Rise To Stardom - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: 10-Minute Long Take
On Kyle’s fan club, one that had seen a significant surge in over 1000+ members after the viral popularity of [No Clue], was a discussion over what their boy was up to.

—

Kyle’s Girlfriend: Where’s my handsome cinnamon roll been at all this while? It’s like he’s almost gone radio silent this past month.

Trix Or Treat: @Kyle’s Girlfriend; Excuse me but where the hell’d you come from?!

WaifuWithARocketLauncher: Glad I brought my rocket launcher today. A knife won’t be getting the job done.

AN_MZ_27: (Grabs popcorn…)

Mamma Mia: Hand me some of that too @ AN_MZ_27.

Princess Peach: First off, Kyle’s OUR handsome cinnamon roll! And secondly, give our boy some slack. He’s probably either relaxing after that stressful last month or already cooking up another storm.

The Impostor: Oh I’m pretty sure it’s the latter…

Pro_noobs: @ The Impostor; What do you know? Spit it out!

Peter_Writes_Fantasy: Honestly, it’s better if Kyle stays out of the limelight for a while. If he’s everywhere all the time, people might just get tired of seeing him every now and then. Also kids, remember not to take coffee to pull an all-nighter. A shitty morning is guaranteed I tell you.

WeDoABitOfTrolling: @ Peter_Writes_Fantasy; That writers’ block must be really kicking your ass huh…

Just as a few more messages rolled in from other members of the club, most of them mundane yet equally engaging, The Impostor casually posted a few pictures.

Instantly, the chat was set ablaze.

Annie Are You Okay?: Why’s he dressed in all black?! Is he shooting another series?! A movie?! Someone, please give me the deets!

HiPapi: Oh My God! Is that Bruce Gunn! I haven’t seen him in the past 14 years! Now I’m totally invested in whatever this movie’s going to be! You young’uns better fasten those seatbelts tight! Get ready to see action greatness!

FlatIsJustice: Hey, that’s my street! I didn’t know they were shooting a movie there.

MediumIsPremium: Is that Jeffrey Dickson and Director Mark Finn I spot in the corner? Now I’m even more curious about the movie…

OppaiIsTruth: The set doesn’t give much to go on but I wonder if it’s from a big studio.

AsLongAsTheWoodRises: Kyle has a sexy butt. I wanna touch ’em, grab ’em and fondle ’em.

Horny Bonker: @ AsLongAsTheWoodRises; Yes, Officer. This man! Right here!

Wendy The Witch: Why the sudden influx of messages?! What’s going on?!

The 78th Curator: Damn! Kyle rocks that outfit so well. Looks like a total badass too. Definitely seems like an action movie.

Why Chai Tea?: You might just be right @ The 78th Curator. Director Mark’s mostly known for romantic comedies and drama but honestly, I don’t think that’s the case this time…

—

As the messages continued to pour in like a hailstorm due to a set of [Epoch One] being shared to the group, most of them began to question The Impostor about it.

However, the anonymous netizen simply explained that the exact same pics were doing their rounds all over the internet and he had just shared it to the platform to inform all of them.

Upon seeing that, everyone in the fan group flocked over to TweetTalk like herds of sheep and lo and behold, the picture had been shared by Director Mark Finn himself, the post already garnering a total of 200+ comments, 13K retweets, 27K likes and over 153K impressions.

It was also trending at No. 5 on the social media platform.

The main cause for all these, was especially because of three figures in the picture casually conversing in the corner of the set.

Namely, they were;

Jeffrey Dickson, a well-known face in Hollywood despite his old age.

Bruce Gunn, an action star who the millennials were freaking out over.

And lastly, Kyle Kestis, a popular indie musician who despite having gone radio silent for a month now, already seemed to be working on another project.

* * *

‘This, has to be perfect!’ Director Mark declared inwardly.

The next scene they were about to shoot was by no means going to be a small feat, both from the actors, the cinematographers and the rest of the crew.

It was a car-chase sequence that would devolve into a shoot-out sequence first and then, a full-on fistfight action sequence between Sam and Alex.

It would also be the first time both would be confronting each other since the start of the movie.

Considering the amount of pleas, efforts and paperwork they had to put in to request for, and eventually gain access to the street they were going to use for this particular scene in the movie, a total of three months’ prior, Director Mark hoped that they could get the long sequence in a single take.

No.

They had to get in in a single take as today was the only day they were allowed to use the busy Central Park West street to shoot the scene.

An exact total of 20 minutes was all they were afforded too.

Unfair, yes – but this was what they had to deal with as a small production studio.

In addition to that, if anything didn’t go as planned, all the budget they had spent preparing for the scene was going to go to waste.

That would be a real blow to their finances.

If they had been backed by a major studio or production company however, this was something that could’ve easily been sorted out in a week or a few days as opposed to the three months they used to request for permission, all whilst also given them so much more time to film.

Unfortunately for them though, that wasn’t the case.

“Alright. This is a 10-minute long take.” the Director clapped, bringing the attention of all the surrounding actors involved in the scene they were about to shoot to him.

“There’s no room for errors and we definitely, have to get it in one take.” he sternly said and everyone around him nodded, their expressions resolute.

They all understood how much effort had gone into making the opportunity to film this particular scene possible and they didn’t want to ruin it.

“So, make sure to bring your absolute A-game this time. Is that clear?” he inquired, his tone authoritative.

“Yes Director!” most of the extras responded with a resolute tone while Bruce and Kyle, the main cast in this particular scene nodded in similar fashion.

“Alright then. Take your positions everyone! Shooting starts in five!” Mark gestured to everyone on the set, and quickly, everyone dispersed to their respective positions.

The cinematographers, mounted their vehicles which had been equipped with their cameras and all the stunt-actors in the scene, moved over to their respective vehicles.

Bruce, took his position on the Kawasaki Ninja 250, a motorcycle that actually belonged to him but was being lent for filming while Kyle, stood by the door of the 1968 Ford Mustang, a car that Jeffrey owned but was willing to also lend the film crew for filming.

Picking up from the last scene where the bullet of a sudden gunshot had whisked past Alex and destroyed the side-view mirror of his car, Sam, as expected, had been the culprit.

Having seen a familiar device in Alex’s hands, one that was usually used to remotely detonate the microchip from wherever one was, the Special Agent gone rogue, had wrongly deduced that Alex was about to set off another explosion.

Taking the initiative, he had tried to shoot Alex from afar in an effort to disarm him whilst simultaneously also using his fired bullet as warning shot to everyone else but he had missed, causing the bullet to shatter the Mustang’s side-view mirror instead.

However, the panic-stricken NYC residents had at least taken the initiative to bolt from the area, making one of Sam’s goal a success.

Alex on the other hand, along with Abraham’s many bodyguards, all of whom had caught sight of Sam, instantly found themselves in a vicious game of cat and mouse.

First was Alex, whom was just trying to escape from both of them.

Second was Sam, who was hell-bent on putting a stop to the ghost vigilante by the supposed name of Timothee Drake whilst also avoiding getting caught by the agents of his former organization.

Third were Abraham’s goons, all of whom were instantly commanded by the old agent to take down both individuals after piecing one and two together.

For a man who had been scared out of his wits a few seconds ago, he sure knew how to bounce back like a spring chicken.

But who could blame him, if both Alex and Sam escaped from here, he was doomed.

As Director Mark stared at the street ahead of them, green screen cutouts and a green ramp situated on the road, along with various vehicles rented out with extras and stunt actors seated behind their respective wheels, there was only one thought in his mind – and that was for Kyle to maintain the level of efficiency he had been giving out till now.

He was already very confident in the other stunt-actors as he had seen them do this professionally a few times from other movie sets of other directors.

As for Bruce, this wasn’t his first rodeo with a car chase scene and being the literal daredevil that he was, especially with so much training under his belt, Mark could bet his family jewels that his long-time friend would effortlessly pull it off.

But for Kyle, this was all new to him and Director Mark, although could’ve used a stunt double as of this moment, stubbornly refused to.

He was dedicated to bringing out the best possible vision of the action movie he had in mind and if that required him to make the actors themselves, do most of their crucial stunts, then so be it.

That was the unshakeable pride and ego of a Director.

As for Kyle, whilst awaiting the director’s order to begin, he knew for a fact that when the time for he and Bruce to act out in the action sequence came around, the latter would overshadow him with his Level 14 acting.

Coupled with that, Bruce had a high-grade skill called [Action Star], one that Kyle just knew would make him struggle even more to be on par with him during their very first scene together.

But more than that, he didn’t want to ruin the experience of the movie-goers when they finally watched the scene because according to the script, Alex should match well against Sam and not be inferior to him in anyway.

That was a scenario he didn’t want at all and in addition to that, he also couldn’t mess up this long 10-minute take even for a split moment.

And so, with his hands on the handle of the car’s door, his ears picking up the exact moment the director declared ‘Action!’; Kyle simultaneously activated [Deep Dive] and [Scene Stealer].

A wave of adrenaline.

A mind calculating faster than was usually possible.

His acting skills and levels reaching its max.

His senses heightened to their absolute peak.

At that exact same moment, Kyle felt everything about him slipping away, fully giving way to the fictional individual known as Alex Hunt.