get you a meeting with him.
Danny: This is such bull! Cira, how does it not drive you insane that nobody’s even thanking you for everything you did?!
You realize Cira is still sitting down, eyes fixed on the screen.
Cira: ...
Danny: ...Cira?
Part 8
Cira: ...
- Cira
Danny: What are you doing still sitting there? Everyone’s leaving.
Cira: I know... but I like to watch the credits.
You look up to the screen where, faintly visible in the lit theater, you see that the projector is still displaying the crawl of names. You take a seat beside Cira... and watch...
Time - 12 hours
You and Cira sit alone in silence, watching the names streaming by on the towering black screen...
Cira: ...
Danny: ...
Finally, Cira speaks, scarcely a whisper.
Cira: You know, every single name in the credits of every film is an expert at what they do. Thousands of hours of practice and study. They give their all to make the movie the best it can be. They don’t get their name on the poster or in the big lights of the marquee. They get it here... Only for a moment, long after the audience is already gone.
Danny: That’s such a shame.
Cira: I don’t think so.
Just then, you see two names creep up from the bottom, rising up against the dark before evaporating... ‘Danny...’ ‘Cira...’
Cira: Because even that one brief moment of our names flying across the screen means that we were part of something special. That we get to do what we love. Even if nobody noticed.
You turn to look at Cira.
Danny: I noticed.
Cira: I know.
Rewards
- 5 Diamonds
At long last, you and Cira leave the theater and head to the empty curbside. You flag down the lone man standing there.
Danny: Excuse me? Valet?
The man turns around.
Thomas Hunt: Did you just call me a valet?
Danny: ...yeeees?
Thomas Hunt: Rest assured, we’ll be discussing that later. But first, I’d been wondering where the two of you were...
Thomas produces something from his pocket and hands it to Cira.
Cira: What’s this?
Thomas Hunt: A business card. One of my old producing partners asked me to pass along her contact info to the lead makeup artist. She’s interested in working with the ‘extraordinary young talent.’ Her words, obviously. I would never say something so effusive.
A valet screeches to a stop in Hunt’s spots car and tosses him the keys.
Thomas Hunt: Nevertheless... I think she’s smart to lock you down now.
Without another word, Hunt climbs in and guns it down Olympic Boulevard. Cira is left there, gawking at the business card.
Danny: Well, Cira... how’s it feel to get noticed?
Cira’s speechless, beaming smile says it all.
Cira: ...