Snippet of April 14

April consulted with Michael Brightbill again. “Are all six trumpeters available to pull our prank or do I have to find somebody to fill in?”

“All of them thought it was a wonderful idea. They were all paid to pose for Sylvia’s entry video and are happy to do it for free if they can just keep the uniforms and join the party after the guests are all arrived.”

“Do you know if they still have the trumpets?” April asked.
“If Sylvia is storing them someplace, I can hardly ask her. Maybe Heather would remember.”

“I’m sorry but the trumpets were dubbed in by CGI just like the uniforms. Sylvia gave us all a piece of aluminum conduit to hold so we got the arm positions and posture exactly right, but there were never any real trumpets,” Michael told her.

“Oh, wow. Now I have to research trumpets.I’m sure it’s going to be complicated.”

“The pitch of the trumpet depends on its length,” Michael said. “I’d just make them look like the ones in your video and play the fanfare from the recording. They can go through the motions just like lip syncing a song. It’s too much to expect all six of them to actually become proficient at playing them anyway. You’d have some off notes spoiling the scene for sure.”

“OK, that’s easier,” April said, relieved. “Any decent proto shop should be able to print me six light weight shiny horns.”

“And my tipstaff,” Michael added. “That was computer generated too. I was holding a piece of conduit just like the trumpeters. Make it heavy and sturdy so it will sound right. The horns we can fake. Nobody will be able to tell if they are blowing them but I’d never be able to time cracking the staff on the floor exactly.”

“Right.…” April made some notes on her pad. “This is far more complicated than I ever envisioned.”

“Isn’t everything?” Michael asked.