America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

In July, Southern California was stifling and humid, swarming with mosquitoes in the wilderness, which made filming with makeup a real torture.

Martin came prepared, having bought multiple three-piece sets before coming.

Next to the makeup trailer, Bruce slapped his face, smashing a mosquito to smithereens. NovelFiremp yr content

Martin leaned closer to him, with virtually no mosquitoes coming to bite him, "Old Cloth, with that stench of yours, the mosquitoes go only for you."

Bruce retaliated, "Your abnormal blood and flesh stink so much, even the mosquitoes refuse to bite."

Martin went back to grab his bag, pulled out a set of menthol oil, floral water, and cooling oil, and handed it to Old Cloth, "Rub the first one on your eyelids, drink half a bottle of the second, and apply the third to your privates. Not only will mosquitoes avoid you, but you'll also fly high."

"You sure?" Bruce opened the menthol oil, took a whiff, and felt something off.

Martin wanted to see the effects, "Also, you can use menthol oil and cooling oil in place of Vaseline; next time you meet Kardashian, give it a try."

Bruce poured out a bit, rubbed it on the back of his hand, and liked the cool sensation, saying, "Vanessa Shaw has taken a liking to you, why don't you try it first?"

"I've tried it numerous times already," Martin said, heading to the gas station up front to prepare for filming.

Bruce muttered a few words, applied the menthol oil, sprayed the floral water, and pocketed the cooling oil for a trial with Kim back in Los Angeles.

Martin went to the set and rehearsed with Vanessa, getting quite familiar with their positions.

After practicing a few times, the two coordinated fairly well.

This was an old, run-down gas station, a necessary scene in American road trip horror films.

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

Completely out of place with the broken gas station.

Aga came over, "The look works great. You don't belong here, which is why you're so resistant to this trip, but you force a smile to save face for your wife."

Martin nodded, "Most of the time, I'll indulge my father-in-law, put up with his nagging, playing the nice guy."

"But actually, you're not, you're a psychopath!" Aga, directing a Hollywood movie for the first time and very hands-on, shouted loudly, "All departments get ready, we start shooting in two minutes."

As the clapperboard snapped, the filming officially began.

Martin followed his mark to fuel up the RV, when his father-in-law, Bob, came over to talk, resulting in a minor verbal clash, mostly the stubborn Southern old man criticizing his son-in-law for not cooperating.

At the same time, children cried, dogs barked, and everything descended into chaos.

Aiming for perfection, Aga called cut several times before he was satisfied with the first scene.

Originally, the next scene was to show Martin checking on the child, but the infant actor suddenly had a filthy diaper and was irritable, so they had to switch to filming the dog's scene on the fly.

Neither the beauty nor the beast was ready, and Aga kept calling cut, so Martin and the other actors involved were left to struggle along.

Working with child and animal actors proved even more headache-inducing than actresses squabbling on set.

They were uncontrollable factors.

After much effort to calm the dog, filming had just begun when the beast detected something and suddenly burst out from the RV, barking wildly at a pile of rocks.

Daniel rushed over to settle the beast, which continued to growl warnings.

Martin followed the crowd over to take a look.

That's when Bruce came darting out, blocking Martin's path, "Be careful, there's a rattlesnake."

Indeed, amidst the pile of rocks, a meter-long, earthy yellow rattlesnake coiled its body, flicking its tongue and rhythmically tapping its tail on the ground.

Faced with this venomous snake, Daniel cautiously retreated, dragging the beast with him.

Dallot, the security chief hired by Craven, came prepared with long tongs, clamped the rattlesnake's head and neck, and dragged it away.

Aga remembered something, asking, "Where's the set medic?"

"Right here," someone raised their hand.

Aga inquired, "Did you prepare antivenom for the snakes?"

The medic, experienced with many film crews and well-prepared, said, "Any crew filming in Mexico must have common antivenoms at hand."

Filming quickly returned to normal.

Perhaps it was the removal of the rattlesnake that helped settle things; the infant actor stopped fussing, the beauty and the beast slowly got into their roles, and the crew began to operate efficiently.

Most shots were good after three or four takes.

The gas station scenes continued for three days straight, then the crew moved to film in a nearby nature reserve.

It was a valley with exposed bedrock, preserving the original features of wind erosion, uneven roads, and rugged rocks amidst sandy hills, looking extra desolate.

Nearby was a natural pit, suitable for posing as a misshapen graveyard where people discarded cars and other items.

Mexican local officials had stationed themselves with the crew, supervising to ensure the environment was not harmed and all trash was removed after filming.

As for gang members who casually set fire to abandoned cars, he turned a blind eye.

Hollywood crews followed the rules, gang members did not, and officials who trifled with traffickers would quickly end up dead in the street.

Every vehicle in the crew flew the flag of America, and as long as they hired local security and paid the fee, traffickers rarely harassed Hollywood crews.

During a break, a few people chatted; Craven mentioned something, "I heard that a politician in Mexico, known for being tough on traffickers, is preparing to run for office, and their policies might change."

Martin said, "It's useless. As long as Mexico is right next to America, the problem can't be solved."

Bruce, who knew more, said, "The American market is too big, the profits too hefty. Everyone is envious, not just gang factions, but also more involved parties, such as the American officials."

Aga asked, "Can't the Mexican authorities handle the traffickers?"

Craven threw a can of beer over, "Just wait, once that guy is firmly seated in power, he might declare war on the traffickers."

Martin had a vague impression that the Mexican authorities had lost the war against the traffickers.

Bruce continued, "Individual traffickers aren't scary. What's behind them is—the CIA, the DEA, or some other Washington power. The Mexican authorities can't cope with that."

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

Craven laughed, "You are way behind. Everybody knows this, and the big shots in Washington are definitely neck-deep in it."

Bruce said, "Retired friends of mine say that Washington will soon become the biggest trafficker in Central Asia."

Aga suddenly came up with an idea, "How about making a horror movie with the CIA as the backdrop, showing how they torture and kill dissidents. No problem, right?"

Craven responded, "As long as you don't expose the IRS, anything else is fine, no worries, the CIA doesn't care."

The props master walked by, carrying several pink water cans in his arms.

Aga, curious, asked, "I heard you came up with this, Martin. What were you thinking at the time?"

Pointing at the words on the water can, Martin said seriously, "I believe, no matter whose life it is, they should be in charge of it!"

The others nodded in agreement.

Looking at his watch, Aga said, "It's about time, get ready for the shoot."

Martin stood up to find the makeup artist.

Aga returned to the set, where three actresses were already sitting at a small table in front of the RV, each with a water can in front of them.

The shooting started, and they picked up the pink water cans to drink.

In the next scene, a perverted deformity invaded the RV, and Vanessa used a pink water can to beat the perverts, turning one of the perverted men into a pig-headed mess.

In the end, she was shot dead by a perverted man with a gun.

Shooting quickly moved to a car junkyard.

In front of the camera's dolly track, Martin, wearing a sun hat, looked amazed at the dozens of rusted scrap cars. He opened the nearest car door and pulled out a muddy Teddy bear toy.

On the other side, the actor playing the psychotic killer was getting ready to enter the scene, and later he had a fight scene with Martin.

Bruce came to the props department to meticulously inspect the prop knives and guns.

The props master asked, "Don't you trust me?"

Bruce, not like Martin, didn't care about these words and said, "Since the crew uses real guns, I have to ensure the employer's safety."

The props master, knowing that Martin was one of the three with the most power in the crew, took the initiative to hand over the guns so Bruce could check them.

Upon opening the revolver's cylinder and ensuring there were no bullets, Bruce asked, "Why not use prop guns?"

The props master explained, "In America and Mexico, real guns are easier to get and cost less."

Bruce couldn't help saying, "Fake guns are harder to get than real ones. We're really living in shit."

The props master shrugged, "You get used to it."

At that moment, the stunt actor came to collect the weapons, a revolver and a prop knife.

Bruce watched the props master hand over the weapons he had inspected to the stunt actor and then followed him to the car junkyard.

The action scene began, a series of separate shots taken in fragments.

Oftentimes, a single action was a single shot.

In this scene, the protagonist encountered a sudden attack by a deformity in the car junkyard, fell into a pit, and after being injured, retaliated and killed the deformed man.

The dangerous shots of rolling to the bottom of the pit were naturally handed over to the stunt doubles for shooting.

The shots of the protagonist slamming into the scrapped car glass were all done by doubles.

Even with some high-difficulty action scenes, unless his face was shown, Martin also requested the use of stunt doubles.

He left the burdensome parts to others.

However, Martin was good at being a people person. In the evening, back at the hotel, he took the initiative to buy a few stunt doubles a drink.

He also had Bruce buy some small gifts, to be given when the stunt actors finished their work and left the crew.

Those with high salaries, like Reeves, could give away motorcycles; Martin's salary was more limited.

After more than half a month of outdoor shooting, the crew finished all the exterior scenes and moved back to the film studios near the hotel.

In the same converted factory film studio, the set designers built labyrinthine caves and a small town in the valley for the final showdown between the protagonist and the deformed man.

Other actors in the crew finished their parts and returned to America, leaving only Martin and a group of stunt actors who were shooting the action scenes.

Meanwhile, next door, the crew of "The Summer of Jeans" also arrived in Cabo San Lucas.

The two crews formed a stark contrast—one was almost all men, the other a pool of young and beautiful female actresses.