Chapter 613: Slaughter Is the Best Medicine

Cars drove into the brightly lit tunnel one after another, including large semi-trucks pulling shipping containers, over a dozen police cruisers, and specialized SWAT vehicles provided by the Chicago Police.

They were here to film several explosive car chase sequences.

With the full support of the Chicago City Government, the crew had plenty of time to temporarily close off this section of the tunnel. They had already shot a fair amount of related footage in the studio using models and green screens, but some scenes still required practical location work.

Duke directed the crew's operations methodically, occasionally checking on the actors. Since they were using a large number of stunt performers for these thrilling sequences, safety measures had to be absolutely flawless.

Nobody wanted to see any accidents befall the crew or the cast.

The Batmobile and Batcycle, custom-built by Lamborghini, had also been transported to the set. These vehicles were divided into two categories: alongside the standard practical versions, there were modified models specifically designed to mount IMAX Cameras.

All the footage here would be shot entirely on IMAX Cameras.

After checking the camera unit's preparations, Duke walked over to the parked vehicles. He circled the police cruisers before approaching the large semi-truck the Joker would use to attack Harvey Dent. With just one glance, he spotted something wrong.

"Dunn, come here."

Calling over the head of the props vehicle team, Duke pointed to a line of lettering on the side of the truck's container.

"Did you guys miss something?" he asked.

Dunn took a careful look.

"Sorry, Duke," he quickly said. "I'll paint it on right away."

"As quickly as possible," Duke said with a slight nod. "Don't delay the shoot."

With that, he walked toward the director's monitors.

The props team's mistake wasn't major. They had only forgotten a single letter, but it completely changed the meaning of the phrase on the side of the truck.

The phrase read, "Laughter is the best medicine." However, this line didn't fit the needs of the scene at all, and someone like the Joker would never agree with such a sentiment.

In the original design, Duke had ordered a striking red "S" added to the very front of the phrase. The sentence was supposed to read, "Slaughter is the best medicine."

Per Duke's request, the "S" was to be painted right on the container's side door, exactly where the Joker would emerge during the shoot.

Once preparations were complete, filming quickly kicked off. The vehicles weren't actually moving very fast, relying mostly on camera movement to create the illusion of high speed, so the sequence was broken down into countless fragments. Aside from Heath Ledger's Joker, who was secured to the truck container with safety harnesses, almost everyone else involved was a stunt performer.

Especially Batman. There wasn't a single shot showing his face here, and Duke didn't plan to let Christopher Bale step in at all.

Moreover, in his plans for the film's end credits, Batman's name would be followed by two stuntmen, because they performed ninety percent of Batman's action scenes.

Christian Bale's name would only be listed next to Bruce Wayne.

Police cruisers, SWAT vehicles, the bulletproof transport van carrying Dent, and even more police cruisers made their entrances one after another, accompanied by a helicopter in the sky. Explosions and vehicle rollovers occurred continuously throughout the shoot.

These stunt sequences didn't present much difficulty in terms of acting, but the filming pace was still slow. The massive amount of prep work chewed up too much time; a crash or rollover shot lasting only a dozen seconds often required an hour or more to set up.

The tunnel scenes took three full days to shoot. After that, Duke shifted to filming Batman's shots. IMAX Cameras were mounted onto the front of the customized Batmobile and Batcycle to ensure the high-speed footage carried enough visual impact.

They weren't just shooting action sequences in Chicago; there were quite a few dialogue-heavy scenes as well. For the finale, the upstairs portions were shot on a studio set, while the footage of Harvey Dent and Batman falling to the lower level was shot on location in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Chicago.

Perhaps they had rested for too long, but neither Gary Oldman nor Christian Bale was in top form. The night shoot suffered back-to-back NGs, and after the crew endured nearly two hours of the freezing Illinois wind, Duke had no choice but to call both actors over.

"How are you feeling?" Duke asked, looking at Oldman and Bale. "It seems I shouldn't have given you a vacation."

Gary Oldman smiled apologetically. Christian Bale had his head covered by the Batmask, so his expression was impossible to read.

Duke paced back and forth a couple of times.

"The reason Batman and Gordon have this final conversation is because they know if Harvey Dent's coin-flipping murders after becoming Two-Face are made public, the Joker will have truly won the battle for Gotham's soul," he told Gary Oldman and Christian Bale. "This city would completely lose all hope."

Seeing that both of them were listening intently, Duke continued.

"If even Dent ultimately loses his moral compass and descends into pure chaos—that so-called state of fairness—then Gotham will fall exactly as the Joker intended," he said. "That's why Batman tells Gordon to make the public believe that everyone Dent murdered was killed by Batman, allowing Dent to maintain his image as a noble martyr."

He first turned to Christian Bale.

"For the sake of this city, your character must shoulder a heavy burden and become a true Dark Knight," he said.

Then, Duke looked at Gary Oldman.

"You are a pragmatist. For the hope of Gotham, you have no choice but to make this decision," he added.

Seeing Gary Oldman and Christian Bale deep in thought, Duke waved them off.

"Go get ready," he said. "We resume shooting in fifteen minutes."

Perhaps Duke's analysis had done the trick, or maybe the previous NGs had served as a sufficient warm-up, but once filming resumed, Gary Oldman and Christian Bale's performances improved significantly.

Dressed as Batman, Christian Bale looked resolutely at Gary Oldman, deciding to shoulder this heavy burden.

"Call them in now," he said.

Gary Oldman hesitated.

"They'll hunt you," he replied.

"Yes. You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen!"

Although Christian Bale's expression was completely hidden beneath the mask, his tone didn't waver.

"Because sometimes, the truth isn't good enough!" he said. "Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people's faith needs to be rewarded!"

With that, he didn't linger. He stood up and hobbled toward the parked Batcycle, leaving only the sight of his black cape retreating from the camera lens.

Duke made a hand signal, and the child actor playing Gordon's son slowly stepped into frame, walking right up to Gary Oldman. Gary Oldman shifted his body slightly, blocking the corpse lying on the ground from view.

"Batman? Dad, why is Batman running away?" the young actor asked in confusion.

Gary Oldman looked toward where Christian Bale had vanished.

"Because we have to chase him," he said.

The child actor's expression grew even more confused.

"But he didn't do anything wrong," he said.

Watching the monitor, Duke nodded slowly. The child actor, Lenny Blackett, was performing exceedingly well. He perfectly captured a child's confusion and innocence, which was exactly the effect Duke wanted.

Children represented innocence, and their standards of judgment were rooted in fundamental human nature. In the eyes of an innocent child, Batman was unequivocally a good person.

This ending was undeniably dark, so the audience needed to be given some hope. Gordon's son represented exactly that hope.

Gary Oldman delivered his final line full of emotion.

"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A Dark Knight!" he said.

"Cut!" Duke called out.

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, he added, "Not yet. We need to keep shooting!"

In the freezing air, the crew got busy once again. Filming continued until midnight. After getting three more somewhat satisfactory takes, Duke finally announced that the day's work was over.

As the Chicago shoot progressed, 2006 came to an end, and a brand-new 2007 entered Duke's life. The crew, however, didn't get any time off for the New Year. They pushed forward according to Duke's schedule. All filming had to wrap up by mid-January to leave ample time for post-production.

Although they had used a massive amount of models and practical sets, the movie still contained a huge number of shots that required CGI composites. Even for Industrial Light and Magic, that would take time to produce.

After the New Year, filming in the Chicago area continued for another week, and the location shoots gradually neared their end. To finish on schedule, Duke split the crew into two. Anna Printz took one team to film the remaining scattered scenes in Chicago, while he led the primary crew members to Moscow.

There weren't many scenes in Moscow. They mainly involved Batman capturing the man in charge of the mob's funds. Although this country also had a massive market, and making a major villain Russian might cause a bit of trouble, the market here was relatively more open. As long as Warner Brothers did their job well, there would be no problem getting the film distributed.

Even if the release drew criticism from the Russian media, Duke didn't care. How many Hollywood directors actually cared about what Russians thought?

Besides, if the Russians went too far with their backlash, it would inevitably trigger a counterattack from the American media. He was a born-and-bred American director, and the mainstream media in North America would certainly defend him.

If a war of words broke out between the two sides, Duke would be happy to see it happen. After all, where there was controversy, there was buzz.