"Security, huh?"
Fischer instinctively assumed that this "Charles" was some sort of security chief and smiled nonchalantly.
But in the next moment, Cobb spoke seriously: "No, I specialize in a very particular type of security—subconscious security."
"You mean dreams? You're talking about dream theft."
As the heir of a top-tier conglomerate, Fischer was naturally aware that such abilities existed in this world.
Cobb emphasized, "I'm here to protect you…"
His words were firm, his expression slightly exaggerated.
"You're not safe here. They're coming for you."
Right after he said this, Fischer seemed to realize something. At the same time, the bar slowly tilted.
He stared in shock at the trembling bar and the liquor inside his glass, which was now angled at 45 degrees.
Above them, the bottles also shifted noticeably.
"None of this is real. You're dreaming."
As soon as Cobb spoke these words, every person in the bar who had been drinking and chatting suddenly turned their gaze toward them.
Their expressions were eerily calm, but there was something unsettling about them. Their eyes were locked on, unwavering, making Fischer deeply uncomfortable.
"The simplest way to prove it is to recall—how did you get to this hotel?"
Fischer swallowed hard and blinked, trying to steady himself. He followed Cobb's instructions and attempted to recall, but all he found was a blank void.
And so, he believed Cobb. Together, they left the bar under the watchful eyes of everyone inside.
"Cut!"
Ethan called for a stop. This was already their third take for the bar scene.
The first two takes had issues—Leonardo hadn't adjusted to the right state for his performance, and there were problems with the props. But on this third attempt, Ethan was finally satisfied.
"That's it. That's the one."
Ethan reviewed the footage once more. "Three days from now, we'll dismantle this bar set."
"No problem," Chris nodded.
Although constructing the tilting bar had been a painstaking effort, it had served its purpose. Naturally, it would now be dismantled, and its materials would be repurposed for other sets.
This was one of the reasons why film productions had such long schedules—every single set required an extensive amount of time to construct, and the build time was often much longer than the actual shoot.
With this scene wrapped, they moved on to reshoot some of Scarlett and John Lone's sequences.
In Ethan's version of Inception, the role originally played by Ken Watanabe had been given to John Lone.
Most of the other cast members remained unchanged. Tom Hardy still played the forger, Eames.
Marion Cotillard remained as Cobb's wife.
And the round-faced chemist, Yusuf, was still portrayed by Dileep Rao.
With that, Scarlett's scenes were quickly completed.
That night, while Ethan was still on set preparing for the next day's shoot, Scarlett unexpectedly showed up.
She was wrapped tightly in a black trench coat, wearing a baseball cap and a face mask. Aside from her hair, there was no way to easily recognize her.
She walked to the entrance of the tilting bar, curled her finger at Ethan, and then disappeared inside.
Ethan raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she was up to, but followed her into the bar.
Luckily, most of the crew was occupied with setting up the rotating hallway sequence, so they were all gathered on the other side of the set. No one was around the tilting bar.
Inside, he found that Scarlett had already taken off her black trench coat.
She was wearing a shimmering dress similar to the one from her scene in the film, her smooth, bare back exposed.
Her voluminous hair cascaded down one side of her face as she sipped from a glass of liquor, gazing at Ethan.
"Good evening, sir."
"Good evening."
Ethan smirked, stepping closer. He let his gaze drift downward to her smooth legs. "That dress looks stunning."
"Really? Better than in the film?"
Scarlett smiled. Under the glow of the lights, her red lips gleamed, almost as if they were coated in gloss.
"Even better."
"Then, sir, are you lonely?"
Scarlett rested her chin on one hand, tilting her head as she looked at Ethan.
"Lonely. Very lonely."
Ethan reached out, his hand gliding over her leg, feeling the soft, silky texture of her skin.
"I'm a little lonely too, so…"
Scarlett bit her lip lightly, then slipped off one of her heels, using the graceful arch of her foot to caress Ethan's ankle.
"Then let's ease our loneliness together." Ethan finished speaking, stood up, and walked behind Scarlett's chair.
Scarlett understood immediately, got off the chair, and leaned against the counter, staring at the glass in front of her.
More than ten seconds later, the liquor in the glass tilted slowly, rippling in waves, as if struck by a tide, spreading out rhythmically in circles.
By the time Ethan and Scarlett walked out of the bar, the blush on her face had not yet faded.
The next day, Heath Ledger joined the crew. He was set to spend half a month here to complete the most challenging on-location scene of the film—the rotating hallway.
"How have you been lately?" Ethan hugged him upon meeting.
"Not bad, my sleep has been okay." Before Heath Ledger joined the crew, Ethan had specially arranged for a top psychologist to help him with counseling.
From what Heath said, his sleep had improved a lot recently.
"Come on, this scene is quite a challenge."
Before Heath Ledger finished his training, everyone else had gone off to their respective tasks, leaving only Ethan and the crew members accompanying him.
When he saw the spectacular rotating hallway, he couldn't help but exclaim, "My god, this is seriously difficult."
"Yeah, but I believe you can pull it off." Ethan patted his shoulder.
"So how does this even work?" Heath Ledger looked at the rotating hallway in front of him, full of curiosity.
"Chris, explain it to him." Ethan called over the visual effects supervisor.
"Actually, we suspended the entire set within a giant circular rig. We even brought in a structural engineer for this because it required a lot of structural steel," Chris explained. "Originally, we planned for fifty feet, but later realized that wasn't enough, so we had to extend it."
"So how long is it now?" Heath Ledger spread his arms, trying to estimate the length of the hallway.
"A hundred feet," Chris answered directly.
"A hundred feet?" Heath Ledger was so shocked he was momentarily speechless.
"Yes, it consists of a series of 8-by-30-foot rings. Look here." Chris pointed it out as he continued, "We're using electric motors along with camshafts and drive wheels."
"This is really fascinating." Heath Ledger nodded. "It reminds me of 2001: A Space Odyssey."
"Exactly. The movement of this set is similar to that film." Ethan joined in. "So now, you have to imagine yourself as an astronaut, walking and floating inside a space station."
"But how am I supposed to move? If I step in there, I'll probably just roll around like a rock."
"Don't worry, we'll secure you with wires at first. But once you get the hang of it, I'll remove them."
Heath Ledger shrugged. It was definitely a tough challenge.
But he loved challenges. He enjoyed these unique filming experiences—neither repetitive nor generic, but truly one of a kind.
"Alright, let's give it a try."
Heath Ledger quickly got into costume with the help of the makeup artist.
Meanwhile, Ethan was discussing with the cinematographer how best to shoot this scene.
"I think we can use a fixed camera, mounting it on the floor so it rotates together with the hallway," Chris suggested.
Ethan rubbed his chin. "But that might look a little too static. I think it's important to have another camera that doesn't rotate with the hallway."
"Let's use a crane." Ethan tapped the table. "Mount a camera on a crane, stabilize it with a gimbal, and we'll test both methods to see which one works better."
"Got it."
Since the director had made a decision, the crew got to work immediately.
Soon, a camera mounted on a crane extended into the rotating hallway.
At the same time, another camera was fixed on the hallway floor.
As Heath Ledger stepped inside, Ethan stood by the monitor, watching his performance.
"Start rotating!"
The hallway began spinning. Heath Ledger carefully adjusted his steps to match the rotation, moving past doorways, ceilings, and lights.
The experience was exhilarating—like floating in space, creating an illusion of weightlessness.
His performance was quite good. Ethan and a few crew members had tried walking inside the rotating hallway themselves.
Other than Ethan, who managed to keep his balance, everyone else wobbled after just a few steps.
That's why Ethan was quite satisfied with Heath Ledger's performance.
"At this rate, we might even finish this scene within half a month." Chris nodded approvingly.
"Yeah, having extra time is always a plus."
As they spoke, Christopher Nolan walked over.
"I love this." He admired the structure. "Ethan, this set gave me an idea. Maybe I should try something similar in Batman."
"Haha, that would be tough on your actors." Ethan laughed.
"I think they'd enjoy the unique experience."
Nolan found Ethan's ideas fantastic. He loved that Ethan's concepts were bold yet grounded in reality.
"Practical effects can't be replaced. They're exciting and challenging."
Heath Ledger trained inside the rotating hallway for half a day.
Ethan and Nolan chatted in front of the monitors for half a day.
Nolan shared updates on Batman. The filming schedule had been pushed back a few months, now set to begin in April 2007.
He also planned to experiment with more visually striking effects in this installment.
From their conversation, Ethan realized Nolan wasn't particularly fond of traditional hero narratives. He preferred complex, multi-dimensional characters.
That was why he leaned into a darker tone for Batman.
When Heath Ledger's training paused, Ethan and Nolan reviewed the footage.
"I think we should use both methods." Nolan suggested after watching.
With the fixed floor-mounted camera, the audience wouldn't see the hallway spinning, since the camera moved in sync with it.
All they would see was the actor occasionally walking on walls or fighting on the ceiling.
But the crane-mounted camera clearly captured the rotating motion, making the visuals much more dynamic.
After reviewing both shots, Ethan agreed. "Alright, let's go with both."
The only ones who'd have a tough time with this setup were the actors.
But Heath Ledger was enjoying every moment.
In just a week and a half, he completed the necessary training and met the filming requirements.
When all the actors gathered, they saw Heath Ledger leaping around the hallway.
With a quick step, he dashed onto the wall without the slightest hesitation or imbalance. Then, with a backward jump, he landed seamlessly on the ceiling.
His movements were swift and precise, as natural as a predator navigating the forest.
Leonardo whistled at the display. "That's awesome. Heath could be a real-life thief."
Downey crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah, that's some impressive agility. Reminds me of Captain America."
Ellen Page widened her eyes at the sci-fi-like scene, remaining silent.
It was her first time witnessing such a surreal spectacle.
The hallway rotated smoothly before her, with objects seemingly unaffected. Even the lighting remained unchanged, making the fight choreography inside the hallway the centerpiece.
Heath wasn't even using wires.
"I bet the audience will be amazed when they see this."
"You're right." Ethan walked over. "Now, get ready. You're up next."
They didn't have to move around inside the hallway, but they did need to act as if they were sleeping in a zero-gravity environment.
Looking at the rotating set, Leonardo and the others grimaced.
"My god, this place is making me dizzy!"
"Don't open your eyes, Page, just keep them closed."
"Ugh, Leo, your foot hit me."
"Sorry, I couldn't control my body."
"This is interesting, but my collar feels too tight."
Ethan and Nolan stood outside, watching the actors suspended in midair by wires.
"It looks like an escape room challenge," Ethan commented with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm thinking Batman could have a scene like this too."
"Nolan, you really can't stop thinking about Batman, huh?"
"Haha, sorry. I should be focusing on Inception."
Half an hour passed, and after plenty of mishaps, the shoot finally began.
Watching Heath Ledger skillfully secure the actors and gently push them into the floating room, Ethan nodded in satisfaction.
"Cut!"
After three days, the scene was completed to perfection.
Ethan sat in his director's chair, flipping through the script.
With this scene wrapped, the production would move to Paris for the film's most iconic shot—
The collapse of Paris.
...
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (20 chpaters)
MV Director (30 chapters)....
Douluo Dalu:Breaking Clan(30 chapters)
Made In Hollywood (50 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu