Chapter 71.

The next day Ian started shooting from the scene where they left off. Many actors were present on the set, and the entire crew looked as excited as ever. Adam was the first one to greet Ian when he walked onto the set.

"Good morning Adam. How are you now?" Ian asked, looking at his head.

"I'm fine,"

"He's fine, Ian. Nothing to worry about," Michelle said while patting Adam's head. "I'll be back when things are done," She said to Ian while Ian nodded in return. She bent down to Adam and kissed his cheek, wishing him luck.

The shootings started shortly afterwards.

Ian wanted to shoot only a few scenes with Adam in it. The scene where young Bruce falls into the cave and the locations where the young Bruce's parents and Jim Gordan soothe young Bruce were some of the few scenes he had.

But, every scene is essential and heartwarming when Bruce's story is revealed. His entire childhood was most likely to be the biggest trigger when he grew up, and due to those reasons, the role Adam played was vital in Ian's eyes.

"And… Action!"

"Bruce, I can see you,"

Rachel said when Young Bruce crouches in the mouth of a disused well, peering over the stone wall at Rachel, who is searching for him.

After hearing Rachel's words, he tried to suppress his giggle. All of a sudden, the boards beneath him gave way, and he plummeted into a vast cave.

"Cut! That was a good one. Nice job, Elina and Adam. Get ready for the next scene," Ian said and ordered the technical crew to ensure Adam was fine even though they took the necessary safety precautions.

The cables were taken off from Adam, and the make-up artist applied some touches to his face.

"Action!"

Ian kept watching the scene from the screen.

Young Bruce dropped thirty feet and landed painfully on the rubble-strewn bottom of the shaft. The other camera focused on Rachel, who came running to see what happened after hearing the loud noise.

"Bruce?!!" She asked a bit louder.

"Cut!" Ian said. "Give us a while, Adam," he said again and walked towards Rachel. "I want you to run like this, with a nervous, scared expression,"

Ian said and ran towards the well, imitating how he wanted her to act. She kept looking at his every move.

"Do you understand?" He asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Okay one more, you are doing great Elina, just need a bit more emotion, you got this!" He patted her back and ran back to the chair.

"Quiet on set, everyone!" "Roll camera!" "Action!"

"Bruce?!!" Young Rachel said and ran towards the well.

Then the camera focused on the situation. Young Bruce lifted his head from the damp dirt and rocks, groaning.

"Cut! Adam, I need some more groans! Act like you're in pain, and you got this! One more….. Action!"

Once again, Adam acted as if he was in pain after falling into a vast pit. He looked hurt and scared.

"Cut!"

The next scene was Rachel running toward the house. It was a simple scene, but Ian had everyone take a small break since it seemed like they needed one. Just because of doing the same scene repeatedly, some looked dead tired, and some were bored.

After giving the actors a few minutes to freshen up a bit, Ian resumed the shootings again.

"Action!"

"MOM!! MISTER ALFRED!!" Rachel yelled while running inside the house.

"Cut! A good one in one go! Good job, Elina!" Ian was content with how the shot was taken. "Give me a few seconds to confirm it," He said and watched it again twice to see if he could spot any flaw.

"It's the final one! The next shot will entirely be a show of Adam's expressions. Understand the depth, Adam, and that this will be a turning point in the life of Bruce. Remember what I told you about the scene before? The bats would be replaced with these little gadgets, and pretend it's your worst nightmare, can you try once for me?" Ian asked.

"Let's go!" Adam said with a huge grin. Although he was tired, he remained excited because he genuinely was.

After four shots Adam finally understood what he needed to do, and he was ready for the best scene he had ever acted in his life.

Ian watched from the screen and gave the command to start the scene.

"Sound set?"..... "Roll camera!" "Action!"

From the monitor, Ian saw how scared Adam looked.

Young Bruce, who was in complete shock after falling, groaned. He heard a squeal and froze. There were visible questions on his face and a loud expression that screamed, 'save me, father.' Looking where the sound came from, he peered into the darkness, an opening between the rocks. In no time, bats exploded into the night.

There were no real bats in front of Adam, but he acted as if there were a huge number of bats. They filled the air, and Bruce screamed, curling himself into a ball. The noises filled his ears; the flopping, squawking and fluttering, and he backed away from the darkness. The filthy darkness covered the camera.

"Cut!" Ian commanded. "That was such a good shot. Well done Adam, well done! This day just keeps getting better and better!" Ian said and walked down to meet Adam.

[...] After shooting the entire scene perfectly, Ian wanted to call it a day. One of the scenes they shot includes how Bruce's dad gave him golden advice while walking inside the house in front of Alfred. That scene was ideally taken due to how skilled the actor who played Bruce's dad was.

"Why do we fall, Bruce?" He asked… "So we can learn how to pick ourselves up," Bruce's father said, and the camera showed the emotions of Alfred. That was wholesome, Ian thought.

"You did a wonderful job today. See you again soon?" Ian asked while Adam nodded.

"It's a wrap y'all! Thank you, everyone!" Ian said while everyone clapped for their hard work. Even if it was just the beginning, everyone felt as if they should give their maximum in every scene.

-

The next day, they started shooting a little scene with his dad. It was something that would be used later in the movie, but as it has been said already, shooting every one of Adam's scenes was Ian's plan.

[...] Within minutes, everyone was ready on the set, inside an oversized bedroom, and there was Harnes Wood, the person who acted as Bruce's father.

Harnes Wood was an A-grade actor who presented himself to audition for the role of Batman, but Ian thought that he would do a better job at acting as Bruce's father.

The scene which was about to start shooting was Young Bruce getting another nightmare of Bats. Ever since he fell into the pit, he had been getting these dreams.

Young Bruce was breathing hard. Light cut across the bed sheets. He looked at the door. Thomas, his father, was there.

Thomas gently asked, "The bats again?"

Young Bruce nodded, looking scared and startled by his dreams. Thomas approached and sat on the bed.

"Cut! The other side of the bed. Not this side,"

"Action!" Ian shouted.

"The bats again?" Thomas questioned. Bruce nodded.

"Do you know why they attacked you?" There was a pause. Bruce looked as if he had no idea what his father was talking about. He was scared of the bats more than anything. "They were afraid of you."

It was perfectly caught on camera, the confusion. The confusion in Bruce's eyes was something Ian wanted to see, and Adam nailed it.

"Afraid of me?" He questioned again.

"You're a lot bigger than a bat, aren't you? All creatures feel fear." Thomas said to Bruce.

He looked into his father's eyes and saw a slight smile.

"Even the scary ones?" Bruce questioned back. There was a smile on Bruce's lips, too; it reached his eyes. Thomas smiled back.

"Especially the scary ones." Thomas pretended to think a bit. "Here, let me show you something-" He froze for a while, "But you can't tell anyone, alright?" He questioned his son.

The camera focused on Bruce.

'A little closer' Ian signaled with his hands, not wanting to disturb the scene because it was going so perfectly. Niko nodded and passed the message.

Young Bruce nodded eagerly, wanting to know what Thomas was referring to... Thomas pulled out a long jewelry case. He opened it, and there were pearls that were glowing in the half-light.

"For your mother," Thomas admitted with a smile.

Young Bruce grinned at his father's words. Thomas winked, looking at him, then snapped the case shut.

"Cut! Can we get it from 'For your mother' again? Don't be aggressive with the case. Close it slowly. Also, check the lighting; it looks kinda dull now," Ian said to Niko, who hurriedly went to do his job.

Another shot was taken for the same scene, and Ian felt it was perfect. The next scene was Bruce seeing Gotham city on the train.

||__A word from me__||

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