King of Hollywood

Chapter 200: Chapter 200 Explosive Scene

New York City, Brooklyn, Fulton Street—a certain apartment building and its surrounding area had been marked off early for no vehicle access. Residents nearby initially didn’t understand what was happening, but as various vehicles arrived and the equipment they carried began to be set up, they quickly caught on.

No one was surprised, and there weren’t even many onlookers, as this was all too common in New York. As the United States’ most famous city, there were plenty of movies or TV shows shot here every day. It wasn’t until a phalanx of fully armed police officers descended from their vehicles and swiftly assumed tactical formations that some of the residents became somewhat interested.

“Could they be using filming as a cover to launch some kind of rescue or arrest operation?” someone joked. That was, of course, impossible. Moreover, these “officers” had started to relax within two minutes. Even so, many found it entertaining to stop and watch when passing by.

But for Adrian, who was busy directing the set’s organization, it wasn’t so amusing.

“Charlie, tell Raymond to hurry up the extras and get ready for the first trial shoot. Also, have Trevor come to me immediately,” Adrian commanded as he flipped through items, frowning.

“Got it.” The stunning secretary, though more radiant than before, seemed very unhappy with a stiff face and didn’t wait for Adrian to say more before turning and walking away.

With a noncommittal shrug and a slight smile on his lips as something amused him, Adrian then went back to discussing with others. The first scene being filmed was the only large-scale scene in the entire movie. Well, it wasn’t exactly a large-scale scene; it was just the special forces outside Lyon’s apartment trying to get in to catch him. The important, intense shots were all inside the building; the crowd outside was just there to surround the place and maintain order.

If that were all, Adrian wouldn’t have scheduled this part of the shoot to start. The key was that in addition to this, the explosion scene was highly important, hence the need to negotiate with community organizations and some government departments for half of the street for filming.

During the shooting of the car race scene in “Scent of a Woman,” he already knew how troublesome these agencies could be. One moment something was an issue, the next moment another thing was a problem—if you didn’t do it their way, forget about starting the shoot. Therefore, he had someone contact them in advance—just finish this one scene and be done with it.

“Good, just like that, have the Blast Master get ready,” Adrian instructed before heading towards the trailers where the main actors had already changed into their costumes and were rehearsing their lines.

“How’s it going, Jean, feeling alright?” Adrian called out loudly as he hugged Jean Reno and then turned to the disheveled yet dapper-looking guy with a hint of roguery.

“Pleased to meet you, Count Dracula, should I offer a hand-kiss?” Adrian said in an exaggerated tone.

“I think I need to remind you, Mr. Adrian, first of all, I am a man; secondly, I am currently single,” Gary Oldman replied with a raised eyebrow, his chin slightly lifted, and the stubble grown for the movie quivering.

Reno laughed out loud, and Oldman, seeming not satisfied with just that, added, “It seems that the rumor of your extensive study of British culture is not to be believed.”

“I never claimed to have extensively studied British culture,” Adrian replied unbothered by the tease, smiling and reaching out a hand, “I’m very pleased that you’re part of this movie, Gary. You’re just like the rumors describe—despite playing dark characters, you’re really a charming and funny guy in person.”

“Thanks for the compliment. I’m also delighted to be working with the renowned Miracle Director,” responded Oldman with a handshake and a smile, clearly enjoying the flattery.

“Alright, I have to go shoot the explosion scene now. I look forward to your performance afterward.” After exchanging a few pleasantries, the stage manager came over to report that everything was ready, and Adrian then excused himself to stand behind the camera.

“All departments, Scene 79, Shot 16, ready to shoot.” After everyone had taken their places, the script supervisor raised the clapperboard and shouted, and two seconds later, it snapped down.

The set instantly quieted down, and the camera began to roll as Adrian watched, arms folded, not taking his eyes off the entrance of the apartment. One second, two seconds, boom! A loud explosion, with smoke and flames bursting out, and several professional stuntmen in bomb disposal gear immediately acted as if blown away by the blast, rolling away on the ground.

Explosion scenes during filming were completely different from what appeared on the big screen. There were not as many flames, mostly smoke, neither dazzling nor impactful. This would require post-production adjustments, like increasing contrast, speeding up shot transitions, or slowing playback speed, and so forth.

This was Adrian’s first time directing explosion scenes, so he not only used two cameras to shoot from different angles but also specially brought in an experienced assistant director for support.

“Basically qualified, according to your requirements,” Assistant Director Masterson pointed at the monitor and explained to Adrian, “In post-production, you can brighten the image, and then play it in slow motion, it’ll feel solemn and impactful.”

“Isn’t there anything that needs improvement?” Adrian asked, stroking his chin,

“If we go by your requirements, there’s no need for major improvements,” Masterson replied tactfully, “To get such a result in one go is already quite good.”

“Then let’s shoot it once more as backup, and then based on your feeling, we’ll shoot it once more. I’ll instruct the blast master to follow your requirements,” Adrian decided on the spot. Since this was the case, it was better to shoot several times while they had the location and time. Otherwise, if they found something wrong later on and needed to reshoot, it would be too troublesome and too bad.

After repeating the take twice more, the morning time was almost up. Before each shoot, the blast master and prop master had to arrange various props, and after each shoot, someone had to go in to clear the site immediately; all these required a lot of time. Especially cleaning up after the shoot, don’t think you can cut corners and skip without doing it just to continue with the explosions, as the community organization people were supervising on the side, and all these were written into the agreement.

Adrian didn’t care about these things, as long as the film’s effects met his requirements, spending a bit more money was no big deal. As for the two main actors, they were still very professional in their preparation.

After a simple lunch, the crew rested for an hour before starting up again. It took about 40 minutes to finish shooting the scenes involving the police outside, and then Adrian began shooting Renault and Oldman’s first face-off scene.

The scene went like this: Renault, having successfully blended in and escaped from the SWAT team, was walking towards the exit when Oldman, who had been waiting here for a long time, shot and killed him from behind. However, just before he died, he managed to pull the pin on the grenade hidden on his body, taking Oldman out as well.

The shot here was quite symbolic. As Lyon, the assassin, finally got a touch of warmth from Matilda and began to change his habits with the hope of becoming more like a normal person, he walked towards a door bathed in light. Just as he was about to escape, a gun was pointed at his back from the darkness, causing him to fall just a step away from the light.

Even so, he still used his last breath to finish off the big villain Stan, and Stan’s final reaction was quite interesting. When he saw the bunch of grenades hanging on Lyon, he just calmly cursed “damn it,” showing how deeply insane he had become.

However, Adrian didn’t have too much time to analyze these symbols; that was for the film fans and critics to do. Besides, even if he truly left some deep meaning here, the fans and critics could interpret it in contradictory ways. So instead of considering these ineffective elements, it was better to focus on storytelling.

From the story’s perspective, Lyon had to die, and mutual destruction was the best ending. Quite simply, even if he escaped, as long as Stan was alive, he and Matilda would have lived under tense circumstances, and the length of the movie didn’t support another showdown with Stan. Moreover, an imperfect ending would be more memorable and carry a more profound sense.

Of course, there was another essential reason, that being the film critics, or the mainstream society, would not tolerate such a … “abnormal romance” in the movie. Although they themselves are not exactly pure, portraying a little girl falling in love with a strange man, and then living happily together, would inevitably meet with unprecedented criticism.

Naturally, a movie director could stick to their creativity, after all, it is … um … free here, but they would definitely be marginalized and rejected by mainstream society. Adrian would be out of his mind to do such a thing.

This was also why, in his memory, Luc Besson’s version of “The Professional” did not do well at the box office in the United States. One reason, aside from it being a French film, was that some of the more explicit dialogue—deemed explicit in the United States—had affected the critics’ perspective, who then influenced many fans.

Therefore, while writing the screenplay, Adrian particularly dealt with these areas, such as blurring the relationship between the two, mixing filial affection, friendship, and love. The dialogue was also carefully polished, and some shots were either discarded or replaced with others. Like the scene where Matilda jumps out in a bra, trying to get Lyon to guess the character she is impersonating, even though the bra is worn on the outside, Adrian still used another character’s impersonation in its place. In simple terms, this minimized the potential for sexually suggestive scenes and added warmth instead.

Of course, all this was under the premise that it didn’t affect the main storyline, and Adrian believed that with his modifications, the movie would only be more successful than the original.

(To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please visit for more chapters. Support the author, support genuine reading!)