Chapter 72.

After two weeks had gone by they were almost done with all the scenes that included Adam. The last scene that remained was where his parents were killed.

It was kept for last but at the end of the day, after almost 20 tries the shot was perfectly taken. Ian who started watching the scene with Martin was admiring how good they acted in the scene. The choice of Harnes as Batman's dad was perfect even in looks and acting.

The initial scene started off with how they were at the theater.

A gilded house was packed to the rafters for Boito's Mefistofle. Young Bruce was seated between his parents. The camera shifted to view the stage. On stage, there were witch-like creatures cavorting.

They were basically dark birds on wires descending, flapping. Young Bruce's face was closely taken on the camera which stared at them, uneasy at their violent motions.

The next cut scene showed how Bruce got scared. Ian had to take it separately, yet he felt it was worth watching at the end of the day for how good it was. On the stage, bats exploded from the dark crevice.

Then it showed how Adam's expressions changed in a quick second.

Young Bruce started breathing faster, while his gaze was fixed on the creatures-looking people on the stage. They were screeching, flapping back bats swarming all around.

After looking at it for a while, he gulped, and his breath rate increased in the panic he was in. The shot looked so involuntary, that Bruce looked for a way to exit. But much to his bad luck, he saw how they were in the middle of the theater. People were watching it with great amusement.

"Can we go?" Bruce asked in a desperate whisper while grabbing his dad's arm.

Thomas looked at his son in confusion. Bruce kept his eyes on his dad's and pleaded. He looked more scared than ever. After giving a small nod to his son, he signaled Martha, Bruce's mom, that they were leaving.

With some apologies, they made their way to the exit. Young Bruce still holding onto his arm.

The shot was small but was worthy of all the attempts. Although the shots were raw and needed a hell lot of editing, Ian was still content with the emotions and how the actors acted their parts.

The next scene they had focused mainly on was how Thomas and Martha died at the hands of a thief.

[During the shooting]

"Action!"

The camera showed how the Waynes emerged from a side exit. Martha crouches before Bruce while trying to meet his eyes. He stared down, ashamed.

"What's wrong?" Martha asked.

The actress who played Martha was none other than Michelle. When Michelle came to talk about Adam, Ian saw how her expressions changed while talking about Adam and thought that it would be perfect if she acted in Martha's role.

The NDA was signed off right away since she liked the role. On the other hand, no one would be sane to say no to a role that'd be given by Ian Renner.

"He's fine." Thomas answered for his son.

Bruce's biggest inspiration and strength was his father. In fact, it was everything he had. His parents. Thomas and Bruce had a special bond between them, and when compared to everything else in the story, Thomas was a key character that made Batman who he is.

Martha looked up hearing his words. Thomas in return gave her a conspiratorial look.

"I just needed a bit of air. Bit of opera goes a long way, right, Bruce?" Thomas replied.

"Cut! Look at Bruce when saying the last words. It's more like Thomas talking to Bruce," Ian said.

[...] "Action!"

The scene followed and it was a perfect shot, Ian could say.

After Thomas said the same words again, young Bruce looks up to see his dad who winked at him. Noticing what his dad did right there, a smile formed on his lips.

"Come on,"

Thomas, coat over his arm, ushered his family down the dark alley, heading for the welcoming glow of the main boulevard.

Suddenly, A figure emerged from the shadows in front of them.

"Cut! Let's take a break, everyone! Lunchtime!" Ian said and walked away from the director's space to gulp down the sandwiches they had brought to the set.

Everyone started eating and the shootings stopped for an hour and a half.

[Ian with Martin]

"The next scene is the best, where the parents died. Remember how fake blood spattered all over Thomas's shirt?" Ian said and chuckled.

He played the clip where it happened and Martin who also had a huge grin watched as it happened.

"Enjoying the failed shots, I see,"

It was Mason's voice. Ian turned to see Mason with a smile.

"Young man, how is it going?" He asked Ian while dragging a chair over and sitting beside them. It was the first time Mason came to the set, even if it was the end of the shooting.

"Haha… It's going good so far, uncle. Although it becomes hectic when the picture I have in mind doesn't clearly appear in the shot. But I'm managing somehow, miss you around here by the way," Ian said with a smile.

"Let's see this one,"

They started to play the second take of the scene when Bruce's parents were being killed.

[During the shooting]

A man was pointing a gun at them. Thomas's eyes were filled with fear; fear of having a slight sensation that something bad will happen even if anything goes wrong.

The man shifted in uneasiness, very tense.

"Wallet, jewelry! Fast!" He said. A B-grade actor was doing the role. Ian had expected him to do more bloopers than the real shot considering how unsteady his performance was at the audition, but he was proven wrong.

The man had a small part to do, and he completely made everyone in the crew go 'wow' because his first performance was exactly like what Ian wanted.

"That's fine, just take it easy." Thomas said in a calm voice.

Thomas's entire persona changed to calm and soothing when it comes to his family. Even when Bruce fell, Thomas acted calm trying to calm the nerves. Even right now, Harnes was nailing his performance with calmness.

Thomas handed Young Bruce his coat, and then reached for his wallet. The Man jerked the gun at Thomas, eyes darting. The camera focused on Young Bruce who kept his eyes at the gun that was trembling in the man's hand. It showed how uneasy the man was even when he wasn't the one in danger.

"Here you go," Thomas said calmly as ever, but his eyes looked nervous.

The man then grabbed at the wallet but fumbled it. It slipped and fell to the ground. The man glanced down at the wallet then back to Thomas, scared.

Thomas felt what he was feeling.

"It's fine, it's fine –" He said in a reassuring tone.

The man crouched down to take the wallet but his eyes were on Thomas. He looked as if he wasn't sure that Thomas would do something else to trigger anything.

[Back at Ian, Martin, and Mason]

Mason was impressed with how things were going. With him not being around, he had thought Ian would need his help, with something or another, but he was proved wrong.

He enjoyed the clips in front of him and kept watching a blooper that was almost about to happen.

He saw how the man crouched and tried to take the wallet yet kept his gaze on Thomas and Martha.

"Just take it and go," Thomas said.

The man felt for the wallet, yet looked at Martha. Her pearls. He saw them and then he said aloud, "I said jewelry!!"

In a milli-second, she started to pull off her rings. The Man with no patience jerked the gun at her neck. Thomas, who was very concerned about the situation, stepped protectively in front of his wife.

"Hey, just –" Thomas started to say something but the trigger went off.

He was shot, but was laughing. The paint that was supposed to show just a slight bit somehow was all over his body.

"What the h-" He said while everyone else started laughing. "I bet this is how Indians must feel when they play Holi," Hernes said and laughed loudly, making everyone else laugh along.

"Cut!" Ian's voice was heard, even he was laughing.

"He had to change his clothes and freshen up again," Ian said, still chuckling under his breath.

"It somehow looked so right," Martin added.

"That looks funny, man somehow shed blood from his entire body," Mason laughed with Martin.

The day was a wrap and finally things were over for Adam. Ian then had to focus on going to Iceland to take the scenes which included Ra's Al Ghul. The scenes he wanted to shoot needed a martial artist and an action director that Ian had hired beforehand.

The fight scenes, training scenes, and all the ninja scenes were next.

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