Chapter 144: So Many Planes
Boom, boom, boom—
In the azure sky, over a dozen ordinary white helicopters bearing the MNU logo and five camouflaged ard helicopters hovered in their respective positions on standby. On an ordinary helicopter, Wang Yang, who had fastened his seatbelt, stood at the cabin door, listening to the loud rumbling noise made by the rotating propellers. Through the viewfinder in his hands, he gazed at the Soweto slums below.
The Soweto slum is located to the south of central Johannesburg and is the largest slum in Africa. Its area has now reached 120 square kiloters and includes 33 towns, inhabited by nine black tribes including Xhosa and Zulu. Unlike other slums, it also has so brick houses, even beautiful, large houses built by wealthy black people. However, the area beneath the helicopter consisted entirely of dilapidated tin shanties, their roofs laden with bricks, rags, and other debris.
“Can we fly a bit more to the right, try thirty ters!” Wang Yang shouted towards the pilot’s seat. The pilot, Brandon, gave a thumbs-up and responded, “Roger that!” Aside from the pilot, there was also a flight technician, along with caraman Harry George, a lighting technician, and several other mbers of the cara crew on the helicopter.
After Wang Yang issued the order, the helicopter imdiately rumbled toward the right. The strong wind gusted against his face, whipping up his hair and making his cheeks slightly painful. He kept an eye on the images in the viewfinder. Once he adjusted to a suitable cara angle, he yelled, “Stop here!” At the entrance to the slums below, on a potholed dirt road, over thirty white mine-resistant armored vehicles were lined up, as well as several camouflaged armored vehicles, all on standby. The footage soon to be fild primarily consisted of connecting shots, such as a convoy of armored vehicles entering District 9 with an aura of nace and aerial troops swooping across the sky.
To capture these shots well, and to do it quickly and efficiently, the crew had prepared in advance, rehearsing positions during script readings; they also had eight caras shooting from all angles—three in the air, directed by Wang Yang; five on the ground, with Wally Strant overseeing them at the front of the convoy, at the back, and from a distant front angle… Each cara was manned by an assistant director or a photography assistant, all to ensure that footage from different perspectives was captured.
“Hmm, this position is pretty good.” Wang Yang put down the viewfinder hanging around his neck and picked up the walkie-talkie on his waist. “Wally, Wally, this is Yang. Are you all set? OVER.” Wally’s slightly hoarse voice imdiately ca through the walkie-talkie, “Everything is ready, OVER.” Wang Yang grunted in acknowledgnt and said, “Proceed to the final check phase. ‘Lightning Action’ officially starts in five minutes, OVER.”
He smiled as he put down the walkie-talkie and turned to look back, saying, “Hey, fatty, what are you doing standing there? Co over here!”
Harry George, the caraman, slowly shuffled over, his plump face full of nervousness as he stuttered, “Man, I think I might be afraid of heights. I’m really scared…” Wang Yang laughed heartily and, holding the doorfra, extended his foot as if to kick the chubby man, cursing and joking, “Damn fatso, who are you kidding! If you complain one more ti, I’ll kick you out!”
Amidst the rumble, everyone on the helicopter burst into laughter, the tenseness on Harry George’s face dissolved, and with resolve, he lifted his head and cara and declared, “Alright, I’m a warrior!”
“Fatso, rember?” Wang Yang looked at the bearded Harry, suddenly recalling sothing, as if it were a long ti ago or just a few days past. He smiled and said, “Donald and Heaton.” A flash of confusion crossed Harry’s chubby face as he furrowed his brows in thought, then suddenly he burst out laughing, “Ah! Donald and Heaton, the full-panoramic aerial shot!”
Wang Yang nodded with a smile. Back then, they were in McDonald’s, pointing at the TV, discussing how to shoot a series of cross-cutting montages for “Donald and Heaton”… He looked out at the blue sky, white clouds, and the minuscule model-like slums below, spreading his arms and proclaiming, “Boom, boom, boom, this is the helicopter.” Harry gazed down below, his eyes sparkling with excitent, inhaling deeply and asserting, “This is the full- panoramic aerial shot!”
“OK, everyone, take your places!” Wang Yang clapped his hands vigorously, and everyone responded and picked up their equipnt. He spoke into the walkie-talkie, “This is Yang, all units listen up, acknowledge when you’re ready, OVER.” Then the other seven cara units all responded with “Ready,” “All set,”… Wang Yang took a deep breath, looking at the ground convoy and surrounding helicopters, and shouted, “Guys, Lightning Action, Action!”
At the signal to start, the armored convoy imdiately fired up their engines and drove one by one into the slum enclosed by fencing. The helicopters in the sky followed their predetermined flight paths, and as the convoy slowly ca to a halt, a host of MNU security and District 9 site managers jumped out of each white armored vehicle, fanning out toward the ramshackle tin huts all around.
“CUT!” Seeing the performance of the shot was over, Wang Yang shouted for a stop, and then asked through the machine to Wally Strant and others, “How was it?”
This kind of shot didn’t involve actor performances and didn’t have any special effects issues, so the key was whether the photographers could complete their tasks well. Harry George gave a thumbs up with a smile, “Director, no problems on my end!” Voices from Wally and the others ca one after another from the machine, “Shot beautifully!” “Perfect performance.”… Wang Yang humd in satisfaction and shouted, “Well guys, let’s get ready for the next series of shots! Let’s try to finish these scenes today!”
Today marked the tenth day since the “District 9” crew arrived in South Africa. Long before the shoot in Vancouver, The Producers’ Stephen Cauley had co to Johannesburg to arrange matters, including finding suitable slum areas, dealing with the local governnt and security companies, and renting these helicopters and armored vehicles… Upon their arrival in Johannesburg, Wang Yang confird several scenes in Soweto on the first day and started shooting on the second. Everyone’s efficiency and enthusiasm were very high, hoping to finish shooting early and go ho for Christmas.
It had been less than three months since 9/11, a ti when everyone was on edge, almost all crews were cancelling outdoor shoots, including in Australia, Hong Kong, and the entirety of Hollywood refused to step outside Arica. anwhile, “District 9” headed to South Africa, to the dangerous slums no less. The dia dubbed it “putting the film before their lives,” and fans sent their blessings, hoping the wondrous Yang and the whole crew could return safely.
In reality, Soweto was not as dangerous as imagined, with South Africa’s most dangerous slums being in Durban’s “city of murder,” Kwa Mashu. Of course, Soweto wasn’t so utopia either. Besides hiring a dozen professional bodyguards from an Israeli security company in Arica, the crew also signed a contract with Johannesburg’s local Nicholls-Steyn & Associates company to be responsible for security throughout the shooting. The cost of security for the crew would be at least $3 million US Dollars.
Don’t drive around carelessly, lock your car doors when driving, don’t stop for strangers, carry so small change, and don’t resist if you’re robbed… However, these risks were not high for the crew, who either ca to Soweto with armored vehicles leading the way under heavy protection, or stayed quietly in the hotels in central Johannesburg. Nobody ca here for tourism.
Shooting in Soweto went quite smoothly and mostly as expected. The crew didn’t have any conflict with the locals. Before setting out, Wang Yang had instructed every mber to respect the local people! After arriving in the slums to confirm the filming locations, the crew distributed many gifts to the local children, including chocolates, Coca-Cola and other foods, footballs, basketballs, rugby balls, and so toys; they were also planning to fund the construction of several basketball hoops.
These actions changed the locals’ attitude from “hostility” to “suspicion” and they agreed to their filming. And certain individuals with ill intentions, facing the ard bodyguards, dared not make any rash moves.
“Helicopter 13, please move about ten ters to the left!” Wang Yang was looking through the viewfinder out at the sky while giving orders through the communicator to adjust the position of the helicopters. The helicopter carrying them circled sideways, right in front of the hatch was the helicopter fleet. The next shot to film was their coordinated flight toward the alien spaceship, but for now, they were just setting up formations.
Following his command, the helicopter on the left imdiately moved into position. Watching nearly twenty helicopters rumbling into place, Wang Yang nodded and said to Harry George beside him, “Buddy, get ready.” Harry took a deep breath and squatted down, shouldering the cara aid forward. Wang Yang looked back at the pilot seat and shouted, “Brandon, when I say action, just control it to rise slowly, OK?”
“Roger that!” Brandon shouted back. Wang Yang double-checked with the viewfinder and then picked up the communicator to announce, “Everyone get ready!” After a short pause, he shouted again, “3, 2,1, Action!”
Rumbling—the vast blue sky under the scorching sun, the massive group of helicopters flew forward. There was no spaceship, just a blue sky, the slums below, and Johannesburg in the distance.
“Mom, co out and look, so many planes!” At the doorway of a rusty iron shack, a black child playing in the mud suddenly jumped up excitedly, looking up at the helicopters flying overhead amidst the “rumble” of engines, hopping and shouting excitedly, “So many planes! One, two…”
The word count is a bit low today; sorry guys, I’ll rest up and keep at it with full force!
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