America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 130, Tiger Balm

In July, Baja California was hot and humid, with mosquitoes swarming in the wild, making filming with makeup on a real ordeal.

Martin was well-prepared; he had bought multiple three-piece sets before he arrived.

Beside the makeup trailer, Bruce slapped a large mosquito across the face, pulverizing it.

Martin moved closer to him, and hardly any mosquitoes flew over to bite him: "Old Brook, look at the stench on you, the mosquitoes only bite you."

Bruce retorted, "You pervert, your blood and flesh rot, not even a mosquito would want to bite you."

Martin went back to get his bag, took out a set of Tiger Balm, floral water, and cooling balm, and handed it to Old Brooks: "Apply the first one to your eyelids, drink half a bottle of the second one, and apply the third one to your genitals. Not only will mosquitoes stay away from you, but it will also make you fly to the sky."

"Are you sure?" Bruce unscrewed the medicated oil, smelled it, and felt something was off.

Martin wanted to see how it went: "Also, you can use Tiger Balm and Mentholatum instead of Vaseline. Next time you go see Kardashian, give it a try."

Bruce poured some out and rubbed it on the back of his hand. It felt cool and pleasant. He said, "Vanessa Shaw seems interested in you. Why don't you give it a try?"

"I've tried it countless times already." Martin went to the gas station ahead to prepare for filming.

Bruce muttered a couple of things, applied some Tiger Balm, sprayed on some floral water, and carefully put the cooling balm in his pocket. He'd find out when he got back to Los Angeles and asked Kim to try it out.

Martin arrived on set and practiced his blocking with Vanessa.

The two had rehearsed a few times, and their coordination was quite good.

This is a dilapidated old-fashioned gas station, a must-see scene in American road horror movies.

Martin looked very stylish in simple jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt, along with his neat short hair.

It stands out starkly from the dilapidated gas station.

Ah-Jia came over: "You look great. You don't belong here, so you're very opposed to this trip, but you have to force a smile to save face for your wife."

Martin nodded: "Most of the time, I'll tolerate my father-in-law and let him nag, like a nice old man."

"Actually, you're not, you're a pervert!" A-Jia, directing his first Hollywood film, was doing everything himself and shouted, "All departments, get ready! Filming in two minutes!"

As the script supervisor clapped the clapperboard, filming officially began.

Martin went to refuel the RV according to the designated area. His father-in-law, Bob, came over to talk to him, and the two had a minor verbal altercation. More often than not, the stubborn Southern old man accused his son-in-law of not cooperating.

Meanwhile, the child cried, the dog barked, and chaos ensued.

A-Jia is a perfectionist; he filmed the first scene three times before calling it a pass.

Originally, the next scene was supposed to be Martin visiting the child, but the baby actor suddenly pooped and cried a lot, so they had to change the scene to the dog.

Beauty and the Beast weren't ready yet, and Aja kept yelling "Cut!" The actors involved in the scene, including Martin, could only go along with it.

Child and animal actors are even more troublesome than female actors fighting amongst themselves on set.

This is an uncontrollable factor.

After finally calming the dog down and just starting to film, the wild animal, having apparently discovered something, suddenly rushed out of the RV door and barked wildly at a pile of rocks.

Daniel rushed over to calm the beast, but it continued to whimper warningly.

Martin followed the crowd and took a look.

Bruce then rushed out and blocked Martin's path: "Watch out, there's a rattlesnake."

Sure enough, in the pile of rocks, a yellowish-brown rattlesnake, more than a meter long, coiled its body, its tongue flicking out and its tail constantly slapping the ground.

Faced with this highly venomous snake, Daniel slowly pulled the beast backward.

Craven's security chief, Dalot, was prepared. He came over with long iron pliers, grabbed the rattlesnake by the neck, and dragged it away.

Ah-Jia suddenly remembered and asked, "Where's the crew doctor?"

"Here it is." Someone raised their hand.

Aja asked, "Are you prepared with antivenom?"

The doctor, who has worked with many film crews, is well-prepared: "For film crews shooting in Mexico, we always have antivenom for all kinds of common venomous snakes."

Filming quickly returned to normal.

Perhaps because the rattlesnake was removed, the baby actor stopped fussing during the rest of the filming, and Beauty and the Beast gradually got into character, allowing the crew to operate more efficiently.

Most shots can be completed in three or four takes.

The scenes at the gas station were filmed for three consecutive days, after which the crew moved to a nearby scenic area for filming.

This is a valley with exposed bedrock, retaining relatively primitive wind-eroded landform features. The rugged roads and jagged rocks and sand dunes make it look particularly desolate.

There is also a natural stone pit nearby, which can be used as a graveyard for deformed people to discard cars and other items.

Local Mexican officials moved in to supervise the film crew, ensuring they did not damage the environment and that all trash was removed after filming.

He turned a blind eye to the gang members who casually set fire to abandoned cars as they passed by.

Hollywood film crews follow rules, but gangsters don't. If an official offends a trafficker, he'll soon be lying dead in the street.

Every vehicle in the film crew displayed American logos, and as long as a local security company was hired and security fees were paid, traffickers rarely harassed the Hollywood film crew.

During a break, a few people were chatting, and Craven mentioned something: "I heard that a politician in Mexico who is very tough on drug traffickers is preparing to run for office, and their policies may change."

Martin said, "It's no use. As long as Mexico is adjacent to the United States, the problem won't be solved."

Bruce knew more: "The American market is too big and the profits are too high. Everyone is envious, not just gangs, but also many other forces, such as the American government."

Aja asked, "Can't the Mexican authorities deal with the traffickers?"

Craven tossed a can of beer at him: "Just wait, when that guy gets on stage, he might declare war on the dealers."

Martin vaguely remembered that the Mexican authorities had lost the war on traffickers.

Bruce chimed in, "Individual traffickers aren't scary; they have the CIA, DEA, or other forces in Washington behind them. The Mexican authorities can't handle that."

Martin asked, "I've heard the CIA is the biggest trafficker in Latin America?"

Craven laughed: "You're way behind the times. This is common knowledge. There are definitely a lot of big shots in Washington involved."

Bruce said, "I've heard from several retired friends that Washington will soon become the biggest trafficker in Central Asia."

A-Jia suddenly had an idea: "How about making a horror movie set in the CIA, depicting how they torture and kill dissidents?"

Craven said, "As long as it doesn't involve the IRS, anything else is fine, the CIA doesn't care."

The prop master walked by, carrying several pink water bottles.

Aja asked curiously, "I heard you invented this thing, Martin. What were you thinking back then?"

Martin pointed to the words on the kettle and said seriously, "I believe that everyone should be in charge of their own life!"

The others nodded in agreement.

A-Jia glanced at his watch: "It's almost time, get ready to film."

Martin got up to find the makeup artist.

When A-Jia returned to the set, the three actresses were already sitting at a small table in front of the RV, each with a kettle in front of them.

As filming began, they picked up pink water bottles and drank water.

In the next scene, a group of deranged and freakish men break into the RV. Vanessa uses a pink kettle to beat them up, smashing one of the men's heads into a pig's head.

She was eventually shot and killed by the perverted man.

The filming quickly moved to the car graveyard.

In front of the camera's sliding track, Martin, wearing a sun hat, looked in surprise at dozens of rusted, wrecked cars, opened the nearest car door, and took out a teddy bear toy covered in mud.

On the other side, the actor who plays the psychopathic killer is about to enter the scene, and then has a fight scene with Martin.

Bruce went to the props department and carefully examined the props, including knives and guns.

The prop master asked, "You don't trust me?"

Bruce wasn't Martin and didn't care about those words, saying, "The crew is using real guns; I have to ensure the employer's safety."

Knowing that Martin was one of the three most powerful people on set, the prop master took the guns and let Bruce inspect them one by one.

Bruce opened the revolver's magazine, made sure it was empty, and asked, "Why not use the prop gun?"

The prop master said, "In the United States and Mexico, real guns are easier to obtain and cheaper than props."

Bruce couldn't help but say, "Fake guns are harder to get than real ones. We're fucking living in dog shit."

The prop master shrugged: "You'll get used to it."

The actor with special effects then came over to collect the weapons: a revolver and a prop knife.

Bruce watched as the prop master handed over the weapons he had inspected to the character actor, and then followed the character actor to the car graveyard.

When the action scenes started filming, each shot was broken down into individual parts, making the filming process particularly fragmented.

Often, a single action constitutes a single shot.

In this scene, the male protagonist is ambushed by a deformed man in a car graveyard, knocked into a pit, and then kills the deformed man after being injured.

Those dangerous scenes involving rolling into the bottom of the pit were naturally filmed by stunt doubles.

The scene where the male lead smashes the glass of an abandoned car was entirely done by a stunt double.

For some of the more challenging action scenes, Martin insisted on using stunt doubles unless he was actually on screen.

They dumped all the burden onto others.

However, Martin was good at social skills. When he returned to his hotel that night, he offered to treat the stunt doubles to a drink.

He also asked Bruce to buy some small gifts so that the stunt performers could receive a present when they finished their work and left the set.

Those who receive high salaries, like Reeves who gives away motorcycles, have relatively limited salaries.

After more than half a month of outdoor filming, the crew finished all outdoor scenes and moved back to the studio area near the hotel to continue filming.

Also converted from a factory, the set designer built a maze-like cave and valley town for the final battle between the male protagonist and the deformed man.

The rest of the cast returned to the United States after finishing their scenes, leaving only Martin and a group of stunt performers who were filming action scenes.

Meanwhile, the cast and crew of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" also arrived in Cabo San Lucas.

The two production teams presented a stark contrast: one consisted almost entirely of men, while the other was filled with young and beautiful actresses.

Two updates today, currently working on drafting.

(End of this chapter)