Chapter 87: The Ambushers vs. Black Lightning

At the Warner Bros. Studio in Los Angeles, Jackie Chan met the young director, Gilbert.

He was indeed very young, but even by Eastern standards, Gilbert could be considered quite handsome.

Such a good-looking man, instead of becoming an actor, had chosen to be a director and had achieved significant success, which surprised Jackie Chan.

Facing the kung fu superstar he was familiar with from his previous life, Gilbert didn't show much excitement; he just greeted him casually, "Hello, Jackie. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

He said this in fluent Mandarin.

Though Jackie Chan was more comfortable with Cantonese, he could speak Mandarin well enough. Seeing Gilbert's fluency in Chinese, he was quite impressed.

While shaking hands with Gilbert, he praised, "I didn't expect your Mandarin to be this good, and you even use idioms!"

Gilbert responded humbly, "It's just okay. Compared to a real Chinese speaker, my Mandarin is average."

He then took Jackie Chan on a tour of the set, explaining the plot as they walked. "This is a robot fighting movie. You play a robot operator from China, who leads Master Bao in the boxing match."

Although Jackie Chan had a rough understanding of Real Steel, he still had some questions.

"Director Landrini.."

"Just call me Gilbert."

"Oh, Gilbert, why didn't you make a movie about real boxers? I thought I was playing a boxer!"

Gilbert smiled mysteriously and said, "If you want to see a boxer story, you should watch Rocky."

Unless it was Million Dollar Baby, Gilbert wasn't interested in real-life boxing themes.

After Speed grossed $405 million worldwide, the long-prepared Real Steel officially began filming in a small town in Kansas.

Scarlett Johansson had a cameo in the film's opening as a young girl. This time, she even had a few lines.

She was filming with two other young girls: Mary, the daughter of the cinematographer Duer Randolph, and Alice, the daughter of Doug Walters, the head of Warner's distribution department.

Although not the very first scene of the film, this was the first scene shot by the crew.

With a shaky camera movement, Mary spoke first: "Hey, mister, is that the ambusher?"

The camera panned from inside the car to the outside, where Scarlett Johansson stood on the right side of the frame, wearing a cowboy hat and looking quite cool.

Mary stood in the middle, and Alice was on the left. The three little beauties looked adorable together.

Bruce Willis, playing Charlie, was nursing a hangover and his head was still aching.

"Uh, yes."

"Can we see it?"

"You want to see it?"

"Yes..."

"Oh, wait, wait." Charlie took a sip of beer, walked over to the ambusher, turned it around, unplugged the charger, and picked up the controller.

There was no need for imagination in this part, as the robot was actually operational, which helped the kids with their performances.

Indeed, when the ambusher stood up, its tall, rugged body excited the three little girls.

The scene was shot step-by-step. Jackie Chan wanted to learn from Hollywood's advanced experience, so even though it wasn't his scene, he stayed with the crew, helping out on set.

Gilbert allowed Jackie Chan's observational learning, and no one else had any secrets to keep.

The real secrets were at the Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) effects studio, which Jackie Chan couldn't access.

But even if he saw the process, he'd probably just marvel at Hollywood's movie technology and continue on as usual.

The local film industry lacked the talent, and the market was too small to support a massive movie industry.

Jackie Chan was curious about how they managed to make that giant machine move, so he asked Sofia Coppola, "Has technology really advanced this much? Are robots able to move now?"

Sofia glanced at Gilbert, who nodded slightly, then she explained, "Not exactly, Jackie. We use hydraulic systems to make it stand and take a couple of steps."

She then showed him the hydraulic mechanism on the back of the robot, explaining that it was controlled manually for movement during filming.

Jackie Chan nodded in understanding but had one more question: "How are the robot fighting scenes filmed?"

"Don't worry, Jackie; you'll need to use your imagination for that part. ILM will handle the robot fighting effects," Sofia explained.

Jackie Chan was familiar with ILM, a famous company that used computers to create special effects.

He had to admit, although Hong Kong was known as the 'Hollywood of the East,' the gap between the two industries was vast.

In the next scene, Scarlett Johansson had more lines.

"Who's its opponent?"

"Cut!" Gilbert called out, stopping the scene. He walked up to Scarlett Johansson, squatted down, and said, "Scarlett, you're not cool enough. Try putting your left hand on your hip."

Scarlett adjusted her posture as instructed, and Gilbert nodded approvingly, "Much better. Okay, let's start again."

"Who's its opponent?"

"It should be..." Charlie was about to speak when Alice on the left pulled out a camera to take a photo, but he stopped her: "Whoa, little lady, what are you doing?"

"Can we take a picture with it?"

"Sure," Charlie said with a sly smile, "but it'll cost you five dollars."

Scarlett Johansson interjected, "Five dollars? Seriously?"

"No," Charlie tilted his head seriously, "I'm charging five dollars, so pay up!"

The three girls, hearing this, decided to leave. "Never mind, let's go!"

"Hey!" Watching the three girls walk away, Charlie called out, "Okay, fine, three dollars."

"Forget it!"

"How about two-fifty?"

"Go to hell!"

As he watched the three girls leave, Charlie muttered, "What a poor town..."

After this scene wrapped, the three girls weren't done yet; they had close-ups from the audience later.

Once they finished the close-up shots, Sofia Coppola took them for ice cream, while the crew shot other scenes.

The next scene involved the ambusher fighting a bull.

The robot could only manage a few steps, so it couldn't realistically film a full fight.

Of course, the scene would be shot with empty frames and later filled with ILM's special effects.

However, a few shots were practical, like the robot's entrance, where they actually brought in a bull.

The bull, a local champion named Black Lightning with pure black fur, was used to demolish the stationary ambusher.

Watching Black Lightning dismantle the ambusher with its horns created a strange sense of satisfaction from the clashing sounds.

Perhaps everyone has a destructive side.

Gilbert promised the audience would be even more satisfied when the full film was released.

.....

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