Darling Girl

Chapter Seven

          Harper looked down at her notes and re-read a few things while her film teacher reached for his marker. Mr. Noe was one of the few male teachers at the school, but he was certainly one of the best. He was so in love with film that Harper listened to every word that rolled off of his tongue. Just in the one weeks she started attending the school she had filled up a full notebook on what he has taught. He was a very popular French director and she had made sure to watch every single one of his films before even starting school. He wasn't the nicest man, but he was certainly here to do his job. He walked through the doors at the exact same time. Loosened his same black tie and scratched his partially bald head, every day. He had such a strong accent it was sometimes hard to follow along but Harpers eyes glued to the board, writing anything he wrote down.

          In a way she was being taught by one of her few inspirations. The best part was that he knew that. He didn't take it for granted though, he printed extra information for her and would happily repeat something if she asked unlike the other students. He knew she was actually taking the class very seriously. To others he was harsh but to her he saw a child with a dream that was very much achievable.

"Mise-en-scène." He paused writing what he said down sloppily with chalk and dusted his hand off on his black pants. "This is french for 'what's put into the scene.' When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—composition, sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting. Everything that goes into that one scene sets a mood." He stared at the faces of bored students and scanned until Harper stared back with her bright eyes. "I would like for you to apply this phrase and make one scene portraying this, and have it ready to present tomorrow."

There were some groans but noise exploded as the bell rung for the next class. Harper took her time putting her stuff up and smiled at her teacher who walked over. "I'm really excited about the assignment."

"Well, thats good Harper. You know i've been teaching this class for a while and it's very special to me to have someone who has a passion for film like I do." He looked down embarrassed at how nice he was being and handed over a laptop bag.

She took it willingly but with a confused face, "Is this..."

He nodded, "You came a little late in the year so it took a little while to get ready, but this is for almost everything. You bring it to class every day, you have all your programs already downloaded."

Harper's jaw dropped. "The school provides a laptop as well?"

He snickered at her innocence, "Yes, you can use it for other classes as well." He put a stick of gum in his mouth and continued, "Other things you will need like lighting, tripods, and stuff are in a special place that you can come to me to ask for. Soon I may just give you a key though." 

Harper looked through the bag with a giant grin examining all the contents and laughed. "It's such a dream to be here, I have to pinch myself every morning!"

"Well, I look forward to seeing what you do for the assignment, have a good day Harper." Mr. Noe stated leaving the room.

She knew exactly what she was going to do. Harper grabbed all her things and ran outside happily. Snow still covered the ground from the other night but it was luckily starting to melt. Kids disappeared going into their next classes and Harper stood alone in a section of the outside that was cut off. There were two doors that went into two separate buildings but it was close to the back so there was a fence that stopped anyone from getting in. It was still a huge area, however. There were a few benches that were hard to see and some trees that looked huge and dead but the most noticeable thing was a giant fountain. The remaining water left inside was frozen but it still had a layer of white. It was truly beautiful.