Chapter 482: Filming [TTC]

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[Next Day | 17th September 2017 | LIE Studio]

The filming of [Train To Catch] had started a week ago, and was still in its first schedule.

However, unlike the major big budget films under LIE Studios, [TTC] only has 62 working days, including any re-shoots, or any unexpected delay.

So if everything works like normal Regal films, the film should be done in 55-57 days.

Currently, its early afternoon time within Stage 4 was of LIE Studio, and the production team is on break.

However, the team’s eyes couldn’t help but move onto the claustrophobic train carriages that sat still on their massive pneumatic gimbals, locked out by the hydraulic team to prevent the heavy steel frames from sagging.

The hundred man crew had scattered toward the craft services table, leaving the central concrete floor of the soundstage quiet.

"Watch this..."

Samantha Cross marched into the staging tent just outside the pneumatic rail gimbal, holding two tablets.

Regal Seraphsail was slumped comfortably in his director’s chair.

Beside him sat Keanu Reeves.

He was dressed in his full wardrobe as Elliot; a bespoke, sharp three-piece wool suit that Seren’s costume department had made with three way stretch spandex gussets hidden inside the inseams.

Keanu looked up with curiosity as Samantha thrust the tablet toward them.

And there was a video clip of Stan Lee’s interview, which finished in under a minute.

"Regal, you’ve got news this good and you’ve been keeping it to yourself?" he asked, sounding genuinely excited. "Am I actually being considered for the MDCU? And are people seriously saying I could play the Winter Soldier?"

Regal, who was sitting in his high backed canvas director’s chair turned to him for the nth time today.

"Are you?"

He chuckled, as if the director of the film in question was some distant stranger he had never met.

"Regal, come on." Keanu rasped, a helpless smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he looked from his director to the screen–

"Stan is literally on a national news broadcast telling David Muir that I am perfect for the role?"

Regal pointed out. "He also said he never discussed it with me in the same interview, Kenau."

Keanu looked back at the tablet.

"So Stan is campaigning for me to join your cinematic universe without even asking you first?"

"Apparently."

"That’s actually incredible."

The interview had only been online for a short while, but Stan Lee’s comments were already spreading rapidly through the MarvelD fandom. Fans had been dissecting almost every subject covered during the interview, but Stan’s suggestion that Keanu should join the MDCU quickly became the biggest talking point.

Within hours, Reddit was filling with petitions demanding that Regal cast him.

Regal noticed Keanu scrolling through the posts and immediately raised both hands.

"Before you start blaming me, remember that I have only been here for the whole week. If you somehow signed a contract with Stan behind my back, whatever arrangement you two made is between you and the old man."

Keanu looked up from the tablet, grinning. "But Bucky Barnes?"

Regal’s expression shifted slightly.

"I read the draft treatment you had on your desk last week, and Bucky was actually the character I liked most. So if you’re genuinely considering me, I am interested."

He glanced back toward the tablet, then toward the enormous steel carriage rig looming outside the tent.

"I haven’t spoken to Stan in a while, but he might actually have a point. The hair works, I can probably handle the quiet and brooding part, and..." He gestured toward the train rig. "Doesn’t Bucky fall off a moving train into a snowy ravine?"

Keanu gestured vaguely toward the massive steel carriage rig looming behind them.

"We are literally filming a movie about people trying not to fall off a train right now." Keanu pointed out, the dry irony clear in his voice. "Isn’t that a little on the nose?"

"Cinema is a cycle of repetition, Keanu." Regal replied with supreme, mock-philosophical gravity.

"So... am I doing it?" Keanu pressed, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Or am I just gonna deal with rumours until you finally cast someone else."

Regal gave him that classic, infuriatingly cryptic half-smile.

"Who knows." He murmured. "You might be."

"Alright, enough daydreaming about super soldiers." Regal said, clapping his hands together and pivoting the room’s energy back to reality in a fraction of a second–

"We have got Carriage 9 to clear before lunch. Where is our floor coordinator?"

"Right here! Coming through!"

A slightly breathless voice echoed from behind the camera track.

Gavin came jogging around the corner of the LED screen.

When Regal had brought Gavin into LIE Studios after the initial interview, many in the office had assumed he might fast-track him and hand him an Assistant Director badge.

But Regal knew better.

Directing and high end production weren’t skills you handed out like party favors.

Without foundational discipline, throwing a green newcomer into the AD chair on a production of this magnitude would have drowned both the kid and the schedule.

Instead, Regal had placed Gavin squarely where every true filmmaker earned their stripes:

’Key Floor Production Assistant & Extras Liaison’

It was a high pressure crucible.

Gavin’s job was to coordinate the thirty five actors playing the infected horde, manage stage floor call cues, ensure safety harnesses were checked before the pneumatic floor tilted, and act as the direct connective tissue between Simon’s financial desk and Regal’s needs.

Gavin wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Horde is prepped, Director. The makeup department just finished applying the cataract lenses and prosthetics on Team Alpha, and the stunt team ran their neck snapping choreography in the tent... zero injuries, full mobility."

Regal studied the young man.

Gavin looked slightly exhausted, his earlier cockiness thoroughly tempered by seventy-two hours of hard, relentless set labor, but his eyes were sharp and focused.

He was learning how the set actually moved.

Regal nodded approvingly. "Did you brief them on the door-crush beat?"

"Multiple times..." Gavin said immediately, tapping his notes.

Simon gave a small, satisfied nod from the side. "Observing him... The kid might actually survive his first week without getting crushed."

"Don’t jinx me, Mr. Hayes." Gavin muttered under his breath, though a faint, proud grin cracked across his face. "I already promised the stunt coordinator I wouldn’t let anyone step on the tracking cables."

Regal smiled faintly. "Keep it going, Gavin."

Gavin’s eyes flared with excitement. "Consider it done, Director."

While Gavin hurried off to align the extra performers behind the pneumatic entrance gate, a towering shadow fell across the video village table.

Regal didn’t even need to look up to know who it was.

Rock stood there, broad shouldered, and completely immovable.

But unlike his usual dark suit and earpiece, Rock wore a dark blue short-sleeved work shirt, paired with heavy canvas trousers.

But the most striking detail was his forearms: from his wrists all the way past his elbows, both of Rock’s massive arms were tightly wrapped in thick, silver duct tape and heavy athletic adhesive.

In [Train To Catch], Rock is playing Marcus, which is originally Sang-hwa.

His role is very important, Regal is sure it will become a fan favorite once released from knowing how well it was received in his previous world.

The reason is simple.

Marcus is an ordinary, tough man.

He is a working class husband with a heart of gold and fists like sledgehammers, who tapes his forearms to protect against zombie bites while using his colossal physique to shield his pregnant wife and the other survivors.

And the reason Regal choose Rock is because–

...well the simple reason is because he doesn’t want to spend much time casting for this particular project.

That was also the reason he cast Keanu, who will agree without any discussion.

Still seeing Rock, a man who usually stood silently behind Regal now fully geared up as an on screen powerhouse, was a sight that commanded instant attention.

Regal turned in his chair, looking up at his bodyguard with an amused smirk. "How do the arms feel, Marcus?"

Rock raised his taped forearms, rotating his massive wrists with a slow flex. "Pretty tight, Boss... Feels almost like armor. The only thing I am worried about is the grip. The tape might make the door handles harder to hold."

"That’s exactly what we want." Regal said, standing to inspect Rock’s taped arms. "Think of Marcus as a normal guy, alright? He doesn’t know how to fight, he has no fancy technique or years of training, and with his wife behind that door and monsters coming for them. He himself is scared out of his mind, so he’s not thinking about fighting properly. He’s just grabbing whatever he can and desperately trying to keep that door shut because he doesn’t want his family to die."

Regal watched him for a second.

The funny thing is, Rock is frighteningly good at fighting.

He had seen enough of the man’s training to know that.

Making himself look like an amateur wasn’t really a challenge for him.

For most people, looking clumsy would require acting. For Rock, apparently, it just requires turning the genius off.

Rock said, bringing Regal back to the scene. "I went over the blocking with the stunt coordinator. When the infected break into Carriage Ten, I hit the first one with the forearm, drive him back, then use my hip to jam the aisle door while Sir Keanu gets the fire extinguisher."

"But... Boss, I have a question about the hit."

"Go ahead."

Rock hesitated for a split second, glancing down at his taped hands. "During rehearsal, the stunt double bounced pretty hard off the bulkhead. I pulled the punch by about fifty percent. Should I reduce it to thirty?"

Regal couldn’t help but chuckle. "Rock, the stunt doubles on this movie are world-class breakdancers and gymnasts specifically hired because they know how to take high impact falls without getting hurt.

"If you pull your power too much, the camera catches the hesitation. Commit to the frame."

"Understood." Rock said, his jaw setting firmly.

Rock seemed satisfied,

But Regal mentions something else.

"The emotional beat before the door breaks... When Marcus looks back at his wife. Are you sure about the kind of emotions you want to show there? You’re supposed to look softer, Rock, not like you’re assessing a hostile perimeter."

Rock rubbed the back of his neck, looking genuinely surprised. "I thought I was looking gentle. Lady Gwen always tells me that whenever I try to look tender, I look really cute..."

Regal practically sang the words with a slow shake of his head.

"If only that were true..." He let out a laugh, giving Rock’s heavily taped shoulder a friendly pat. "It is only to Gwen you look like that, man. But hey... maybe the audience will find that cute too? Who knows."

His grin faded, settling into a sharp, focused intensity.

"But make sure you understand that you don’t need to force tenderness. Marcus doesn’t love her gently, he loves her fiercely, so when you look back at her, don’t worry about whether you look soft or cute. Just remember that she’s the most important person on that entire train and you’re terrified that you’re about to lose her."

Regal continued, his voice tightening with quiet gravity, "And make it clear that whatever is on the other side has to get through you first. You’re not trying to look heroic, you’re just buying her another ten seconds to live, and that’s the emotion I want."

Rock stood still for a moment, letting Regal’s direction settle deep into his chest.

Then, he gave that firm nod that had accompanied every mission he had ever executed.

"I can do that."

"I know you can." Regal replied, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Now go get your final hydration check. We roll in five."

Regal stepped back onto the platform of the video village, his director’s demeanor coming back.

This might be the first time I have ever seen Rock think this much about anything. He might actually have said more than five sentences in one sitting, too.

Above them, the colossal curved LED walls flickered to life, covering the entire sixty-foot carriage in the morning light of a train.

Beneath the stage, the pneumatic pistons hissed, settling under four tons of high-tensile steel, ready to create fake vibrations of the rails.

"First team to the set!" the 1st AD’s voice bellowed through the stage PA system. "Actors to Carriage 9 and 10! Zombie unit, take your marks behind the vestibule door!"

Keanu stepped into the passenger aisle, shaking out his arms, his face settling into the alert expression of a father fighting for survival.

Down the aisle, Rock took his position directly in front of the frosted sliding glass door, his duct-taped forearms raised.

Behind the glass, thirty infected extras; their bodies contorted at grotesque angles, eyes clouded with milky sclera lenses, pressed against the partition, their fingernails scratching against the frame.

Gavin stood at the edge of the carriage doorway, checking the safety clearance of the overhead bungee camera rig before stepping off the platform.

He caught Regal’s eye and threw a thumbs-up.

Regal settled into his chair, pulling the monitor headset over his ears.

"Lock the stage doors." He commanded quietly into his mic–

"...and let’s catch this train."

.

....

[To be continued...]

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