HWI 98

Hollywood What If Chapter 98

"That woman... She's good."

Scarlett Johansson bit her nail as she watched Eva Green's performance. 

"She's only acting weak and drugged but she did it with a class. I wonder if she really did drugs, fufu." 

She giggled but she stopped when she realized that Kazir Grey was looking at her. Kazir gestured for Scarlett to be quiet by putting his finger on his lips. 

The scene should be quiet within a few meters of the filming scene. Even though most parts of the movie would be dubbed, it was still a standard procedure to keep quiet while there was a shooting. 

So Scarlett Johansson shut her mouth and watched their act. 

Liam Neeson had a stable performance and he only had a few NGs every day. Well, Liam Neeson was a great actor who starred in many dramas. Although he was well known for his role in Schindler's List. That might have been the start of his career. 

Each shot usually ended in a few seconds and they were not doing any constant shooting. Continuous shooting was quite difficult to attain. 

It might be known as Long Take, a continuous uninterrupted shot for a long duration without any editing. 

One of the best examples was the opening scene of 007's Spectre where James Bond walked into the festival up to the building with no interruptions. 

'The filming crew prepared a crane just to get a rooftop shot.'

Kazir could do the same thing but it might be troublesome and time-consuming. Actors were not used to long take shots and they might make mistakes. 

So every few seconds of shooting, Kazir had to yell cut. These short shots would be combined to make a complete scene. 

'Maybe I can do some long take next time but our schedule and budget are quite strict so I can't experiment.'

Even a director like him wanted to expand his creativity. Perhaps he could find enlightenment. 

"Scene 34, the search for Kim Mills. Lights, Camera, Action!"

The sound of clapperboard resounded and the shooting started. 

Right now, Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) looked at each clothes cubicle to find his daughter. Then he found his daughter's bag from one of the drugged women. 

Eva Green's complexion was pale because of makeup. She only had a few lines because her role was drugged and couldn't speak well. 

So Bryan Mills took the woman out of the place. He beat and shot the people who tried to stop him. 

Then he stepped into the car together with the drugged woman. 

"Cut!"

Today, Kazir spoke "cut" so many times that no one could count them. 

"Now that this scene is over, do we have to prepare for the cars?"

Fremont Smiths asked him. 

"Let's reshoot this scene twice then we will start the car chase. Tell the people from the Props team to prepare the set."

"I understand."

Fremont left to contact the Props team. 

The shooting restarted and Kazir deemed that the first shot was the best of them. It might look like he just wasted hours and films but no one would dare to confront him. He had it better because of his authority and achievements. 

Even if the actors became mad, they were professional and they would never talk badly in front of him.

"Liam, the first shot is the best one so I guess I have to apologize for making you retake it twice."

"... This is the first time that a director apologized to me after making a mistake." Liam Neeson was taken aback. 

"Is that so? Well, I just want to say it to you because I don't want you to have grudges against me."

"It's fine, Kazir. I understand your intention and I will not hold it on you. We are both doing our job."

The two men had an understanding and nodded at each other. 

"D- Director Grey, how was my acting?"

After Kazir talked to Liam Neeson, another person approached him. Eva Green stuttered because she was a bit nervous. This was her first time joining a big project. 

"Hm, you did a good job, Eva."

Kazir subconsciously patted her head because Eva Green was shorter than him. 

"I- I see."

"She is much older than me but she's nervous. Unlike me, I never felt any nervousness even though this is my first movie too. I guess I'm better, hehe."

Kazir heard a cat murmuring but he disregarded it. There was no reason to throw gasoline into a fire. He just let the little girl think what she wanted to think. 

"Okay, let's go to the next location!"

The filming crew rented this large construction site for three days. Furthermore, they only need this place every night. Because the scenes they were going to shoot were set at night.

'Even editing will have a hard time editing a sunny day into a dark night. So it's better to use the natural background.'

Shooting at night means that their scenes were set at nighttime. 

The cars were already prepared and this time, they have to shoot the cars running and cashing Bryan Mills's car. 

Obviously, the one who was driving the car right now was a trained driver. There was a clause in the contract that Liam Neeson would not participate in the car-chasing scene. 

As for the interior shots of the car, that was the only time where Liam Neeson had to show his face. But the one who was driving the car was a different person. 

... Suddenly, an accident happens. 

*Bang--!!

One of the enemies' cars turned upside down after running over a concrete stone. The impact was quite strong and left everyone terrified. 

"Medic! Call the medic! Contact an ambulance!"

When Kazir realized that the situation might be bad and immediately reacted. He was the first to order the people around. 

The crew started following his command. The medic on site pulled the man out of the car and did first aid.