The military drones had no trouble keeping up with him as he flew over London. Up ahead, there was a helicopter that was his destination.
Chubby had several cameras to capture the action, ranging from the drone to the helicopters to Ian Bond’s ‘throat camera.’ Rita James had given David the movie Le Mans as part of his filmmaking education. He’d suggested that Chubby split the screens to show the action from the different cameras.
Chubby wasn’t totally sold, so David pushed the idea that it would confirm that this was one continuous shot. That would be better than having viewers wonder when they cut the film to show different camera angles. So, when David saw the split screens appear, he felt vindicated. It gave the whole sequence that wow factor that Chubby had been shooting for. Now, if only the camera angles and the editing would do the extended scene justice without making it into a hodgepodge of sensory overload.
The stunt coordinator had been a real wuss because he reminded David for almost three months that bad stuff would ensue if he got near the helicopter blades. He even showed him footage of an old Saturday Night Live skit where they threw a fish into a Super Bass-O-Matic. David made the appropriate head bobs to make the man go away and then pursued the scene anyway.
As David watched the film, he remembered looking down just before the drone came into range and almost chickening out. Now he watched as his character dipped below the helicopter and then popped up right at the door. How he’d managed to actually land on the footrail, he had no idea.
His character opened the door, reached in and jerked a stuntman out, and grabbed a briefcase. With the different angles, you could see the man fall a long way before the screen switched to another camera.
While on the footrail, David stuffed the briefcase into a backpack. Another helicopter appeared, and a door opened. A man with a gun brought it up to fire as David let go and began to fall. David fired up the e-wingsuit and raced down towards the ground with the second helicopter pacing him.
David marveled at what a good pilot the man flying the helicopter was as he watched them fly between London skyscrapers. The chopper kept right on David’s tail as he made multiple turns and twists to try to get away. He then shot to the warehouse district, where a new apartment complex was being built.
David also admired Chubby’s genius as the split camera views shifted several times to highlight different aspects of the chase while maintaining the continuous throat-camera view. Chubby had pulled it off, to David’s eye. The numerous gasps and exclamations that David kept hearing from the sophisticated audience around him seemed to confirm his judgment. This scene would be talked about for a long, long time.
His character swooped down to land on the upper level of the half-completed apartment building, where there were only exposed I-beams. As he quickly shed his suit and helmet, the helicopter hovered, and four lines were dropped. That was followed by the four villains dressed all in black rappelling down the ropes.
The next phase had David parkouring down the exposed structure as he fought the four men. Both his mother and Tami had dug their fingernails into his thighs as they cringed when he almost fell to his death a number of times. While some of that was acting, there were a couple of times when he almost took a tumble—which he did not point out to his mom.
Even David cringed when he saw himself sliding down beams and then twisting and turning to launch himself to another floor. During the action, one of the stuntmen had lost his balance and plunged five stories. David was glad their stunt coordinator had prepared for that sort of mistake, and the man had only minor bruising after the scene.
The final jump was spectacular as David dropped two stories to the roof of a construction trailer. It had been designed to cushion his fall, but he flinched, remembering how it had all but knocked him silly. The three remaining men chasing him were right behind, so his character made a running leap toward the neighboring building. David snagged a railing on a fire escape and began to climb to the roof.
The following sequence consisted of running and leaping from rooftop to rooftop. David used his full range of parkour tricks as he bounced, swung, jumped, and launched himself through, over, and around different obstacles. He loved it because it was like a giant game of super-tag.
The final jump was really long, so his character sprinted full out. As his character flew through the air between buildings, David rocked back into his theater seat with a satisfied grin. The stunt had called for him to come up short and grab the edge of the building. He was to dangle there for a moment to let the bad guys catch up, but by some miracle, he stuck the landing.
Not knowing what to do, David turned and tipped his imaginary cap at the hooligans chasing him and grinned as he aped a line from M.C. Hammer, rapping U Can’t Touch This.
He then ran to the far side of the roof, where he jumped down to different roof levels until he reached the ground. David’s character looked back and ran down the street. As he reached the intersection, an Aston Martin raced up, and the door flew open.
The split screen at the end showed David’s view of Stewart Thatcher smiling sardonically from the driver’s seat while at the same time showing Stewart’s view of a slightly winded Ian Bond.
“Get in!”
“Who are you?” Ian asked, as he had never met his father before.
“Bond, James Bond.”
David was both relieved and in awe when he saw how well the opening sequence had gone. Chubby Feldman had indeed succeeded in creating the wow factor that had been missing in recent James Bond movies. As the car raced off, the music cued up, and the title sequence began.
Both Tami and his mom turned and glared at him. David bit his bottom lip and pointed at the screen.
“Enjoy the movie. We can talk later.”
◊◊◊
David wasn’t a big fan of watching himself on screen. But halfway through the movie, he let that go and just thought of his character as Ian Bond and not as himself. When the final credits began to run and the lights came up, everyone in the theater stood and applauded.
While the standing ovation was expected at an opening night, he could tell that people enjoyed the movie. David predicted that they had a hit on their hands.
“Let’s wait until the rush is over,” he suggested.
Tami and his mom retook their seats. David turned to face them as he rested against the headrest of the seat in front of his.
“Did you like it?” he asked, showing a touch of eagerness.
His mom and Tami looked at each other as they decided whether they would give him a hard time or not.
“You’re a real movie star,” Tami finally said.
“I was never a big James Bond fan,” Mom shared. She really didn’t like action films. “But I am a fan of Ian Bond, and it has nothing to do with you playing the part. His personality came across as fun and made me want to watch him.”
“I especially liked the goofy walk. To think how far it came from that horrible strut you did in high school,” Tami said.
David had practiced his Ian Bond walk, and people had captured it and shared his efforts on social media. When he arrived on set, they’d taken the bare bones, and a choreographer had worked with him to perfect his moves.
“David!” Chubby Feldman called.
He was with several studio suits, grinning like he’d won the lottery—which he just may have done. David immediately complimented him on the opening scene and the movie as a whole and then introduced Chubby and the others to his mom and Tami.
“We had a sample audience view the movie, and it confirmed what our testing has been telling us. The Ian character stole the show. We want to refocus our marketing to feature you,” Chubby said.
“What exactly does that mean?” David asked.