Chapter 71: Chapter 71: The Expert among Veterans
"Back to hell, devil!"
Clad in a leather jacket, Jenna scolded, "This world isn't for you to tread!"
Robert faced the camera and delivered the first line of his life, "Rotting church, more foul than hell itself, hunter, you've come to the wrong place, you should be exorcising demons at the church!"
He waved at Martin, "Take her out!"
Martin lunged from the stage, Jenna drew her sawed-off shotgun from her leg and pulled the trigger.
Robert screamed in agony, blasted away.
At that moment, Benjamin called cut and announced the scene was good.
Robert climbed up from the sponge mat, visibly excited, and asked, "How was my line? How did I do?"
Martin came over and slapped him on the back, "Awesome."
Robert's face broke into a grin, "So this is what it feels like to play a speaking role, amazing!"
Martin had had that experience, took off his clawed gloves, handed them to the prop master, and went to rest as Robert still had a few scenes to shoot.
Jenna had finished her last scene, and found Benjamin, "When I go back, I'm planning to shoot a Sacred Valley version of Zombie Dancer, you don't mind, do you?"
Benjamin replied, "Who could stop you Sacred Valley folks?"
"I'll go talk to the lead actor," Jenna approached the corner of the club's main hall, pulled out a chair, and sat opposite Martin, "That aerial action scene was mind-blowing, did I hear right that it originated from your concept?"
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Martin still spoke the truth, "I saw it on a videotape."
Jenna dismissed his answer, "The film industry in Atlanta is lagging, someone as outstanding as you should develop in Los Angeles."
Martin thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I'm planning to go to Los Angeles before the end of the year."
Jenna misunderstood Martin's intention, "Are you planning to go to the San Fernando Valley? Got a prospective collaborator? Martin, I'm in the process of setting up my own company, complete with filming, DVD distribution, and website operations. If you're willing to come, I'll give you the industry's top contract."
Martin hastily said, "I intend to go to Hollywood."
Jenna shook her head slightly, "Hollywood is tough. I started as a model and wandered through Hollywood sets, never finding an opportunity. There are countless people with great looks like you and me among the bottom rung of Hollywood actors."
She pretended to be "real," "I don't want to say Sacred Valley is the backdoor to Hollywood; that would be deceitful, but I can assure you, with your acting talent and excellent scene design ability, you'll grab Best Actor within two years, and within three years, you'll be on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in West Hollywood."
Martin was surprised, "The Hollywood Walk of Fame?"
Jenna simply explained, "In front of West Hollywood's Stiletto Theater, there's also a walk of fame."
She didn't want to miss out on such a talented actor, "Don't underestimate Sacred Valley. The industry's annual revenue is tens of billions of US dollars; you could become one of its leaders, becoming a multimillionaire isn't a dream."
Martin said, "I'll consider it."
Jenna handed him a personal card, her eyes suddenly lit up with allure, "When you come, give me a call. I'll prepare a welcome party in advance; I can invite a lot of people."
A blatant sugar-coated shell!
Listened to these names, could he even come out intact if he went?
Jenna had completed her filming at the studio.
Before leaving, the crew presented her with a gift—a water bottle.
Learning that the water bottle was Martin's design, she made a special trip back, pulled a pen from her bodice, "Sign it, will you?"
Martin didn't make any excuses, and signed his name on the water bottle.
Jenna left satisfied.
Martin realized that he no longer had any worries about his foray into Hollywood, because the path behind him was broad.
Even if he failed, there was a way out in Sacred Valley, and Martin vaguely remembered that Jenna later became a billionaire.
There was also the circular stage, where his life as a Zombie Dancer would not be too shabby.
Worst case scenario, he could always rely on Elena's easy life at any time.
In the following shoots, Martin was in top form, full of energy, and when he performed, no one in the crew was his match.
The two scenes with the female lead Catherine were like the descent of a deranged demon into the world.
A major trait of American movies is that the protagonist will definitely be captured by the big villain, who absolutely won't kill the protagonist immediately.
In the set, Catherine, wearing a tight short leather jacket, was bound to a wooden frame, and one of the prop masters, who might have studied in Japan, had quite a unique technique.
Martin rubbed his claws against the wall, walked to the front of Catherine, without a ferocious look on his face, but his whole demeanor exuded a perverted aura from inside out, his sinister words chilling to the bone: "You will be drained of all your essence just like your sister, turning into a mummified corpse!"
Yet in Catherine's roar, there was a hint of weakness: "Demon, I'm not afraid of you, come on!"
"Cut!" Benjamin called a halt, shouting at Catherine, "You're supposed to provoke the demon now, make him attack, then you use your talent to absorb his essence, understand? You have to be brave and decisive, not weak."
Catherine signaled to Martin with her eyes: "Martin's acting is too good, too much like a real demon, it scared me."
Benjamin gestured to the prop master: "Let her go, take a twenty-minute break to reset."
Martin took the initiative to talk to Catherine, and the two whispered together, exchanging their views and insights on their characters.
Twenty minutes later, everything was ready, and they started filming again.
Catherine was in much better shape, and after getting through the tougher dramatic scenes, she was quite skilled at the action scenes that remained.
The better shape Catherine was in, the more it spurred Martin on, and he became like a demon walking through the rain-soaked night without an umbrella or a knife, his claws tearing through the opponent's clothes with ease.
Unlike some actors who are prudish with tense shyness, the two of them were veterans among veterans, not needing to bother with those stale techniques, quickly slipping into their roles.
Catherine was experienced in action scenes.
Martin had been baptized by the special scenes involving corpses, Ma Zhen and flying.
The fierce battle for life and death began.
This was a large-scale B-movie, the camera didn't need to cut to metaphorical images of rain, blooming flowers, gushing oil wells, or trains entering tunnels.
Perhaps it was the exuberance of the male and female leads, perhaps Benjamin's demands weren't that strict, or maybe the budget wasn't really that ample, the director never called cut, up until Martin let out a roar.
The male lead lost this primitive combat scene.
In the final battle, the male lead, drained of his essence, saw a sharp decline in his strength, while the female lead's power surged, finally slaying the demon and destroying the vampire lair.
But the female lead solemnly preserved the male protagonist's head as a memento of her monster hunting career.
The end of the movie saw the mysterious disappearance of the male lead's head while the female lead became pregnant.
The crew shot for over three weeks, setting the record for the longest single movie Benjamin had directed since he started his career.
In the last scene, the female lead's squad raided the Zombie Dancer club, killing all the demons including the male model group and the boss.