Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 104: Deep in the Bones

Adriana almost reflexively raised her hand to cover her mouth, and the next moment, the scream was stifled in the palm of her hand. She widened her eyes, incredulously staring into the darkness before her—the flames had once again extinguished, plunging the entire warehouse back into darkness. She couldn't even see the outline of the coffin, but... tears quickly welled up in her eyes, and the surging emotions completely engulfed her, almost making her choke and gag.

It's hard to imagine, even having experienced it firsthand, it's still hard to imagine.

Just by changing the rhythm of breathing, just by the sound of physical collisions, just by the sound from the depths of the throat, the desperate struggle in that dire situation was vividly displayed, deeply touching the souls of every bystander. Before realizing it, they had already immersed themselves in that world—as if they were trapped in the coffin themselves, as if they were facing danger. Everything was so vivid that emotions began to derail and spiral out of control.

The scalding tears wet her hand, startling Adriana. She couldn't even remember the last time she cried, but just now, she couldn't control it. Before she knew it, the tears had already started to fall.

"Cut!"

Rodrigo's voice finally sounded a beat slower, echoing in the empty warehouse, swaying like a rootless duckweed, somewhat eerie, but eventually everyone reacted.

The lights flickered on a beat late, the faint yellow halo slowly dispelling the darkness, gradually brightening the warehouse. It slowly dragged everyone from the cinematic story back into the real world. The chaos and unease of returning from illusion to reality made everyone restless, avoiding each other's eyes, concealing their embarrassment, and the inner fear—

The despair after the lighter lit up, cruelly and bloodily strangling the budding hope, the shock it brought was all hidden in those eyes that lost focus, deeply imprinted on everyone, to the point that now, seeing the light made them want to flee.

Adriana turned abruptly, wiping the tears from her cheeks, disguising her embarrassment, then quickly walked away, seeking refuge.

Edward's mouth fell open, wanting to say something, but found all words stuck in his throat, so pale, so powerless, so barren— the moment of reality felt like a blade slicing through skin, making every hair stand on end, wishing to flee immediately, but the body was firmly rooted in place, just like being trapped in that coffin, the panic of suffocation and the fear of death tightly gripping the throat, gnashing and clawing.

Suddenly, he remembered, before shooting began, Renly's actions. He was quietly sitting there, silently reading through a script, not turning a page for almost an hour.

What was on the first page of the script again? His memory was a bit fuzzy because the first page had almost no content. His heart suddenly contracted, and Edward quickly turned around, searching for his script, but his steps were somewhat faltering, almost stumbling, the surging blood making his muscles somewhat uncontrollable.

Found it!

Edward hastily flipped open the script and saw the first page.

(In the darkness, Paul gradually woke up, searching for the lighter in his hand, lighting it.)

(Paul ripped off the cloth stuffed in his mouth, inspecting the coffin.)

Paul: Help! Help!

...

That's all there was, just those. Just two short sentences—more accurately, what they had just shot was only the first sentence, but the effect it presented was... so shocking!

Without camera scheduling, without lighting assistance, without director's editing, it was a continuous shot in darkness, placing all the weight on the actors' shoulders. And Renly, the young man who seemed barely grown up, delivered a stunning performance; gradual, delicate, and complete, the structure clear, the performance lasting less than two minutes, yet it brought about a tsunami-like effect.

Closing his eyes, Edward couldn't help but start to tremble, like dry leaves in the autumn wind. He could deeply feel every emotion Paul experienced in dire straits, penetrating to the bone marrow, to the point that when darkness fell, he reflexively began to sink into fear.

Now, Edward finally understood what Renly was doing before shooting began. The repeated reading, pondering, and thinking turned a simple sentence into a magnificent reality; this was truly turning decay into magic!

Lifting his head, Edward's gaze was somewhat dazed. He was just an ordinary photographer, having previously shot two films with little impact, collaborating with local actors in Spain, never truly feeling the power of film, let alone witnessing the power of performance, so he felt somewhat lost now.

Finally, Edward's gaze fell on Rodrigo. He tried to speak, but found his throat extremely dry, swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, and called out, "Rodrigo."

A bright smile spread across Rodrigo's face, his eyes sparkling with excitement and excitement.

"Is it because of this that you chose him as the male lead?" Edward already knew the answer in his heart, but couldn't help but ask. The members of the crew had all read the script and naturally understood the crucial role of the male lead in this work.

Rodrigo grinned, "No, actually, his performance today far exceeded my expectations." Rodrigo savored it carefully. Compared to last time in New York, Renly's performance today had an indescribable flavor. He couldn't describe it, nor was he sure if it was because of the previous enclosed experience, but what he was certain of was that the upcoming shoot would be even more anticipated. "You know? He took the initiative to come for an audition with me."

Rodrigo himself couldn't say where this pride and joy came from, but his mood couldn't help but rise.

"Rodrigo?" A muffled voice came from the wooden box, interrupting Rodrigo and Edward's conversation. Instantly, everyone in the warehouse turned their gaze.

Rodrigo quickly walked over to the wooden box, because the first scene required making full use of the echo of breathing and the narrow space, the lid of the wooden box was closed, but the bottom was completely open; in addition, to facilitate the capture of the shot, the wooden box was slightly tilted, with a mound of soil piled underneath, allowing Renly's feet to leverage.

Rodrigo came to the back of the wooden box and squatted down to ask, "Renly?"

"How was the last shoot?" Renly asked from inside the box. If possible, Renly actually hoped to go behind the monitor to take a look, but it was too troublesome to go in and out of the box, and he needed to maintain this tense state, so he gave up the idea of fussing.

Rodrigo was taken aback for a moment, then realized—he had actually forgotten to review the last shoot. "Wait a moment, I need to confirm again." Rodrigo was a bit embarrassed, too preoccupied with shock and amazement; he even forgot the director's primary job.

Standing up quickly, Rodrigo went to the monitor and began reviewing. Unexpectedly, others also rushed up, staring at the screen's every move.

Two minutes, one hundred and twenty seconds, for a long shot, it was indeed too long, and too boring; but the reality was not so. The start, development, turn, and conclusion of the entire performance were seamlessly integrated, without any waste or redundancy. The performance filled the story with fullness without exaggeration, leading the audience into the story with just the right amount of tension.

Flawless.

It was also the first time Rodrigo knew that the so-called performance was not just lines, not just expressions, not just actions—every detail about a person could become a performance. Especially in the last shot of this opening performance, the dilated pupils contained an unbelievable power, directly and decisively cutting off the hope that hadn't even had a chance to sprout, cruelly making people despair, and even unable to raise any resistance.

Just one look, but it had already changed everything.

Such a high-difficulty scene, Renly not only passed with just one shot but also endowed it with more meaning. Rodrigo could imagine that in the next scenes, when Paul began to fight for survival, the audience's minds would undoubtedly follow his every move, the ups and downs of tension and twists had already been laid down. Incredible! It's really incredible!

"Perfect!" Rodrigo exclaimed loudly. He searched his mind for all the vocabulary, but still couldn't describe the excitement in his heart, so he could only say again, "Perfect!"

Renly's muffled voice came from the wooden box, "Very well, I'm ready to continue shooting."

"Oh, yes, yes." Rodrigo nodded repeatedly, clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention, "Second scene, now we start the second scene."

Everyone started to busy themselves again, but found that Edward was still standing in place. Rodrigo had to step forward and pat his shoulder, which finally brought Edward back to his senses. Edward seemed a bit absent-minded, but after adjusting his breathing, he suddenly became full of energy and immediately immersed himself in work, undergoing a complete change from before, becoming proactive.

Edward walked to the side of the wooden box and whispered, "Sorry... forgive me for my rudeness just now." He paused, "Anyway, sorry." After speaking, Edward quickly turned and left.

After being ready, Rodrigo turned his head, intending to instruct everyone to be quiet, but found that everyone had voluntarily retreated ten steps away, fearing that their breathing would disturb the shooting effect. At the same time, everyone tightly closed their mouths, eagerly watching the silent wooden box.

A smile couldn't help but spread across Rodrigo's face. He had a feeling that the upcoming shoot would be very smooth. "July 15th, Act One, Scene Two of 'Buried,' the first attempt."